Merchant of Venice allusions

Barabbas a notorious criminal who was in jail when Jesus was going to be prosecuted. Pontius Pilate asked the people if they would rather have Barabbas set free or Jesus set free, and they said they wanted Barabbas set free.
Daniel Daniel was a prophet who others were jealous of, so they got King Darius to agree to make a law that said for the next thirty days, no one could ask a favor from God or man and whoever did would be thrown to the lions. Daniel was caught praying, so he was thrown into the lions’ den. However, God sent angels to close the lions’ mouths.
Hagar Hagar was the Egyptian maid of Abraham’s wife Sarah. Sarah could not have children, so she arranged to have a child with Abraham through Hagar. She told Abraham that no son of a slave would share the inheritance with Isaac. After great distress, Abraham decided to send Hagar and Ishmael to the desert. The water was soon used up. Ishmael began to cry and an angel soon came to them and led them to water. They lived happily in the desert for the rest of their lives.
Jacob Jacob, together with Esau, was born to Isaac and Rebekah. He and his twin brother Esau were markedly different in appearance and behavior. Esau was a ruddy hunter, while Jacob was a gentle man who “dwelled in tents,” interpreted by many biblical commentators as a mark of his studiousness and reserved personality.Jacob’s 12 sons were the founders of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Prodigal Son A figure in a parable of Jesus (Luke 15:11-32); a wayward son who squanders his inheritance but returns home to find that his father forgives him.
Saint Mark The patron saint of Venice whose symbol is the winged lion. He is also the patron saint of lawyers
Saint Matthew He was a Roman tax collector, a position equated with collaboration with the enemy. One of the twelve apostles of Jesus and the author of The Gospel According to Saint Matthew.
Argus ARGOS (or Argus) PANOPTES was a hundred-eyed giant of Argos in the Peloponnese.
Diana Diana was the virgin goddess of the hunt, associated with wild animals and woodlands. She also later became a moon goddess, supplanting Luna, and was an emblem of chastity. She was praised for her strength, athletic grace, beauty and hunting skill.Diana is usually depicted with a deer
Dido and Aeneas The story of Dido and Aeneas is one of the world’s most tragic love stories. Before Aeneas founded Rome, he was a Trojan soldier. When Troy fell, he left with his followers in seven ships. He was shipwrecked on the shores of Carthage, the great African city ruled by Queen Dido. Dido and Aeneas fell deeply in love, but the gods called Aeneas away to fulfill his destiny in Italy, and Dido was left heartbroken and alone. In her despair, she built a funeral pyre and committed suicide atop it.
The Golden Fleece The Golden Fleece was the treasure sought by Jason and the Argonauts. The fleece of a golden ram whose pelt (the Golden Fleece) was placed in an oak tree, where it remained until Jason arrived to claim it.
Hercules and the Princess of Troy Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack Troy. Oracles promised deliverance if Laomedon would expose his daughter Hesione to be devoured by the sea monster and he exposed her by fastening her to the rocks near the sea.Hercules promised to save her on condition that Laomedon would give him the wonderful horses he had received from Zeus. Laomedon agreed and Heracles slew the monster, in some accounts after being swallowed by it and hacking at its innards for three days before it died.
Janus , Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. His most apparent remnant in modern culture is his namesake, the month of January.
Mars In Roman mythology, the god of war. One of the most important Roman deities, Mars was regarded as the father of the Roman people because he was the father of Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome
Medea and Jason Medea falls in love with Jason and promises to use her witchcraft to help him obtain the Fleece so he can marry her. Jason finds the Golden Fleece and takes it. Medea kills the monster serpent that guarded the Fleece. Then Medea kills her brother and chops his body into pieces.There in Corinth, Jason and Medea have two children but Jason is unfaithful and marries the daughter of Creon, the King of Corinth. Medea then takes revenge on Jason by killing his new bride with a poisoned robe and crown. She also took the bodies of her two children whom she had murdered with her, just to torture Jason.
Nestor Nestor was an Argonaut, who helped fight the centaurs and in the Trojan War. Though Nestor was already very old when the war began, he was noted for his bravery and speaking abilities.
Phoebus (Apollo) Apollo was the god of music, and prophecy, colonization, medicine, archery, poetry, dance, intellectual inquiry, and the carer of herds and flocks. Apollo was also the god of light, sometimes identified with Helios the sun god. Some things sacred to Apollo are the swan, the wolf, and the dolphin. The tripod was Apollo’s symbol of his prophetic powers. Most times in art he is shown as a handsome young man, clean shaven and carrying either a lyre, or his bow and arrows.
Pyramus and Thisbe As told by the Ovid, This story is similar to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The children grew up in a one-room house that was connected to the other. Over the years, they fell in love with each other, but could only talk through a hole in their wall because their parents refused them to see each other. Pyramus and Thisbe decided to run off one night and elope. Thisbe was the first to arrive at the first Mulberry bush outside of the city, but as she was waiting, a lioness walked by with her jaws covered in blood from a previous kill that day. Thisbe, frightened at her sight, ran non-stop to the nearest cave. Soon after, Pyramus walked by and saw a cloak, his love gift to her, covered in blood and torn to pieces with the footprints of the lioness left behind. He immediately thought that his only love had been killed by a hungry lion, and unsheathed his sword and stabbed himself in the heart. Thisbe ran back and found her only love lying on the ground with his sword impaling his chest. She then brought the blade into her own soft flesh. Thus they died together, in love and peace.
Scylla and Charbydis Charybdis was a sea monster who swallows huge amounts of water three times a day and then belches them back out again creating whirlpools.
Sibylla The Sybil of Cumae, to whom Apollo granted as many years of life as there are grains of sand in a handful of sand
The Three Fates Otherwise known as the Moirae, these timeless old hags weave the threads of destiny that control your life. They are:
Troilus and Cressida Troilus, a Trojan prince, woos Cressida and professes undying love just before she is traded with the Greeks for a prisoner of war. Trying to visit her in the Greek camp, he sees her with Diomedes, and decides she is a unfaithful. Her name is associated with fickleness.
Venus Pigeons The doves that pull Venus’ chariot. They are associated with love and harmony. In Roman mythology, Venus was a goddess of gardens and fields and love and beauty. She was worshiped as the mother of the hero Aeneas, the founder of the Rome.
Pythagoras Ancient Greek mathematician, scientist, and philosopherHe thought that the soul was immortal and went through a series of reincarnations “the soul is immortal and it transmigrates into other kinds of animals”
Sultan of Solyman Suleiman was considered one of the pre-eminent rulers of 16th-century Europe. Under his leadership, the Ottoman Empire reached its zenith and became a world power.
July 23, 2019