This story about Jupiter (Zeus)
and his brother Neptune (Poseidon) flooding the earth reminded me a lot of the
Biblical story of Noah and his ark. Like God, Jupiter was angry with the
mankind and their selfish and wicked behavior that he decides to flood the
earth to teach all of mankind a lesson. I found the part about the animals to
be the most interesting aspect of this section of the tale. I enjoyed reading
the descriptions of the dolphins in the trees and the wolves, sheep, lions, and
tigers swimming together in the oceans trying to survive the flood. I also
enjoyed the message at the end of this section. The story ended by showing the resilience
of mankind and how when faced with great diversity, man can pull together and
create something out of nothing.
This portion of the book shocked
me! After reading the first part of this, I was not expecting a rape. It was a
little unsettling how casual it was. First Jupiter sees Callisto then he stakes
her out, hopes his wife doesn’t find out, then proceeds to disguise himself and
attack her. Once people find out that she is pregnant, Callisto is banished
away and Juno, Jupiter’s wife seeks vengeance on her. This scenario reminds me
of the rape culture of today. Usually, it is the victim who is blamed for what
happened to them and not the attacker. Instead of being angry with Jupiter,
Juno is mad at Callisto for giving birth to a son and “making public my
Jupiter’s crime.” In a way, I feel that
the scars that Juno left on Callisto’s face represent the physical and
emotional scars that attackers leave behind on their victims.
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