Q1. Discuss the gods and jealousy in the tale of Arachne.
Q2. Write on the significance of the doomed marital prophecy in the tale of Philomela.
Q3. Discuss the idea of chance and divine retribution in the tale of Acteon.
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The tale of Minerva and Arachne is a warning on the dangers of pride, jealousy and offending the Gods. Arachne was not a noble woman with a distinguished. She distinguished herself through her skill with cloth and weaving. When people tried to say her gift was god given she jealously defended it and challenged the gods.
ReplyDeleteMinerva on hearing this challenge did not punish her immediately but gave Arachne a chance to redeem herself. Here we see the goddess as a kind of parent figure who gives a foolish child a chance to admit their mistake and seek forgiveness. Arachne again refused to give any dues to Minerva and so the goddess reveals herself and accepts Arachne’s earlier challenge.
Arachne failed in her efforts to best the goddess and hung herself. Minerva either displaying some compassion or a desire, in her role as a goddess of the arts, not to lose such a talent from the world decides to let Arachne live and revives her. However that Arachne challenged a god cannot be forgotten and she must be punished in some way, so she is transformed into a spider. In this way people can never forget what happens to those who do not pay their respects to the gods.
J. Nolan
When Tereus took Procne for his wife there were many omens that the marriage was in some way doomed. None of the Graces, whose attendance assures peace and happiness, were there. The Furies, who represent vengeance, carried funeral tapers before the bride and they made the bridegroom’s bed. Other ill omens included, ‘A cursed owl, the messenger of ill success and luck’ (Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 6, line 554). With such terrible omens it’s amazing that the marriage went ahead at all.
ReplyDeleteThe mentioning of the prophecy at the beginning of the tale leaves the reader in no doubt that some terrible thing would happen if they read on. Fate is taking these lives of these people in hand. Perhaps this device was employed to ensure that listeners or readers of the tale would continue. They were guaranteed a dramatic, tragic and possibly bloody ending. After all, centuries later, Shakespeare put the same device to good use in his plays, for example Romeo and Juliet. He named them as star crossed lovers in the prologue.
It would certainly seem that the figures of Tereus, Procne and Philomela didn’t really have much control over themselves or their actions. Tereus and Procne lived a happy life for five years until her wish to see her sister set off a chain of events that led to tragedy.
Tereus, on seeing the beautiful Philomela, lost control of his passion and had to have her. ‘King Tereus at the sight of her did burn in his desire,’ (Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 6, line 382). There is a feeling that he could not control his lust rather than would not.
Philomela’s rape, the discovery of which led Procne to murder her son, bake him in a pie and feed it to her husband, can almost be said to pre-ordained. Was it the prophecy which meant that Tereus could not control himself or was it foresight of a flaw in his character that gave rise to the prophecy?
J. Nolan
In the case of Acteon, it was not a crime that led to his punishment but a case of wrong place, wrong time. He was transformed into a stag and torn apart by his own dogs for accidentally witnessing Phoebe (Artemis a goddess of the hunt) as she bathed.
ReplyDeleteIn the tale of the transformation of Acteon, he neither committed a terrible sin as Tereus did nor challenged a goddess as Arachne did. He was given no warning or prophecy or a chance to seek forgiveness. Phoebe changed him to a deer so he could not tell anyone what he had seen.
Acteon’s only fault was being ignorant of the sacredness of the grove where she came with her nymphs and chance led him there while hunting. Unfortunately for Acteon, the goddess was so offended by his action that she did not care if it was accidental or not.
Acteon violated her privacy and had to be punished. It would have been enough to make him mute or to leave him transformed. To be torn apart by his hounds seems a little excessive. In was probably not Phoebe’s intention that Acteon die. Chance came into play here once more. It was chance that led Acteon to be hunting in that place, on that day, with his dogs. They were just following their training in bringing down a deer not realising it was their master. It was not at Phoebe’s urging.
Although chance would seem to account for all the actions in the story, the tale does begin with Acteon spilling the blood of many creatures that live in the forest. There is a feeling that Acteon’s punishment and subsequent devouring could be a reckoning for his blood thirsty sport. It is just as arguably a case of ‘just desserts’ as a tragedy of chance.
J. Nolan