When Philomela threatens Tereus after the rape, she declares…

When Philomela threatens Tereus after the rape, she declares: “I have my voice. / And shame will not stop me. / I shall tell everything / To your own people, yes, to all Thrace.” The text then states that Tereus was “startled / By the sudden clutch of fear / As her words went home.” How does Tereus respond, and what does his response most directly reveal?

Jupiter resolves the conflict between Ceres and Pluto by div…

Jupiter resolves the conflict between Ceres and Pluto by dividing Proserpina’s year between the two realms, then observing: “Her nature, too, is divided. One moment / Gloomy as hell’s king, but the next / Bright as the sun’s mass, bursting from clouds.” What does Jupiter’s compromise primarily reveal about how the myth treats the original crime of abduction?

When Semele secures Jupiter’s promise, the text states she “…

When Semele secures Jupiter’s promise, the text states she “laughed / To have won the simple trick / That would wipe her out of existence / So easily.” What does this moment of dramatic irony most powerfully reveal about the relationship between manipulation and desire in the myth?