*wonders when her mythology posts will end*
Well, I believe I have found someone to relate Morpheus to in mythology. There was a fellow named Orpheus who was the son of Apollo and Calliope. It was said that his songs and words were so good that he could coax even rocks into following him. As we all know, Morpheus is an excellent orator, I wonder if the name and his characteristics were derived generally from this story. Comments or suggestions?
possibly...or it could refer to Morpheus, Greek God of Dreams...
""King Sleep was father of a thousand sons -
indeed a tribe - and of them all, the one
he chose was Morpheus, who had such skill
in miming any human form at will.
No other Dream can match his artistry
in counterfeiting men: their voice, their gait,
their face - their moods; and, too, he imitates
their dress precisely and the words they use
most frequently. But he mimes only men..."
That it could, I am wondering which one fits the most. They both seem to have negativity or falsity involved...which is something odd.
Relating to the Greeks...I think that the mythological tie-in for Morpheus only really works at the start of the 1st movie. Looking at it from an inverse perspective (Thomas Anderson's). Morpheus is contacting an individual in the "real world"...by this I mean the Matrix in Thom. Ander's eyes. He is leading him away from what Thomas knows as real and down the rabbit hole into an alternate reality/dreamworld.
Once he is awakened and his perspective adjusted to what is "really real"...the symbolism of Morpheus as the "god of dreams" is no longer appropriate for Neo.
I think it's a great name and symbol for what Morpheus would represent to those who have not yet been awakened. A figure apart from the real world, enticing people to believe in something that can't possibly exists.
"I've dreamed a dream but now that dream is gone from me"
morpheus at the end of reloaded when their ship explodes
Thank you for aggreance, I thought it fit but was a long shot for the rest of the movies, but it seemed right for M1
I'm trying to fine something better suited right now, also I'm working for something with Niobe...there were two greek namesakes but I don't see any relations to their characteristics and those of Niobe, so here's hoping I suppose.
yes, he was supposed to be the Dream God....hence all the references to dreaming...and as the previous poster explained, he was the one who opened Neo's eyes and brought him out of the dream world. The Nebuchadnezzer references an old king who had a dream prophecizing his downfall...or something like that...isn't this already covered in other threads?
For my mythology class, i am doing a really interesting essay abou the hero quest. However, neo is the hero in this story, and morpheus is sort of like a background character, although important. He often takes on a "supernatural aid" role because he teaches neo to free his mind, and to beleive in himself.
Check out Joseph Campbell....you can get some very interesting essay material regarding the "hero quest". I think he even has a few videos you can rent (I took a mythology class that used his material for the majority of the coursework.)
Campbell is an excellent read -- also check out this thread that Valasher started a while back..... it has some discussion that may interest you.
http://www.matrixmania.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9094