Adjectives describing Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder is a very fascinating person. Thanks to his nephew, Pliny the Younger, we are able to know all about him and what he did in life. In Pliny the Younger's letter to Tacitus it describes his uncle in many different ways. The three adjectives that represent Pliny the Elder would be brave, knowledgeable, and passionate.

The first adjective that bests describes Pliny the Elder is brave. Once Pliny saw Mt. Vesuvius erupt he immediately wanted to learn more about it. He then realized that many people were stuck in the city and had no way of getting out. This is when " Vertit ille consilium et quod studioso animo incohaverat obit maximo". This shows that he is extremely brave because he changed his course and sailed right up to the erupting volcano just to save peoples lives. Even though the conditions started to get worse Pliny didn't hesitate on whether to go back or not he just said "Fortes fortuna iuvat". He thought that he and his crew would be fine because you will be fortunate if you do something great. Another way Pliny shows how brave he is during this time of disaster is showing his crew members how confident he is on getting out of the harbor. It takes allot of bravery to keep yourself calm and everyone else on the ship calm "deferri in balneum iubet; lotus accubat, cenat aut hilaris aut, quod est aeque magnum, similis hilari".

The next adjective that describes Pliny the Elder is knowledgeable. He is the type of person who is fascinated in anything and everything. Pliny the Elder always wants to learn more. In the passage it says that "Gustaverat iacens studebatque.." From the letter Pliny the Younger wrote to Tacitus you can tell that Pliny the Elder was always learning more even if he was relaxing. Since Pliny loves to learn he thought that it would be a good idea to investigate what was going on with Mt. Vesuvius. Pliny the Elder, " Adeo solutus metu ut omnes illius mali motus, omnes figuras, ut deprehenderat oculis, dictaret enotaretque". This shows that he is so eager to learn more about the eruption he wasn't even worried about the outcome of the disaster formed from the mountain.

The last adjective that describes Pliny the Elder would be passionate. Pliny the Elder was very passionate about learning more about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. The first thing he did was got his crew to get a ship ready and started to sail straight into the bay where the mountain was. Once he changed his "animo" into saving the people of Pompei he "Dictaret enotaretque". Once conditions started to get allot worse and " Iam navibus cinis incidebat, quo propius accederent, calidior et densior;" . This shows that even when things were disastrous he still did everything he could to help the people and at the same time learn about the volcano. When the ash fell on the ship and the shore became more distant because of the volcano he was so devoted he kept pushing for his crew to keep going.

Pliny

Pliny writes to Trajan asking him for his help about what he should do about the Christians that have come into his hands. He tells him all about their ages and what they are doing while they are being imprisoned. One of the examples Pliny uses in his letter is what they do "ante lucem". They all get into a group and pray, "Seque sacramento non in scelus aliquod obstringere...rursusque coeundi ad capiendum cibum".  Pliny also questions each named Christian and "Confitentes iterum ac tertio interrogavi". Not only did Pliny tell Trajan about the Christians he told him about how he punished them as well. He questions them and "Supplicium minatus; perseverantes duci iussi". When the Christians prayed and said their sacraments Pliny said he "quo secundum mandata tua hetaerias esse vetueram".

If a Roman read Pliny's letter and didn't have much contact with Christians they might think that they were acting strange because they only prayed to one god and they had sacraments that they believed in. Pliny didn't make them seem like they were doing anything wrong but he also didn't know how he should punish them and if he had to. Since they had a different religion then what the Romans were used to they might feel angered because it’s not what they believed in. They also might feel unsure of what to think of them because Pliny explains in his letter that they really weren't doing anything wrong, they were just praying and drinking wine. There was also a large age group from young children to older adults. If the young children were proclaimed to be Christians they would have to be killed because that was the law. Some Romans might think that this would be wrong because young children don't really know what to think when they a little they just follow what their parents/guardians tell them.

Cupid and Psyche as an allegory

An allegory is a representation of an abstract meaning through material forms. In the story Cupid and Psyche the term allegory is used everywhere. Cupid is meant to be desire while Psyche is the soul. Together they show/interpret what their meanings truly mean. In the first few chapters Venus became angry that people were praying to Psyche instead of her. To get back at Psyche she told her son Cupid to make her fall in love with a hideous man. Once Cupid saw her he made her his wife. "Sores iam tuae mortis opinione turbatae tuumque vestigium requirentes ad scopulum istum protinus aderunt; quarum si forte lamentationes audiveris, neve respondeas neve prospicias omnino"( chp 3 li 33-36). This shows how Cupid desired Psyche and disobeyed his mothers orders just to be with her. At the end of the story Cupid found Psyche lying on the ground outside of the underworld and he had a desire to bring her back to life. He also pricked her finger so she would not love him because she had to she could only love him if she really wanted to. When it comes to Psyche as the soul she is the part in the human body that lives on forever. It is the happiness and the sadness the good and the bad in each person. Psyche represents this by going through all the emotions a persons soul would go through in a life time. In the beginning of her long adventure everyone loved her but she wasn't happy because the oracle said that she would marry a hideous beast on the mountain top. What actually happend when she got to the mountain top was her finding herself in a serine place of solitiude. She was happy on the dewy grass that she laid on. Not only can a soul be happy but it can be sad and depressed as well. When Cupid saw that Psyche saw him he left and Psyche tried to hold on to him while he started to fly away. She fell to the ground and Cupid told her that he was not going to see her again. At this point she was very upset and couldn't move. When Psyche found out that her sisters were wrong about her husband she wanted to get revenge on them and told each one of them that Cupid wanted them as his wife and they jumped off the mountain to go to his house and they died because they hit the ground. This shows that Psyche as the soul was angry.Before this all happend and the reason why Cupid saw her looking at him she spilled hot oil on him by accident. This shows how desire can burn in the soul. So Cupid as desire was burned by Psyche, the soul. Cupid and Pscyhe eventually have a child and they name it Pleasure. "Et nascitur illis fillia, quam Voluptatem nominamus"( chp 12 li 52-53).These two meaning combined created the feeling of pleasure. When you have a desire for something and a good soul you can feel pleasure.

Is the fate of the sisters just?

Yes, the fate of the sisters is just. Everything they did to Psyche was out of jealousy because she had a better life then they did, according to them. In the beginning of the story they found out that Psyche lived in a magnificent house and had a nice husband. They saw all the jewelry she had and they wanted it. They also told Psyche that her husband was an evil monster and wanted to eat her. So they told her to kill her husband while he was sleeping. They did this because they didn't want her to have a better life than them. " Tunc nefariae mulieres puellae cogitationes invadunt: 'viam quae sola ducit ad salutem diu goitatam monstrabimus tibi"(li 23-24). In the end Psyche lied to them and told each one of her sisters that the man she was going to kill was Cupid himself and he left her and wanted to marry one of the sisters. When the sisters heard this they went to Cupids house in a heartbeat without thinking about how Psyche felt. Since Psyche tricked them they jumped off the cliff and were killed. 

List and discuss the specific instances of fear. Whats the opposite of fear?

Fear shows up alot during the story of Psyche and Cupid. From the beginnning when Psyche's father finds out that she will marry a hideous beast up untill Psyche thinks that a serpent like monster is sleeping with her during the night. Some specific examples of fear during the first 8 chapters would be when Psyche laid in bed and she heard her unknown husband come into the room. Since she could not see him because it was dark she was, "virginitati suae metuens et pavet et horrescit" (li 23-24). Another example of fear in the reading is when Psyche's sisters persuaded her to believe that her husband was a monster who wanted to eat her and her baby. Once she heard this, " Tunc Psyche misella rapitur verborum tam tristium formidine..."
( li 16).
The opposite of fear would be calm, welcomed and love. When Psyche was first brought down to her new home she was completely calm. Psyche, "In toro roscidi graminis suaviter recubans dulciter conquievit"(li 1).
She then went into the beautiful palace that was made "Non humanis manibus"(li 4). She was completely calm and she felt very welcomed when she entered the palace. Througout her time in her new home she was full of calmness and love, there was no fear in her at all.

What elements of Appuleius' story so far are "classical fairy tale" characteristics?

The fairy tale Cupid and Psyche can relate to the disney fairy tale Beauty and the Beast because they share the same "classical fairy tale" characteristics. In Cupid and Psyche, Psyche is so beautiful that no one wants to marry her and her father goes to the oracle to find her a husband. When the oracle tells him that she will be married to a hideous creature he hesitates but listens to the oracle. He has to place her on a cliff edge and when he does that a calm wind takes her and brings her to a very serine place. When Psyche gets there she is greeted by voices that don't have any bodies. These voices wait on her hand and foot and they make sure she's ok. This relates to Beauty and the Beast beacues when Belle gets to the castle she is also greeted by strange noises. At first they don't show who they are to her but later on they show that they are the furniture that are all located in the castle. Just like Psyche the voices try to help Belle as much as they can. In chapter 3 of Cupid and Psyche it introduces the voices to you. In lines 10 through 14 the voices tell her that they are her servants and will take care of her. They are going to prepare a feast for her that is "regales dapes". In Belle's story the voices also make her a feast fit for a king. There are all sorts of kinds of foods they make her just like the voices did for Psyche. This shows how elements from Appuleius story are used for fairy tales today.

question 4 chp 2

Psyhce's funeral-marriage is very sad. Since her father went to the oracle he was told that she had to stand at the edge of a cliff in her funeral clothes. During the funeral marriage she was dressed in clothes that would normally be worn for a funeral/marriage. Just like a marriage ceremony she is walked down with torches but the torches are dripping black ash. Since this is a sad event for her she wipes her tears with her wedding veil. The sadness of the occasion is underlined  by how the family feels. Her father and mother weeped for many days before they told her about the oracle and when the day came for the funeral marriage they all weept and were very sad.