Final Thoughts.

Overall, I really enjoyed this class. It gave me a new perspective on world literature that I had not possessed prior to taking this course. While I was somewhat familiar with a number of the tragedies presented in class, the depth we went into them was refreshing and offered a new perspective I had not noticed before, especially with the Greek plays. While the Iliad was familiar to me, the Ramayana was new and interesting, and helped me appreciate the Indian culture in a way I had not experienced before. The creation stories also provided an interesting look. Gilgamesh and Metamorphoses are two stories I had absolutely no idea about, and helped me understand how various cultures around the world interact to form different identities and cultures. The simularities between the various stories supported the idea of an interlaced world, each with it's own personal tastes and flavors but sharing many main identifying features. I am happy I took part in this course.

Catullus Poetry

Catullus poetry is very different from the previous Sappho poetry we had read in class earlier. While Sappho poetry tended to be more reserved and proper, relying heavily on metaphors and similies to carry a message across, Catullus tended to be more direct and honest in his summations of various topics. He often used vulgar language and crude imagery to blast opponents in his writings. Another difference is that Catullus used poetry to attack a number of enemies and lambast friends who had appearently wronged him in some manner. I was not familiar with this sort of writing, especially one that had existed so long ago. The erotic poems obviously owe a debt to Sappho's writing, as they seem to have a fair amount in common with her while still retaining their own crude style and formation. Overall, Catullus poetry is an interesting look at a time when this sort of liberal writing was allowed, and clearly censorship had not developed in order to curtail the writer's ambitions.

Sappho

The more interesting qualities of Sappho's writing is her own personal involvement in the narrative. Until this point, the audience has been a passive observer, one which is meant to take objective lessons from the work itself. In Sappho's poetry, however, she speaks in the first person which allows for a much more involved audience -- in this instance allowing for the author's emotions to be transferred to the viewer.

Another interesting aspect is the lesbianism present in the play. To this day, Sappho has had a major impact on woman to woman relationships, with Sapphic and her native island, Lesbos, as the two strongest and most familiar terms relating to lesbianism. This adds an interesting element to the stories, especially considering how she was supposedly married and had a child by the time she was writing her works. It is a shame that so many of her poems are lost to time.

Othello

The Shakespearean play "Othello" is a fascinating tale, and especially becomes intriguing in the latter sections of the play. Iago, clearly an evil schemer, manipulates Othello in order to achieve his own wicked purposes. The failing of Othello is intriguing in this respect, since as a soldier he appears to be very in charge of his own life and the lives of those around him. His failing in this sense is not pride or hubris, as illustrated in many Greek plays, but instead in being a trusting individual. It appears that Shakespeare is warning those who take too much faith in the words and suggestions of others will fall prey to evil intentions that others may have. Iago uses underlying insecurities to pull Othello around as he sees fit, eventually convincing him to kill his own wife. After Desdemona is killed, Othello finally becomes aware of Iago's scheming and villainy, but cannot come to terms with the actions he has taken, and kills himself. This play resolves itself in a very curious manner, since the characters we have been identifying with have all revealed great flaws in character and actions; the hero at the end of the play is named Graziano, with whom we have not spent nearly as much time as say Othello or Iago. It is an interesting change to the established winnings of the hero and the typical villainous evildoer.

Medea

Medea was an interesting story, because it's dealing with the topic matter of tragedy and sympathies was so radically different than what was the supposed norm. In most stories, the protagonist and the main person to rally behind is the male lead, but in Medea we instead focus on Jason's wife, Medea. This radically changes the perspective, and allows for a different mood to permeate throughout the work. Surprisingly enough, Jason is still portrayed as the rational actor throughout the tragedy, despite his being clearly at fault for abandoning his very supporting wife. Her plan at revenge is well thought out, although the motivation behind it can still classify the actual revenge as an act of "passion", due to a supposed failing of the mentality of women. Jason's use of logic as the reasons for his abandonment of his wife should endear the audience to his cause, but the idea of his ditching his life partner for such a trivial reason still lands the majority of the audience in favor of Medea.

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex is one of the more interesting stories out of ancient Greece. Starring Oedipus Rex, it deals with trying to change fate; Oedipus is charged with soon killing his father, and sleeping with his mother. While most Greek tales deal with fate, this one takes the idea to task the most directly I've seen so far this year. The entire story revolves around this premise; Oedipus was abandoned by his father due to this premonition, and the reason he leaves his new adopted home is again thanks to this telling of the future. Of course, after he leaves his home he ends up killing his father and indeed claiming his mother's hand in marriage. The story ends in true tragedy fashion, with Oedipus's mother killing herself and Oedipus himself blinding himself and leaving the kingdom. Very well told story overall, and one that deals with the easily grasped concept of fate and predestined actions.

Opedius Rex

The tale of Opedius Rex (or Opedius the King) is probably the most twisted tale we've read so far. Focusing on the story of Opedius, who is predicted to kill his father and sleep with his mother, this Greek tragedy deals heavily with the theme of free will. The question is how much a person has a say in their own lives, and how much is their fate determined before they are even born. In this story, the tellers of fate come in the form of oracles and prophets, who tell those who listen what will happen to them. In reality, however, few people can honestly say their fates have been accurately predicted; the popular methods of fortune tellers, and horoscopes rarely come true as they are told. Still, people who believe in these methods of telling the future hold fast to the idea of pre-ordained history, and that every action we take has been predicted and taken into account. This idea is based on somewhat flimsy evidence, but is still widely believed, as seen by the proliferance of horoscopes in newspapers and online every day.

Ramayana

The Ramayana is probably the most difficult text so far, in that it's origins lie in the East, and isn't a traditional western tale, and uses a number of terms that obviously don't have easy English translations. Despite this, the actual narrative is fairly intriguing, featuring a pantheon that was new and fresh to me, as well as the actual tale. Rama seemed to be flawed as a person, but as a leader single handedly won the hearts and the minds of all his populace. Despite the difficulties with comprehending the text itself, the story was well told enough for me to enjoy it.

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an unique text, simply because it deals with material not otherwise covered in this class so far. The differences include the focus on the Hindu religion, the differences between being a good person and being a good leader, and the necessity of various roles and the equality these various classes need. The idea of a rigid caste system could be interpreted as the original socialism or communism, since these same ideas are toted in these two forms of government.

Despite the differences from the text we have read, there are still a number of similarities to other texts. The idea of this book being the foundation of a religion is like the bible, and the moral teachings are in line with the Iliad, although the teachings do vary.

Book 1

The first book of the Iliad was an interesting deviation from most of our reading materials. The main difference lies in the fact that this is not a creationist myth, but instead an epic poem told about the conquest of Troy via the poet Homer. The Iliad serves as a back story for the later poem, The Oddessy, which switches the focus from Archilles and Agamenmon to Odysseus.

In the First book of the Iliad, the main characters and background is established, via a type of prologue to the main action of the Iliad. Agamenmon is asked by a priest to return his daughter, and when he refuses, Apollo punishes the Greeks by sending down a plague upon his people. When Agamenmon finally relents and surrenders his prize to her father, he takes Archilles's trophy woman instead, to which Archilles becomes angry and wrathful; pulling back from the conflict that Agamenmon so desires to be fought.

Overall, this story has played an integral role in all societies since it's recording, and still holds up as a riveting tale today.

Metamorphoses

Metamorphoses, by Ovid, is unique compared to both Genesis and Gilgamesh for a number of reasons, despite it being a creationist story and featuring a flood. Primarily, the location differs greatly from Sumeria or anywhere in the middle east, but instead comes from Rome. The change in location switches the pantheon to the Greco-Roman Gods, such as Jove. One of the more interesting facets of this story was how humanity repopulated the Earth, which involved the two survivors of the flood threw stones over their shoulders, and from which people would spring fully formed. Ovid points the reason for this occuring was due to the Earth Mother having unlimited potential for giving life.

Another interesting aspect of this story was the amount of unnatural acts perpitrated by the Gods against the mortals. While all stories featured the Gods punishing humanity as a whole, Metamorphoses was the only story that seemed to blame the Gods with attacking individual mortals. It seemed to make these Gods more relatable, since they too can fall prey to petty squabbles and fallacies that plague mankind as a whole.

Gilgamesh and Genesis

The differences between the epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible's Genesis are numerous, but the similiar theme allow for comparisons between the two. While the Bible uses the theme of the flood as a punishment in order to cleanse the sinning humanity, the epic of Gilgamesh is decidedly more vague on this point -- the exact reasons for instigating the flood seems to be not the wronging of humanity, but instead on a whim of the gods. The differences between the two could possibly indicate differences in ideologys between the two cultures, whereas the western, Christian world holds themselves accountable for all acts that occur to them; the middle eastern kingdom of Sumer however blames acts of wonton destruction on the gods and not their actions.

An interesting sidenote is the fact that the epic of Gilgamesh also utilizes a dove in order to discover land, but unlike in the Bible the bird is unsuccessful, instead the raven discovers the end of the flood. The raven is often characterized as a dark and mysterious bird, usually indicating a bad omen. Again, this could indicate differences between the two cultures; the importance of peace in the christian world while the Sumerian lands trumped the unexpected and dealing with the unknown.

Matt Egan

The story featured in genesis focuses on the main character of Noah, and his mission to preserve life, while God takes on a mission in order to destroy all the evil and corruption he sees in man. Noah builds an arc, and takes on two of all the living things on the earth, bringing with him his family and food in order to survive the ordeal. After the flood, a dove sent by Noah finds an olive branch and brings it back to Noah, suggesting that the flood is indeed over and that dry land is finally available to land upon.

The olive branch in this story is an interesting addition, since for millennia after the publication of the bible the olive branch has, and continues to stand as a symbol of peace. A possible interpretation of this passage could be that Noah left civilization due to the violence mentioned in Genesis six, and found peace a number of days later after whatever strife had passed, and chose to rejoin society.