Philomela

Barbarism and silence in suffering are major themes in Philomela that draws on the point of the absence of gods. From the very beginning, the reader realises that the absence of the gods foreshadows disaster and tragedy. Ovid writes how the ‘’wedding wasn’t attended by Juno as bridal matron, the Graces, or jovial Hymen’’ (line 429, p 230). The torches that escorted the guests were ‘’snatches from a funeral’’ (l 430, p 231) and a ‘’sinister screech-owl’’ (l 431, p 231) sat on the roof of their bedroom

An Analysis of Shakespeare and Ovid Seeing as that Shakespeare is such an incredibly influential writer, one would think that his plays would be very much original. The bizarre rape and disfiguring of Lavinia in Titus Andronicus is striking, but alas is not one that Shakespeare created on his own. This scene, as well as the revenge of baking people into pies, has been seen before in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Why would Shakespeare not write original content? What is there for him, and his readers, to

that the rape of Lavinia is analogous to the rape of Philomela in Ovid's Metamorphosis. In this tale, The daughter of the King

her. Then, Tereus goes home and tells Procne her sister is dead. After a year, Philomela wove her story and gave it to an old woman to take to her sister. Procne uses the festival for Bacchus to retrieve Philomela and decides to kill her son, Itys, as revenge. They serve the feast to Tereus, telling him it was a ritual meal for husbands only, and he gladly eats the meal. Procne tells him what they did and Philomela throws Itys’ bloody head at him. He chases them around the castle and they turn into

The ancient story of Philomela has resonated in the imaginations of women writers for several thousand years. One particular writer, Alice Walker, revises the myth of Philomela in her novel, The Color Purple, through the protagonist Celie. Similar to the mythic narrative of Philomela, The Color Purple intertwines rape, silencing, and the destruction of feminine subjectivity. Walker alludes and revises the myth of Philomela by allowing Celie to express herself through letters and including the imagery

masculinity and feminism. By providing textual evidence that withdraws from the violence of patriarchal domination and submissive, and the comparison of the fate of Philomela to that of young Celie.

Before reading Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung’s chapter on lust, my view on the effects of lust were very different. In the section entitled, “Lust’s Body Count,” DeYoung says, “We often live with lust’s collateral damage for the long term” (DeYoung, 171). Thus, I agree with DeYoung that the aftermath of lusting is more a long-term and widespread problem than it appears on the surface. Initially, I always thought of lust being an internal sin that did not really affect anyone outside of the individual

Chaucer Translates Ovid in “The Legend of Philomela” There have been many different translations of Ovid’s Metamorphoses over the years such as Ted Hughes’ “Creation: Four Ages; Flood; Lyacon,” A.D. Melville’s “Tereus, Procne, Philomela,” and Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Legend of Philomela,” each being more different than the last. Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Legend of Philomela” translates Ovid by shifting the perspective of the story from Tereus to Philomela while making her the protagonist. Chaucer’s

The myth of Philomela has resonated in the imaginations of female writers for several thousand years. One particular writer, Alice Walker, revises the myth of Philomela in her novel, The Color Purple, through the protagonist Celie. Similar to the mythic narrative of Philomela, this novel intertwines rape, suppression of voice, and the destruction of feminine subjectivity to convey the realities of African American women’s lives during this time, dominated by racial supremacy and patriarchy. Walker

rights. All was well the first five years of marriage; they lived happily, had a beautiful son named Itys, and continued to celebrate and rejoice their wonderful lives. Then one day, Procne speaks to her husband of her desire to see her sister Philomela, and begs to have her brought to Thrace.