Hey guys,
I’m thinking that, since this week is the first mythology club, we will focus mostly on what we want to happen this year. If we have time I’ll bring a book we can discuss, but if not then that’s fine too. If you want any input on how this year will go then I beg you to please come on Tuesday or else you may not get much of a say.
I’m thinking if we do have time then we will focus on modern day myths, at least for the rest of lunch if not next tuesday as well.
Can’t wait to see you guys again!
Laura
Hey Everyone!
If you are still interested in being apart of Mythology Club this year please send me an email and let met know. If not please still send an email just saying you don’t so I can take you off the list. I’m hoping to get a group going online so we can have full access to info and such. I will be sending out emails weekly with the weeks’ plan in it so that you can read or whatever ahead of time. I’m hoping to work this year differently than previous in such a way that we won’t spend as much time during lunch reading the myth so everyone can be caught up. I do expect all of you to read whatever I send out before the lunch period in which it is held.
Speaking of, incase you weren’t aware the first meeting will be on Tuesday Sept. 22 in room 172 (Coopers). If this is a conflict for anyone we can see what other days are available, just let me know.
Here’s an interesting quote to get you thinking:
“In classic myth, the health of the kingdom reflected the health of the the King or Queen. When the Ruler was wounded, the king became a wasteland. To heal the kingdom, it was necessary for a hero to undertake a quest, find a sacred object, and return to heal or replace the Ruler. Our world reflects many of the classic symptoms of the wasteland kingdom: famine, environmental damage to the natural world, economic uncertainty, rampart injustice, personal despair and alienation, and the threat of war and annihilation. Our ‘kingdoms’ reflect the state of our collective souls, not just those of our leaders. This is a time in human history when heroism is greatly needed. Like heroes of old, we aid in restoring life, health and fecundity to the kingdom as a side benefit of taking our own journeys, finding our own destinies, and giving our unique gifts. It is as if the world were a giant puzzle and each one of use who takes a journey returns with one piece. Collectively, as we contribute our part, the kingdom is transformed.” (Carol S. Pearson)
Hope to see you on Tuesday!
Laura
PS. We shall have to plan a big excursion or event for this year, since it is my Grade 12 year and I really want this to work out. I’m thinking field trip? We’ll have to see what’s available. Hope you all had a great summer =)
Since the meeting didnt happen on Tuesday, we will just continue with the plan to move on to Egyptian. I hope you all read the myth from last week anyway though!
At the dawn of time, Re gave birth to himself. Feeling that he was alone, Re spat, and from his spittle were born Shu, the air, and Tefnut, moisture. From the union of Shu and Tefnut came Geb, the earth god, and Nut, the sky goddess.
From Re’s tears came the first human beings. He knitted together the mountains, he made mankind, the beasts, and the heavens and the earth. Each morning he rises and sails in his boat, Sekter, across the sky. At night, Nut swallows him, and in the morning she gives birth to him once more.
The serpent Apep is Re’s foe, born from the spittle of the Great Mother, Neith. Re spends each night in combat with Apep.
Some believe that one day Apep may succeed in devouring RE, and then the world will end. Others say that Re will grow so old and tired that he will forget who he is. All that he as created will come to nothing. And then, perhaps, Re will give birth to himself again.
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*The creator Re (or Ra), the sun god, was the most important god of the New Kingdom period (1560-1070 BC) in ancient Egypt. Sometimes he was identified as Amun-Re, known as the “hidden” god because of his mysterious nature. Re was also believed to be the creator of the universe.*
Here is a Family Tree of the Egyptian Gods along with information on each one. http://webzoom.freewebs.com/belenen/htms/egypt-gods-ennead.html
Orpheus and Eurydice
Be warned: this story is beautiful but tragic. It begins with Orpheus, the best musician that ever lived. One strum of his lyre, one note sung, and beasts would crawl to him, rocks would shift their moss to move to be closer, trees would tear their roots to be closer to him. He had more power than a mortal man ought to for he was the son of the Muse Calliope.
He lived his life simply and carelessly until the day he met Eurydice. She was a Dryad, and when they fell in love it meant everything to them. But the rustic god Aristaeus saw Eurydice’s beauty and desired it, and did not care that she was unwilling and in love with another. She ran from him in terror, without thought to her step, and so it was she stepped on a poisonous snake in her flight. The venom of its bite killed her at once and her spirit went to the Underworld. Orpheus was inconsolable. His grief was bitter, but he did not let it lull him into a stupor, he decided to take action.
With his lyre, Orpheus descended into the Underworld. A normal mortal would have perished any number of times, but Orpheus had his lyre and his voice and he charmed Cerberus – the three-headed monster dog of Hades who guarded the Underworld – into letting him pass. Facing Hades and his cold Queen Persephone he played for them his sorrow at the loss of his love. The heart that was frozen by Hades’ abduction melted in Persphone’s breast and a tear rolled down her cheek. Even Hades could not help weeping. They let Orpheus through to Eurydice, but warned him very carefully: Eurydice would follow him into the light of the world and once she entered the sunlight she would be changed from a shade back to a woman. But if Orpheus doubted, if he looked back to see her, she would be lost to him forever.
Orpheus heard and rejoiced. He turned and left the dark hall of Hades and began his ascent back to life. As he walked he rejoiced that his wife would soon be with him again. He listened closely for her footfall behind him, but a shade makes no noise. The closer to the light he got, the more he began to believe that Hades had tricked him to get him out of the Underworld, that Eurydice was not behind him. Only feet away from the light Orpheus lost faith and turned around. He saw Eurydice, but only for a moment as her shade was whisked back down among the other dead souls. She was gone.
Orpheus tried again to enter the Underworld and demand her return, but one cannot enter twice the same way – and no other way was open to him. All that was left to him was death. Here the story changes. There are different stories of his death. Some say he played so mournfully that his songs called for death, and that the animals who surrounded him tore him apart, weeping as they did. Some say it was Maenads in a frenzy who ripped the singer to shreds. Some say he was struck down by Zeus for disclosing mysteries that were meant to be kept sacred. Either way, he was torn apart, and much of him was thrown to the winds. But the Muses mourned the death of their son and prodigy, and saved his head to sing forever.
http://www.paleothea.com/Myths/Orpheus.html
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I hope you like this weeks myth. Remember, next week we will be switching to Egyptian. If you think there is anything I should touch on first then let me know. Also on tuesday I will be bringing in another version in a book I have.
Here’s a family tree of all the greek gods:
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/mythology/images/greek_family_tree.gif
I will be bringing a hard copy of this in as well, but here’s a copy just for you!
Have a wonderful week! See you on Tuesday!
Laura
Today we discussed the topics in the post titled Tuesday March 25 2008. We discussed the significance of the myth, how the hope is significant, introduced Pandora, Zeus, Epimethius, and Prometheus. We showed how Epimethius and Prometheus are brothers, and how they are exact opposites – One can see into the future, and one can see the past. We spoke a little about how Prometheus was chained to a rock and his liver eaten by vultures, and how this shows him as the figure of resistance. We spoke about how all the gods contributed to the creation of Pandora, and how she had very good traits such as beauty, intelligence, keenness and curiosity. Curiosity is after all the trait of her personality that made her open the [container]. Zeus seems to be quite the personality, very forward and opinionated.
I believe that is all we covered today, the meeting started a bit late and not everyone showed up — Major thanks to those that did!
I’m not sure what we will be covering in two weeks from now during the next meeting yet. If you have any ideas or suggestions you can leave a comment on this site or send me an email at vic.mythology.club@gmail.com.
Thank you!
Laura
March 2008
Mythology Club at Victoria School
Ever wondered about the real story of Zeus or Medusa? Well now there’s a place you can find out! Come join mythology club, running every Tuesday at lunch in Mr. Cooper’s room, 176. We will be going through different myths and discussing them. While discussing what the myths mean we will also be discussing how they link to modern society, culture, art, and music. We will also see how the myths relate to the cultures they originated from. At some point we will be creating our own myths or views of your favourite myths and putting them into a play, song, picture, or anything else you would like to do. Come have fun, meet people, learn about myths, and enjoy what you’re doing.
If you have any further questions you can email the club at vic.mythology.club@gmail.com
We will be focusing first on Pandora’s box.
Here is the original Greek version:
Zeus was very angry with the people who were so pleased with the gift of fire from Prometheus. He decided to punish them.
He asked the other gods to help him make a special woman. When they had finished, she was very beautiful; she was bright and clever, and could play lovely music. Zeus called her Pandora.
Then Zeus sent for Epimetheus. “Here is a wife for you, Epimetheus,” He said. “She is a reward for making all the animals on the Earth.” Zeus gave Pandora and Epimetheus a box which was bound and locked. “Take this box and keep it safe. I must warn you,” said Zeus, “That you must never open it.”
Epimetheus thanked Zeus and gazed at Pandora. She was so beautiful that he forgot that his brother, Prometheus, had warned him never to accept gifts from the other gods. He took Pandora away and soon they were married. He put the box in a dark corner of his house.
Pandora was very happy with her new husband. The world was a wonderful place to live in. No one was ever ill or grew old.
No one was ever unkind or unpleasant. But Pandora was curious about the locked box and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to know what was in it. Could it be jewels or some other precious things?
“Lets just have a little peek inside,” she said to Epimetheus, smiling sweetly at him. “No, Zeus warned us never to open it,” answered Epimetheus, frowning. He wanted to do everything he could to please his wife but hew was scared of Zeus. Day after day Pandora begged Epimetheus to open the box and every day he refused.
One morning, when Epimetheus had gone out, Pandora crept into the room and stared at the box for a while. Then she made up her mind. She would open it.
She broke off the lock with a tool. Then, hardly daring to breathe, she slowly lifted the lid. Before she could look inside, there was a terrible screaming, wailing noise. She jumped back, terrified. Out of the box streamed all sorts of horrible things. There was hate and jealousy, cruelty and anger, hunger and poverty, pain and sickness, old age and death.
Pandora tried to slam down the lid but it was too late. Then one last thing, very small and pretty, fluttered out of the box. It was hope.
People would now suffer all kinds of terrible things, but because they had hope, they would never despair.
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Another version was that Pandora was a woman made by the gods; the first women on earth. She was taken to Epimetheus by Hermes. He made her his wife, against his brother’s advice. Pandora came with a sealed vase. Her husband was tempted and opened the vase from which came all the troubles, weariness and illnesses that mankind is now burdened with. In another version of the story, the box contains all kinds of blessings which were subsequently lost to humans when she opened the box.
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Epimetheus — Epimetheus was a stupid Titan, whose name means “afterthought”. He was the son of Iapetus. In some accounts he is delegated, along with his brother Prometheus by Zeus to create mankind. He also accepted the gift of Pandora from Zeus, which lead to the introduction of evil into the world.
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GIFTS FROM THE GODS
Athena Dressed her in white with a vail and jewels.
Hephaestus Forged a golden crown.
Aphrodite Gave her both Grace and Charm, but also filled
her with ravenous lust
Hermes (God of thieves and Rogues) Gave her an intoxicating
voice, but also with lies, , flattery, seduction, treachery and
shamelessness.
Peitho Gave here a golden necklaces.
The Horae (Seasons) Gave her a wreath of spring flowers
for her head.
The Four Winds Breath life into her.
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From Thomas Bullfinch
PROMETHEUS AND PANDORA.
Before earth and sea and heaven were created, all things
wore one aspect, to which we give the name of Chaos- a
confused and shapeless mass, nothing but dead weight, in
which, however, slumbered the seeds of things.
Earth, sea, and air were all mixed up together; so the
earth was not solid, the sea was not fluid, and the air
was not transparent.
God and Nature at last interposed, and put an end to this
discord, separating earth from sea, and heaven from both.
The fiery part, being the lightest, sprang up, and formed
the skies; the air was next in weight and place. The
earth, being heavier, sank below; and the water took the
lowest place, and buoyed up the earth.
Here some god- it is not known which- gave his good
offices in arranging and disposing the earth. He
appointed rivers and bays their places, raised mountains,
scooped out valleys, distributed woods, fountains,
fertile fields. and stony plains. The air being cleared,
the stars began to appear, fishes took possession of the
sea, birds of the air, and four-footed beasts of the
land.
But a nobler animal was wanted, and Man was made. It is
not known whether the creator made him of divine
materials, or whether in the earth, so lately separated
from heaven, there lurked still some heavenly seeds.
Prometheus took some of this earth, and kneading it up
with water, made man in the image of the gods. He gave
him an upright stature, so that while all other animals
turn their faces downward, and look to the earth, he
raises his to heaven, and gazes on the stars.
Prometheus was one of the Titans, a gigantic race, who
inhabited the earth before the creation of man. To him
and his brother Epimetheus was committed the office of
making man, and providing him and all other animals with
the faculties necessary for their preservation.
Epimetheus undertook to do this, and Prometheus was to
overlook his work, when it was done.
Epimetheus accordingly proceeded to bestow upon the
different animals the various gifts of courage, strength,
swiftness, sagacity; wings to one, claws to another, a
shelly covering to a third, etc. But when man came to be
provided for, who was to be superior to all other
animals, Epimetheus had been so prodigal of his resources
that he had nothing left to bestow upon him.
In his perplexity he resorted to his brother Prometheus,
who, with the aid of Minerva, went up to heaven, and
lighted his torch at the chariot of the sun. and brought
down fire to man.
With this gift man was more than a match for all other
animals. It enabled him to make weapons wherewith to
subdue them; tools with which to cultivate the earth; to
warm his dwelling, so as to be comparatively independent
of climate; and finally to introduce the arts and to coin
money, the means of trade and commerce.
Woman was not yet made. The story (absurd enough!) is
that Jupiter made her, and sent her to Prometheus and his
brother, to punish them for their presumption in stealing
fire from heaven; and man, for accepting the gift
. The first woman was named Pandora. She was made in
heaven, every god contributing something to perfect her.
Venus gave her beauty, Mercury persuasion, Apollo music,
etc. Thus equipped, she was conveyed to earth, and
presented to Epimetheus, who gladly accepted her, though
cautioned by his brother to beware of Jupiter and his
gifts.
Epimetheus had in his house a jar, in which were kept
certain noxious articles for which, in fitting man for
his new abode, he had no occasion.
Pandora was seized with an eager curiosity to know what
this jar contained; and one day she slipped off the cover
and looked in. Forthwith there escaped a multitude of
plagues for hapless man,- such as gout, rheumatism, and
colic for his body, and envy, spite, and revenge for his
mind,- and scattered themselves far and wide.
Pandora hastened to replace the lid! but, alas! the whole
contents of the jar had escaped, one thing only excepted,
which lay at the bottom, and that was hope.
So we see at this day, whatever evils are abroad, hope
never entirely leaves us; and while we have that, no
amount of other ills can make us completely wretched.
Another story is that Pandora was sent in good faith, by
Jupiter, to bless man; that she was furnished with a box
containing her marriage presents, into which every god
had put some blessing, She opened the box incautiously,
and the blessings all escaped, hope only excepted. This
story seems more probable than the former; for how could
hope, so precious a jewel as it is, have been kept in a
jar full of all manner of evils, as in the former
statement?
Prometheus represented as the friend of mankind,
who interposed in their behalf when Zeus was
incensed against them, and who taught them
civilization and the arts. But by doing so, he
transgressed the will of Zeus, he angered Zeus Zeus had him chained to a rock on Mount
Caucasus, where a vulture preyed on his liver,
which was renewed as fast as devoured.
Prometheus might have ended the torment at any
time by Prometheus.
If Prometheus had been willing, to submit to his
oppressor; because he had a secret which
involved the stability of Zeus’s throne. If he
would have revealed it, he would have been in
Zeus’s favor.
Prometheus refused to do so and has become the
symbol of magnanimous endurance of unmerited
suffering, and strength of will resisting
oppression.
Epilog: Hercules arrived on the Cacasus mountains and found
the Titan, Prometheus chained to the cliff for 30,000 years.
With a single arrow, Hercules shot and killed the eagle that
had been eating Prometheus’ liver for the last 30 millennia.
Hercules than talked the Centaur, Cheiron (Who begged to be
released form the pain caused by the Hydra’s poison) into
taking the place of Prometheus, since he was going to die
anyway. Hercules than freed Prometheus from his chains
PS.The Centaur, Cheiron, would automatically go to the
Elysian Plain. Kind of like heaven. On the western margin of
the earth, by the stream of Ocean, lay a happy place named
the Elysian Plain, whither mortals favored by the gods were
transported without tasting of death, to enjoy an
immortality of bliss. This happy region was also called the
“Fortunate Fields,” and the “Isles of the Blessed.”
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Pandora’s Box
At first the life of man on earth was happier than it is now, and then miseries and discontents gradually crept in. Prometheus and Epimetheus created men only, not women.
When Zeus was angry with mankind, he devised the worst punishment he could think of, and invented Woman. Hephaestus, the smith of the gods, was instructed to form her from the earth and make her irresistibly beautiful. Each of the gods gave her his own special gift of skill, and from this she was called Pandora, “all gifted”.
When she was perfected with every gift and arrayed in all her loveliness, this treacherous treasure was taken down to earth by Hermes, the messenger god who wears winged helmet and sandals to speed his flight, and given to Prometheus’ foolish brother Epimetheus. Now Prometheus had warned his brother not to accept anything from Zeus, even if it looked like a gift sent in friendship; but Epimetheus as usual acted first and thought afterwards. He accepted the maiden from Hermes and led her into his house, and with her a great jar – some say a box or chest – which the gods had sent with her, telling her to keep it safely but never think of opening it.
This was too much for a lively girl like Pandora, who among her gifts was endowed with the first feminine curiosity. After restraining it for a little while, she at last gave in and lifted the lid from the jar, and from that moment began the sorrows of mankind. For each of the gods had stored in it the worst thing he was able to give, and wonderful as had been the gifts with which they endowed her, just as dreadful were the evils that rushed eagerly from the jar in a black stinking cloud like pestilent insects – sickness and suffering, hatred and jealousy and greed, and all the other cruel things that freeze the heart and bring on old age.
Pandora tried to clap the lid on the jar again, but it was too late. The happy childhood of mankind had gone forever, and with it the Golden Age when life was easy. From then on man had to wrest a hard living by his own labour from the unfriendly ground.
Only one good thing came to man in the jar and remains to comfort him in his distress, and that is the spirit of Hope.
This is where I am going to keep track of the things we have gone over in mythology club at Victoria school for performing and visual arts in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I’m hoping to put all the topics on here, links, pictures, videos, etc. Basically how we can all stay on track with each other!
Cant wait to see you guys tomorrow — First discussion meeting! (Tuesday, March 25 2008)
November 24, 2009
November 24, 2009 in Uncategorized | Tags: comments, deviantArt, Indian Myth | Leave a comment
Well, times have been a little slow and I’m sorry that it took so long to post again. Hopefully now people have gotten my message about the site and are reading this.
Anyhow, I am thinking that this will be our home for a while. That is up for debate however, so if you feel you have a better space to put this on please feel free to comment and we shall have a look.
So, here is a photo of the Indian myth about how the world is held in place. It is on deviantArt so if you don’t have an account you may not be able to see it…if that is the case comment and I will post the picture. I think it’s a neat interpretation that really doesn’t leave any question behind. My question is, if these animals are moving through infinity, how are they staying upright? A lot of his work is mythology-related, so you can browse his gallery if you’d like.
There is a metal band called Chthonic from Taiwan who explores Taiwanese history and mythology in all of their albums. Might be interesting to take a look at their lyrics if not their actual songs. Here’s their youtube and official site.