Many authors utilize the allusion to classical mythological subjects to create a strong center of reference in terms of actual characters in the story. Medieval literature has many times been influenced by mythology in past tales. Using allusions to classic ancient mythological beings to guide readers interpretations, authors are able to create cohesive stories that are memorable for centuries. While medieval times tended to place importance on men and their role in society, a multitude of medieval narratives emphasize powerful mythological female figures. This fact is evident in the two highly regarded medieval narratives: the Faerie Queene, written in 1590 by Edmund Spencer, and The Knights Tale, written between 1387 and 1400 by Geoffrey Chaucer, as a story included in his epic poetry collection, The Canterbury Tales. Both authors create well developed characters by relating the personality of gods and goddesses to the characterization of the people in the poem. Upon examining different passages of the medieval narratives when can draw similarities between the two by the multiple references to the mythological goddesses Venus and Diana.
As mentioned before, two prominent goddesses repeatedly referenced in both narratives are Diana and Venus. Although from different backgrounds, both goddesses were vastly important to Roman, Greek, and Italian mythology. Diana is known as a Roman goddess, later in history known commonly to be the same as the Greek goddess Artemis. She was the goddess of the hunt, as well as both wild and domestic animals. Venus was an Italian goddess, who was later identified by the Romans and the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. She was the goddess of love, cultivated fields, and gardens (Brittanica). Referenced in both The Knight’s Tale and The Faerie Queene, Venus and Diana take close characteristic resemblance to main characters in the stories, or use their powers to influence the actions of the characters in which they interact with.
Geoffrey Chaucer is known in literature to use allusion and to reference Venus in many of his poems, both astrologically and mythologically. The goddess makes an initial appearance in the proem of Book III of Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale. By mentioning Venus in the first lines before the start of the poem, Chaucer is able to create the theme of love that resonates through the entire narrative. Here the reader can begin to understand the underlying motif that the characters develop in their quests, many of which are focused on the idea of being in love. Venus takes the actual form of love in the poem, continually referenced in situations such as the marriage of Palamon and Emeleye. Theseus builds a sort of arena for Palamon, in which temples for gods such as Venus, Jupiter, and Diana are held. In a scene in which Palamon is praying in Venus’s Temple, her power of love is blatantly noted, as he states “Thanne rekke I noght, whan I have lost my lyf / Though that Arcita wynne hir to his wyf. / This is th’effect and ende of my preyere / Yif me my love, thow blisful lady deere!” (Chaucer, 1399-1402). In this scene, Palamon is praying for the love of Emelye over Arcite, and asking Venus to use her power to grant him Emelye’s love, and if she will not, he would rather be killed in battle. As Caleb Molstad states in the article Philosophical Romance: Figures of Venus in “The Knight’s Tale,” Venus could be viewed as the source of conflict in the poem, citing her involvement in the love triangle between Palamon, Emeleye, and Arcite. The continual reference to Venus, the power she holds over humans and the feeling of love is key in Chaucer’s development of the theme that love is key to life and creates bonds between all humans.
Chaucer again uses a singular character to be the vessel of contact with another goddess, this time the goddess named Diana. Emelye is clearly viewed by Palamon and Arcite as an object, which is evident in the fact that they seldom interact in the narrative, and also when she enters Diana’s Temple to pray. On her knees before the goddess, Emelye prays “A mayde, and love huntynge and venerye / And for to walken in the wodes wilde, / And noght to ben a wyf, and be with childe. / Noght wol I knowe the compaignye of man” (Chaucer, 1450-1454). The reader learns in this passage Emelye’s true desires are to remain a huntress, and that she has no desire to marry either Palamon or Arcite. Diana then appears, telling Emelye that she has seen the stars, and that Emelye’s destiny is to be married to one of the two. Key in understanding Diana’s significance in the narrative is noting that she is also the goddess of maidens and virgins. As Susan Crane wrote in the article Medieval Romance and Feminine Difference in ‘The Knight’s Tale,’ “the feminine ritual in Diana’s temple contradicts the tale’s rituals of courtship and justice, not in open argument and refutation but surprisingly and mysteriously” (Crane, 15). While Venus is the goddess of lovers, Diana seems to be the idol in which Emelye prays to hoping to escape the grasp of her two pursuers. One can notice the drastic differences in Chaucer’s use of the goddesses in the narrative during these two scenes in each respective temple.
In contrast to Chaucer’s use of the goddesses as separate characters in the poem, Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene draws on similarities between his character and the goddess. One can draw parallels between Belphoebe and Venus, as well as Amorite and Diana. Unlike separate appearances in The Knight’s Tale, Venus and Diana present themselves together in Spenser’s tale. After Venus recruits Diana to help her search for her lost son, Cupid, the two stumble upon twin babies, Belphoebe and Amorite. Raised by Diana in the woods, Belphoebe begins to take the goddess of the hunt’s characteristics, including her skill at hunting, and her inability to recognize male advancements. Kathleen Williams states “as Diana’s huntress, she can be loved, but the love must be manifested as worship,” creating a parallel between the goddess and the mortal (Williams, 110). Belphoebe represents Diana through her actions, specifically her relationship with Timas, in which she accepts his love and adoration, but exemplifies no affection in return. Amorite, the sister of Belphoebe, is taken by Venus at birth and raised in the Garden of Adonis. Like her sister, Amorite is met with challenges of the real world in the narrative.
The use of Venus and Diana are clearly different within the two tales, but have a similar underlying meaning. The reader can draw parallels between the narratives, as the themes of the goddesses are the same. However, Diana’s actual characteristics resonate in Belphoebe, as she exemplifies the same attitudes and strengths as Diana, whereas Emelye was seeking help from Diana, but was not able to solidify it. Venus is relevant in both stories as the figure of love and desire. One can notice the main differences between the references to the goddesses being that two main characters in Spencer’s tale were physically raised by the goddesses, where as the characters in Chaucer were visiting the deities for prayer and help.
Works Cited
- Chaucer, Geoffrey, and A C. Spearing. The Knight’s Tale: From the Canterbury Tales. London: Cambridge U.P, 1966. Print.
- Crane, Susan. “Medieval Romance and Feminine Difference in The Knight’s Tale.” Studies in the Age of Chaucer, Volume 12, 1990, Pp. 47-63 (Article), 1990, https://doi.org/10.1353/sac.1990.0001
- Edmund Spenser. The Faerie Queene. New York: Penguin Books, 1987. Print.
- Williams, Kathleen. “Venus and Diana: Some Uses of Myth in the Faerie Queene.” ELH, vol. 28, no. 2, 1961, pp. 101–120. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2871974.