ap lit - allusions

genesis: creation

genesis: creation

• “in the beginning…”

• god created the world in 7 days

• “let there be light”

• “on the seventh day he rested”

genesis: the first people

• adam - formed from the dirt

• “ashes to ashes, dust to dust”

• eve (his wife) - formed from one of adam’s ribs

• adam named everything

• “be fruitful and multiply”

genesis: the garden of eden

• paradise

• trees

  • tree of life

  • tree of knowledge of good and evil

    • forbidden fruit

genesis: “the fall of man”

• original sin

• serpent (satan) tempted eve to eat of the forbidden fruit

• eve shared it with adam

• god expelled them from the garden

• “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”

genesis: babel

• represents human ambition and the origin of various languages

genesis: exodus

• led israelites out of egypt to the promise land

• rescue of the baby (moses)

  • archetype of a hero’s life

• the burning bush

• the plagues of egypt

• parted red sea, staff, snake

• the ten commandments

• manna

david and bathsheba

• bathsheba married to uriah the hittite (one of david’s men)

  • david sends uriah to the frontline of a battlefield, where he is killed

• david married the widowed bathsheba

• david and bathsheba’s first child died - god’s punishment for david’s adultery

• david atones for sins and has solomon

• representative of adultery

solomon/jedidiah

• reigned in israel in peace

• built the first temple for god

• representative of wisdom

cain killing abel

• “brother’s keeper” (cain)

• banishment of cain

• archetype for sibling rivalry, brother v. brother conflict

the great flood

• noah

• the ark

• the animals (2 by 2)

• 40 days and 40 nights

• the rainbow

  • god’s promise to never destroy the world by flood again

abraham

• asked by god to sacrifice his son isaac, but god stopped him at the last moment

• representative of man’s willingness to make sacrifice, demonstrates faith

israelites

• god’s chosen people

egypt/pharaoh

• representative of the world’s system

mountains

• representative of spiritual high points, pursuit of god

• ascending representative of spirituality

• descending representative of carnality

joshua

• battle of jericho

  • israelites marched around the walls 7 times and the walls fell

golden calf

• moses went up mount sinai after receiving the 10 commandments

• israelites requested aaron, moses’s brother, to create a golden calf in moses’s absence as a god

• aaron creates it out of the israelites’ gold jewelry

• moses returns to see the idolization of the golden calf and is infuriated

  • grinds up the golden calf and puts it in water for the people to drink

• representative of idolatry

joseph

• favorite son of jacob and rachel / sarah

• coat of many colors

• dreamer & interpreter of dreams

• sold into slavery by jealous brothers

• after interpreting a dream of the pharaoh, he becomes powerful

the lion lies down with the lamb

• representative of harmony and universal peace

daniel

• thrown into a lion’s den and survives

david & goliath

• shepherd kills a giant with a slingshot

job

• extreme piety

• satan tests whether job’s piety is rooted in his riches and prosperous life

• undergoes extreme suffering and loss of possessions, children, and health, but will not renounce god

• god restores fortunes and prosperity to job

samson & delilah

• delilah was a philistine who was bribed to entrap samson

• learns that his strength was his long hair, she cut it off

• representative of betrayal, treachery

sodom & gomorrah

• two notoriously sinful cities

• abraham pleads with god to not let righteous people living there die, especially his nephew lot

• god agrees to spare the cities only if 10 righteous inhabitants can be found

• 2 angels go to the city to see lot and are met with a wicked mob

  • lot offers his daughters to them which enrages the mob further who are then struck blind by the angels

• lot and his family are the only righteous inhabitants and are told to leave the city and never look back

• destroyed by “sulfur and fire” due to their (sexual) wickedness

lot’s wife

• told to not look back following her and her family’s evacuation out of sodom

• looked back at the decaying city and turned into a pillar of salt

• representative of punishment for disobedience

ahab

• 7th king of israel who is regarded as the most wicked king

• husband of jezebel

  • first king to have allied with heathenism through marriage

jezebel

• wife of ahab

• pagan princess of a man from tyre, ethbaal

• representative of revenge, maliciousness, and immorality

angels/cherubs/seraphims

• 3 main angels

  • michael - disciplinarian over all angels

  • gabriel - messenger angel

  • lucifer - fallen angel

    • other names - satan, the serpent, the devil, beelzebub, the enemy, “the father of lies,” cloven foot, hell, hades, lake of fire

biblical numbers

• 3 - completeness

  • the holy trinity

• 6 - man

  • man was created on the 6th day

• 7 - perfection/completion

  • the 7 days of creation

• 12 - unity

  • the 12 disciples

heaven

• representative of eternity

• the “pearly gates”

absalom

• favorite son of david

• sheltered his sister, tamar, for 2 years following her sexual assault by their half-brother, amnon

• angered and aggravated by david’s lack of action pursued toward amnon, avenged her by killing amnon

• fled and hid in his grandfather’s home for 3 years, was allowed by david to return to jerusalem

• began to undermine his father’s reign and would speak and act harshly on him to other people, plotted a rebellion to become king

• david discovers this rebellion and flees jerusalem with his army, orders them to not harm absalom

• absalom gets killed at the hands of david’s army

  • hair gets caught in tree branches

  • joab, one of david’s generals, took 3 javelins and thrust them into absalom’s heart

    • 10 of his men proceeded to circle absalom and killed him

• david grieves

• representative of paternal grief

lazarus

• jesus’s friend who was declared to die by god

• dies and jesus weeps

• revived by jesus

• representative of one who lives after a declared death

jesus

• savior, messiah, christ, son of god, son of man

• cross/tree (often paralleled to the “tree” in the garden)

• 12 disciples

• communion (bread & wine)

• baptism

• christmas

  • manger/stable (place of birth)

  • 3 wise men/magi/kings

  • the star

  • joseph & mary

• passion

  • suffering/death of jesus

the last supper

• jesus knew and said he would be betrayed by one of his disciples

easter

• crucifixion (nailed to a cross)

• judas’s kiss

  • betrayal for 30 silver pieces

• tomb

• resurrection/new life

• reference to “blood”

“judgement day”

• “second coming”

• book of revelations (prophetic signs)

• armageddon

• babylon

• apocalypse

  • 4 horsemen

    • 1 - conquest

      • white rider

    • 2 - war

      • red rider

    • 3 - famine

      • black rider

    • 4 - death

      • pale rider

bible

• gospel, “good news,” the word, the scriptures, “book of life”

  • gospels

    • matthew

    • mark

    • luke

    • john

  • prophecy

    • daniel

    • revelation

parables

• prodigal son

• lost coin

• lost sheep

• vine and branches

john the baptist

• dance of the 7 veils

• john’s beheading

7 deadly sins

• pride

• envy

• gluttony

• lust

• wrath/anger

• avarice/greed

• sloth

7 sacraments

• a rite believed to be a means of or visible form of grace

• representative of baptism, penance/reconciliation, the eucharist (communion), confirmation, matrimony, holy orders, extreme unction (anointing the sick)

aphrodite/venus

• goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, procreation

• companion of eros

• dove, apple, scallop shell, mirror

apollo

• god of prophecy, oracles, music, song/poetry, archery, healing, plague/disease, protection of the young

• wreath and branch of laurel, bow and quiver of arrows, raven, lyre

dionysus/bacchus

• god of wine, vegetation, pleasure, festivity, madness, wild frenzy

• thyrsos (pine-cone tipped staff), drinking cup, crown of ivy

eros/cupid

• god of love

• companion of aphrodite

• bow and arrow, hare, sash, flower

hephaestus/vulcan

• god of fire, smiths, craftsmen, metalworking, stonemasonry, sculpture

• hammer, tongs, riding a donkey

hermes/mercury

• god of herds, flocks, travellers, hospitality, roads, trade, thievery, cunning, heralds, diplomacy, language, writing, athletic contests, gymnasiums, astronomy, astrology

• herald and personal messenger of zeus

• winged boots, herald’s wand

poseidon/neptune

• god of the sea, earthquakes, drought, horses

• trident

zeus/jupiter

• god of the sky, weather, law and order, destiny and fate, kingship

• king of the gods

• lightning bolt, eagle, sceptre

narcissus

• celebrated for beauty but spurned everyone through arrogance

• two main admirers, echo and ameinias

  • echo - nymph cursed by hera to repeat only the last words of what was said before. rejected by narcissus and spiraled into despair with an echoing voice

  • ameinias - called on goddess nemesis to avenge him as he killed himself at his beloved’s (narcissus) door. prayers were answered by her as she helped ameinias to miserably curse narcissus: he will never have the object that he desires, and that object will be himself. ultimately falls in love with his own image in a pool and ending is conveyed in different ways:

    • narcissus is transformed into a narcissus flower

    • he was filled with remorse and killed himself beside the pool, the flower was born from his blood

adonis

• representative of one’s being gorgeous and extremely good-looking

pandora

• first mortal woman to be constructed of clay

• prometheus was ordered to create the human race, but grew displeased with the mean circumstances imposed on them, so he stole fire from the heavens

• zeus discovers this and has hephaestus and the other gods to create a beautiful and cunning mortal woman (pandora), acting as a punishment to mankind. he then has pandora sent to prometheus’s younger brother’s (epimetheus) home as a bride

• pandora is given a storage jar as a wedding gift. she opens it, releasing the evil spirits within

• ends in plaguing of mankind

hercules

• ordered to carry out 12 labors in 12 years as penance for the murder of his wife and children while in the service of king eurystheus, his cousin

• in the end was welcomed to spend eternity in mount olympus

medusa

• one of the 3 sisters known as the gorgons

  • medusa, sthenno, euryale

• only mortal of the 3 sisters

• snake-hair, wings, tusks

cassandra

• mortal who was granted the ability to see into the future

• rejects apollo’s advances to seduce her, so he curses her so that her predictions are left ignored

penelope

• queen of ithaca and wife of odysseus

• emphasizes faithfulness and loyalty as she waited for odysseus’s return for 20 years

achilles

• one of the greatest heroes who participated in the trojan war

• dipped in the river styx by the feet as an infant, making him immortal everywhere except for his heels

• shot in the heels & killed by paris, the brother of hector (one of troy’s most celebrated heroes - he and achilles dueled in which achilles killed him in an attempt to avenge his best friend, patroclus)

• representative of one character’s vulnerable part/characteristic

river styx

• river in the underworld that separated the 2 realms of the living and the dead

antigone

• daughter of oedipus

• representative of the choice between justice & law, strength, loyalty

prometheus

• titan god of forethought and crafty counsel

• representative of a hero’s suffering

icarus & daedalus

• icarus was the son of daedalus

• daedalus plotted ways to escape the labyrinth (a maze he built and where his king, minos, imprisoned him) with icarus

• daedalus created wings for him and icarus using branches of osier, connected them with wax

• taught icarus to fly, but instructed him to not fly too close to the sun or else the wax would melt

• the two managed to escape the labyrinth, but icarus’s childish curiosity led to his death in which he flew up to the sun then down to the sea repeatedly. he ends up falling in the icarian sea and drowns

• representative of the danger involved in being too daring and reckless

phoenix

• red-gold feathered bird that emitted pure sunlight

• immortal as every time it dies, a new one is hatched

• representative of death and rebirth, eternal life

horatio alger

• representative of a rags-to-riches story

albatross

• from rime of the ancient mariner

• representative of the psychological burden that feels like a curse

faust

• representative of a pact with the devil, selling one’s soul without thinking of the consequences

willy loman

• representative of success equalling popularity and money

ahab

• captain - protagonist of moby dick

• representative of extreme obsession

moby dick

• great white whale who ahab was obsessed with

• representative of contradiction and uncontrollable events in life

big brother

• representative of always being watched

pollyanna

• representative of one’s being overly optimistic

don juan

• representative of being a player, suave

william shakespeare

• common examples:

  • “to be or not to be”

  • “all the world’s a stage”

  • “cry ‘havoc’ and let slip the dogs of war”

  • “o, brave new world”