Essay Questions

Who is Aphrodite?

Oural compares the Goddess Ungit with the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The Goddess Aphrodite is a Goddess from the Greek mythology and she is usually considered as being the Goddess of love, beauty and sexuality. She is also associated with procreation and fertility and is an important Goddess in the Greek mythology. She was worshiped and temples were built in her honor all over Greece. By comparing Ungit to Aphrodite, the narrator wanted to highlight her importance in the society where Ungit lived.

Were human sacrifices common?

In the book, Psyche is sacrificed to a God named the God of the Mountain. The practice of offering human sacrifices it was common practice in Ancient cultures and the reason why they were offering those sacrifices was because they believed that by doing just that, they were changing the faith of their people. The common belief was that when tragedies happened in certain areas, the reason why they were happening was because the God or Goddess that were worshiped in that area were displeased with the way they were treated and required a human sacrifice to show mercy.

Who were Iphigenia and Antigone?

At one point, Orual compares herself with Antigone and her sister with Iphigenia from the Ancient mythology. But who were the two? Antigone is a figure in mythology who tried to bury her brother after he was killed in a battle against his brother. Their father, the King, ordered the bodies to not be buried but Antigone went against her father’s demand and searched for her brother’s body. Iphigenia is another figure from mythology who is also from a royal family. Her father is asked to kill her as a sacrifice when he goes to war and in some versions, he succeeds. Thus, the connection between the two mythological figures is fitting because they share many things.