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The Knights Tale

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The Power of the Deities
Introduction
In “The Knight’s Tale,” by Geoffrey Chaucer, a handful of gods are mentioned. In this tale of two men fighting for a woman, various deities are called upon for assistance. Specifically, Venus, Mars, Diana, Saturn, and Fortune. Which god is more powerful than the other? This short response paper will review evidence from “The Knight’s Tale” and rank the gods from least to most powerful.
The Deities The goddess of Fortune, also known as the Roman goddess Fortuna, is associated with both good and bad fortune. In his tale, Chaucer depicts the goddess as a woman spinning her wheel to determine the fortunes of her people. Chaucer writes, “Thanks be to Fortune's treacherous wheel, there's none can rest assured of constant weal” (Chaucer 28). This statement suggests that no matter how one prayed to Fortune, they were really at the mercy of the wheel. Although she is mentioned several times throughout the tale, she never makes an appearance or makes any comments. This makes one question if she truly exists or if she is a made-up entity that is credited for fortunes and blamed for misfortunes. The tale provides no proof of her power or existence. The grieving widow of King Capaneus gave up praying to Fortune and began praying in Pity’s temple to the goddess of Clemency for compassion and mercy (Chaucer 28). The fate of the characters, in regards to fortune or misfortune, is attributed to chance as explained by the treacherous wheel. For this reason, the goddess of Fortune is ranked as the least powerful deity in the tale. Next on the deity list is the goddess Diana. Diana is the Roman goddess of chastity, describe as, “ thou chaste goddess of the wildwood green” (Chaucer 62). The goddess makes an appearance before Emily after she prays to Diana for Arcita and Palamon to forget her. Emily wishes to remain single and be a virgin forever. Emily says, “Chaste goddess, well indeed thou knowest that I desire to be a virgin all my life,” and she tells Diana, “I do not crave the company of man” (Chaucer 63). When Emily has finished her plea, Diana appears with a bow in her hand and sadly informs her that she must marry one of the men. Diana states that it is confirmed by the “eternal written word” and there is nothing the she can do about it (Chaucer 64). To demonstrate even more the lack of power Diana possess, she is not even able to tell Emily which man she must marry, stating, “But unto which of them I may not tell” (Chaucer 64). Unlike the goddess Fortuna, Diana makes a brief appearance and gives voice, but she is unable to influence the tale with a use of her power. For this reason, she is ranked fourth in the list of deities. Selecting the next of the gods and goddesses is a difficult task. The two in contention are Mars, the god of war, and Venus, the god of love. It only makes sense it would be difficult to compare these two. Completely opposite in nature, Venus stood for love and peace while Mars was a symbol of war and blood. Another cause of conflict is the fact that these two deities are siblings of Jupiter. In “The Knight’s Tale,” Mars is mentioned many times and credited with a long list of victories. The dilemma with Mars is that he doesn’t explicitly display his power as a mighty god, we only hear him being praised. As with the goddess of Fortune, Mars never shows himself or speaks to any of the characters. The one word Mars could be credited for, “Victory!” was heard when Arcita finished praying to him (Chaucer 66). His power can be imagined since he is the god of war and war is typically related to destruction. Destruction is the easiest of all power to see because it is a physical power. It is also easy to imagine the power and might of Mars when his father is Jupiter. Jupiter is the king of gods and is better known by his Greek name, Zeus. The god Saturn mentioned one other display of Mars’ power. When Venus asked Saturn to intervene in the argument between her and Mars, he replied, “Mars has his will, his knight has all his boon” (Chaucer 72). Before ranking the god of Mars, it is best to list the attributes of Venus. As mentioned before, Venus is the goddess of love. She might be better known by her Greek name, Aphrodite. She is also a sister to Mars and daughter of Jupiter. It’s easy to be confused about Saturn’s role because in many places he refers to Venus as daughter. Such as, “My daughter, hold your tongue,” but this relationship will be addressed a little later (Chaucer 72). One might think the goddess of love would not have a lot of power, but that is what the “The Knight’s Tale” is all about. Her power of love has destroyed the bond between the two cousins Arcita and Polomon. Her power created a war between the knights for the love and affection of Emily. To assist in illustrating the power of Venus, the prayers spoken to her can be analyzed. The Duke Thesëus witnessed the power of love when he caught the two knights fighting for Emily. As the women begged Thesëus for mercy, Thesëus exclaimed, “The god of love, ah benedicite!” (Chaucer 50). This was his acknowledgement that love can make people act and do irregular things. Before the arena games, Poloman chose the gate of Venus and paid tribute. He said, “Fairest of fair, O lady mine, Venus,” and continued, “For Mars is the god of wars’ alarms, thy power is so great in Heaven above, that if it by they will, I’ll have my love” (Chaucer 60-61). This is a strong statement to the power of Venus because Poloman feels that not even the power of Mars can get in the way of love if Venus wills it. Another testament to the power of love is Emily’s lack of desire to be with a man shifting. At the end of the tale Chaucer writes, “Emily loved him so tenderly” (Chaucer 82). This is proof that the power of love can influence somebody that had no intentions of being married and even begged to the goddess Diana to remain single forever. For these reasons as I have described, I believe the goddess of love has more power than the god of war in this tale. This makes Mars the third and Venus the second most powerful deities. With only one god left, it easy to conclude the most powerful god of this tale is Saturn. Saturn is also known as the god of time, or by his Greek name, Cronos. Saturn does not show himself to the characters in the tale, but he does have conversations with Venus in the realm of the gods. Mentioned earlier, Jupiter is the king of gods and Saturn is the father of Jupiter. That would make Venus his granddaughter, “I am your grandsire and obey your will” (Chaucer 67). A sampling of the power and authority of Saturn is seen here, “but thereupon such quarrelling was begun,” referring to the argument between Venus and Mars and the sides they had chosen over Polomon and Arcita, “that Jove toiled hard to make a settlement; until the sallow Saturn found from his full experience the art to satisfy each party” (Chaucer 66). Jove, an alias for Jupiter, couldn not find the answer to solve the problem between love and war. This was a problem that only the mighty Saturn could resolve. Saturn even expressed to Venus that he had more power than any man had ever known, referencing all the calamities he could bestow. For this reason, the god Saturn is the mightiest of all the gods and goddess being compared and is ranked the most powerful.
Conclusion
“The Knight’s Tale” is an introduction to Roman Mythology and the different gods and goddess that played a role in the battle for love between Polomon and Arcita. In a polytheistic culture, which gods or goddess have more power or influence? The five main deities in this tale are Fortune, Diana, Mars, Venus, and Saturn. Based on the information provided, Fortune was ranked as the least powerful because she didn’t play a role in the tale. Her name was only spoken in praise or blame for fortune or misfortune, which is not different than spinning a wheel. Diana was ranked as the next least powerful because she was not able to grant Emily’s prayers. Mars proved that he was able to win wars and color the Earth in red from blood. He is certainly a god with a lot of power and authority, but Venus higher than Mars because she proved the love could be the cause of those wars. Love, a psychological power, proved stronger than any physical power and any bond of brethren. The strongest of them all was Saturn. He received high marks because of the description of his might and the statement that he had more power than any man had seen (Chaucer 66). He was able to answer the tale’s main problem, one that not even the king of gods could solve. This proves that sometimes age, wisdom, and experience are the strongest powers of all.
Works Cited
Chaucer, Selected Canterbury Tales. Trans. J. U. Nicholson. New York: Dover. 27-82 Print

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