Keats' Lamia
Summary
Hermes, Greek god of commerce and messenger to the gods, is searching for a nymph who he has fallen in love with, and who is invisible to him. He comes across Lamia, in the form of a snake, who reveals it is she who has made the beautiful nymph invisible. She says that she will reveal the nymph to him if Hermes gives her a human form. He does so.
Lamia meets Lycius, a young man, who falls in love with him (it is disputed that she puts a spell over him, though this is just one interpretation).
Eventually, Lycius pressures Lamia into having a public wedding. Lamia is not at all enthusiastic, but submits on the condition that Lycis will not invite the philosopher Apollonius to the marriage feast.
Apollonius turns up uninvited anyway and, during the wedding ceremony, stares at Lamia, making her nervous and uncomfortable. Lycius confronts him, and Apillonius yells "Fool from every ill/ Of life I have preserv'd thee to this day/ And sgall I see thee made a serpants prey?"
He reveals her to be a snake; Lamia vanishes and Lycius dies of heartbreak.
The story can be read as an algory for the relationship between poetry (Lamia), the Romantic poet (Lycius) and the rationalist of the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason (Apollonius).
The story can be read as an algory for the relationship between poetry (Lamia), the Romantic poet (Lycius) and the rationalist of the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason (Apollonius).
Classical Language / Characters in Lamia
In order of when they appear in the poem.
Nymph- In Greek and Latin mythology, they were minor female spirits of the natural world, eg forest nymphs, springs, seas, mountains, meadows, etc.
Satyr- In Greek and Latin mythology, a satyr is a male being with horse like features.
Dryad- Roman version of a nymph.
Faun- Roman version of a satyr.
King Oberon- A king of the fairies in Renaissance literature.
Hermes- Greek messenger god (messenger to the gods of Olympus), and god of commerce and boundaries. Also associated with merchants and thieves. Called Mercury in Roman mythology.
Mount Olympus- Where the 12 main Greek gods lived in myth.
Jove- More commonly known as Jupiter, Roman god of the skies. Called Zeus in Greek myth.
