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Deception In Myrrha And Cinyras

Decent Essays

Deception, “Good or Bad” “Myrrha and Cinyras” a Greek tale written by the Roman poet Ovid, depict the ways in which a deceitful act was carried out by Myrrha and her accomplice, the nurse, to deceive her father, the King, in getting him to satisfy her insatiable desires. Another form of deception occurred in “Jacob and Esau” from the Hebrew Bible, where Rebekah plotted against her older son, Esau, to accommodate her younger and favorite son, Jacob to receive a blessing that was not intended for him. Both Isaac and Cinyras were deceived by their kin to fulfill their desires, however in “Myrrha and Cinyras”, the nature of deception is one of an incestuous and wicked act, due to Myrrha’s lust and inability to control her sexual desires, whereas …show more content…

Rebekah’s actions were foreshadowed in the very beginning when God revealed what is going to happen during her pregnancy (Genesis 27. 23). Indeed, Rebekah played a pivotal role in aiding Jacob to deceive Isaac, in order to receive the blessings. This evidence is illustrated in the following excerpt of the story, “Go out to the flock and bring me two young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it, then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessings before he dies”. Upon Jacob, inquiring about his consequences, Rebekah guaranteed him, not to worry about the as she is willing to take the curse for him (Genesis27:13). Rebekah actions can be justified because of Esau’s marriage to a Hettite woman, which caused grief to both Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 26:34-35)). Even though the author does not state it explicitly, it can be inferred that Rebekah preferred Jacob to receive the blessing because she is thinking in the long run that if Esau receives the blessings, there will not be enough food for survival, as Esau skills does not allow him to make use of the blessings as he is a hunter and not a farmer. Hence, one can argue that her deception was done with only good intentions for survival reasons and …show more content…

From this definition, it is obvious that deception is normally perceived to be evil and results in the harm of others mentally and physically. It leads to untold truths, broken hearts or even unpunished murder. Both of these stories deal with similar issues of deception and hypocrisy in that people wear masks to role-play in order to either get what they yearn for or to expose a problem that need to be fixed. The moral problems as exemplified in both stories by the authors sends a message that they are repercussions in the long run should one engage in deceit to fulfill their desire. Even though, the nature of deception can be seen differently in “Jacob and Esau”, the curse still fell on him as later in the story, he himself became a victim of deceptions from his uncle and sons (line a just retribution. Without saying it explicitly, the author of Genesis tells us that, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap [Gal. 6:7]. On the other hand, in “Myrrha and Cinyras” Myrrha’s suffered a lesser degree of punishment as she was turned into a myrrh tree by one of the gods who heard her prayers. Even though Myrrha’s deception is worse than Jacob, her transformation of a myrrh tree is better than to be deceived. She is of use to society, hence the myrrh tree is used in perfume and medicine. One might wonder

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