Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The Fate of the Sisters

I do not believe that the sisters' fate was just. They tried to ruin a marriage for their personal gain, (anxiae te exspectabimus cunctisque istis thesauris tecum relatis). They merely wanted the treasure that she had such great amounts of. However, they were also extremely jealous of the divine baby she was bearing. (...does become the mother of a divine babe, I'll string myself up on the spot in a noose. From English translation). The sisters cannot bear the to have their younger sister surpass them in importance and even though they are married to kings, a divine child would be far above them.

Despite all the bad of the sisters, they did not deserve their fate. Jealousy is a normal human emotion which they experienced in reaction to their situation. They have to look down at their younger sister in great jeaousy (here are we, elders by birth, delivered as bondsmaids to foreign husbands... and her is the youngest daughter... owning all the wealth and a god for a husband). They had a right to be jealous of what she had and because of their culture, the place amongst in her family which she had it. This does not excuse their actions, but they did not deserve to die. (for her limbs were torn by the jutting rocks and strewn down the face of the cliff, as she deserved; and her entrails provided nourishment for the birds and beasts. English translation). Apuleius may say that it was justified, but no one deserves to have their corpses feasted upon by animals, it is such a barbaric fate which could have been resolved in so many more peaceful ways.

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