A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Taufiq Hidayanto Student Number: 051214037
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GREEK MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES IN JEFFREY EUGENIDES’ MIDDLESEX
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Taufiq Hidayanto Student Number: 051214037
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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I dedicate this thesis for everyone who ever underestimates me.
I live my own life and nurse my own wounds. It’s not the best way to live.
vii ABSTRACT
Hidayanto, Taufiq. (2010).The Significance of Greek Mythological Figures in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis analyses Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel entitled Middlesex. This novel is about the story of Calliope, a Greek American who is raised as a girl until discovering, in adolescence, that she is in fact intersexes—with the chromosomal makeup of a male, and the genitalia of both sexes. In the novel, Eugenides used some Greek mythology figures. Those figures are interesting to be discussed in order to reveal the reason why Jeffrey Eugenides presented some Greek mythology figures in the novel. Furthermore, there is also curiousity about the connection between those Greek mythology figures and the story.
The aim of this study is to identify Greek mythology figures in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex. In addition, this study also intends to reveal the significance of those mythology figures in the story. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, there are two problems formulated in this study. The first problem is what the figures of Greek mythology presented in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex are. The second problem is what the significances of those Greek mythology figures in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex are.
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his own sister. The main character’s grand parents also do incest which triggers a gen mutation and makes the main character becomes hermaphrodite.
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ABSTRAK
Hidayanto, Taufiq. (2010). The Significance of Greek Mythological Figures in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini mengulas novel Jeffrey Eugenides yang berjudul Middlesex. Novel ini bercerita mengenai Calliope, seorang keturunan Amerika-Yunani yang dibesarkan sebagai seorang gadis. Hingga ketika remaja ditemukan fakta bahwa sesungguhnya gadis tersebut interseksual dengan kromosom laki-laki dan alat kelamin gabungan dari laki-laki dan wanita. Dalam novel tersebut, Eugenides menggunakan beberapa tokoh mitologi Yunani. Tokoh-tokoh tersebut menarik untuk dibahas untuk mencari tahu alasan mengapa Jeffrey Eugenides menggunakan tokoh mitologi Yunani dalam novelnya. Juga adanya keingintahuan mengenai hubungan antara tokoh-tokoh mitologi Yunani tersebut dengan novel.
Tujuan dari skripsi ini adalah untuk mengidentifikasi tokoh-tokoh mitologi Yunani yang terdapat pada Middlesex karangan Jeffrey Eugenides. Skripsi ini juga bertujuan untuk mencari arti penting tokoh-tokoh mitologi tersebut dalam novel. Untuk mencapai tujuan tersebut ada dua permasalahan yang diformulasikan dalam skripsi ini. Permasalahan pertama adalah apa saja tokoh mitologi dalam novel Middlesex karya Jeffrey Eugenides? Permasalahan kedua adalah apakah arti penting tokoh-tokoh mitologi Yunani tersebut dalam novel Middlesex karya Jeffrey Eugenides?
Studi ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka. Data utama studi ini adalah novel Middlesex karya Jeffrey Eugenides sedangkan data penunjangnya diambil dari buku-buku, artikel dan ensiklopedia baik cetak maupun elektronik. Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan mythopeic. Untuk menjawab permasalahan diatas digunakan teori mitologi.
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hasil dari cinta terlarang. Zeus adalah dewa petir, raja dari dewa-dewa di Olympia, ayah dari dewa-dewa dan beberapa manusia. Zeus sendiri adalah pelaku incest karena dia menikahi adik kandungnya sendiri. Kakek nenek tokoh utama juga melakukan incest yang menyebabkan mutasi gen yang mengakibatkan sang tokoh utama menjadi berkelamin ganda.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank Allah SWT for giving me the blessing, vitality, idea and divine affection to finish my study and this thesis.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my major sponsor, Henny Herawati, S.Pd., M.Hum., for all her great great great patience, valuable times, motivation, enlightenment feedback and guidance from the beginning to the accomplishment of this thesis. My gratitude also to Drs. Y.B. Gunawan, M.A. for the support and patience. I would also thank to Antonius Jody, S.Pd. and Ch. Lhaksmita Anandari, S.Pd., M.Ed. for the enlightenment and motivation. My thankfulness goes to all the lecturers in the English Language Education Study Program for providing such worthy and useful knowledge and wisdom with all their devotion during my studying time. Next, I would like to thank the secretariat of English Education Study Program, especially mbak Danik for her kindness, endless support and motivation.
My special thanks go to my beloved parents, Drs. H.Biyanto and Hj.Ismartiningsih, S.Pd for their love, long waiting and endless support. I would say thanks to my sisters and brother: Riska Fitri Handayani, Intan Kurnia Ratri and Fadhil Faqih Fathurahman. My thanks also go to my late grandfather and grandmother in heaven for their affection and true love.
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me how to be independent and last but not least Agnes Endah for her willingness to accompany me when I was writing this thesis.
I am personally grateful to all my friends in PBI 05 especially Thomas Hendarto and Stephanus Fandi Herbayu Aji who puts colors in my study, my friends in „Get Me Back to You’ play (Ayik, Bondan, Krecek, Leo, Tere,
Ririth, Nova, Ella, Hanna, Vivi, Nina, Ncrut, Fidel and Andre) who teach me about friendship and cooperation, and also my friends in SPD „Pillar’ (Eska, Nancy, Novi, Tari, Galuh, and Eva) who show me the meaning of hard work.
Special thanks go to Ms. Dwina and Stefani Ratna Kusuma Wardhani for the willingness to spend their valuable time to irritate their eyes as my readers. Thank to everyone in my Facebook friend list for their status, comments, and thumbs. I also thanks for all artists who made beautiful tunes in my song playlist which I cannot mention one by one, one thing for sure they rock!
Finally, I sincerely thank all the people whom I cannot mention one by one and who have given me a hand in my thesis.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE……….
APPROVAL PAGES……….
DEDICATIONAL PAGE ……….
STATEMENT OF WORK'S ORIGINALITY ………..
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C. Method of the Study ……….
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS …………... A. Greek Mythology Figures Presented in Middlesex ………...
1. Tiresias ………
2. Calliope ………..
3. Hermaphroditus ………..
4. Minotaur ……….
5. Zeus ……….
B. The Significances of Greek Mythological Figures in Middlesex ……….…
1. Tiresias ………
a. As the Source of Inspiration in Writing Middlesex ……… b. As the Mirror Figure of the Main Character……… 1) As Hermaphroditic Figures ……… 2) The Experience of Gender Transformation ……… 3) The Same Experience of Love and Sexual Desire Towards
Male and Female……… c. As Foreshadowing of the Main Character………
2. Calliope ………
a. The Name of the Main Character ……… b. As the Narrator of the Story……… c. As an Irony in the Main Character’s Gender Transformation …… 3. Hermaphroditus ……… a. As a Representative of the Main Character……… b. The Pool of Change ……… c. The Main Character Calls Herself Hermaphrodite ………
4. Minotaur ………
a. As an Indirect Cause of the Gene Mutation to the Main
Character ………..
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5. Zeus ………
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ……….
A. Conclusions ………..
B. Suggestions ………...
1. Suggestion for Future Researchers ……… 2. Suggestion of the Implementation of Teaching English Using The
Novel ………..
REFERENCES ……….
APPENDICES ………..
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48 48 50 50
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LIST OF FIGURES
1. Zeus Consort’s and Offspring’s ……….. 2. Tiresias appears to Ulysses during the Sacrifice ………. 3. The Muses Urania and Calliope ……….. 4. The Transformation of Hermaphroditus and Salmacis ………... 5. Pasiphae enters in Daedalus wooden cow ……….. 6. Theseus and the Minotaur ……….. 7. Zeus of Otricoli ………..
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LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1 Stephanides Family Tree ... APPENDIX 2 The Family f the Gods ...……….. APPENDIX 3 Summary …………... APPENDIX 4 Biography…………...……… APPENDIX 5 The Implementation of Teaching Paragraph Writing…………
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
The first chapter is an introduction to this study. It consists of six major parts: background of the study, problem formulation, problem limitation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of the terms. Background of the study presents information and reasons related to the subject matter. The second part is problem formulation that presents the formulation of problems to be discussed. The third, problem limitation, describes the focus and scope of the study. The fourth, objective of the study, states the aim of the study. Next, benefits of the study identifies parties who can benefit from the study. Definition of terms, the last part, explains important key terms related to this study.
A. Background of the Study
Literature is one of the great creative and universal means of communicating emotional, spiritual and intellectual concerns of mankind. It is characterized by the use of imagination and meaningfulness of expressions. Written in a carefully-thought form and technique, literature exploits and, at the same time, favors to readers’ imagination.
Reading literature offers pleasure and satisfaction to readers. In addition, literature offers some values to and develops intelligence and personality of its readers. By reading literature the readers may gain some knowledge and insights that
can enrich their quality of life. Realizing these values, I was encouraged to choose literature as the topic of this research.
There are many kinds of literary works, such as essays, short stories, novels, dramas, and poetry. In this study, I use novel as the major source. I chose novel because novel is one form of literary works which is derived from the reflection of the author’s thought about anything that happens around him. Novel is also the result of the author’s imagination and creation from the reality.
I chose Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides as the object of this study. Jeffrey Eugenides was born on March 8th, 1960 in Detroit, Michigan. Eugenides was a descedant of Greek and Irish immigrants. He attended Brown and Stanford Universities. His first novel, The Virgin Suicides, was published by Farrar Straus & Giroux in 1993, and he has received numerous awards for his work. In 2003, Jeffrey Eugenides received The Pulitzer Prize for his novel Middlesex. Middlesex, which was also one of the nominees to receive the National Book Critics Circle Award, the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, France's Prix Medicis, has sold over 1 million copies.
Middlesex is a novel that tells about Calliope, a Greek American who is raised as a girl until discovering, in adolescence, that she is in fact intersexes—with the chromosomal makeup of a male, and the genitalia of both sexes. However, this novel does not only talk about the transformation of sexual desire caused by the sin of the main character’s ancestor but also about three generations of Greek refugees in
the economy, security, and political issues and family secrets that the family face. Eugenides describes his novel as:
Middlesex is the story of a family with a genetic mutation in its bloodline. The book is told by the final inheritor of this gene, who traces the recessive mutation down through three generations. True, the mutation in question results in the narrator's being intersex—labeled as female at birth, he later adopts a male identity. The novel itself, however, concerns a welter of events aside from his own sexual transformation. Rather, Cal's transformation makes him suited, intellectually and emotionally, to tell these other tales of metamorphosis, be they national, racial, or historical (Q&A With Jeffery Eugenides).
In addition, Eugenides also explains the concern of the novel as below:
The novel itself, however, concerns a welter of events aside from his own sexual transformation. Rather, Cal's transformation makes him suited, intellectually and emotionally, to tell these other tales of metamorphosis, be they national, racial, or historical. (Q&A With Jeffery Eugenides)
Furthermore, in brief Eugenides explains, “Middlesex is a hybrid itself: part immigrant saga, part psychological novel, part comic epic, part medical mystery” (Q&A With Jeffery Eugenides).
B. Problem Formulation
From the background mentioned above, I formulated the questions as follows. 1. What are the figures of Greek mythology presented in Jeffrey Eugenides’
Middlesex ?
2. What is the significance of those figures of Greek mythology in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex?
C. Problem Limitation
There are many figures of Greek mythology presented in this novel. However, not all of those figures are discussed and analyzed in this study. The major concern is not all of those figures give significance to the story. Therefore, the figures of Greek mythology that are being discussed are limited to those that have significance or contribution to the story of Middlesex.
D. Objectives of the Study
Based on the problems stated above, the aim of this study is to identify Greek mythology figures in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex. This study also intends to reveal
E. Benefits of the study
In writing this thesis, I have great expectation that this study helps readers and future researchers in developing the skills and understanding literature. I believe that literature can develop humans' personality and intellectuality.
By reading this thesis, hopefully readers have better understanding about Greek mythology that has given influence in many literary works. By learning about mythology, readers will learn about its significance in literary works. Besides, readers can appreciate literature more, especially novel as one of literary works. By reading a novel, readers learn about life seen from various perspectives.
For further studies conducted by different researchers, I hope that this study can serve as one of the references. Since Middlesex is a rich novel, future researchers may conduct an analysis from different points of view.
F. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding of the terms used, below are the definitions of some important terms as they are used in this study:
1. Significance
According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, significance is stated as “the importance of an event, action, etc, especially because of the effects of influence” (1687). In this study, it means the significance of the Greek mythology
2. Greek Mythological Figures
Based on Word Net, figure defined as “a well-known or notable person”. In
this study, Greek Mythological figures refer to persons or someone deal with Greek mythology which is considered important and gives significance in Jeffrey
Eugenides’ Middlesex, such as: Tiresias, Minotaur, Calliope, and Minotaur.
3. Greek
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary described Greek as “a member of people living in ancient or modern Greece” (521). In addition, Greece is a country in
southeastern Europe, including the southernmost part of Balkan Peninsula and numerous islands in the eastern Mediterranean.
4. Myth
Microsoft Encarta 2009 Dictionary explains myth as “ancient story, a traditional story about heroes or supernatural beings, often attempting to explain the
origins of natural phenomena or aspects of human behavior.” Parada in his article
Basic Aspects of the Greek Myths explain
5. Mythology
Microsoft Encarta 2009 Dictionary explains mythology as “a group of myths
that belong to a particular people or culture and tell about their ancestors, heroes, gods and other supernatural beings, and history.” Parada in his article Basic Aspects
of the Greek Myths states
“Mythology is, in one sense, just a collection of myths, but as scientific research increased during the 19th and 20th centuries, this research has also been called mythology. So the term mythology has come to denote both the body of myths and the study of myths” (Parada).
6. Greek Mythology
Greek mythology by Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature is defined as “the body of myths and stories developed by the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of cosmos, and their own religious practices” (488). In
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter consists of three parts, namely, review of related theories, review on figures in Greek mythology and theoretical framework. Review of related theories covers the theories applied in conducting the study. Review on Greek mythology gives brief explanation on the history of Greek mythology to support the analysis. Theoretical framework explains the review and the use of the theory to solve the problems.
A. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Approaches
A critical approach to literature necessitates an understanding of its nature, function and positive values. In order to have critical approach, the readers must know what literature is, how to read it and how to appreciate it. The purpose of critical approaches is to put the reader in a good position to provide the means whereby the reader can understand how literature is shaped and what it means. Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature mentioned five critical approaches. They are formalist approach, biographical approach, sociocultural-historical approach, mythopoeic approach, and psychological approach (3-15).
The formalist approach is an approach which focuses on the total integrity of the literary works. In addition, “formalist approach sees the meaning of literary work
from the harmonious involvement of all parts to the whole, figures out the meaning from the structure and how matters of technique determine structure” (Rohrberger
and Woods 6-7). Furthermore, the extreme formalist examines literary works without noticing the author’s life, genre, historical and social background.
The biographical approach is an approach which relates the author’s
experience in real world with his or her literary works. In other words, the reader attempts to learn as much as they can about the life of the author to apply it in their attempt to understand his or her writings.
The sociocultural-historical approach is used to criticize literary works based on the reference of the civilization. In addition, it is important to know the social background where the work was created as a reflection of the society. Rohrberger and Woods mention that “the traditional historical approach to literature is the mix of
some aspects of the sociocultural frame of relevance with interest of biographical and literary history” (9).
has enjoyed long natural growth, so that the sense of togetherness becomes patterned and semantically significant” (11). Modern mythopoeic approach is influenced by Sir James Goerge Frazier’s works entitled The Golden Bough which explain the process
of myth making and the effect of myth towards human behaviour. In addition, Rohrberger and Woods also explain more about the patterns of mythopoeic approach,
the mythopoeic critics claim that cyclic patterns of withdrawal and return and of death and rebirth, patterns involving guilt and expiation and sacrificial suffering, propitiation rites, fertility rites, initiation rites-among others- are common to all people, and that themes concerning them find their way into all significant literature, whether the author makes conscious or unconscious use of them (Rohrberger and Woods 11-12)
The psychological approach is influenced by Freud. He believes that there is an unconscious area in human mind which is rich with imagination, capacity of creation and the complexity of thought and behaviour. This approach deals with motivation, personality and conflict of the character.
Those five approaches mentioned above have their value and point of view. However, it seems that no single approach will serve for every piece of literature. Nevertheless, each one has proper insight and task of the critic to lead the appreciation of a particular work of literature.
2. Theory of Mythology
Deardoff in his article Performative Mythology: A preliminary Outline toward a Theory and Praxis states that “Mythology, or Mythography, is commonly considered to be the study of myth. The practice here is to use myth to study other things. This method is to enter into the myth then reinterpret our previous position”(Deardoff).
There are many theories state by experts. However, I chose theory presented by Andrew Lang as quoted by Johnson in his article Myth as Thought: Modern Theory and Myth. Lang states that “all myths are aetiological” (Johnson). It means that all myths offer a cause or explanation of something in the real world. In other word, we can say that myth is an explanatory. Myth lends structure and order to the world, and shows how the current state of things had originated. Buxton in his article Greek Mythology in Microsoft Encarta 2009 mentions as follows:
Thus Hesiod’s Theogony narrated the development of the present ordering of the universe by relating it to Chaos, the origin of all things. By a complex process of violence, struggle, and sexual attraction, the regime contemporary to Zeus had eventually come into being. Another poem by Hesiod, “Works and Days”, gave an explanatory (or aetiological) account of why the world is full of trouble. The reason is that the first woman, Pandora, opened a jar whose lid she had been forbidden to lift; all the diseases and miseries previously confined in the jar escaped into the world (Buxton).
phenomenon is caused by the rapid expansion of atmospheric gases which are suddenly heated by lightning, it is simpler to say that there is god named Zeus, the god of thunder who is angry. Therefore, he sends thunder to the world to punish everyone who does not obey him.
B. Review on Greek Mythology
Greek mythology began from the creation of the world. It was started where there was no land or sea, people or gods, except Chaos. Chaos was a space of order and disorder. There were no mountains or rivers, or any features on earth. In fact, there was no earth at all. It was a period of emptiness. Even time did not exist yet. Eventually, Chaos divided itself into the earth, sky, and sea. When the division was complete, everything was peaceful and perfect. After Chaos was divided into the earth, sky, and sea, one goddess came into being without being born from any mother. Her name was Gaia, which means earth, and she took control over the earth as it took shape. Like an artist on a canvas, Gaia was busy creating a beautiful masterpiece. Soon, however, the goddess began to long for children to help populate and rule the new world. Gaia’s desire for children was so strong that she became
pregnant by herself. The child she bears was named Uranus, and he became the ruler of the sky. In every way, Uranus was equal of his mother, and soon Gaia and Uranus had their own children. Later, both Gaia’s and Uranus’ children became the figures of
Basically, figures on Greek mythology can be classified into three groups. They are god and goddess, human, and monster. God and goddess in Greek mythology basically are the same as immortal human. They share the characteristics of human being such as jealousy, love, grief, and other desire. Further, they also punish anyone who breaks their authority. Based on ancient literary and art works, Greek’s god and goddess are depicted in a shape of a human being. In addition, god
and goddess in Greek mythology have a relationship as a big family with Zeus as the head of the family. They have super power and responsibility for specific aspects of life, for example: Aphrodite, the goddess of love and Calliope, the goddess of epic. God and goddess also have the authority in world of mortal. God and goddess can punish human being who hurt their feeling. In addition, Buxton in his article Greek Mythology in Microsoft Encarta 2009 explains.
Greek divinities had a different side: they could be uncanny, strange, alien. This quality is powerfully visible in artistic representations of monsters, such as the snake-haired Gorgon Medusa with the stare that turned her victims to stone. Such alienness is a characteristic even of the major deities of Olympus: one of the recurrent markers of divine power is the ability to change shape, either one’s own (Athena once transformed herself into a vulture; Poseidon once took the form of a stallion) or that of others (Zeus turned Lycaon into a wolf to punish him for his wickedness). The ability to exercise power over the crossing of boundaries is a crucial feature of divine power among the Greeks.
Fig.1 Zeus. Zeus Consort’s and Offspring’s. Microsoft Encarta 2009
From the chart above, we can see Zeus as the father of the entire god and goddess. Zeus gets married with many goddess and common women. His divine offspring became the main Greek god and goddess (left) and his mortal children became the heroes of Greek mythology (right).
love with them. In addition, children who are born from a mother who gets married with god will share the power like their father.
The third category is monster or beast in Greek mythology. Those monsters exist because of some of them are god’s favorite and become their guardian. For example, Zeus has Pegasus, a wild winged horse that becomes a carrier of Zeus’
lightning and thunderbolts. In addition, there is also Python, a giant snake that guards the oracle, the source of wisdom. However, those monsters and beasts are mortal. It means they can be killed, just like Minotaur, monster in form of bull-headed man who likes to eat human, which is killed by Theseus. Besides, there is also Orthrus, two headed giant dog, which is killed by Hercules to complete his duty.
In addition, there are also some figures outside those categories, for example: Hermaphroditus, who is the son of Hermes and Aphrodite. Although his parents are god and goddess, in Greek Mythology he does not mentioned as a god who is responsible for any specific area, has a super power and authority. There is also Tiresias who is a prophet and becomes Zeus’ priest. Another example is Nymphs, a
spirit which usually depicted as a beautiful maiden, typically associated with particular place or landlord deals with nature.
C. Theoretical Framework
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the methodology of the study. This chapter covers the subject of the study, the approaches used and the steps taken in undertaking and completing the analysis of the novel.
A. Object of the Study
The subject of the study is a novel entitled Middlesex. It is a-529-page novel, the second novel written by Jeffrey Eugenides. This novel was first published on October 7th ,2002 and the one used in this study was published in 2003 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, Soho Square, London. Middlesex, recepient of Pulitzer Prize in 2003, finalist for the National Book Critics Award, the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and France’s Prix Medicis, has been sold over one million copies.
Middlesex tells the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village in Bursa, Asia Minor into Detroit, America, witnessing World War II, world depression, race riot of 1967, before they move out to Grosse Pointe Michigan. Middlesex is a time machine to the past in a mission to reveal the reason why Calliope or Callie transforms to be Cal. Calliope, the main character of this novel and also the narrator of the story, is genetically a man who is raised as a woman. Calliope tells about her family secret, starting from her grandparent’s incest and her parent’s
love story that had made her become an intersex (a person who posseses the characteristics of both male and female).
B. Approach of the Study
In this thesis, I applied the mythological approach to analyze the problems. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia’s Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and
Drama as cited in Critical Approaches to Literature explain that mythological approach emphasizes “the recurrent universal patterns underlying most literary works.” Combining the insights from anthropology, psychology, history, and comparative religion, mythological approach “explores the artist’s common humanity
by tracing how the individual imagination uses myths and symbols common to different cultures and epochs.” One key concept in the mythological approach is the
archetype, “a symbol, character, situation, or image that evokes a deep universal response.” In addition, the mythological approach tends to view literary works in the
broader context of works sharing a similar pattern.
C. Method of the Study
I used the library research or desk research as the method of the study. The major source of the study was the novel itself, namely Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. In this novel, I found that the figures in Greek mythology were important aspects to be analyzed in this study in order to get better understanding on the novel. The secondary data were the books related to the theories and the approach that were used to support the analysis.
To do the analysis, I needed some steps to be done in order to answer the questions that were stated in the problem formulation in this analysis. The first step that I did for this study was to read the work of Jeffrey Eugenides entitled Middlesex. It was meant to understand the content of the story as the novel is the primary data to be analyzed. When I read the novel, I was interested in the Greek Mythology figures as one of the backgrounds of this story. The process of reading itself was repeated for several times to have deeper understanding about the primary data.
The second step, I determined the topic of the analysis and formulate the problem formulations that later became the guidance to do the analysis. The third, I sought the secondary data based on the research problem. They were the theories related to this study, criticisms, essays, book reviews, and journals, which supported this analysis, and other kinds of data which aided to solve the problems of the study. These data were found by searching in the internet and by library research.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
In this chapter, I divide the analysis into two main parts. First, Greek mythology figures as presented in Middlesex. This part describes some figures in Greek mythology presented in the novel. The second part is the significances of Greek mythology figures in Middlesex. This part explains the importance of figures in Greek mythology presented in the novel towards the story.
A. Greek Mythology Figures Presented in Middlesex
There are six figures mentioned in the story, they are: Tiresias, Calliope, Minotaur, Hermaphroditus, Hercules and Zeus.
1. Tiresias
Tiresias in this novel is mentioned in page 3: “Like Tiresias, I was first one thing and then the other ”(Eugenides 3). Furthermore, Tiresias is also used as the title of the chapter entitled Tiresias in Love which is in Book Three.
Tiresias or Teiresias, a variant spelling of his name, is a blind prophet. There are many versions of the cause of his blindness. First, Tiresias is blinded by gods because he discloses their secrets to mortal men. Second, Tiresias is blinded by Athena after he stumbles onto her bathing naked. His mother, nymph Chariclo, begs her to undo her curse, but Athena could not. However, she gives him prophecy
instead. Another version, Tiresias is a priest of Zeus, and as a young man he encounters two snakes mating and wounds the female with a stick. He is then transformed into a woman. As a woman, Tiresias became the priestess of Hera, married and had children named Manto. According to some versions of the tale, Lady Tiresias is a prostitute of great renown. After seven years as a woman, Tiresias again finds mating snakes, strucks them with her staff, wounds the male and becomes a man once more. As a result of his experiences, Zeus and Hera ask him to settle the question of which sex, male or female, experienced more pleasure during intercourse. Zeus claims it is women, on the other hand Hera claims it is men. When Tiresias agrees with Zeus and says that of ten parts a man enjoys one only, but a woman enjoys the full ten parts in her heart. After saying that, Hera then strucks him blind. Since Zeus cannot undo what Hera has done, he gives him the gift of prophecy.
Michael Lahanas in his article stated that Tiresias's background is important, both for his prophecy and his experiences. Also, prophecy is a gift given only to the priests and priestesses. Therefore, Tiresias offers Zeus and Hera evidence and gain the gift of male and female priestly prophecy.
Since Tiresias is the greatest seer of the Classical myths, a figure cursed by the gods and as hermaphroditic figures, he became an inspiration in art and literature. Tiresias appears in the following literary classics: Oedipus the King, Antigone and The Bacchae by Sophocles, Iphigenia at Aulis, Phoenician Women and The Odyssey by Euripides, Metamorphoses by Homer,Seven Against Thebes by Ovid, Fifth Hymn by Aeschylus, Paradise Lost by Callimachus, and Tiresias by John Milton. Johann Heinrich Füssli depicts Tiresias in his painting as below.
Fig.2 Tiresias, Tiresias appears to Ulysses during the Sacrifice, 1780-1785 Johann Heinrich Füssli, 20 April 2010,
2. Calliope
Since Calliope is the name of the main character, it is mentioned many times in this novel. We can find it even in the first page of Book One as the introduction of the main character who also the narrator to the reader: “My birth certificate lists my
name as Calliope Helen Stephanides” (Eugenides 3).
According to the Greek Myths, God Zeus attracts the young woman Mnemosyne (the goddess of memory) and sleeps with her for nine consecutive nights. Mnemosyne bears the Nine Muses. The Nine Muses are: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania and Calliope. When they grow up they show their interests in arts, taught by God Apollo himself. Clio is the muse of history, Euterpe of lyric poetry, Thalia of comedy, Melpomene of tragedy, Terpsichore of choral songs and the dance, Erato of love poetry, Polyhymnia of sacred poetry, Urania of astronomy, and Calliope of epic poetry.
Fig.3 Muse Calliope, The Muses Urania and Calliope,1634, Simon Vouet, 22 December 2009, <http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Calliope.html>
3. Hermaphroditus
Hermaphroditus becomes the title of the chapter in Book Four. In that chapter, Hermaphroditus is mentioned many times.
According to Ryan Tuccinardi, Michael Lahanas, Theoi and Myth Encylopedia, Hermaphroditus is the son of Hermes, the messenger of the god, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love. When Hermaphroditus is fifteen years old, he decides to travel and wanders in unknown lands, visiting the cities of the Lycians and the Carians, and somewhere he founds a pool with clear water.
away and leaves, pretending to accept his rejection. Afterwards, Hermaphroditus thinks that he is alone, dives into the pool and starts swimming. Salmacis then appears again in the waters, holding him fast, stealing kisses, and embracing him. The more Hermaphroditus tries to escape, the more she clings to him. While she forces him, she prays to the gods not to let them ever be separated. The gods hears the prayer and merges the two bodies into one. From that day they are no more two persons, they became one neither man nor woman. Hermaphroditus, in his shame and grief, makes his own vow, cursing the pool so that any other who bathes within it shall be transformed like what happens to him, half man and half woman.
Fig.4 Hermaphroditus and Salmacis, The Transformation of Hermaphroditus and Salmacis, 1st third of 16th century, Jan Gossaert, 29 January 2010, <http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/SalmacisJanGossaert.html>
4. Minotaur
The same as Tiresias, Minotaur also becomes the title of one of the chapters. Minotaur becomes the chapter title of Book Two in which Minotaur is mentioned many times.
thinks that Poseidon does not mind. Therefore, Minos replaces the bull with the best specimen from his herd for the offering. When Poseidon knows about the deceit, he makes Mino’s wife, Pashipa, falls in love with the bull. Pashipa order Daedalus who is the famous architect to make a wooden cow for her as a camouflage so she can fool the bull to make love with her. The offspring of their love making is a monster called the Minotaur.
Fig.5 Pashipa, Pasiphae enters in Daedalus wooden cow, 1530, Giulio Romano, 21 December 2009, <http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Minotaur.html>
Minotaur which in Greek means “Minos’ bull”, is also known as Asterius or
Monstropedia every year for nine years, seven young people come as tribute from Athens. These young people are also locked in the labyrinth for the Minotaur to feast upon.
In addition, Micha F. Lindemans explains that when Theseus, the Greek hero, reaches Athens, he knows about the Minotaur and the sacrifices, and wants to end this. He volunteers to go to Crete as one of the victims. Upon his arrival in Crete, he meets Ariadne, Minos's daughter, who falls in love with him. She promises she will provide the means to escape from the maze if he agrees to marry her. When Theseus enters the maze, she gives him a simple ball of thread which already ties to the entrance of the maze. He makes his way through the maze, while unwinding the thread, and he stumbles upon the sleeping Minotaur. He beats it to death and leads the others back to the entrance by following the thread. W. Russel Flint paints the assassin of minotaur in his painting as below.
Based on Myth Encyclopedia, some scholars suggest that the myth of the Minotaur is arised from ancient rituals in which a priest or king wear a bull mask before performing sacrifices. In addition, Michael Lahanas in his article explain that the ruins of Minos' palace at Knossos have been found, but the labyrinth has not. The enormous number of rooms, staircases and corridors in the palace lead archaeologists to believe that the palace itself is the source of the labyrinth myth.
5. Zeus
Although Zeus is the supreme god in Greek mythology, in this novel he is only mentioned twice. It is found in “above the coffeemaker an assortment of figurines marched along the shelf: Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, Mickey Mouse, Zeus, and Felix the Cat” (Eugenides 203) and in “Zeus liberated all living things from an egg” (Eugenides 210).
Based on Parada and Ron Leadbetter, Zeus, the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea, is the supreme ruler of Mount Olympus and of the Pantheon of gods who resides there. Being the supreme ruler he uphelds law, justice and morals, and this makes him the spiritual leader of both gods and men. Zeus is omnipotent as he sees everything, he knows everything, and he can do everything. He has always been associated as being a weather god. In addition, his main attribute is the thunderbolt, he controls thunder, lightning and rain.
goddesses and mortals. He either rapes them, or uses devious means to seduce the unsuspecting maidens.
Besides deities, he also becomes father of many mortals. In some of his human liaisons, Zeus uses devious disguises. When he seduces the Spartan queen Leda, he transforms himself into a beautiful swan. He disguises himself as a bull in order to abduct the Phoenician princess Europa, and then carries her on his back to the island of Crete where she bore three sons: Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon. Zeus also uses his charm and power to seduce those he wants.
When Zeus has an affair with Mnemosyne, he couples with her for nine consecutive nights, which produces nine daughters, who become known as the Muses. They entertain their father and the other gods as a choir on Mount Olympus.
Zeus has many Temples and festivals in his honor, the most famous of his sanctuaries being Olympia, the magnificent Temple of Zeus, which also includes in "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". Also, the Olympic Games are held in his honor.
Fig.7 Statue of Zeus, Zeus of Otricoli, 2006, Photograph by Jastrow,29 January 2010, <http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/ZeusOtricoliPioClementinoInv257.html>
B. The Significances of Greek Mythology Figures in Middlesex
addition, some of characteristics of the main character has similarities with some figures in Greek myhtology.
1. Tiresias
a. As the Source of Inspiration in Writing Middlesex
Tiresias is one of the key figures in Middlesex. From Eugenides’ standpoints, Tiresias is the figure which inspired him to write Middlesex. Eugenides confesses his amusement to Tiresias when he was still in Latin. He also finds interesting information about Tiresias who ever experience as both male and female. In addition, Eugenides also states that “I also remember being struck by the marvelous utility of
this figure, Tiresias. Here was a guy who knew what it was like to be a woman. How amazing! And how useful, from a literary standpoint” (A Conversation With Jeffery Eugenides).
Furthermore, Eugenides is also amazed with the story of Tiresias who successfully explains the debatable issue between Zeus and Hera. Based on Greek mythology, Zeus argues that women always enjoy sex more than men while Hera denies it. She argues that man is the one who enjoys more while having sex. In order to finish the debate, they call Tiresias, a seer who has ever been a man and a woman. Surprisingly, Tiresias states that a woman enjoys sex more than a man does. Jeffrey Eugenides also explains briefly about it in his conversation with Oprah:
Zeus, somewhat surprisingly, says that women enjoy themselves more. Hera claims men do. To adjudicate this matter, they ask Tiresias, who replies: "If the pleasures of love be as ten, then three times three belongs to woman. The rest belongs to man." (A Conversation With Jeffery Eugenides)
b. As the Mirror Figure of the Main Character
The main character, Calliope, and Tiresias share some similar characteristics. Furthermore, Tiresias can be called as the mirror figure of the main character. Those similarities are:
1) As Hermaphroditic Figures
Both Calliope as the main character of Eugenides’ Middlesex and Tiresias are
hermaphroditic figures. Furthermore, Middlesex itself can be classified as a story of a hermaphrodite or as the author calls it as “a short, fictional autobiography of a hermaphrodite” (A Conversation with Jeffery Eugenides). Tiresias can be classified
as a hermaphroditic figure, although Tiresias is fully male who then changes into fully female. The main character also calls herself hermaphrodite, “when the story goes out into world, I may become the most famous hermaphrodite in the story”
(Eugenides 19).
2) The Experience of Gender Transformation
Both Tiresias and the main character, Calliope, have experienced gender transformation. Calliope in her introduction in the early page of this novel states “Like Tiresias, I was first one thing and then the other” (Eugenides 3). The
it became one of the ideas of the story of Middlesex. Tiresias is a Greek mythology figure who shares the same experience with Calliope. Tiresias is a man who experienced to be a woman. In relevant with Tiresias, Calliope says that “Tiresias had also been a woman, of course. But I didn’t know that then” (Eugenides 331).
3) The Same Experience of Love and Sexual Desire Towards Male and Female The other similarity between Tiresias and Calliope is when they are a man or a woman they have a lover. Calliope confesses her love story in the early page of the novel “A redheaded girl from Grosse Pointe fell in love with me, not knowing what I
was. (Her brother liked me, too.)” (Eugenides 3). Furthermore, she has the experience of being in love with both man and woman. Similar to Tireisas, Calliope also experiences the sexual attraction to both man and woman. Calliope experiences her first kiss from Clementine Stark, her neighbor. In the novel, Calliope confesses “all silent, as Clementine’s highly educated, eight-year-old lips met mine” (Eugenides
264). Beside Clementine Stark, Calliope also has sexual affairs with two others in her childhood; they are Jerome who is a boy and Obscure Object who is a girl.
c. As Foreshadowing of the Main Character
Eugenides in this novel uses Tiresias as foreshadowing of the main character. Foreshadowing is “the presentation of hints and clues that tip readers off as to what is to come later on the work” (Flanagan). Calliope acts as Tiresias when she is in her
The year of my infatuation with the Obscure Object, the play Mr. da Silva selected was Antigone. There were no auditions. Mr. da Silva filled the major roles with his pets from Advanced English. Everyone else he stuck in the chorus. So the cast list read like this: Joanne Maria Barbara Peracchio as Creon; Tina Kubek as Eurydice; Maxine Grossinger as Ismene. In the role of Antigone herself—the only real possibility from even a physical standpoint— was the Obscure Object. Her midterm grade had been only a C minus. Still, Mr. da Silva knew a star when he saw one.
“We have to learn all these lines?” asked Joanne Maria Barbara Peracchio at our first rehearsal. “In two weeks?”
“Learn what you can,” said Mr. da Silva. “Everyone’s going to be wearing a robe. You can keep your script underneath. Miss Fagles will also be our prompter. She’ll be in the orchestra pit.”
“We’re going to have an orchestra?” Maxine Grossinger wanted to know. “The orchestra,” Mr. da Silva said, pointing to his recorder, “is I.”
“I hope it doesn’t rain,” said the Object.
“Will it rain the Friday after next?” said Mr. da Silva.“Why don’t we ask our Tiresias?” And then he turned to me. (Eugenides 331)
Still in relation to the play, Calliope on the novel directly states “Yeah, I’m blind. I’mTiresias” (Eugenides 390). When the main character was at her age that time, she didn’t know that later she will experience the same thing like Tiresias, “Tiresias had also been a woman, of course. But I didn’t know that then. And it wasn’t mentioned in the script” (Eugenides 331). For the reader, it can be a clue of
the possibility of what happen next to the main character.
2. Calliope
a. The Name of the Main Character
Calliope is the eldest and the wisest of the Muses and she is in charge of epic poetry. In the novel we can find “Calliope, our muse, will start us off” (Eugenides 198). This
is also stated in the novel when Calliope meets Dr Luce, a sexologist who will examine her, for the first time.
“You must be Calliope.” He was smiling, relaxed. “Let’s see if I can remember my mythology. Calliope was one of the Muses, right?”
“Right.”
“In charge of what?”
“Epic poetry.” (Eugenides 408)
b. As the Narrator of the Story
Besides being the main character of the novel, Calliope is also the narrator of the story. Whether Calliope as goddess in Greek mythology or Calliope as the main character, they have the same duty to narrate the story. If goddess Calliope is in charge of epic poetry, then, Calliope in this story is responsible to narrate the history of “the creation” of her. “Sing now, O Muse, of the recessive mutation on my fifth
chromosome! Sing how it bloomed two and a half centuries ago on the slopes of Mount Olympus, while the goats bleated and the olives dropped” (Eugenides 4). The expression „Sing now, O Muse’ or such similar expression is commonly used by ancient writers at the beginning of their work. In fact, “Homer asks the Muses both in the Iliad and Odyssey to help him tell the story in the most proper way…” (The Nine
Muses of the Greek Mythology).
narrator of the story as below:
On the one hand I wanted a first-person voice that could relate Cal's own life history from the inside. A first-person voice also allowed me to avoid the pronomial clutter you had to step over in your question (the his/her problem.) Much better, more truthful, and more individualistic to say "I." (Q&A With Jeffrey Eugenides)
In addition, the author also gives explanation about the inspiration and the reason to create a narrator like Calliope.
You could say, then, that Middlesex is a modern myth. It's a modern myth about adolescence. What Calliope goes through is what we all go through, in the maelstrom of puberty. Her experience of the process, physically and psychologically, is merely more dramatic than our own. Callie's life differs from ours in degree but not in kind. So you saying that Calllie's "story is one that most people can relate to" is exactly right. Or at least, it's precisely what I'd hoped for. (Q&A With Jeffrey Eugenides)
c. As an Irony in the Main Character’s Gender Transformation
In this story, there is an irony in the character of Calliope. Calliope both in mythology and in the novel is presented as a beautiful woman. However, in the end of the story the main character has a gender transformation from a beautiful girl into a man.
In Greek mythology, “The Muses are usually presented as ethereal women with divine beauty, holding laurels and other items depending on their faculty”
epic meaning” (CALLIOPE: The Goddess of Eloquence and Poetry). Similar to
Calliope in Greek mythology, the main character is also beautiful. The beauty of Calliope as the main character of the story is presented in the passage below:
The beauty I possessed as a baby only increased as I grew into a girl. It was no surprise why Clementine Stark had wanted to practice kissing with me. Everyone wanted to. Elderly waitresses bent close to take my order. Red-faced boys appeared at my desk, stammering, “Y-y-you dropped your eraser.” Even Tessie, angry about something, would look down at me—at my Cleopatra eyes—and forget what she was mad about. (Eugenides 278)
Those beauty turns to be an irony because Calliope, who is a beautiful girl, in this story transforms herself into a man. Calliope in the end decides to change her appearance as a man and even her name. Calliope is her name as a woman or Callie as her nick name. However, she changes her name into „Cal’ when she decides to be a man. “My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver’s license (from the Federal Republic of Germany) records my first name
simply as Cal” (Eugenides 3). In addition, her transformation is also stated clearly in the first paragraph of the novel as“I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974” (Eugenides
3).
3. Hermaphroditus
a. As the Representative of the Main Character
just like a circus. The significance is that the main character in this club acts as the god of Hermaphroditus, it can be seen on the club’s printed sign as below.
Fig.8 69ers Printed Sign, Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides, 2002.
Still as a part of the show in the 69ners club, Calliope performs naked in the giant pool where there are many pin holes in it. Thus, the guest must pay a particular amount of money to see her swimming naked in that pool. The author of Middlesex gives details explanation of how Calliope performs, starts from the master of ceremony who introduces her “Once upon a time in ancient Greece, there was an
enchanted pool. This pool was sacred to Salmacis, the water nymph. And one day Hermaphroditus, a beautiful boy, went swimming there” (Eugenides 490). That is a
to get a closer look” (Eugenides 490). Calliope lower her body to the pool slowly
inch by inch and some costumer begin to watch from peepholes.
“The water nymph tried to control herself. But the boy’s beauty was too much for her. Looking was not enough. Salmacis swam nearer and nearer. And then, overpowered by desire, she caught the boy from behind, wrapping her arms around him” (Eugenides 490)
Calliope starts kicking her legs and churning up the water to make costumers hard to see. The master of ceremony continues.
“Hermaphroditus struggled to free himself from the tenacious grip of the water nymph, ladies and gentlemen. But Salmacis was too strong. So unbridled was her lust that the two became one. Their bodies fused, male into female, female into male. Behold the god Hermaphroditus!”(490-491)
That is the time when Calliope is fully exposed and swims in the pool.
In addition, Jeffrey Eugenides when he is in the Oprah’s show also explains briefly about the story of Hermaphroditus based on his point of view.
The story of Hermaphroditus, the beautiful son of Hermes and Aphrodite, is one I retell, in modern guise, in two different sections of the book. The nymph Salmacis fell in love with Hermaphroditus when he took a swim in her designated pool one day. He rebuffed her advances, but she clung to him, pleading with the gods to keep the two of them from ever parting. Her prayers were answered. Hermaphroditus and Salmacis were physically fused into one being. (Q&A With Jeffery Eugenides).
b. The Pool of Change
in the pool that is cursed by Hermaphroditus. The pool which is mentioned in Hermaphroditus story represents the beginning of intersex person and also sexual transformation. The pool in Calliope’s story symbolizes her transformation from a woman to a man or as she confesses about the pool …. “a swimming pool turned me into myth; I’ve left my body in order to occupy others—and all this happened before I turned sixteen” (Eugenides 3).
c. The Main Character Calls Herself Hermaphrodite
Hermaproditus story as a hermaphroditic figure is well-known, even the term hermaphrodite is taken from his name. Hermaphrodite is a term used in biology to call an animal or flower that has both male and female reproductive organs. The term hermaphrodite is also used to call a person who has both male and female sexual characteristic and genital issues. In fact, Calliope also calls herself hermaphrodite in “When this story goes out into the world, I may become the most famous hermaphrodite in history” (Eugenides 19). The application of the term hermaphrodite
itself has a special concern for the author because it is a sensitive term which is noticed as pejorative term.
When speaking about living people, I try to use the word "intersex." But when speaking about Greek mythology and literary characters like Tiresias, I reserve the right to use the normative, historical term: hermaphrodite. The word comes to us from the myth of Hermaphroditus, after all, and who am I to throw out the Greek myths? (A Conversation With Jeffrey Eugenides)
Calliope in the novel also tries to define herself based on Webster’s dictionary
she keeps in mind the word “hyspopadias” which drives Calliope attention to its synonym called “eunuch”. The word eunuch itself is synonymous with the word
hermaphrodite which makes her terribly shocked. Following where the trail led, I finally reached
hermaphrodite —1.One having the sex organs and many of the secondary sex characteristics of both male and female.2.Anything comprised of a combination of diverse or contradictory elements. See synonyms at monster. (Eugenides 430)
4. Minotaur
a. As an Indirect Cause of the Gene Mutation to the Main Character
In this story, the main character’s grandfather and grandmother do incest. The
effect of this forbidden relationship is the gene mutation that makes the main character became intersex. This gene mutation triggered by an eroticism of Minotaur play. In the story, Calliopes’ grandfather and grandmother watch Minotaur’s play. They enjoy the story of Minotaur.
How Minos, King of Crete, failed to sacrifice a white bull to Poseidon. How Poseidon, enraged, caused Minos’s wife Pasiphaë to be smitten with love for a bull. How the child of that union, Asterius, came out with a bull’s head attached to a human body. And then Daedalus, the maze, etc. (Eugenides 108) The play ends with the appearance of Minotaur, an actor who wears a bull head, acts as half human and half bull “He growled; drums pounded; chorus girls screamed and fled. The Minotaur pursued, and of course he caught them, each one, and devoured her bloodily, and dragged her pale, defenseless body deeper into the maze”
In another generation, the story of Minotaur continues. Milton, Calliope’s
father, takes Calliope to watch a movie of Minotaur and tells her about Theseus. Theseus is a hero who finally kills Minotaur. “That’s Theseus,” Milton explains. “He’s got this ball of string his girlfriend gave him, see. And he’s using it to find his
way back out of the maze” (Eugenides 123).
The play itself contains some erotic movements and costumes which can raise the desire of the playgoer. Watching the play which is full of eroticism makes Desdemona, the main character’s grandmother, comments “In the eighteenth row my grandmother gave her critical opinion. “It’s like the paintings in the museum,” she said. “Just an excuse to show people with no clothes” (Eugenides 108).
However, the eroticism of the play remains in Desdemona’s mind and trigger her desire. At night, she makes love to Lefty and becomes pregnant. In her pregnancy, she finds shocking facts about incest and its effect for her pregnancy. It starts when a doctor comes by and tells her some facts about deformity caused by families intermarrying. The doctor explains that deformities happen because the parents do incest as what Desdemona did.
“All this nonsense comes from the Dark Ages. We know now that most birth deformities result from the consanguinity of the parents.”
“From the what?” asked Desdemona. “From families intermarrying.” Desdemona went white.
“Causes all kinds of problems. Imbecility. Hemophilia. Look at the Romanovs. Look at any royal family. Mutants, all of them.”
story about a woman who touched a toad while making love. Her baby came out with pop eyes and covered with warts” (Eugenides 116). In addition, the presumption also
explained as below
“During the conjugal act, whatever the mother happened to look at or think about would affect the child. There’s a story in Damascene about a woman who had a picture of John the Baptist over her bed. Wearing the traditional hair shirt. In the throes of passion, the poor woman happened to glance up at this portrait. Nine months later, her baby was born—furry as a bear!” The doctor laughed, enjoying himself, sipping more wine. (Eugenides 115-116) Based on the presumption, what the wife thinks, touches, or looks while doing the intercourse will affect the baby. Desdemona may forget what she is thinking about while she is making love that night. However, it is clearly stated that she imagines the Minotaur. In the intercourse Desdemona imagines the Minotaur “Against her will, the play had aroused her, too. The Minotaur’s savage, muscular thighs. The suggestive sprawl of his victims” (Eugenides 108).
Facing the fact that she may have a monstrous baby, she prays it will never happen. Her prayer is granted. Her children are healthy. However, the effect of her sin of doing incest does not affect her children but to her grandchildren who is the main character of the story, Calliope. The effect or the deformity that Calliope has is gene mutation which is came from her grandmother. The effect from the gene mutation itself makes her become an intersex person.
b. As Representative of the Main Character
Calliope finds a similarity of her figure in Minotaur’s figure as a monster. Calliope
herself is half man and woman. Based on Greek mythology, most of the monsters are something that attach to something else in one body. For example: Minotaur, which is a half man and a half bull; and Centaur which is half man and half horse. At this point, it is reasonable that Calliope considers herself as a „monster’.
The story begins when Calliope looks up the definition of herself in a dictionary. The definition in the dictionary drags her to a fact that she is a hermaphrodite. Hermaphrodite itself is synonymous to a monster.
Following where the trail led, I finally reached
hermaphrodite —1.One having the sex organs and many of the secondary sex characteristics of both male and female.2.Anything comprised of a combination of diverse or contradictory elements. See synonyms at monster. (Eugenides 430)
Finding herself can be defined as a monster, Calliope was shocked. How she reacts towards the definition of herself is as follow.
Callie herself was holding on to this chain now. She was tugging on it, winding it around her hand so that her fingers went white, as she stared down at that word. Monster. Still there. It had not moved. And she wasn’t reading this word on the wall of her old bathroom stall. There was graffiti in Webster’s but the synonym wasn’t part of it. The synonym was official, authoritative; it was the verdict that the culture gave on a person like her. Monster. That was what she was.(431)
c. As a Result of Forbidden Love
mother who are first cousin. In addition, it cannot be ignored the contribution of Calliope’s grandfather and grandmother who have done an incest as they are actually
siblings.
5. Zeus
Zeus, as the supreme god in Greek mythology, is only mentioned twice in this novel. However, Zeus and the novel have a similarity. Based on Greek mythology, Zeus has many wives. Nevertheless, Zeus takes Hera as his permanent consort. Hera herself is Zeus’ sister. They do incest just like what Calliope’ grandfather and mother
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
In this chapter I present conclusions and suggestions. The first one deals with the presentation of the conclusion of the study. In the second part, I give some suggestion for further researchers. In addition, the writer also provides suggestion for the implementation of using Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex in teaching Paragraph Writing.
A. Conclusions
Before concluding the analysis of Middlesex, it is necessary to recall the problems formulation. The first problem is what the figures of Greek mythology presented in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex are. The second problem is what the significances of those figures of Greek mythology in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex
are. From the analysis, the writer concludes that there are at least 5 figures of Greek mythology presented in the novel which give significance to the story. Those figures are Tiresias, Calliope, Minotaur, Hermaphroditus and Zeus. Each of those figures of Greek mythology has a different story which gives significance in Middlesex.
Tiresias is a blind seer who has the experience to be male and then to be female. The main character, Calliope, also shares the same experience with Tiresias but the main character changes from female to be male. Tiresias in Greek mythology
