Perseus, Is That You? You Look . . . Different

            What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is a tale from yesteryear re-plated, re-seasoned, and served up with steaming hot newness.

            In all seriousness, though, “Emaré” strongly reminds the reader of stories he or she may have heard in his or her childhood. Perhaps the Perseus myth rings a bell? Here, a woman is cast to sea for disobeying her lord, only to be cast away with her son a second time due to the deceit of another woman. Those two qualities, with a few details rearranged, almost perfectly align with the beginning of Perseus’ story. Moreover, Perseus’ stepfather is named “Arcrisius,” while the grandfather of Segramore, Emaré’s son, is “Artyus.” The writer definitely knew what he or she was doing there.

            The thing that sets this story apart, though, is its inherent Christian quality, and not just because its primary characters are Christians.

            Although many of the characters in the story are Christian, their actions are not. Artyus tries to wed and bed his daughter, with whom he falls passionately in love after his wife dies, and the Pope permits it. That’s the part that surprised me the most, and I’ll come back to that later. On top of their deeds, the King of Wales marries Emaré and disobeys his mother, who in turn attempts to have Emaré and Segramore killed. (We can debate whether the Welsh are Christians in this story, but the fact that the king assists France with defending against the Saracens hints at a shared faith, which would be Christianity. It also hints at a totally Moor-dominated Spain, which sets this story soundly in the 700s to 900s A.D., when Wales was Christian.) It’s clear many of the characters start off pretty lousy.

The benefits of also getting a B.A. in History...

            They are saved, first, by their desire to repent and, second, by their reconciliation to one another without external persuasion. When the King of Wales decides to repent and go to Rome to do penance, it’s crucial that he never actually sees the Pope. Instead, he lodges with a man named Jordan, where his long-lost wife and son, Emaré and Segramore, are staying. Around the same time, Artyus comes to do penance for (he believes) killing Emaré by exiling her the first time, but he also never sees the Pope. He, too, ends up lodging with Jordan, Wales, Emaré, and Segramore, with all but Emaré unaware of their relationships.

 

This is what happens when you approve of incest.

            Salvation comes when they discover each other and Artyus and Wales apologize for how Emaré was wronged because of them. Importantly, they don’t need the Pope to repent, showing that they don’t need a legalistic doctrine to seek salvation, which is a crucial concept in Christianity: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10.9). This is how Perseus’ myth becomes reframed and more Christian. “Religion” and “being good” don’t save the characters, but rather a desire to repent brings redemption. Interestingly, the host’s name is also Jordan, reminiscent of the River Jordan that the Israelites crossed to reach the Promised Land. Like it, he is a facilitator to happiness, peace, and redemption.

            In the end, there is no killing or vengeance, as in Perseus’ myth. The characters’ love for one another is restored, and they continue in perfect happiness. It’s like the bliss of heaven has come to them, similar to the arrival of the Holy Spirit in Christian tradition.

"Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth..."

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Additional Works Cited

The New King James Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982. Print.