Dream Log

Just remembering my dream now, I had a very strange dream last night that I think may have related to greek myth and the other.

I had a dream where I was walking through a museum surrounded with sculptures of magestic men and women, very similar looking to sculptures and pictures of gods and goddesses. Then immediately I was sitting on a rock near a huge pool where a boat carrying people stayed anchored in the center of the pool. We just exchanged looks for while until someone jumped out of the boat and came at me screaming and crying. As a result of this quick and loud experience during my dream, I woke up immediately.

Thinking about the dream now, I realize that the boat and people on the boat may have came from Dante's inferno, where there was a boat which carried the souls of the underworld. The notion and ideas of hades/hell/underworld is explored very often in greek myth and the other. It also contributes to the ideas of otherness, which we continue to delve into.

I'm not sure if my dream meant to tell me something or hint at my future (hopefully not), however its connections to the class were very prevalent and fascinating.

Greek myth found in science

In my chemistry lab today, we utilized the Periodic Table of Elements. All throughout my childhood and young adult life I have used the periodic table. However, it did not occur to me until just recently that there are aspects of greek myth found in the naming of elements which could be found on the table. For example, the symbol Fe, which in chemistry symbolizes Iron, has a deeper meaning. Ferrum means "Iron" in Latin.

Also, I found that Uranium had the same word structure as the planet  Uranus, the original sky god who was the son and spouse of Gaia, or Mother Earth. I found this to be extremely fascinating considering we recently learned about this.

Lastly, the element Ta, or Tantalum, originates from king Tantalus, one of Zeu's sons who angered the gods for attempting to serve his son Pelops as a meal. He was punished to the Underworld with eternal thirst and hunger though a river and fruit tree were just beyond his grasp.

Response to 'Mental Waters'

After reading the homework assignment, I wanted to reflect my thoughts of what I read. I thought it was interesting that the author believed that myth was a "long succession of peaks and troughs", meaning the dealing with low points, or the moment in history when mythological fables were seen as barbaric and childish.

It shocked me, however, that myth was believed to be thought of as an "evocative sound" and caused people fear due to the idea of an "ungovernable guest" who must be discreetly observed. It was said that mythology has painted a beautiful and also powerful image of the gods.

Interestingly enough, this read made mention to metamorphosis that occurs when myth passes from generation to generation. The myth transforms yet contains its origins, which is similar to the readings the different myths we had to do prior to reading this piece. All the myths contain characters which go through a metamorphosis or transformation of some sort. This reading connected with those myths in that regard.

Thoughts about Divine Encounters Homework assignment

For homework we were asked to read about the myths of Europa, Io, Semele, Adonis, Callisto, and Actaeon. One major commonality that surrounded these six mythological tales is that these mythological characters all were transformed into animals at one point in time. Europa was the bull, Io was the cow, Callisto was the bear, etc. I did some further research on the grouping of these mythological figures and found that these figures were present in Ovid's Metamorphosis, which is an epic poem describing the creation and history of the world. It incorporates many of the best known and loved stories from Greek mythology, although centering more on mortal characters than on heroes or the gods. Each story contains some sort of transformation (or metamorphosis) as the link that ties them all together and could be known as the classical work best known to medieval writers and strongly influenced medieval and Renaissance poetry. 

http://www.ancient-literature.com/rome_ovid_metamorphoses.html

Found a Connection to Greek Myth

The other day I was listening to spotify and the song called "Venus" by Lady Gaga started playing. It was not until taking this class that I was so easily able to pick up on the Greek myth references. The lyrics can be seen below. Lady Gaga mentions many greek figures and their connected symbol. I found this extremely interesting as myth can be seen in pop culture.

[Verse 1]
Rocket #9 take off to the planet (to the planet)
Venus
Aphrodite lady seashell bikini (garden panty)
Venus
Let's blast off to a new dimension (in your bedroom)
Venus
Aphrodite lady seashell bikini (get with me)
Venus

[Pre-Chorus]
I can’t help the way I’m feeling
Goddess of love, please take me to your leader
I can’t help, but keep on dancin'
Goddess of love! Goddess of love!

Take me to your planet (to the planet)
Take me to your planet (to the planet)
Take me to your leader (to the planet)
Your leader, your leader (to the planet)
Take me to your planet (to the planet)
Take me to your planet (to the planet)
Take me to your Venus (to the planet)
Your Venus, your Venus (to the planet)

[Chorus]
When you touch me I die
Just a little inside
I wonder if this could be love
This could be love
'Cause you’re out of this world
Galaxy, space and time
I wonder if this could be love

Venus

[Verse 2]
Have an oyster, baby
It’s Aphrod-isy
Act sleazy
Venus
Worship to the land
A girl from the planet (to the planet)
(to the planet)

[Pre-Chorus]
I can’t help the way I’m feeling
Goddess of love, please take me to your leader
I can’t help, but keep on dancin'
Goddess of love! Goddess of love!

Take me to your planet (to the planet)
Take me to your planet (to the planet)
Take me to your leader (to the planet)
Your leader, your leader (to the planet)
Take me to your planet (to the planet)
Take me to your planet (to the planet)
Take me to your Venus (to the planet)
Your Venus, your Venus (to the planet)

[Chorus]
When you touch me I die
Just a little inside
I wonder if this could be love
This could be love
'Cause you’re out of this world
Galaxy, space and time
I wonder if this could be love
This could be love

I wonder if this could be love
This could be love
Goddess of love
I wonder if this could be love
Venus

[Bridge]
Neptune
Go
Now serve Pluto
Saturn
Jupiter
Mercury, Venus - uh ha!
Uranus!
Don’t you know my ass is famous?
Mars
Now serve for the gods
Earth, serve for the stars!

When you touch me I die
Just a little inside
I wonder if this could be love
This could be love
'Cause you’re out of this world
Galaxy space and time
I wonder if this could be love
This could be love
I wonder if this could be love
This could be love
Goddess of love
I wonder if this could be love

Venus

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/ladygaga/venus.html

Dream Log #2

Last night I had a dream that I was on a cruise and there was massive amounts of noise everywhere. The sound was pulling people off our ship and everyone was drowning and dying in the process. After waking up from this nightmare I came to realize that I may have been dreaming about Sirens, the women who sing to attract sailors to their deaths. Sirens have been present in a few myths we've looked at recently, including Odysseus. There must have been a connection between the Sirens and what I experienced in my dream.

Cool and relatable finds

I found this while roaming around on pinterest.com and thought it was very interesting. Personally, I belong to the sign Aquarius which appears to correspond to Hera (Juno). Juno happens to be the Goddess of childbirth and marriage, and the peacock, lion, and cow, are sacred to her. I'm not sure how the sign Aquarius relates to Hera and Juno but I will have to delve further into her background to learn more.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/481040803928763621/