Weekly Journal Update: September 6

Naomi Lewis
Sep 6, 2018 · 6 min read

Monday, September 3, 8:00pm — 9:00pm

Reading Classical Mythology in Context, pages 3–35

Usually, reading a textbook isn’t the most entertaining activity in the world, I found this textbook to be somewhat fun. Maybe that’s because the topic involved is a little more fascinating, in a sense. I wouldn’t call it less academic by any means, but it revolves around stories and storytelling and there’s something very intriguing about that to me.

I liked the background information given about mythology and it explained to me very effectively what Classical Mythology is. One of the first pages had a family tree and I liked seeing how the divinities were related to each other. I had thought that Zeus and Hera were the parents of all the gods and goddesses but I was incredibly mistaken. The textbook gave me insight to the different regions and era of Ancient Greece I didn’t know existed. I didn’t know that Roman mythology was inspired by Greek mythology. I had thought they coexisted, just the Romans didn’t want an issue with plaigiarism and changed the names of everyone. I see now that that wasn’t the case.

Questions about the text:

  1. I feel that the author’s defintion of Classical Mythology was similar to the one we created during the first day of class. Classic refers to how a collective of people regard a certain thing. They are deemed to be the best, a pinnacle, timeless. Classic can describe films, books, music, et cetera. I think the general consensus around Classical Mythology is that the mythologies of Greek and Roman are the “classic” ones. When most people think about mythology, they’re thinking about those.
  2. Yes, I agree with the author’s reasons for studying classic myths, especially comparison and theory. The author stated that there are theories about gender and initiation practices in myth. These are topics I’m interested in regarding myths (although I don’t know if I’d call them theories about myths, but I haven’t learned them yet, so my opinion could change). With comparison, it would be interesting to see how different myths compare to others and if ones that are practically identical tell a story about collective society.

Tuesday, September 4, 11:10am — 12:30pm

In-Class Discussion

We spent the majority of the class discussing how we (or if we should) experience/participate in stories or myths (beyond just hearing/reading/seeing them)?

It started with a conversation about Easter. We talked about the story of Easter and how some people celebrate the holiday. Some people got together and ate food of various preparation, while others may only go to Church. Some people don’t do anything to celebrate, even if they practice Christianity. We came up with the conclusion that a lot of stories nowadays involves a ritual of some kind, such as praying.

We also mentioned the Thanksgiving story and discussed it in a similar fashion to Easter: how we celebrate it and what that entails. Then, we talked about Star Wars and how people experience it. We mentioned how some particpate in cosplay and going to conventions or Disney world dressed up as a character from the movies. People could engage in imaginative play when playing with toys, putting themselves into the shoes of Luke, Han, or Leia to name a few.

After that, we learned about the Trojan War Cycle. We learned that it was the “war to end all wars” and lasted for 10 years with devastating results on both sides. You gave us the question of if we were Paris, which goddess’s decision would we choose? I chose Athena, because although it would be nice to be given the best partner in the world, that’s not really important to me, nor am I that interested. I also can’t see myself in such a high position of power as president or queen. The next best option for me is to become a CEO. Maybe after some more critical thinking I would change my mind, but I’m perfectly content with that decision for now.

We talked about how the Greeks experience the Trojan Cycle in just about every way from face painting to sculptures. That is similar to how many people nowadays celebrate holidays.

Wednesday, September 5, 5:00pm — 6:00pm

Reading Book 11 of The Odyssey

Reading through this portion of The Odyssey, I found there to be a combination of sadness and intrigue. The thing that caught my attention first was how Odysseus traveled to the Underworld and makes offerings. I was wondering if this event is the same one where I believe Odysseus offers a ram (or the blood of a ram) to someone? I’m not too sure, but that was mentioned briefly in class on the first or second day.

Moving forward, I found the fact that Odysseus could speak with people who have died in the Underworld to be really intriguing. I was wondering why some ghosts were able to speak to Odysseus and some weren’t; or perhaps there was some significance to these characters speaking to Odysseus as opposed to others. Why do the ghosts drink the blood of the sacrifice? Does that make them able to talk with Odysseus?

I also experienced a lot of confusion reading this. I’m not at all familiar with The Odyssey or Homer or Odysseus. (I had to refer again to an online summary of the book to attempt to clear up whatever I was lost on.) Who was Elpenor? I see that he was one of Odysessus’ crew members, but what does that mean?Why did he want to have a burial mound built? Had he died a long time ago?

Odysseus ran into the ghost of his mother. How did he feel about seeing her, especially if he didn’t know she had died? This has me thinking about the relationship between Odysseus and his mother. I’m under the impression that they weren’t close if Odysseus didn’t know she was dead. But also, communication waaaay back when was clearly not as effective as the present. I’m glad the two were able to talk with each other, but it’s bittersweet. She had died from loneliness and Odysseus can’t even give her a hug.

Tiresias! He reappeared and is…dead? When did that happen? I feel like that question is going to happen a lot with me, since I feel like I hardly know anything. Even reading the book and seeing all the different characters approach and talk to Odysseus felt like a swarm of question marks in my head. Of course, there were a few names I recognized, like Achilles, Sisyphus, and Heracles. Although knowing the stories of all the princesses and everyone else wasn’t necessary to the text, I would have liked to have some background knowledge. Anyway! I’m glad to hear that Odysseus will survive in this world, even though his companions won’t. After reading Oedipus and Narcissus, I’ve come to conclude that Tiresias is reliable when it comes to seeing the future.

It’s nice to know that the end of the Book with the ghosts in the Underworld feeling a little bit wiser about their situations.

To make a long story short, I was confused, but still found the story to be enjoyable once I reviewed it. It left me wondering more about Odyssesus and his story, as well as the stories of the characters in the Underworld. Hades reigns over the Underworld, does he make an appearance?

Question about the reading:

  1. What happens after you die?

In this universe, when you die you’re sent to the Underworld. I don’t know exactly what goes on there, but it seems like you’re “living” in a community where people who are alive can visit. If you drink some sacrificial blood, you can even talk to them. It doesn’t seem like anyone is happy there though, and why would they be? Not many people come down to visit the Underworld, so I reckon it’s a big deal when someone does.

For me personally, I don’t know what happens after you die. I think that the moment you’re pronounced as dead, you are immediately a different living thing. A newborn baby, maybe, or a ladybug, or a fish. You have no recollection of your past life. I just think it’s a cycle of live, die, live, die.