Thursday, November 21, 1996

Sexuality in Classical Mythology

Through the analysis of classical mythology one rapidly becomes aware that many of the stories therein are vehicles through which the ancients expressed their moral convictions. In particular, each of the stories of Narcissus, Hippolytus and Phaedra, and Pygmalion and Galatea demonstrate classical beliefs about the nature of human sexuality. They present very specific gender roles to which civilized peoples should ascribe. In addition, each of the stories displays the consequences of deviating from such positions, from the destruction of the self to the ruin of others. Each of the characters presented in these myths becomes doomed once it is shown that they act in opposition to their specified gender roles. Often in myth godly intervention is required to reinstate such ideological sexual roles and restore order. Such repercussions affect both male and female characters equally severely, yet it is the women who digress from their prescribed roles much more frequently. Thus it can be seen that ancient Greeks and Romans, while not quite misogynistic, greatly feared the revolutionary power which women could possess.

The traditional classical view of sexuality consisted of passive females who accepted the love forced upon them by their male counterparts. After being 'conquered' in such a fashion, women were to become loyal and obedient housewives while their husbands became productive members of society. Such an ideology can be seen in the story of Pygmalion and Galatea (Hamilton 1942, 145-50). Pygmalion, choosing to scorn the company of common women because of their deficiencies (1942, 146), focused his energies and attention on his art--sculpture. He creates a statue of remarkable beauty in both detail and form, and was thereafter entranced. Galatea herself is the zenith of the feminine ideal: she is forced to accept his affections without opinion or complaint. The intent of the original story is clear: one can possess the more immediately appealing aspects of the female sex--physical beauty and delicacy--while avoiding such 'undesirable' traits as personality and individuality. For a male do acquire such a favourable wife he must create and shape her, he must conquer her will. She will then become permanently his and unable to provide him with anything but "unutterable gratitude and joy" (1942, 149-50). As exemplified by the optimistic ending to the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea, thereafter the couple will experience a joyous and fruitful marriage. From such an ideology it can be seen that while men achieve power through the conquest and consequent subjugation of women, females become empowered by their devotion and chastity. Thus those women who scorn promiscuity are given an elevated status, and accordingly they receive attention from the gods , as presented in the story of Narcissus (1942, 113-15). The virginal nymphs of the forest, followers of Artemis, were constantly being pursued by Zeus for carnal favours, who is himself the epitome of the conquering male. The nymphs are kept to their sexual roles by Hera who threatens divine punishment for any perversion; there is no mistaking that she is the patron of marriage and of married life. She is continually attempting to regulate and maintain the established sexual order and her governing is both supreme and just; accordingly she is indisputably the consummate partner for Zeus. Together they represent the paragon to which individuals and couples should aspire. Therefore it can be seen that classically defined sexual roles are divinely ordained and thus absolute.

Many stories relayed by classical poets are centred upon the misfortunes experienced by women who vigorously pursue their hearts and their lovers. By doing so they defy their 'naturally' assigned passive role and become deviant aggressors. Due to this unnatural behaviour, much anguish and disaster is destined to transpire. Thus when Phaedra feverously pursues her stepson Hippolytus (1942, 220-23), she dooms herself to suffering the harsh consequences of her actions. Her love for Hippolytus will not remain unfulfilled for the superficial reason of his chastity, instead such passion must be dispelled to ensure the natural order. Indeed, Phaedra is sorrowfully aware of her social malefaction and the dilemmas which will soon arise: "[s]he fell in love with him, madly and miserably, overwhelmed with shame at such a love.." (1942, 220). Thus, as Phaedra realizes the tragedy of her situation she sees only one manner by which she can escape from it--her death. Phaedra's suicide is her final attempt not only at reconciliation with her role as female and wife, as well it is an appeasement to her betrayal of her husband Theseus. It is notably ironic that Theseus would believe his wife's final message instead of his son. He remains unaware of his wife's betrayal until the damage of her actions becomes irreversible:

There ought to be a true yardstick to measure affection by...some means to know who
is to be trusted and who is not....look at my son--proved base by the hand of her who
is dead....Her letter outweighs any words he could speak. [Hippolytus is] in exile from
this land.
(1942, 220)

Theseus seems oblivious to Phaedra's abnormal behaviour, instead he believes Hippolytus to have acted as the violent conqueror over her affections; such would be true to son's instinctive sexual nature. Thus Theseus views the catastrophes experienced by his household as attributable to otherwise normal sexual conduct. Indeed such seems antithetical to the poet's desire to express his gender maxims, yet the opposite is the case. From his trust in her it can be seen that Theseus has placed his wife into her natural feminine role , yet he too must suffer the consequences of her actions not only through her death, but the consequent death of his son as well. Thus the reader becomes truly aware of the deplorable nature of Phaedra; such are the true threats of a woman who rejects her inherent sexual duties. Equally punished for such delinquent behaviour is the nymph Echo from the story of Narcissus. She is continually chattering and speaking her mind. While investigating Zeus's most recent romances, Hera becomes "diverted...by Echo's gay chatter" (1942, 113) and ignores the purpose of her inquiry. Hence the consequence of female self-expression is futility, and Echo is punished accordingly: she can only speak once spoken to. Thus when she pursues Narcissus for herself, she cannot speak to him. Echo is acting out her punishment: she cannot become independent of her feminine nature despite all her efforts to the contrary. Consequently Echo "hid her blushes and her shame in a lonely cave....she has so wasted away with longing that only now her voice is left to her" (1942, 114).

Such reprimands are not conferred merely upon female sexual deviants however. Males can be punished with the same degree of ferocity on the occasion that they deviate from their prescribed sexual nature. In such cases male characters usually disdain women and thus prefer to remain chaste. A male who is raised in the classical world and shows himself to be impotent has become conquered himself. Such an abhorrently non-sexual male cannot properly exist within the classical context and is accordingly condemned. One such character is Narcissus who "would pass the loveliest [girls] carelessly by" (1942, 113). By refraining from the conquest of women he doomed himself to self-torment. Responding to a prayer from one of those women whom Narcissus wounded, the goddess Nemesis caused him to become enamoured by his own reflection in a pool of water and there sit until his death. Symbolically, much can be established of such an occurrence. Nemesis herself is the divine figure of righteous anger, an obvious selection to set the aberrant youth aright; ultimately it is just and inevitable that he is punished in such a fashion. In particular, it is suitable that Narcissus becomes infatuated by his own image, yet never able to consummate that love: what others have sought but could not obtain is unattainable to him as well. Even in death his soul remained unattainable: the nymphs seeking his body for burial did so in vain. Thus Narcissus was lost to his own depravity. While superficially dissimilar to the punishment of Narcissus, the fate of Hippolytus is equally deleterious. He too hated romantic love, instead adopting the path of the chaste hunter-goddess Artemis. Although his death was directly attributable to Phaedra's treachery, more figuratively he was condemned for a very similar rationale as Narcissus. His anomalously passive nature could not be allowed to persist in such a strictly dictated moral world as classical literature presents, most especially since he was the son of one of the great Greek heros, Theseus. Thus it is equitable that Hippolytus be condemned to exile and death; it is in such a manner that civilised order is re-established.

Classical mythology is exceedingly direct in its presentation of various characters and events; the stories relayed are readily understandable. Yet there is much that lies beneath the seemingly simplistic exterior of these myths. Many of the stories present precisely defined ethics and the consequences of defying them. Such is presented in the myths of Narcissus, Hippolytus and Phaedra, and Pygmalion and Galatea, wherein the nature of human sexuality is defined. They portray a sexual hierarchy in very concrete terms: the male is to dominate the female. Both sexes should be aware of their station and act accordingly. As these myths exhibit, the consequences for disobeying such sexual roles are quite severe. While the relevance of such a sexual hierarchy to modern society cannot be completely justified, in order to fully comprehend classical literature one must place himself into the mindset of the contemporary readers of the classical era and thus accept such a structure.

NOTES

Referring to classical mythology presently and henceforth, the term is meant to imply content from both the Greek and Roman literature. The literary content of this essay is drawn from Edith Hamilton's Mythology (1942), who has taken from the Greek dramatists Euripides and Sophocles and the Roman poet Ovid.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. Boston, United States of America: Little, Brown and Company,
1942.

Wednesday, October 02, 1996

The Tragical History of the Death of Perseus, Son of Zeus -- a one act play

Dramatis Personae

Spirit of Perseus
Hades, Lord of the Underworld
Persephone, wife of Hades and Queen of the Underworld
Spirit of Medusa, a gorgon
Spirit of Acrisius, King of Larissa
Hermes, god and escort
Chorus, the souls of the dead [naked and pale, they stand unmoving]

Scene – Cavern of the Underworld; throne room of Hades and Persephone, who sit upon black stone surrounded by the Chorus.

[Enter Spirit of Perseus, led by Hermes]

HERMES: Lord Hades, Lady Persephone, I bear greetings and a suppliant – Perseum, son of Zeus and liberator of Ethiopia. Lord Zeus has decreed that you grant him audience.

HADES: Greetings, Lord Hermes. Your coming was not unexpected. We have already decided to grant audience to the son of Zeus.

HERMES: Zeus conveys his gratitude.

HADES: Bear my tidings to my brother, lord of the above-worlds, and tell him that Perseus’s words will reach our ears. [Exit Hermes] Greetings to you Perseus. Your deeds are known throughout the world above, and are not unknown to us as well. Tales of your great lineage – conceived by Zeus to the maiden Danae – as well as your childhood at Seriphos have been well told since. Your trials with the Grey Women and the Gorgons have passed the lips of many men. Your slaying of the serpent and rescuing of fair Andromeda will be remembered in Ethiopia long after it becomes a forgotten country itself. You have asked for our audience, and it has been granted. Now speak.

PERSEUS: King Hades, Queen Persephone, on my knees I greet you.

PERSEPHONE: You merely need to speak your mind. You do not need to entreat yourself before us.

PERSEUS: I wish that your lordships will grant me a favour. My wife Andromeda is without child. Yet many suitors wish to claim her and would then claim my bloodline. I do not wish to be forgotten.

PERSEPHONE: Such mortal affairs concern us little.

HADES: His wish may yet be granted however, provided that it conforms with my established order.

PERSEUS: I wish to be returned to the above-world to provide my wife with child and care for them until he is grown to manhood. I wish to be again among the living.

PERSEPHONE: Intolerable.

HADES: Such has occurred only once before. The balladeer Orpheus entered my world and led the soul of his love Eurydice to the overlands only to lose her to his mistrust.

PERSEPHONE: He had caused the Furies to weep. They did not forgive him.

HADES: Such will happen again. Yet I do not wish it to occur at this moment.

PERSEUS: [kneeling] I beg your mercy, O Lord of the Under-realm! My life was so full of deeds and yet my death was so tragic.

HADES: Tragic? Your death was a mere pittance when brought in relation to the tragic ends you gave unto others. Son of Zeus, meet the consequences of your heroism.

[Enter Spirit of Acrisius, hands bound in chains to his feet]

ACRISIUS: Hail, my daughter’s son, my murderer.

PERSEUS: Hail to you, once-king. Although I did not kill you intentionally, I do not regret or grieve for having done so.

ACRISIUS: Such words are to be expected from one such as you, my fated killer.

PERSEUS: I have no sympathy for you, you who wished me dead. You who sent your own daughter with me a babe in her arms to a watery prison. May the gods bless sweet Dictys who saved us from our confinement. After such abandonment I cannot place the remorse of your death upon my shoulders.

ACRISIUS: How was I to act otherwise? It had been prophesied that you would kill me. One cannot leave oneself to fate without acting upon it. Thus I tried to abandon you. Yet you struck me down, not in combat but from afar by a toss of a discus. And for my deeds I must wear these chains which bind me from further action. Such patience, such a ploy. Would that the Furies have had the power to act upon my murderer. Yet too late, you arrive here by other means. So be it. My blood remains on your hands. May the gods be merciful in the Underworld as they had been during your living travels. I leave you with your guilt. [Exit]

PERSEUS: Fool! I will not listen to his ravings.

PERSEPHONE: The mortal’s comportment does not endeavour me to his cause.

HADES: Let us yet see how he composes himself with this next one.

[Enter Spirit of Medusa (seen in human form, as prior to her transformation into a gorgon)]

MEDUSA: I greet you, my slayer. Forgive me for not thanking you for aiding me in my return to my former beauty. Such acts of heroism were not requested or appreciated.

PERSEUS: It was not my intention to aid one such as you. My actions were to save my mother from the tyrant Polydectes. It was he who wanted your head, so I did as was required.

MEDUSA: Such a noble act! Would that you had hidden your pride and shown your bravery, you could have risen to action against him yourself. Yet you requred me as a sacrifice.

PERSEUS: You were a dreaded monster fit to be killed!

MEDUSA: I was one among three who desired merely to exist! I had not slighted you in any way, nor had any intention to do so. You did not even have the presence to face me in combat. Killed from above while asleep, aided by the gods. The cap of darkness which shielded you from my sisters was proof of your cowardice.

PERSEUS: It was through my bravery that you were slain and Ethiopia was saved.

MEDUSA: Such boasts! You have done no more than any other man when aided by the gods.

PERSEUS: I was chosen to be a hero among men, thus befitting the gifts from the gods. You were fated to be killed by my hand and mine alone.

MEDUSA: Enough! You remain ignorant and cowardly hide yourself behind your false identity. May you suffer twice as Tityus among the vultures! [Exit]

PERSEPHONE: He has now offended both of them.

HADES: Perhaps now you may reconsider your nature. Once considered the saviour of men you are now one among many. You do not appeal yourself to us anymore than the countless other souls who have entered my realm. You will however be granted one boon. You may return to your lady Andromeda for one hour. Zeus will aid you to plant your seed within her while she sleeps. Then you will return to the Underdark not knowing your son. He will indeed grow to manhood and beget a powerful family. His grandson will truly become what you could not – first among men. When you return, you will accept your death as others have.

PERSEUS: Such therefore is my fate. I thank you My Lord and Lady. [Exit]

PERSEPHONE: He has now accepted his fate.

HADES: Indeed, yet his bloodline will continue along the paths he has trodden. Were it not Zeus’s will I would have not allowed his wish. His kin will cause future strife within my realm.

PERSEPHONE: So be it. The name of Perseus will not be forgotten. [Exeunt]

CHORUS: Please grace us to understand,
We have no meaning to offend,
With known tales we cannot contend,
Such knowledge is not yet at hand.

Old wrongs needed to be set aright,
Such creations needed to be told,
Now fitting with stories of old,
We bid you a fair and goodnight. [Exeunt]