Monday, April 5, 2010
The Wingless Goddess
Each of the three poems brings something unique to the table. However, as I read Eros Apteros I found myself researching and analyzing the text to figure out what his message was conveying. As I studied the material I first realized that I needed to have an understanding to the title. I had to break down both words; the first Eros, meaning passionate love, with sensual desire and longing, the second Apteros, of which I found to be the goddess Nice, goddess of victory. She was usually represented with wings, but their absence was a signifier that victory would or could never fly away from Athens. From this description I felt like I could have a better understanding of some of the symbolism Liu was trying to key us in on. The first lines, “The wings are no longer there to lift this god out of time,” could lay reference to Liu’s LDS background and how he is unable to become like a god because of his sexuality. This is followed by the 3rd to 7th line where Liu expresses “I have come to be healed,” which may be an indicator that he is searching to repent for a sin he thinks that he has committed. In the 8th line Liu tells of the statues “limbs severed above the elbows, below the hips its mutilated sex, testicles hanging in a stone sack,” has two different metaphors that I saw connected to it. The first about the limbs and other appendages being severed makes me draw the assumption that feeling is something that is non-existent now. The second part about the testicles hanging in a stone sack, as I interpreted it, refers to his sex being hidden by something that is impossible to get to. However in the next set of lines, Liu expresses the “the oil and sweat on my hands continue to hurt this body beyond feeling,” which I think could be interpreted as the sins that he believes he is committing are causing him to be numb in his self conscience. In the conclusion of Liu’s poem lines 15 through 19 I believe Liu comes into the realization that he is still here and a viable contributor to society. The connection with the statue he describes shouldn’t hinder his beliefs, but rather it should empower him and endure as this statue has for two thousand years.
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I agree with a lot of what Jeremy has said. I iterpretted the second stanza to be symbolic of the atonement. where he says "I have come to be healed" I thought of him repenting of his sins that he has commited. In the third stanza where he states "its mutilated sex" I thought he was referring to his sexuality, of course he is now gay. Then he continues and states "testicles hanging in a stone sack"; stone is something that can be thought of as immovable which can symbolize his sexuality as well. He is now gay and has 'put his testicles away' if you will. And at the end he realizes that he is here, and he still does contribute to society.
ReplyDeleteI also agreed with many of the points Jeremy and Whitney have made about Eros Apteros. I agree it is a poem about his struggle with his sexuality. He is struggling with his beliefs and the feelings he feels each and every day. He describes the "guilt" he is having about having homosexual feelings in a heterosexual world. In a way he almost feels disgusted with himself and the desires he is having. He describes it as a "continuous hurt" to his body that has led to his "beyond feeling".
ReplyDeleteThis poem has made me wonder about people I deal with each day. I work at a group home for troubled youth boys. It is a home designed to help them with sexual issues they are having. Many of them are actual offenders and this home is keeping them from being in detention centers. However, many of the boys have been sent there by their families for being homosexual. They are like Liu in that they are going against their family beliefs in being gay. They use a type of therapy that is supposed to prevent them from engaging in homosexual desires. In my opinion many of these boys are homosexual and no type of thereapy can prevent that. I find it interesting these families have sent their boys to a place hoping that this therapy will prevent them from becomming something they find "inappropriate." I see their struggles with this everyday and I can kindof see what Lui is going through.