The Power and Failures of Thetis in Early Poetic Traditions and Beyond
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Ettore Cingano
Abstract
Ettore Cingano’s chapter broadens our perspective on Thetis’ mythology by looking at her appearances in post-Homeric sources up to the late- Archaic period and reflections of such traditions in later texts. The Hesiodic (Aegimius, Catalogue of Women) and Cyclic epics (Aethiopis, Cypria, Nostoi) fill in some of the picture, which receives further elaboration in surviving iconography (notably the Francois Vase), the lyric poets (Ibycus, Pindar, Simonides) and mythographers (Apollodorus, Ptolemy the Quail). In particular, Thetis emerges as an early mythic pendant to Medea and Demeter, which generates ample scope for intergenerational contact. According to some sources, Achilles marries Medea (just as other sources relate a posthumous wedding of Achilles and Helen on the White Island), an event that connects the Trojan and Argonautic epic sagas. Later mythographers capitalize on the connection to postulate further relations, including a love story between Jason and Thetis or a beauty contest between Thetis and Medea.
Abstract
Ettore Cingano’s chapter broadens our perspective on Thetis’ mythology by looking at her appearances in post-Homeric sources up to the late- Archaic period and reflections of such traditions in later texts. The Hesiodic (Aegimius, Catalogue of Women) and Cyclic epics (Aethiopis, Cypria, Nostoi) fill in some of the picture, which receives further elaboration in surviving iconography (notably the Francois Vase), the lyric poets (Ibycus, Pindar, Simonides) and mythographers (Apollodorus, Ptolemy the Quail). In particular, Thetis emerges as an early mythic pendant to Medea and Demeter, which generates ample scope for intergenerational contact. According to some sources, Achilles marries Medea (just as other sources relate a posthumous wedding of Achilles and Helen on the White Island), an event that connects the Trojan and Argonautic epic sagas. Later mythographers capitalize on the connection to postulate further relations, including a love story between Jason and Thetis or a beauty contest between Thetis and Medea.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Contents VII
- List of Tables and Figures XI
- Introduction: The Power of Thetis, 30 Years On 1
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Part I: The Powers of Thetis - Strife, Succession, and Cosmic Balance
- The Power and Failures of Thetis in Early Poetic Traditions and Beyond 19
- The Rape and Binding of Thetis in Its Mythological Context 43
- Divine Even If Not Olympian: The Mobility of Thetis in the Iliad 75
- Suggestions and Themes in Thetis’ rhesis in Euripides’ Andromache 87
- Thetis in Callimachus’ Hymn to Apollo: Dynasty and Succession 107
- Secrets and Lies: The Power of Thetis in Roman Culture 147
- Neque ... sine numine uincis: Thetis, Medusa and (Literary) Creation in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 181
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Part II: Thetis’ Family Matters
- In the Bosom of the Goddess: Thetis and Dionysus in Il. 6.130–140 207
- Motherhood and Shapeshifting in Depictions of Thetis 225
- Forging Families with Thetis: “Tentacular Thinking” and Queer Kinship in Homer’s Iliad 257
- Mourning Mothers and Premature Deaths: Thetis’ Example in Greek Funerary Epigrams 277
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Part III: Material Culture
- ‘A Dread and Revered Goddess’: Thetis and Other Gods in Attic Vases 299
- Saviour Mermaids of the Ancient Mediterranean: Thetis and the Nereids as Patrons of Ancient Greek Mariners 315
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Part IV: Reception – Thetis’ Aftermaths
- The Wicked Witch of the West? Thetis’ Controversial Transformations in 14th- Century Middle English Vernacular Poetry 341
- Reading Thetis in Tirso de Molina’s El Aquiles 369
- Thetis and the Shield of Achilles — Reading the Iliad with Auden 395
- Thetis of the Silver Screen: The Vengeful and Cosmic Goddess in Clash of the Titans 411
- Sea Witches in Exile: Thetidean Figures in Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989/2008) and Pirates of the Caribbean (2006/2007) 429
- Reception in Performance: Interview and Poetry 471
- Afterword to the Staying Power of Thetis 485
- List of Contributors 495
- Index Locorum 501
- Subject Index 519
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Contents VII
- List of Tables and Figures XI
- Introduction: The Power of Thetis, 30 Years On 1
-
Part I: The Powers of Thetis - Strife, Succession, and Cosmic Balance
- The Power and Failures of Thetis in Early Poetic Traditions and Beyond 19
- The Rape and Binding of Thetis in Its Mythological Context 43
- Divine Even If Not Olympian: The Mobility of Thetis in the Iliad 75
- Suggestions and Themes in Thetis’ rhesis in Euripides’ Andromache 87
- Thetis in Callimachus’ Hymn to Apollo: Dynasty and Succession 107
- Secrets and Lies: The Power of Thetis in Roman Culture 147
- Neque ... sine numine uincis: Thetis, Medusa and (Literary) Creation in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 181
-
Part II: Thetis’ Family Matters
- In the Bosom of the Goddess: Thetis and Dionysus in Il. 6.130–140 207
- Motherhood and Shapeshifting in Depictions of Thetis 225
- Forging Families with Thetis: “Tentacular Thinking” and Queer Kinship in Homer’s Iliad 257
- Mourning Mothers and Premature Deaths: Thetis’ Example in Greek Funerary Epigrams 277
-
Part III: Material Culture
- ‘A Dread and Revered Goddess’: Thetis and Other Gods in Attic Vases 299
- Saviour Mermaids of the Ancient Mediterranean: Thetis and the Nereids as Patrons of Ancient Greek Mariners 315
-
Part IV: Reception – Thetis’ Aftermaths
- The Wicked Witch of the West? Thetis’ Controversial Transformations in 14th- Century Middle English Vernacular Poetry 341
- Reading Thetis in Tirso de Molina’s El Aquiles 369
- Thetis and the Shield of Achilles — Reading the Iliad with Auden 395
- Thetis of the Silver Screen: The Vengeful and Cosmic Goddess in Clash of the Titans 411
- Sea Witches in Exile: Thetidean Figures in Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989/2008) and Pirates of the Caribbean (2006/2007) 429
- Reception in Performance: Interview and Poetry 471
- Afterword to the Staying Power of Thetis 485
- List of Contributors 495
- Index Locorum 501
- Subject Index 519
