“Night”Group 4

Mike S., Gretchen P., Parker U., and Nicole B.

Apostrophe An apostrophe is a figure of speech in which

a speaker directly addresses an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something non human as if it were present.

It is used in the story when the speaker addresses night in the form of a goddess.

For example when the speaker says, “The goddess Night has drawn near, looking about on many sides with her eyes. She has put on all her glories,” he is speaking about night which is a nonhuman thing in the form of a goddess as if it were living.

Interpretation The hymn is praising Ratri who is the

goddess of night. It’s the only hymn out of the ten

books of the Rig Veda that is dedicated to Ratri.

It describes her in the appearance of a beautiful goddess

The Characteristics of Ratri

The hymn explained that she was a beautiful goddess who “stems the tide of darkness with her light,” which is the stars.

She drives everyone home to prepare for the night when she brings her darkness.

The Importance of Vedas

The Vedas are supposedly the knowledge of the Hindu culture and according to them, they are all-knowing.

For Hindus, their religion is a “way of life,” so they take the Vedas very seriously.

They also believe that the Vedas came straight from the gods.