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.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
What's Love got to do with it
"If Maurice were here he would tell you that sex is perhaps a greater, but in no way a different, pleasure from any other. He would tell you that it is only one part - and not the essential part - in the relationship we call love. He would tell you that the essential part is truth, the trust two people build between their minds. Their souls. What you will. That the real infidelity is the one that hides the sexual infidelity. Because the one thing that must never come between two people who have offered each other love is a lie." (Fowles 602-3)
Who knew that one could stumble upon such profound and honest and revealing insights into the intricacies of life as this in a mythologies class. I could not help but underline this section and even go as far as drawing little hearts around this section not only because its subject but becasue I myself loved the duplicity of this statement. It seemed so simple yet the execution of this practice of not telling lies to a loved one seems so complex in this day in age. I have seen far too many people divorce of this very issue and it saddens me to realize that some even dive into a marriage knowing their relationship is void of this key cornerstone.
Who knew that one could stumble upon such profound and honest and revealing insights into the intricacies of life as this in a mythologies class. I could not help but underline this section and even go as far as drawing little hearts around this section not only because its subject but becasue I myself loved the duplicity of this statement. It seemed so simple yet the execution of this practice of not telling lies to a loved one seems so complex in this day in age. I have seen far too many people divorce of this very issue and it saddens me to realize that some even dive into a marriage knowing their relationship is void of this key cornerstone.
Monday, November 7, 2011
The Final Disintoxication
"'Why should I struggle through hundreds of pages of fabrication to reach half a dozen very little truths?'" (Fowles 96).
The Magus. There is so much from this book that I found absolutely astonishing and relevant and fascinating and there is simply not enough adjectives to explain how much I enjoyed and loved this book. It has made its way onto my list of favorites. I cannot escape the complete and utterly sumbersive quality this book invokes and forces upon its reader. One cannot help but want to finish and uncover the mysteries and reasons behind everything as Nicholas Urfe is trying as well. There are a few unanswered questions the book leaves on with which mirrors Urfe's situation perhaps intentionally. However, this unavoidable mystery is yet another thing I absolutely cannot credit as a dissapointment. Rather it would have been more of a dissapointing ending if all loose ends had been neatly tied or cut off. The book as a whole is far more intriguing as an experimentation itself.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Preperation Again (Quiz 2)
Calasso book pages you need to know:
Page 209-212 : Deals with the four stories that make up the quaternity (personality profile; myers briggs test which has to do with feeling, sensation, intuition and
Stories of zeus – thinking (everything up)
Stories of Athena – sensation (everything out) related to polis (politics/city)
Dionysus – feeling (down function, everything that is not thinking or not sensation or intuition, pure unadultered feeling, incubus (demon possesses a males body and impregnates a woman’s body) chthonic – of or pertaining to the underworld. Disassemble your social identity to get you in touch with feeling
Demeter – intuition (In function)
Page 209 chapter 7 : Persephone being abducted by hades; narcissus flower (narcissist – obsessed with themselves)- Calls her by kore (maiden)- Triple goddess : mother, daughter and the crone
Page 225-226 chapter 8: story of Athena, how Athena came to be
Page 244: half has to do with mysteries of Eleusis, why the Greeks respect Eleusis more than anything else
Page 336: “how would you define Homeric theology?”- What we call Homeric theology is…supremacy of the visible- Religion is that which we see; Greek- When you can no longer see you have nothing (daylight and light)- Iphigenai asks to look at the light one more time
Page 359 chapter 11: comes from the odyssey; Zeus has prepared a woeful destiny for us so that in the future we may be sung about by the bards..”why do we suffer?”- This is the work of the God’s - they brought about the ruin of …. So that we may celebrate them later
Page 383-391 chapter 12: Definition of mythology: precedent behind every action- Invasion of the mind and body- What Cadmus gave to Greece; necklace which passes from hand to hand causing disaster- What conclusions can we draw – page 387- A life in which the God’s are not invited isn’t worth living…inviting them causes disaster(387)- Why do we talk about Cadmus? Founder of the city of thiebes- Greatest disaster was fly’s feet (gifts of the mind, vowels and consonants; the alphabet)
Great Pan’s Dead
WB Yeats : The Second Coming
Eliade:
The Eleusinian material
The Tarboleum (rites and rituals)
Dionysian material from the bachae
Questions:1. What does spiritus mundi mean? (multiple choice) : spirit of the world/earth2. At the marriage of Cadmus and harmony who was drawing the chariot (two animals)? Boar and the lion3. What country are the Nacirema tribe from? American’s4. Which of the three things important to the Eleusinian mysteries was the origin of theater? The things seen, said or done…It was Done (dromenon: things done)5. What is the study of the soul? Psychology – word psychology isn’t the study of the mind6. Who at birth, was her beauty only appreciated by her father (had two faces, four eyes and horns that sprouted from her face, page 204)? Persephone7. What is the origin of our legal or judicial system? The Athena story – where by she acquits Orestes for killing his mother, STORY OF ORESTES is at the origin of our judicial system8. What is the term where women take over the night where they have free reign over the men; no retaliation from men? Tote toge (day of the dead)9. What is the animal that is associated with the taurobolium? The bull10. What makes something sacred? If you truly believe something is…”made sacred, doesn’t come that way” , make them sacred through ritual11. According to your instructor who is the real hero? Yourself, we are all heroic, not just people in stories12. James Joyce’s novel … which talks about an ordinary person going about an ordinary day is modeled by what Greek story (Greek name of the hero)? Odysseus13. According to the Irish poet, WB Yeats, from the second coming…history is composed of two thousand year cycles; which comes from the visitation of a _____ who impregnates a _____? Bird , Woman14. What is the Greek image for soul? Butterfly15. Zeus ate a goddess named____? Metis (goddess meaning wisdom)16. Which word best typifies a space carved out in which sacred rituals are carried out? Temenos17. Who is the God of the double door and what does it mean? Dionysus, born twice (born of a mother and a father; mother’s womb and fathers thigh)- Dithyramb(os):18. What was said to end the pagan world and initiate the religious age? Great pan is Dead19. What is the fundamental difference between the God and the hero? Mortality; God’s don’t die20. When do the furies arrive? Kill your mother **(blood murder, don’t kill people in your blood line)21. What is the religious significance of Cupid and Psyche according to your instructor? The psychological development of the feminine22. Which one of the rituals came up no less than four times during the telling of our rituals? Australian rain making ritual23. What is the name of the girl that the king threw a sandal at? Charila24. What Greek play shows the clash between tradition and the state; religious rituals? Antigone- Play in which young woman buries her brother even though its forbidden by the state, punishment by death25. From what term do we get our word senator? Senex26. How would you define an archetype? An ancient or primordial image which is found universally in mythology, fairy tale and fantasy27. Which Eleusinian mystery pertains to fertility during a certain month? Maypole **(Phallic symbolism)28. 22 points of the hero formula? **Hero pattern- Who covers most of these more than anyone else? Oedipus, covers almost 21/2229. In this class, which Christian ritual did we discuss that had to deal with death and rebirth? Baptism30. Why was Demeter putting a baby in the fire? To make him immortal31. If you have someone in your family who is a daddy’s girl, whose classical archetype is she modeling? Athena
Page 209-212 : Deals with the four stories that make up the quaternity (personality profile; myers briggs test which has to do with feeling, sensation, intuition and
Stories of zeus – thinking (everything up)
Stories of Athena – sensation (everything out) related to polis (politics/city)
Dionysus – feeling (down function, everything that is not thinking or not sensation or intuition, pure unadultered feeling, incubus (demon possesses a males body and impregnates a woman’s body) chthonic – of or pertaining to the underworld. Disassemble your social identity to get you in touch with feeling
Demeter – intuition (In function)
Page 209 chapter 7 : Persephone being abducted by hades; narcissus flower (narcissist – obsessed with themselves)- Calls her by kore (maiden)- Triple goddess : mother, daughter and the crone
Page 225-226 chapter 8: story of Athena, how Athena came to be
Page 244: half has to do with mysteries of Eleusis, why the Greeks respect Eleusis more than anything else
Page 336: “how would you define Homeric theology?”- What we call Homeric theology is…supremacy of the visible- Religion is that which we see; Greek- When you can no longer see you have nothing (daylight and light)- Iphigenai asks to look at the light one more time
Page 359 chapter 11: comes from the odyssey; Zeus has prepared a woeful destiny for us so that in the future we may be sung about by the bards..”why do we suffer?”- This is the work of the God’s - they brought about the ruin of …. So that we may celebrate them later
Page 383-391 chapter 12: Definition of mythology: precedent behind every action- Invasion of the mind and body- What Cadmus gave to Greece; necklace which passes from hand to hand causing disaster- What conclusions can we draw – page 387- A life in which the God’s are not invited isn’t worth living…inviting them causes disaster(387)- Why do we talk about Cadmus? Founder of the city of thiebes- Greatest disaster was fly’s feet (gifts of the mind, vowels and consonants; the alphabet)
Great Pan’s Dead
WB Yeats : The Second Coming
Eliade:
The Eleusinian material
The Tarboleum (rites and rituals)
Dionysian material from the bachae
Questions:1. What does spiritus mundi mean? (multiple choice) : spirit of the world/earth2. At the marriage of Cadmus and harmony who was drawing the chariot (two animals)? Boar and the lion3. What country are the Nacirema tribe from? American’s4. Which of the three things important to the Eleusinian mysteries was the origin of theater? The things seen, said or done…It was Done (dromenon: things done)5. What is the study of the soul? Psychology – word psychology isn’t the study of the mind6. Who at birth, was her beauty only appreciated by her father (had two faces, four eyes and horns that sprouted from her face, page 204)? Persephone7. What is the origin of our legal or judicial system? The Athena story – where by she acquits Orestes for killing his mother, STORY OF ORESTES is at the origin of our judicial system8. What is the term where women take over the night where they have free reign over the men; no retaliation from men? Tote toge (day of the dead)9. What is the animal that is associated with the taurobolium? The bull10. What makes something sacred? If you truly believe something is…”made sacred, doesn’t come that way” , make them sacred through ritual11. According to your instructor who is the real hero? Yourself, we are all heroic, not just people in stories12. James Joyce’s novel … which talks about an ordinary person going about an ordinary day is modeled by what Greek story (Greek name of the hero)? Odysseus13. According to the Irish poet, WB Yeats, from the second coming…history is composed of two thousand year cycles; which comes from the visitation of a _____ who impregnates a _____? Bird , Woman14. What is the Greek image for soul? Butterfly15. Zeus ate a goddess named____? Metis (goddess meaning wisdom)16. Which word best typifies a space carved out in which sacred rituals are carried out? Temenos17. Who is the God of the double door and what does it mean? Dionysus, born twice (born of a mother and a father; mother’s womb and fathers thigh)- Dithyramb(os):18. What was said to end the pagan world and initiate the religious age? Great pan is Dead19. What is the fundamental difference between the God and the hero? Mortality; God’s don’t die20. When do the furies arrive? Kill your mother **(blood murder, don’t kill people in your blood line)21. What is the religious significance of Cupid and Psyche according to your instructor? The psychological development of the feminine22. Which one of the rituals came up no less than four times during the telling of our rituals? Australian rain making ritual23. What is the name of the girl that the king threw a sandal at? Charila24. What Greek play shows the clash between tradition and the state; religious rituals? Antigone- Play in which young woman buries her brother even though its forbidden by the state, punishment by death25. From what term do we get our word senator? Senex26. How would you define an archetype? An ancient or primordial image which is found universally in mythology, fairy tale and fantasy27. Which Eleusinian mystery pertains to fertility during a certain month? Maypole **(Phallic symbolism)28. 22 points of the hero formula? **Hero pattern- Who covers most of these more than anyone else? Oedipus, covers almost 21/2229. In this class, which Christian ritual did we discuss that had to deal with death and rebirth? Baptism30. Why was Demeter putting a baby in the fire? To make him immortal31. If you have someone in your family who is a daddy’s girl, whose classical archetype is she modeling? Athena
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