Lecture 8 Feb 2013

Storytime:
Review: Io turned into a cow and given to Juno who had Argos, the hundred-eyed monster, guard her
   -Mercury--the trickster, god of crossroads, messenger god, bringer of dead to the underworld,        carrier of the caduceus-- tells the monster a story to put him to sleep.
      -Crossroads = Psychopompos > Psyche = souls  Pompos= guide
   -Story within this story is the Pipes of Pan
      -there is a beautiful woman called Syrinx with a bird like voice who runs from Pan who pursues her eagerly
      -this parallels Apollo and Daphne
      -Syrinx transforms into a sheath of reeds which are the pipes when he seizes her
   -Argos falls asleep and Mercury chops off his head and his eyes become the eyes on the tail of a peacock
   -Io is changed back into a human and becomes a priestess of Isis


Actaeon: a 17 year old hunter and grandson of Cadmus walks into a cave in which Diana is bathing with her nymphs
-he looks upon a god, something one should not do, and Diana allows the gaze
-she then throws water on him that lands on his forehead, transforming him into a stagg
-he runs and his own hounds chase him down and tear him to pieces
-Diana is pleased

Theme: do not look upon that which mortal eyes are not meant to look upon

Callisto- Jove comes to Callisto as a woman resembling her goddess, Diana, and kisses her and proceeds to rape her.
-she becomes pregnant and is exiled from her virginity-valuing crew
-after giving birth to her son, Arcas, Juno transforms her into a bear as punishment
-Arcas, Lycaon's grandson, at the age of 15 finds her and throws a spear at her
-Jove shows mercy and puts them both in the stars before she is killed
-they become Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

Semele: daughter of Cadmus
-her and Jove have a mutual attraction to one another
-he presents himself to her as a dashing mortal man
-Juno, in the form of her nurse, convinces her to request that she can look upon him in all of his godly splendor
-he gives his oath before he knows the request and cannot go back on it
-she sees him and explodes but, pregnant, a baby (Bacchus) is seized and placed into the thigh of Jove

Theme: hubris is a sin; you cannot be as the gods; you cannot look upon that which only the gods can look upon
-this parallels Actaeon