The Dream of Oenghus
The Celtic myth, "The Dream of Oenghus," relates the tale of Oenghus the
Celtic god of love and his long search for true love. Oenghus is the son of
Boann and Daghdhae. Boann the white cow goddess, and Daghdhae the father of all gods, the "good god."
In a dream Oenghus sees "the loveliest figure in Ireland…" His memory of this vision makes him ill with loneliness and he begins to waste away. With the help of his mother, and another of his fathers' sons, Bodhbh, he begins his search for the girl he dreamt of. When, after years, he successfully completes his search the lovers' travels to Bruigh Mac, his home.
Chronologically and geographically distant, Apuleius second century record of the original Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche also relates a story of amorous pursuit. In Apuleius account Psyche is the most beautiful of all mortals. "The fame of her surpassing beauty spread over the earth…Œand men? would even say that Venus herself could not equal this mortal." Out of jealousy, Venus commands Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with "the vilest and most despicable creature in the whole world." However, dispatched on his errand Cupid is astonished by her beauty and "as if he had shot one of his arrows into his own heart" falls completely in love with her.
Cupid dumbfounded by the love he suddenly feels carries Psyche off.
Although Psyche is never able to gaze on Cupid she is confident of the love her unseen paramour expresses in the dark each night. Eventually, prompted by her unbelieving and somewhat envious sisters she lights a lamp and discovers that her lover is Cupid. Unfortunately, Cupid hurt by both the oil sputtering from the lamp and her faithlessness fees. Psyche deeply grieved by her lack of faith and subsequent loss of love pledges to search for Cupid forever. "I can spend the rest of my life searching for him. If he has no more love left for me, at least I can show him how much I love him." Eventually after many trials and tribulations, largely at the inspiration of the still jealous Venus, she is reunited with Cupid and comes to live the live of the immortals.
These myths share a common fundamental theme. In both instances, the myths document a love between a mortal and a god. Moreover, both of the courtship's involve long periods of separation, difficult and desperate journeys in pursuit of the beloved, and deep ongoing uncertainty as to the ultimate outcome of the fat of the lovers. Clearly, it is not unreasonable to contend
Finding Psyche alive after the planned sacrifice, Orual must decide if her beautiful sister is stricken with madness or truly has become the wife of a god as she claims. Orual’s decision to force Psyche to betray her husband results in Psyche’s exile and fills Orual with a guilt that she carries throughout her reign as queen. In the end, Orual must reconcile with her lost sister through divine visions.
Homer’s The Odyssey, a magnificent story of lust, deceit, greed, and heroism, still fascinates scholars and casual readers alike today in the same way it fascinated its audience at the time it was written. The Odyssey, a journey of determination, patience, and virtue, tells the tail of Odysseus, the main character, on his voyage home to Ithaka after the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus goes through many unforeseen trials and tribulations, which exemplify his character. During these different happenings, Odysseus makes decisions that do not correspond to his character.
she was of pure and perfect form and after he kisses her, his ideal perfect
Odysseus displays his desire for glory through his careless actions during his encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus. The desire for glory Odysseus displays is shown through the words he speaks to Polyphemus. He is a clever character but makes rash decisions that affect the outcome of his original goals and intentions. While Odysseus is trapped inside of the cave of the Cyclops, he begins to taunt Polyphemus. “I called back to the Cyclops, stinging taunts: So, Cyclops, no weak coward it was whose crew you bent to devour three in your vaulted cave—with your brute voice! Filthy crimes came down on your own head, you shameless cannibal” (Fagles, 226). Odysseus was insulting the Cyclops, and those insults caused the rage of the monster to boil over. The Cyclops was already angry with Odysseus blinding him, and was even more demoralized and angry when Odysseus began to taunt him. As Odysseus goes on with his insults and as his anger rises, he says, “Cyclops—if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed—say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, La...
...ome the dream of attainment slowly became a nightmare. His house has been abandoned, it is empty and dark, the entryway or doors are locked. The sign of age, rust comes off in his hands. His body is cold, and he has deteriorated physically & emotionally. He is weathered just like his house and life. He is damaged poor, homeless, and the abandoned one.
Deceiving and irrational, love can be a challenging emotion to endure. It can be difficult to find happiness in love, and on the journey to find that happiness, love can influence one’s thought process. Shakespeare uses specific wording in his play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to poke fun while exploring the individual’s quest for love. The desire to find love and a happy ending with a lover is so strong in the foundation of mankind, that people will not accept a life without it. In fact, they would rather give up their attribute of rationality than their opportunity to find a significant other. The heart’s control of the mind can make a foolish man.
The dreams in Epic of Gilgamesh resemble the poem as a whole. In general, they are a foreshadow of the poem. Gilgamesh and Enkidu both have dreams with strange symbolic images. These images are flowed into the poem as a very important message to the main characters. In the olden Mesopotamian days, dreams were important to people; dreams represented the future of their well being or their misfortune. It was another way of God sending a future hint to a person. Dreams are essential to these people, similar to the main characters in the poem, Epic of Gilgamesh.
overcomes him and he becomes consumed with the idea of creating life, “Summer months passed while I was thus
The consequence of this attitude is that he finds himself increasingly "stepping outside" his experiences in order to observe them from a distance. Instead of living his experiences more intensely, he finds himself o...
matter how hard he has fought, once it is over, he does not look back wishing
...She couldn’t make him look like any other man to her. He looked like love thoughts of women. He could be a bee to a blossom—a pear tree blossom in the spring… He was a glance from God,” (Hurston 106).
In ancient Greece, the Gods’ power has constantly been praised and known as the God’s Love. In Homer’s Epic, what has really attracted my attention is how God in his highest love Odysseus and been always with him during his journey. Odysseus also knew that he would not be alive if he was not praising the names of Gods especially with the goddess Athena.
Born from the remains of the castration of Uranus, Aphrodite arose from the foam in the sea and became known as the goddess of love to those who worshipped her, described by Hesoid. We see another version of her this goddess’s birth as well, from the gods Zeus and Dione, leaving a double tradition of Aphrodite’s birth and a basic duality in her character. Artemis, the Greek goddess of wild things, was born to Zeus and Leto, and remained a virgin goddess who roamed the forests with her female companions. These two goddesses disagreeing viewpoints on sexual relationships naturally set them up to have a conflicting relationship, yet their well-known trait of revenge in their myths bring a similarity to both the goddess of love and of hunting. Their personalities are compared through their primary functions in Greek mythology and physical characteristics, their behavior in myths that they are involved in, their portrayal in Greek art and literature, and if and how they are worshipped in Greek religion.
"What say you? can you love the gentleman? This night you shall behold him at our feast; Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face, And find delight writ there with beauty's pen; Examine every married lineament, And see how one another lends content; And what obscur'd in this fair volume lies Find written in the margent of his eyes. This precious book of love, this unbound lover, To beautify him, only lacks a cover: The fish lives in the sea; and 'tis much pride For fair without the fair within to hide: That book in many's eyes doth share the glory, That in gold clasps locks in the golden story; So shall you share all that he doth possess, By having him, maki...
ponder on the decision he made, and then sigh, showing him that this choice has made, marked him the...