Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Autobiography of Red, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Creativity
Communication and Mystery
Time
Self and World
Summary
Analysis
Carson presents 16 fragments of Stesichoros’s poem Geryoneis, translated by Carson. In “I. Geryon,” the poet describes Geryon, the monster, detailing the redness that characterizes his life: for example, his snout is red, the wind and landscape are red, and he dreams red dreams.
Carson’s translation emphasizes the various red features of Geryon’s world to establish how external elements of redness have influenced his identity. What Carson notably avoids doing is attributing Geryon's redness to some essential truth about the way he is. Geryon isn’t essentially red but has, perhaps, grown to associate himself with redness because of the red world that surrounds him.
Themes
In “II. Meanwhile He Came,” Herakles spots red smoke and makes his way toward Geryon. In “III. Geryon’s Parents,” Geryon’s parents send him to his room for wearing his mask at the dinner table, while Geryon wishes he could stay downstairs and read. In “IV. Geryon’s Death Begins,” Geryon looks on his murdered cattle and knows he’ll be next. In “V. Geryon’s Reversible Destiny,” Geryon’s mother comforts him. In “VI. Meanwhile in Heaven,” Athena and Zeus observe the ensuing scene from their perch in heaven. In “VII. Geryon’s Weekend,” Geryon leaves a bar with a centaur who invites him into his home and offers him wine. The centaur invites Geryon to sit beside him on the couch, but Geryon is afraid.
Carson’s translation of these fragments of Geryoneis is innovative and creative. She modernizes the myth by implicitly placing the poem’s action in the present day. Because Geryon is associated with redness, for Herakles to be drawn to red smoke implies that he is drawn or attracted to Geryon. This foreshadows a change Carson plans to make to the original myth in her retelling, putting more work into developing an intimate relationship between Geryon and Herakles than is conventionally part of the myth. Another element of Stesichoros’s poem Carson emphasizes in her translation is the influence of power dynamics. For example, there’s an air of sexual aggression and intimidation in Geryon’s encounter with the centaur.
Themes
“VIII. Geryon’s Father” describes Geryon’s father, who “sucks words” and “stand[s] in the doorway.” The next fragment, “IX. Geryon’s War Record,” describes Geryon lying on the ground, covering his ears so he won’t hear the petrifying sound of horses. “X. Schooling” describes how in Geryon’s time, family had more control than the state. The poet describes Geryon’s mother escorting him to school.
Carson’s translation further establishes words and language as tangible and real by describing Geryon’s father as “suck[ing] words” from the air. Such a description renders words material—as something one can detect and consume. These fragments are also crucial in establishing Geryon as a sympathetic subject. The conventional myth holds that Geryon is a monster, yet Carson’s translation presents him as relatively powerless and meek, afraid of the sounds of battle and dependent on his parents.
Themes
In “XI. Right,” Geryon sits beside his dog and wonders how many little boys think they are monsters. “XII. Wings” depicts Geryon’s red dog running along a beach. “XIII. Herakles’ Killing Club” depicts Herakles killing Geryon’s dog. In “XIV. Herakles’ Arrow,” Herakles then turns to Geryon and shoots him in the head with an arrow, killing him. “XV. Total Things Known About Geryon” describes the deceased Geryon: he loved lightning, he lived with his mother, a Nymph, and his father, a “gold Cutting tool.” According to Stesichoros, Geryon was red, winged, and had six hands and six feet. One day, Herakles, jealous of Geryon’s cattle, killed Geryon and his dog to take his cattle. In “XVI. Geryon’s End,” the poet writes about how Geryon’s red world continues on without Geryon.
Carson’s translation further develops Geryon as a sympathetic character by considering his interior life. Rather than simply presenting Geryon as a monster, she explores Geryon’s personal struggle with the shame of being seen as a monster. This scene also introduces the controllable nature of time. Geryon’s “Total Things Known About Geryon” is unique in its dismantling of conventional time, since it seemingly predicts Geryon’s eventual death at Herakles’s hands, though this event has yet to occur. Geryon’s attempt to play with the logical constraints of time suggests an attempt to impose order and control on time, which he otherwise has no control over. Lastly, Carson’s translation presents Herakles’s slaying of Geryon as particularly cruel in its senselessness. In classical mythology, Herakles’s task is to steal Geryon’s cattle, not kill Geryon, yet he ends up slaying Geryon for seemingly no reason at all. Underscoring Herakles’s senseless slaying of Geryon reverses their roles, rendering Herakles (the conventional hero) a cold-blooded killer and Geryon (the conventional monster) a tragic victim.
Themes
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