Spinning off my previous entry on mythological decoys and sex dolls, shapeshifting to seduce women of preternatural beauty is not an uncommon motif in mythology. Though still an act of sexual assault, these lascivious doubles go far beyond the boorish crudeness of conventional rape. Rather than wanting to override consent by means of forceful imposition, they prefer to deceive their objects of desire so that consent is willingly given.
The trope is evocative of that somewhat tasteless but not entirely unfunny joke that goes:
“Today I prevented a rape.”
“How wonderful. How did you do that?”
“I convinced her!”
While there is an abundance of mythic episodes where this occurs―and from both sexes, as when Elaine of Corbenic rapes Sir Lancelot, twice―perhaps the best-known story in this line is that of Alcmene, the most beautiful woman to have lived before Helen of Troy. The lustful god Zeus, undeterred by the fact that Alcmene was his own great-granddaughter, wished to lay with her in what would be the apotheosis of his trysts with mortal women. Casting aside his tried and true methods of zoomorphosis and abduction, Zeus took the form of her husband, king Amphitryon, who was at the time waging war in Oechalia. With the impostor boasting in detail of the feats of his campaign, Alcmene welcomed him gladly into her bed. The sex was apparently so good that Zeus extended the length of that night a whole extra day.
If Alcmene’s deception engendered none other than Heracles, the same deception would be used centuries later to describe the conception of king Arthur. His father, Uther Pendragon, lusting after the beautiful Igraine, Duchess of Tintagel, had Merlin change his appearance to match her husband’s. While the Duke was away at war (conveniently, against Uther himself), he pulled the same trick as Zeus and slept with the unsuspecting woman.
Both acts have dire consequences for the subjects of impersonation. The Duke of Tintagel is killed during his wife’s rape as a way of mollifying the sinful nature of Arthur’s conception (so that Uther had intercourse with a widow, not a married woman). In the case of Amphitryon, after realizing that some heavenly power had taken his place and slept with his wife, he never touched her again.
Despite the damage to the wronged parties, the greatest Greek hero and the most noble of British kings were born from it, prompting us to conclude that getting fucked by a double may result in something special.
March 1, 2023
During the first wave of chaos generated by Twitter’s revised blue-check verification system following Musk’s takeover, an anonymous impersonator paid $8 to set up a fake account for pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly. Using their logo and bearing the handle EliLillyandCo, the announcement that insulin would now be free was made, hitting a nerve of deeply rooted resentment over corporate profits made by exploiting the need for basic, life-saving medication.
Two and a half hours later, the real Eli Lilly account issued a counter-tweet denouncing the impersonation and making it clear that they were not offering free insulin. Four days later, Eli Lilly’s stock price dropped by 5% and, less than four months later, the company announced that it would cut the price of insulin by 70%.
A new era for diabetic patients in the US was ushered in triumphantly after Eli Lilly was impersonated―and indeed, fucked―by a double.
Nice post! BTW
"His father, Uther Pendragon, lusting after the beautiful Igraine, Duchess of Tintagel, had Merlin change his appearance to match her husband’s. "
That's the premise of an audiobook I finished a few weeks ago:
https://a.co/d/5gJFwBQ
Calasso in Cadmus and Harmony: "Once you have a double on the scene, it's like entering a hall of mirrors; everything is elusive, stretching away into a perspective where nothing is ever final."