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Textual Analysis Of Actaeon

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Actaeon’s story Actaeon, grandson of Cadmus, is with his hunting party where they come upon a valley; one sacred to Diana. Actaeon wanders to Diana’s bathing pool, unbeknownst and alone, and happens on Diana bathing. Diana, in her anger, turns him into a stag, and he in fear runs away. He stops near a pool to look upon his new features. Soon, his hounds see him and give chase. Unable to voice his laments, he tries to run away; but to no avail as the hounds and his fellow hunters run him down to his death, satisfying Diana’s fury. (Ovid, Met. III. 138-249). According to Freud, myths are efforts of people to organize their dreams, which in turn contain displaced elements and representations of said people’s reality. Freud identifies these elements and representations as dream symbols. For the myth at hand, where Actaeon’s happening on a woman bathing and subsequent punishment in the form of cruel death, under the light of Freud’s theory, suggests that the culture from which this myth transpired was matriarchal and possibly predominantly female or one that placed great emphasis on female modesty and any kind of violation warranted grave recompense. …show more content…

gods and humans, and their subsequent resolution in the myth. According to Levi-Strauss, in this myth the hunter, Actaeon, becomes the hunted, as a stag. Under the light of Levi-Strauss’ theories, the hunter, eventually, becomes the hunted. Levi-Strauss would extrapolate this concept to societies saying that the lesser culture or society, when confronted with a larger and stronger culture or society, will eventually give in and be eaten up by the stronger

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