Since Joey knows all the backstories necessary to fully understand the
Aeneid, stories the audience back then would have known as well, I thought I
would do some research to "get on his level". Here is information on
two of the many crazy creatures mentioned in the sixth book.
Scylla was a monstrous sea goddess who killed any sailors that
would come to close to the rocks she haunted. Homer describes Skylla as a
creature with twelve dangling feet, six long necks and grisly heads lined with
a triple row of sharp teeth. Her voice sounded like yelping dogs. The
description of Scylla is probably derived from the imagery of words
associated with her name. Skylax in Greek means dog and Skyllaros means
hermit-crab. Late classical writers say that she was once a beautiful
nymph but was transformed into a monster by a witch named Kirke.
Lernean Hydra was also a monster. However, she was a
giant, nine-headed water serpent that haunted the swamps of
Lerna. Hercules was sent to destroy her as his second labour, but for each of
her heads that he decapitated, two more would grow. So with the help of Iolaos,
his nephew, he applied burning brands to the severed stumps, cauterizing the
wounds and preventing new head from springing forth.
1 comment:
I definitely agree with you that knowing the myths behind the characters and monsters mentioned in the Aeneid would make reading it more enjoyable. Like you said, the audience would have understood all of Virgil and Homer's allusions. It makes me think about how wonderful the authors of these epics were at encompassing so many aspects of cultural knowledge while creating a piece of literature that would be studied up until today. I'm guessing authors today would have an extremely hard time creating an astounding piece of literature that would survive through the ages about the Kardasians or Justin Bieber.
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