Mythology is Everywhere...

The study of the world's mythology has always been interesting, but throughout this course I personally have learned that it's more applicable to the "real world" than most people know. As the final weeks of our mythological experience come to an end, each student presents an application of the knowledge they've gained throughout the course by applying it to a piece of contemporary literature or media. Though I had a pretty good idea of how well Campell's "Journey of the Hero" could be fit to a fictional movie or novel for example, I found it quite intriguing how well it could be applied to an autobiographies or nonfiction works as well; the obvious difference being one is created with the intention of entertaining so it may not be as realistic, while the other is a record of "real life" events. Most people still associate the word myth with it's dictionary definition (obviously) as being "any fictitious idea accepted as part of an ideology by an uncritical group", and are so quick to judge, question, or try disprove myths from cultures other than their own, when selections like the Holy Bible for example is really no different. Myths just serve as basically a culture's set of morals, values, and/or code of conduct depicted through a narrative; though the characters and events of the story may be untrue, the values they represent are very real, almost making the myths themselves real. We must remember that mythology was based off observations of life as we once knew it, and the fact that cultures spread throughout the world have very similar myths with common themes, indicates the relevance, importance, and thus reality of these invaluable exhibitions of history and human life.

Myth v.s. Fable



Myths are accepted as true without proof

Myth. Legend. Fairy tale. Fable. Four of the most commonly interchanged words with four completely unique definitions. Before this subject was just briefly brought up in class today, I too was unaware of the differences between such nouns, but it turns out they are pretty distinct. The class we have been writing this blog for all semester is devoted to the education of myths, which according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, is characterized by: association with religious beliefs, unknown origins but traditionally kept alive, recognized as symbolic narrative which most always involves deities or superhuman characters that are involved in extraordinary circumstances that is understood to have taken place beyond everyday human life. The plausibility of myths are often unquestioned, accepted as matter-of-fact in the culture it originated without any form of proof other than its existence. Myths play a major role in its originating culture, often serving as word from a higher power, and more often depicting the actual progression and morals of the culture itself. 

The characters of fables are most notably animals



Fables on the other hand, are characterized by predominant anthropomorphized animals or objects as the main characters of the story; but unlike myths, fables often end in a resonating moral message that comments on human social behavior of the time. Not only do myths lack the "preachy" tone that fables present, but quite the opposite, most myths really have no point they're trying to get at and actually should not be looked at as an example to copy. In addition, the comprehension of a myth is very dependent on a vast understanding of the events and people of a certain time, while a fable is almost always universal since it's main characters are known animals or objects.

Fairy tales are mostly magical recollections

Fairy tales, apart from its literal definition concerning the class of supernatural beings (fairies), has developed into another branch of narration most often characterized by the presence of a young individual that has some sort of run-in with magical events or beings. The origin of this classification of short story can only be traced back to the 18th century, where the idea of a "fairy" was first introduced to the word by medieval Europe, convinced these beings inhabited the very kingdom in which they lived. Like fables (and unlike myths), fairy tales take place in a vague time, so as to be more universally understood.

Arthur's account is based on factual info

Legends, on the other hand, are more closely related to myths rather than fables or fairy tales, as they are associated with being based on historical fact. The distinction between legend and myth is often difficult, as legends border on becoming myths since a degree of supernatural is often incorporated into its story, though it's still supposed to be based on fact. Common examples of legends are King Arthur and Robin Hood; some argue that the Iliad is a legend as well since it was based a real man's journey..

The significance of wolves in mythology



Wolves accompany Odin



The appearance and significance of the wolf throughout myths from a numerous different cultures and time periods raises a question from time to time concerning its role throughout these myths; it seems to mostly fill the role of an antagonist to cultural heroes or deities, or at least exhibit some characteristics of the trickster figure, yet it appears in some myths as the companion or form of assistant to the protagonists. Through some research I found that the wolf most generally symbolizes evil, along positive and spiritual aspects, and the representation of the union of opposites. In the early development of mankind, it was found that wolves and humans were constantly opposing each other, competing essentially for the same food, which is perhaps why the wolf is more prominently known as a troublesome or evil figure.

 As mentioned before, the wolf is viewed as really a contradiction of itself by cultures all over the world, its a wild and feared animal that often times represent death or Satan of some sort; but at the same time a it is the companion to the goddess Artemis and Odin. I found that this theme of opposites in the symbolism of the wolf is also represented by the contrast between the masculine and feminine nature: the masculine nature is depicted by many cultures as the protector or exhibiting war-like behavior, while the feminine nature is symbolized as the goddess in she-wolf form nurturing the twins, Romulus and Remus, or in the Irish myth of Cormac, King of Ireland who was suckled by wolves and was always accompanied by them.  

Romulus and Remus nurtured by a wolf



The association of the wolf with the goddess was seen in the Roman cult of Lupa, as a "divine midwife" and "mother of the ancestral spirits", she was often known as "Mother of the Wolves". An ancient statue in the Lupercal grotto depicts the infants Romulus and Remus, whom she supposedly to have nursed. She was annually honored at the Lupercalia, the festival of the She-wolf, when kids dressed in wolf skins to do so. This notable female wolf figure and the abandoned twins became the emblem of Rome. The frequent connection between goddess figures and totemic wolves is also seen as a strong indication that women first established relationships with wolves and eventually domesticated them.

Histories of the Sky

I often find myself looking up at the night sky in hopes to find a clear unobstructed view of everything that's going on up there. I find it so fascinating that the constellations, planets, and even galaxies that we find ourselves awe stricken by every night were once gazed upon by people who lived anywhere on this earth even centuries ago, and that the shapes within constellations originally observed and outlined by ancient peoples are still visible tonight. The most prominent constellation I find my attention drawn to night after night without struggle is the great Orion, thanks to his signature belt that is visible from every part of the earth due to its location on the celestial equator; once you find the three close sequential stars that make up Orion's belt, the form of his body is easily identified soon after. Another notable feature of this constellation is the red giant Betelguese, which is one of the largest stars in the sky. So indulging my curiosity, I decided to find out Orion's tale, what people thousands of years ago felt the importance of this prominent figure of the sky was.

The origin of Orion from Greek and Roman mythology:

Orion was a demi-god, son of a mortal woman and the god Poseidon; Artemis fell in love with him, desiring to be with him. Her brother Apollo knew that if she gave her love to Orion, she would lose her power and image as a great goddess, and Apollo determined to keep his sister from her love. So when Artemis was busy, Apollo sent a giant scorpion to attack Orion, intending to kill him. Orion fought the scorpion bravely, but wasn't able to win the fight, so he attempted to flee. Seeing that he couldn't win, Orion attempted to flee by running into and on top of, the ocean; as Orion turned to enter the water the scorpion struck his ankle and the poison from the strike killed Orion. Artemis was of course upset upon learning what happened, so she put Orion's body into the skies so that she could always remember him. Afterwards, however, Apollo also put the scorpion into the skies as well, calling it Scorpio, so that the creature could forever chase the demi-god across the heavens. So, in the Greek sky, whenever Scorpio started to rise during the change of seasons, you could see Orion going down on the other horizon.

The ancient Egyptians recognized this constellation as well, but saw something different: they viewed it as their god Osiris holding the star Aldebaran. A theory exists (the Orion Correlation Theory) that speculates correlation between the locations of the three largest pyramids of Giza and the three bright stars that make up Orion's belt.

Norse Constellations

Throughout ancient Europe, the night sky was often as a "World Tree" that encompassed the entire skyline, where stars were the fruit of its extending branches, and the Milky Way was the gigantic roots extending down to the Earth and thus connecting the two "worlds". Here are some of the main constellations I stumbled across in scratching the surface; some of these constellations overlap or incorporate contemporarily known constellations since it is hard to know for sure which stars could be seen then or can't be seen now.

Friggerock (Frigg’s distaff) – this consists of three stars making up a distaff, which is equated with the belt of Orion.  (Assuming the Orion constellation was also viewed as a figure in the sky, in this case the goddess Frigg [2], the belt of Orion is still a belt but the sword has a vertical orientation as does the spindle as it would have been known in a society where women were the spinners.)  "Though Icelandic writings do not contain this name, it has remained in use among the Swedish country-folk (Ihre, sub v. Friggerock).  The constellation is however called Mariärock, Dan. Marirock (Magnusen, gloss. 361. 376), the christians having passed the same old idea on to Mary the heavenly mother." (Grimm 2004: 270)  "The same three stars are to this day called by the common folk in Up. Germany the three mowers, because they stand in a row like mowers in a meadow" (Grimm 2004: 726).

Thiassi’s Eyes – this consists of two Gemini stars Castor and Pollux, that are side by side of equal brightness resembling two eyes, reaching their peak in the sky at midnight in January, which is why they were associated with Skadi (goddess of winter and presumed goddess of Skandza).

Dain (dormant) – one of the deer constellations in the branches of the World Tree, an elf name and here is associated with the smallest of the deer.  Consists of two stars along its back leg, two stars along its front leg, two for its trunk, one star on its neck, the bright star Vega is its eye, and the four Lyra stars form its antler.

Dvalin (sleeper) – one of the deer constellations, a dwarf name and here is associated with the second smallest of the deer.  Consists of some of the same stars as Cepheus, with one star for each of its front foot and the North Star makes its rear foot, two stars for its trunk, one bright star is its eye, one star on its snout, seven stars make up its antlers.

Duneyr (drooping-ears) – one of the deer constellations, the name associated with the second largest of the deer.  Consists largely of the stars of the Great Bear, with two stars for its front leg, five stars for its rear leg, seven stars make up its body, two for its neck, one for its eye, and three for its antlers.

Durathror (sluggish beast) – one of the deer constellations, the name associated with the largest of the deer.  Consists of the Perseus constellation as its head and antlers and Auriga as its body, with one star for each of its three visible legs, six stars for its body, one star for its eye, one star for its snout, five stars make up its longer antler, three its shorter antler.

Ratatosk (gnaw-tooth) – the squirrel constellation.  Consists of the main stars in Cassiopeia, with one star for its head, one for each foot, one for its body, and two for its tail.

"Geirrod" – the eagle constellation, unnamed among the Norse but whose name here is based upon the eagle Garuda of Hindu mythology.[3]  Consists of largely the same stars as Cygnus the swan, with one star for its body, tail and head, its left wing being four stars and its right wing being five stars.

Vedrfolnir (wind-parched) – constellation for the hawk upon the eagle's head.  Consists of one star for its body and one for its head, two stars for its left wing, and three stars for its right wing.

Nidhogg (poison biter) – constellation of a serpent at the foot of Yggdrasill’s root.  Consists of many of the same stars as Scorpius, four stars make up its head and 19 stars make up its body and tail.

Wagon – this constellation among the Germanic people is well-known, in England as charles wain, Denmark as karlsvogn, Sweden as  karlwagn, and herrenwagen, meaning the "lord's wagon" and ultimately related by Grimm back to Wotan's wagon (Odin's wagon) (Grimm 2004: 151) while in the Netherlands it is known as the hellewagen (Grimm 2004: 802).  The same stars that comprise the Big Dipper, with four stars making up the wagon and three stars making up the tongue.  "We know that in the very earliest ages the seven stars forming the Bear in the northern sky were thought of as a four-wheeled waggon, its pole being formed by the three stars that hang downwards" (Grimm 2004: 151).[4]

Hellewagen – constellation of the wagon of the dead, that travels upon hellweg or

Frauen Hilde Street

(the Milky Way) to the underworld.  There is good reason however to think that the constellation known as Pegasus was the original Hellewagen (perhaps also Odin's Wagon), consisting of four stars making up the wagon, with three stars making up its tongue.[5]



The Nordic "Hell"

 

Valhalla

We discussed in class that those who died honorably in battle their souls would be collected by either the Valkyries or the great Odin and taken to Valhalla which could easily be considered the Norse heaven; consequently, we were encouraged to look into where the sinners of this culture were doomed to reside. In general they viewed dying as a promotion for the well-being of the tribe, even as a form of sacrifice, and heroes' souls were well rewarded. Those who died a mundane death of old age, their souls were sent to Hel/Helheim for it was believed that they were cowards for not having died honorably in battle. The Nordic Hel wasn't considered punishment like today's conception of the underworld is however, it was a place just as mundane and boring as the souls who reside there lived their life and died. It was also considered "hell" to the norse at the time because no loyalty to a tribe existed in Helheim, and self-sufficiency without the fellowship of a tribe was considered torture.

Hel/Helheim

Another realm called Niflheim was an icy wasteland full of predators, enemies, and danger around every corner; like in the Aesir, one could not die there so only suffering was in store for those who happened to be so lucky. They also believed in resurrection at any time, one could either be reborn in midgard once again, or they could be reborn in Odin's hall.



Norse Mythology!

Maybe it's just me, but reading about Nordic mythology out of The Prose Edda for the first time got a little confusing from time to time considering how thorough it was about the relationships among EVERYONE... so here's a breakdown of some of the main Norse gods and heroes that we read about in pages 1-30 and/or those that play an important role in the Nordic culture.





Frigga


• Aegir – Norse God of the sea. Married to Ran and lives under the waves near the island of Hlesey.
• Aesir – A group of warrior gods led by Odin who inhabit Asgard.
• Balder – Son of Odin and Frigg. Known as a gentle and wise god. Killed accidentally by his brother Hod. Will return after Ragnarok.
• Bor – Son of Buri and father of Odin, Vili and Ve.
• Buri – Ancestor of the Norse gods. Created by the cow Audmula licking him from ice.
• Day – Son of Night and Delling. Said to ride around the earth on his horse Skinfaxi.
• Earth – Daughter of Night and Annar.
• Fjorgyn – Lover of Odin and mother of Thor. Also referred to as Earth.
• Frigga – Main goddess. Wife of Odin and mother of Balder.
• Fulla – Goddess servant of Frigga.
• Gangnrad – Pseudonym of Odin when he visits Vafthrudnir.




Odin - "All-Father"


• Gefion – Fertility goddess. Associated with the plow. Tricked the king of Sweden out of a tract of his land.
• Hel – ruler of Helheim, the realm of the dead
• Hermod – Son of Odin. Rode to Hel to try and rescue his brother Balder.
• Hod – Son of Odin. A blind god who accidentally killed his brother Balder. he will return after Ragnarok.
• Loki – The sly, trickster of the Norse gods. Son of two giants. Also known as the Sly One, the Trickster, the Shape Changer and the Sky Traveller. Becomes increasingly more evil. He is responsible for the death of Balder. Bound until Ragnarok.
• Moon – Son of Mundilfari. Guides the moon on it’s course.
• Night – Daughter of Narvi and mother of Day. Rides around the earth on her horse Hrimfaxi.
• Njord – A Vanir god associated with wind and sea. Husband of Skadi and father of Freyja and Freyr.



Thor- Thunder god

• Odin – King of the Norse Gods, God of poetry, battle and death. Chief god of the Aesir. Also known as the “all-father”, the “terrible one”, “one-eyed” and “father of battle”.
• Saga – Goddess and drinking companion of Odin.
• Sun – Daughter of Mundilfari and guide of the sun.
• Thor – God of Sky, thunder and fertility. Associated with law and order in Asgard and guardian of the Norse gods. Son of Odin and Earth and husband of Sif. Also known as the “thunder god” and “charioteer”.
• Tyr – War god. Son of Odin who sacrificed his hand in the binding of Fenrir.

Intro to the "Trickster"

Loki

As we transition into learning about aspects contributed to the notorious "trickster" figure in all mythology, I looked into a few common ones as a sneak preview..

• Loki- a shape shifter found in Norse mythology; as discussed in the e-reserve reading, his position is half-way between the gods and the mortals, sometimes aiding them, sometimes causing trouble. He can appear in the shape of a salmon, a mare, a fly, or even an old woman. He played a role in the death of one of the Norse gods, was then bound by his own entrails and when he eventually escaped he died in a fight with another god when he decided to join in the battle against the gods.

• Anansi- a cunning spider that can appear in the shape of a man found in West African and Caribbean folklore; most of the time he uses his cunning-ness to trick people into giving him valuable things but it often backfires on him- in one account he stored all the wisdom in the world in a pot for himself but couldn't climb the tree he wanted to hide it in while holding it so he dropped it.

• Pan- satyr-looking god of shepherds/flocks, mountain wilds, hunting, and music in Greek and Roman mythology; his general form (as a satyr) was to play tricks on people and children for pure amusement.

Pan

 

• John the Conqueror- a folk hero found in African-American folklore; he was an African prince that was sold into slavery in the Americas but was smart enough he was often able to trick his masters to evade them. In one story he is even able to shape shift in order to outrun the devil himself after stealing his horses in an attempt to win over the devil's daughter.

The Rituals of Attis... WHAT .

Cybele and Attis

So I know that it was the assigned reading for class and this is probably now common knowledge for those of you who did the assignment, but for those of you who didn't or even those of you who did and are just as confused/uncomfortable/slightly REALLY grossed out as I am, I'd like to explore (okay so maybe touch on slightly more than what we read on account of how unorthodox it was..) the significance of, motivations for, and the  influence of rituals devoted to Attis.

Okay so just to recap the (slightly disturbing) content of The Myth and Ritual of Attis by James Frazer, a variety of celebratory acts directed toward the Western god Attis (said to be the almost direct equivalence to the Assyrian god Adonis) were described in great detail, but a few stood out among others... oh ya like the mass voluntary castration and cross-dressing party worshippers of Attis would throw down on the third day of their festival, the 24th of March. But I'll start out by pointing out a few connections that I made (though nothing special), like the quite noticeable similarity between the Phrygian tradition of cutting down a pine tree, decorating and basically worshiping it on the first day of the festival in the hopes of enabling the resurrection of their god later in the spring (the pine tree was associated with their god Attis because it was under such that he castrated himself and bled to death) and our very own contemporary (Christian) tradition of obtaining a pine tree, decorating it, and making it the center of our household for about a month, generally connected with the worship of a religious figure that resurrects in the spring as well. Another fairly obvious connection that can be made (partly because we touched on the concept earlier in class this semester) is between the Phrygian tradition of "washing away past sins" or being "reborn" through the bathing of various forms of sacred liquids (bull's blood, and dieting on milk like a newborn) and the Christian tradition of baptisms. It's clear that we still carry on this tradition today (this is what we talked about in class some time ago), it's just that throughout the centuries the sacred liquid that we bath ourselves in has changed for whatever reasons (slight shift in worship/beliefs, political correct-ness.. PETA..).

Phrygian apparel

Alright so onto the weird stuff, by today's standards I should say. On the third day of this festival, the Day of Blood as they called it, the high priest would draw blood from his arms beneath the tree altar as a offering of worship obviously to Attis. But as this was a festival, emotions ran high because of all the festivities like "barbaric music", as Frazer described it, from all sorts of instruments including flutes, cymbals, drums and horns, and it would appear that quite a few people got out of hand, encouraged of course by the music.. Gradually more men would join in to add to the offering for their great god, normal I suppose, but as tensions ran higher the longer it went on many men would all of sudden undress, grab a sword that was available to promote more involvement, and castrate himself right then and there. You'd think after something like that a guy would immediately regret this decision made spur of the moment encouraged by screaming spectators and thumpin beats, but no. They would then run naked through the streets, with their man-parts in hand, and throw it into someone's house... whosever's house one of these pieces may land in (and yes, they were considered honored if this happened to them) had to dress the men who so graciously gifted them their manhood in women's clothing, which they then had to wear for the rest of their lives. Yeeeeah... As you can imagine, a day or so later the men greatly regret this irreversible sacrifice and spend their lives in sorrow and regret, which was said to mirror that Attis castrated himself under the pine tree.

Alright so that seems pretty messed up right? I mean I understand devotion and worshipping of a higher power to some degree, but come on. If you think about it though, the contemporary trend, that isn't limited by religion, of circumcision seems pretty similar to the above acts though like every religious act these days, just seems like it's digressed over time.

Medea, a bit of an exaggerated homocidal maniac...

During some review for the quiz tomorrow (yeehee!) I decided to finally look into the intriguing assistant to Jason and his conquests, Medea, a bit more. Within my research I found that there a multiple versions to the account of Jason and the Argonauts (big surprise) and that the most widely acknowledged version we read today became the template for the story shortly after the 5th century B.C. because of its sensationality. The painting to the right is titled Medea by Anthony Frederick Augustus in 1866 and it was actually rejected to be exhibited in the Royal Academy in London, England, that's how controversial her character still was tens over 20,000 years later.

In class there was mention of multiple cultures still worshipping Medea and it left me wondering how collective groups of civilized people could acknowledge a being with such a background and tendencies as a ideal role model, but insight into these earlier and original myths makes it more believable considering the fact that she wasn't actually a homicidal maniac as more contemporary versions depict. In just the conclusion of Rosenberg's account, we read that Medea poisoned the princess that Jason left her for, murdered her two children out of revenge toward Jason, and she tries to poison Thesseus. But in the original versions, the only people she poisons is the princess of Corinth (and by accident the king when he tried to hug her with the poisoned dress on), but I mean come on, if your man left you for the likes of her I bet you'd be pretty bitter too, it's only natural. The most notable difference in the two versions however is the fact that she accidentally kills her children and is a victim to circumstance, not blind, relentless, homicidal rage. And when Aegeus's son from a previous relationship, Thesseus, returns to claim his father and all his ownings, Medea suggests to him that Thesseus was dangerous and should be disposed of, but only to protect her own son's (whom she had with Aegeus, so it was his too) well-being and future, again, not homicidal, just natural.

This drastic divergence from the original myth to the one we see today serves as a reminder that even mythology, and by extension the culture's they are representing, can be altered and/or censored by anyone to serve any agenda at'all..

Origins of the Lady of the Lake

Arthur receiving Excalibur

The Lady of the Lake is a generally recognized role in the tale of King Arthur's reign, granting him the most supernatural sword in any myth, Excalibur, in relatively unconventional and intriguing way. After reading Rosenberg's account of King Arthur, we know that Arthur first spied Excalibur being held above the dark waters in the center of a lake by an unclaimed hand and that the Lady of the Lake rowed to the shore where Arthur stood to take him to it. To me, this bizarre encounter seemed rather brief and unexplained for all its randomness so I just chalked it up to Rosenberg's summary-style writing for her book since she has to fit quite a few myths into it, but then I remembered having read the 700 page version of the same storyline (The Once and Future King by T. H. White) that it didn't go into much detail in describing that aspect of the myth either, so I decided to do some research of my own:

The Lady and Merlin

According to a website I stumbled upon detailing less known facts of Britain's history, the Lady of the Lake did play a bigger role in King Arthur's life than what is most commonly known today. We know through out studies of "the goddess" that they once played a monumental role in most all myths throughout the world, but there came a period where they were overthrown and put on the back burner once the god gained more power and prominence, the Lady of the Lake was no different. In Celtic culture water deities were extremely popular as they were thought to control the essential essence of life itself, a wide variety of names she is known by (including Nimue or Vivienne to the Celtics and Mneme or Mnemosyne to the Romans) indicate that she is recognized as the Water-Goddess of the Celtics or one of the nine water-nymph muses of the Romans and Greeks, who also gave weapons to the hero Perseus. She was worshipped throughout the Western Roman Empire, in Britain, the Narbonne area of Gaul, and North-Western Iberia.
In earlier versions of King Arthur (before the reign of the goddess came to an end), the Lady of the Lake not only granted Arthur power to Excalibur but apparently was the foster-mother of Sir Lancelot after the death of his father and having raised him beneath the murky waters of her lake, hence his name Lancelot of the Lake. Another early role of hers was essentially replacing Merlin, or Myrddin, as the King's druidic advisor. Merlin and the Lady first met quickly fell in love at the Fountain of Brittany, Merlin agreed to teach her all of his magical powers while the Lady became his scribe, recording all his prophesies, in addition to being his lover. But over the years the Lady became even more powerful than Merlin thanks to his teachings and imprisoned him in Glass Tower (basically a dungeon), and took over to some extent Merlin's role at Arthur's side; in these versions, Merlin's removal as King Arthur's advisor was considered the biggest contribution to his downfall. The fact that Merlin is scarcely or not at all mentioned for the latter two-thirds of the story makes sense considering that was the period that the Lady took over as Arthur's adviser and those parts were cut out.

Rosenberg's account of Arthur disappointingly abbreviated...

Arthur's Knights of the Round Table

It actually really depressed me to read the accounts of King Arthur as presented by Rosenberg because it had to be so abbreviated to fit the purpose of her entire book. As you could probably tell, A LOT of backstories, adventures, and concepts important to understanding, appreciating, and interpreting the adventures and reign of King Arthur were GREATLY cut down or bypassed altogether. If this brief version sparked interest an interest in the knights in shining armor, dragons, and a self-less but nonetheless doomed leader then I highly recommend reading The Once and Future King by T.H. White. I read this 700 page account of King Arthur's life and rule the summer of my sophomore year as a reading assignment for honors english and it is a superb text detailing King Arthur's childhood, love triangle among his wife, best friend and himself, and all of the awesome knightly adventures that fell in between.

Something I did learn from the Rosenberg account however was the famously royal lineage of King Arthur. I found it really interesting that he was a pretty recent descendant of the same Aeneas we just read that began the great Roman race, and that it actually came full circle with Brutus's creation of the British people and King Arthur's conquering of Rome. I always had a sense that the legend of a King Arthur was a myth to some extent, but I hadn't the slightest clue that it was so closely associated with the equally as well-known Greek/Roman mythologies.

The Legend of Zelda: Broken Down

Although I'm not particularly proud to say that I spend a fair amount of my downtime experiencing the heroing and entertaining adventures of the fictional video game character Link, of the original Nintendo 64 game "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time", I am confident however in recognizing the fact that Campbell's Stages of a Hero can be nicely applied to the entirety of the game's plot and objectives...

• Stage 1 - Departure
• Call to adventure- Link's discovers that at the beginning of the game that he was adopted, explaining why he doesn't fit in where he lives at all, and that his parents were killed, so he decides to return to the place of his birth/people
• Refusal- it takes Link a bit to accept that he's not the same as all of his friends, lacking the aid of a fairy but..
• Super natural aid- he receives the encouragement, advice, and resources (i.e. a fairy) needed to cross the first threshold and ultimately save the town of Hyrule from the evil Ganondorf
• Crossing the 1st threshold- Link's very first threshold is leaving the home in which he grew up and had never left previously, the Deku Forrest, to reach the town of Hailaya where his parents originated and where the evil sorcerer is threatening. Another threshold that could be considered as such is once Link reaches Hyrule, he pulls the sword of time from the pedestal in the church (reaffirming his call to action) and now can travel through time, becoming either an adult or a child, at his digression. 
• Metaphorical Death- Link 'metaphorically dies' quite a bit since there are 3 tasks he must complete before he can even move onto the the actual trials of the stages of the hero themselves, including going inside of the deity of the Deku Forrest, The Great Deku tree, and being inside the actual belly of a gigantic fish..
• Stage II - Initiation
• Road of Trials- as always, this is the easiest among the stages to identify as it is about 80% of the game and the interactive part of it; however, Link faces many trials including 3 pre-stage type levels before crossing the first threshold (leaving the Forest) as a child and 5 temples to conquer as an adult.
• Meeting with the Goddess- the main goddess figure of this storyline seems to me to be the Great Fairy; she aides Link 3 times throughout the game in areas such as health, magic, and skill.
• Woman as temptress- There are actually several "temptresses" throughout this adventure that just can't seem to get enough of Link... a few include the princess of the Zoras who intended on inhibiting Link's process if he didn't wed her (even though they were children at the time.. and don't worry he got out of it), and Link's childhood best friend from the Deku Forrest, Saria, who tried to stop him from initially leaving the forest (though she was only concerned for his safety).
• Atonement with father- Although Link's father never makes an appearance in the game since he killed prior to all of this, I feel that Link makes atonement something close enough. After clearing Dodongo's cavern from fire-breathing, rock-crop-eating dragon things and saving the Fire Temple, Link creates a lasting bond with the leader and saint of the Gorons, Darunia, considering themselves brothers after such.
• Apotheosis- After defeating, and receiving credit for defeating, the evil Ganondorf who turned into a gigantically ferocious monster thing at the final battle of the game and saving all of Hyrule at close to the game's end, Link is of course affirmed as "The Hero of Time" as he was prophesied to be at the beginning.
• Booooooon- Despite returning peace and safety to the land of Hyrule, I would say the secondary boon would really be the ocarina of time, only the "Hero of Time" could possess or work it's magic that enables you to go back in time, control the weather, warp to temples, etc.

Although this game fits quite nicely within the stage of a hero, which is probably why it's such an awesome game.., it lacks most of Stage III- the return. This is not surprising considering they made a sequel.. how could he return when there was more conquesting to do? However a few stages of the return are visible at the end of the game right before you lose control to the rolling end credits and movies- after saving Hyrule from sure turmoil, Princess Zelda (the one who initially sent for his aid through the Great Deku Tree) plays the ocarina of time once more and Link is returned to his original self as a child, everyone's memory is wiped clean of all the game's occurrences, and life returns to normal.

Yes I'm a nerd for Zelda. DEAL!! :)



The Secret Life of Hercules

Motivated by the in-class suggestion to explore further into the myth of Hercules following where Ovid's account left off, discovering in the process details concerning his 4th wife, his 13th deed, and wide-spread speculation about some male lovers...
Upon Hercule's death as a mortal, he was granted immortality and divinity by becoming a god and joining his father Jupiter atop Mount Olympus. Once there, he married Juventas (Greek name Hebe), the goddess of youth, and daughter of Jupiter and Juno. Before marrying Hercules, she was basically the "go-fer" of the heavens, having to serve nectar and ambrosia to the gods, draw the baths of Mars (god of war), and help Juno in and out of her chariot. Juventas and Hercules had two children, Alexiares and Anicetus.
Another interesting fact I stumbled upon occurred during the hero's stay at the palace of Thespius, where its king asked Hercules to kill the lion of Cithaeron that was terrorizing his people. After successfully doing so, Hercules was then offered as a reward by the king to have sex with all FIFTY of his daughters in one night. Surprisingly enough (not at all though), Hercules did so and all FIFTY of them got pregnant and bore him sons. This act made it easy for many Spartan and Macedon kings to claim the great Heracles as a part of their heritage, which I find quite amusing.
According to many accounts of the trials and adventures of the great Hercules, most originating in ancient times and a few from later on around the 3rd century, include the role as a male lover being very important to him. Apparently it was a symbol of masculinity and warriorship to admire and care for another man; not all of his relationships with other men were sexual, but all of them were pretty important in his conquests. Hercules often times helped these men by finding them a wife in the end, including his charioteer and squire, Lolaus, and another of his servants, Hylas. Most of these men accompanied Hercules on his dangerous labors and were slain in the process, Hercules would often times dedicate a city, sanctuary, or traditional athletic competition to his fallen comrades and/or lovers: the city of Abdera in Thrace was named after Abderus who was slain by the carnivorous mares of the Thracian Diomedes; Elacatas was dedicated a sanctuary and yearly games; and Nestor was spared by the wrath of Hercules, the only son of Neleus to have been.

Heracles: A hero motivated by self-interest?



Megara was the first wife of Heracles

 

After doing a little research following the assigned reading on the notorious figure Hercules, or Heracles, I came across the eventful past of the hero preceding the selection we read from Ovid. We touched on his origins briefly awhile back but important to recall how his tale began before taking into account the last third of his life recalled in Metamorphosis; as the illegitimate son of Jupiter (Zeus) and a mortal woman named Alcmene, Heracles was subjected to many acts of vicious jealousy from Juno (Hera) including a murder attempt via serpents and a curse of madness that led the unfortunate super-mortal to murdering his wife and three children. This was the first stage of this hero's life that drove the heroic acts to come later in his tale.

After the tragic end of his family, Heracles sought the advice of an oracle to determine when he would regain his honor and be free of this great burden. She advised him to serve the king of Mycenae for 12 years and complete the 12 great tasks that he and the great goddess Juno outlined. These tasks included great tests in skill, strength, wit, and resourcefulness and are known as "The Twelve Labors of Hercules". 

Heracles killing the Stymphalian birds



These labors included a variety of heroism including killing the Nemean Lion; conquering the nine-headed Hydra by burning the stumps of the heads after they were cut off;  bringing back the golden-horned stag alive; capturing a wild boar that was terrorizing Mycenae; cleaning the Augean stables where thousands of cattle lived, in one day; which he did by diverting two rivers causing them to flow into the stables; destroying the man-eating Stymphalian birds via poison-tipped arrows; capturing a Cretean savage bull; capturing the four man-eating mares of Thrace; obtaining the girdle of the Amazon queen while Juno convinced the Amazons that he was trying to take her  from them so he had to fight them off; capturing the cattle of the monster, Geryon; getting the golden-apples of the Hesperides by telling Atlas he would hold the world for him in exchange for the apples and then tricked him to taking it back; and finally bringing Cerberus to the surface without using weapons by gaining control of two of Cerberus' heads. It is said that upon the completion of all these tasks, Hercules was now a "free man" and this is where the Ovid's account picks up.

Heracles conquering Cerberus, guardian of the underworld



However this "twelve labors" leads me to question how much of a "hero" Heracles really was... clearly he only engaged in this heroic and seemingly selfless acts of putting himself at risk in order to ensure the safety of others in order to the fulfill self interested objective of regaining honor from what his past dictates. Although these acts were beneficial to the people as a whole at Heracles's own expense, shouldn't a "hero" be thought of someone who does these things out of a pure motivation to use his god-given strength and advantages to help his fellow man who may not be able to help himself? The only reason Heracles was in any position to be considered a "hero" was his exceptional strength from him divine lineage that enabled him to even complete any of these labors. So I ask, what makes a hero? Circumstance or motivation?

Today's Heros are a Sad Reflection of Present-Day Values





Going over the discussion we had in class a few days ago about our personal connotations and definitions that come to mind when we think about a "hero," I can't help but feel like we excluded some very important concepts associated with this word. A hero is and has always been a great symbolic role model for where he/she (most notoriously a he) originated, someone we aspire and strive to be like. It's really a reflection of the qualities, morals, and abilities that the originating society finds most important and valuable. Considering the implications of what a culture's heroes and role models represent, I can't help but pity the direction our own culture has diverged throughout the few centuries it has existed. 



 



Mike "The Situation" sadly is one of the well-known faces of our nation



Who are our most notorious "heros", the people children aspire to be like and adults envy? No longer are they fictional characters that we exhibit in myths that are there only to provide guidance, morals, and some entertainment; our heroes have become real people within our society, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is when you consider what traits present-day Americans value. More children and adolescents recognize and respect "The Situation" from the reality television series "Jersey Shore" more than their nation's founders and culture. Our population is eager to forgive or excuse those whom they admire for committing morally corrupt acts, and even continue to admire them! (i.e. Tiger Woods, Donald Trump, Chris Brown)  Because our values as a nation in general have digressed so greatly over the past 50 years or so, who we view as heroes shift as well, and not for the better- valuing athletic abilities over intelligence or common sense, annual earnings over morals, etc. When a scholar studying mythologies of our nation comes across the most notoriously admired figures of our time, what do you want him to conclude? I for one am embarrassed already and hope that our citizens can re-evaluate their values sometime soon.

Breaking News! Gods aren't the best role models... go figure?!

The Hittitian myth about the inconsolable god who threw unjustified temper tantrums just willy-nilly really solidified the assertion that most gods in a society's myth are simply the culture's idea of an "ideal" citizen to follow after or aspire to be, but they still exhibit certain human follies. In our most recently read myth, Telepinu, the god of fertility, grew furious at the world for a reason known not even to his divine family and doomed the crops and people of Hittite in his selfish rage. This is an obvious portrayal that even the gods aren't flawless and sucum to some of  the most detrimental emotions that characteristically skew a mortal's judgement, such as anger in the Hittitian myth, or lust seen in many many Greek/Roman myths (i.e. Zeus the womanizer and Hera the jealous wife who gets cheated on quite frequently).

This concept is also supported by stories that not only depict the gods "stooping" to "level" of the mortals they rule over, but seeking the assitance of them as well. In the same Hittitian myth about Telepinu's inconsolable rage, the only solution was to beg for the application of the limited magic that humans possess, but it prevailed in ridding of the angry god's rage when no divine power could. Many predominant Greek myths oftentimes incorporate the theme of gods only being able to display certain powers or complete some sort of task on earth by  the compliance of a faithful human. Perhaps this is because humans themselves cannot fathom what qualitities a completely "perfect" being would possess; ultimately being the creators of these myths themselves, it's no wonder their idols have the same follies that they struggled with on a daily basis.

Battle of the Sexes

Throughout the past few weeks' discussions of THE GREAT GODDESS and her once unchallenged predominance over the cultures from which these myths under inspection once originated, I've been pondering quite a bit about the implication of the transition from the goddess being supreme to the god, and what that says about what human beings view as the great "purpose" of life during that time period... 

In class we learned that a variety of tangible factors played into this transition including change in lifestyle from agricultural means, the installment of a formal military and law, and the introduction to new technology, war tactics, and even deities from conquering cultures; there is no doubt these factors play a major role in the alteration of a civiliation and the way it conveys, conducts, and hopes to maintain itself (a.k.a the myths associated with them), it must adapt to the seemingly more successful techniques of surviving through utilization of these categories that male gods now govern over (military/war, hunting vs gathering, technology of every sort). This transition within the myths of these ancient society depicts the same transition of these societies in their way of life, and if you think about it that's one heck of a change so quickly, to go from growing everything by hand, being one with Mother Earth and appreciating everything it provides for your family, to hunting Mother Earth's fellow children and using them to sustain your own life... quite a drastic transition I should say!

I feel that the shift in focus seen within these myths not only demonstrate how those cultures changed their lifestyle, but how they changed their way of viewing life and its purpose. Myths that asserted the goddess's goverinng dominance rather than the god's, concepts such as sharing the earth and its resources with fellow beings like animals and even gods and cherishing what your "mother" (the earth) has priveledged you with and making the most out of it the life that she herself gave were promoted. Once the god became the predominant being, the focus shifted to asserting dominance over animals and plants, taking as much as you can from the earth while you can (survival of the fittest/natural selection), and seperation from/serving under the gods rather than being more related to them as under the Great Goddess who birthed them all. Although these both can be seen within the very same societies, I venture to call these two different cultures; I propose that while socieites were living in the "goddess" era, the concepts under her reign promoted making the most out of the life you have now, conservation, strive for fulfillment out of the bare minimum, and optimism- in my eyes equivalent to making your own "heaven on earth", not fearing or looking forward death, heaven, or hell because you have already made the most of the moments in your life while you were living, regardless of the existance of any of the above (wow that was a horribly long, run-on sentence, I apologize). Under the reign of the supreme sky god, I believe the expression "balls to the wall" would fit nicely here... haha no but really, societies strove to get things done as fast/effieciently as they could while in the meantime sacrificing their happiness and fellow animals and human beings of the earth in the attempt to acheive happiness sometime in the future. To me this portrays "living" life in preparation for/avoidance of something beyond that - a heaven or a hell - but really they're going through what may be their only time of existence sacrificing their precious moments for or in fear of something beyond that. That's how most of today's society lives their life as well, always for tomorrow and never for today, and because that's today's status quo, its not easy at all on those who don't wish to follow.

Incest, the natural steriods of ancient times?

For some reason, upon reading the selections that were assigned and discused in class throughout this week, I began thinking about how all myths without fail and regardless of the purpose of the myth or the culture from which it originated, incorporate and embrace incest. Whether we see it among generations or gods or the two surviving mortals of an apocalyptic flood who "just happen" to be brother/sister... it's everywhere!! I guess what I find most interesting is the fact that in all mythologies throughout the ages, the product of two directly related gods usually results in a more powerful and dominant god or goddess when compared to a god that resulted from non-incestual parents... Horus (of the Egyptian myth "Osiris, Isis, and Horus") is a prime example recently looked into, his parents Osiris and Isis whom "loved one another from the time they shared their mother's womb" (pg 16, gross.) produced a very powerful warrior who goes on to rule Upper and Lower Egypt and become the intermediary between the living and the dead, pretty important guy. And don't even get me started on all the Greek/Roman gods, we all know that at least every other one of them is "their own grandpa". This prevelant motif throughout numerous cultures and ages leads me to believe that the people of these times viewed incestual relationships as necessary in order to produce stronger offspring, as modeled by their gods, why else would it be incorporated so frequently? I just find it rather comical that it was accepted so openly as common practice or at least something to look up to (since all their gods were doin' it), while in today's society it's viewed as absolutely taboo (illegal also, if I'm not mistaken..) and the offspring of such a union is viewed as genetically inferior or weaker... Food for thought!

Everything I know about Greek mythology, I learned from God of War...

For those of you who have not heard of nor had the pleasure of playing the Playstation 2-originating video games, God of War, it is fact a very enriching and educational experience alongside the mindless entertainment a videogame is designed to sustain. The games' plot follow the main character's struggle against serving the Greek gods of his time, stemming from his relentless guilt proceeding the slaughtering of his wife and child, and a deal he made with the god of war, Aries. The games are nearly 100% accurate when addressing the origins, relationships and disputes among, and just generally information regarding the Greek and Roman Titans and gods of Olympus, referring to them by their Greek names. The series provides a first-hand experience of ancient Greece and its surrounding areas, and the impact the mythology we still study today had on their society.