Love in Greek Literature

According to the stories by Edith Hamilton in Mythology, love can be deadly/dangerous/woeful, inevitable/necessary/destined, and sweet/helpful. To begin, Hamilton shows that love can be sweet and helpful. This is the case with Ceyx and Alcyone in “Ceyx and Alcyone.” Love ended up saving one of the lover’s life. When Ceyx went on a sea voyage, Alcyone warned him that it would be perilous and that he could die because the winds are so vicious and acute. “She told him with streaming tears and in a voice of broken sobs, that she knew as few others could the power of the winds upon the sea. In her father’s palace…‘I have seen the broken planks of ships tossed up. Oh, do not go…at least take me with you. I can endure whatever comes to us together” (110). However, Ceyx loved Alcyone so much that he did not want her to get hurt, so he did not let her go with him. A vicious hurricane hit the sea the day that Ceyx sailed. He ended up dying but was happy that Alcyone was unscathed. “The men on the quivering, battered boat mad with terror, all except one who thought only of Alcyone and rejoiced that she was in safety” (111). In this case Ceyx’s love for Alcyone was sweet and ended up helpful for his lover; had he let her come along she would have most likely died. His love for her was too strong. At the end the gods pitied the situation and resurrected Ceyx and made him and Alcyone birds so they could live happily ever after. Thus, in this story, love was helpful in two ways—it helped save Alcyone’s life, and love ultimately was responsible for turning Alcyone and Ceyx into birds where they lived happily, together, for a very long time. “Pygmalion and Galatea” also shows how love can be benevolent and helpful. Pygmalion was a “woman-hater” u...

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...s result Cupid left her, saying “where there can be no trust, there can be no love” (100). Pysche loved Cupid, so she went out to find him. After such a long time searching, she was unable to find him. Out of desperation, she went to his mother Venus, although Venus despised her. Venus made Pysche go on many dangerous and deadly missions, all for her love of Cupid. For example, Pysche had to go to the underworld and get a package from Hades; she had to get some wool from some pugnacious sheep; and Pysche also had to get some water from the River Styx—a place where she could have slipped and died while fetching water (she would have had to maneuver some slippery rocks to get there). Thus, although it did not, Pysche’s love for Cupid led her to do some dangerous things that may have led to her death. Therefore, love in this case could have been dangerous and deadly.