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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?

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) More on Birgitte. When she is created a Lady by Elayne, and invested with patent of nobility and an estate of her own, the surname she chooses is "Trahelion," which suggests a link to Helios, the Sun God who became syncretized with Apollo, who was the god of archery.

4) Birgitte's sudden emergence into this world, nude and fully formed, is reminiscent of the birth of Aphrodite, who emerged from the sea foam near Cyprus unclothed and bodacious. Also, Aphrodite's husband was the lame and unattractive god Hephaestus; Birgitte is linked to the ugly swordsman, Gaidal Cain.

5) 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.

6) 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 and 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!)

7) Tuon, the Daughter of the Nine Moons, has as one of her names, "Kore." Kore was an ancient name for Persephone, the Goddess of Spring, who was abducted by Hades, and later they married. At the end of WH, Mat abducts Tuon, and they are destined to marry as well. [Rich Boyé] Also, the name "Kore" literally means "daughter" or "maiden." [Encyclopedia Mythica]

8) Several of the moons of Jupiter are named for his mistresses. Among them were:

Callisto, a follower of Artemis and sworn maiden.
Europa, a princess kidnapped by Zeus, an act leaving her brother uprooted from his land and obligations.
Io, a girl who had premonitions of Zeus's love for her.

These match up nicely with Aviendha, Elayne and Min. [Johan Gustafsson]

9) The end prophecy from TSR runs, "And when the blood was sprinkled on ground where nothing could grow, the Children of the Dragon did spring up, the People of the Dragon, armed to dance with death. And he did call them forth from the wasted land, and they did shake the world with battle." This is a direct reference to the legend of Jason and the Argonauts - one of the tasks Aeetes had Jason do in order to gain the Golden Fleece was sow the earth with dragon's teeth, which then sprang up into an army of warriors. It is interesting to note that the way Jason defeated them was to hit one with a rock and turn them all against each other, and they ripped one another to pieces... [Leigh Butler]

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