eeeeeeea) Janus
Salarino:
“ Now, by two-headed Janus,
Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time:
Some that will evermore peep through their eyes
And laugh like parrots at a bag-piper,
And other of such vinegar aspect
That they'll not show their teeth in way of smile,
Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable.” (Act I, Sc. 1)
Janus was a Roman god whose dominion was beginnings, endings, transitions, and doorways. The month January, because it marks the end of the old year and beginning of the New Year, is named after Janus. In Roman art, Janus is usually portrayed as having two faces, one looking backwards to the past and one looking forwards to the future.
Salarino, in comparing Antonio to Janus, is trying to discover if Antonio is troubled by business issues or romantic ones. As Antonio is normally cheerful, Salarino wonders if bad luck in business has made him unhappy. That not being the case, Salarino suggests the cause may be love. His final (humorous) suggestion is that perhaps Antonio is like Janus with two faces, of which one is happy and the other sad.
b) Sibylla
PORTIA:
“If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die as chaste as Diana unless I be obtained by the manner of my father’s will. I am glad this parcel of wooers are so reasonable, for there is not one among them but I dote on his very absence. And I pray God grant them a fair departure.(Act I, Sc.2)”
According to the stories recounted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses Sibylla was granted a wish by Appollo that she would live for as many years as the grains of sand she held in her hand. She was the ageless woman.
Portia alludes to Sibylla, a prophetess in ancient times, famous for her extreme old age. Portia is saying that she will remain unmarried for the rest of her life, until a man chooses the right casket and gains the right to marry her.
c) Diana
Portia:
“If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die as chaste as Diana unless I be obtained by the manner of my father’s will. I am glad this parcel of wooers are so reasonable, for there is not one among them but I dote on his very absence. And I pray God grant them a fair departure.” (Act I, Sc.2
Diana means the ‘Bright Goddess.’ Diana was the goddess of the moon and of hunting. She was associated with wild animals and woodlands. She was an emblem of chastity. She is also known as Virgin Goddess.
Portia alludes to Diana and says that she will die a virgin like Diana, unless I am married according to my father’s will.
d) Heraclitus
PORTIA
“He doth nothing but frown, as who should say, “And you will not have me, choose.” He hears merry tales and smiles not. I fear he will prove the weeping philosopher when he grows old, being so full of unmannerly sadness in his youth. I had rather be married to a death’s-head with a bone in his mouth than to either of these. God defend me from these two!”( Act I, Sc. 2)
Heraclitus of Ephesus was a Pre-Socratic Greek Philosopher, who lived around 5 B.C. He had poor opinions of the human affairs. He was so depressed of human follies that he secluded himself on the mountains. He suffered from melancholy and later he was referred as the ‘Weeping Philosopher’ as opposed to Democritus, who was known as the laughing philosopher.
Portia expresses her opinion of County Palatine and says that he does nothing but frowns. He will become the weeping philosopher (Heraclitus) when he grows old, being so full of improper sadness in his youth.
e) King Midas
Bassanio: The seeming truth which cunning times put on
To entrap the wisest. Therefore, thou gaudy gold,
Hard food for Midas, I will none of thee;( Act III, Sc. 2)
