My wet gaze follows you as you go, and my tenuous voice murmurs: ‘Fare well!’
This sentence is extremely sad and Medea seems like a girl who is extremely heartbroken. While some of her actions were "harsh", she ultimately did a lot to help Jason. You cannot help but being sad for her.
Her father holds Corinth, between two seas, mine all that lies to the left of Pontus, as far as the Scythian snows.
It is quite sad to see Medea comparing herself to the girl that Jason fell for. It is also sad to realize that she may think that Jason was with her only for power and riches. I guess their wedding was technically an arrangement...
Why did I take more pleasure than I should in your golden hair, and your comeliness, and the lying favours of your tongue?
I wonder if Aphrodite did not "curse" Medea to love Jason, would she have ever fallen for him? And would her pain be this intense (like is it worse because she is still "cursed")? Because she seems to be questioning why she fell for him and is obviously very upset.
Ixion
Fun fact: Ixion was a wicked kikng of the Lapiths who was tricked by Zeus to make love to a cloud. This consequently led to the birth of the first Centaur- the start of the race of Centaurs
a marked man, held by cruel stabbing tongues
It is pretty interesting that Heracles was worried about what other people would say of him, given that it seems like everyone knew that it was hera's doing (making him kill his family). I feel like after he became immortal, it is definitely not something he is remembered for, compared to his 10 deeds.
Fortune has spread her wings, and we are ruined, ruined.
It is interesting that Fortune is personified as a woman. If i were reading this text without much knowledge about greek mythology, I would find this surprising since I would think they are just talking about fortune- the luck we could have. While in this passage it is actually referring to the goddess Tyche/ Fortuna.
Well, then, Sciron was a son-in-law of Cychreus, father-in-law of Aeacus, and grandfather of Peleus and Telamon, who were the sons of Endeis, daughter of Sciron and Chariclo. It is not likely, then, they say, that the best of men made family alliances with the basest, receiving and giving the greatest and most valuable pledges
It is interesting that there are two stories about Sciron and kind of ironic that before his journey, Theseus claimed that he was determined to do no man any wrong. Did he not have a way of determining if Sciron was bad or not, instead of just going and slaying him because of rumours?
his trident as an emblem on their coinage
Some of these coins have been found and they are pretty cool with a trident on one side and a face on the other. The ones I looked up are held at the Yale University Art Gallery. It is really quite surprising that they have been so well preserved! And it looks like there was a lot of detail put into making them.
children of the soil
Why was it that the snake was the representation of being earthly? ex: the erechtheus king having a snake bottom.
son Silvius
Silva apparently means wood or forest in Latin therefor Silvius was named after his place of birth (the forest, where apparently his mother was hiding to protect him from his father who might have killed him)
The Aborigines, who occupied the country, with their king Latinus at their head, came hastily together from the city and the country districts to repel the inroads of the strangers by force of arms.
This seriously reminds me of colonization. I guess it makes sense that there were people around before that were considered the "original settlements/ indigenous" and then there were "foreigners" that came and invaded. Therefore, I guess both of them partook in creating a settlement, and thats why the origins of cities may have two foundation stories.
masters of the world, and people of the toga,
It is interesting how Romans are referred to as people of the toga, which I interpret as calling them godly since most gods are depicted wearing togas and I also find it weird how it says they are masters of the world because I feel like gods would not like to be compared with humans.
kings of Hector’s rac
"Hector" I believe is referring to Prince Hector who was a prince of Troy and one of the best fighters during the Trojan war; therefore, when it refers to "hectors race" I believe it refers to kings that are very good fighters and warriors.
Dionysus discovered the vine,48 and being driven mad by Hera
By discovering the vine, is it referring to him becoming the god of wine (grape vine?) and was it Hera then who helped him discover it so he could drink wine and go mad, hence the roaming around egypt and syria?
Wishing to sacrifice the cow to Athena
I wonder why he decided to sacrifice the cow to Athena, since the cow is Apollos animal. But i also wonder if Apollo would be offended if his sacred animal was sacrificed... Is it offensive to sacrifice an animal only to one god instead of them all?
Libya had by Poseidon two sons, Belus and Agenor. Now Belus reigned over the Egyptians
I never really realized that Greek mythology intercepted with Egypt. I read that there were greek settlements and influences in Egypt, however, I did not know that Greek gods had children who ruled over other lands. What I also find interesting is that Libya was not really a single person, but instead was a personification of Ancient Libya. Libya had a son, Belus, with the Greek god- Poseidon, who then became the ruler of Egypt.
Nymphs nurtured the child on a mixture of honey and milk and gave him upbringing at the udder of the goat which was named Amaltheia.
This reminds me of Percy Jackson because it just shows that even the gods themselves were not brought up by their parents - like the demi-gods.
There too are the sources and boundaries of dusky Earth, and murky Tartaros, and barren Sea, and starry Sky, all in order; 810 boundaries oppressive and gloomy, which also even gods abhor.
It is interesting that even the gods respect the boundaries. it makes you reconsider the extent of their godly-ness. Even they will not dabble in the dichotomy between life and death.
placed her [Mētis] within his own belly by the advice of earth, and of starry Sky.
This seems similar to how Kronos ate his children because he feared that they would rise up against him.
Fates [moirai], to whom counseling Zeus gives most honor,
It seems that "fate" was a very important concept in which the Greeks and Romans believed in. The author even goes to say that Zeus held them to the most honour - the king of the gods himself believed in their advice.
The historians took their own approaches to myth.
Even today, I got to say that historians, writers, artists and film makers take a totally different spin on history- could be based on opinion, little research, bias, or just the form of their "art". For example Rick Riordan portrayed some events very similarly yet completely different from what these poets have written. Therefore, I am interested to read more origin myths and consider their similarities and differences.
stly, having been judged worthy of that honour
I love his this version considers the concept of "judging"- it considers the worth of Zeus as a leader, not just his ability to win a war. I think that it emphasizes qualities such as honour, respect, and encourages the mentality of being a strong and beloved leader.
at the umbilical cord (omphalos) fell from him near the river known as Triton, and that this spot has been made sacred
I believe it fascinating how in these stories, even the most smallest of events seems to have made a huge impact in the creation of "something"- in this case the falling of the umbilical cord created a sacred spot.
To the goat (aeg-) which suckled him Zeus also accorded certain honou
I find it curious why many myths and stories written during that time favour to mention animals as playing a sacred/ important role in the formation of "things". Why do Greeks/Romans prefer to utilize animals? Are animals a symbol?
Immediately every kind of wickedness erupted into this age of baser natures: truth, shame and honour vanished; in their place were fraud, deceit, and trickery, violence and pernicious desires.
This part of the passage reminds me of Hobbes and his definition of the state of war being that people are more brutish, harsh and nasty. However, it seems that people during this time were more engulfed in exploiting the earth, acquiring wealth and living in a constant war ("where friends were not safe with friends, relatives, etc..).
Then parched air first glowed white scorched with the heat, and ice hung down frozen by the wind
I find similarities between this part of the passage and what I think could correlate with the earth's historical "phases/periods". For example, how seasons have changed and how there was first lots of heat, then freezing environments - similar to an ice age or historical drought, which ultimately lead to evolution - example the creation of better shelters, crops, people turning a new leaf etc...\
earth into a great ball so that it was uniform on all sides.
I find this comment interesting because even back when this was written, Ovid thought the world to be a ball (circular). Yet it took forever for humans to realize that the world was not flat (thanks NASA).