So essentially, know Vittoria's blog by heart:) But seriously, she has the bulk of the material from which the material for the test will be drawn. Here are a few of the highlights I caught during the blur of review.
25 questions on the entire exam
The most important line in The Magus: “All that is past possesses our present…
Logos = Word (creative word, word that creates the world) Capitalized W not an accident
Vitoria’s wonderful story of the Kangaroo
1 question from each 6 group presentations
What was the song from the closing credits of group 5 presentation? “White Wedding”
Who was Oprah compared to in Group 2? Zeus
From Group 1 – How many different versions of one myth are there? Infinite
Group 3 – The title from The Shameful Truth came from The Magus.
Group 6 –What was each person’s character in the group? The pirate, irish, Viking, cowboy, Egyptian, chinese
Group 4 - That’s all folks. Darrell in our class had the best one liners, both are mythological, refer to both the end. Here we go again.
Read blogs about individual presentations and see if there is anything that really hits out! Primary passage in The Magus all that is past possesses the present.
Every answer is a form of death. P. 626
Cicada
Ritual of Adonis (were asked to look up and google) death of a person at too young an age.
Sacred – sacrifice to make sacred
Masque a certain type of theater. Look at Tori’s Blog
The collective unconscience
Eliade story of Chung Tzu and the butterfly
Something becomes a sacred action when it is in remembrance of the divine.
The journey up is a mythology
The god game
Orpheus and Eurydice. Divine musician. “Black Orpheus”
The Bhagavada Gita
The Swerve Greenblatt
Eschatolgy
Metempsychosis
Parabola
Asides: I'm not entirely sure if this was just mentioned to be mentioned
Muses taught humans how to sing
We are only here on this earth to do one thing and that is to sing.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
And We Start Again...
"one had to go back several steps, and start again; and know the place for the first time." (Fowles 650)
To say that we are ending this chapter in our education seems almost unfair to the whole theme of the class. Mythologies never end and instead weave back unto themselves and rather than acting as a tree with many branches that reach out and have distinct and final ends, I would argue that the stories are more appropriately traced with a bush where the branches invoke confusion as to where one stops and the other ends and where they appear to double over and under and circle around to a branch seemingly far away but touched for even just a moment. Moments mean everything in myth and a moment can change a lifetime.
To say that we are ending this chapter in our education seems almost unfair to the whole theme of the class. Mythologies never end and instead weave back unto themselves and rather than acting as a tree with many branches that reach out and have distinct and final ends, I would argue that the stories are more appropriately traced with a bush where the branches invoke confusion as to where one stops and the other ends and where they appear to double over and under and circle around to a branch seemingly far away but touched for even just a moment. Moments mean everything in myth and a moment can change a lifetime.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Reflecting on My Efforts
Looking back over my paper, there are so many more elements that I wish I could incorporate. In actuality, I had an entire sheet of paper covered in simply page numbers of the quotes that directly referenced appearance versus reality. I have yet to dive into uncovering the passages with more hidden implications. Here is the list of page numbers that helped influence my topic of discussion for my final paper.
15, 34, 39, 40, 56, 76, 95, 99, 105-6, 119, 120, 127, 132, 137, 148, 164, 170, 209, 219, 231, 235, 239, 267, 271, 279, 282, 285, 289, 302, 309, 310, 312, 325, 338, 339, 362, 381, 399, 400, 404, 409, 411, 427, 449, 489, 499, 516, 532, 539, 552, 560, 569, 589, 598, 601, 606, 627, 629, 643, 647, 654
15, 34, 39, 40, 56, 76, 95, 99, 105-6, 119, 120, 127, 132, 137, 148, 164, 170, 209, 219, 231, 235, 239, 267, 271, 279, 282, 285, 289, 302, 309, 310, 312, 325, 338, 339, 362, 381, 399, 400, 404, 409, 411, 427, 449, 489, 499, 516, 532, 539, 552, 560, 569, 589, 598, 601, 606, 627, 629, 643, 647, 654
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Knowledge of Self
Confusing Confusion
There is a question that we are drilled with almost from the moment when speech is realized. Although it is presumably facilitating our growth and easing our attitude towards the hard decisions that face us in life, it seems almost as if we are being forced into conformity and into a reality that perhaps is not truly our own. Choices are made that perhaps negate the true underlying desires of the one in question and the misrepresentations and appearances of felicity begin. Reality becomes less of a truth and more of a façade by which the lies that began to creep like vines and weave into complex tangles of deceit cling to. This harsh view of reality seems just that at first, some cynical interpretation of the beauty that one sees every day in the world. However, if one takes a closer look at the presumed relationships that satiate a need for interaction throughout the day, certain truths are revealed that highlight the infiltration of appearance into the assumed world of reality. Questions begin to arise in correlation with this realization pertaining to the lies that are being accepted and the truths that are being withheld amongst supposed friends and lovers. These notions of misguided acceptance of personas and misplaced trust of a false reality saturate the pages of The Magus, a novel by John Fowles that profoundly addresses what happens when one fails to first know oneself.
This tale of misconstrued realities even opens with an admonition by the main identity in question, Nicholas Urfe, that he himself “began to discover [he] was not the person [he] wanted to be” (15). His life had adopted a course from the onset that he had not found favorable and thus Urfe had adopted a cynical view on not only his role in the greater scheme of life’s reality, but also in the seemingly miniscule realities of those that met him at a various moments in his life, for it only takes a moment to send the course askew. Throughout the rest of the novel and from the mouths of countless other “players” in the reality of Urfe’s life, the lines of conventional reality and time begin to blur and the appearances of people, place, and time pervade the realm in which the most profound realizations are made.
The most profound analogy for this multiplicity of realities and supposed understanding of them comes in a reference to a door: “It was like walking through a door, going all round the world, and then walking through the same door but a different door” (240). Characters are constantly being warned or warning not to trust what is shown because it is forever altering and changing and the lies compound to form convoluted interpretations of an appeared reality. This dichotomy between appearance and reality is vital in understanding not only the farce or experiment the magician Conchis has imposed on Urfe, but also in understanding basic human relations as a whole. The basest form of this argument against reality stems from the need for a person first to not be able to lie to himself before eradicating his life of the lies around him.
However the complexities of this issue transcend the pages of this book and apply not only to mythology but to contemporary realities being formed this very second. One has to think of all the lies that have been said by him or to him whether for noble reasons or not. Either way, there are crrent realities crumbling and falling into quicksand constantly from both past and present. Old histories thought to be fact are sometimes falsified and new truths are verified. Although a passage is recalled that references that not all truths are indeed verifiable which in itself submits an entirely new complexity.
Appearances in conjunction with reality create chaos whre reality without appearances ignites boredom. Without any mystery, there is no thrill of discovery or revelation. However, to assume reality in an appearance and accept appearance as reality reveals the true crossroads of which myths are written. All the gods were fans of revealing no the reality but the appearance. Zeus for example showed himself in at least four different forms before revealing his true identity. And when humans adopt the mask or "masque" the charades begin and feeling are often harmed in the seeking of the hidden.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Drawing Conclusions or Better yet Correlations
The dreaded final paper that supposedly reveals our genius and complete and total understanding of the semester that has acted as predecessor to our lifelong interpretation and inclusion of myth for the rest of our lives looms before us. It seems almost unavoidable to not think of Dionyssus every time one orders a drink or think of Aphrodite as one embarks on that first or third or three hundred and seventy seventh date. How too can one ignore the power of Posiedon when staring at the vast powerful unknown that is the ocean? There are even some of the smallest nuances that have now crept into our subconcious as studious mythological sponges. So how does one decide who to seclude and who to embrace as the tools by which to reveal this understanding? Even by narrowing the playing field to how The Magus includes or incorporates myth seems hardly an adequate sieve. My answer is to find the most obscure theme or aspect of The Magus and run with it in a million directions to reveal the seemingly unlimited intertwining character of myth.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Inspiration and Inclusion
Here is a list of the quotes that inspired me in compiling the power point presentation the third to go offered:) Although in the end we were the fourth but that is trivial. Also let it be known that this is not necessarily my idea of all of the quotes of importance found in Calasso, and remember not all of them are from the mouth of Calasso. Just as there was extensive editing in the videos and pictures that were used, I had a lot of editing with the quotes I wanted to incorporate as well.
“Imitation is the most dangerous of activities for world order, because it tends to break down boundaries” (358)
“For centuries people have spoken of the Greek myths as of something to be rediscovered, reawoken.” (280)
“The truth is it is the myths that are still out there waiting to wake us and be seen by us, like a tree waiting to greet our newly opened eyes” (280)
“It was exactly what had been missing from life, what life had been waiting for: intoxication"(36)
“This is Dionysus. He arrives, unexpected, and possesses” (44)
“Then Dionysus explained that this new drink was perhaps even more powerful than the bread Demeter had revealed to other farmers, because it could both wake a man up and put him to sleep, dissolve the pains that afflicted the heart and make them liquid and fleeting” (38)
“Dionysus is not a useful god who helps weave or knot things together, but a god who loosens and unties” (45)
“The perennial virginity young Artemis demanded as a first gift from her father Zeus is the indomitable sign of detachment” (52)
“Mythical figures live many lives, die many deaths, and in this they differ from the characters we find in novels, who can never go beyond the single gesture” (22)
“But in each of these lives and deaths all the others are present, and we can hear their echo” (22)
“Only when we become aware of a sudden consistency between incompatibles can we say we have crossed the threshold of myth” (22)
“If it is history we want, then it is a history of conflict.
And the conflict begins with the abduction of a girl, or with the sacrifice of a girl.
And the one is continually becoming the other” (7)
“‘To abduct women…is considered the action of scoundrels, but to worry about abducted women is the reaction of fools” (8)
“The wise man does not give a moment’s thought to the women who have been abducted, because it is clear that, had they not wanted to be abducted, they would not have been” (8)
“Zeus is never ridiculous, because his dignity is of no concern to him” (377)
“Now, when Zeus chose to tread the earth, his usual manifestation was through rape” (53)
“Rape is at once possessing and possession” (53)
“During the age of the heroes the passing of time took its rhythm from the succession of divine rapes” (355)
“to seduce also means ‘to destroy’ in Greek: phtheirin” (20)
“narcissi, ‘that wondrous, radiant flower, awesome to the sight of gods and mortals alike” (4)
“’The craziest type of people are those who scorn what they have around them and look elsewhere / vainly searching for what cannot exist” (59)
“Stories never live alone: they are the branches of a family that we have to trace back, and forward” (10)
“Which is why, they say, Athenian boys have such small, lean buttocks” (15)
“With the heroes, man takes his first step beyond the necessary: into the realm of risk, defiance, shrewdness, deceit, art” (70)
“In the beginning, the hero’s intelligence is intermittent and limited to his role as a slayer of monsters” (324)
“But when he manages to break the frame of this role, without abandoning it, when he learns to be a traitor, a liar, a seducer, a traveler, a castaway, a narrator, then the hero becomes Odysseus, and then, to his first vocation of slaying everything, he can add a new one: understanding everything” (324)
“Whenever their lives were set aflame, through desire or suffering, or even reflection, the Homeric heroes knew that a god was at work” (93)
“If the hero is alone and can count on nothing but his own strength, he will never be able to enter this kingdom [where divine force is supreme]” (62)
“He needs a woman’s help…He doesn’t even realize that it is they who possess the wisdom he lacks” (62)
“The heroic gesture of women is betrayal: its influence on the course of events is just as great as the slaying of monsters” (69)
“The effects of woman’s betrayal are more subtle and less immediate perhaps, but equally devastating” (69)
“After Odysseus, our life without heroes begins; stories are no longer exemplary but are repeated and recounted. What happens is mere history” (349)
“Zeus wanted the death of the heroes to be a new death. What had death meant until now? Being covered once again by the earth” (358)
“But with the heroes, death coincided with the evocation of glory. Glory was something you could breathe now” (359)
“Who could be more hospitable than the king of the dead? His is the inn that closes its doors to no one, at no hour of the day or night” (76)
“Such are the stories of which mythology is woven: they tell how mortal mind and body are still subject to the divine, even when they are no longer seeking it out, even when the ritual approaches to the divine have become confused” (53-4)
“’This is the work of the gods: they brought about the ruin of men so that others might have song in the future” (359)
“For every step, the footprint was already there” (383)
“These things never happened, but are always”
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
T. S. Eliot
“Imitation is the most dangerous of activities for world order, because it tends to break down boundaries” (358)
“For centuries people have spoken of the Greek myths as of something to be rediscovered, reawoken.” (280)
“The truth is it is the myths that are still out there waiting to wake us and be seen by us, like a tree waiting to greet our newly opened eyes” (280)
“It was exactly what had been missing from life, what life had been waiting for: intoxication"(36)
“This is Dionysus. He arrives, unexpected, and possesses” (44)
“Then Dionysus explained that this new drink was perhaps even more powerful than the bread Demeter had revealed to other farmers, because it could both wake a man up and put him to sleep, dissolve the pains that afflicted the heart and make them liquid and fleeting” (38)
“Dionysus is not a useful god who helps weave or knot things together, but a god who loosens and unties” (45)
“The perennial virginity young Artemis demanded as a first gift from her father Zeus is the indomitable sign of detachment” (52)
“Mythical figures live many lives, die many deaths, and in this they differ from the characters we find in novels, who can never go beyond the single gesture” (22)
“But in each of these lives and deaths all the others are present, and we can hear their echo” (22)
“Only when we become aware of a sudden consistency between incompatibles can we say we have crossed the threshold of myth” (22)
“If it is history we want, then it is a history of conflict.
And the conflict begins with the abduction of a girl, or with the sacrifice of a girl.
And the one is continually becoming the other” (7)
“‘To abduct women…is considered the action of scoundrels, but to worry about abducted women is the reaction of fools” (8)
“The wise man does not give a moment’s thought to the women who have been abducted, because it is clear that, had they not wanted to be abducted, they would not have been” (8)
“Zeus is never ridiculous, because his dignity is of no concern to him” (377)
“Now, when Zeus chose to tread the earth, his usual manifestation was through rape” (53)
“Rape is at once possessing and possession” (53)
“During the age of the heroes the passing of time took its rhythm from the succession of divine rapes” (355)
“to seduce also means ‘to destroy’ in Greek: phtheirin” (20)
“narcissi, ‘that wondrous, radiant flower, awesome to the sight of gods and mortals alike” (4)
“’The craziest type of people are those who scorn what they have around them and look elsewhere / vainly searching for what cannot exist” (59)
“Stories never live alone: they are the branches of a family that we have to trace back, and forward” (10)
“Which is why, they say, Athenian boys have such small, lean buttocks” (15)
“With the heroes, man takes his first step beyond the necessary: into the realm of risk, defiance, shrewdness, deceit, art” (70)
“In the beginning, the hero’s intelligence is intermittent and limited to his role as a slayer of monsters” (324)
“But when he manages to break the frame of this role, without abandoning it, when he learns to be a traitor, a liar, a seducer, a traveler, a castaway, a narrator, then the hero becomes Odysseus, and then, to his first vocation of slaying everything, he can add a new one: understanding everything” (324)
“Whenever their lives were set aflame, through desire or suffering, or even reflection, the Homeric heroes knew that a god was at work” (93)
“If the hero is alone and can count on nothing but his own strength, he will never be able to enter this kingdom [where divine force is supreme]” (62)
“He needs a woman’s help…He doesn’t even realize that it is they who possess the wisdom he lacks” (62)
“The heroic gesture of women is betrayal: its influence on the course of events is just as great as the slaying of monsters” (69)
“The effects of woman’s betrayal are more subtle and less immediate perhaps, but equally devastating” (69)
“After Odysseus, our life without heroes begins; stories are no longer exemplary but are repeated and recounted. What happens is mere history” (349)
“Zeus wanted the death of the heroes to be a new death. What had death meant until now? Being covered once again by the earth” (358)
“But with the heroes, death coincided with the evocation of glory. Glory was something you could breathe now” (359)
“Who could be more hospitable than the king of the dead? His is the inn that closes its doors to no one, at no hour of the day or night” (76)
“Such are the stories of which mythology is woven: they tell how mortal mind and body are still subject to the divine, even when they are no longer seeking it out, even when the ritual approaches to the divine have become confused” (53-4)
“’This is the work of the gods: they brought about the ruin of men so that others might have song in the future” (359)
“For every step, the footprint was already there” (383)
“These things never happened, but are always”
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
T. S. Eliot
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The Third to Go
"In a presentation revealing the aforementioned shameful truth of the mythological world of Bozeman" (from our power point presentation)
Oh, how I wish we could just write a paper completely on the work that went into our presentation. We had so much fun putting out entire project together and although it may seem as if our focus was simply on fun and intoxication or fun through intoxication. However, although we were obviously entusiastic about one god in particular, any guesses, we spent many preliminary hours planning our attack on the city of Bozeman. Nearly every aspect of our presentation had something relevent at work going on, there were very few things we threw in just for giggles. As mentioned before our presentation began, we incorporated a lot of different things from both Calasso and Fowles and as I chose the title for our project and the quotes to use for each section, I did not take the job lightly. We threw around ideas of simply doing a silent movie to harken to the "final disintoxication" found in The Magus however as we sat around and began to listen to music, we could not escape the fun in using these to hint at the gods we were trying to convey and discuss.
Oh, how I wish we could just write a paper completely on the work that went into our presentation. We had so much fun putting out entire project together and although it may seem as if our focus was simply on fun and intoxication or fun through intoxication. However, although we were obviously entusiastic about one god in particular, any guesses, we spent many preliminary hours planning our attack on the city of Bozeman. Nearly every aspect of our presentation had something relevent at work going on, there were very few things we threw in just for giggles. As mentioned before our presentation began, we incorporated a lot of different things from both Calasso and Fowles and as I chose the title for our project and the quotes to use for each section, I did not take the job lightly. We threw around ideas of simply doing a silent movie to harken to the "final disintoxication" found in The Magus however as we sat around and began to listen to music, we could not escape the fun in using these to hint at the gods we were trying to convey and discuss.
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