Autobiography of red sparknotes catcher

Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse reimagines the myth of Herakles and Geryon, the red winged monster whom Herakles slays in his tenth labor.

Carson bases her version on fragments of the epic poem by Ancient Greek poet Stesichoros. Stesichoros' version of Herakles' tenth labor is unique in that it is told not from Herakles' perspective, but from "Geryon's own experience" (6).

Using this as inspiration, Carson retells Geryon and Herakles' story as a modern coming-of-age story about a young, gay monster named Geryon.

Anne carson autobiography of red

The novel begins with an introduction to Stesichoros' poetic style, along with some fragments of his poem, “Geryoneis,” translated by Carson. The fragments tell the tale of Geryon, "a monster everything about him was red" (9), growing up on an island with his parents and dog, then both being slain by Herakles' "killing club" (13) and "arrow" (13).

Carson then introduces the story of how Helen of Troy allegedl