Song of Solomon

[wolfpurplemoon]

An interesting break from the usual monotony.

The Song of Solomon is a love song. The two lovers in the song seem deeply in love and quite equal in their relationship (although it is implied at one point that she is one of his many wives & concubines).

There are plenty of references to how great her breasts are (they are even compared favourably to her sister's lack of breasts) and it is mentioned that their large size got her lover's attention.

Also their lovemaking is described in poetic but fairly explicit terms, basically it's biblical erotica, I don't think they teach this book in Sunday school!

Comments

[morgian-le-faye.livejournal.com]

I mentioned this in your personal journal, but I just have to write again.

Many years ago in senior AP English, we had to compare The Grapes of Wrath to The Bible. I found this to be a daunting task because, as the only non-Christian in the class, I did not know my bible stories that well. That was the year I learned that Exodus was the story of the Isrealites in Egypt. Previous to that, my definition of exodus was oozing...

Anyway, long story short, we were asked to compare the last story to the Song of Solomon. The rest of the class couldn't do it. They could not imagine how something as (in their minds disgusting and awkward) as the last chapter in Steinbeck's novel could compare to something in their book of faith. In the end, I was the only one who could find the comparisons and eloquently discuss them. I attribute it to the fact that I could view the book as a piece of historical fiction and compare the symbolism in it to the symbolism in Steinbeck's historical fiction. It was one of the few cases where my non-belief actually helped me in that class.

I also made sure the teacher knew that if they were planning on comparing TGoW to a religious book, they had better take into account those who are not religious and do not know the religious books. It put a lot of extra work on me to figure out what the darn books were so I could do assignments.

[wolfpurplemoon]

I was always under the impression that most believers don't really know their own holy book all that well, although perhaps those taking AP classes would be more likely to know it better.

[morgian-le-faye.livejournal.com]

You would think so, but sadly that is not the case. They seem to filter out anything to do with the bible. They are so smart on so many things and then insta-blank! I had to explain it for my group because I was literally the only person who understood it!