What Are The Similarities Between Berne's Myths And Legends Of Ancient Greece

Before modern times, children were not only held to a higher standard by their parents, but, also carried the weight of high expectations. Making one’s parents proud was a normal priority for children in both the time of Shakespeare and ancient Greece. Found within Shakespeare’s play The Tempest and E.M. Berne’s book Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome, there are two specific children whom bore similar childhood experiences and and faced important life tasks once they were of appropriate age. Prospero’s daughter Miranda, from The Tempest, and Polydectes’s adopted son Perseus, from Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome, face similar life circumstances throughout each of their stories. In their early years, the two children were
Perseus was eventually adopted by Polydectes, who was the king of an island called Seriphus, “Polydectes, king of the island…” (Berens). Prospero, Miranda’s father, was the Duke of Milan. Prospero states to Miranda, “And thy father was Duke of Milan, and thou his only heir and princess…” (Shakespeare). Duke is a prestigious title, which, before being casted out of Milan, made Prospero a prince. Miranda and Perseus’s fathers invested in them each by giving their child extensive educations. Prospero states to his daughter, “… have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit than other princesses can that have more time for vainer hours and tutors not so careful.” (Shakespeare). With books that Gonzalo gave to him when setting the father and daughter adrift on the raft, Prospero made sure to educate his daughter more thoroughly than most princesses. Polydectes also made sure that his new son would be knowledgeable, “Polydectes eventually became united to Danaë, and bestowed upon Perseus an education befitting a hero” (Berens). The king had big plans for his stepson Perseus and wanted to make sure that he would one day be fit to become a