Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Theseus and Achelous

My story for the one minute presentation was about Theseus and Achelous meeting.  Theseus has just finished helping with the Calydonian hunt and desperately wants to cross Achelous' swollen river.  Achelous warns Theseus of traveling through his river and offers him a place to stay, at his cave.  When Theseus enters the cave, he is amazed to find it ornately decorated with seashells and soft moss for his feet to step on.  Achelous is so pleased to have such a renowned hero, that he throws him a grand feast with sexy nymphs. The story then goes into the two talking about the islands just outside Achelous' cave. 

There were no other versions of this story and it was difficult to find anything that suggested otherwise.  I did find that this feast was very influential during the 16th century in Italy, many villas share the decorum of Achelous' cave and the lavish feast is also a staple to the Italian day.  I also found that the two characters are in the opposite spectrum of positive and negative.  Achelous is a swollen, dirty river and is only mentioned briefly in one of Ovid's books, and Theseus is a great hero who has overcome many obstacles.  The meeting of these two characters is not by chance and Theseus wonders this. The stories that the two share are very important as to how Theseus will return home.  Achelous is merely warning Theseus of what lies ahead. 

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