Lust on the Brain

"Lust's passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes."
-Marquis de Sade

As I was sitting in my room studying with Rebekah I had an epiphany. I finally found the thread that ties all of this literature together. The source of conflict in all of the literature is lust. Lust manifests itself in different ways in the different texts, but it certainly rears its ugly little head in them all.

The Iliad
The theme of lust is easy to find in the Iliad, but I'll explain it for the sake of being long winded. The Trojan war was started because of Paris' lust for Helen. Tens of thousands of innocents died because of two men lusting after the same woman, but this isn't the only theme of lust. Agamemnon lusts for Chryseus, which results in his entire army being plagued. He then lusts after Briseus, which results in Achilles refusal to fight. I could dwell on this topic for a while, but I think we all understand how detrimental lust was in this text.

Oedipus Rex
In this text we can clearly see that Oedipus is also lusting after something, Power. He wants to be in control and he will do anything, even killing his father, to get it. You could also argue that he lusts after the truth to a point. Oedipus was pursuing the truth about his life like he was starving and the truth was food. Unfortunately for him, once he ate the food of truth, he found out it was poisoned.

Agamemnon
This text is crawling with references to lust. Sometime before he sets sail for Argos, Agamemnon brings Cassandra into the picture to fuel his lust for flesh. Upon returning home he is greeted by his wife who is also being consumed by lust. Her lust, however, is for power. She kills Agamemnon, and exiles Orestes to ensure that all of the power would fall to her and her lover, Aegisthus. The Leader of the chorus sees this and calls Clytemnestra out on it. Her response only solidifies her lust for power in our minds.

"Let them howl- they're impotent. You and I have power now. We will set the house in order once for all." - Clytemnestra

The Eumenides
The text begins with Orestes asking for forgiveness from Apollo with the furies sleeping around him. He is told to flee to the statue of Athena, to hug it, and to ask for her to judge the matter. The Furies are then awakened by Clytemnestra's ghost and begin pursuing Orestes. The only thing driving the Furies is their lust for blood, which is made clear every time they open their mouths.

"-No, you'll give me blood for blood, you must! Out of your living marrow I will drain my red libation, out of your veins I suck my food, my raw, brutal cups- Wither you alive, drag you down and there you pay, agony for mother-killing agony!" - Furies

I don't know how you guys interpret that quote, but it sounds like serious bloodlust to me.

So, what did we learn today? You can lust after tons of things? Don't eat poisoned truth food? Being chased by furies really sucks? All great answers. Tune in next week and you'll be reading this blog again due to fall break.

Until next time,
Benjamin.

P.S. I commented on Lucas' blog "Furies Bloody Furies"