Mythology and Folklore

The Giant by Henry Justice Ford ( Wikimedia ) Odysseus, Sindbad, and the Giant “…And at last I arrived at this cave where we now feast.” “You expect me to believe there exists a valley of diamonds and serpents larger than elephants? That by attaching a large roast to you back you managed to escape by the wings of a great bird? Only to be rescued by merchants flapping their arms and yelling?” “Ay, this is the story of Sindbad the Sailor.” The room grew quiet as Odysseus rose, tension mounting as he said “How could you insult me such telling ridiculous lies. Do you think I am a fool?” Then, just as Sindbad began to fear for his safety Odysseus burst into laughter and so too did both crews. “Sindbad the Sailor, for all the wonders you have seen, you still cannot best the look on your face just then. I too, have had many great travels and experiences, the tales of which many would cast aside as horrible lies. Let us continue to share these stories while we fill our bellies, what a ch

Sindbad the Sailor by Milo Winter ( Wikimedia ) Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sindbad, Part A First Voyage : I like the use of first person narration, different technique that I have not used yet, might be beneficial to try.  I also like the context of voyager on the sea, lends itself to nearly anything imaginable happening  Islands are cool because they exist almost as their own worlds, good way to test a character against situations not normally present in “average life”  Could be really interesting to retell this tale with Sindbad as an untrustworthy narrator or even through more of a dialogue with his listener responding: could also change listener  Second Voyage : Interesting how he goes from a somewhat reasonable voyage to a very strange one  I like the rhino and elephant story, might be interesting scene for descriptive imagery and could be placed anywhere  Third Voyage : Description of small savages that attack as swarms a story I have seen before. Occurs in Moan

Meditation by Moyan Brenn ( Wikimedia ) Siddhartha’s First Meditation Emphasis on knowledge indicative of that value within culture   Interesting method of plot development where main character is meditating. Can’t have him talk, instead has passerby comment on him to elaborate what is occurring  Supernatural occurrences with nature mark this story: ie. Shadow not moving  Interesting quote at end that must stop working in fields, must seek the great truths  Would be interesting to insert theme of finding the great truths working among the fields and talking to people of the earth. I would suggest that this is where real knowledge is found but this may not fit the caste system of the culture I believe this is set in: potential for retelling  First Encounter and Two More Encounters :  I like the emphasis on nature and the use of descriptive imagery to convey this  Scenes of nature and seasons as exposition frame stories nicely  Interesting theme of old age as ruin of the

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The Great Flood by Bonaventura Peeters ( Wikimedia ) The Great Flood Jupiter’s lashed out, unsatisfied. He had drawn the winds and aerial waters to his side. Storms encompassing nations spread across the sky, a never ending sea of tumultuous darkness, split only by the bright flashes of Jupiter’s strikes. Water came torrentially, but not even this satisfied his anger. He called out to Neptune who joined in his cause. Neptune struck his great trident into the sands of the beach and at once the oceans came to life consuming all before them. The rivers rushed unrelenting, overflowing, and grabbing anything they could grasp as they raced to the oceans. Buildings, orchards, flocks, people, and temples, no one was spared as every body of water became one. The world is drowned None escaped save for Deucalion and Pyrrah. Able to salvage themselves on a small skiff, they moored near the top of Mount Parnassus, whose peaks rest among the stars. Here in this strange limbo

                                            Week 4 Part B:  Ovid’s Metamorphoses: (Books 1-4) Echo: This is a wild start to the story with 3 different episodes in the first few paragraphs  Might be more difficult to replicate, this plot is very complex The plot got even more complex in the strangest love story I’ve read This story had significantly more detail and description than the last one I read from this book Mars and Venus: Interesting difference in narrator where it is a separate character telling the story Another unique version of a love story Shorter but still descriptive More straightforward plot but told well, driven right into the story right after some brief exposition Perseus and Andromeda: In this story and others from this unit there are many myths within the one larger story. For example, as Perseus is flying Medusas blood drops on Libyan sands and that’s why that country has snakes. Many layers to these stories Another interesting opportunit

Mount Parnassus in 1821 by Edward Dodwell ( Wikimedia ) Week 4 Part A: Ovid’s Metamorphoses: (Books 1-4) Deucalion and Pyrrha :  Jupiter = Greek Zues; Neptune = Poseidon; Early flood myth. D and P only survivors. Themis = God of Law and order. D son of Titan god Prometheus, Pyrrha daughter of Titan god Epimetheus and wife Pandora. Interesting paragraphs. Action packed, seems to come from verbs, and does not feel passive. “The world is drowned.” All animals die except for ocean dwellers. Possible use for trickster animal experiencing flood. Transfer to passive voice now as focus settles on story. D and P come to rest on a mountain, Mount Parnassus that peaks above clouds in completely flooded world, really cool opportunity for descriptive imagery – link to limbo type world Jupiter clears clouds and Neptune calms the sea/Triton arises from ocean and blows conch returning rivers and streams to return – cool imagery  Probably want to retell this one with the addition of some

Santa-five ( Web Source ) Five Reasons to Stop Saying “Good Job!” I like the point they make about creating praise junkies. There’s definitely a generational issue with people my age and below that need instant gratification and can’t handle when there is significant struggle between them and the reward. I think it’s an interesting point they made about children losing interest. Parents can only stand to give praise for so long. Encouraging growth instead and the learning of different skills inspires sustained interest in an activity. The Trouble with “Amazing”: Giving Praise that Matters This article was interesting, I thought it was pretty funny that their first point was in reference to an American Idol judge, put the point was good. The message was that “amazing” is Paula praise, which the author posits is vague and empty. I like the last point that it “praises the person, not the effort.” Too often people think they are smart enough to do something or they aren’t. Mo

           Roman de Renart ( Public Domain )             I ended up deciding to go with the theme of tricksters. I thought about doing Thor vs. Marvel Thor but I think copyright issues may make that a bit of a tough time. I like this theme because I think there is an unlimited number of ways I could take it. As of right now, I want to find a central trickster and have each episode be an interaction between them and another character. One way I might go is to have each episode be a meeting between different versions of the same trickster (ie. Reynard the Fox and Aesop’s Fox) or the central trickster’s rivals (ie. Reynard the Fox and Isengrem the Wolf). I will also be keeping an open mind throughout all the upcoming stories with new characters we run into that fit the description of “trickster.” As of now I’ll start with a few base characters. Reynard the Fox ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynard_the_Fox ): Reynard is a Fox from fables of the Late Middle Ages. This character is

The Contractor and the Wolf Boy Who Cried Wolf by Francis Barlow ( Wikimedia )             Once upon a time there was a contractor traveling through the countryside looking for his next plot of land to develop a nice neighborhood. He stumbled upon a beautiful forest. He thought to himself, “I could plow this land up and build a wonderful neighborhood that all the people will come to live in. They’ll pay me extravagantly and I’ll have plenty of money to spend on supper. As he approached the forest to explore a wolf came out. “Why have you come to my forest contractor?” asked the wolf. “I’m going to bulldoze this forest and create a neighborhood here,” said the contractor. “This is not your forest, you cannot do that,” said the wolf. “Well, then,” said the contractor, “I do not see anyone’s name on this forest, so who says I can’t take it?” “I say,” said the Wolf, “I rule over this forest and have made my marking all over the trees.” “How dare you mark

Aesop's Lion by Wenceslas Hollar ( Wikimedia ) Aesop’s Fables  Lions, Part 1-2: ·          Commented on it last week, but I know it’s something I would struggle with: beginnings are straightforward, can just state the facts as exposition. ·         Even though first fable, Lion’s Share is short, contains beginning, middle, and end. ·         Feels more like a setup to back/demonstrate a greater principle. ·         The sick lion is an interesting tale. Almost like intro leading up to a thesis ·         As someone who likes to talk, I don’t know if I could write this concisely, but I like how concentrated these stories feel. Very little filler        You can tell these are tales that were at one point retained and passed down through word of mouth ·         The Four Oxen and the Lion – extremely concentrated, leanest story I’ve ever read.        The Lion in Love is a bit of a sad story, not entirely sure what to make of the lesson but I like that kind of ambi

Feedback ( Wikimedia ) I read “A Simple 5-Second Habit to Rewire Your Harshly Self-Critical Brain” and “Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt in Creative Work.” I liked the messages in both articles and the topics they dealt with are some things that I have been grappling with lately. I connected with the story in the first article talking about struggling with diet and developing REBS. The idea that one dessert would ruin a whole diet is actually more ridiculous than the idea that it wouldn’t, but when you have a self-critical mindset it can seem reasonable. I like what the second article said about comparing yourself to others. It is far more beneficial to compare yourself with your former self. Overall, much of what they talked about in both articles are things I’ve implemented myself with a lot of success. I used to be really bad about overthinking and being self-critical, and though I still struggle, I’ve learned to step back when I start doing this and try to change my perspective

Thor having a meeting with some giants ( Wikimedia ) Tricksters:  The element of a trickster in a story is something I have enjoyed since I was younger. I would like to learn more about different tricksters from different cultures. I think it would be interesting to see what similarities and differences there are. I think it could be fun to write a retelling where two tricksters meet, or even a group of tricksters meet. It could also be fun to write about a trickster who gets a taste of his own medicine. I was particularly interested in Reynard the Fox, and I’m excited to read more of his stories and look at how it reflects that region of Europe’s culture. OU Ghost Stories :  I am a big fan of ghost stories, and especially ghost stories that are interwoven with history or real places. Something about having that connection to the real world makes those ghost stories even better. I have studied OU’s tradition and history a good bit for an organization I am a part of called