The Finale

Well, we have reached the end of the road in this Mythologies class (or have we just reached the beginning of our adventure in the reality of myth?) and I'm a little disappointed. Not in the class, but in that I wished I put forth more effort to read ALL of Ovid rather than 3/4 of it. But I suppose that's the nature of the beast; you don't realize how valuable something can be in your life until it's gone. But I will definitely be keeping my copy and hopefully when I get some more time and less distractions, I would like to once again dive head first into the secular scripture that is the Metamorphoses of Ovid. 

Like I said in my paper + my presentation, I really wasn't expecting this class to be more than just talking about a compilation of stories. I should have known better. It made me realize that I live my life with blinders on and once those have been removed you see the true mythology that is all around us. From the fact that the word "cereal" comes from the the goddess Ceres or noticing how some (or ALL) of the most famous stories in literature root from mythology. In the last literature class I took with Sexson, I learned that there is no such thing as an original story. Everything has already been told - everything is a retelling of someone else's experience. This goes with Mythology as well. Earlier in this semester, Dr. Sexson very briefly mentioned the novel "Room" by Emma Donoghue in which a 5-year old boy who spent his life within the confines of a singular room. I recently downloaded this book onto my nook (yeah... I caved in and bought an electronic reading device) and I want to start to approach my own life with the same awe an wonder as that of 5 year old Jack who is just now experiencing the world. Using my mythological eye, I hope to make the familiar strange once again.

But as engaging and interesting as this class was, it was very intimidating. My cohorts are so remarkably talented in their speaking skills (something I need to work on) and their writing abilities (something I could also work on). Ashley's blog, in particular, never ceased to impress mean. Such beautiful words. The same goes for Kari, who I think does such a wonderful job engaging an audience. Having the ability to tell a good story and demand the undivided attention of the room is truly a gift. And it goes without saying that literally everyone else in the class had exceptional blogs that I enjoyed reading as a supplement to the lectures. It amazes me how much you can learn from your peers. 

And on that note, I will thank everyone for being so insightful through our mythological journey together. Being in this class was truly a treat and I hope to see some of you in future classes!

-Michelle

The Abominable Snowman, circa 1964

The above is a portrait of myself thanks to pre-finals stress. Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful winter break!

Ovid - Book III-VI

Cadmus - Sent by his father to catch Europa. He was told by the oracle of Apollo to follow a cow until it laid down and that is where he would build his new city. A giant snake killed his men. Cadmus killed the snake and Athene came down to tell him not to stare at the snake. He pulled out the teeth of the snake and planted them in the ground where men arose and killed each other.

Actaeon - Cadmus marries Harmonia, Actaeon (his grandson) is killed by his own dogs when he is transformed into a deer after seeing Diana in the nude.

Semele - Cadmus' daughter, Semele, conceived Jove's child. Juno was jealous and wanted to trick the girl by disguising as her nurse and saying that she must see Jove in his true, god-like form. Being shown in all his glory, it killed Semele and Jove took his unborn son and implanted him to his thigh. Bacchus was born and was given to Semele's sister. MORTALS CAN'T SEE GODS IN THEIR TRUEST FORM!

The Daughter of Minyas - Bacchus declared a feast day which everyone was to participate in. The Minyas daughters refused to join in on the fun. Instead, they told stories....

Pyramus & Thisbe - These two were neighbors separated by a large wall. A Romeo and Juliet story about two "star-crossed lovers". Pyramus thinks his lover is eaten by lions, so he kills himself... then, of course, Thisbe kills herself and their blood is the color of the mullberry tree's berries.

Athamas & Ino - Bacchus has been living with Ino. Juno, being diagnosed with a case of the crazies once again, wanted to place madness up Athamas and Ino so they would destroy their children. Athamas trapped his wife and beat his son until Ino escaped and nearly jumped off a cliff - where Venus intervened and made them immortal.

Cadmus & Harmonia - Cadmus and his wife were very upset over the loss of their daugher, Ino. They left Thebes and Cadmus was transformed into a snake. Harmonia also wanted to be a snake so she left her husband coil around her until she transformed and they slithered off into the forest together. 

Perseus & Phineus - Phineus is furious that he lost his bride to Perseus and a gruesome fight broke out in the palace of Cepheus. Perseus fought like a pro. Perseus then whipped out Medusa's head and Phineus and his men were turned to stone. 

Arethusa & Alpheus - The muse had a song about how Arethusa became a river. She went swimming in the stream, Alpheus, where he fell in love with her. She fled from him, but he chased her. She cried out for Diana's help, but Alpheus waited where he footsteps disappeared. She was so scared she dripped sweat and transformed into a river and of course, Alpheus joined his river to hers (how sweet). 

Ceres & Proserpina - Ceres' daughter is Proserpina. Cupid shoots Hades with an arrow and he falls in love with dear Proserpina. He swoops her up in a field and takes her back to the underworld with him. Ceres was peeved. Proserpina had to eat more of the food of the underworld, but she had only eaten six pomegranate seeds. So she was forced to stay there half the year and spend the other half with her mom. Hence, the seasons. 

Arachne - Arachne fancied herself a pretty great weaver. She challenged Minerva to a weaving contest. And it was epic. Minerva showed the gods wreaking havoc on mortals while Arachne wove scenes of the delinquency of the gods. Minerva was upset about how great Arachne's weave was so she beat her. Arachne tried to hang herself but Minerva transformed her into a spider so she could still hang but survive.

Niobe - Niobe was a wealthy mother who thought she was better than the mother of Apollo and Diana because she only had two children while Niobe had many more. Apollo and Diana killed her seven sons and Niobe's husband killed himself due to his grief. And then Latona killed the other seven. Niobe was then turned to stone and placed on a moutain. 

Latona & the Lycian Peasants - Latona left Delos after giving birth to Apollo and Diana and ended up in Lycia. She wanted to drink the water there but the peasants wouldn't allow. She turned them into frogs.

Mythological Sense of Being

Upon actually reading this book, I found myself identifying with Eugene Henderson in very specific ways. It seems unlikely that a 20 year old female living in the 21st century could find parallels in her own life to that of a man who is in his mid-fifties, struggling with rage and alcoholism, but it strangely occurred. Similar to Henderson, I feel like I have spent my entire life asleep to the idea of a “mythological” sense of life. Maybe even more so than he has. Over the past year, I had my nose buried  in books by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Michael Shermer - all who are pretty well-known for debunking religious ideology and providing scientific explanations for literally everything in our natural world (and sometimes beyond). While I consider it a luxury to have the tools to make these kind of scientific observations, I often feel as though it keeps me from understanding the significance of mythology and its associated rituals.
I found insight to accompany this notion in the paper “Myth: The Way We Were or The Way We Are?” by Michael W. Sexson. While I was reading it, it was like taking a swift kick to the stomach because everything that I had convinced myself of in the past year through reading books and watching interviews by religious critics had formed this shield that prevented me from thinking outside of my comfort zone and expanding on the idea that mythology is, in fact, an integral part of my everyday life. I had brushed the idea of theology (an more importantly, mythology) off as blind naiveté and that I was a free-thinking, intellectually well-rounded person because I had science on my side. I don’t think I really need to explain the fact that the reality of my thinking was just the opposite. It was as though my life was being lived under a veil of skepticism that was unresponsive to the existential value of knowledge of the origin. As sad as it sounds, it never even crossed my mind that instilling mythology in my life could give it some sort of pupose; or that I did not even have to “instill” the mythology into my life, but that it had been there all along and I was too arrogant to see it.
The line between literal and eschatological beginnings and endings have been blurred. To me, life was linear. It was not until late that I realized that I have gone through my own beginnings and endings without being fully aware of it at the time. Going back to the similarities between myself and Henderson, he epitomized the “ugly American” and so did I. If something was broken, then you fix it. If something needed to be changed, then you change it, no questions asked. My approach to life has cultural insensitivity and I would have been next in line to say, “let’s just blow these frogs out of the water and your problems will be solved.” While those within the African tribe did not feel necessarily comfortable with the idea of killing the frogs out of the water, Henderson decided we wanted to do it for the benefit of the community. He says, “Under the circumstances I might have taken a tolerant or even affectionate attitude toward the. Basically, I had nothing against them” (Bellow 88). Although according to the Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, who believed in the reincarnation of the soul in the form of humans and animals until it was immortal, this could potentially mean sacrificing family members of either Henderson or one of the tribe members. Tears were shed over the loss of a cow because unlike Americans, they viewed the drought as a sign of the gods anger rather than just an extended period of time without precipitation. Henderson (or myself) would have simply assumed that tears were shed because the cow was a beloved animal or just a pet. At the risk of sounding ignorant or culturally insensitive, I have to say that this is something that would not have crossed my mind prior to taking this class.
Eugene Henderson traveled to Africa because he was dissatisfied with Western culture and wanted to meet the desires of the voice within him that kept yelling, “I want. I want.” This insatiable craving was so strong that the only cure was to completely immerse himself in a culture that was so foreign to his own. Even simply traveling to Africa with his American friend could not fill this void; He had to put his trust in Romilayu to lead him somewhere beyond the confines of American materialism and greed. In a similar sense, I may have subconsciously experienced a desire for alternative explanations for cosmogony. Now I realize that strictly looking at a scientific approach for why literally anything is the way it is today is  the easier route and does not speak to us about the conditions of the human mind. It very well could have been a case of my being bored with scientific explanations for why the sun rises and the sun sets or why the features of the earth simply existed. My own blind skepticism was something I was initially proud of, but after taking this course, I was humbled. I faced an inevitable choice: I could either take the easy scientific route that isolated man and or I could take my blinders off and see the significance of stories - how they bound groups of people together and set exemplary models for behavior. In my quest to become a more interesting, less boring person, I think my choice is clear: to lift the veil and embrace life with a mythological eye would leads to a richer understanding of life and leave the boring facts behind.

Eugene Henderson

Today in class, we briefly talked about the character of Henderson and how everyone in the class essentially hated his guts. I agree that I would probably dislike him if I met him and we had a conversation, but from a literary viewpoint, I thought he was just perfect because he was all too human. He was the painfully flawed, angry, "Ugly American" that we all loved to hate. Like Sexson said, is there anything interesting about reading about a pleasant person who leads a wonderful life? Not really. Because often times I've noticed that I see a bit of myself in those most-hated characters. I don't have the same rage issues and I'm not an alcoholic, but I did find myself empathizing with this horrible man at points.

For example, it really struck a chord with me when he was talking about learning to plan his father's violin (no pun intended). I feel like anyone who has ever lost a loved one holds very closely one or two of their possessions because it provides a connection to that person even if it's just within our own psyche. It's why I still wear a necklace my grandmother owned before she died.

For it so happened that I have never been able to convince myself the dead are utterly dead. I admire the rational people and envy their clear heads, but what's the use of kidding? pg. 30

Whether we like it or not, in some way or another, each and every individual is Eugene Henderson. And I think Saul Bellow intended it to be that way.

Ovid - Book II

Phaethon - Young Phaethon journeys to the palace of the sun to seek proof that the Sun God is actually his father. Phoebus, the Sun God made a promise that he would grant Phaethon's any wish to prove that he, indeed, was his son (but of course we all know what happens when the Gods make promises - they have to keep them, no matter what). Phaethon wanted to drive his father's chariot with his horses across the sky and even though Phoebus knew how dangerous this would be, he allowed it. Phaethon could not control the horses and as he bolted through the sky, he made several permanent changes to the earth as well as the sky. Jove hurled a lightning bolt at the boy and the chariot, causing them both to fall from the sky and killing the Phaethon. His body was buried and his sisters mourned his loss for so long that they turned into poplar trees and their tears formed amber. Phoebus swore he would never drive the chariot again... til Jove forced him to.

Callisto - While he was on Earth, Jove saw a nymph, with whom he fell in love with. He disguised himself as Diana as he approached the nymph, Callisto. She warmly greeted "Diana" until she realized by his kiss that it wasn't actually Diana. She fought against him, but he raped her before he disappeared. Callisto was ashamed of what happened, and after nine months, when the real Diana and her nymphs were going swimming, Callisto hesitated. Diana ripped her clothes off and saw she was pregnant. She was banished and later gave birth to a son named Arcas. This pissed Juno off and after Callisto gave birth, she transformed her into a bear. Callisto ran into the woods and after 16 years, her son met up with her again and nearly killed her before Jove prevented it and swept them both up into the constellations.

Ocyrhoe - Ocyrhoe, Chiron's daughter, had the gift of prophecy. She went to her father's cave and saw Phoebus' son, Aesculapias. She predicted that he would grow strong again one day. She also predicted that her immortal father would be granted death by the other gods due to the pain of a serpents venom that tortured him. But before she could finish her prophecy, she was turned into a mare.

Mercury, Herse, Aglauros - Mercury was flying over Athens after hiding Apollo's herd, when he saw a beautiful girl named Herse, daughter of Cecrops. Mercury entered Cecrops' palace and the sister Aglauros questioned his identity and his intentions. He said he was in love with Herse and Aglauros agreed to help him if he gave her a sum of gold. But he didn't have gold so she chased him off the palace. Athene saw this happen and got her revenge on Aglauros and told Envy to poison Aglauros. Mercury came the next day to see Herse, but Aglauros blocked the doorway because she was jealous. She said she would not move and Mercury transformed her into a statue.

Europa & Jove - Jove sent his son, Mercury down to the kingdom of Sidon. He was supposed to move the herd closer to where his daugter, Europa, played. Jove turned himself into a bull and lured Europa onto his back. He then carried her out into the ocean and to the island of Crete, against her will.

John of God

"Myth is a reflection of the deepest aspects of the human mind, a powerful religious expression not of the way were were but of the way were are." -Michael W. Sexson, Myth: The Way We Were or the Way We Are?


When we were giving our one-minute Ovid presentations, Dr. Sexson mentioned something about how you see get the sense of mythology simply by watching an episode of a day-time talk show, such as Oprah or the ever-popular Jerry Springer Show. The other day, I was watching an episode of Oprah (I'd like to say that I only watch her show because it's 'the only thing that's on TV when I'm done with class', but I actually think she has interesting topics.... some days) and they were discussing something that was right up the alley of mythology. It was about this Brazilian man the natives called "John of God" (not to be confused with St. John of God - a prominent religious figure in Spain) because of his 'healing powers'. People would travel far and wide to have a consultation with the man who claimed that not only can he emotionally/spiritually heal you, but that he can physically heal you as well. Thousands of people (all required to dress in white to provide the healer with a clear, mental palette)  each week (many with terminal illnesses) attend his congregations every week with high hopes and to my surprise, it seemed like none of them left disappointed that they hadn't been cured.

I think it's pretty obvious that by going to see this man with a third grade education, you're not going to be physically cured of your illnesses. But I also think it's extraordinary that all of these people left feeling spiritually awakened, or that they had purged all of their 'inner demons' or negative energy, which I think speaks volumes about the capacity of the human mind as well as the relevance of mythological events in our modern times. This reminded me of the Bhils, mentioned in Eliade's book: the magician purifies the space beside the patient's bed and draws a mandol with corn flour while at the center of the design, he puts the house of Isvor and Bhagwan together with their figures. This drawing is then preserved until the patient is completely cured. By doing this, the Bhil magician is actually repeating the cosmogyny.

"Made symbolically contemporary with the Creation of the World, the patient is immersed in the primordial fullness of life; he is penetrated by the gigantic forces that, in illo tempore, made the Creation possible." Eliade, pg. 25

Maybe I'm reaching here, but it could be that by having all of his patients dress in white, John of God is trying to create an image of a sense of the beginning of time - where everyone is created the same and notices no difference between those you walk with (i.e. Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden?). Like I said, I could be making some far-reaching analogies, but making these kind of mythological connections is something that this class has introduced me to, and now I'm starting to realize the true importance of mythology.

Iphis & Ianthe

"The personal qualities which recommended a man for a royal alliance and succession to the throne would naturally would vary according to the popular ideas of the time and the character of the king or his substitute, but it is reasonable to suppose that among them in early society, physical strength and beauty would hold a prominent place." The Golden Bough pg. 188

The story that I was asked to present on Tuesday is located in Book IX of Ovid and it is entitled "Iphis & Ianthe" and when I was assigned this story, I believe Dr. Sexson said that it was one of the most interesting stories in Ovid and I wholeheartedly agree. When you stumble upon a gem of a story written many, many years ago that still holds relevance today and might even make a bit of a political statement, it's easy to see that this Ovid guy was writing way ahead of his time.

Now, if you haven't read the story yet or if it's just currently lost amongst all the other myths we have read so far, I'll briefly sum it up right now. There was a couple on the island of Crete named Ligdus and Telethusa who were expecting a baby. Ligdus said to his pregnant wife, Telethusa, that they could not possibly afford to keep the infant if it was born a female. And while it pained Telethusa to accept this fact, she obeyed her husband's command. As she approached her due date, Telethusa saw (or thought she saw - perhaps it was all a dream) the goddess Isis and a bunch of her deities. Isis essentially told Telethusa to let her baby live, regardless of the gender, because Telethusa had worshiped her so faithfully, she would ensure that everything would eventually work itself out. When she awoke, she gave birth to a baby girl. Telethusa hid the sex of the baby from her husband and told the nurse to tell everyone it was a boy and gave her the name "Iphis" which fits either a boy or a girl. Telethusa continued to raise and dress Iphis as a boy. When Iphis was 13 years old, her/his father found her/him a bride named Ianthe whom Iphis is truly in love with. She pleads to the gods and goddesses while her mother postpones the wedding date. But of course, the wedding day is imminent and eventually it arrives. It is then that Isis transforms Iphis into a male and HE can finally have HIS bride.

After reading this, I thought of the Hilary Swank film "Boys Don't Cry" whereas Professor Sexson said it's similar to something you would see on Jerry Springer. Either way, it's easy to see how LIFE imitates ART, especially in Ovid.