Looking taboo

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Looking taboo is a motif (a recurring element) in mythology, folklore and works of fiction. A person is prohibited to look at something or somewhere for fear of dire consequences.

Contents

Notable examples

A notable looking taboo is in the story of Orpheus and Eurydice in Greek mythology. Orpheus, the son of Apollo and a renowned musician, fell in love with Eurydice, who was bitten by a snake and died. On the gods' advice, Orpheus traveled to the Underworld wherein his music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone, who agreed to allow Eurydice to return with him to the living world on one condition: he should guide her out and not look back until they both had reached the upper world. As he was about to reach the living world, Orpheus looked back toward Eurydice forgetting about the looking taboo, and Eurydice was trapped in the Underworld forever.

Another looking taboo is in the story of Lot in the Book of Genesis. In Genesis 19, two angels in the form of men arrived in Sodom and were invited by Lot to spend the night at his home. The wicked men of Sodom demanded from Lot to bring his guests out so that they might "know" them carnally; instead, Lot offered his two daughters, who had not "known" man, but the men of Sodom refused. In the morning the angels advised Lot to flee with his family to avoid the destruction of the city: "Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away." [1] :465 While fleeing Lot's wife broke the looking taboo, looked back at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and was turned into a pillar of salt as punishment. [2] [1] :466

In Greek mythology Medusa had a hideous appearance so that anyone who looked upon her was turned to stone. [3] Athena loaned Perseus her polished shield for him to view Medusa's reflection without becoming petrified, so he circumvented the looking taboo and successfully beheaded Medusa.

In Japanese mythology, two stories involve a prohibition from looking at a female at certain moments: those of Toyotama-hime and of Izanami-no-Mikoto. In these stories the female deity is banished from "this world" because a male deity looked at her at an improper moment despite the prohibition to do so: Izanami was going to rejuvenate, and Toyoutame-hime was going to give birth. [4]

Classification

In Motif-Index of Folk-Literature this motif is classified under C300-C399 "Looking taboo": [5]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Orpheus</i> (film) 1950 French film

Orpheus is a 1950 French film directed by Jean Cocteau and starring Jean Marais. It is the central part of Cocteau's Orphic Trilogy, which consists of The Blood of a Poet (1930), Orpheus (1950), and Testament of Orpheus (1960).

<i>Sir Orfeo</i> Medieval story poem

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lot (biblical person)</span> Person mentioned in the Book of Genesis and the Quran

Lot was a man mentioned in the biblical Book of Genesis, chapters 11–14 and 19. Notable events in his life recorded in Genesis include his journey with his uncle Abraham; his flight from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, during which his wife became a pillar of salt, and being intoxicated by his daughters so they could have incestuous intercourse with him to continue their family line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese mythology</span> Collection of traditional Japanese stories, folktales, and beliefs

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Izanami</span> Goddess of Shinto religion

Izanami (イザナミ), formally referred to with the honorific Izanami-no-Mikoto, is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that manifested after the formation of heaven and earth. Izanami and Izanagi are held to be the creators of the Japanese archipelago and the progenitors of many deities, which include the sun goddess Amaterasu, the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the storm god Susanoo. In mythology, she is the direct ancestor of the Japanese imperial family.

Eurydice is a 2003 play by Sarah Ruhl which retells the myth of Orpheus from the perspective of Eurydice, his wife. The story focuses on Eurydice's choice to return to Earth with Orpheus or to stay in the underworld with her father. Ruhl made several changes to the original myth's story-line. The most noticeable of these changes was that in the myth Orpheus succumbs to his desires and looks back at Eurydice, while in Ruhl's version Eurydice calls out to Orpheus perhaps in part because of her fear of reentering the world of the living and perhaps as a result of her desire to remain in the land of the dead with her father. Ruhl's script has been explicitly written so as to be a playground for the designer of the sets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katabasis</span> Journey into the underworld in literature

A katabasis or catabasis is a journey to the underworld. Its original sense is usually associated with Greek mythology and Classical mythology more broadly, where the protagonist visits the Greek underworld, also known as Hades. The term is also used in a broad sense of any journey to the realm of the dead in other mythological and religious traditions. A katabasis is similar to a nekyia or necromancy, where one experiences a vision of the underworld or its inhabitants; a nekyia does not generally involve a physical visit, however. One of the most famous examples is that of Odysseus, who performs something on the border of a nekyia and a katabasis in book 11 of The Odyssey; he visits the border of the realms before calling the dead to him using a blood rite, with it being disputed whether he was at the highest realm of the underworld or the lowest edge of the living world where he performed this.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shikome</span> Undead hag in Japanese mythology

Yomotsu-shikome, in Japanese mythology, was a hag sent by the dead Izanami to pursue her husband Izanagi, for shaming her by breaking promise not to see her in her decayed form in the Underworld (Yomi-no-kuni). Also recorded by the name Yomotsu-hisame (泉津日狭女), the name may have been a term referring collectively to eight hags, not just one.

<i>Metamorphoses</i> (play) Play by Mary Zimmerman

Metamorphoses is a play by the American playwright and director Mary Zimmerman, adapted from the classic Ovid poem Metamorphoses. The play premiered in 1996 as Six Myths at Northwestern University and later the Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago. The play opened off-Broadway in October 2001 at the Second Stage Theatre. It transferred to Broadway on 21 February 2002 at the Circle in the Square Theatre produced by Roy Gabay and Robyn Goodman. That year it won several Tony Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orpheus and Eurydice</span> Ancient Greek legend

The ancient legend of Orpheus and Eurydice concerns the fateful love of Orpheus of Thrace for the beautiful Eurydice. Orpheus was the son of Apollo and the muse Calliope. It may be a late addition to the Orpheus myths, as the latter cult-title suggests those attached to Persephone. The subject is among the most frequently retold of all Greek myths, being featured in numerous works of literature, operas, ballets, paintings, plays and more recently, films and video games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodom and Gomorrah</span> Cities destroyed by God in the Book of Genesis

In the Abrahamic religions, Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities destroyed by God for their wickedness. Their story parallels the Genesis flood narrative in its theme of God's anger provoked by man's sin. They are mentioned frequently in the prophets and the New Testament as symbols of human wickedness and divine retribution, and the Quran also contains a version of the story about the two cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orpheus</span> Legendary musician, poet, and prophet in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Orpheus was a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece, and even descended into the underworld of Hades, to recover his lost wife Eurydice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurydice</span> Figure in Greek mythology

Eurydice was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, whom Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead with his enchanting music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Age of the Gods</span>

In Shinto chronology, the Age of the Gods is the period preceding the accession of Jimmu, the first Emperor of Japan. The kamiyo myths are chronicled in the "upper roll" (Kamitsumaki) of the Kojiki and in the first and second chapters of the Nihon Shoki. The reigns of Emperor Jimmu and the subsequent Emperors are considered the Human Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lot's wife</span> Person mentioned in the biblical Book of Genesis

In the Bible, Lot's wife is a figure first mentioned in Genesis 19. The Book of Genesis describes how she became a pillar of salt after she looked back at Sodom. She is not named in the Bible, but is called Ado or Edith in some Jewish traditions. She is also referred to in the deuterocanonical books at the Book of Wisdom and the New Testament at Luke 17:32.

In Japanese mythology, the story of the birth of the gods occurs after the creation of Japan (Kuniumi). It concerns the birth of the divine (kami) descendants of Izanagi and Izanami.

<i>The Medusa Frequency</i>

The Medusa Frequency is a 1987 novel by Russell Hoban. Written in a lyrical, often magic realist style, it crosses a number of genres including comedy and fantasy. It uses the story of Orpheus to "meditate on art and reality and love and fear and fidelity and betrayal".

<i>The Corridor</i> (opera) Opera by Harrison Birtwistle

The Corridor is a chamber opera composed by Harrison Birtwistle to an English language libretto by David Harsent. It premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival on 12 June 2009. The title refers to the corridor through which Orpheus and Eurydice passed as he was leading her from the underworld.

<i>Eurydice</i> (Aucoin) Opera by Matthew Aucoin

Eurydice is an opera composed by Matthew Aucoin with a libretto by Sarah Ruhl based on her 2003 play of the same name, a retelling of the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. It had its premiere at the Los Angeles Opera on February 1, 2020, with Aucoin conducting. It had its Metropolitan Opera premiere on November 23, 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 Schwartz, Howard (2004). Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780195358704.
  2. 19:26
  3. Brill's New Pauly, s.v. Gorgo.
  4. Marina Shchepetunina, "The Power of Vision in Mythological Thinking: 'To See the Forbidden' in Japanese Myths and Fairy Tales", In:Vision beyond Visual Perception, 2017 pp.30, 34
  5. C300—C399 Looking tabu.