After being saved from Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus's ship sailed to the island where the sacred sheep and cows of the god Helios grazed. Circe, and before her the soothsayer Tiresias, warned Odysseus that if the herds of Helios were touched, Odysseus would lose all his comrades. Odysseus, remembering the gloomy prophecies, ordered his companions not to stop and sail past the island, but Odysseus's comrades resisted, saying that they were tired and could not sail further. Odysseus agreed to stay on the island, but strictly forbade touching any sheep or cow from the herds of Helios.
After stopping, Odysseus and his men had to spend a month on the island, waiting for a fair wind. When the supplies of food that Circe had given ran out, Odysseus's companions had to hunt birds and fish. One day Odysseus fell asleep, and his comrades, mad with hunger, decided to sacrifice several cows to the gods, and upon returning to Ithaca to build a temple to Helios in order to atone for sin before him.
When Odysseus's companions slaughtered several cows from the herd, Helios filed a complaint with Zeus. The lord of the gods promised to punish the blasphemers. When Odysseus' ship went out to sea, Zeus threw lightning at him. All of Odysseus's companions died, only Odysseus escaped, clinging to the wreckage of the ship. For nine days Odysseus was carried by the sea, and on the tenth he was nailed to the island of the nymph Calypso, where Odysseus was destined to spend 7 years.
Calypso ("the one that hides") was the daughter of the titan Atlanta and the oceanid Pleione (according to another version, Calypso was the daughter of the god Helios and Perseis).
Calypso fell in love with Odysseus and wanted him to stay with her forever, offering him immortality. However, Odysseus, yearning for his homeland and his wife Penelope, constantly cried, "tormenting his spirit with groans, tears and bitter sorrow."
H. J. Ford - Odysseus and Calypso
N. C. Wyeth - Odysseus and Calypso
Athena persuaded Zeus to release Odysseus. Zeus sent Hermes to Calypso, instructing him to convey the order to free Odysseus.
Karl Lehmann - Calypso
Calypso, submitting to the will of Zeus, told Odysseus:
It will be, ill-fated, you will not grieve with me!
Don't cut your life. I willingly let you go.
Here's what you will do: chop large logs into a wide
You will put together a raft, you will make a platform on the raft there,
To carry you across the hazy, misty sea.
I'll take you with bread, water and red wine on the road
I will supply generously so that they turn hunger away from you.
I will dress you in a dress and send you a fair wind,
So that you arrive completely unscathed in your father's land,
If those who reign in the wide sky wish so
Gods who are above me both in decision and in deed.
(...) you strive in spirit to your native land,
To see your spouse, you miss her all the time.
Indeed, I can boast - not at all in appearance or growth
I will not give in to your wife. Yes, and is it possible with the goddess
To measure against a mortal woman with her earthly beauty?
(Homer "Odyssey", Canto 5)
Odysseus answered the nymph:
Don't be angry with me, mistress goddess! I know
I'm good myself, how pathetic compared to you
The height and appearance of her reasonable Penelope.
She is mortal - you are not subject to death or old age.
All the same and at the same time I wish and I strive all the days continuously
Return home again and see the day of return.
The next morning, Calypso gave Odysseus a copper ax, after which Odysseus made himself a raft on which he set off.
Poseidon, upon learning of the release of Odysseus, became angry and sent a terrible storm.
The goddess Leukothea saw Odysseus fighting the storm:
She felt sorry for Odysseus, as, tormented, he rushed through the waves.
Similar to a dive in summer, fluttered from the surface of the sea,
She sat on the raft to Odysseus and said this word:
"Poor! Why is Poseidon, earth shaker, so awful
Mad at you for sending you so many misfortunes?
But he will not destroy you at all, no matter how he wishes.
Here's what to do now - you don't seem to me unreasonable.
Throwing off these clothes, leave your raft to arbitrariness
Winds and, throwing himself into the waves, working hard with his hands,
Swim to the edge of the Faecians, where there will be salvation.
On! Spread the imperishable veil on your chest.
You can not be afraid with him to accept suffering or perish.
Only, however, with your hands you will grab the solid ground,
Take off the veil and throw it into the wine-black sea,
As far as possible, and turn away at the same time. "
So saying, the goddess gave him the veil
And plunged back into the waves of the boiling sea ...
John Flaxman - Odysseus and Leucothea
Having passed many deadly trials, the hero did not suspect that he would actually be a prisoner for many years by the beauty, known as nymph Calypso...
Siren island
As the ships approached the land known as the island of the sirens, the sea calmed down and the crew took up the oars. This island ruined many, since the sirens who lived on it lured travelers with their bewitching singing, after which they never returned. On the advice of Circe, Odysseus ordered his comrades to cover their ears with wax, and tie themselves to the mast in order to be able to pass the danger, but at the same time hear the divine singing.
The sirens called out to Odysseus with charming voices, saying that there is no sailor in the world who would not enjoy the sounds of the song pouring from their lips. The sirens continued to broadcast that they knew about the events that took place in Troy, and could foresee everything that will happen in the future on this earth.
Odysseus's singing fascinated, he begged his comrades to come ashore to enjoy the society of beautiful sirens. But no one could hear their captain, and the rowers only tensed more, trying to get away from the deadly island of sirens.
Having escaped one danger, the travelers faced another. Of all the adventures of Odysseus, this was one of the most dangerous. It was necessary to navigate the ship through a narrow strait between two monsters called Scylla and Charybdis. If the cautious sailor somehow avoided meeting Charybdis, he nevertheless encountered the terrifying Scylla hiding in the cave. She had twelve legs and six heads. Each mouth was seated with three rows of teeth. Hiding in a cave, the monster took a human sacrifice from each passing ship.
Odysseus, warned by Circe, decided not to inform his team about Scylla and go as far away from Charybdis. Thus, their path lay directly under the rock of Scylla. Despite the fact that Odysseus was armed and ready to fight to save the lives of his comrades, the monster Scylla still snatched and killed six sailors.
Bulls of Helios
And so the ship approached the island of Trinakia, which possessed rich pastures, where Helios kept herds of snow-white bulls. Both Circe and Tiresias warned Odysseus that if he wants to stay alive and get to Ithaca, he does not need to go to this island or, in any case, not to touch the sacred bulls of Helios. The exhausted travelers nevertheless begged Odysseus to stop at the island and spend at least one night on the shore. Odysseus agreed, but under the strictest prohibition not to touch Helios' cattle.
However, the raging elements did not allow the sailors to go further either in a day, or even in a week. As long as the people had a supply of food, they did not touch the bulls of Helios. But when the food ran out, the team, taking advantage of the absence of Odysseus, broke their word. Having caught the fattest animals from the herd, they prepared a meal from them. The unfortunate believed that if the bulls were slaughtered in honor of the gods, then they would not be angry.
Odysseus smelled with horror the smell of fried meat, and immediately rushed to the camp. Alas, the deed was done, nothing could be changed, it was necessary to rely only on the mercy of the gods. When the meal was over, the wind suddenly died down and the ship could raise the sail. But only the sailors went out to sea, the avenging lightning of Zeus suddenly flashed in the sky, dark clouds appeared and a storm arose. The ship was thrown onto a rock with such force that it smashed into small chips. By a miracle, only Odysseus remained alive, clinging to a fragment of the mast.
Odysseus and Calypso
For nine days he was carried by stormy waves, and on the tenth he was thrown onto the island of Ogygia. A beautiful nymph named Calypso lived on this remote island. Odysseus and Calypso lived together on the island for seven whole years, and, perhaps, the nymph would have kept him further, but,goddess Athena, finally, she took pity on the hero. She instructed Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to convey to the nymph that it was time to let Odysseus go, as he must continue on his way. Having made a reliable raft and stocked up with food and water, Odysseus again set off on a long journey. To hasten Odysseus' return to Ithaca, Calypso caused a tailwind.
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CHAPTER XII CALIPSO ISLAND
After nine days of wandering, Odysseus was thrown by waves on the island of Calypso. This new episode interrupts the linear development of the plot, since the myth of Calypso is, in fact, nothing more than a variant of the myth of Kirk - "redundant" in the poem from the point of view of modern aesthetic criteria (however, about the principles of organizing material in the "Odyssey" has been said more than once), but very valuable in terms of "additional information".
Calypso is the classic "mistress of death", and this motive is emphasized in myth by all possible "symbolic means"; the very name of the goddess means "hiding", which not only clearly expresses the corresponding idea, but also has certain Indo-European parallels: Hel, the name of the mistress of the underworld in Scandinavian mythology, has the same meaning and apparently originated from the same root.
The signs of Calypso's dwelling are no less characteristic: she lives in a cave surrounded by a dense forest of "cypresses, alders and poplars", in which "owls, hawks and crows" are in abundance; the meadow in front of the cave is dotted with "violets and celery". All these details give the picture a completely definite tonality: not to mention the well-known "mourning symbolism" of the cypress, it can be noted that the poplar was also considered by the Greeks as a "symbol of darkness, grief and tears"; a similar formula, in principle, is applicable to alder, because it was to her - if we trust the authority of Virgil in this matter - that the myth of "trees mourning the setting sun" was dedicated to it (in a later rethinking that came down to us as a legend about the "sisters of Phaethon") ...
Note that the alder theme expands the general Indo-European context, which we have already outlined in connection with the image of Calypso; Among the "Danish folk songs" translated by Herder, the ballad about "the daughter of the Alder King" who "dances in a green meadow" is of interest in this sense: she invites a passing knight to join the dance, and when he (in a not too polite form) refuses, sends a fatal illness to him. This plot, of course, is quite permissible to understand as a kind of version of the myth about Orion, and in the image of the Alder King's daughter, the features of the archaic goddess of death associated with the alder are quite clearly distinguished; however, in this case (as in all similar ones) we can speak of "death" only in a purely relative sense; the mention of the "silk shirt, bleached in the moonlight", which the daughter of the Alder King offers to the knight in exchange for a dance, is a legitimate and logical development of the already well-known motive of "new clothes".
In connection with what we said above about the specifics of modern European literature, we note that the fate of the ballad translated by Herder was not devoid of a certain "drama" - the "giant shadow" of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, which fell on it, diverted the reader's attention to another, possibly more vivid, but not devoid of some ambiguity of interpretation. Inspired by Herder's translation, the great poet decided to “read” the classic myth in a “bold and modern” manner: instead of the “daughter of the Alder King”, we see “the father himself”, instead of the “knight” - the rider “carrying the baby somewhere”; the traditional interaction of female and male characters is thus replaced by “purely male communication”, and the behavior of the Alder King, luring the “baby” to himself, evokes rather close associations with the myth of the abduction of Ganymede. The feeling of some “wrongness” of what is happening is further enhanced by the consideration that the Alder King is, in fact, the god of death, who, unlike the corresponding goddess, “has absolutely nothing to offer from himself”; seducing the "baby", he refers now to his "daughters", now to his "mother", who has "many golden clothes" - however, we do not directly see either daughters or mothers, and their "alarming absence" gives the whole poem Goethe, I must admit, is a rather sinister shade.
However, let's return to the description of Calypso's dwelling. The forest around her cave is inhabited, as we remember, by owls, hawks and crows. The connection of these birds with the goddess of death seems to be quite natural and (in the first two cases) we have already noted; as for the crows, the Irish Queen of the Dead can be mentioned as a common Indo-European parallel (such a translation of the name "Morrigan" seems to us quite acceptable), whose nicknames included "Battle Crow".
We also note that in this context, the "crow" could be understood, apparently, as a metaphor for the "soul": when describing the death of Odysseus's ship, it was said about his lost companions that they were rushing along the waves, like crows. This incongruous (since crows, as a rule, do not rush along the waves) metaphor can, however, be found a plausible explanation - if we assume that the crows are in the forest near Calypso (it is specifically stated that these are sea crows, which "Care about maritime affairs") are none other than the souls of Odysseus's companions, whose presence on the "island of death" seems - in view of previous events - quite natural.
It should be pointed out that the myth of the "sea ravens" as birds, in one way or another connected with the kingdom of death, apparently existed in Celtic mythology: a character named Morvran ("Sea Raven") was the son of the already mentioned Carridwen ; if we draw an analogy (in our opinion, quite legitimate) between him and the Raven - the Son of the Sea (Bran vab Llur), the master of the Welsh afterlife, whose symbol was alder, then a rather close and promising in the historical and mythological terms rapprochement of the images of Carridwen and Calypso.
The line of the "mourning symbolism" we are considering is completed by the description of the meadow in front of the Calypso cave, "overgrown with violets and celery." The "melancholic" appearance of the former and the "melancholic" associations associated with the latter (the Hellenes decorated tombstones with celery, in connection with which there was even a saying "needs celery" - in the sense of "breathing in incense"), enhance the gloomy color of the surrounding landscape. However, "gloom" is a dual state by definition; on the island of Calypso there is a kind of "eternal twilight", the transition of which to "final darkness" is prevented by a distinct and emphasized presence signs of life: grapevine winding around the entrance to the Calypso cave (a symbolic complex, undoubtedly parallel to the "fig tree growing above the whirlpool"), and four streams flowing out of this cave "with transparent water" - in the latter case, associations with the four servants of Kirke, the daughters "Groves, streams, and sacred streams that tend to the sea", washed Odysseus from dust and “A consuming fatigue.
Calypso herself, as we have noted above, is, in fact, none other than the mythological double of Kirke; the description of her image contains all the motives that are already well known to us: she “sings beautifully,” she is a “weaver,” weaving “new clothes” for the hero, she offers the hero “ablution” and honors him with “her love” (the symbolism of the “cave” is called obviously emphasize the idea of \u200b\u200bregressus ad uterum), finally, it instructs hero. We also note that the already outlined rapprochement between Kirke and Aphrodite - Astarte will receive additional grounds if we expand the context by attracting the image of Calypso; about this goddess, "Odyssey" especially notes that this detail, being considered in terms of "sacred geography", unequivocally points to the mountains of Lebanon, which were one of the classic places of worship of Astarte.
If we now turn to the consideration of the actual plot of the myth about Calypso, we will have to state availability at least two versions of it: "the original" and "come down to us"; since the "original" version is in some way and more "correct", consideration we let's start with it.
In general terms, this version, of course, coincides with the original version of the Kirk myth we have reconstructed and boils down to the following: after Odysseus spent some time on the island of Calypso, she sent him "back to the world of the living" - taught him how to build a raft, "Provided food" for the journey and explained that it was necessary to sail
so that the Bear of Heaven, not part of the waves of the sea, was on the left, -
or, in other words, to the east, from which we can conclude that the island of Calypso is in the west - this is the only point where this goddess "opposes" Kirk, whose island, as the reader should remember, is in the east. However, in this case, we are talking not so much about "confrontation" as about mutual complementarity: we can mention, for example, that in Egypt the goddess H.t-hr was called the "Mistress of the Beautiful West", while Isis was considered more like "Mistress of the East" ; in fact, both goddesses were, as it were, “at different poles,” but the latter circumstance in no way was an obstacle to their ritual identification.
We add that in the original version Odysseus was portrayed as undoubtedly a prudent and diligent "recipient" of Calypso's instructions; his return home to Ithaca (note, however, that in the original version it was not necessary to speak about Ithaca at all), took place, accordingly, without any "entertaining rough edges" not so appropriate in the space of the cult myth. The question of the motivation for Calypso's actions in the original version, of course, was not and could not be raised; the actions of the goddess "simply express her nature," and no external cause should be sought to explain them.
Now, if we turn to the "existing version", we will find in it a number of rather significant inconsistencies with the "original" we have reconstructed. In particular, we can read that Calypso "almost by force" keeps Odysseus, and he "cries" and "asks to go home to his wife" - however, sentimentality, we note, is almost always a sure sign of degeneration. The myth in its original form was undoubtedly devoid of these melodramatic effects - and not least because Calypso and Penelope (recall that this is the name of Odysseus's wife) belong to the same category of mythological characters, within which it is impossible to any "rivalry"; in a sense, you can even say that Penelope and there is Calypso.
In favor of this statement (sounding, of course, quite bold), the following arguments can be drawn: like Calypso, Penelope is an excellent weaver ”; this alone, of course, is not enough to identify them, but Penelope is not a simple weaver. As you know, during the absence of Odysseus she was very much bothered by "all kinds of uninvited suitors"; to get rid of their harassment, she came up with the following very specific plan: informing the grooms that she would not marry before weaving funeral clothes for her father-in-law, she zealously set to work, but at the same time “every night, by the light of torches, she would dissolve everything that was ". The invention turned out to be extremely successful, because with its help Penelope managed to fool the suitors for no less than “three whole years”.
However, the apparent wit of this venture contradicts its completely obvious uselessness: after all, Penelope weaved in my quarters, where the applicants did not have the right to enter before they acquired "legal status", and therefore, neither "weaving" nor "loosening the woven" was at all necessary, since the situation allowed them to limit themselves to purely verbal deception. However, even if we assume that the suitors are “so insolent” that they have already begun to rush directly into the chambers, Penelope’s venture still could not be considered effective - after all, the reaction of the suitors in this latter case would be easily imaginable: “Well, yesterday I started to weave , and today we come - there’s nothing, ”and so on for for three whole years. Odysseus's rivals are not, of course, a textbook example of insight and intelligence, but three years of such deception is, perhaps, still too much. And even if we assume that Penelope wanted to deceive not so much the suitors as the maids, some of whom, as you know, managed to "fall in love" with the suitors, the expediency of her undertaking will still seem very controversial: after all, to whom, and maids familiar "subtleties of a certain kind of craft." In other words, the "cheating suitors" version does not stand up to criticism; before us is an obvious later interpretation, which was resorted to either "out of foolishness" or due to some other, unknown to us, reasons.
However, it should be noted that the main elements of the original version have been preserved and can be considered as an independent mythologeme describing a certain “weaver”, “weaving” during the day, and at night, by the light of torches, “dissolving the woven”; it is hardly worth proving that such a plot, by definition, excludes the possibility of any "everyday", "naturalistic" interpretation. The “weaver” in question is a goddess who weaves the “garments of life” (and in this sense is similar to Calypso and Kirke); she weaves these clothes in the afternoon, since "day" is a fairly common symbol of life, and dissolves them at night, because "night" is no less common symbol of death; having unfurled the fabric, the goddess begins to weave first.
Note that this myth should not be reduced to a simple allegory: the symbolism of thread, fabric, yarn, etc., apparently correlates with some specific reality, the idea of \u200b\u200bwhich is most intelligibly, as far as we know, formulated in tropical Africa (Dahomey ), where there is a special term "dan" for its designation. According to M. Herskovits, "dan" is a life principle that is embodied in everything flexible, winding, moist, coagulating and unfolding. "Dan" plays a fundamental role in the embodiment of every soul: it is, as it were, a kind of "path" following which the soul having to be born approaches the future mother; but it is also a kind of "base" from which the formation of the physical body of the individual begins. In Dahomey, the most common dana symbol is the snake. If we assume that a similar concept existed in the Mediterranean region (a hypothesis that should hardly be considered a particularly daring one), then one can come closer to understanding (more precisely, to get out of the state of “absolute misunderstanding”) of a number of stable symbols belonging to the circle of “mythology goddesses "- not only" snakes "as such, but also" spirals "and" threads "(" labyrinth "," threads of Ariadne ", etc.); in this light, the symbolism of the fabric also becomes more understandable, expressing the idea of \u200b\u200bthe formation of a complex physical structure on the basis of some primary simple element ("dana"). If we “transpose” the myth of Charybdis into the same context, then the already mentioned “keel with mast” within the framework of “textile symbolism” can be interpreted as “warp and weft”; however, here we come close to questions, the complexity of which is in sharp disparity with the amount of information at our disposal at the moment.
The reader, presumably, has drawn attention to the following, undoubtedly significant detail of the myth about Penelope: she dissolves the clothes she has woven by the light of torches. In the "mythology of the goddess" the image of the torch plays a rather noticeable role: not to mention the canonical descriptions of Erinnios and Hecate, it can be especially noted that it was "with torches in hand", according to the "Hymn to Demeter", that the goddess was looking for her missing daughter. This clarification points to a certain special role of the torch, complementing its traditional meaning of the attribute, legally befitting goddess as a "mistress of fire"; however, we will talk about this special role below.
So, regardless of whether or not to accept the rapprochement of Penelope with Calypso, one thing, as we hope, seems certain - Penelope is not one of those wives who can "beat off a husband." The sentimental fantasy that "Calypso did not let Odysseus home to his lawful hearth" is an obvious invention of the compiler, which tried to combine in this way two independent plots: "visiting the Mistress of the West", on the one hand, and suitors "- on the other. Of course, it was not without the hypocrisy characteristic of patriarchal relations, which demanded to explain why the "faithful" Odysseus allowed himself to "enter into a relationship with another woman" - the way out in this case was found with the help of a clear, albeit somewhat naive-sounding formula " was forced to do so by force. "
Among other innovations that “creatively refracted” the original version of the myth, one can note the somewhat unexpected appearance of Zeus as almost the main character: so Odysseus would have “shed tears on a distant island” if it had not been “rescued” by Zeus, who, as it is known that "any injustice is organically alien." He, perhaps, from the very beginning would not have allowed “to destroy the family”, but from the very beginning he did not have “all the necessary information”; “Having finally learned the truth,” Zeus immediately gave the appropriate orders to Hermes and, through the latter's mediation, made it clear to Calypso that “self-will on the ground” would no longer be tolerated - she, “naturally, was swept about, but an order is an order,” etc. Before us, so to speak, the "official version" is a genre that has only an indirect relation to reality at best: the effectiveness of the "command-administrative shout" is now being disputed even in the economic sphere, in relation to the "mistress of life and death" its more than obvious irrelevance reaches the degree of already frankly fantastic hyperbole.
However, in any "official version" there are always certain "touches" hinting at the real state of affairs; in this case, such a "stroke" is a peculiar way in which Zeus was prompted to act. As you know, the patroness of Odysseus is Athena, who in this respect and in a number of others (such as, for example, the relationship with owls) rather transparently resembles Calypso; the latter consideration is capable of presenting, perhaps even in a somewhat unexpected light, the events that took place on Olympus immediately before the "liberation" of Odysseus. To better acquaint the reader with their essence, we will try to present them in a dramatic form, in the form of the following scene.
Zeus sits dignifiedly, not uttering a word. The text does not speak about this directly, but some subtle hints let us know that this is his permanent state.
Athena enters.
A f and n a. Yes, justice is now absolutely worthless. Here Odysseus, for example, is fair in such a way that only you, father, will yield - but look at what he has to do: on a distant island, without a ship, without comrades. And this is at the very time when thugs are threatening his beloved son with violence. That means how highly you gods value justice!
3 e in s. My daughter, what are you talking about! After all, you yourself came up with a wonderful plan how to free Odysseus from all dangers and return home. As for his son Telemachus, here too, I think, you can quite handle it yourself. Well, even if they are preparing an ambush for him, is it not in your power to arrange that he does not fall into it? Isn't that right? (To Hermes.) And you, my dear Hermes, go to Calypso and tell her that everything that Athena has invented here exactly coincides with our will, which, as she must know, should always be strictly carried out.
Hermes can only answer something like "Yes, your Excellency!" in order to develop this "official grotesque" towards the most expressive absurdity; note, however, that, despite the frankness of the ideological attitude, the scene cited describes a state of affairs characteristic of only formally patriarchal society.
To clarify this thesis more clearly, one can cite one more scene - this time from modern Japanese life, where “patriarchal values” often also remain at the level of a simple declaration. “Once,” the Czech journalists report, “we witnessed bargaining in a peasant family ... All negotiations, naturally, were conducted with the head of the family. The man was sitting on a tatami by a large hibachi and with a serious look was smoking a cigarette in a long cigarette holder. Behind him, his wife was squatting - a meaningless shadow great husband. But she watched with great attention what the head of the family said, and when she did not like something, she began to whisper very politely in his ear. The man coughed, smoked for a while, and then expressed a new thought, as if it had just occurred to him. The shadow behind him nodded in satisfaction and continued to listen respectfully. "
Thus, the role of Zeus in the departure of Odysseus from the island of Calypso remains rather vague, and Odysseus himself, in his later story about these events, prefers not to make any hasty conclusions:
Having taught me how to build a raft, she supplied me abundantly with bread and sweet wine, and she dressed me in clothes that were not subject to death, and sent a passing wind, warm, pleasant to my soul; and Zeus was it a command, she decided – i do not know about that.
However, Odysseus is a well-known "diplomat" and never says anything directly. Instead, we will do this: decided for herself.
Before setting off on a further voyage with Odysseus, one should try to answer the question: why did Calypso offer Odysseus to build a raft, and not, say, a boat, which, among other things, would be much more "reliable"? This question, we note, already confused the author of this fragment: as commentators note, when describing the construction of a raft, revolutions are used that are applicable only in the field of shipbuilding, from which we can conclude that the author already quite vaguely understood why there should be "just a raft", and involuntarily "strayed" into a more familiar channel. Thus, the original meaning of the myth was lost, as we see, a long time ago; however, recourse to the "comparative method" gives us at least some hope of its restoration.
As you know, the legend of a certain Quetzalcoatl was widely spread among the peoples of Central America, which, among other things, played a fatal role in the fate of the Aztec Empire. According to this legend, Quetzalcoatl, a cultural hero who invented all kinds of sciences and crafts, once sailed "somewhere to the east", promising to return after a while; That's why when exactly from the east the well-known Hernando Cortes arrived in the lands of the Indians, the Aztec priests judged that he was none other than the returning Quetzalcoatl, a conclusion that, as subsequent events showed, turned out to be deeply mistaken. The sad consequences of this mistake can serve as a very successful illustration of the fundamentally important, in our opinion, thesis that the laws of mythology must be reckoned with; The "bloody fog" of the Aztec religious worldview, apparently, finally deprived its carriers of the opportunity to assess reality at least somewhat objectively - otherwise they would certainly have paid attention to some very significant details of the myth of Quetzalcoatl.
First, according to the myth, Quetzalcoatl went by sea to the east on a raft of snakes, - therefore, already from this one could conclude that we are not talking about an ordinary sea expedition, similar to the one undertaken by Hernando Cortez. Secondly, the departure of Quetzalcoatl had a rather peculiar motivation: this hero, who had observed strict chastity all his life, "accidentally" (more precisely, under the influence of an intoxicated drink) violated this chastity, and he did it in the most radical way - entering into an unlawful relationship with his own sister. This "offense", according to the logic of the myth, was the first link in a chain of irreversible consequences in the form of a "raft of snakes", "sailing to the east", etc .; this plot is undoubtedly archaic in origin, but raising the “loss of chastity” to the rank of almost a global catastrophe is undoubtedly a new feature. Quetzalcoatl is a typical hero of patriarchal mythology, with a "pronounced individuality", or, in other words, with a pronounced unwillingness to "be like everyone else" and "walk the path of all mortals"; meanwhile, in his sister, the features of an ancient Indian goddess, typologically quite close to Calypso, are guessed: in any case, we distinguish in the Aztec myth the already familiar motives of "marriage with the goddess" and the subsequent departure of the hero on a raft to the east. The fact that the raft is made of snakes will get a fairly simple explanation if we remember that the snake is a symbol of "given" and, therefore (just like the "east"), can express the idea of \u200b\u200b"new birth". Thus, Quetzalcoatl's promise to return becomes quite meaningful and understandable; if the Aztec priests did not confine themselves to literal interpretation of the prophecy about the impending return of their "spiritual leader", but would consider it in the proper light - from a point of view analogous, for example, to the positions of Tibetan Buddhism - the catastrophe that befell the Aztec empire might not have been so devastating.
From the book Collapse by Diamond JaredChapter 11. One island, two peoples and two stories: the Dominican Republic and Haiti History. - Differences and their reasons. - Impact of the environment in the Dominican Republic. - Balaguer. - Environment in the Dominican Republic today. - The future. For anyone who
From Verbose 3, or Clean Your Ears: The First Philosophical Book for Teens the author Maksimov Andrey Markovich From the book of the Celts full face and in profile author author Kononenko Alexey Anatolievich From the book Mythology of the Goddess the author Antipenko Anton LeonidovichBorobudur Java Island Borobudur is located on the island of Java in Indonesia in the province of Central Java, 40 km northwest of the city of Yogyakarta. This is a Buddhist stupa and an associated temple complex of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.Borobudur was built between 750 and 850
From the author's book From the author's bookCHAPTER IV ISLAND OF EOLA. LESTRIGONS After leaving the country of the Cyclops, Odysseus arrives on the island of Aeola. However, the word "arrives" is not entirely appropriate here, since this island is "floating", and in a certain sense it does not even exist at all - the last statement sounds
From the author's book From the author's bookChapter X ISLAND OF SIREN. DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEME IN THE NEW EUROPEAN LITERATURE At the beginning of the twelfth canto, Kirke tells Odysseus about the dangers of his forthcoming voyage and gives advice on how to avoid these dangers. Since all of Kirke's predictions came true exactly, we consider
From the author's bookCHAPTER XIV THE ISLAND OF THEACES We left Odysseus asleep "in dry leaves, under two olives"; he woke up "from the bright sunlight and the screams of girls playing with a ball" - this is the princess Nausicaa with the maids: they had just washed their clothes and are now indulging in fun. Washing, must
At the council, the immortal gods decided that Athena should help Telemachus return home unharmed and prevent the suitors from attacking him. Hermes, however, must fly to the island of Ogygia and command the nymph Calypso to let Odysseus go. The Thunderer immediately sent Hermes to Calypso.
Putting on his winged sandals and picking up a rod, quick as thought, Hermes rushed from Olympus. Like a sea eagle, he flew over the sea and in the blink of an eye reached Ogygia. This island was beautiful. Plane trees, poplars, pines, cedars and cypresses thrived on it. The lawns were covered with lush grass, and the grass was fragrant with lush violets and lilies. Four springs irrigated the island, and streams ran from them whimsically meandering between the trees. There was a cool grotto on the island; the nymph Calypso lived in it. The whole grotto was overgrown with vines, and ripe bunches hung from them. When Hermes entered the grotto, Calypso sat and weaved a blanket with a marvelous pattern with a golden shuttle. Odysseus was not in the grotto. He sat alone on a cliff at the very shore of the sea, gazing into the distance. Tears shed Odysseus, remembering his native Ithaca. So he spent whole days, sad and lonely.
Seeing the incoming Hermes, Calypso stood up to meet him. She invited him to sit down and offered him ambrosia and nectar. Satisfied with the food of the gods, Hermes gave the nymph the will of the king of the gods and people of Zeus. Calypso was saddened when she learned that she must part with Odysseus. She wanted to keep him on her island forever and grant him immortality. But she could not resist the will of Zeus.
When Hermes left Calypso, she went to the seashore, where the sad Odysseus was sitting, and said to him:
Odysseus, dry your eyes, do not lament anymore. I let you go home. Go get an ax, chop trees and make a sturdy raft. You will set off on it, and I will send you a fair wind. If it pleases the gods, then you will return to your homeland.
Goddess, - answered Calypso Odysseus, - you are not preparing a return to your homeland for me, but something else. How can I cross the stormy sea on a fragile raft? After all, a fast ship does not always swim safely across it. No, goddess, I will only dare to board the raft, if you give me the unbreakable oath of the gods that you do not plan to destroy me.
They say the truth, Odysseus, that you are the smartest and most far-sighted of mortals! - Calypso exclaimed, - I swear to you by the waters of Styx, I do not want your death.
Calypso returned with Odysseus to the grotto. There, during the meal, she began to persuade Odysseus to stay. She promised immortality to Odysseus. She said that if only Odysseus knew how many dangers he had to endure along the way, he would have stayed with her. But Odysseus' desire to return to his homeland was too strong, no promises could make Calypso forget his native Ithaca and his family.
The next morning Odysseus set about building the raft. Odysseus worked for four days, chopping down trees, cutting logs, tying them up and knocking them down with boards. Finally, the raft was ready, and the mast and sail were fixed on it. Calypso gave Odysseus supplies for the road and said goodbye to him. Odysseus dismissed the sail, and the raft, driven by a favorable wind, went out to sea.
For eighteen days Odysseus had already sailed, defining the path along the constellations - the Pleiades and the Big Dipper. At last the land appeared in the distance - it was the island of the Phaeakians. At this time, the god Poseidon saw the raft of Odysseus, returning from the Ethiopians. The lord of the seas was angry. He grabbed his trident and struck the sea with it. A terrible storm arose. Clouds covered the sky, winds the sea, flying from all directions. Odysseus was horrified. In fear, he envies even those heroes who died gloriously under Troy. A huge wave hit the raft of Odysseus and washed him into the sea. Odysseus plunged deep into the abyss of the sea, he swam with a force. He was hindered by the clothes given at parting by the nymph Calypso. Nevertheless, he overtook his raft, grabbed hold of it, and with great difficulty climbed onto the deck. The winds threw the raft violently in all directions. Now the fierce Boreas drove him, then Noth, then the noisy Evre played them, and, having played, tossed Zephyra. Like mountains, waves piled up around the raft.
The sea goddess Leucothea saw Odysseus in such danger. She took off under the guise of a dive from the sea, sat on the raft of Odysseus and took on her real image. Turning to him, Leucotheus ordered him to take off his clothes, throw himself from the raft into the sea and swim to the shore. The goddess gave Odysseus a wonderful veil that was supposed to save him. Having said this, she took the form of Leucotheus's dive and flew away. However, Odysseus did not dare to leave the raft. But then the god Poseidon raised a huge, like a mountain, a wolf and brought it down on the raft of Odysseus. As a gust of wind blows a pile of straw in all directions, so the wave scattered the logs of the raft. Odysseus barely had time to grab one of the logs and sit on it. He quickly tore off his clothes, tied himself with Leucothea's veil, threw himself into the sea and swam to the island. Poseidon saw this and exclaimed:
Well, now that's enough for you! Now sail the stormy sea until someone rescues you. Now you will be pleased with me!
So exclaiming, Poseidon drove his horses to his underwater palace. Pallas Athena came to the aid of Odysseus. She forbade all the winds to blow, except for Boreas, and began to calm the raging sea.
For two days Odysseus rushed along the stormy sea. Only on the third day did the sea calm down. From the top of the wave, Odysseus saw land nearby and was terribly happy. But when he was already approaching the shore, he heard the sound of the surf. Waves roared between the coastal cliffs and underwater rocks. The death of Odysseus would have been inevitable, he would have been smashed against the cliffs, but even here Athena-Pallas helped him. Odysseus managed to grab onto the rock, and the wave, rushing back, with force tore him off the rock and carried him out to sea. Now Odysseus swam along the coast and began to look for a place where he could swim ashore. Finally, he saw the mouth of the river. Odysseus prayed to the god of the river for help. God heard him, stopped his current and helped Odysseus get to the shore. A mighty hero came ashore, but the long voyage weakened him so much that he fell senseless to the ground. Odysseus came to his senses forcibly. He took off the veil of Leucothea and, without turning around, threw it into the water. The veil swam quickly and returned to the hands of the goddess. Odysseus, on the side of the coast, found two densely overgrown olives, under which there was a pile of dry leaves. He buried himself in the leaves to protect himself from the night cold, and the goddess Athena plunged him into a deep sleep.
