A Short Story Based on Ron Koertges Three Poems: Hades/Persephone/Demeter - Essay Example

A Short Story Based on Ron Koertge’s “Three Poems:Hades/Persephone/Demeter” Introduction The power of the traditional story emanates from its plot, actions and characters and has a distinct introduction, body, and conclusion. However, not all short stories conform to this structure. One strong point of a short story over a longer story such as a novel is that its brevity allows the writer to be consistent in their style. The writer of the short story could focus on one of the several aspects of the story – developing a character, word play or eliciting a particular mood. This paper presents a short story based on Ron Koertge’s “Three Poems: Macedon/Damaris/Priscilla”. The poem is, in turn, a modern rendition of the classical Greek myth Rape of Persephone. The Short Story In one of the city-states of ancient Greece, there lived a king named Agrippa. Agrippa had two sons. The elder son was called Dionysius while, the younger one was called Macedon. The two brothers were half-orphans, their mother having died when they were little boys. However, the King had taken another wife called Priscilla. Priscilla had born the king a daughter named Damaris. One day, while in battle, the King was struck down by his enemies and died. Following his death, Macedon and Dionysius shared responsibilities between themselves. Dionysius governed all the provinces while Macedon collected taxes in the whole city-state and was in charge of the palace. In those days, people saw tax collectors as people who were corrupt and extorted money from them. Consequently tax collectors, including Macedon, were hated. Priscilla shared in that hatred. As a result, Priscilla and Damaris lived outside the palace. One day, when the flowers in the field had bloomed, Priscilla sent her daughter to pluck some of the bloom. Meanwhile, Macedon was busking in the sun on the rooftop of the palace. He caught a glimpse of Damaris. She was lovely to behold. Owing to the poor relationship between him and his stepmother, he had not set eyes on Damaris for a long time. Immediately, Macedon sent out his attendants who went and abducted Damaris and brought her to him. On the same night that Macedon took Damaris to the palace, the two had a sexual affair. However, unlike in the original myth in which Macedon rapes Damaris, this time, Damaris presented herself to Macedon out of her free will. Damariss abduction by Macedon came as a relief for her. While she lived with her daughter, Priscilla had been over-protective, never allowing room for Damaris to meet men. Her only time out was when her mother sent her to pick flowers in the fields. At least two men had wooed Damaris, but Priscilla had rejected them for reasons she did not disclose. Thus, after a few days in the palace, Damaris became used to her new world. In fact, she took a vow to spend one-third of her life before she could set her foot out of the palace. Meanwhile, when Priscilla found out that Macedon had taken her daughter, she was bewildered at the thought of her corrupt enemy having sexual relations with her "clean" daughter. She withdrew from the nobility and roamed the city in grief. Moreover, she implores Patrius, the goddess of fertility to afflict the city-state with a drought until she is reunited to her daughter. Patrius does her bidding. One day, Macedon prepared a feast for his officials. After he had had too much wine and was high in spirits, he ordered that his wife be brought to him he could brag about her beauty to his guests. Damaris declined to obey his order, claiming to be busy entertaining her guests, the wives of Macedon’s officials. Macedon was furious. That very night, he ordered that she be banished out the palace. The order was executed. However, because she had vowed not to return to her mother until she had spent a third of her life in the palace, Damaris took refuge in the house of Dionysius. Three months later, she was reported to be pregnant with Dionysius’ child. The news of her pregnancy caused a fierce fight between the two brothers. Dionysius overpowered Macedon and banished him out of the palace. With Macedon driven out of the palace, Dionysius arranges for Priscilla to join them in the palace. Eventually, Priscilla and Damaris are united and the two are overwhelmed with joy. The goddess of fertility, through Priscilla’s prompt, restores the fruitfulness of the earth. Dionysius, Damaris and Pricilla live in the palace happily for the rest of their lives. Analysis of the Story Macedonis the ruler of the Palace and the brother to Dionysius. Macedon is naturally withdrawn. Thus, when their father Agrippa died and the two brothers had to share responsibilities, Macedon opted to take over the palace. Unlike in the original Greek myth in which Macedon is presented as a rapist, here I depicts him quite favorably. According to me, Macedon is not a rapist; he simply have no time to court a woman, hence the justification to abduct Damaris. In abducting Damaris, Macedon’ motive is not to harm her. Rather, they are simply looking for a companion. It turns out, Damaris is happy the abduction happened. Thus, even though they rule over the Palace, Macedon is depicted as being kind and compassionate. Damaris is depicted as a dutiful, obedient daughter is otherwise choked by the excesses of an over-protective mother. Thus, her abduction into and consequent stay in the Palace comes as a relief for her. On the same night of her entry into the Palace, she presents herself freely to Macedon for intimacy. The following day, they are made the queen of the palace. However, her disobedience results in the fallout with her husband. She is also determined. Contrary to the hidden plans her mother may have had for her, she knows she wants to be married. Even when her first husband dismisses her, she declines to leave. In the end, she marries Dionysius while Macedon is the one to be driven out of the palace. I have presented two sides of Dionysius: he is an opportunist but also a savior. As an opportunist, he takes advantage of the fallout between Damaris and her husband and marries her almost immediately. It is evident that he has waited for this opportunity all his life. Then, in order to secure his position as the new husband to Damaris, he forces his brother out of the palace. As a savior, he comes to the rescue of Damaris who had vowed never to leave the palace until she had spent a third of her life there. Later, he reunites mother and daughter much sooner than the reunion would have happened without his intervention. The image of Priscilla that comes out is that of a self-righteous, over-protective mother. So protective was she that she could not let her daughter venture out beyond picking flowers in the fields, lest an “unworthy” man should seduce her. Indeed, prior to her abduction, at least two different men, Ares and Apollo, had tried to woo Damaris, bur Priscilla turned them down for unknown reasons. In the end, Damaris ended up in the “filthy hands” of Macedon, ruler of Palace. Priscilla abhorred the thought of it. Had she known that Damaris would end up in the hands of Macedon, it is likely that Priscilla would have married off Damaris to either Ares or Apollo. Following her abduction and continued stay in the Palace, Priscilla considers Damaris an ingrate who conveniently forgets all the sacrifices she has made. From the short rendition, Priscilla’s motive for over-protecting her daughter is not obvious. Summary and Conclusion Short stories serve many different purposes. For instance, they may serve to study a particular aspect of a human being. A short story may also serve to create a comprehension of what it means to experience something unpleasant. Still, the writer of a short story may want to invoke a given mood in their readers. Whatever the purpose, it becomes the pivot around which the story develops. This short story sought to give a basic yet deeper understanding of the major characters in the story by trying to deduce what motivates them to act the way they do. This is important because it is characters who make the short story alive. This goal, I believe, has been achieved reasonably. Through this short story, I intended that to illustrate that women in Greek mythology can be powerful masters of their destiny as opposed to being at the mercy of male characters. While Damaris had no room to choose whether or not she wanted to be abducted into the place, once she is quick to assert herself.. Thus, rather than wait to be implored to sleep with Macedon, she takes the lead and initiates the sexual affair. Soon, she resolves to spend a third of her life in the palace. Even when Macedon banishes her out of the palace, she refuses to leave. In the end, she spends all her life in the palace. It is Macedon who gets banished instead. Read More