Blog #20

Zuting Chen, Period 1

Aim: How do the punishments of Prometheus, Io, and Europa, and Polyphemus demonstrate the forces of wrath?

Do now: We had to write a poem about Prometheus or Polyphemus individually or as a group.

I wrote one individually on Polyphemus:

Shepard on a remote land

Whose statue is grand

Thinks is greater than god

And is not flawed

One day came Odysseus and his men

Caught and put into den

The cyclop ate many

But that wasn’t plenty

Blocked was the entrance

And arose the tension

We went over the stories from pages 95-111 about Io, Europa, and Polyphemus. They all faced or enforced wrath in some way.

Source: https://www.theoi.com/Heroine/Io.html

Io:

Zeus saw Io while looking down and fell in love with her quickly. He disguised himself as a cloud and went down to Io, but Hera caught on. Zeus realizes that his disguise didn’t work very well, so he turns Io into a beautiful white cow. Hera, knowing what’s up with her husband, asked for the cow. She made Argus, a giant with 100 eyes that sleeps with not all of its eyes closed. Zeus gets Hermes to help kill Argus. Hermes told many tales before all of Argus’s eyes closed and he killed him. Hera took the eyes of Argus and put them on the feathers of peacocks. She then sent a gadfly after Io to sting her as she made her way to Egypt, not giving her any time to be comfortable. On the way there, she came across Prometheus, who used his foresight to tell her that she’ll become human and give birth to someone great. When she got to Egypt, Zeus turned her back into a human and she gave birth to Hercules.

Io faced a lot of wrath from Hera as a result. She represents marriage and was faithful to it. Therefore, she almost always took action against the other women Zeus was engaged with. Examples would be how Hera took Io away and that she sent the gadfly after her to torment her even when she fled Argus.

Source: http://www.maicar.com/GML/Europa.html

Europa:

Prior to the events, Europa had a dream about two continents who fought over her and someone else who said that Zeus would give Europa to them. That same morning, Zeus fell in love with Europa because of Cupid’s arrow. When going down to meet her, he disguised himself as a bull and came down to greet her. There were others who were playing around the bull, but when Europa got on the bull, Zeus darted off through the water. He took her to Crete because it was hard for others to find that place. In particular, Rhea had formerly hid Zeus from Cronus on that island. Eventually, Europa gave birth to many famous men, such as Minos and Rhadamanthus.

Unlike Io, Hera wasn’t present in this story for some unknown reason, therefore she didn’t face Hera’s wrath. However, we suggested in class that she “still dealt with wrath” because she was taken away from her previous life (friends, family, and home) without any notice. This is why it’s often referred to as “The Rape of Europa”; where she had no say in the matter.

Source:  https://stock.adobe.com/162342057?as_campaign=TinEye&as_content=tineye_match&epi1=162342057&tduid=5645f0a35040566bdcd0f5d2ca220a9f&as_channel=affiliate&as_campclass=redirect&as_source=arvato

Polyphemus:

During Odysseus’s long journey home, he passed by many areas, one of them being an island of cyclops. Edith Hamilton added that cyclops didn’t care what others say, making it a dangerous place for explorers, especially for Odysseus and his men. Unknowing that he had stumbled on such an island, Odysseus got off his ship with his men and some wine (to offer to the inhabitants). When he went inside a cave, the cyclop Polyphemus questioned why they were there, and enclosed the cave with a huge stone and ate a few of the men. It wasn’t after a few more men died that Odysseus came up with a plan to escape. He fashioned a pointed stick, hid it, and then fed Polyphemus the strong wine. As Polyphemus was asleep, the men stabbed the stick into Polyphemus’s eye. Polyphemus, confused and startled, rolled over the rock blocking the entrance, allowing the the men clinging onto the bottom of the sheep to leave. As Odysseus sailed away and Polyphemus was upset on the shore, Odysseus yelled out to the cyclops about his success.

The story of Odysseus and Polyphemus in particular, teaches a lesson about being humble. When Odysseus finally fled, he shouted out who he was and where he was from. With this information, the cyclop was able to get Poseidon to enact revenge on Odysseus and his men. This led to an even rougher journey home for them, especially with the waters being Poseidon’s domain.

Towards the end of this lesson, we questioned whether Polyphemus was inhospitable or misunderstood. In a way, he could be seen as both. Polyphemus was very self-centered (he did whatever he wanted to) and some people just came into his home where he kept food and his sheep.

Reflection:

The lesson, as suggested by the title, showed some mythological stories about how wrath affected those individuals. Io and Europa were both innocent and targeted by Zeus who loved them without revealing himself as a god. Polyphemus on the other hand, couldn’t do anything, but his wrath went through to his father, who then made sailing difficult for Odysseus and his men. I liked how this lesson reflected characteristics of people even among mythical beings, such as gods, goddesses, and monsters. Though this lesson wasn’t meant to convey “morale” (as with the flower myths), it still shows the impact of wrath on the lives of various figures in Greek Mythology and helps reveal more about their world.