Myths of Love and Cannibalism

CC 303/352 Intro to Classical Mythology - Fall 2009
Department of Classics, University of Texas at Austin, Prof. Lawrence Kim

Pyramus, Thisbe, Babylon, Tereus, Procne, Philomela
Admetus, Alcestis, Erysichthon, Thrace, Thessaly

1. Admetus and Alcestis
• Apollo once served Admetus as a herdsman
• Penance for angering Zeus
• Admetus' reward: escape death if another was willing to take his place
• Admetus' day to die has come
• His parents refuse to die for him
• Only Alcestis, his devoted wife, agrees
• Heracles arrives in Thessaly on his way to the Horses of Diomedes Labor
• Alcestis is dead, but Heracles is not informed
• Heracles tries to drink and party
• Once he realizes, he atones by wrestling Death and bringing Alcestis back
• Euripides, Alcestis: What kind of a man allows his wife to die for him?
2. Pyramus and Thisbe
• Lovers separated, commincate through a crack in the wall connecting their houses
• Agree to meet outside at night - tragic ending
• Plot: similar to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
• Origin of the color of the mulberry
3. Tereus, Procne, and Philomela
• Tereus, king of Thrace, marries Procne
• Daughter of Pandion, king of Athens
• T. lusts after Procne's sister, Philomela
• T. abducts, rapes, and imprisons Philomela
• T. cuts out Ph.'s tongue to keep her silent
• Philomela communicates her story to Procne via the gift of a tapestry
• Procne rescues Ph. and together they plot revenge against Tereus
• They kill T. and P.'s son, Itys, and feed him to Tereus
• All three are turned into birds
• Tereus: hoopoe (see picture)
• Procne and Philomela: nightingale and swallow (unclear which is which)
4. Erysichthon
• Cuts down oak tree sacred to Demeter
• Cursed with an insatiable hunger
• Consumes his entire fortune
• Sells his shape-shifting daughter repeatedly
• Finally, E. consumes himself
• All that is left is a mouth
1. Tragic Lovers’ Tale
2. Shakespeare
1. Romeo and Juliet
1. A Midsummernight’s Dream

Return to Syllabus

1. The Death of Alcestis. Pierre Peyron, 1785. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
2. Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis. Frederic, Lord Leighton, 1869-71. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford UK.
   
3. Thisbe. J.W. Waterhouse, 1909. Private Collection.
   
4. Pyramus and Thisbe. Hans Baldung Grien, 1530. Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
5. *Tereus Confronted with the Head of his Son, Itylus. Peter Paul Rubens, 1636-38. Museo del Prado, Madrid.