Greek mythology in the HBO series True Blood - recently revised

Photo Credit: True-Blood.net

A while back I came upon a comment left by a fellow fan of the show analyzing the mythological theme present within the characters. I thought it would be fun to take a closer look at the portrayal of ancient gods and goddesses through True Blood’s human and supernatural counterparts.

Sookie is most likely the goddess Psyche (a play on words because Psyche means "the mind" and Sookie is able to read them, and because Psyche and Sookie sort of sound alike). Before becoming a goddess, Psyche was a beautiful mortal girl to whom no one wished to marry. An immortal (Cupid), sent by a higher authority with a hidden agenda, is sent for Psyche but ends up falling in love with her. He can visit her only in the night and when Psyche’s passion for him grows to the point that she simply can not resist him, he flees out of fear of her discovering who he truly is. They eventually end up together again (her becoming immortal, too) and their story is the personification of everlasting love. Indeed Sookie seems to be tapping into a goddess-like power… We’ll just have to wait and see.

** One of my readers, Steph, mentioned the fact that in season 1, when Sookie is dreaming of Bill – she is wearing a "first kiss" nightshirt emblazoned with Cupid and Psyche. Although just a dream, Sookie and Bill share their first kiss. **

But how does Sookie tie in with Eric? Well, Sookie is also a likeness of the goddess Iris – representation of the rainbow and messenger to the gods. As symbolism for a rainbow, Iris unites gods to humanity (ringing a bell yet?) Iris is able to put to sleep all those who tell falsehoods whereas Sookie, with her telepathy, is able to tell who is honest and who is not. Iris was responsible for saving Phineas from the harpies, which could be representative of saving Sam from the townsfolk. Iris is suspected of being a one-time consort or wife to Morpheus.

** Another reader made this connection: Eric also incorporates Hades while Sookie is Persephone. Persephone is the innocent daughter of Demeter, goddess of the hearth and all things associated with wholesomeness and goodness and new life. She is stolen by Hades, god of death and symbolic of all things dark. Hades covets Persephone for a bride to rule his underworld with him. When his ploy to keep her by force backfires and the other gods force him to give Persephone back to the land of the living, Hades plays a trick on Persephone in order to keep her. While she is in a state of duress he provides her with sustenance - a fruit meant only for the dead. By consuming the fruit Persephone was always partially bound to Hades and could never be completely free from his grasp. **

Back to Iris - Who is Morpheus? I’m glad you asked. Morpheus, the god of dreams involving humans, is none other than Eric. He travels to mortals within their dreams to help them or watches over their sleep in the shadows of their dreams. Sookie has been dreaming of Eric a lot lately, where he (much like Morpheus) is probably sending images and is, most likely, responsible for shaping them.

Morpheus had an uncle, Thánatos – god of peaceful death. In True Blood, he is the one and only Godric. Thánatos had many negative qualities; Godric committed suicide out of guilt (Charlaine Harris explains in her books that he was a heinous murderer who killed even newborns). Godric was of course a very positive and spiritual influence in the show but however minor, the similarities do exist.

Bill would be representative Cupid with whom Psyche (Sookie) falls in love with. Because he was sent to her with a hidden agenda, I’m sure this will play into the reason for their separation.

Because Bill was sent by Queen Sophie-Ann, it is possible that the queen represents Aphrodite to a certain extent. Aphrodite was known to be two goddesses – the older Urania who inspires homosexual love and the younger Pandemos from which all love for women comes from. Queen Sophie-Ann makes it clear that she loves to witness two men be intimate (Urania), and her human companion is a female (Sookie’s cousin Hadley, no less). Because love for women comes from Pandemos, this could be seen as how and why Bill is lead to Sookie, consequently falling in love with her. Aphrodite is known for being jealous, vain, ill-tempered and easily offended; Queen Sophie-Ann seems to be a little quirky and her reasons for wanting to keep Bill away from Sookie (as she makes him painstakingly await her maenad information) while testing his patience are never clear. Aphrodite’s temples were associated with prostitution; Queen Sophie-Ann constantly offers Bill sexual favors from herself and her human court.

Aphrodite had a lover, Adonis, a handsome god followed mostly by young women. Sounds a lot like Eric, whom we see in the previews to the season finale shares a steamy scene with the queen. Adonis (Eric) was also loved by Persephone (Sookie).

Daphne represented the ravaging Calydonian Boar (sent by Artemis because of failure to honor her at a sacrifice).

MaryAnn is a mixture of a few things. First we have the immortal Pasiphaë, mother of Ariadne and the Minotaur (a creature with the top half of a bull and the bottom half of a man fathered by the Cretan Bull in a bestial love affair) and mistress of magical herbal arts. But she is also the Minotaur itself, evidenced in the few times she has transformed. She is also Ariadne, bride of Dionysus and one-time lover of Theseus (Sam). In the preview to the season finale, we see MaryAnn dressed as a bride with Sookie as her unwilling maid of honor. Ariadne was also mistress of the labyrinth, an epithet for prison and a dance ground. MaryAnn holds a few of the townsfolk "captive" (Tara, Eggs, possibly Sookie) and is known for engaging them into frenzies of unwarranted behavior (including but not limited to dance).

MaryAnn seems to be preparing Bon Temps for the ritualistic Dionysian Mysteries. In a nutshell, the Dionysian Mysteries were a cult that invoked trance through intoxication and music to liberate them into a more primal state. Wine would be drunk from the hollowed horns of bulls and pruned through goat skin (which connects my thoughts immediately to the goat god Pan). There was possession, much like Tara’s fake exorcism which turned out to be semi-real in the sense that it brought forth MaryAnn. In these rituals, masks played an important part and MaryAnn is known for wearing a mask of a bull. If True Blood follows this cult further, then we need not worry about Sam as part of the ritual entails a man’s descent into the Underworld only to be successfully brought back with the aide of the demigod Heracles (possibly Jason Stackhouse). I think it important to mention that Dionysus’ enemy animal was the panther, and in Charlaine Harris’ books – Jason is bitten by a werepanther and thus becomes a hybrid human-panther.

Much speculation surrounded these rituals, including accusations of sexual abuse and murder. Flagellation is constantly mentioned. Nighttime rites accompanied these rituals, including wild orgies, raw flesh (animal or human) being consumed, a sacrifice performed with a dagger, a sacred basket, offerings of herbs and roots (MaryAnn, when confronting a shotgun-wielding Lafayette in episode 11 "Frenzy," mentions that the root she is holding is Devil’s Claw), and a marriage.

Additionally, MaryAnn is a maenad - follower of Dionysus (a god of foreign origins, inspirer of madness and ecstasy) known for tearing people (or animals) into pieces to consume their raw flesh. On the show, MaryAnn rips out the heart of her victims to make food. Achelous was a god with the power to appear as a bullheaded man who was finally defeated by Heracles. Could MaryAnn be his feminine side? Lastly, MaryAnn is very loosely based on minor associations with Artemis – the huntress/goddess responsible for unleashing the Calydonian Boar and who was fond of deer (Daphne shape-shifts into a doe in one scene). Artemis had a twin, Apollo, who may or may not be Carl or even Eggs.

Speaking of Eggs, he most closely resembles a satyr (the male counterpart of a maenad). They were lovers of wine, women and physical pleasures; they were obsessed with nymphs and had perpetual erections. Lafayette is hinting to a shared past with Eggs, calling him "poison" as if he knows him. In the novels by Charlaine Harris, Eggs is bisexual. His satyr-like attributes would explain this.

Tara embodies many qualities of a nymph: in retinue to Dionysus, loves to dance (remember what she said at the party MaryAnn threw in Sookie’s house?), associated with Artemis, and targeted by satyrs. When Jason consumes vampire blood and begins hallucinating, he envisions Tara in a celestial glow wearing a robe and tiara and pouring water from a jar. She looks very much like a beautiful nymph.

Andy could partly be Pirithous, the King who at first pursued Theseus to then befriend him and fight with, rather than against, him.

I’m wondering if Sam will turn out to be Theseus, the hero who slew bulls (the Cretan Bull and the Minotaur) and who, together with his best friend Pirithous, went after the Calydonian Boar. Theseus was also responsible for the community dwelling together; Sam has a bar that the townsfolk frequent. Theseus was fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, which possibly explains both Sam’s shady past (no apparent family lineage) and Sam’s love of being in the water. Theseus is also known as having been briefly intimate with Ariadne (Daphne).

Jason is showing some serious hero qualities: bravery for one. This trait, along with his war training from the Newlins, leads me to believe that Jason is none other than the legendary Heracles (you may know him as Hercules). Heracles is a demigod and in the Charlaine Harris books, Jason becomes half panther. Heracles was the epitome of masculinity, strength, courage and sexual prowess – and was not terribly clever. That has Jason Stackhouse written all over it. Additionally, Jason is Iason of the Juggernauts – a friend of Heracles who was strong, trained in combat, charismatic and brave.

Iason's grandmother, Tyro, corresponds well with Jason and Sookie's grandmother because Tyro also had two children by a man who was not her husband. In Charlaine Harris' original version, Jason and Sookie's grandmother gives birth to two children fathered by a half-fairy, who may or may not have disguised himself. Tyro was also deceived into sleeping with Enipeus. Enipeus was a river god; Sookie and Jason's parents drowned in a flash flooding while in their crossing a bridge over a river.

Iason had a one-time love, Medea. She can likely be Amy because both these women were involved in narcotics (Amy with V and Medea with potions and herbs). Medea was also a fierce killer; Amy had no qualms about abducting and killing a helpless vampire.

Jessica, Bill’s "adoptive" daughter, slightly resembles Persephone in that they were both innocent maidens abducted against their wills. Persephone had no father while Jessica, upon becoming a vampire, has no real family.

The community of Bon Temps collectively represents the Silenoi: drunken followers of Dionysus. They were mostly "ugly," (fat, bald, big lips or noses, squat bodies, etc.) although there are exceptions to that rule.

There is so much more symbolism in True Blood as it relates to mythology (Roman, Ancient Egyptians, etc.) that it would take me many more weeks to discover – but I’ll continue updating as the nuances come along.

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