Week 3: Famous Last Words

In this past week probably the best thing I did in all my classes was my essay for my History of Science class. So far that class has been really interesting and I’m really enjoying it. We have been covering Greek philosophers thus far and each week we get a new outside source we are supposed to read. This week we were supposed to read Plato’s Republic, Book VII. This particular book detailed the allegory of the cave and Plato’s views on teaching and education. I have been introduced to the allegory of the cave before in high school but this time I was really able to dive into it and analyze it piece by piece. The purpose of the essay was to be a brief summarization of the reading and then to analyze it in any way we saw fit.

Overall I feel really confident about the paper I wrote and I was actually enthusiastic about writing it! I chose to tie in a previous lecture we had in which we talked about Plato’s idea of knowledge being possessed within a person’s soul. He felt that people didn’t ever learn new information. This information was already within them they just had to bring it out through numbness of the soul. This essentially means a person moves past all opinions and previous notions about what they think they know to truly open themselves up. This allows them to bring out that knowledge that they already possessed. This means that teachers aren’t truly teachers. They are more of guides that help lead someone to this level of enlightenment. All of this is exemplified metaphorically in his allegory of the cave. This was a really interesting read and brought up some pretty unique ideas. This was definitely the most interesting and the best thing I did this week!

The Allegory of the Cave

 

Mermaid Tales (No Pun Intended): Styles Brainstorm

Topic: My storybook will be about different mermaid stories. I would like to try to get stories from different regions of the world to get some different perspectives on these myth that so many cultures posses stories for. I shouldn't have any difficulty in coming across stories to use within the Untextbook and the Sacred Texts archive. One story I would interested in using is The Fisherman of Shetland. I read some of it when trying to find interesting topics. It details the cooperative fishing effort between man and merman until the merman has his magical belt stolen by a witch! I would also like to use The Little Mermaid because it forms the basis of one of my favorite Disney movies. I am well aware it won't be full of Disney magic like the movie is!

Bibliography: The Fisherman of Shetland, from the Welsh Fairy-Tales and Other Stories, by Peter H. Emerson (1894).
The Little Mermaid, from the Fairy Tales and Stories from Hans Christian Andersen, by translated by H. P. Paull (1872).

Possible Styles:

Mermaids as the Storytellers: I think in most stories that I will come across a human or an uninvolved 3rd party will be the storyteller. I think it would be interesting to detail the mermaids point of view in the interactions they have with humans. People view mermaids as beautiful and mystical creatures but I'm sure the mermaids themselves would have much different opinions of us!

Using Modern News/Stories: I'm not sure that this would be an option but I think it would be really cool to take historical events that occurred on the sea or detail the pollution in them from the stand point of a mermaid. I don't think I would find stories like this but I feel it would give an interesting twist to current issues and past events.

Storyteller: I used this style on this weeks storytelling assignment and I really liked it. I retold the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops from the point of view of a grandmother telling her grandchildren a bedtime story. The topic of mermaids would fit really well with this style because mermaids are magical creatures that kids love hearing stories about.

Dialogue: Focusing on dialogue would be a good option for stories that have a good deal of interaction between mermaids and other creatures. Rather than focusing on the story at hand I could focus on the interactions to really illustrate emotions that the characters possess. This isn't something that is usually focused on in old stories so I think it would give stories deeper meaning.

(Not Andersen's Little Mermaid)

Essay: The "Hero" Odysseus

Odysseus was deemed by his men and his people as a hero. He was the brave soul who defeated or tricked mighty beasts and gods in order to save the lives of his crew on their long and perilous journey home. When particularly looking at his encounter with the cyclops though, can he truly be called a hero?

Odysseus and his men came across an island entirely inhabited by cyclops and beached on its shore. They ventured into a cave owned by one of the beasts and ate his food while he was gone. Furious over this the cyclops eats the men one by one until he is blinded by Odysseus and they escape. Did his cunning save the rest of the men from death? Yes, however the deaths of the others could have easily been prevented if Odysseus hadn’t of been so foolish. His men asked if they could steal what they could carry and leave before the cyclops returned but their fearless leader wanted to meet the Cyclops.

If I was that cyclops I would have been infuriated as well coming home and seeing strangers eating my food. The cyclops owed the men nothing but Odysseus felt he owed them hospitality and would be a gracious host. Odysseus didn’t like his reaction but I really don’t know how he could be so blind as to not think the Cyclops would react with anger. All in all Odysseus stole food from the Cyclops, blinded him, and then stole his sheep! He saved the lives of the remaining men but he was the one who put them in danger in the first place! What true hero endangers the lives of his men for foolish pride? He may be a hero to the Greeks but in the eyes of other beings he is the one who is a monster.

(What Odysseus Thinks About Himself)

Week Three Storytelling: The Prince and The Giant

The children gathered around their Grandmother to receive their bedtime story. She told the best stories of heroes, princes, and princesses so the children didn’t mind so much that they had to go to bed right after.

“Alright my little doves, who is ready for tonight’s story?” which was followed by the squeals of delight from her grandchildren. “Tonight I am going to tell you the story of the Prince and the Giant.” And so began the old woman’s story…

Once upon a time in a land far from here there was a great prince who had left his home. He had been on many adventures but none more daunting than his time spent on the Island of the Giants. He and his crew beached their large ship on the island, although they didn’t know who inhabited it at the time. They left their ship and began walking in land in search of food and water for it had been a very long journey and they had run out of food! After wandering they stumbled upon a cave so large they stood in awe at its magnificent size. However, what was within the cave was far more amazing to the hungry men. The men were so ravenous that they begin to devour the food that belonged to the owner of the cave. One of the men suggested taking their fill and leaving before the owner returned. “Nonsense!” the Prince spat. “We shall wait and meet our host and he shall receive us with open arms”. And so the men waited.

Night fell before the owner returned to his cave, although he was no man as they had suspected. Instead he was a terrible giant!

The children gasped! “Now now my darlings I haven’t even gotten to the good part yet” and she continued.

He stood a good 30 feet tall and was so overweight his legs bowed beneath him. The Giant ushered in his sheep that he had been grazing then slid a massive boulder in front of the mouth of the cave. He noticed something was not right and bellowed, “Who is there lurking behind the shadows?” The brave Prince stepped forward, “my men and I my good sir. We shipwrecked and sought refuge here” the Prince lied. “Won’t you be so kind as to welcome us in your home and break bread with us?”

“Break bread with thieves?” the Giant questioned. His anger was boiling up within him that these tiny humans had the nerve to come into his home and eat his food without his permission. In a bout of rage he grabbed two men in one hand and bit their heads off with ease!

Screams escaped the children! “I don’t like this story Grandma,” cried the youngest. “Stop being a baby!” his older siblings insisted.

“It has been to long since I have been able to eat human flesh! I forgot how delicious it tasted!” Trying to save the lives of the rest of his men the Prince was quick on his feet and devised a plan. “Oh mighty Giant. Might I offer you some of our wine to wash down your meal? It is all that we have to offer.”

“Bring it here human!” And so the Prince filled a great bowl with all of their wine and the Giant drunk his fill. “This wine is wondrous! I shall give you a gift for your kindness little man, what is your name?” the Giant questioned. Being cunning the Prince replied with, “Nobody, my name is Nobody”.

“Well Nobody, my gift to you is that I shall eat you last!” With that, the mighty giant fell to the floor laughing and quickly succumbed to a drunken slumber. The men quickly got to work plotting their escape while the Giant slept. Instructed by their prince the men all made sharp spears from branches throughout the cave floor. They also tied the fluffy sheep together in groups of threes.

“I don’t understand Grandma” one of the children stated. “You shall see. Just be patient”, and so she went on with her story.

When everything was set in place the men climbed atop the face of the Giant. “On the count of three”, the Prince demanded. “One, two, three!” On the final count the men thrust their spears into the Giant’s eyes to blind him.

“AHHHH” he screamed in agony. “HELP, HELP!” Soon enough some of his neighbors came bounding to his cave. They knocked on the massive boulder blocking the way. “What is going on? Is someone attacking you?” the fellow giants questioned. “Brothers! Nobody is attacking me! Nobody is attacking me!”

“That fool. Why do you wake us up in the dead of night if no one is attacking you?” And so just as soon as they came the other giants left.

That following morning the Giant opened the cave to let out his sheep to graze but he blocked the doorway so the Prince and his men could not escape. This is when the men hung beneath the sheep they had tied together the night before. They crawled beneath the middle sheep in each bundle and clung to its long wool. The Giant had no idea that the men were slipping right by him! They safely made it out of the cave and returned to the ship taking the sheep with them. The Prince cursed the Giant as they began to sail away and all he could do was sit on the beach cursing back.

“And so is the story of the Prince and the Giant. Alright, off to bed you go.” The grandmother gave each child a kiss on the forehead and tucked them in.  

(The Prince and the Giant)

Authors Note: I retold the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops from Homer’s Odyssey. I chose to tell it from the point of view of a grandmother telling a story to her grandchildren. I felt this gave it a bit more depth in showing others reactions to it.

Reading Diary B: Homer's Odyssey

The second half of the unit primarily focuses on Odysseus’s journey to the House of Hades. This is where he was instructed go in the first half of the unit by Circe. He was told to seek out the guidance of Teiresias who was a Theban seer.  Teiresias was only one of many departed souls that Odysseus actually came across. He first saw his comrade Elpenor who had recently died the day they left Cicre’s home. His friend begged him to not forget him and Odysseus gave his word that he wouldn’t. Next he saw Teiresias who prophesized what would come of Odysseus and his men. Ultimately they would make it back home and he would live out his days prosperously until he would finally pass due to old age.

The next person he saw and definitely the saddest was his own mother. He asked what life was like back home and how everyone else in the family was. She detailed their lives and how much everyone missed him. She even goes on to say that missing him is what lead to her death. Odysseus longed to reach out and touch or hold his mother but he simply could not. This made seeing her that much worse. After his mother he visited with a slew of famous men, women, and Greek heroes. Once he felt he had received all the information he needed he and his crew were off again.

The final segment of the unit detailed the crews encounter with the Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis. Honestly, I felt this section was far more interesting but it seemed like it kind of got snuffed so the interactions with the dead could be detailed. I might go read the original just to have a better image in my mind of the daunting obstacles Odysseus and his men had to overcome.

(Odysseus and Teiresias)

Reading Diary A: Homer's Odyssey

I chose to read the Odyssey because it is something I was supposed to have read previously but never did. In the first half of the unit it details the adventures of Odysseus as he and his men encounter the Cyclops Polyphemus and Circe. I enjoyed the interactions with the Cyclops the most because it showed Odysseus's cunningness. I must say though, he was quite foolish in not listening to his men and simply stealing from the Cyclops while he was away. His faith in others and his own ignorance prompted him to wait on the mighty beast in hopes that he would receive them well.

The one thing that confused me was that Zeus listened to the cyclops prayers and cursed Odysseus. I wouldn’t think that Zeus would favor the cyclops in this instance because he had denounced the gods. He claimed that Cyclopes were more powerful than the gods and he has no need to fear them. So why would Zeus curse Odysseus when he had always been a firm believer in the Gods?

The storyline involving Circe was not as intriguing to me. It was the stereotypical story of this time period in which the woman is a trickster and seduces men to meet their ultimate demise. All of Odysseus’s men in the one group were foolish enough to fall victim to her tricks, except for one, and they were turned into pigs. In this story Odysseus didn’t have to use his wit to outsmart the goddess. He relied entirely on the guidance from Hermes, one of the Gods.

(Polyphemus)