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In English, I am studying Greek and Roman mythology. We have to choose a myth to teach and this got me to thinking about what everyone's favorite myth(s) or god(s) might be. My favorite character involved in Greek mythology would be Achilles, and I'm either teaching about "Achilles' Heel" or "Achilles and Styx".
Does anyone have any favorite myths?
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Lissande, I find it curious that many people in Greek mythology seem die by means of murder for either vengeance or love. I find the earlier parts of life more interesting than the end (except with the case of Achilles). Posts: 667 | Registered: Aug 2003
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wieczorek, you are right that they are often remembered only for their deaths, or in connection with death, but - especially in the cases of these two women - it is their lives that I am interested in. Posts: 2762 | Registered: Sep 1999
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I see now, Zalmoxis. Imagine the Iliad involving a character named Spinky - it would be like placing "Neoptolemus" in a children's book. You can see how the idea didn't fly so high - "We threw this book right out. William Steig is very disappointing this time around. Spinky is a spoilt, undisciplined, overly-sensitive brat. His parents are extremely indulgent and coddle him endlessly". That's too bad, I would've used it for an independent reading book.
Icarus, I'm sure there are plenty lying under the blanket that covers you up once you try to find them. Posts: 667 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote: wieczorek, you are right that they are often remembered only for their deaths, or in connection with death, but - especially in the cases of these two women - it is their lives that I am interested in.
Lissande, I find it especially interesting that she hatched from an egg and the oddity of her sisters' births.
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One of my favorite myths/stories, is the Navajo creation myth. You should all read of it if you havent.
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Claemenestria! I loathe her. The ultimate betrayal.
However I love not a myth but a person of Greekness. Alexander the Great is my role-model. I read my first biography of his when I was in 3rd grade and haven't stopped colecting information.
Actually people thought he was a god, and I'd tend to agree with them.
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Well, he was Macedonian but that's practically the same thing. Also he identified himself with Hellenism, and spread Greek thought all over the continent. I think that makes him Greek in some sense. Our whole culture is just Greek culture with footnotes, in a way. I mean they invented science, history, philosophy, theatre, literature, mathematics, and stuff like that. What would our civilization be like without the Greek influence? It's hard to even picture it.
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I was just razzing the poor man on his choice of idol. C'mon, let a lawyer have his fun!
While you're right that it's hard to imagine our culture without Greek influence, I think you're giving them a touch more credit than they deserve. There are other cultures who came across those things without having met the Greeks.
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Ryan, you bought into the official version, didn't you? Remember there's usually more to a story than that.
Even could it have happened exactly as written, however, look at what she was 'betraying.' Under the circumstances, her action was at the least somewhat understandable, and arguably in some sense justified.
Though I wouldn't positively argue that.
And oh believe me, there are worse betrayals than this.
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Myths? Jesus. Why don't they give you kids anything practical to do, like threading a conch shell?
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I've always been partial to Hector, myself. I've never much cared for Achilles--he's always seemed like a petulant, arrogant person.
Medea is an interesting character.
It's interesting to see what Euripides does with Odysseus' character, I think. In Homer Odysseus is one of my favorite characters; in Euripides, he's one of my least favorite.
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Agammemnon is the real jerk-o of the illiad, I think. It's supposed to be about Achilles' ruinous immoderate wrath, yet I've always thought Achilles was rather mild on the boy. Was it Athena who took him by the beard when he was about to kill Agammemnon and said "listen to me"? Had she not done that, he'd have slaughtered him on the spot, the Acheans would have been in total disarray, if not at war with each other, and shining Hector (who was also my favorite) would have survived along with his wonderful city and sweet wife and son. Why did Athena do that? She liked those Acheans, for some reason. I guess it really stung when Paris picked Aphrodite over her. Goddesses should be above stuff like that. Shame on Athena!
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Oh, no argument there Anne Kate--Homer's Agammemnon is a pretty horrible person any way you look at it, and he didn't get any better at the hands of the playwrites. I just think that he and Achilles deserve each other.
I've connected with Hector since the first time I read the Illiad. That scene--what is it, chapter 22?--where he's standing in front of the gates of Troy, watching Achilles approach, realizing the full horror of what is going to happen...it's just so human, and so heartbreaking. The earlier scene with Andromache and Astyanax hits me the same way. I've often thought about what Homer was saying when he made Hector the most believable, human character in the entire story.
Ever read One Horse Town, by Howard Waldrop and Leigh Kennedy? It's an amazing short story, and happily it's available on the web in its entirity.
quote:(from the Cavafy link above) Anthony, in Cavafy's poem is, of course, Marcus Antonius, Cleopatra's lover. The poem refers to Plutarch's story (Read it) that, when Anthony was besieged in Alexandria by Octavian, the night before the city fell into enemy hands, he heard an invisible troupe leaving the city. He heard the sounds of instruments and voices making their way through the city. Then, he passed out; the god Bacchus (Dionysus), Antony's protector, was deserting him. It is obviously a poem with many layers of meaning; but, I see it as a poem / lesson on how someone must face a great loss (Alexandria being a symbol for a beloved city, woman, past glory, but, above all else, life itself). It is a beautiful lesson on how to face death.
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I'm so glad that you followed that link CT! I was particularly hoping that you'd check it out, and was thinking about emailing you to recommend it. I'm off to read your links now!
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Wierd that I opened this thread today after having done some light research on Greek Mythology just last night. I was looking for a good name for a horse (unicorn, really). There was Arion, a particulary fine horse, but I already had one that I had named Orion, so I couldn't go with that. I settled on Poseidon, Arion's father, who had transformed hismelf into a horse at one time to pursue his own sister Demeter. Poseidon isn't exactly your run of the mill hero-type, but as god of the sea it seemed to be an appropriate choice for the horse I was naming.
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I listened to Alexandra Leaving over and over again as I drove to visit my mother in her last months. For me, there was a strong sense of already having lost the woman I knew, and this helped me come to terms with her dying. I love Leonard Cohen.
quote:As someone long prepared for this to happen, Go firmly to the window, drink it in Exquisite music, Alexandra laughing, Your first commitments tangible again.
And you who had the honor of her evening, And by that honor had your own restored, Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving, Alexandra leaving with her lord.
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I'll have to get a copy of that song--I love the lyrics. They're haunting--I can just imagine how great they'd be when sung.
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Tell me what you think when you hear it. Another couple of his to try are A Thousand Kisses Deep and Anthem, both of which reflect his interest in Buddhism, and his attempt to understand how to live in samsara.
quote:The ponies run, the girls are young, The odds are there to beat. You win a while, and then it’s done, Your little winning streak. And summoned now to deal With your invincible defeat, You live your life as if it’s real, A thousand kisses deep.
I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed, I’m back on boogie street. You lose your grip, and then you slip Into the masterpiece. And maybe I had miles to drive, And promises to keep: You ditch it all to stay alive, A thousand kisses deep. A Thousand Kisses Deep
quote:The birds, they sang at the break of day Start again, I heard them say Don't dwell on what has passed away or what is yet to be. Ah the wars they will be fought again The holy dove, she will be caught again, bought and sold, and bought again, the dove is never free.
Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in. Anthem
I'm a bit of a fan. Just a warning -- his voice is gravely and rather atonal (being tone-deaf, this doesn't bother me, but it may be a problem for you.) However, Jeff Buckley's version of Cohen's Hallelujah -- which has been selected as the greatest song out of Canada, ever -- is praised as a work of true Art.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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I think so, Ic. There are always multiple versions of Cohen's songs, as he is pretty much endlessly revising, and he usually culls down from a notebook of hundreds of verses for each song.
But I do think that's Buckley doing Cohen, if I remember right. What did you think of it?
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I absolutely love that rendition, but was saddened to find it a bit too vocally challenging for me. I would love to find a version as painfully vulnerable and stark as that, but that I could sing . . . and then find the same arrangement on an accompaniment CD (to not call it "karaoke")!
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Come to Kansas City for thanksgiving and I'll play the music for you on piano in any key you like. Posts: 1307 | Registered: May 2000
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I have a short story, half written, about a modern Oedipus.
You see, the lesson of Oedipus was not about incest and patricide,or Destiny V.S. Free Will. Its pivotal moment, the big sin that Oeddie commited, that led to his other crimes, innocently commited, was the world's first reported case of Road Rage.
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I'm a tenor two, but I have not measured my own range in specifics . . . from this note to this note. I can hit baritone, though, even though it is not my preferred range.
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I was going to try to think of something really obscure, but I can think of anything. In reality, I used to really like Eurydice, who almost followed Orpheus back from hell.
Wasn't Hermes' mother Maya? I was trying to remember that when I saw Posession. I never thought much of her before that.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I really loved Lewis's retelling of the Psyche myth in Till We Have Faces. Such a good book. As much as I love the classical depictions of myth, I love a good retelling as well. I'm cheesy like that.
I hated Lewis's Till We Have Faces. The answer to Psyche's complaint against the gods was way too dismissive and to me at least a little bit insulting.
Her question was her answer? That made no sense!
Although the first 85% of the book was very enjoyable. Posts: 1307 | Registered: May 2000
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Icarus.
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