INCIDENTS IN MYTHOLOGY
JUDGEMENT OF PARIS
THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS was a contest between the three most beautiful goddesses of Olympos--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena--for the prize of a golden apple addressed "To the Fairest."
The story began with the wedding of Peleus and Thetis which all the gods had been invited to attend except for Eris, goddess of discord. When Eris appeared at the festivities she was turned away and in her anger cast the golden apple amongst the assembled goddesses addressed "To the Fairest." Three goddesses laid claim to the apple--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. Zues was asked to mediate and he commanded Hermes to lead the three goddesses to Paris of Troy to decide the issue. The three goddesses appearing before the shepherd prince, each offering him gifts for favour. He chose Aphrodite, swayed by her promise to bestow upon him Helene, the most beautiful woman, for wife. The subsequent abduction of Helene led directly to the Trojan War and the fall of the city.
TWO CREATION OF GENESIS
The Bible opens with two different creation stories. The accounts are similar in that they both describe the creation of animals, plants, and humans. But they are distinct in several ways and even contradict each other on key issues.
For example, though the stories describe some of the same events, they order them differently. InGen 1, God creates plants, then animals, and then simultaneously creates man and woman. In Gen 2, God creates a human, plants, then animals, and later he divides the human into female and male. Additionally, the two stories employ different names for the deity. The first account uses the Hebrew word Elohim, meaning “God,” whereas the second uses the tetragrammaton, YHWH (often represented by “Lord”).
The stories are also very different in literary style. The first account appears neatly organized into three days of preparation followed by three days of actual formation. Each day concludes with the formulaic expression “and there was X.” By the seventh day, all creation exists in its proper sphere, and God rests. This orderly pattern suggests an orderly universe. The second story (beginning in the second half of Gen 2:4 and continuing through the end of chapter 3) lacks both the structure and the focus of the first creation account. It is much less formulaic; rather, it is a dramatic narrative in a series of seven scenes.
RETURN OF ODYSSEUES
It’s been ten years since the fall of Troy, and Odysseus the Greek hero has yet to return to his kingdom in Ithaca. An anxious crowd of suitors have swarmed his palace and destroyed his land, they attempt to court his wife, Penelope, who remains loyal to her absent husband.
The son of Odysseus, Prince Telemachus, wants nothing more than to defend his father’s land and protect his mother, however, he lacks the skill and the confidence to stand up to the mob. Antinous, one of the suitors, concocts a plan to assassinate young Telemachus, abolishing the only opposition to their colonization of the palace.
Unbeknownst to the mob of suitors, Odysseus lives. He has been imprisoned on Ogygia; the island of the beautiful nymph Calypso who has fallen madly in love with the king. Still, Odysseus years to return to his kingdom, and back to his wife and son. However, without the aid of a crew or a ship to help facilitate his escape, he wonders whether he will ever return home again.
APHRODITE IN THE ILIAD
In the world of The Iliad, Aphrodite is arguably the ''cause'' of the Trojan War, getting Paris to decree her the most beautiful immortal (beating out Hera and Athena) in exchange for the love of Helen, the most beautiful human. Other than the violation of Helen's free will, this may seem like a harmless deal - except Helen is already married to the Spartan king Menelaus. Needless to say, when Helen takes off with Paris, it causes problems.
Aphrodite's first major appearance in The Iliad is in Book 3. Her fancies are whimsical, as the immortals tend to be, and she takes an interest in the human goings-on of the Trojan War. This is lucky for Paris, since it is Aphrodite who swoops in and rescues him from Menelaus just as the killing blow was about to fall. Aphrodite scoops up Paris, shielding him ''under a cloud of darkness,'' and safely deposits him back in his own bedchamber. Aphrodite, being a goddess, can be understood to have both the strength to pluck Paris from the ground as well as the ability to transport him safely from the battlefield - not to mention hiding him under that shroud of darkness, or obscuring mist.
Once she drops off Paris, Aphrodite visits Helen, attempting first to disguise herself as an old woman. She tries to persuade Helen to go to Paris. Helen sees through Aphrodite's disguise, however, and is pretty annoyed that Aphrodite would try to trick her. Helen suggests that Aphrodite go tend to Paris herself, since she, Helen, is quite done with that bit of bad business. She recognizes her role in the Trojan War, and wishes to cause no more bloodshed.
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