Reading Diary B: Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 5-7)

For this diary I read the second part of Ovid's Metamorphoses. The portion I was most impacted by and interested in was the tale of Procne, Philomela, and Tereus. In this story, Procne and Philomela are sisters, with Procne being married to Tereus. When Tereus meets Philomela, he decides that he must 'have' her. So he tricks Procne and Philomela's father into letting him take Philomela with him back to Procne, and instead rapes and mutilates her. He leaves her trapped inside a building while he goes back to Procne and pretends she has died. Philomela manages to weave a message using her hair, which she gets to Procne. Procne then saves Philomela and exacts revenge on Tereus in a pretty horrifying way. Tereus and Procne have a son together, and because he is very much like Tereus, Procne proceeds to murder him and then feed him to Tereus. It's pretty awful. Then Tereus tries to kill the sisters and they all turn into birds and fly away. I've got some pretty mixed feelings about this story. The beginning with the rape of Philomela was terrible, but it didn't seem like an entirely uncommon thing in the context of Greek mythology. The murder of Procne's own son took me off guard though, as I (perhaps naively) don't associate many Greek myths with filicide being committed. I have read similar stories that appeared more recently that follow a similar path, but typically the two feuding parties aren't in the same family and so it's different. I think that ending turned me off to the story as a whole, but I would say I enjoyed it up to that point.

Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 5-7)
Tereus Marries Procne
Tereus Rapes Philomela
Procne's Revenge

Rubens: Tereus Confronted with the Head of his Son Itys

Storytelling Week 3: Arachne Weaves a Web

Minerva began to weave, depicting Troy upon a hill with the battles raging beneath. Brave Achilles runs through the battle, arrows ever searching for his heel. Noble Hector runs out to challenge him but will find only death in this decision. Further down she shows Odysseus, lost for so long at sea. His boat approaches an island covered in hulking cyclops. At the corners are the Gods, with royal Jupiter looking down over the struggles of common men.

Across the room, Arachne's work is coming together, though it doesn't appear as a typical tapestry. There are depictions of heroes or great battles; instead, the tapestry seems oddly translucent, as though the thread she used were thin enough to rip right through. As she progressed further and further in her weaving, Minerva noticed and began to grow confident. Though the material itself was incredible, it was undeniable that the scenes up on Minerva's work were far superior to those Arachne.

Finally time in the hour glass had run out, and it was time to compare the two works of art. Minerva began, showcasing the vibrant colors and incredible landscapes she had created. All in attendance agreed that it was certainly the most impressive weaving they had ever seen. Upon hearing this Minerva grew even more confident, knowing that she truly was superior to Arachne.

Then it was Arachne's turn. She pulled her weaving out, and the crowd looked on, confused. "Why, there's nothing on there!" said Minerva in glee. "You have to get closer," replied Arachne, "the silk is so very fine that you can't see it all from a distance.

And so Minerva moved closer, until her face was nearly touching the tapestry, and yet still she could not make out the designs. "You are nothing but a fake," declared Pallas Minerva, just as the tapestry suddenly rushed towards her, then over her, and finally around her. Suddenly Minerva found herself wrapped within the weaving, unable to escape. Though the material looked thin to the eyes, it was very strong and very sticky. The more she struggled the more entangled she became. "What is this travesty?!" she screamed. "I have had enough of your meddling in my life," replied Arachne, "maybe this time you will learn your lesson about messing with humans whenever you feel like it." And with that Arachne departed, and Minerva was left to scream and struggle, caught by the web of Arachne.

Author's Note: In the original story they offer quite a bit more detail for the actual weaving of the tapestries but I didn't have the Greek mythological background for that. The original version of this story is a classic example of Gods putting mortals in their place for perceived slights. Minerva challenges Arachne to a competition and loses. She is unwilling to accept this, and ultimately destroys Arachne's tapestry and attacks. Arachne can't stand this and decides to hang herself. Before going back to Olympus, Minerva changes her into a spider. This plotline occurs all throughout Greek mythology, as mortals are constantly doing one thing or another to anger Gods. I decided to put a twist on this. I don't like the idea omnipotent beings just fiddling around in mortal lives, so I put the twist on it to change that and make Arachne the one to defeat Minerva. The image is obviously just a picture of Arachne, though it's supposed to be her as part-spider. I chose this spider because Minerva is one of my favorite Greek gods and I had never actually heard the story of Arachne. I hope readers take from this story the idea that an individual with one special talent can do quite a bit, even against a person that seems incredibly powerful.

Minerva Weaves a Web

Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline (2000) 

Arachne working on her web.

Reading Diary A

The Greek gods have always interested me because they generally come off as entitled babies. It's a significant contrast to God in Christianity or Judaism because humans seem to be their playthings as opposed to creature that they care for to some extent. I think this makes sense because they were originally thought up as a means for explaining all the terrible things that happened back in those days, and eventually transitioned to also explaining the good. For example, when crops died or there was an extended drought, Ceres could be to blame. Now of course if she was to blame when things were bad, she also received some credit for an especially strong crop. An example of the whims of the Gods exists in this section in the story of Arachne and Minerva. In this story, Minerva is essentially angry because Arachne is an excellent wool spinner, but refuses to give any credit to Minerva, thought Minerva claims that she in some way taught the girl this ability. Ultimately Minerva is so upset that she challenges Arachne and turns her into a spider. This is just one in a long lineage of stories of Gods messing with the lives of mortals. Later, a woman named Niobe rejects the goddess Latona as being inferior to her and tells the people to worship her instead. Latona is furious at this, and kills first Niobe's sons and then her daughters. Again, this is an example of a mortal putting themself above the gods, making one of them angry, and ultimately paying the price. These stories both explain the many tragedies that took place back in those times, but also teach people to be careful not to display hubris.

Ovid's Metamorphoses Part 2

Death of Niobe's Children, Konig

Mythology and Folklore Topics Brainstorm

Topic: Greek myths about humans and monsters
Comments: I've always really enjoyed Greek mythology, starting with a lot of video games that I played earlier in my life such as Age of Mythology and Titan Quest. I like the idea of battle that values ability as opposed to just a person being able to shoot a gun. Achilles was always one of my favorite mythological characters.
Possible Stories: A couple examples are obviously The Odyssey and The Illiad. I know there are also additional stories following warriors like Ajax and Hercules.
Sample Story Comments: I found a story about Jason tricking a dragon to grab the Golden Fleece that I enjoyed.
Bibliography Information: 
Sample Story: Jason and the Golden Fleece
Book Title: Ovid's Metamorpheses
Book Author: Tony Kline
Year: 2000

Topic: Greek gods and constellations
Comments: The interesting other half of Greek mythology is the story of gods and goddesses and how manipulate common men. I think it's very interesting to see how they mess around in the lives of men.
Possible Stories: Any stories about Jupiter, Mars, or the variety of other Greek gods that exist.
Sample Story Comments: I found a story about Mars having an affair with Vulcan's wife and how Vulcan gets revenge for it.
Bibliography Information: 
Mars and Venus
Book Title: Ovid's Metamorpheses
Book Author: Tony Kline
Year: 2000

Topic: Stories from the Middle Ages
Comments: Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a defining film in my early childhood life and ever sinec then I've been very interested in the Middle Ages. Again, I like the idea of success in battle based on strategy or pure ability as opposed firepower.
Possible Stories: A ton of different stories about all the knights of the round table.
Sample Story Comments: I read the story of King Arthur and the Sword Excalibur from the arm in the lake.
Bibliography Information: 
The Sword of Excalibur
Bookie Title: King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table
Book Author: Andrew Lang
Year: 1902

Topic: Brothers Grimm
Comments: I think it's really easy to like Brothers Grimm after hearing so many of the kid-friendly stories from it. It only gets cooler when you get older and get to appreciate the actual stories.
Possible Stories: Lots of different stories based around animals as well as things like Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella.
Sample Story Comments: The story of the Fox and the Cat, and how the Fox was so busy collecting a bag full of clever that he couldn't escape when he had to.
Bibliography Information:
The Fox and The Cat
Book Title: The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales
Book Author: D.L. Ashlimann
Year: 1998-2013

Reading Diary A: Aesop's Fables (Jacobs)

The most interesting thing about my reading in this unit was the contrast between what I would consider somewhat similar creatures. It's very clear that the various animals have been given specific characteristics and personalities to describe them. For example, the Lion is proud and dangerous. The Fox is very cunning and sneaky, while the Wolf appears to be vicious and just downright bad. This was a especially interesting because these characteristics linked directly to the lesson that each fable was intended to teach. The vast majority of the Lion's stories involved him eating or killing something, and often referenced his place as 'King of the beasts', as with "only cowards insult dying majesty". This suggests to me that there is an extent to which the author was attempting to place personalities on these animals to serve a message, but they seem to make a lot of sense. I don't think many people would argue with the idea of a fox as devious and cunning, so the use of one for those lessons seems to make perfect sense.

References:
Aesop's Fables (Jacobs)
Lions Part 1
Lions Part 2
Foxes Part 1
Wolves

The Lion takes all of the hunt for himself

UnTextbook

Dante's Inferno: this is a story I've always wanted to read, particularly because I really enjoy mythology. The writing looked well translated into English which I also think could help with my actual comprehension.
Homer's Odyssey: I have read the Illiad before but never the Odyssey. This section said it focuses on the monsters that Odysseus fights, which I find very interesting.
Brer Rabbit I and II: I've actually heard quite a few people talk about the Brer Rabbit and never really understood what it was. After reading the brief description, I think this would be a valuable way of delving more into a culture that I can't really claim to understand.
Tibetan Folktales: this also focuses to an extent on monsters and mythical creatures, while still involving some animals interacting with each other.

Odysseus and the Sirens.

Storybook Favorites

The three storybooks I found most interesting all had to do with legendary creatures. https://sites.google.com/site/chrispunlap/introduction Discussed your typical evil legendary creatures, like vampires and werewolves. It also took a very interesting approach for the introduction, telling the story of a monster hunter in a format that I found very interesting. https://sites.google.com/site/seamonsters3043/introduction took this same approach in the form of a monster hunter at sea. I particularly enjoyed the background graphic that the first storybook used, while I thought the graphic of the ocean and all its tides was a really cool way to link to monster hunting there. The third storybook took a different twist to the story, instead looking at humans from the perspective of monsters: https://sites.google.com/site/ahumanencountersconvention/introduction. I enjoyed this twist a lot because it was a very atypical way of telling the story. As a whole, I felt the aesthetic of the pages worked really well with what the authors appeared to be trying to accomplish. The first one definitely gave off a serious and spooky vibe, while the last was the complete opposite. I think I'd also like to do a background that stays put while the words scroll, that was the most interesting background to me. I also think I'd like to repeat the organization that the storybooks used, I felt that the table of contents in the top left made a lot of sense to me. One tweak I might want to make is putting a link to the next story at the bottom of the previous story so it seems like the stories are continuously flowing. I do think I would be most interested in a topic similar to those written about by these authors, especially the one who wrote about the ocean. I find monsters a very interesting concept and I would like to specifically look at monsters in the context of mythology such as the hydra or gorgons.

Medusa, one of the Gorgons. 

Introduction

Hi everyone! My name's Cooper Lund, although technically Cooper is my middle name and Jorgen is my first name. I'm originally from Kansas City, KS. Currently I am a junior studying economics with a minor in math. I'm very interested in using past events to predict future ones, which is one of the primary reasons I enjoy economics. I'm an avid fantasy football player and Netflix watcher. I've probably seen all the seasons of The Office 7-8 times. I also managed to watch every season of Criminal Minds over the break, an accomplishment I'm particularly proud of. On campus I am involved with a variety of organizations such as Soonerthon, CCEW, and SGA. I've got one sister named Katy who is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota. My mom owns a veterinary clinic in Kansas City and my dad is a computer programmer. Because my mom is a vet, we have always had a ton of pets cycling through our house. Currently we only have two dogs, Motor and Ace. Motor is a 7 year old shi-tzu and Ace is some kind of pekinese mix. Ace's claim to fame is that he actually only has one eye. When he was a puppy he lived in a puppy mill and the eye got infected and by the time he was rescued from the mill it was too late to do anything but take it out. Luckily, he is black so the eye isn't super noticeable and he's still one of the happiest dogs you will ever meet. I am a very laid back person, so I enjoy watching TV and movies, hanging out with friends, and listening to music. My favorite artist is Passenger and I actually got to see him perform in Dallas for my birthday last year. And that's pretty much all the even moderately interesting things about me.

Jim having a very deep and introspective discussion with Dwight about a variety of topics. 

Week 1 Storytelling: The Old Lion and the Fox

       Once there was a very Old Lion who was too old to hunt food, as he had in his younger days. It was winter, and he found himself becoming sick. Knowing he would surely die without food to help him combat his illness, the Old Lion invited all his neighbors to come to his cave and talk to him. One by one they went, and one by one they disappeared.

      

The Fox was very wary of the Old Lion, and he refused to get to close to his cave when he went to visit. “Come closer,” said the Old Lion, “I can’t hear you from there.” But the Fox refused, not wanting to disappear like all of the other animals. He returned back to his home, and tried to wait out the winter. Colder and colder it grew, until finally the Fox was stuck in the freezing cold all the time. He grew sicker and sicker.

One day, knowing he would soon die, the Fox went back to visit the Old Lion. To his shock, the Old Lion was no longer sick. In fact, he looked healthier than ever. “How have you recovered?!” exclaimed the Fox, “you are so old and I am young!” “Who is that out there?” the Fox heard from behind the Old Lion, inside the cave. Suddenly, the pink face of his neighbor Pig popped out of the cave, followed by the dusky face of Raccoon, whom he used to share food with.

“There you are Fox!” shouted Raccoon, “we were afraid you had died, why didn’t you come into the warmth with us?” “You mean the Old Lion didn’t eat you?” replied Fox. Pig looked confused, “Of course not! He offered all our neighbors the chance to share the warmth of his cave in exchange for bringing him food. We’ve all been doing great.” Then, finally, the shock of seeing his friends alive and the depth of sickness was too much, and with one final sigh, Fox died.

Strife can bring together strange friends.

The Fox and the Old Lion

Author's Note: In the original version of this fable, the Old Lion actually is eating all of the neighbors, and the lesson is to take warning from the bad things that occur to other people. The Fox sees footprints going into the cave but not coming out, and comes to the conclusion that misfortune has occurred for his neighbors. He's right, because the Old Lion has been eating all of the neighbors. I wanted to mix things up by actually making him appear paranoid instead of showing common sense. Instead of having the Old Lion eat the neighbors, he had been letting them into his home all along in exchange for collecting food. This story is part of series of stories involving the Old Lion, who previously had actually been a younger Lion going through other experiences. I think it's interesting because the Lion is sort of gaining in cunning throughout the stories, so this is the culmination of all that. I chose the image above because I thought it was kind of amusing. It makes me think of the Fox outsmarting the Old Lion and sort of sticking out his tongue at him. It doesn't fit my story quite right but I think it fits the original one very well. 

Bibliography: Aesop for Children, by (anonymous), illustrated by Milo Winter (1919)

Image Information: http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/milowinter/55.htm

My Favorite Place

I am originally from Overland Park, a small-ish suburb outside of Kansas City, KS. I've been a Chiefs fan for as long as I can remember, and make a point of trying to attend at least one home game every season. Because of this, my favorite place is Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs play. It is the loudest outdoor stadium in the world, and the atmosphere is always great to be a part of.

Arrowhead Stadium before a game, just as the jets do a flyover.