Informative Gods and Goddess Video

I found this video on Greek Gods and Goddesses. This video describes each well known God and Goddess in Greek Mythology, which I found to be pretty interesting. The creator of the video had their own take on each God/Goddess' personality.

"10 Things You Didn't Know About Greek Myth"

I was roaming through google and found this website! I found it to be somewhat comical but also informative in regards to Greek Mythology.

http://listverse.com/2013/12/17/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-greek-mythology/

Cool Finds on Pinterest

I found this on Pinterest and thought it was helpful/interesting and relatable to class!

Dream Log

Today I took a very long nap and had a dream that I could relate to Greek Mythology. Considering our class lesson schedule, I believe I had this dream as a result of the Cyborg presentation that took place yesterday.

I was walking around campus and everyone had mutated faces and parts. Unlike Cyborgs, everyone had what looked like melted and destroyed limbs which came off to me as a little bit horrifying. Robot-like, everyone was facing in one direction and did not speak to one another.

From the presentation, it was discussed that this new creation of a new race would be an incredible accomplishment, however my dream made it seem like we were being taken over by a robot-mutant civilization.

This made me think of a few questions: Would developing a new species end up taking over our own? Especially if they became superior to us?

Post class thoughts

Today in class a few people presented as part of their informal presentation and it left me with many thoughts.

The topic was about Cyborgs, and although it may initially make one think of a half-robot-half-human creature, in mythological terms it refers to half-human-half-animal creatures. The presenters talked about how we as humans wish to create more than we ever thought capable, and the idea of creating a cyborg-like race would be the ultimate accomplishment as a human race.

They also brought up the fact that individuals with prosthetic limbs/parts could be considered a cyborg, which I found to be interesting. I mentioned how Oscar Pistorious, an olympic track and field athlete, used a prosthetic leg to race. Although he had extremely respectable talent given the circumstances, many believed that his prosthetic leg gave him an edge over competition. The debate on whether or not to allow those with prosthetic limbs and other things that could qualify them to be considered handicapped to participate in sports alongside perfectly healthy individuals has been prevalent throughout society.

I believe that they should not be discriminated given the circumstances of the situation.

Portfolio Prompt #9

Ericka Stewart Annotated Bib

4/25/16 FYS

1.“The Gift of Fire: Zeus and Prometheus,” accessed April 24, 2016, http://greece.mrdonn.org/greekgods/prometheus.html.

This source, found on an educational website, described the story of Zeus and Prometheus. In efforts to explain the major themes of this myth, the source emphasized the importance of fire and the role it played in the progression of mortal life. However, this source also pointed out the key role that Hercules played in releasing Prometheus from the chains, which is something which varies from version to version. Overall, the source was helpful for the research paper.

  

2. Herbert S. Long, “Notes on Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (1958): 229-233, accessed April 24, 2016.

http://www.jstor.org.online.library.marist.edu/stable/985576

This source was found from the scholarly website, JSTOR. The journal article detailed

the profound teachings of this myth. This source also shed light on the variety of symbolism found within the myth of Prometheus, such as the symbolism of the chains he was bound with, as well as being left in isolation away from mankind. All in all, I found this article to be extremely fascinating and quite useful in my research process.

3. Picariello, Damien K, and Arlene W Saxonhouse. 2015. "Aeschylus and the Binding of the Tyrant." Polis: The Journal Of The Society For The Study Of Greek Political Thought: 271-296. Philosopher's Index, EBSCOhost, accessed April 25, 2016.

This source, found on EBSCOhost, specialized on the flaws found within the myth. It details how Zeus' subordinates understand his tyranny to be characterized by an absolute freedom of action. However, the tyrant's freedom as ruler is called into question by insecurity of his position and by his reliance on Prometheus's knowledge. This source points out that Prometheus Bound is a model of tyrannical rule filled with contradictions. For example, Zeus’ claim to total control and absolute freedom coincides with his own insecurity, impotence, and constraint. This source contained a plethora of new ideas that will further the research process.

4. Montmarquet, James. 2011. "Prometheus: Ayn Rand's Ethic of Creation." The Journal Of Ayn Rand Studies 11:1, no. 21: 3-18. Philosopher's Index, EBSCOhost (accessed April 25, 2016).

This source, which was also found on EBSCOhost, shed light on the notions of being selfless versus that of being selfish. It stated how Prometheus displayed selfless acts and increased efforts to help mortals. This source covered material particular to the ethics of creation, reproduction, and development, which I found to be extremely beneficial to my research considering no other sources shed light on this topic. This was the most interesting and useful source I found.

5. Yopie Prins. "The Sexual Politics of Translating Prometheus Bound." Cultural Critique 74, no. 1 (2010): 164-180. https://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed April 25, 2016).

This source was found on the scholarly website known as Project MUSE and exhibited the role of women throughout Prometheus Bound. Although it will assist in the creation of my research paper, I did not find this source to be as helpful as the other sources I came across. The article states, “Having taught the composition of letters to save humanity, Prometheus demonstrates the imposition of letters more specifically on the female body. Writing on the deltos of her memory is a sexual metaphor, making the discourse with Prometheus sound prophetic of her future intercourse with Zeus.” This was extremely fascinating to me and the information will be able to be utilized for my research paper.

Portfolio Prompt #8

Ericka Stewart Portfolio Prompt #8

Thesis: The myth of Prometheus precisely exhibits to modern societies that knowledge is the greatest power of all with the use of alterity.

Supporting points:

1. Prometheus went against Zeus and stole fire to give to humans. (Fire is symbolic to growth)
2. Prometheus kept knowledge from Zeus, causing him to be more powerful as Zeus wanted to know that information.
3. Prometheus felt bad for humans and taught them skills and art (which later developed society).

Response to Class discussion today

Today in class we delved into Antigone and various themes that surround the myth; heavily focusing on the theme of social norms. Antigone was a girl who stood up for her older brothers. This can be seen as different from social norms as the brother is not only older, but is obviously a male. Women have always been portrayed as the damsel in distress or weaker than their male counterparts. The age difference also plays a role against the social norm, as elders are theoretically thought to be superior.

I thought this was incredibly fascinating considering the format of the Heroides, which consisted of letters from the women to their male complements. The perspective of women was not usually represented throughout greek mythology, and Ovid decided it would be a good change to represent the thoughts and wishes of the women. By doing so, it shed light on new ideas and topics, which I found beneficial in my learning.

Response to Irigaray

As assigned for homework, I read Civil Rights and Responsibilities of the Sexes by Luce Irigaray and felt I should give my feedback on it.

Personally, I would say that I am a bit of a feminist, so discussing how women are portrayed in a society is something I take passion in talking about.

This read stated that Antigone was a young girl who opposed political power and government. She had a profound respect for earthly things and mother nature at large, but would quickly go against the government. In this regard, it could be stated that women were feared by governmental figures, which consisted of only men. Women were often thought to be dangerous, due to many factors (such as  how women said no to men's power struggles and aims to rise to be king) however, it displays how women had passion and affection for the world that surrounds them.

I found these quotes to be interesting as well considering my feministic views: "In her view and mine, it is men who for the sake of money allow themselves to be disrespectful to nature.."

"It is men who do not care about women's work of procreation, who destroy their own bodies along with those of others for the sake of civil powers or powers of war amongst men, who are uncivil."

Funny greek art

Today I found some funny greek 'memes' that I felt are relatable to this class. Luckily because I am taking this class, I understand the jokes of the images, which I may not have been able to if I was not enrolled in the class:








https://www.pinterest.com/pin/278238083201068029/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/113575221824611657/

https://www.pinterest.com/achepru/greek-mythology/

Portfolio Prompt #7

I chose to represent Kevin Malone from the hit television show "The Office", as I feel that his character is not represented enough.


Letter to Jim Halpert from Kevin Malone:

Dear Jim,

I wanted to reach out to you to address some things that have been on my mind. Although I do not quite have the courage to discuss these things with anyone else in the office, I feel comfortable reaching out to you in particular.

I have been dealing with a lot of personal issues pertaining to my weight. Many of our co-workers look at me differently due to my weight and size and as much as I'm trying to change my lifestyle, I am struggling to stay focused. My self esteem is depleting due to this too. It is hard for me to get a girlfriend because I don't have the confidence to ask anyone on a date; I feel like she would judge me.

I need your help Jim. You are charming, funny, and smart, and I wish I had similar qualities that you contain. I need you to help me make better health choices, like what I should eat for lunch and how I should exercise.

Not only has my weight been effecting me, but I'm also very stressed out from the work load that I've been quietly enduring due to my fear of getting yelled at by Michael. Accounting is not an easy task to manage in a successful paper firm and the combination of judgement I experience every day does not help me at all. It could be concluded that the stress I experience at work causes me to gain weight.

All in all I desperately need your help. I really aspire to lose a few pounds and improve my mood overall, because if I continue on this path of weight gain and depression, things will get bad really quickly. My doctor is already worried about me and suggests I get Bariatric Surgery to reduce my weight and improve my life as a whole.

So Jim, if you could please be a role model to me, I would value that very much. I respect you with ever fiber in my body although I may not show it due to my quiet behavior. I hope you can assist me in this new lifestyle and journey I wish to endure (with your assistance of course).

Thank you,
Kevin

Response to common time film

Today during common time you watched a film that dealt with the topics of racism in America and how specifically how white individuals perceive racism in America. The narrator of the documentary grew up going to a school with mostly African-American individuals. He stated how did this changed and shape the way that he grew up and made him realize that lives of African-Americans and the treatment of African-Americans are far different than that of the white individual. 

Throughout this documentary, I discovered that the idea of alterity was extremely prominent. This notion of having a group of people which are seen so differently and treated differently from other individuals emphasize the idea of alterity. It exposes the fact that alterity can be seen everywhere and I found it to be extremely interesting that the video we watched made a direct connection to that.

Post class discussion thoughts

Yesterday in class we discussed and shared our articles pertaining to the topic of alterity in a variety of contexts. I found it to be extremely fascinating how many contexts the notion of alterity can be found in.

One individual found an article about how alterity is seen when traveling to different countries. He said that the article discussed how you need to have a variety of identities to be able to pass boarders, such as passports and visas. These individuals feel like outcasts and foreigners, and contain alterity. I have felt this way once before when I went on vacation to the Bahamas. I was very young and I looked very different from the locals, who made it obvious that I stuck out like a sore thumb. I contained alterity in their habitat, while I was out of my own.

On the other end of the spectrum, another classmate read an article about how having alterity in a learning environment may better learning outcomes, which makes complete sense. In this day and age, the education system has taken criticism over forcing students to learn specific topics, especially those that do not interest students. Although forcing students to learn these topics may better society as a whole, it does not allow the young mind to develop on their own and it does not allow the growth of the student.

Due to the interesting topics pertaining to the theme of alterity, I found this class discussion to be one of my favorites.

Portfolio Prompt #6: Article of Alterity

As per requested for the sixth portfolio prompt, I found a lengthy yet interesting article on alterity in relation to diversity in culture. The article itself does not frequently use the term alterity, however it makes interesting connections and relationships comparing to diversity in cultures and religion to the idea and notion of otherness.

The questions I prepared for this article are listed below:

1. (Open discussion question) In this article what is the connection between alterity and religion as seen in the article?
2. (More critical thinking question) Do you feel that, after reading the article, that alterity is more prominent in the third world countries compared to places like the United States or United Kingdom? Why or why not? Furthermore, Do you believe that alterity of ethnic and racial groups is good for the growth and development of society? Why or why not?

Below is the article link:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01419870701599424

Olympic Games!

This blog was meant to be posted on April 6th but I finalized it today!

The date holds a special significance: The date of the first modern Olympic Games.

The Olympics, held every four years, occurred during the religious festival in honor of the Greek god Zeus. In the eighth century B.C., competitors came from a dozen or more different Greek cities, and by the fifth century B.C. from as many as 100 cities from throughout the Greek empire. 

Originally, Olympic competition was limited to foot races, but later in history many other events were added. This includes wrestling, boxing, chariot racing, and military competitions. As a participant of Track and Field, learning about the introduction of the pentathlon in 708 B.C.,  which consisted of a foot race, the long jump, discus and javelin throws, and wrestling, is fascinating and relatable to me. 

Unfortunately, with the rise of Rome, the Olympics dwindled down, and in 393 A.D. the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, abolished the Games as part of his efforts to suppress paganism in the Roman Empire.

The article in itself was extremely fascinating due to personal connection to sports and competition.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-modern-olympic-games

Portfolio Prompt #5

1. Alterity is defined as "the fact or state of being other or different; diversity, difference, otherness; an instance of this".

The word "alterity" comes from many origins. It is partially borrowed from French; modeled on a Greek lexical item and also partially borrowed from Latin, also modeled on a Greek lexical item. 

The first usages of the word were seen in 17th century Latin with the word alias, meaning "another". It was also seen in 1270 in Old French in a philosophical context in sense ‘change, alteration’. 

The word "Alterity" has evolved since it's first usage, starting from a medical text called Speculum sacerdotale, with the word alterite, which is a synonym to "alterity". The word alterity has many different varieties, including alter, altern, and alternanthera, which all mean "different" or "other" .  Spectral, ghostly, and prismatic are just some of the alternative definitions of the word alterity, which was quite interesting when correlated to the topics which we have been talking about in class.

Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "Alterity", accessed April 4, 2016.

2. Looking for specialized dictionaries to see how alterity is used in different contexts, I found that alterity can be defined as "the quality or state of being radically alien to the conscious self or a particular cultural orientation". This came from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, which specified on the idea of otherness which is the topic of the class. The use of the word "alien" is something that I had not put together with the word alterity, although from that perspective it does make sense.

The next specialized dictionary that I found was Postmodern Terms, which defined alterity as "a philosophical principle of exchanging one's own perspective for that of the other, the state of being on the periphery or fringes due to race, gender, or ethnicity, dissimilarity from cultural norm, and a lack of personal identity". I found this source to be extraordinarily interesting due to the diverse definition the source gave. The source, Postmodern Terms, defined words specific to, quite obviously, postmodern terms. I had not seen a definition like that, out of all the sources that I had looked at. This source also contained other definable words which I had never seen or heard of before.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary, s.v. "Alterity", accessed April 5, 2016

"Postmodern Terms." OnPostmodernism. Accessed April 06, 2016. 

3. This article is discussing the ethics of Alterity and the association of otherness. Specifically in this article, it stated "There, he argues for a response to the Other that culminates in my substitution of myself for him. I am responsible for the Other before the Other presences itself. If I fail to do that, I fail to embrace his alterity. This failure is a form of totalization. Totality is systematic, orderly, separative. Infinity, by contrast, is sensing, feeling, an embrace of the Other."

This quote uses alterity in conjunction with the notion of otherness. Alterity is something, in context, that a person possesses. It is something that is a part of them that seems to be somewhat ambiguous, but is present. In context, the speaker means alterity is an item which an individual contains; similarly to an aura of some sort. In the sentence prior to the use of the word alterity, the speaker states "I am responsible for the Other before the Other presences itself". They proceed to say that, "If I fail to do that, I fail to embrace his alterity", proving that they're defining this term as something that an individual contains that is discreet.

Lim, Ming. THE ETHICS OF ALTERITY: CONSTRUCTED CONJUNCTIONS AND THE EMBRACE OF OTHERNESS. University of Cambridge. Accessed April 6, 2016. 

Funny references to Greek Myth found on twitter!

Scrolling through my "moments" feed on twitter, I found some comical tweets that were parodies of Greek Gods and Goddesses. The tweet was titled "New Greek Gods" and included some very witty names. One of them being "Typos", the Greek God of misspelling, and another was "Afrodite", the Goddess of hair.

https://twitter.com/

Fun Facts pertaining to Greek Myth

A friend of mine is currently attending Niagara University, a school very close to the Niagara Falls on the Canadian border. She mentioned how her friends wanted to go to Iris falls, or more commonly known as Bridal Veil Falls. Wondering why there were two different names for this, I googled Iris Falls and discovered that it is called Iris after the Greek Goddess of rainbows, Iris. Rainbows are commonly seen at Bridal Veil Falls and therefore the name was adopted.



Image url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology_in_popular_culture

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)

Response to The Cantos of Ezra Pound

After reading The Cantos of Ezra Pound, I thought I would reflect on some things that sparked my interest.

It appears that that someone is talking to us about walking onto a ship, loading it with sheep, and sailing away from an unknown place, with everyone crying. This reminded me of Dantes Inferno.

Then, people's names, start popping up throughout the story. Reading on you realize that Odysseus is sailing to the edge of the world so that he can summon up the spirit of the dead prophet Tiresias, which also has connections to Dante's inferno. However, while he's looking for Tiresias in the underworld, he runs into his mother and tries to run away from her. After seeing his friend Elpenor in the underworld too, it was news to Odysseus that he died.

It turns out that Elpenor died earlier in their journey together, but no one form Odysseus' crew noticed. And it is known that in Greek culture, one cannot go unburied and it would be unholy otherwise. Thus, Odysseus realizes that he might have to go back to bury his friend and then proceed his journey all over again.

Lastly, Pound ends Canto I with the phrase "So that:" as if Pound is asking the reader to take the Canto into consideration. It also appears that he may want us to draw our own conclusions about his Cantos. 

Dream Log!

After remembering my dream (nightmare to be exact), I found a slight similarity to a myth we briefly discussed in class. 

The dream included a multitude of dogs chasing after me, trying to bite at my ankles. I was able to escape them but I could no longer walk due to my ankles being so damaged by the dogs bite. 

Besides waking up horrified and sweaty, I did not think much of this dream. It was only until now that I thought it related to Greek Myth, specifically the myth of Achilles. The story starts as Achilles as a baby, it was told in an oracle that he would die young. To prevent his death, his mother took Achilles to the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers of invulnerability, and dipped his body into the water. But his heel were not washed over by the water of the magical river, due to his mother holding them. Achilles grew up to be a man of war who survived many great battles. But one day, a poisonous arrow shot at him was lodged in his heel, killing him shortly after.

Delving further I discovered that the term Achilles tendon comes from the location of the tendon being at the ankles, where Achilles' undipped ankles are located. 

The whole realm of connections from this one nightmare shows that Greek mythology is really found everywhere.

Maenads in Euripides Bacchae

After reading further through Euripides Bacchae, I was extremely fascinated by the Maenads. Maenads are women which dance in the woods, drink wine, breast feed baby animals, and dismember those who cross their path. Bacchae turned his aunts into these creatures, which could be seen as crazed or deranged.

I found this interesting in relation to the modern social norms of alcohol, which has the ability to turn people into something they are not without it in their system. There is typically a connection between intoxication and dancing; where there is dancing, there is alcohol available for consumption, and vice versa.

From this I created an critical question: Was this a foreshadow/tradition to modern social norms?

Portfolio Prompt #4

Step-by-Step Speech Writing Worksheet

Topic: Prometheus, The Outcast

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the key features of Prometheus as displayed by the author Aeschylus in Prometheus Bound.  Also to discuss the differences in the portrayal of Prometheus by Hesiod and Lucian in comparison to Aeschylus. Lastly, to review why Prometheus may be considered an outcast or trickster figure in Greek Myth.

Introduction

Thesis: Prometheus was extremely different from other Gods due to his yearning to help mortals and his ability to display the power of knowledge, and thus making Prometheus an Outcast amongst the Gods.

Body: 

Transition- Now I will discuss how Prometheus contained a variety of traits which make him so different from the other Gods

Main Point #1-  Helps mortals in many incredible ways


Transition- Next I will identify another point which causes Prometheus to be such a unique God in Greek mythology

Main Point #2-  He demonstrates that knowledge is a powerful thing


Transition- Lastly, I will prove that Prometheus is a God like no other

Main Point #3-  Prometheus had the bravery to risk punishment to face a powerful entity


Conclusion:

Summary- Prometheus was a God who helped mortals in a variety of ways, while also displaying that knowledge is power, as well as displayed great bravery. He is extremely unique due to the qualities he contains which are not found in any other God or Goddess.

Motifs of myth seen in reality

Lately I have been thinking about the motif of disguise in greek myth and found a similarity in the modern world.

Greek Gods would typically use disguises to stay 'under the radar' for specific purposes. They would dress as mortals in order to skew the minds of those surrounding them, as well as keep attention away from them. This can be seen with actors, actresses, and other famous individuals. This is typically because they feel they are easily recognizable to the public eye due to their fame (as a result of some special trait or quality they contain which makes them so looked up to and famous).

From this observation, I concluded that famous individuals of modern society are almost exactly like Gods and Goddesses in the sense that they are so looked up to due to their talents that go beyond that of a normal, non-famous individual. Gods contain a superior edge which is what makes them Gods in the first place, and this idea is the same for famous people. Both Gods and famous folk typically disguise themselves when entering the general public of mortals or day to day peoples for similar reasons; avoiding the attention they already so often receive.

I found the similarities between the two to be quite fascinating as celebrities take over the media nowadays. This is an example of where greek myth can be relatable to the 21st century.

Response to Euripides Bacchae (part 1)

After reading a chunk of Euripides Bacchae, I had many thoughts that I feel should be written down. First off I noticed the connection between this story and Dionysus, which I then concluded the two, Bacchae and Dionysus, to be the same. Bacchae also began the story by stating that he was in disguise, which has been a major motif we've been finding in myth, that we've been discussing throughout the class. His mother, Semele, was discussed in class as well. We went over how she was tricked by Zeus's jealous wife, Hera, into asking Zeus to show her his real form (without disguise). This notion of disguise and hiding is very evident throughout greek myth.

Semele's small body structure couldn't take the king's superiority and was obliterated. Dionysus was still a fetus inside her when this occurred. In order to protect his unborn son from Hera, Zeus attached Dionysus to his thigh by stitching him there until the child was ready to be born. Since Dionysus's birth, the rest of the royal family has denied that he's a god. After reading about him on scholarly sources, this information never appeared, which I found interesting. The story itself of Dionysus was never exposed, possibly due to the end result of it? I formulated this question due to my curiosity. 

More to come about the remainder of the story..

Thoughts and connections about Dionysus

After reading about Dionysus for homework, I discovered the major symbolism of wine and party that Dionysus contains. His name is featured in a vast variety of wineries across the globe, including Australia, South Africa, and Canada. Fascinated by this, I further researched about the history of dionysus and found that there were claims that Dionysus had the ability to affect the behavior of women, which could be taken in a variety of ways. Since there is a major connection between him and wine, it was found that women were often put together to drink and men were excluded from alcoholic gatherings with women. This was very interesting to me after reading about Dionysus!

http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/terms/D/Dionysus.htm