Essay for Week 2: Sexual Conduct and Misconduct

In terms of sexual misconduct, something that surprised me about a lot of the Greek Myths is how much misconduct there actually was. Pretty much the only perpetrator was Jupiter, but it seemed as though he had free will to do whatever he pleased (I suppose this is the case when you’re the ruler of the world). If there were any consistencies through the stories, it was that Jupiter would see a woman he desired and not even attempt to seduce her. Rather, he would somehow trick the woman by disguising himself as something or someone else and then rape the woman. Not to mention the fact that he is married to Juno! It also became clear that there were never any consequences for his actions, other than an upset Juno who would often punish the woman with some sort of curse rather than Jupiter himself.

As far as sexual desires, the stories focused much more on the desires of men rather than women, with one exception. In Echo, Jupiter and Juno are quarreling over whether sexual activities are more pleasurable for men or women. After consulting a third party, it is decided that women experience the greater pleasure. However, women are definitely held to a different standard than men. In the case of rapes, it was often the woman who was looked down upon or punished, which seems completely backwards. Perseus and Andromeda even talked about the virgin Andromeda and who it would be shameful if she merely laid eyes on a man.

There doesn’t seem to be any sexual taboos from the readings at this point, but we’ll see what surfaces in the myths next week. However, there are points of comparison between these ancient myths and today’s society. The fact that women seemed to be held to a different sexual standard than men in the stories also reigns true today as far as number of partners and being a virgin is concerned.

Overall, in the myths I read this week, there was a lot of sexual activity, both conduct and misconduct!

This oil painting by Rembrandt was done in 1631 and titled
"Andromeda Chained to the Rocks."

Bibliography

Image: Andromeda Chained to the Rocks, Rembrandt (1631). Web Source: Wikipedia.

Storytelling for Week 2: How Perseus Frees Andromeda

Author's Note

I chose to retell the story of Perseus and Medusa, but go into more detail about the most exciting part of the story. My main goal for the story was to provide an exciting tale about how Perseus actually killed the sea monster. In the original story, Perseus is trying to free the princess Andromeda, who is exceptionally beautiful and has been chained to a mountain to please the sea monster that terrorizes the area. Perseus has just slain Medusa and is offered Andromeda as a wife and his own kingdom in exchange for freeing the princess. I kept to the main story except for the details of how Perseus actually killed the sea monster.

How Perseus Freed Andromeda

After agreeing to free the princess Andromeda in exchange for a kingdom from her parents and her hand in marriage, Perseus sets off to slay the sea monster. Having just slain the beast Medusa, he is quite confident and eagerly awaits his prize when he rescues the princess. He does not know much regarding the lair of the monster, except that it resides in a cave. Using his winged sandals, Perseus flies into the cave and is shocked by the size of the lair. Exploring the cave, he realizes that the sea continues into the cave, which also happens to be extremely dark.

Possessing a magical bow that shoots glowing arrows and a curved sword, Perseus begins to attempt to find the monster. He hovers above the dark water and begins to shoot his glowing arrows into the water. They light up the water, but there is nothing to see as the arrows seemingly sink forever. After hours of searching the expansive cave, Perseus thinks of a sure way to draw the monster out of the cave and into the light. He flies to the ledge on rocky slope that Andromeda is chained to and pulls out his sword. He strikes one of the chains that is holding the princess captive, which breaks the chain. Immediately, the sea monster lets out an enormous roar and emerges from the cave. Perseus flies into the air and begins to shoot arrows at the monster, but the monster maneuvers around the arrows while continuing to get closer to Perseus.

A thick fog begins to encase the two combatants, making it harder for Perseus to fly as his winged sandals get soaked and become heavy. Realizing he doesn’t have much flight left in his sandals, Perseus allows the monster to get extremely close. As the monster encloses, Perseus lands a few arrows into the monsters scaly skin. Clearly injured, the monster begins to lose elevation, allowing Perseus to fly down and deliver a fatal blow with his sword.

The monster sank deep into the sea and finally Perseus could fly over to the princess and release her. Upon returning to Andromeda’s parents, he is given everything that he was promised and there is a massive feast thrown in celebration. At the feast Perseus showcases the head of Medusa and goes on to explain how he beheaded her. Eventually the festivities wind down and Perseus joins his new wife for the night.

This statue of Perseus holding Medusa's head was sculpted by
Antonio Canova and is made from marble (unknown year).

Bibliography

Story: Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline (2000).

Image: Perseus Holding the Head of Medusa, Antonio Canova. Web Source: Wikipedia

Reading Diary Week 2: Greek Myths: Ovid I

The notes provided by professor Gibbs are very helpful to clarify some of the stories, and it is interesting to see where some of our English words came from! All of the following readings were from Unit: Ovid I.


Deucalion and Pyrrah

Surprising to see it closely resembles the bible with flood and 2 survivors, Deucalion even mentions his father breathing life into the earth

Jupiter = Zeus
Neptune = Poseidon
Juno = Hera

Deucalion and Pyrrah survive by going to Mount Parnassus. They were both worshippers of the gods so they were allowed to survive.

The couple prays to Themis to revive the human race, and they are told to throw stones behind them back into the temple. The stones change form after they are thrown and become mankind.

Io

Jupiter tricks the goddess Io and rapes her. Juno suspects her husband has done wrong and goes to search for him, so he changes io into a heifer. Juno falls for it and takes the heifer as a gift.

Io realizes she is a heifer and runs away after seeing her reflection even though she was always being watched by Juno’s guard. She goes to her family and tells them what happened. Argus, her watcher takes her back and takes her to a mountain top.

Jupiter sends his son to kill the guard, which he does. Juno takes the guards eyes and puts them in the feathers of her bird. To quiet Juno’s anger Jupiter turns Io back into her original form.

Phaethon and the Sun

Phaethon, son of the sun god Phoebus Apollo, goes to his mother for confirmation of who his father actually is. She assures him he is the son of Apollo, and he sets off to find his fathers temple.

Once in the presence of Phoebus, Phaethon is once again he is the son of Phoebus. This excites Phaethon and he then asks his father for his flying chariot and the horses that drive it. His father gives him many warnings that it would not be safe and the story concludes.

Phaethon’s Ride

Phaethon once again ignores his father’s warnings and insists on driving the sun chariot.

After starting their journey, the chariot immediately gets off course and Phaethon is unable to control the horses. He gets scared of creatures he sees in the sky and drops his reins.

The horses continue to go wild and when they get too close to the earth it becomes engulfed in flames.

The Death of Phaethon

Noticing that the Earth was about to be destroyed, Jupiter throws a lightning bolt at Phaethon and kills him. This also causes the horses to break from their restraints and separate from each other.

Phaethon’s sisters randomly turn into trees and his friend becomes a swan?

Phoebus feels his son did not deserve to be killed, and refuses to drive the chariot through the sky. He eventually goes back to his horses and takes his anger out on them.

Callisto

Jupiter is observing the Earth and fixing what the fires had destroyed when he spots a nymph, Callisto. Much like io, Jupiter deceives Callisto and then rapes her. The goddess Diana discovers what has happened and banishes Callisto from her community. Juno finds Callisto, and knowing what she has done, turns her into a bear out of anger. Jupiter turns Callisto and her son into constellations, the great and little bear.

Semele

Semele is yet another woman who Jupiter has had sexual relations with, and bears his child. Juno is once again enraged and and kills Semele in a fire storm.

Echo

The child of Jupiter and Semele is born from Jupiter’s leg. Jupiter and Juno are having a friendly argument about which gender love-making pleasures the most. They ask a man named Tiresius and he confirms Jupiter’s argument that it’s more pleasurable for a woman. Juno gets upset and punishes Tiresius to eternal blindness, but Jupiter rewards him with knowledge of the future. As a result of this, people throughout the world consult Tiresius.

Tiresius is consulted about a boy named Narcissus and is asked if he will have a long life. “If he does not discover himself,” is the reply from Tiresius.

We learn of a nymph named Echo who can only repeat the last words she has heard. Echo sees a beautiful boy, Narcissus, walking in the woods and wants to talk to him. She can’t until he speaks though, but they eventually find each other and end up in a hug.

Narcissus gets scared of the stranger and she runs back into the woods. She still remains there today, repeating the last words she has heard.

Narcissus

Narcissus’s discarding of the nymph Echo also causes all other nymphs to be offended as well. ‘So may he himself love, and so may he fail to command what he loves,’ is what the nymphs cry. The goddess Nemesis hears this and complies.

Narcissus sees himself in a fountain and is amazed by his own good looks. He falls in love with himself and then realizes he can’t have his own reflection. He does not realize that he is looking at his own reflection and stays by it, trying to get closer for days. He begins to hit himself with stones and eventually dies, with Echo repeating his last words. After he dies he becomes a flower.

Pyramus and Thisbe

Pyramis and Thisbe are an exceptionally good-looking young boy and girl who live in Babylon. They were neighbors who wanted to wed but their parents prevented it. They agree to escape together and when Thisbe gets to the meeting place she sees a lion and runs off. Her veil is left behind and the lion gets its blood on it. After seeing this, Pyramis kills himself. Thisbe then sees her dead lover and and kills herself as well.

Mars and Venus

This short story involves the god Vulcan, his wife Venus, and the god Mars. Vulcan learns that his wife is having an affair with Mars and crafts a net out of bronze that will cling to anything that touches it, then places the net on a bed. When Venus and Mars begin their adulterous acts on the bed, they become trapped in the net and Vulcan opens the doors so every god and goddess can see the two and shame them.

This story almost served as comic relief from some the previously intense and fatal stories!

Perseus and Andromeda

The story begins with Perseus flying across the world while holding the head of recently slain Medusa. He stops by the home of Atlas and asks for a place to rest. After Atlas refuses, Perseus turns him into stone using Medusa’s head, creating Mount Atlas.

Persius continues his flight and sees the princess Andromeda, who is chained to a rock. Perseus goes to Andromeda and offers to save her from the sea monster and in return they offer him the kingdom and their daughter’s hand in marriage.

Perseus and Medusa

Perseus fights the sea monster and eventually kills it. He then frees Andromeda and returns to her parents, where they get married and he begins to tell the story of how he killed Medusa. We do not learn much of this but we do learn why Medusa has snakes for hair. She was a woman with beautiful hair but was raped by Neptune. Her hair was then changed to snakes to ward off all other suitors.