Home Classical, Ancient Near Eastern & Egyptian Studies In the Bosom of the Goddess: Thetis and Dionysus in Il. 6.130–140
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In the Bosom of the Goddess: Thetis and Dionysus in Il. 6.130–140

  • Laura Massetti
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The Staying Power of Thetis
This chapter is in the book The Staying Power of Thetis

Abstract

In this chapter, Massetti concentrates on role of Thetis in Il. 6.130- 140: in this episode, Dionysus is persecuted by Lycurgus and finds shelter with the sea-goddess. The authoress argues that this episode ultimately resembles other myths in which Dionysus is persecuted and/or killed by a mortal man and helped by one or more female deities, thanks to whom he manages to come back to life as a god. In particular, she makes the case that the sequence of events of Il. 6.130-140 resembles the ritual actions of the Boeotian Argionia, a rite in which Dionysus was ‘searched among the Muses’, i.e. daughters of Mnemosyne. The link between immortalization and memory is furthermore reflected by a variety of Orphic sources, which connect the attainment of immortality with the gift of memory and display several phraseological similarities to the Iliadic episode. Therefore, the authoress showcases that in Il. 6.130-140 ‘the staying power of Thetis’ is an eternalizing one. As the mother of Achilles, the hero who achieves immortality through fame, Thetis acts as the maternal helper of Dionysus, the god who dies and comes back, achieving divine immortality.

Abstract

In this chapter, Massetti concentrates on role of Thetis in Il. 6.130- 140: in this episode, Dionysus is persecuted by Lycurgus and finds shelter with the sea-goddess. The authoress argues that this episode ultimately resembles other myths in which Dionysus is persecuted and/or killed by a mortal man and helped by one or more female deities, thanks to whom he manages to come back to life as a god. In particular, she makes the case that the sequence of events of Il. 6.130-140 resembles the ritual actions of the Boeotian Argionia, a rite in which Dionysus was ‘searched among the Muses’, i.e. daughters of Mnemosyne. The link between immortalization and memory is furthermore reflected by a variety of Orphic sources, which connect the attainment of immortality with the gift of memory and display several phraseological similarities to the Iliadic episode. Therefore, the authoress showcases that in Il. 6.130-140 ‘the staying power of Thetis’ is an eternalizing one. As the mother of Achilles, the hero who achieves immortality through fame, Thetis acts as the maternal helper of Dionysus, the god who dies and comes back, achieving divine immortality.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. List of Tables and Figures XI
  5. Introduction: The Power of Thetis, 30 Years On 1
  6. Part I: The Powers of Thetis - Strife, Succession, and Cosmic Balance
  7. The Power and Failures of Thetis in Early Poetic Traditions and Beyond 19
  8. The Rape and Binding of Thetis in Its Mythological Context 43
  9. Divine Even If Not Olympian: The Mobility of Thetis in the Iliad 75
  10. Suggestions and Themes in Thetis’ rhesis in Euripides’ Andromache 87
  11. Thetis in Callimachus’ Hymn to Apollo: Dynasty and Succession 107
  12. Secrets and Lies: The Power of Thetis in Roman Culture 147
  13. Neque ... sine numine uincis: Thetis, Medusa and (Literary) Creation in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 181
  14. Part II: Thetis’ Family Matters
  15. In the Bosom of the Goddess: Thetis and Dionysus in Il. 6.130–140 207
  16. Motherhood and Shapeshifting in Depictions of Thetis 225
  17. Forging Families with Thetis: “Tentacular Thinking” and Queer Kinship in Homer’s Iliad 257
  18. Mourning Mothers and Premature Deaths: Thetis’ Example in Greek Funerary Epigrams 277
  19. Part III: Material Culture
  20. ‘A Dread and Revered Goddess’: Thetis and Other Gods in Attic Vases 299
  21. Saviour Mermaids of the Ancient Mediterranean: Thetis and the Nereids as Patrons of Ancient Greek Mariners 315
  22. Part IV: Reception – Thetis’ Aftermaths
  23. The Wicked Witch of the West? Thetis’ Controversial Transformations in 14th- Century Middle English Vernacular Poetry 341
  24. Reading Thetis in Tirso de Molina’s El Aquiles 369
  25. Thetis and the Shield of Achilles — Reading the Iliad with Auden 395
  26. Thetis of the Silver Screen: The Vengeful and Cosmic Goddess in Clash of the Titans 411
  27. Sea Witches in Exile: Thetidean Figures in Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989/2008) and Pirates of the Caribbean (2006/2007) 429
  28. Reception in Performance: Interview and Poetry 471
  29. Afterword to the Staying Power of Thetis 485
  30. List of Contributors 495
  31. Index Locorum 501
  32. Subject Index 519
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110678437-009

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. List of Tables and Figures XI
  5. Introduction: The Power of Thetis, 30 Years On 1
  6. Part I: The Powers of Thetis - Strife, Succession, and Cosmic Balance
  7. The Power and Failures of Thetis in Early Poetic Traditions and Beyond 19
  8. The Rape and Binding of Thetis in Its Mythological Context 43
  9. Divine Even If Not Olympian: The Mobility of Thetis in the Iliad 75
  10. Suggestions and Themes in Thetis’ rhesis in Euripides’ Andromache 87
  11. Thetis in Callimachus’ Hymn to Apollo: Dynasty and Succession 107
  12. Secrets and Lies: The Power of Thetis in Roman Culture 147
  13. Neque ... sine numine uincis: Thetis, Medusa and (Literary) Creation in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 181
  14. Part II: Thetis’ Family Matters
  15. In the Bosom of the Goddess: Thetis and Dionysus in Il. 6.130–140 207
  16. Motherhood and Shapeshifting in Depictions of Thetis 225
  17. Forging Families with Thetis: “Tentacular Thinking” and Queer Kinship in Homer’s Iliad 257
  18. Mourning Mothers and Premature Deaths: Thetis’ Example in Greek Funerary Epigrams 277
  19. Part III: Material Culture
  20. ‘A Dread and Revered Goddess’: Thetis and Other Gods in Attic Vases 299
  21. Saviour Mermaids of the Ancient Mediterranean: Thetis and the Nereids as Patrons of Ancient Greek Mariners 315
  22. Part IV: Reception – Thetis’ Aftermaths
  23. The Wicked Witch of the West? Thetis’ Controversial Transformations in 14th- Century Middle English Vernacular Poetry 341
  24. Reading Thetis in Tirso de Molina’s El Aquiles 369
  25. Thetis and the Shield of Achilles — Reading the Iliad with Auden 395
  26. Thetis of the Silver Screen: The Vengeful and Cosmic Goddess in Clash of the Titans 411
  27. Sea Witches in Exile: Thetidean Figures in Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989/2008) and Pirates of the Caribbean (2006/2007) 429
  28. Reception in Performance: Interview and Poetry 471
  29. Afterword to the Staying Power of Thetis 485
  30. List of Contributors 495
  31. Index Locorum 501
  32. Subject Index 519
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