finelythreadedsky:finelythreadedsky:DAMN 2018 me was really on another level with her reading of ara
finelythreadedsky:finelythreadedsky:DAMN 2018 me was really on another level with her reading of arachne!!!arachne’s tapestry as a celebration of divine fertility and procreative power! (ovid tells us explicitly what minerva’s tapestry is supposed to mean but leaves arachne’s ambiguous!) minerva misreading it as a condemnation of divine sexual violence (as we as modern readers are inclined to read it)! (OR possibly minerva reading it correctly and being outraged that arachne does NOT recognize and condemn the violence inherent in her scenes!) arachne aligning herself with the gods rather than the mortal women and minerva refusing to recognize that an artist and a god have something in common (the ability to create from nothing)! (OR minerva in turn identifying HERself with the mortal women and being outraged that arachne does not recognize that she too is one of them and subject to violence like all women even those who are divine!)*ovid voice* just because it reads as condemnation doesn’t mean it’s not glorification, and it DEFINITELY doesn’t mean there should be repercussions2018 me: Interestingly, if Minerva does interpret Arachne’s work correctly and still destroys it, it is she, not Arachne, who identifies the women of Arachne’s tapestry as victims worthy of sympathy and defense. Arachne sees them as figures of fertility and productivity, and Minerva is offended by this misinterpretation of the violence done to them and destroys the image that attempts to excuse sexual violence. It is difficult to fit such a reading with Ovid’s specific language, especially caelestia crimina (which implies either that Arachne’s subject is intended to be the crimes committed by the gods or that her depiction and humiliation of them is a crime against the gods), since Minerva would be avenging Arachne and the gods’ crimes against mortal women. It nevertheless makes for a compelling change to the obvious interpretation, that Arachne sympathizes with and defends mortal women and Minerva their divine aggressors.2020 me: hmm yeah sure sounds good -- source link
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#the metamorphosis#classic literature#greek mythology#athena#arachne