That is my interpretation of the novella with regards to classical Greek mythology as I understand it. I hope that we can discuss the real meaning of these references to mythology as I’m sure that some of these have been to far stretched or not stetched enough. With the later works in this class, I hope to strengthen my interpretations and raise my confidence on what I interpret the coming books to be about.

Upon his arrival, Aschenbach stumbles across a young dangerously beautiful young boy named Tadzio. Tadzio is especially linked to mythological levels as he is compared to a Greek sculpture, to Eros the god of love, to Hyacinth and Narcissus’ smile (curiously worried), and to Plato's character Phaedrus. In Greek myth, Hyacinth (Hyacinthus?) is a handsome boy loved by Apollo, the god of the sun, and Zephyrus, the god of the west wind. I don’t know which version is true, as I read two different interpretations, but either way, he was either killed inadvertently by Apollo or intentionally by Zephyrus, who was jealous of the boy's love for Apollo. This relationship between Tadzio and Hyacinth hints that Aschenbach's love may be unfortunate and harmful to the boy, especially since Aschenbach could be described as Apollo. Tadzio being Narcissus is much in the same way: Narcissus’ great beauty attracted the nymph Echo; But Narcissus cruelly rejects her, which is Aschenbach’s deepest fear, she died from grief, leaving behind only her voice (Aschenbach�

Some topics in this essay:
Southern Germany, Socrates’ Phaedrus, Hades Aschenbach, Echo Narcissus, River Styx, Thomas Mann, Tadzio Dionysian, Apollo Dionysus, Gustav Aschenbach, Hyacinth Hyacinthus, death venice, god sun, crossing river, river styx, greek myth, greek mythology, crossing river styx,