The speeches of Hera from Homeric Hymn to Apollo Within the passage, Hera expresses her anger toward her husband Zeus who dishonours her by producing Athena alone. The speech is a consolidation of Hera’s jealousy toward the superiority of Athena and the hatred toward her own failure in childbearing. In contrast with the glorious Athena, Hephaestus who Hera produces alone was “feeble from birth among all the gods, lame and withered of foot,” (H.H. 3g). The shame and the disappointment amplify Hera’s enmity, and she beseeches the ancient deities - Gaia, Ouranos, Tartaros and the Titans - to give her a child apart from Zeus. During her forceful speech, Hera initially hesitates and appeals for a child who is “nothing inferior to [Zeus] in might.”
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When Zeus hears the prophecy of his lover, Metis, being destined to bear a son greater than him, she becomes a threat to him and he immediately swallows her to prevent the outcome of her pregnancy. Hera could have very well ended up with the same fate, except she was clever enough to conceal herself during her pregnancy. Another concern regarding the birth of Typhaon is the true identity of his mother. In the account from Homer, Typhaon is the son of Hera; however, in the accounts from Antoninus Liberalis and Apollodorus, he is represented as the son of Gaia -- an autochthonous figure. Indeed, Gaia does assist Hera in the Homeric Hymns by giving her the ability to produce a child like Typhaon. Considering the fact that the Homeric Hymns is one of the earliest sources from the Archaic Period and the fact that myths were communicated through an oral system, it is possible for misleading assumptions or errors in translation to occur.
Vergil’s Georgics, book I The Georgics is a didactic poem written by the Roman poet Vergil. The passage appears to be influenced by the Greek poem Works and Days written by Hesiod. This can be also recognized as the Roman interpretation of the Ages of Man, as Vergil’s descriptions flow chronologically. It …show more content…
An oracle foretells to him that he must preserve his purple hair in order to avoid his dethroning. This oracle is quite extraordinary, since in most cases the descendants of the king (such as Perseus) are typically involved in physically overthrowing or threatening the authority of a king. In this case, Nisus is required to protect his hair, and in contrast with other myths, he does not send his daughter into exile, nor does Hyginus mention any evident predators within Nisus’ country. When Minos, the king of Crete, came to attack Nisus, Nisus’ daughter Scylla is persuaded by Venus to fall in love with the invader. Scylla becomes the helper maiden in the story, and she assists Minos by cutting the fateful hair from her father’s head. Consequently, Minos conquers Nisus with the maiden’s help. However, Minos refuses to accept Scylla as his companion, and he emphasizes on “Crete [being] the most sacred place and [it] would never shelter such a crime.” As a result, Scylla is altered from being a helper maiden to being a damsel in distress. She hurls herself into the sea so that her father cannot pursue her, and she is transformed into a fish called ciris; Nisus is transformed into a haliaetos bird however, which is a sea eagle. The relationship between the father and the daughter is reconstructed into a revengeful predator-and-prey conflict. The
When Zeus hears the prophecy of his lover, Metis, being destined to bear a son greater than him, she becomes a threat to him and he immediately swallows her to prevent the outcome of her pregnancy. Hera could have very well ended up with the same fate, except she was clever enough to conceal herself during her pregnancy. Another concern regarding the birth of Typhaon is the true identity of his mother. In the account from Homer, Typhaon is the son of Hera; however, in the accounts from Antoninus Liberalis and Apollodorus, he is represented as the son of Gaia -- an autochthonous figure. Indeed, Gaia does assist Hera in the Homeric Hymns by giving her the ability to produce a child like Typhaon. Considering the fact that the Homeric Hymns is one of the earliest sources from the Archaic Period and the fact that myths were communicated through an oral system, it is possible for misleading assumptions or errors in translation to occur.
Vergil’s Georgics, book I The Georgics is a didactic poem written by the Roman poet Vergil. The passage appears to be influenced by the Greek poem Works and Days written by Hesiod. This can be also recognized as the Roman interpretation of the Ages of Man, as Vergil’s descriptions flow chronologically. It …show more content…
An oracle foretells to him that he must preserve his purple hair in order to avoid his dethroning. This oracle is quite extraordinary, since in most cases the descendants of the king (such as Perseus) are typically involved in physically overthrowing or threatening the authority of a king. In this case, Nisus is required to protect his hair, and in contrast with other myths, he does not send his daughter into exile, nor does Hyginus mention any evident predators within Nisus’ country. When Minos, the king of Crete, came to attack Nisus, Nisus’ daughter Scylla is persuaded by Venus to fall in love with the invader. Scylla becomes the helper maiden in the story, and she assists Minos by cutting the fateful hair from her father’s head. Consequently, Minos conquers Nisus with the maiden’s help. However, Minos refuses to accept Scylla as his companion, and he emphasizes on “Crete [being] the most sacred place and [it] would never shelter such a crime.” As a result, Scylla is altered from being a helper maiden to being a damsel in distress. She hurls herself into the sea so that her father cannot pursue her, and she is transformed into a fish called ciris; Nisus is transformed into a haliaetos bird however, which is a sea eagle. The relationship between the father and the daughter is reconstructed into a revengeful predator-and-prey conflict. The