Medousa and Perseus
Akrisios ruled Argos. He received an Oracle that is daughter Danae would have a son who would kill him. He had a brozne chamber built and imprisoned Danae. Zeus had sex with her by turning himself into a shower of gold and puting himself in to her lap. She gave birth to Perseus. Akrisios refised to believe that Zeus was responsible and out her in a wooden chest and floated her off to sea. She was picked up by Diktys brother of the King Polydektes.
Perseus grew up and Polydektes fell in love with Danae but Perseus tried to thwart it. The King pertended is was betrothed to Hippodameia and asked for a bridal gift. Perseus said he would get him a Gorgon's head. The King thinking he would not return agreed. Perseus was helped by Hermes and Athena who advised he should meet with Gorgon's sisters. Pephredo and Deino. They had one eye and tooth between them. They let Perseus borrow them and the Nymphs have him winged sandals and a Kibisis, a bag and cap of invincibility. Hermes gave him an invisibilty cap and a sickle of Adamant.
He land on the Gorgon's island of Medousa, Stheno and Euryale they had hair of writhing snakes and boar tusks and turned anyone who looked at them in to stone. Perseus averted his gaze and severed Medousa's head and helped by Athena a winged horse Pegasus sprung from her neck and flew off with the head in the kiblisis.
He flew to see Atlas, who refused hospitality. He showed him the severed head and he was turned in the Atlas Mountains. He went on and found Andromeda chained to a rock because her mother Kassiopeia said she was more beautiful than the Nereids. Poseidon flooded the land and sent a monster to eat her. The Oracle said this could be rectified if she would be sacrificed to the monster. Perseus fell in love with Andromeda and said he would kill the monster he could marry her. He killed the monster with adamant. But Andromeda was already engaged to Phineus. Perseus showed him the head also. They got married and had a son Perses who was the ancester of the Persians.
When Perseus returned to Serophos he found Diktys and Danae were badly treated by Polydektes. He showed him the head also and installed Diktys as king of Seriphos and returned the tooth and eye. Athena took the severed head and put it on her shield and snake-fringed part of her Aegis. She also gave a lock of hair to Herakles to protect Tegae
When he returned to Argos with Andromeda and Danae Akrisios fled. Perseus continued on to Larissa where in a pentathalon his discus accidentally hit Akrisios and he died (fulfilling the prophesy]]. Perseus was ashamed and made the son of Proitos, Megapenthes king of Argos and he became king of Tiryns. They had more children and were the great grand parents of Herkales.
Similarities between Danae and Andromeda
1. Danae is persued by her uncle Proitos and Andromeda by her uncle Phineus. 2. Danae isolated by her father Akrisios. Andromeda isolated by her father Kepheus 3. Both were saved by Perseus from an unwanted marriage
Other similarities
1. Akrisios and Proitos, Polydektes and Diktys, and Phineus and Kepheus are mutually hostile brothers the first being threantening whereas the other is benign. The threatening brothe is turned to stone.
Three sets of sisters
1. Old and grey sisters - Pephredo and Deino 2. Beautiful Nymphs 3. Grisly Gorgons
These can be analyzed using the psychoanalyst or structuralist approach. However the Mycenaean Age (1600-1200bce) is often used as the setting for the tales and the importance of the town during that age correlates to its importance in the Mycenaean age and not its historical importance e.g. Mycenae 37° 43' 51.00" N, 22° 45' 22.00" E , Tiryns and Pylos
The tales often have Kings and Queens, which was not the norm in historical times. So kings are good to think with
Freud and Medousa
Freud's analysis of Medousa was something along the lines that the severing of the head was akin to castration and the fear of Medousa was fear of castration. Also
- The snakes are penis's
- The sight of Medousa is an emotion reaction to castration
Those who created the tales did not consciously add these motifs in to their tales, it was done in most cases subconsciously
- Being turned to stone is an erection
Criticisms stem from the meanings having only one theme i.e. Only castration, being almost entirely negative and repressed. It also requires some level of collective subconscious (see also Jung)because human dwell on a set of similar motifs (archetypes). Is Freud guilty of over extrapolation. There are plenty of other examples of metamophorphosis in to rocks - are they all erections?
Freud's analysis seems much too narrow, rooted in the biological and sexual and based around the repression of the conscious. Jung, as far as I can understand it, expands the approach and focuses on the collective unconscious through the repetitive use of similar achetypes that all people could identify with, which can be both negative or positive. However, both see the hidden meanings in myths in terms of an individual's psyche.
A more externalistic view would see the hidden meaning of myths as being rooted in the events, social structures, functions and norms of Greek society (Propp, Burkert). Hidden Meanings almost seems to imply something deliberate but more likely they were accidental and a by-product of the myth rather than the purpose the myth itself.
For instance at the time the Myths were being told there were the conflicts such as Persian and Peloponnesian wars and we have the Iliad using hero archetype such as Akhilleus and Odysseus. The hidden meaning, if there is one, is that Greeks should do their duty. Similar analogies could be found for
- The maintenance of the social orders - The killing of the suitors
- Patriarchy and the role of women when men go away to war- Zeus and his seductions and The Oresteia
- The Study of strange new sciences Mathematics/Medicine/Astromony - Prometheus gift of fire to man, The riddle and the Sphinx
Finally I think most of the 'hidden meanings' can transcend time. Although the details are different, we still do have wars, plagues, new scientific discoveries, struggles between the sexes, democratic tensions etc, which allows to reinterpret the meanings for our own times
See also [1]
