Misadventures in the Land of Fables #18
THE LION IN LOVE
Aesop’s ‘Lion in Love’ warns of the dangers of giving too much of ourselves for love, or for a love that does not appear to be requited. The scenario is a curious one:
a lion falls in love with a girl and approached the father to ask permission to court his daughter. The father rejects the beast’s request, claiming its threat is too great. However, he also proposes a solution. If the lion were to lose his sharp teeth and claws, he would no longer be a danger to them. The lovesick lion agrees to the terms. But he has been deceived. When he returns without teeth and claws, he is defenceless and is beaten to death, or turned away, depending on the version you read.
As I write, I feel a kind of admiration for the lion’s commitment. His sacrifice is extraordinary, and it would need to be for such an unusual match. On the other hand, it is madness, a mutilation, a colossal, life-changing mistake. This is certainly how the author(s) of the fable intended it.
The Game Is Rigged
Like so many fables, the ‘Lion in Love’ cautions against trying to change who you are in order to realise your dreams. It never ends well. You must tailor your desires to your capabilities. Stick to your own kind. But there’s something discouraging about this conformism.
The advice may be reasonable, but the argument is rigged. The characters in these tales are animals, animals chosen to represent particular characteristics. How could they become anything else? They were invented to be the way they are and to present characteristics emblematic of our own. As such, they ought to be mutable. We contain multitudes.
The Dominant Masculine
In the land of fables, the lion represents dominance, a dominance achieved through aggression and menace. It is a creature feared and respected. Love destroys the lion because it leads him to relinquish the means by which he exerts its dominance. My attitude towards that process is ambivalent. I don’t approve of this kind of dominance and so do not regard its loss as undesirable, not entirely. For this reason I always passed over the fable. But then a metaphorical interpretation of the action came to mind.
Access Journalism, or How to Lose Your Power
The story is not about love, but about the mistake of renouncing one’s powers. I imagine the lion as a journalist seeking access to political leaders. The journalist voluntarily surrenders their power in exchange for this access, perhaps believing this gives them insight into political affairs. But it curbs, or removes, their ability to challenge authority and pursue the truth. They allow themselves to be tamed, domesticated.
In my version the threat possessed by the lion is one that is valuable to society. Its loss is our loss. Read it here: the Lion in Love
