This week more stories of lovers. They are not always happy stories, as a matter of fact they are mostly of love lost and only sometimes regained but there are a few happy endings. I think I'll just share the highlights as Edith Hamilton covers a lot of ground. Here are my favorites.
First up is Pyramus and Thisbe whose story I was already familiar with. Maybe Shakespeare found a little inspiration with the pair since they loved each other but their families wouldn't allow their marriage. Where have we heard that predicament between two young lovers before? Their houses were so close together that they shared a wall, and unbeknownst to their families they would whisper back and forth through it. They decided they would run away in order to be together, but a series of unfortunate misunderstandings occurred. Pyramus found Thisbe's bloodied cloak and thought she was dead so killed himself with his sword. Did you know the mulberries were actually white, but Pyramus's blood spilled on to them turning them red? When Thisbe found him she took his sword and plunged it into her own heart so they would be together in death.
I was thinking how strange that in Greek Mythology the Underworld, or what we think of as Hell, is where mortals go when they die. Heaven must simply be where the gods live and mortals don't easily gain entrance. I'd not thought about the idea of Heaven as a place you go to get rewarded after death in the sense of how we think of it today, and it's made me curious to know when that concept came along (not until the era of christianity as we know it?--obviously I'm not well read in this area and will have to do a little more research).
Anyway, the Underworld is where Eurydice goes right after her marriage to Orpheus. Another pair of ill-fated lovers. Orpheus, of musical fame, so talented that even the gods sat up and listened when he played his lyre was in love with Eurydice. They didn't get much happiness since she was stung by a viper and died right after the wedding. He went after her into the Underworld and was told he could have her back temporarily as long as he didn't turn around and look at her until they had left Hades. As soon as he was in the light he turned to make sure she was following him, but it was too soon since she was still in darkness, so he lost his chance and was not allowed to return to Hades a second time while alive. To add insult to injury a group of Maenads came upon him and tore him limb from limb. But if you go today to this spot you will hear nightingales singing more sweetly than anywhere else.
Onwards to Ceyx and Alcyone. And another Christian reference, since Ceyx is Lucifer's son. However here Lucifer means lightbearer--the star that brings the day. I like this story, which was unfamiliar to me. Ceyx and Alcyone were a happily married couple. Ceyx needed to make a voyage by sea, and when Alycone asked to go with him he said he couldn't allow her since it would be a perilous journey. Of course the worst happens and the boat sinks in a storm. All the while Alcyone is praying to Juno for his safe return. Juno takes pity on her since she knows that Ceyx is dead. She sends Morpheus, the son of the god of sleep, to give her the bad news by way of a dream. When Alcyone goes to the spot where she saw off her husband she finds his body floating back to her on the waves. Both she and Ceyx are turned into birds by the gods so they can once again be together.
"Every year there are seven days on end when the sea lies still and calm; no breath of wind stirs the waters. There are the days when Alcyone broods over her nest floating on the sea. After the young birds are hatched the charm is broken; but each winter these days of perfect peace come, and they are called after her, Alcyon, or, more commonly, Halcyon days."
I quite like that!
Finally a happy story: Pygmalion and Galatea. This is one I can see authors reworking to suit their needs, and it would be a fun one to retell in a modern version. Pygmalion, a sculptor of Cyprus, is a woman-hater and vows never to marry. He decides (maybe to improve on the original?) to sculpt a statue of a woman. What he creates is so exquisite that he ends up falling in love with it, but as perfect as it is (and no matter how many kisses he bestows on it) it remains cold and lifeless. Enter the goddess Venus whose attention has been caught by such an unusual situation that she grants Pygmalion's wish to turn her into flesh. And Galatea is brought to life. Alas nothing more is known of the pair, but perhaps they got a 'happily ever after'.
The myth of Baucis and Philemon has a fairy tale quality to it. The moral of the story is to never underestimate the power of good hospitality. Ever wonder what the gods do when they're bored up on Mount Olympus? They dress up as mortals and have fun messing with them on earth. In this case Jupiter and Mercury, having grown tired of all that ambrosia and nectar, want to see how they're treated when they knock on random doors. Usually they're turned away, except for one humble house. Baucis and Philemon are a happy but poor couple yet they eagerly welcome in the two travelers and offer them food and drink. The gods decide to show their gratitude by saving the pair after they flood out the rest of the town. When asked what reward they want (as if not drowning weren't enough), the two ask to be priests guarding their temple. And when it is time for them to die, they ask to be able to die together. They are immortalized as trees--a linden and an oak--two different trees growing from one single trunk. I love how the myths are so wrapped up in the natural world explaining how things came--there's something comforting about so many of these stories.
Next week: The Quest of the Golden Fleece.