Metamorphoses

Although most likely there is a deeper message to metamorphoses, on the surface it teaches a worldview of mediocrity. The beautiful women all ended up raped by the male gods, and despised by the female gods. Those who did excellently were attacked and destroyed. It also teaches a worldview of submission to the powers that be. Those who refused to submit to the gods suffered. Those who were prideful, and thought that their deeds and accomplishments made them equal to the gods were soon disabused of that notion by a display of the might of the gods.

By portraying beautiful women as the objects of the gods, Metamorphoses is teaching that beauty is not to be desired. It teaches that beauty is, in fact, something that should be avoided, because when the gods desire a mortal, chaos results, usually including great loss to the object of that desire. So, following this to its logical end, beauty leads to pain.

In the same way, excellence is seen as resulting in suffering. Arachne is truly excellent at weaving. When she contested with Athena she did not loose. That gained her nothing, however, in the long run. In the end her excellence destroyed her. Arguably it was her arrogance, but it seems that since not even Athena could best her, her arrogance should have been forgivable. What destroyed her was that she was at least as good as the goddess, if not better.

When those who refuse to submit and are prideful are attacked by the gods, that teaches that those qualities lead to great pain by showing pain as a result of pride and insurrection. For example, Niobe was very prideful, and the gods smote her mightily. Penthius is an example of insurrection against the gods. He denied the deity of Bacchus, and threatened him with bodily harm. This resulted in him getting his head ripped off by his mother as she celebrated Bacchus. Insurrection equals death and pain. Pride equals suffering.

These stories are able to shape the worldviews the simple who read them because they are stories. Stories reach into our souls and allow us to think outside the box without hurting our minds, because they can be read without engaging our minds at all. Because we tend to suspend value judgments when we read myths, we are unable to combat the values presented. When we have no defense against something, it will shape us.

The Aeneid

It is important to submit your emotions to your mind, because otherwise you will be unable to perform your duty. Dido is a perfect example of this. At the beginning of the Aeneid she is a very good queen[1]. By the time Aeneas leaves, however, she has forgotten her duty to her people, and thinks only of her pain and how to end it[2]. Because she has ceased to care, her city stops functioning and becomes vulnerable to attack[3].

Aeneas, on the other hand, does not sacrifice his duty for the sake of love. For a short amount of time he does forget his duty, but when the gods remind him of his fate he acquiesces[4]. He had to choose between love and duty, and picked duty, forcing his emotions to submit to his reason[5].

If you allow your emotions to reign, you may go mad. “And so Dido was overwhelmed by grief and possessed by madness”[6]. Dido’s love certainly seems to make her go mad. This is because if you submit your mind to your emotions it ceases to function logically because emotions are not logical.

If, however, you submit you emotions to your reason, your emotions, while paining you for a while, will eventually give up the fight. When Aeneas chooses to obey the gods and leave Carthage, it hurts him to leave Dido in such distress[7]. However, he does his duty and leaves, and when he sees her again while he is touring the underworld, while feeling pity for her, it does not seem that he is still madly in love with her[8]. His main response seems to be feeling badly about the injustice of her death[9].

So, in conclusion, “Love is a cruel master”[10], because it ought not be master. We were created so that our minds need to in control. Our emotions do matter, but they cannot be allowed control. When emotions are allowed to rule, chaos and anguish will eventually result. In the ensuing chaos, duty will be forgotten or ignored, and become nearly impossible to do.

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[1] Book 1 lines 495-510

[2] Book 4 lines 450-553

[3] Book 4 lines 87-89(approx.)

[4] Book 4 lines 278-296

[5] Book 4 lines 331-333

[6] Book 4 lines 474-475

[7] Book 4 lines 332-333, 393-396

[8] Book 6 lines 450-477

[9] ibid.

[10] Book 4 line 413

The Odyssey

“Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns”[1]

So begins Homer’s epic, The Odyssey. As in the Iliad, the character trait described in the first line becomes a major theme throughout the book. Odysseus is a man of twists and turns, using his skill at turning phrases to twist almost every event to his favor. Other characters also are deceptive to achieve their ends.

Athena, for instance, often assumes the shape of a mortal whom every one knows when she is trying to get people to do things[2]. Athena’s bent towards deception may play a large role in why she favors Odysseus so highly. The similarities between Athena and Odysseus may also be why he alone has his appearance changed to aid his deceptions[3].

The theme of deception can also be seen back in Ithaca. Because Penelope is unable to secure peace from the suitors by force, she carefully works to secure peace and time by using deception. She tells the suitors that she will pick a husband when she has finished weaving a funeral shroud for Laertes, Odysseus’s father. Then at night, she unravels all the day’s weaving. When she is found out, she insinuates that she will marry the suitor who gives the best gifts[4].

Telemachus too is learning to be a man of twists and turns as he comes into his manhood. It seems at first that he lacks his father’s ability with words, but as his character grows, he begins to show that he has inherited his father’s excellence with falsehood. However, it is not until he is able to watch his father in action that he truly begins to exercise this gift.

When Odysseus arrives in Ithaca, deception plays a role even in Odysseus’s most intimate relationships. He at first hides his identity from Telemachus[5]. Then, he hides his identity from Penelope until the suitors have been destroyed[6]. When he reveals himself, Penelope tests him to make sure that it truly is him by telling him a falsehood that only he would recognize[7]. When Odysseus goes to Laertes, he again at first conceals his identity[8].

Thus, the Odyssey is laced with deception in much the same way that the Iliad is laced with rage. While in the Odyssey deception seems to be without major consequences, in reality deception often goes hand in hand with fractured souls and lives.

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[1] Homer, The Odyssey, 1.1

[2] ibid., 1.22-23

[3] ibid., 13.492-500

[4] ibid., 2.94-122

[5] ibid., 16.13-214

[6] ibid., 23.1-110

[7] ibid., 23.110-230

[8] ibid., 24.260-364

oh dear

well, I fully intended to post on wednesday or friday. alas, due to travel and hand surgery, that didn't happen. as soon ans I get the proper computer online (the one that hollds my essays) I shall post...Untill then, my apologies...

The Iliad

This is the first essay out of many that I am gonna post about the books that I read last semester and am reading this semester. I think I will be posting one every Wednesday or Friday.

Iliad Pull Question

On the Proper Response to Homer’s Iliad

Pirous who heaved the rock

Came rushing in and speared him up the navel –

His bowels uncoiled, spilling lose on the ground

And the dark came swirling down across his eyes.[1]

This is just one small example of the violence displayed in the Iliad. In fact, the Iliad is so saturated in violence that there almost seems to be no point in reading it. However, we cannot ignore this book. It is only recent phenomenon that one does not have to read homer to be considered educated. For the past several thousand years, Homer has been a part of the educational curriculum of western civilization. His works did not survive through the ages simply because he was good at describing gore. No, there must be something more to the Iliad than how so and so speared so and so, something beyond the violence.

Homer very carefully guides our emotions as we read the Iliad. There are specific points where our loyalties shift (for instance when Hector is talking with Andromache[2] and the death of Patroclus[3]). This can hardly be accidental or without purpose. These points illustrate what is good and what is evil, what is honorable and what is shameful. Homer seems to be very deliberately training us, shaping our emotional responses to fit his moral standards.

Sometimes Homer’s shaping our emotions can be very uncomfortable because his standards are not our own. This is important to notice, because when someone else is influencing us sometimes what we are being taught is true and good, but sometimes it may go against everything we believe. However, in Homer most of the things that make us uncomfortable are true and good, at least on a surface level. One ought to be wise and discerning concerning the Homeric worldview, but also, one also ought to be careful not to throw out ideas and emotions simply because they make us uncomfortable.

For instance, honor plays a major role in the Iliad. Most of the plot centers around the honor of Agamemnon, Achilles, and Hector. However, in today’s culture, honor is not seen as being very important. People don’t fight duels to defend their honor anymore. The concept of honor being one of the most important things in life seems very foreign. Because of this, when Homer guides our emotions about someone based on their honor or lack thereof, it is very uncomfortable for us. Because this is uncomfortable, it is very easy to try to ignore it, to say that honor is not important and that Homer doesn’t apply anymore. This is not a good response. Whether or not honor is important, whether or not his works apply to our lives today, decisions about rational things ought to be made based on reason, not based on personal preference.

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[1] Homer, The Iliad, 4.607-609

[2] ibid., 6.482-588

[3] ibid., 16.914-1009