On our very first day of class, I mentioned that for many people, when they hear the term “myth” they immediately think about Greek myths, and the gods and goddesses of Athens.  They may not immediately think of Homer’s ‘Odyssey,’ but without a doubt, it is one of the most important, most influential mythological works ever written. Though it is understood as a sweeping myth, Homer’s masterpiece is also fascinating as a kind of political document, a manifesto about war and peace, imperialism, violence, hatred, and so on. And that fact has inspired the prompt for your third Blogpost of the semester.  This will be a two-part response, as articulated below:

1) The infamous “clash of the titans” is one of the earliest stories that we have from the world of Greek myth. Thinking back to our class from last Wednesday, I want you to explore a specific story from early Greek myth as a kind of political document, a creative act that negotiates the day’s crises of power and authority.  How is war and violence manifest in this story, and what does it teach us about such violence, the people who enact violence, and, perhaps, about the Greek culture itself? 

2)  In the second part, I want you to build on this thinking by examining something related to war and peace as depicted by Homer in the ‘Odyssey.’ Homer himself apparently endured considerable civil strife and warfare in his lifetime, and it is only natural that he uses the words of his characters to comment on the violence and power-struggles that surrounded him.  Hence, in this section I want you to address a particular war-oriented theme – such as violence, hatred, justice, mercy, authority, surrender, and negotiation – and examine that theme as presented in a particular passage from the ‘Odyssey.’  Pick a quotation or two from the text and then discuss it in terms of its political content.  In your discussion you should identify the central issue of your chosen lines, and detail the challenges, views, and logic of characters concerning the subject; then, you must offer some thoughts on what YOU think about the topic within the context of the story (if not the culture of Greece more generally). 

One of the primary functions of this Blogsite is to encourage students to think about and explore a given text assigned for class on their own before we work together in class to make sense out of the story.  The second blogpost of the semester is designed with that task in mind, as I want you to articulate some preliminary thoughts about the complex Epic of Gilgamesh, which is viewed by many experts as perhaps the earliest masterpiece of world literature.  To variously explore this wonderful story, I want you to do two things (in at least one paragraph for each part): 

1)  The first myths we studied this semester were various myths of creation and destruction, which are far shorter than the Gilgamesh legend, and also come from far different times, places, and cultures.  Yet there is meaning to be found when bringing these diverse early myths into conversation with the ancient mythical roots of Mesopotamia.  For part one, then, I’d like you to consider similarities and differences between the shorter creation and destruction myths and the far longer Epic of Gilgamesh.  What might get revealed about the differences between early “epic” and “myth” by comparing, for example, the trials and tribulations faced by Gilgamesh with the Biblical story of creation?  To really explore such issues, please compare Gilgamesh to a single creation/destruction myth of your choosing, and then pick two characters (one from each text) and compare/contrast them.  What does this interaction suggest about the characters themselves, and more importantly, about key elements of each myth (if not their respective societies)?  What does your comparison reveal about the two works, and the two different types of work in question (i.e. epic vs. myth) ?? 

2)  For your second section, I’d like you to draw very precisely on some of our earlier work in class, specifically our foundational classwork on the all-important theories of Aristotle (on tragedy) and Joseph Campbell (on the “monomyth” of the hero).  For Part Two, then, I would like you to carefully and critically apply the ideas of these thinkers to The Epic of Gilgamesh.  If you are interested in the key notions of Aristotle, you might show how the plot of this epic masterpiece fits certain “tragic” modes (such as leading toward a kind of “catharsis”), or attempt to view Gilgamesh (or perhaps Enkidu) as a kind of “tragic hero” according to the terms laid out by Aristotle.  On the other hand, you might tell us about how Campbell’s theories regarding the hero’s quest (i.e. separation – initiation – return) help us to understand the journey undertaken by Gilgamesh.  Overall, what key ideas or issues get raised through a careful application of the ideas of Aristotle and/or Campbell’s to this fascinating Mesopotamian epic?

During the first few weeks of the semester, we are working to lay important intellectual foundations for our class by exploring the meaning of myth, introducing Aristotle’s theories about tragedy, and considering the more recent scholarship of Joseph Campbell on the “hero’s journey.” This three-part Blogpost is designed to get you to think about these ideas a little bit differently, and especially to make connections between the world of myth and our own “real” lives – something we will be doing throughout the semester.  With that in mind, then, you will write three short paragraphs (total) in response to the three prompts below.  I’ll be curious to see what you come up with for your first response writings of the semester!

1)  For class last week you read an article (published on ThoughtCo) that takes different theories about myth and combines them into the following simple definition: “Myths are stories told by people about people: where they come from, how they handle major disasters, how they cope with what they must, and how everything will end.” Taking this definition into consideration, I’d like you to discuss a time in your life when a “myth” or a story with key mythical elements played a key role.  Many believe that myths are things of the past, yet we still mythologize many aspects of our world – so how does your experience with myth highlight the power and significance of myths to living beings in the twenty-first century?

2)  On Monday we examined the ins and outs of Aristotle’s foundational views of myth from the Poetics. Hence, I thought it would be worthwhile to apply specific ideas from Aristotle’s theories to a specific movie, text, or experience from your own life.  To do so, you might tell us how the plot of your chosen tale fits certain “tragic” modes (such as leading toward a “catharsis”), or consider how the characters fit Aristotle’s ideals – especially of the “tragic hero.”  And in making these connections, you might also consider this:  what are some of the ways that tragedy functions in your own life?  How does tragedy make you feel, and what does it teach you about the world in which we live?

3)  Wednesday we will be exploring Joseph Campbell’s notion of a “monomyth,” which has been profoundly influential. But one controversial aspect of his view of the “hero’s journey” is the idea that the heroes of myth and legend are, in certain fundamental ways, discernably different than those “heroes” we see in everyday life.  But is this really true?  What is a hero?  To consider these questions, I’d like you to cite a hero that you know personally or just know about, and use them as a way to define, discuss, and illustrate what it means to be heroic.  In time, we will test these ideas by seeing how your notions are similar to – or different than – the ideas of Campbell, as well as the actual heroes depicted in myth and legend throughout the ages.

The significance and influence of the works of Homer and Sophocles cannot be overstated, and there is no doubt that the ‘Odyssey’ and ‘Oedipus Rex’ are both masterpieces of world literature.  These texts are crucially important examples of Greek mythological writing, but are also highly interesting when seen as political documents of a kind, texts about war and peace, kingship, imperialism, xenophobic hatred, and so on. Although the violent conflicts depicted in these works are fictional, they may well have been inspired by the real-life fighting that was persistent among the city-states of Greece.  Therefore, in this Blogpost, I want you to think about the ‘Odyssey’ and ‘Oedipus Rex’ not strictly as a mythological texts but as political documents, as creative acts that negotiate the day’s crises of power and authority.  To do so, I want you to address a particular war-oriented theme – such as violence, hatred, justice, mercy, authority, surrender, and negotiation – and examine that theme as presented in a particular speech or passage from the ‘Odyssey’.  Then, I’d like you to do the same with regards to the political content in a vital moment from ‘Oedipus Rex’.  In your discussion, you might bring the two texts into conversation and, at minimum, should identify the central issue(s) of your chosen lines, and detail the challenges and logic of the characters regarding the subject.  You should also feel free to offer some thoughts about what YOU think about the topic within the context of these stories (if not the culture of Greece more generally).

The Epic of Gilgamesh is widely recognized as being, perhaps, the earliest masterpiece of world literature.  Hesiod, who wrote his Theogony hundreds if not thousands of years later, is widely credited with helping to establish the immensely influential tradition of Greek mythical writing.  One of these is an anonymous text carved onto clay tablets using cuneiform script, while the other is often seen as amongst the earliest examples of alphabetic literary writing.  One of these works was mostly hidden from view for over a millennium and is from the ancient, mysterious, and often undervalued society of Mesopotamia; the other comes from the later, well-documented, and widely praised culture of Greece.  Yet despite tremendous differences of time, place, subject matter, and textual form, there are some remarkable similarities between the Epic of Gilgamesh and Theogony, not to mention some telling differences.  Thus, I’m interested in seeing what might happen if we bring these ostensibly distant and divergent works together in very precise ways.  In particular, what might get revealed about the differences between early “epic” and “myth” by comparing, for example, the trials and tribulations faced by Gilgamesh with Hesiod’s tales of his favorite god Zeus?  To see what might come out of a focused exploration of these two monumentally important work, please pick two characters (one from each text) and compare/contrast them.  What does this interaction suggest about the characters themselves, and more importantly, about key elements of each masterpiece (if not their respective societies)?  What does your comparison reveal about the two works, and the two different types of work in question (i.e. epic vs. myth) ??