The Death of Adonis, by Luca Giordano (1684-1686)
From: Ovid, Metamorphoses 10 (ca. 8 C.E.); Theocritus, Idyll XV (ca. C3rd B.C.E.); Bion, The Lament for Adonis (ca. late C2nd-early C1st B.C.E.)
"Oh, weep for Adonais--he is dead
Wake, melancholy Mother, wake and weep!
Yet wherefore? Quench within their burning bed
Thy fiery tears, and let thy loud heart keep
Like his, a mute and uncomplaining sleep;
For he is gone, where all things wise and fair
Descend"
-Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley
As Myth-O-Matic heads into its first weekend break, we finish up a three-part series on flower myths or, more precisely, myths in which really beautiful young men die and become flowers. But as beautiful as Narcissus and Hyacinthus were, they don't even hold a candle to Adonis. He was so good-looking that Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, for cryin' out loud, loved him from the very second he was born. To make sure that he was raised the right way, I guess, Aphrodite put him in a box and sent him to Persephone, Hades' wife and Queen of the Dead.
But Persephone found him incredibly beautiful, as well. So when the time came to release him back to Aphrodite, Persephone refused. The two Goddesses could not see eye-to-eye on this, so Zeus had to intervene. He decided that Adonis would spend the fall and winter with Persephone, but the spring and summer with Aphrodite. This solution seemed to work out for a while.
Aphrodite had a major crush on Adonis. She let him do whatever he wanted; most of the time, he just wanted to hunt and run through the woods. So she followed closely behind, flying in her chariot. One day, he cornered a ferocious wild boar. His dogs set upon it, and he threw a spear, but didn't quite kill the boar outright. With a last, desperate burst of rage, it charged at him! "Infuriate, the fierce boar's curved snout first struck the spear-shaft from his bleeding side; and, while the trembling youth was seeking where to find a safe retreat, the savage beast raced after him, until at last he sank his deadly tusk deep in Adonis' groin; and stretched him dying on the yellow sand." He lay there, bleeding to death.
Aphrodite heard his groans and quickly descended. But she saw that she was already to late. Her agony is expressed really passionately by Bion, so I'll just let him take it from here:
"'You die, O thrice desired,
And my desire has flown like a dream.
Gone with you is the girdle of my beauty,
But I myself must live who am a goddess
And may not follow you.
Kiss me yet once again, the last, long kiss,
Until I draw your soul within my lips,
And drink down all your love.'"
The mountains all were calling and the oak trees answering,
Oh, woe, woe for Adonis. He is dead.
And Echo cried in answer, Oh, woe, woe for Adonis.
And all the Loves wept for him and all the Muses too."
-The Lament for Adonis, by Bion.
Aphrodite poured little drops of nectar on Adonis' body as he died, and his blood turned to crimson anemone flowers as it fell to the dirt. The nearby river flowing from Mount Lebanon (in modern day coastal Lebanon) became red, and was for some time called the River Adonis.
Notes:
-According to Nonnus, Dionysiaca 42.1f. and Servius on Virgil's Eclogues x.18, the boar was imbued with supernatural strength and vigor either by Artemis, because she, too, loved Adonis, or by Ares , Artemis' lover.
-The story of Adonis' birth is interesting, as well. Aphrodite, likely expecting some sort of really special progeny, convinced Myrrha, daughter of Theias (King of Syria) to have sex with her father. With the help of the maid, she fulfilled this charge until Theias turned on a light and flew into a murderous rage. He chased Myrrha with a sword until Aphrodite saved her by the rather inconvenient means of turning her into a Myrrh tree. Theias shot an arrow at the tree (or, in some version, a boar gored the tree), and Adonis was born of its bark.
-In addition to the above Shelley poem, dedicated to Keats, Adonis' story has inspired many literary works, including Giovan Battista Marino's epic poem Adone (1623).
-Like Narcissus, Adonis is the namesake of a psychological disorder: psychoanalytical Adonis Complex, which refers to a body image obsession with improving one's physique and youthful appearance.
No comments:
Post a Comment