How Pomona and Vertumnus Got Together and Other Love Stories

I really liked this story and the way the characters in it told another story. The first one was between Vertumnus and Pomona, who at the beginning weren’t really in love, only Vertumnus was. He loved her, and possibly would die for her, but shenever paid him any attention. He started to dress up and act as if he was someone else, so maybe she would notice him. “With wings, costume, and makeup, he once tricked himself out as a soldier, romantically returned from foreign wars… he set himself up as an ordinary fisherman fishing in her path on the chance she might pass by” (pg. 50).

I think that in a way we can all relate to this story, because we sometimes want others attention and believe that if we do things or look different, then others will notice us, just like Vertumnus, but the truth is that that’s not the way things should be done. If you want to be noticed, then you should be yourself. There are probably stories of others that have been lucky and getting what they wanted, just by hiding ones true self, but how hard is it to be someone else for who you love and not be you for yourself? It is much easier to just be who you are with everyone.

At the end of the story we see that after Pomona told him to take his costumes off and saw who he really was, things got much better than what he had probably imagined. “When at last the god revealed himself just as he was, much to his surprise he had no need of words. Little Pomona was happy with what she saw, unadorned and undistinguished. Soon enough the vine was clinging the tree”. (pg. 62)

The story that is told by Vertumnus to Pomona is this story of Myrrha, who also fell in love, but this time, it all became a total tragedy. She had fallen in love with her father and the passion she had for him was so big and wild that she couldn’t control it. Not only was that wrong, but it led to other things happening, such as his father not helping her with what she felt but also cheating on his own wife with his daughter. This teaches us something else. We have to be able to control our passions and emotions so we don’t hurt ourselves or others that we care for. Even thought it might seem impossible, just like Aphrodite said, “You can shut yourselfin a room, bolt the door, but love will come through the window. Draw the curtains, lock the casement, but love will seep through the walls. Never think, never think that that you can be safe from love” (pg. 53). But I think it’s different, there is always a way.