Athena’s epithet Khalinitis, meaning “of the bridle,” signifies the virtue of restraint by which she granted Bellerophon to bridle Pegasus. When Bellerophon was overcome by success and commanded Pegasus to fly him to Olympus to join the pantheon, Pegasus threw him, and for yielding to temptation rather than serving the gods, Bellerophon was crippled and never rode again.
What about the last part of the poem, in which he compromises and is discovered? He comes to greater self-knowlege, it seems, and returns home a different man.
Yes, I don't disagree. His taking of the green belt that purports to make him invulnerable seems to show him giving into a different temptation than the one initially offered by Lady Bertilak. That is, it seems that his journey to the Green Knight's chapel seemed to be one in which he had to surrender his control over the world and have faith that by conducting himself nobly, things would turn out alright, whether in this life or the next. But by taking the belt, he tries to re-assert control, when part of the GK's test seems to be whether or not a human can bear surrendering control over their fate.
Are you suggesting that, in some sense, the poem seems to say that, on occasion, falling to tempation is a potential source of self-knowledge, and so, a safe-guard against tempation in the future?
Yes. Repentance is the greatest source of strength.
Athena’s epithet Khalinitis, meaning “of the bridle,” signifies the virtue of restraint by which she granted Bellerophon to bridle Pegasus. When Bellerophon was overcome by success and commanded Pegasus to fly him to Olympus to join the pantheon, Pegasus threw him, and for yielding to temptation rather than serving the gods, Bellerophon was crippled and never rode again.
What about the last part of the poem, in which he compromises and is discovered? He comes to greater self-knowlege, it seems, and returns home a different man.
Yes, I don't disagree. His taking of the green belt that purports to make him invulnerable seems to show him giving into a different temptation than the one initially offered by Lady Bertilak. That is, it seems that his journey to the Green Knight's chapel seemed to be one in which he had to surrender his control over the world and have faith that by conducting himself nobly, things would turn out alright, whether in this life or the next. But by taking the belt, he tries to re-assert control, when part of the GK's test seems to be whether or not a human can bear surrendering control over their fate.
Are you suggesting that, in some sense, the poem seems to say that, on occasion, falling to tempation is a potential source of self-knowledge, and so, a safe-guard against tempation in the future?