(Difficult yet thought-provoking question: Why does the text describe Enide in this way: “She was truly one who was made to be looked at, for one might gaze at her just as one gazes in a mirror.”? What is it to gaze into a mirror? What does one see? Are there any figures from mythology transfixed by a mirror image?)
In literature and films, gazing in a mirror generally has two symbolic applications – either to show deep introspection and self-reflection or that things aren’t as they seem. And, of course, some mirrors are just mirrors. Instead of seeing deep into one’s self and character, one sees his or her own face. Those sorts of mirrors appeal not to one’s thoughtful nature but to one’s vanity. In likening Enide to a mirror, it seems mostly that people see themselves reflected in her – they see elements of their own selves in her. She’s described as basically a perfect being – the most beautiful and wise that ever was, noble beyond measure. Who wouldn’t want to see his or herself reflected in that? As for mythology, two glaring examples come to mind when I think of mirrors. When Perseus went to take on Medusa, he deftly dodged her gaze and holding up his shield reflected it back to her. The sight of her mirror image turned the Gorgon to stone. In the myth of Narcissus, one day when he was sitting by a pool, a nymph (and one of his spurned lovers) took advantage of his vanity. Narcissus saw his reflection in the water and, unable to look away or leave, eventually died. Mirror images in myths have a nasty habit of screwing over whoever glimpses them. It makes one wonder if there could be some correlation, perhaps something negative in Enide’s mirror-like quality.
PS - Peasant's Quest
PPS - So you don't miss a moment of the baby-throwing-being-on-fire-fighting-a-dragon action...
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