In today’s world gods are seen to be by most as omnipotent and omniscient beings. They are seen to be so intricate that the human mind cannot grasp the complexity of their being. Today the gods of the ancient world are seen to have been ruthless and all powerful when compared to a human. On the contrary, the texts The Metamorphoses by Ovid, and Daphnis and Chloe by Longus show a different view of the gods then what they are known as today. The texts show that in ancient times the gods were viewed to be identical in nature to humans with the exception of their supernatural powers. In the two texts, the individual stories show how close the gods are to humans by describing how they act with emotion in different scenarios mimicking a human’s
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Toward the middle of the story, Chloe is taken by an army and their general to a distant crescent along with her sheep and Daphnis’ goats. Daphnis is distraught as his love has been taken and there is no sign of them ever being together again. Daphnis goes and prays at the altar of Pan for the safe return of his true love. The god decides to help Daphnis out by returning Chloe to safety. Longus writes, “Ivy and ivy berries appeared on the horns of Daphnis’ billy-goats and nanny-goats while Chloe’s rams and ewes gave forth blood-curdling wolf howls…the anchors stayed at the bottom, the oars shattered when they began rowing and dolphins leapt out of the sea and thumped the ships with their tails until the timbers were loosened” (Longus, 2.26) This quote shows the actions Pan took as a result of his emotions. The emotions he was feeling that caused him to save Chloe can be derived from context clues. He saw the pain that Daphnis was going through at the loss of his lover which caused him to have empathy for Daphnis. This emotion of empathy caused him to save Chloe to end the pain and bring Joy to …show more content…
In Bacchus and Pentheus, Pentheus disregards Bacchus, the god of wine and madness, as a god and tries to convince his family of this. No one is persuaded so Pentheus goes to Mount Cithaeron to spy on the congregation of Bacchus’ followers. Pentheus’ mother Agave, a follower of Bacchus, spots him and thinks he is an animal. “He has no arms to stretch out to his mother, unlucky man, but cries out, “Mother look!” and shows her his missing torso with its missing limbs. Tossing her hair in frenzy and exulting at the grim sight, Agave tears her son’s head from his trunk and fiercely gripping it in a bloody fist maniacally cries, “Comrades! The deed, the victory are ours!” (Ovid, Book III 928-935) This quote shows the extreme madness that consumed Agave in order for her to confuse her own son for an animal and tear his head off without even blinking an eye. This is an act of revenge by Bacchus because he is getting payback from Pentheus’ denial of him. The way he got his revenge is ironic because a mother is supposed to be the only person in their child’s life that will love them unconditionally but she kills him without even thinking due to a veil of madness put on her by Bacchus.
Toward the middle of the story, Chloe is taken by an army and their general to a distant crescent along with her sheep and Daphnis’ goats. Daphnis is distraught as his love has been taken and there is no sign of them ever being together again. Daphnis goes and prays at the altar of Pan for the safe return of his true love. The god decides to help Daphnis out by returning Chloe to safety. Longus writes, “Ivy and ivy berries appeared on the horns of Daphnis’ billy-goats and nanny-goats while Chloe’s rams and ewes gave forth blood-curdling wolf howls…the anchors stayed at the bottom, the oars shattered when they began rowing and dolphins leapt out of the sea and thumped the ships with their tails until the timbers were loosened” (Longus, 2.26) This quote shows the actions Pan took as a result of his emotions. The emotions he was feeling that caused him to save Chloe can be derived from context clues. He saw the pain that Daphnis was going through at the loss of his lover which caused him to have empathy for Daphnis. This emotion of empathy caused him to save Chloe to end the pain and bring Joy to …show more content…
In Bacchus and Pentheus, Pentheus disregards Bacchus, the god of wine and madness, as a god and tries to convince his family of this. No one is persuaded so Pentheus goes to Mount Cithaeron to spy on the congregation of Bacchus’ followers. Pentheus’ mother Agave, a follower of Bacchus, spots him and thinks he is an animal. “He has no arms to stretch out to his mother, unlucky man, but cries out, “Mother look!” and shows her his missing torso with its missing limbs. Tossing her hair in frenzy and exulting at the grim sight, Agave tears her son’s head from his trunk and fiercely gripping it in a bloody fist maniacally cries, “Comrades! The deed, the victory are ours!” (Ovid, Book III 928-935) This quote shows the extreme madness that consumed Agave in order for her to confuse her own son for an animal and tear his head off without even blinking an eye. This is an act of revenge by Bacchus because he is getting payback from Pentheus’ denial of him. The way he got his revenge is ironic because a mother is supposed to be the only person in their child’s life that will love them unconditionally but she kills him without even thinking due to a veil of madness put on her by Bacchus.