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Summary Of Saturn Devouring His Son

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The devastatingly gruesome painting of Saturn Devouring His Son by Francisco de Goya surprisingly has more connection to the nursing world than what first meets the eye. Created between 1819 through 1823, the painting’s legend stems from Greek mythology (Goya, 1970). Saturn, also known as Cronus, was the almighty Greek titan who had come to power by taking over his father before him. Saturn feared his children would one day try to overcome him so he devoured them all. The legend goes on to tell how one of his sons Zeus survived to one day free his other siblings. This disturbing legend and painting connects to nurses bullying each other. This dark aspect of nursing needs to be brought to the light and only then can change be made. Jay Scott Morgan’s interpretation of the painting focuses in on the relationship of Saturn and his son. The painting Saturn Devouring His Son was once seen as “a symbol of evil, a Satan, a monster” (Morgan). Morgan chose to focus on the relationships of the son and the father rather than the evil image of Saturn. He made the connection to Goya’s twisted relationship with his son and Goya’s painting; revealing jealousy is what causes a father to hate his son. Morgan interprets the painting as a “story of fathers and sons” (Morgan, n.d). He even makes connections to other western tales such as Abraham agreeing to his son to be sacrificed on Mount Moriah to depict the father-son struggle. In both stories the father ends his son’s life, whether

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