Dissertation
I'm frustratred with one of dissertation pieces. For a start I'm having real trouble fitting it to its Tarot Card (Death) and secondly it's a relatively... not-un topic to have to write about without feeling like a really bad person.
It's a rewrite of the story of Hermaphroditus/Hermaphrodite. If that name is making you think Stephen Lynch rather than Ovid, here's a brief run down:
Hermaphroditus/Hermaphrodite is the lovechild son of Hermes and Aphrodite, so he's a God. Ovid writes him as being 15, but in the original myth he is literally just starting puberty and is an innocent, so he's probably about the same age as Persephone when she gets snatched (10-14). ANYWAY. He's off wandering on his own, when a Nymph, Salamacis, spots him and thinks 'Fuck me, he's pretty!', and proceeds to snatch him and rape him, by dragging him down into her pool (which he was admiring/swimming in at the time) so he can't escape. However, Hermaphroditus fights back pretty hard, and she fights to hang on to him so hard she literally rapes her way inside him, and they become irreversibly fused. Hermaphroditus' body changes to incorporate both their genders. So traumatised by what has happened to him and his new form, he cries out to his parents, curses everything and then drowns himself in the pool. They (Hermes and Aphrodite) are so distraught that their will makes the pool truly cursed, so if anyone is to bathe in it, they share in Hermaphroditus' fate and come out as a Hermaphrodite.
The Ovid version, if you are interested, is under the cut.
From Ovid, Metamorphoses, pg 83-5
Hear how the magic pool of Salmacis
Found its ill fame, and why its strengthless waters
Soften and enervate the limbs they touch.
All know its famous power but few the cause.
To Hermes, runs the tale, and Aphrodite,
a boy was born whom in Mount Ida’s caves
the Naides nurtured; in his face he showed
Father and mother and took his name from both.
When thrice five years had passed, the youth forsook
Ida, his fostering home, his mountain haunts,
Eager to roam strange lands afar, to see
Strange rivers, hardships softened by delight.
The towns of Lycia he reached at last
And Carae’s marching provinces; and there
He saw a pool, a limpid shining pool,
Clear to its very bottom; no marsh reed,
No barren sedge grew there, no spiky rush;
The water crystal clear, its margin ringed
With living tuft and verdure always green.
A Nymph dwelt there, not one to bend the bow
Or join the hunt or run to win the race;
She was the only water sprite unknown
To swift Diana. Many a time her sisters
Chid her: `Come, Salmacis, get out your spear
Or painted quiver; vary your hours of ease
With hardships of the chase.’ Yet never spear
She took nor painted quiver, nor would vary
Her hours of ease with hardships of the chase;
But in her pool would bathe her lovely limbs,
And with a comb of boxwood dress her hair,
And, gazing long, take counsel of the waters
What style were best. Now on the soft green grass
Or on soft leaves in gauzy dress she lay;
Now gathered flowers--and, gathering, chanced to see
The boy and seeing, saw her heart’s desire.
Yet though her heart would haste she paused awhile
Till, dress inspected, all in order placed,
Charm in her eyes set shining, she deserved
To look so lovely, then began to speak :
`Fair boy you seem--how worthily you seem!--
A god, and, if a god, Cupid himself,
Or if a mortal, happy pair are they
Who gave you birth; blest is your brother, blest
Indeed is your sister, if you have one, and the nurse
Who suckled you, but far, of far, more blest
She, your betrothed, found worthy of your love!
If there is one, let stolen joy be mine;
If none, let me be her, make me your bride!’
This said, she held her peace. A rosy blush
Dyed the boy’s cheeks; he knew not what love was;
But blushes well became him; like the bloom
Of rosy apples hanging in the sun,
Or painted ivory, or when the moon
Glows red beneath her pallor and the gongs
Resound in vain to rescue her eclipse.
Then the Nympha pleaded, begged, besought at least
A sister’s kiss, and made to throw her arms
Around his ivory neck. `Enough!’ he cried
`Have done! Or I shall quit this place--and you.’
Fear struck her heart; `I yield the place’, she said,
`Stranger, to you’ and turned away as if
To leave him, then, with many a backward glance,
She vanished in the leafy undergrowth
And crouched in hiding there. The boy, alone
(He thought) on the empty sward unobserved,
Strolled to and fro and in the rippling water
Dipped first his toes, then ankle deep, and soon,
Charmed by the soothing coolness of the pool,
Stripped his light garments from his slender limbs.
Then Salmacis gazed spellbound, and desire
Flamed for his naked beauty and her eyes
Blazed bright as when the sun’s unclouded orb
Shines dazzling in a mirror. She scarce could bare
To wait, hardly postpone her joy, she longed
To embrace him, scarce contained her frenzied heart.
He clapped his hollow palms against his sides
And dived into the pool and, as he swam
Arm over arm, gleamed in the limpid water
Like, in a guarding dome of crystal glass,
White lilies or a figure of ivory.
`I’ve won, he’s mine!’ she cried, and flung aside
Her clothes and plunged far out into the pool
And grappled him and, as he struggled, forced
Her kisses, willy-nilly fondled him,
Caressed him; now on one side, now the other
Clung to him as he fought to escape her hold;
And so at last entwined him, like a snake
Seized by the king of birds and borne aloft,
Which, as it hangs, coils round his head and claws
And with its tail entwines his spreading wings;
Or ivy wrapping round tall forest trees;
Or, in the sea, a squid whose whipping arms
Seize and from every side surround their prey.
The youth fought back, denied the Nymph her joy;
She strained the more; her clinging body seemed
Fixed fast to his. `Fool, fight me as you will’,
She cried, ‘You’ll not escape! Ye Gods ordain
No day shall ever dawn to part us twain!’
Her prayer found gods to hear; both bodies merged
In one, both blended in one form and face.
As when a gardener sets a graft and sees
Growth seal the join and both mature together,
Thus, when in the fast embrace their limbs were knit,
They two were two no more, nor man, nor woman--
One body then that neither seemed and both.
So when he saw the waters of the pool,
Where he had dived a man, had rendered him
Half woman and his limbs now weak and soft,
Raising his hands, Hermaphroditus cried,
His voice unmanned, `Dear father and dear mother,
Both of whose names I bear, grant me, your child,
That whoso in these waters bathes a man
Emerge half woman, weakened instantly.’
Both parents heard; both, moved to gratify
Their bi-sexed son, his purpose to ensure,
Drugged the bright water with that power impure."
It's really horrible! I tried to write a sort of modern version last night, and oh god did I feel rough doing it. Also, it came out really, really bad. So I don't know what to do with it. I've written Narcissus timelessly, but I don't know what to do with this one. Also, women raping men is not common, and doesn't show up in literature much, so I'm struggling for references or inspiration. Also, looking that stuff up makes me feel like a freaking paedo.
I'm done now XD Any recs/ideas would be awesome.
Edit: OMG NOOOOO
You may or may not know I'm also writing Narcissus in terms of the inversed lovers. I was just writing the Echo version, but after the Echo incident mostly, because it's just all about his love and his death.
BUT!!!
I've found and OLDER version of the story in which Echo doesn't exist. Nyahaha which is nice because I find her very dull as a character.
BUT!!!
This means I NEED this version to be in my life, and I may have to rewrite the piece, because, as Wikipedia says, it has such BEAUTIFUL symmetry...
'There is an older version than the one related by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, which is a moral tale in which the proud and unfeeling Narcissus is punished by the gods for having spurned all his male suitors. It is thought to have been intended as a cautionary tale addressed to adolescent boys. Until recently, the only source for this version was a segment in Pausanias (9.31.7), about 150 years after Ovid. A very similar account was discovered among the Oxyrhynchus papyri in 2004, however, an account that predates Ovid's version by at least fifty years.
In this story, Ameinias, a young man, loved Narcissus but was scorned. To tell Ameinias off, Narcissus gave him a sword as a present. Ameinias used the sword to kill himself on Narcissus' doorstep and prayed to Nemesis [God of revenge, I believe] that Narcissus would one day know the pain of unrequited love. This curse was fulfilled when Narcissus became entranced by his reflection in the pool and tried to seduce the beautiful boy, not realizing it was himself he was looking at. He only realized that it was his reflection after trying to kiss it. Completing the symmetry of the tale, Narcissus took his sword and killed himself from sorrow. His corpse then turned into a flower'...which is the same type of flower Hades uses to woo Persephone so he can abduct her!
Oh! Greek myths about beautiful, foolish boys. I'm afraid I cannot resist ye!
It's a rewrite of the story of Hermaphroditus/Hermaphrodite. If that name is making you think Stephen Lynch rather than Ovid, here's a brief run down:
Hermaphroditus/Hermaphrodite is the lovechild son of Hermes and Aphrodite, so he's a God. Ovid writes him as being 15, but in the original myth he is literally just starting puberty and is an innocent, so he's probably about the same age as Persephone when she gets snatched (10-14). ANYWAY. He's off wandering on his own, when a Nymph, Salamacis, spots him and thinks 'Fuck me, he's pretty!', and proceeds to snatch him and rape him, by dragging him down into her pool (which he was admiring/swimming in at the time) so he can't escape. However, Hermaphroditus fights back pretty hard, and she fights to hang on to him so hard she literally rapes her way inside him, and they become irreversibly fused. Hermaphroditus' body changes to incorporate both their genders. So traumatised by what has happened to him and his new form, he cries out to his parents, curses everything and then drowns himself in the pool. They (Hermes and Aphrodite) are so distraught that their will makes the pool truly cursed, so if anyone is to bathe in it, they share in Hermaphroditus' fate and come out as a Hermaphrodite.
The Ovid version, if you are interested, is under the cut.
From Ovid, Metamorphoses, pg 83-5
Hear how the magic pool of Salmacis
Found its ill fame, and why its strengthless waters
Soften and enervate the limbs they touch.
All know its famous power but few the cause.
To Hermes, runs the tale, and Aphrodite,
a boy was born whom in Mount Ida’s caves
the Naides nurtured; in his face he showed
Father and mother and took his name from both.
When thrice five years had passed, the youth forsook
Ida, his fostering home, his mountain haunts,
Eager to roam strange lands afar, to see
Strange rivers, hardships softened by delight.
The towns of Lycia he reached at last
And Carae’s marching provinces; and there
He saw a pool, a limpid shining pool,
Clear to its very bottom; no marsh reed,
No barren sedge grew there, no spiky rush;
The water crystal clear, its margin ringed
With living tuft and verdure always green.
A Nymph dwelt there, not one to bend the bow
Or join the hunt or run to win the race;
She was the only water sprite unknown
To swift Diana. Many a time her sisters
Chid her: `Come, Salmacis, get out your spear
Or painted quiver; vary your hours of ease
With hardships of the chase.’ Yet never spear
She took nor painted quiver, nor would vary
Her hours of ease with hardships of the chase;
But in her pool would bathe her lovely limbs,
And with a comb of boxwood dress her hair,
And, gazing long, take counsel of the waters
What style were best. Now on the soft green grass
Or on soft leaves in gauzy dress she lay;
Now gathered flowers--and, gathering, chanced to see
The boy and seeing, saw her heart’s desire.
Yet though her heart would haste she paused awhile
Till, dress inspected, all in order placed,
Charm in her eyes set shining, she deserved
To look so lovely, then began to speak :
`Fair boy you seem--how worthily you seem!--
A god, and, if a god, Cupid himself,
Or if a mortal, happy pair are they
Who gave you birth; blest is your brother, blest
Indeed is your sister, if you have one, and the nurse
Who suckled you, but far, of far, more blest
She, your betrothed, found worthy of your love!
If there is one, let stolen joy be mine;
If none, let me be her, make me your bride!’
This said, she held her peace. A rosy blush
Dyed the boy’s cheeks; he knew not what love was;
But blushes well became him; like the bloom
Of rosy apples hanging in the sun,
Or painted ivory, or when the moon
Glows red beneath her pallor and the gongs
Resound in vain to rescue her eclipse.
Then the Nympha pleaded, begged, besought at least
A sister’s kiss, and made to throw her arms
Around his ivory neck. `Enough!’ he cried
`Have done! Or I shall quit this place--and you.’
Fear struck her heart; `I yield the place’, she said,
`Stranger, to you’ and turned away as if
To leave him, then, with many a backward glance,
She vanished in the leafy undergrowth
And crouched in hiding there. The boy, alone
(He thought) on the empty sward unobserved,
Strolled to and fro and in the rippling water
Dipped first his toes, then ankle deep, and soon,
Charmed by the soothing coolness of the pool,
Stripped his light garments from his slender limbs.
Then Salmacis gazed spellbound, and desire
Flamed for his naked beauty and her eyes
Blazed bright as when the sun’s unclouded orb
Shines dazzling in a mirror. She scarce could bare
To wait, hardly postpone her joy, she longed
To embrace him, scarce contained her frenzied heart.
He clapped his hollow palms against his sides
And dived into the pool and, as he swam
Arm over arm, gleamed in the limpid water
Like, in a guarding dome of crystal glass,
White lilies or a figure of ivory.
`I’ve won, he’s mine!’ she cried, and flung aside
Her clothes and plunged far out into the pool
And grappled him and, as he struggled, forced
Her kisses, willy-nilly fondled him,
Caressed him; now on one side, now the other
Clung to him as he fought to escape her hold;
And so at last entwined him, like a snake
Seized by the king of birds and borne aloft,
Which, as it hangs, coils round his head and claws
And with its tail entwines his spreading wings;
Or ivy wrapping round tall forest trees;
Or, in the sea, a squid whose whipping arms
Seize and from every side surround their prey.
The youth fought back, denied the Nymph her joy;
She strained the more; her clinging body seemed
Fixed fast to his. `Fool, fight me as you will’,
She cried, ‘You’ll not escape! Ye Gods ordain
No day shall ever dawn to part us twain!’
Her prayer found gods to hear; both bodies merged
In one, both blended in one form and face.
As when a gardener sets a graft and sees
Growth seal the join and both mature together,
Thus, when in the fast embrace their limbs were knit,
They two were two no more, nor man, nor woman--
One body then that neither seemed and both.
So when he saw the waters of the pool,
Where he had dived a man, had rendered him
Half woman and his limbs now weak and soft,
Raising his hands, Hermaphroditus cried,
His voice unmanned, `Dear father and dear mother,
Both of whose names I bear, grant me, your child,
That whoso in these waters bathes a man
Emerge half woman, weakened instantly.’
Both parents heard; both, moved to gratify
Their bi-sexed son, his purpose to ensure,
Drugged the bright water with that power impure."
It's really horrible! I tried to write a sort of modern version last night, and oh god did I feel rough doing it. Also, it came out really, really bad. So I don't know what to do with it. I've written Narcissus timelessly, but I don't know what to do with this one. Also, women raping men is not common, and doesn't show up in literature much, so I'm struggling for references or inspiration. Also, looking that stuff up makes me feel like a freaking paedo.
I'm done now XD Any recs/ideas would be awesome.
Edit: OMG NOOOOO
You may or may not know I'm also writing Narcissus in terms of the inversed lovers. I was just writing the Echo version, but after the Echo incident mostly, because it's just all about his love and his death.
BUT!!!
I've found and OLDER version of the story in which Echo doesn't exist. Nyahaha which is nice because I find her very dull as a character.
BUT!!!
This means I NEED this version to be in my life, and I may have to rewrite the piece, because, as Wikipedia says, it has such BEAUTIFUL symmetry...
'There is an older version than the one related by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, which is a moral tale in which the proud and unfeeling Narcissus is punished by the gods for having spurned all his male suitors. It is thought to have been intended as a cautionary tale addressed to adolescent boys. Until recently, the only source for this version was a segment in Pausanias (9.31.7), about 150 years after Ovid. A very similar account was discovered among the Oxyrhynchus papyri in 2004, however, an account that predates Ovid's version by at least fifty years.
In this story, Ameinias, a young man, loved Narcissus but was scorned. To tell Ameinias off, Narcissus gave him a sword as a present. Ameinias used the sword to kill himself on Narcissus' doorstep and prayed to Nemesis [God of revenge, I believe] that Narcissus would one day know the pain of unrequited love. This curse was fulfilled when Narcissus became entranced by his reflection in the pool and tried to seduce the beautiful boy, not realizing it was himself he was looking at. He only realized that it was his reflection after trying to kiss it. Completing the symmetry of the tale, Narcissus took his sword and killed himself from sorrow. His corpse then turned into a flower'...which is the same type of flower Hades uses to woo Persephone so he can abduct her!
Oh! Greek myths about beautiful, foolish boys. I'm afraid I cannot resist ye!