Rabelais is attempting to make the absurd notion of Gargamelle giving birth to Gargantua through her ear seem as though it is not as outlandish as it seems. He goes so far as to mention the birth of Gargantua on the same level as Bacchus, Minerva, and Adonis, of Greek/Roman mythology. He further admonishes the reader by saying that nothing is impossible when God is in control. Pollie Bromilow speaks regarding this importance of Gargantua fighting his way out of his mother's body as, "Unable to trust in his Mother's body or to rely upon the knowledge of the midwives, Gargantua must become both the agent of his own birth and the focalisor of the narrative if he is to escape unscathed" (Bromilow). Pollie Bromilow, Inside Out: Female Bodies in Rabelais, Forum for Modern Language Studies, Volume 44, Issue 1, January 2008, Pages 27–39, https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqm120

Apollo is the god of the Sun, known for bringing Helios around the world, in essence making the sun rise and fall. Being described as rubicund would mean that Apollo was sun kissed, almost ruddy in complexion, and having his golden hair spread over the Earth would represent the sun's rays coming up in dawn. According to Michael Kensak in his article Apollo exterminans: The God of Poetry in Chaucer's Manciple's Tale says that, "artists depict [Apollo] wearing a golden crown" (Kensak). This is a good example of Don Quixote using larger than life examples to create fantastical moments out of simple occurrences (the sun rising is now a Greecian god). Michael Kensak. (2001). Apollo Exterminans: The God of Poetry in Chaucer’s “Manciple’s Tale.” Studies in Philology, 98(2), 143–157. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4174694

The horse strikes the audience just as strikingly as it's rider, with it's mane and tail clean and braided, no less green, but intertwined with gold ribbons. The mane was then wrapped up into topknots, and secured with a green ribbons, decorated with gemstones. The same was done with the tail, and both were also hung with bright gold bells that jingled with every step. This helped complete the overall "otherness" feel that the Green Knight was projecting. Maybe a man in all green could be handled as an eccentric creature, but a steed to match tips this encounter into the fantastical. This gives pause to everyone in the banquet hall, and sets the stage for what further eccentricities the Green Knight concocts later on in the story. Laurel McCormick states that the symbolism of the green colors state to the wildness of the Knight character by saying, " The Green Knight has many things that link him to the free natural world; his greenness, his green horse, the holly branch, the axe and the Green Chapel. These objects reflect his wildness of character" (McCormick).

McCormick, Laurel. "Symbolic Color in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." http://blogs.cofc.edu/seamanm-engl360-s17/2017/04/12/paper-proposal-symbolic-color-in-sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight/#:~:text=The%20colors%20green%20and%20gold,of%20nature%20and%20inner%20morality.

Dante recognizes several famous men in the distance, and asks Virgil who they are, and why they seem to be in a "better" area of this limbo. Virgil responds and says that these men were so famous for what they accomplished and achieved, that they are allowed to be in this particular section of limbo, even if they were not baptized, or Christian. This is par for the course for Dante, as he places people he regards highly in more positive situations throughout the circles of Hell, and those that he does not care for in worse scenarios, showing them very little pity for their predicaments. Teodolinda Barolini states in their article regarding Dante's clear favoritism of people he respected by, "[Dante's] passionate reverence for towering humanistic achievement, irrespective of the faith from which such achievement springs" (Barolini). This means that Dante did not care that they were not Christians, he forgives them that minor sin, and places them on a pedestal of personal achievement that grants them the boon of being in limbo, instead of a deeper circle of Hell.

Barolini, Teodolinda. “Inferno 4: Non-Christians in the Christian Afterlife.” Commento Baroliniano, Digital Dante. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries, 2018. https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/inferno/inferno-4/

The Chorus is using the innuendo in a two-fold manner in this phrase. First, the tension between the Athenians and the Spartans has been growing and growing, without any sign of an end, and could escalate until it reaches a head and explodes into full war. The second innuendo is the physical malady that both the Spartan and Athenian men are experiencing, due to the lack of sexual release. The Chorus states that the genitals are so swollen and hard that they are unable to fight over anything over the pain, and are willing to do almost anything before they lose their minds over their sexual frustration. This is used to add to the comedic value of the story, as this paints a great picture of the men of both parties, groaning, both clearly preoccupied with things other than the war, and are willing to quickly draw a peace treaty together. Nasrullah Mambrol explains that Aristophanes put the desire of sexual release over the politics of war, which makes the comedic value that much more successful. Mambrol shows this when she states, "For Lysistrata’s scheme to work the physical realities of women and men’s lives must be acknowledged. Sexual desire and the carnal must be shown as far stronger and far more important than political power or other abstract virtues" (Mambrol).

Mambrol, Nasrullah., 2020. "Analysis of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata." Literary Theory and Criticism. https://literariness.org/2020/07/30/analysis-of-aristophanes-lysistrata/

According to Greek Mythology, Zeus is the last born of the children of Rhea and Cronus. Zeus is known to be the "God of the Sky," and "King of the Gods" (Lujan https://stmuscholars.org/zeus-the-god-of-all-gods/). He is also said to be the god of lightning, thunder, and justice. He overthrew his father, fulfilling a prophecy, set in motion by his mother's deception, by exchanging a stone wrapped in a blanket for Cronus to eat instead of Zeus. "From his exalted position atop Mount Olympus Zeus was thought to omnisciently observe the affairs of men, seeing everything, governing all, and rewarding good conduct and punishing evil" (Britannica https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zeus). Zeus being the god of justice would have been the god who dealt Jason his punishment for breaking the contract between the himself, the gods, and Medea.

Lujan, Reese. "Zeus the God of All Gods." Cultural History, History, Religion May 12, 2018. StMU Research Scholars. https://stmuscholars.org/zeus-the-god-of-all-gods/

Britannica. "Zeus." https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zeus

This is an explanation of how the soul, or life, is not finite. The soul cannot be destroyed, just like matter cannot be destroyed, only changed. This is important for Krishna to impart to Arjuna, as the latter is worried about the impact of him killing his family will bring. According to Krishna.org, this belief is a staple of the Hindu religion, and states, " Even though our bodies will get old and die, we, the spirit souls within the bodies, do not die. Death is simply the soul leaving one body and going somewhere else" (Krishna.org). Krishna.org. "Understanding Reincarnation from Bhagavad-gita." Krishna.org, https://krishna.org/understanding-reincarnation/