Prometheus Bound - IO
After the class discussion today, it made me more intrigued by IO story. She was just a beautiful girl, living with her dad, living her life peacefully. Until Zeus puts his eyes on her like she is this huge price, and that He will do anything in his power to sleep with her. Even on her dreams, He would send her messages driving her and her family to seek oracles help, (Lines 640 -685) and on top of that Zeus also threatened her father. As a consequence, she was turned to a cow, because Zeus wanted to hide her from Hera. This tale gets worse and worse, and after the explanation in class that out of her will come many heroes and our world does not have monsters because of the children. Does it mean that Zeus actions are "okay," or justifiable? Since at the end this character will have a higher purpose in the world, and in the Greek mythology as a whole. I don't know.
This is the terrible thing about the relationship between mortals and divinity - does the ultimate end to which the gods' plan directs justify the means through which it is accomplished? Does Zeus' plan for the world make Io's suffering and the injustice she has suffered "okay"? You could look at it a simple manifestation of the power which the divine has over us - they are stronger, and therefore, they will do as they wish. But Zeus in this case is committing these actions with the partial motivation to make the world a better place. Is this a completely disinterested action? He *wants* to sleep with Io, he *wants* to have children by her - are those completely selfish, lusting actions that he later layers over in beneficent actions?
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