Friday, October 25, 2013

Dissecting Calasso: Pg. 51


Calasso opens chapter three speaking about the island of Delos, which he referred to as a "hump of deserted rock." Laying down the foundation and setting for the story, the reader instantly gets a feel that Delos is no exactly a desirable place to be. He further isolates the island from the rest of the world depicting Delos as "drifting about the sea like a stalk of asphodel." After a little research it came to no surprise to find that asphodel was commonly referred to as a weed in desert like environments. I even found asphodel regarded as the "peculiar plant of the dead" on various mythology websites. Moving along further in passage we get a little foresight into what is to come, Calasso proceeds to rag on Delos a little more...(he might have a vendetta against the island) calling it "a place not even wretched slave girls would come to hide their shame." More importantly he states that Apollo was birthed on the desolate island, quite the polar opposite in my opinion. After reading this Calasso had me hooked, I mean who would've guessed the powerful and mighty sun god could have come from such an isolated wasteland? Calasso speaks about Leda and how she birthed Apollo in isolation, grasping the lone palm tree on this "godforsaken" rock. Further looking into the birth of Apollo I started researching Leda or (Leto) and quickly realized this was the same chick who Zeus lusted over in swan form. Leda was the beautiful daughter of the original Titans Coeus and Phoebe. Hera was tormented with jealousy of Leto (obviously because she sleot with Zeus). So the Queen of the Gods sent a serpent after Leto to vex her and to prevent her from finding a place to deliver her babies. Leto frantically went from place to place, but found no welcome anywhere, since everyone feared incurring the wrath of Hera. She finally found refuge on Ortygia (the first name of Delos), the island of her sister Asteria, where she gave birth to Artemis. Immediately after her own birth, the newborn Artemis precociously helped her mother through nine days of labor and delivery until her brother Apollo emerged. Calasso paints beautiful imagery of the birth of Apollo, when he emerged    

"Everything turned to gold, from top to bottom. Even the water in the river turned to gold and the leaves on the olive tree likewise. And the gold must have stretched downward into the depths, because it anchored Delos to the seabed. From that day on it drifted no more."

It truly amazes me the capacity Calasso’s little stories can tell hold, in dissecting one short myth from Calasso I learn a valuable story that will remain with me for eternity!
All in all I would think it’s safe to say that things turned out alright for the once “godforsaken rock” Delos. ;)













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