Maddy Kirkwood
June 20th, 2022
3rd Reading Reflection: Chapters 5 – 9 of Rhodanthe and Dosikles
Novel and Spirituality
Following the “four ways of reading” developed from biblical studies, one could read chapters five through nine of Rhodanthe and Dosikles and gain four different interpretations of the novel: literal, moral, allegorical, and anagogical. If I were to interpret this novel literally, I would be reading these five chapters and taking what the author and translator say as literal. To encapsulate these five chapters literally I would summarize that there is a battle where Bryaxes defeats his enemy, Gobryas dies, and Mistylos is convinced to kill himself. Bryaxes captures Rhodanthe, Dosikles, and Kratandros, and a storm brews; Rhodanthe is thrown off the ship, but she is rescued and put into slavery under Kraton. Dosikles and Kratandros are imprisoned in Pissa under Bryaxes. Myrilla, Kraton’s daughter, overhears Rhodanthe’s cries and tales of her lost love Dosikles and discovers that her brother Kratandros is alive according to when Rhodanthe last saw him. Kraton leaves for Pissa to try to negotiate his son’s life. Kraton debates with Bryaxes but eventually wins the two men back in a stroke of luck when rainfall comes, and Byraxes is convinced that this is the god’s way of changing the sacrifice he planned. They return to Cyprus, and Dosikles neglects to recognize Rhodanthe during the banquet. Myrilla grows jealous when Dosikles and Rhodanthe are reunited because she hoped to have Dosikles to herself; this leads to her poisoning Rhodanthe, luckily, they have an antidote, and Rhodanthe survives. Rhodanthe and Dosikles’ fathers, Lysippos and Straton, were told by the oracle in Delphi that they could find their children in Cyprus and made their way there in disguise. They found their children and returned with them to Abydos, and Rhodanthe and Dosikles are greeted welcomingly, and they are finally married.
If I were to explain these five chapters of the novel morally, I would interpret it as a story of faith. My argument would be that Rhodanthe and Dosikles always had faith in one another and that they would be married in Abydos in the end, and their ending was just so. Additionally, piety is a quality many characters in this story uphold. Rhodanthe pleads with Dosikles at the story’s beginning and tells him that they should only kiss and not go any further physically because she knows that they will be married in Abydos one day, and she wants to wait to have sex with him once they are officially married. Another example of piety is from Byraxes; when he is unwilling to free Dosikles and Kratandros, he claims it is due to his need to sacrifice them to the gods, his religious and faithful traits are strong and, he is unwilling to change his mind until a rainstorm showers over the temple, “‘O almighty Zeus, O Kronos, father of Zeus, Ares, Poseidon and the assembly of the gods, Bryaxes sacrifices these young men, he offers these to you as the first fruits of his booty.’ He had not brought his speech to its conclusion when a sudden shower flooding down from on high.” Bryaxes takes this as a sign from the gods that the two men should be spared and agrees to give them to Kraton, thus showing how Byraxes’ principles of faith and piety in the gods are tied strong enough to his morality to change his mind.
A third way to interpret the last five sections of this novel is to examine the story allegorically. One may argue that the rainstorm that came on suddenly when Byraxes was talking to the gods and was about to sacrifice Dosikles and Kratandros was not, in fact, an act from the gods but could be an allegorical interpretation of the need for the rain to cleanse Byraxes of his sins from his battle against Mistylos. Furthermore, Myrilla poisons Rhodanthe and tries to kill her, but she is thankfully revived by the antidote Dosikles and Kratandros stumbled upon while hunting. This plant used as an antidote to cure Rhodanthe of her paralysis could suffice as an allegory and symbol of who Dosikles is to Rhodanthe and who Rhodanthe is to Dosikles; they are each other’s antidotes. They both have been saving each other throughout the story; even when it seems like all hope is lost, they are each other’s saviors; their love is undying and is meant to be.
The final way one could interpret the last five chapters of Rhodanthe and Dosikles is anagogically or spiritually. It could be said that the entire novel is full of different spiritual experiences and encounters; an example of this is when Dosikles first stumbled upon Rhodanthe. One could argue that this was a planned spiritual encounter of two soulmates finding each other. All of the people, and trials and tribulations Rhodanthe and Dosikles went through in this novel, could represent all of the various hardships life may bring their way in order to test their love, faithfulness, and piety. The gripping, undying love that Rhodanthe and Dosikles have for one another could be anagogically interpreted as the immortal, unconditional love a creator has for its creations. This love will be tested many times, but if one has faith in the love and in their creator, then they will be rewarded by proceeding to eternal life, similarly to how Rhodanthe and Dosikles were rewarded after their many adversities by getting to marry each other at the end of the novel, which was their version of bliss.