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3.10: Greek and Roman Mythology

1) Birgitte in Conversation:

[TFOH: 47, The Price of a Ship, 540]
Mathena: Athena/Artemis
Zheres: Tiresias? Orion?

Actually, it was the goddess Artemis who turned the hunter into a stag so he would be killed by his dogs, after he saw her bathing. Athena was also surprised by Tiresias while bathing, but she blinded him and gave him the gift of second sight in return.

2) Birgitte's silver bow seems to have come straight out of Greek Mythology. Artemis had a silver bow, to match her brother Apollo's golden one.

3) Oedipus: Doomed king of Thebes who killed his father and married his mother. When he discovered what he had done, he blinded himself and exiled himself from his city. He led the life of a blind beggar until he died near Athens. [Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, by Sophocles]. Possible connection to the vision of Rand as a blind beggar.

4)Orpheus: A great musician whose wife, Eurydice, was killed on their wedding night by a snake. Orpheus traveled to the kingdom of Hades to try to get her back, and his music so moved the King/Queen(?) of the underworld that he was allowed to take her back, provided that he leave, and not look back at her until he had reached the surface. He couldn't control himself, so he looked, and she went back to Hades. Orpheus ended up getting ripped to shreds by the Maenads, a tribe of ferocious women, during a Bacchanale. Possibly a connection to Thom rescuing Moiraine from the Finn. [D. Sohl] (Hopefully, Thom will fare better then Orpheus!)

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