mythological illusions

Durfee
AP LIT 4th
19 Sept 2012 Achilles Mythological Allusions BartleBy.com

Achilles story begins when a prophesy is made about Troy. The only way to capture it, would be if the Greeks had Achilles’ help. Thetis, Achilles’ mother knew that if Achilles went into this battle, he would die. So she dipped him in the purest of waters by holding his heel. Then sent young Achilles to Scyros where he was hidden away and disguised as a girl. Eventually, Achilles was caught by Odysseus and agreed to go off with Odysseus to Troy. Once at Troy, Achilles was an invincible warrior. Along the way, Achilles captured many towns in the Trojan territory. In the midst of the war, Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks, was forced by an oracle of Apollo to give up Chryseis, his own prize. He then proceeded to take Briseis from Achilles to make up for his loss. This was the central plot of the Illiad. After Briseis was taken, Achilles was enraged and refused to fight. From there on out, the war turned in the Trojan's favor. Thetis gave Achilles new armor made by Hephaestus, and he returned to the war and slayed Hector. Achilles the proceeded to drag the body behind his chariot in front of Troy and refused to allow Hector's body to be properly buried. When King Priam secretly entered into the Greek camp to plead for the body, Achilles gave in and allowed him to take the body. This is one of the more intriguing parts of the Illiad as Achilles showed complete respect for Priam was the enemy. From there, Achilles went defeated many enemies and fought until finally Paris, with help from Apollo, shot Achilles with a poison arrow in the one place where he was vulnerable...his heel.
Commentary:
This of course is where we get the expression "Achilles Heel" basically meaning your weakness. No matter how great you may be, you'll always have a weakness, your Achilles Heel. In literature, Achilles is portrayed all over. In the television series Class of the Titans, one of the seven heroes, Archie, is descended from Achilles and has inherited both his vulnerable heel and part of his invincibility.

Agamemnon Mythological Allusions BartleBy.com

Agamemnon, king of Argos, was the son of Atreus, king of Mycenae, and his wife Aerope and was the brother of Menelaus. After Atreus was murdered by his nephew Aegisthus, Agamemnon and Menelaus took refuge with Tyndareus, king of Sparta, whose daughters, Clytemnestra and Helen, they married. By Clytemnestra, Agamemnon had a son, Orestes, and three daughters, Iphigeneia, Electra, and Chrysothemis. Menelaus took after Sparta after Tyndareus, and Agamemnon recovered his father’s kingdom. When Paris, prince of Troy, carried off Helen, Agamemnon called on the princes of the country to unite in a war of revenge against the Trojans. He himself furnished 100 ships and was chosen commander in chief of the combined forces. The fleet was ready to set sail, but was prevented winds that were sent by the goddess Artemis because Agamemnon offended her. To appease the wrath of Artemis, Agamemnon was forced to sacrifice his own daughter Iphigeneia. After the capture of Troy, Cassandra, Paris’ sister, fell to Agamemnon’s lot in the distribution of the prizes of war. On his return he landed in Argolis, where Aegisthus had seduced Agamemnon’s wife, and carried out the murders of Agamemnon, his comrades, and Cassandra. As a form of revenge, Orestes murdered Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.
Commentary:
In most works of literature, illusions of Agamemnon are often seen as ruthless rulers and or emperors of false anger.

Genesis 1 Biblical Allusions Genesis 1: 1-50

In the beginning there was no earth or sky or sea or animals. And then God spoke in the darkness: “Let there be light!” And right away there was light. God said, “From now on, when it’s dark it will be ‘night” and when it’s light, it will be ‘day’.” Then nighttime came and the night passed and then the light came back again. That was the first day. On the second day, God made the earth and over it He hung a sky. And the second day was over. The next morning God looked around and thought, “the earth needs to be a bit more organized.” So, He put all the water in one place and all the dry land in another. When He finished that, God made plants to cover the land. Flowers and trees and grasses started to grow. “It’s looking great”, said God and that was the end of the third day. On the fourth day, God looked around and thought, “the daylight still needs a bit more work and the night is just too dark.” So, He made the sun to light the sky during the day and the moon and stars to add light to the night. He hung them in the sky and stepped back to look at his work. The next day, God looked at the water and created birds to fly over, and fish to swim inside. And that was the end of the fifth day. On the sixth day, God added animals to the land. He added everything from ants to zebras to the land. But He still felt something was missing. So God added Mankind to enjoy and take care of all that He had created. After six days, the whole universe was completed. On the seventh day God had a nice long rest and enjoyed looking at all He had made.
Commentary:
The story of creation is over used in modern and literature of the past. Also the phrase “Let there be Light!” is often adopted by people of power in works of literature.
The Nativity: Mathew I, Luke I Biblical Allusions Mathew 1: 1-25 Luke 1: 1-80

While Mary was still engaged to Joseph, she miraculously became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, as foretold to her by the angel Gabriel. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he had every right to feel disgraced, and Joseph “could” have divorced her under Jewish law, and under said law, Mary could have been put to death via stoning, but he didn’t. God sent him a message via a dream and he became a rather supportive Earthly father for Jesus. Far away in the East, some men saw a new in the sky. They studied their scrolls where it said that whenever a bright new star appeared it meant that a ruler had been born. The Wise Men decided to find this new ruler. They went to Jerusalem to see King Herod, because they thought the baby would be in the palace. They asked to see the child that would be King of the Jews. The king was confused and thought this new king may take away his throne. He told them to return when they had found the baby so that he could worship the child himself. The men set off to find the baby. They were guided by the star to the stable in Bethlehem. Here they knelt down and worshipped Jesus. Joseph had a dream where an angel told him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt because King Herod had ordered that Jesus be killed. They left Bethlehem right away. When the men did not return, Herod ordered that all male children in Bethlehem be killed. They did not find Jesus.
Commentary:
The story of Nativity is alluded whenever a great birth of power is in effect.

Beauty and the Beast Fairytales Bartleby.com

A merchant lived in a mansion with his three daughters, who were all beautiful, except for one, who was more beautiful than the rest. Belle, age fourteen was a very sweet girl. When her father claimed he was travelling, she asked him to bring home a rose. He promised he would, so he traveled and was lost in a forest. In the forest, he found a castle. Inside, there was food and gifts, of which the merchant thought was for him. He ate the food and then found a rose. When he went to go pick up the rose, a beast came and told him that he was going to die. The merchant begged for his life, and explained that the rose was for his daughter. The beast then said that he would be his prisoner, or he’d have to trade with his daughter. His daughter traded places with her father and she became the beast’s prisoner. Every night, the beast would ask if she’d marry him, and every night she’d say no. Eventually, the two fell in love and when she kissed him, he transformed into Prince Adam.
Commentary:
This story tells that love and beauty come in all shapes and sizes. And that no matter how you look, you’d still be able to find love.

Antigone Mythological Allusions BartleBy.com

Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. After Oedipus left the throne, his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, agreed to rule Thebes in alternate years. Eteocles, at the end of his first year of rule, went back on his word and refused to step down. Polynices then raised an army of traditional enemies of Thebes and led them against his city. The battle ends with the defeat of the invading army, but Eteocles and Polynices are both dead, killed by each other's hand. Creon, who now assumes power in Thebes, declares that, as he was the protector of the city, Eteocles' body will be properly buried, but Polynices, because he attacked the city, will be left unburied on the battlefield. Antigone decides she must disobey, arguing that a law of man which violates religious law is no law at all. She performs a ceremonial burial and demands that she will herself be buried by being sealed in a cave. Creon's son, Haemon, however, is betrothed to Antigone, and protests her sentence and lectures his father on wise leadership. Creon refuses to change his mind. When the prophet Tiresias informs Creon that the gods are angry with his pronouncement concerning Polynices, he finally relents, but too late. When the cave is opened to retrieve Antigone, she has already hung herself. In his grief and anger, Haemon tries to kill Creon. He fails, and then kills himself instead. When he returned to the palace, Creon also learns that his wife, Eurydice, killed herself too when she heard what had happened. Finally, Creon is ruler over an orderly city, but he has lost everything.
Commentary:
Antigone is just a girl who wanted fairness and equality. She felt sorrow for Polynices because his brother was the one who betrayed the sacred promise and religious law.

Aphrodite Mythological Allusions BartleBy.com

Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty. Aphrodite is the wife of the lame and ugly god of fire, Hephaestus. Among her lovers was Ares, god of war, who eventually became her husband. She was the rival of Persephone, queen of the underworld, for the love of the beautiful Greek youth Adonis. Eris, the goddess of discord, was the only goddess not invited to the wedding of King Peleus and the Thetis, and she was so angry, that she threw a golden apple into their wedding arrangement. When Zeus refused to judge between the three goddesses who claimed the apple, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, they asked Paris, prince of Troy, to make the award. Each offered him a bribe: Hera, that he would be a powerful ruler; Athena, that he would achieve great military fame; and Aphrodite, that he should have the fairest woman in the world. Paris selected Aphrodite as the fairest and chose as his prize Helen of Troy, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus. Paris's abduction of Helen led to the Trojan War.
Commentary:
In Homer's Iliad Aphrodite is said to be the daughter of Zeus and Dione, a Titan goddess. Other stories tell how she sprang, full-grown, from the foam of the sea near the island Cythera. From there Zephyrus, the west wind, carried her on a shell to Cyprus, which was always regarded as her real home. There the Hours met her, gave her clothes, and brought her to the gods. Every god even Zeus himself wanted this beautiful, golden goddess as his wife. Aphrodite was too proud and rejected them all. To punish her, Zeus gave her to Hephaestus (Vulcan in Roman mythology), the lame and ugly god of the forge. This good-natured craftsman built her a splendid palace on Cyprus. Aphrodite soon left him for Ares (Mars), the handsome god of war. One of their children was Eros (Cupid), the winged god of love.

“The Fall”: Genesis 3 Biblical Allusions Genesis 3: [1-10]

A snake comes to Eve and convinces her to eat from the forbidden tree. The woman listens to the serpent and eats from it. She also brings some to Adam and he eats as well. Knowing they’ve sinned, they hide in the garden until God comes. Adam blames Eve. Eve blames the serpent. God curses the serpent and promises a savior to come and crush the serpent’s head. Women must now endure much pain during childbirth. They will also be ruled over by their husbands. Men must now tool and work to produce food. All people will now have to die. God clothes them and forces them out of the garden. An angel with a flaming sword is placed at the garden gate to prevent anyone from returning and eating of the Tree of Life.
Commentary:
The story of Adam and Eve has been told so many times by thousands of works of literature. Music, Art, Books, there are too many to name. However, I’ve never known that in the original story, God punishes women via childbirth for Eve’s sin.

Lazarus Biblical Allusions John [11:1] – [12:11]

Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, were friends of Jesus. When Lazarus was sick, his sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." When Jesus heard the news, he waited two more days before going to Lazarus' hometown of Bethany. And when Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. When Martha discovered that Jesus was on his way, she went out to meet him. Jesus told Martha, "Your brother will rise again." But Martha thought he was talking about the final resurrection of the dead. Then Jesus said these important words: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." Martha then went and told Mary that Jesus wanted to see her. Jesus had not yet entered the village, most likely to avoid stirring up the crowd and calling attention to himself. The town of Bethany was not far from Jerusalem where the Jewish leaders were against Jesus. Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus with Mary, Martha and the rest of the mourners. There he asked them to remove the stone that covered the hillside burial place. Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed to his Father, closing with these words: "Lazarus, come out!" When Lazarus came out of the tomb, Jesus told the people to remove his grave clothes.
Commentary:
Through the raising of Lazarus, Jesus showed the believers, and the world, that he had power over death. Many believed that Jesus was the Son of God and they put their faith in him after seeing this miracle.

Cinderella Fairytales Bartleby.com

After the father married the evil stepmother, the stepmother murdered him for his cash, and then used his daughter [Cinderella] as the slave of the house and spoiled her own two daughters with the cash. They practically starved the daughter and every day after she was done with her work, all she had for warmth were the cinders left in the fire place, which is where she got the nickname 'Cinder’ella because she'd sleep next to the cinders. If she didn't do something fast enough, she'd be whipped, just like a slave. Sometimes to earn extra money, because 'they could never have enough', the stepmother would rent out her daughter much like a prostitute. She was unwilling so she'd often come back scarred up as a rape victim, but of course no one took pity on her. One day the prince held a ball and invited all the maidens in the city, except Cinderella, because the stepmother made sure no one knew she existed. Cinderella was forced to prepare her stepsisters for the ball, and if she did something wrong (like mess up their hair, slightly smudge their makeup, tie something too tight, etc.) then she'd be whipped and slapped. Eventually after the two stepsisters left for the ball and the mother left with them, Cinderella was finally alone in the house and currently did not have to do chores if she didn't want to, so she just sat down and cried from all the pain her life caused her. The ghost of her father showed up from her tears and sat beside her, along with the ghost of her birth mother as well who had died while she was very young. Together, the spirits magically sewed together a beautiful gown for Cinderella and they healed all her scars and put makeup on her to cover her bruises and she looked absolutely beautiful. The spirits turned a pumpkin into a wondrous coach and some mice into horses and they sent her off to the ball, warning her that the magic would wear off at midnight. At the ball, everyone thought she looked absolutely stunning. But off course, since no one knew Cinderella existed, no one knew who she was. Her beauty even stunned the stepsisters and step mother and they didn't recognize her. Everyone thought she was a princess from some other kingdom. The prince was mesmerized and asked her to dance with him and they fell in love. However, the clock began to chime midnight and she quickly ran off with only a small goodbye to the prince, telling him he would never see her again. As she ran down to her enchanted coach, one of her glass slippers fell off and she tripped, but she quickly regained her footing and scrambled into the coach, which immediately set off. The prince ran down after her with her slipper which he picked up and tried to call her back so he could return it to her, but she'd left out of sight. Once the stepsisters and stepmother returned home and they saw Cinderella in her rags sitting on the floor, she was violently beaten for not doing her chores. Over the next few months the prince traveled the kingdom and even out to other lands to try to find Cinderella, saying whoever's foot fit the slipper she left would be his princess. But like I said before, no one knew she existed, and when he described her, no one could tell him where she lived or who she was. He stopped by her house once, as well, but the stepmother had locked her away in her room. The stepsisters tried to fit their giant feet in the slipper but it was impossible. After a while the prince had even put out a reward for whoever could name his princess, and of course the stepmother was enthusiastic about money, so she planned to bring Cinderella to him and collect the money, but then she would murder her afterwards and say she'd had a terrible disease that the stepsisters also shared, and they were very poor and if they had enough money to afford medicine then her two other daughters could be saved, so she would collect donations from the kingdom for more money. However, after Cinderella married the prince she told him about her stepmother's plan and she was caught in the act. She was later hung for murdering the father and for attempted murder of Cinderella. The two stepsisters were banned from the kingdom for torturing Cinderella.
Commentary:

I honestly learned a lot from learning the actual story of ‘Cinder’ella. I know now that her name actually came from the cinders she slept by, and I suppose you could say she and the prince 'lived happily ever after' once all the death and money was out of the way.
Atlas Mythological Allusions BartleBy.com

The story of Atlas tells a Titan whose punishment after the battle between the Gods, was to lift the sky forever and eternity. One day, Hercules came to see Atlas for some help finding some Golden Apples. Atlas, bearer of the sky, knew exactly where they were, and knowing that Hercules was immensely strong, told him to hold the sky for a few hours while Atlas went to fetch the Golden Apples. When Atlas came back with the apples, Hercules complained and said, “Who would come back to such a job like this?” Atlas knew he could run away and forever be free. But Hercules tricked him and said to hold up the sky for a quick second while he put a pad on his shoulder. As soon as Atlas held the sky again, Hercules ran away, along with the Golden Apples.

Commentary:
The Story of Atlas isn’t very known. However through this assignment, I’ve learned that maps have adopted the name Atlas from Mythology. Atlas, being the bearer of the Sky, knows where everything is. It only makes sense to call an atlas after Atlas.

Cupid and Psyche Mythological Allusions BartleBy.com

Venus’s son Cupid (or Eros) is the God of Love. He is the one responsible for the relationships that take place on Earth. One day, Venus was enraged by the beauty of Psyche, a mortal, and demanded Eros go to her room, and shoot her with one of his Golden Arrows and Venus would place a beast in her room. As soon as he went to her room, she woke up, and Eros scratched himself with one of his arrows, causing him to fall deeply in love with her. Enraged, Venus made it so that she’d never fall in love with anyone. As payback, Eros stopped shooting his Golden Arrows, forcing the world to turn vile and old, also causing Venus’ power to shrivel. Venus eventually gave in, but her curse still stayed with Psyche. Cupid eventually broke the curse, and was able to fall deeply in love with her.

Commentary: I never knew that Cupid’s real name was Eros, and I also had no idea that Cupid was capable of loving someone. I thought he was just unlovable, and that was why he made everyone else fall in love.

The Flood Biblical Allusions Genesis 6 [1-22]

Noah was a good man who lived with unbelievers/extremely ungodly. God saw the evil and told Noah to build a great 'ark' for the animals (two of each; male and female) and his family. Anyone who would see him build the ark and believe could come aboard and be saved from the flood, but no one did. It took many years to build and they had plenty of time to believe. They were warned, but only mocked and so they perished in the flood. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. When it was over God put the rainbow in the sky and told Noah this was a symbol of His promise never to destroy the whole earth with a flood again. Noah and his family came out of the ark onto dry ground and worshiped God immediately.

Commentary:
The Story of Noah and the Ark is well known through literature. It is also portrayed in movies such as Evan Almighty, where Evan is given the same task as Noah was, except more modernized.

The Last Supper Biblical Allusions Mark 14 John 13 The Last Supper tells the story of how Jesus brings together the disciples and eats together with them. During the supper, Jesus holds up a piece of bread from a loaf and claims, “This is my body which I have given for you, Eat it!” And he does so again with the wine, “This is my blood from which I have given up for you, Drink it!”
Commentary:
This story is retold many times over the course time. The accuracy of it may be fraud; however, the moral is the same. The purpose of the Last Supper was to introduce the sacrament, and it is practiced every Sunday by all Christians.