just another step

Recently I have not been to class do to some unforseen tradgedies in my life... I feel that this must be just another step in my journey of the hero.  I am now facing my road of trials and though i do not care to share my experiances I guess you could compare them to fighting a very big and nasty troll. I, ofcourse, am the hero...so obvioulsy I will overcome this ugly beast. But this is something that will take the hero years to overcome. Hope to be back in class by Wednesday...

Mythology in Everyday Life

Common words and phrases, like
--odyssey (a long quest, from the story of Odysseus);
--tantalize (from Tantalus in Greek mythology who had food hanging before him which he could never reach);
--panic, the English word comes from the god Pan, who was thought to cause panic--panikos was a Greek word made from the god's name;
--nectar, from Greek nektaros, the food of the gods;
--chimera, from the Greek monster the Chimera;
--echo, from the Greek nymph Echo was turned into an echo;
--flowers like the narcissus, hyacinth, and crocus are named after the boys Narcissus, Hyacinthus and Crocus of Greek myth who were turned into these flowers by the gods;
--mint the herb, from the nymph Minthe, who was turned into the plant;
--Pandora's box (=a nest of problems, from the story of Pandora), Achilles' heel,
--adonis, a handsome man, after the Greek Adonis;
--Europe, the continent, from Europa;
--Atlantic, from the Titan Atlas;
--Asia, from Asia the wife of the Titan Prometheus;
--atlas, from the Titan;
--and so on.

They got Grendel right...

 ICK

Grendel's mom

Picture you get on google images....



I like thhis one because it shows Grendels dead body.

OKAY SO SHE IS A MONSTER. OBVIOUSLY

soooo how did the Beowulf movie get it so wrong?

I mean seriously? A naked gold Angelina Jolie? This is sposed to be the scary and fearsom "GRENDELS MOTHER" I find like this is a bit sad. The movie woulda been way better if she looked like some nasty freaky monster like in the pictures above. But thats hollywood for you...making the scary look hot

....cough cough LINDSEY LOHAN. HAHA but seriousy leave a monster a monster.

FINALLY THE JOURNEY OF THE HERO

the hero's journey : summary of the steps
This page summrarizes the brief explanations from every step of the Hero's Journey.

1. Departure
   1. The Call to Adventure
      The call to adventure is the point in a person's life when they are first given notice that everything is going to change, whether they know it or not.
   2. Refusal of the Call
      Often when the call is given, the future hero refuses to heed it. This may be from a sense of duty or obligation, fear, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy, or any of a range of reasons that work to hold the person in his or her current circumstances.
   3. Supernatural Aid
      Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his or her guide and magical helper appears, or becomes known.
   4. The Crossing of the First Threshold
      This is the point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known.
   5. The Belly of the Whale
      The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero's known world and self. It is sometimes described as the person's lowest point, but it is actually the point when the person is between or transitioning between worlds and selves. The separation has been made, or is being made, or being fully recognized between the old world and old self and the potential for a new world/self. The experiences that will shape the new world and self will begin shortly, or may be beginning with this experience which is often symbolized by something dark, unknown and frightening. By entering this stage, the person shows their willingness to undergo a metamorphosis, to die to him or herself.
   
   
2. Inititation
   1. The Road of Trials
      The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes.
   2. The Meeting with the Goddess
      The meeting with the goddess represents the point in the adventure when the person experiences a love that has the power and significance of the all-powerful, all encompassing, unconditional love that a fortunate infant may experience with his or her mother. It is also known as the "hieros gamos", or sacred marriage, the union of opposites, and may take place entirely within the person. In other words, the person begins to see him or herself in a non-dualistic way. This is a very important step in the process and is often represented by the person finding the other person that he or she loves most completely. Although Campbell symbolizes this step as a meeting with a goddess, unconditional love and /or self unification does not have to be represented by a woman.
   3. Woman as the Temptress
      At one level, this step is about those temptations that may lead the hero to abandon or stray from his or her quest, which as with the Meeting with the Goddess does not necessarily have to be represented by a woman. For Campbell, however, this step is about the revulsion that the usually male hero may feel about his own fleshy/earthy nature, and the subsequent attachment or projection of that revulsion to women. Woman is a metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since the hero-knight was often tempted by lust from his spiritual journey.
   4. Atonement with the Father
      In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power. This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps have been moving in to this place, all that follow will move out from it. Although this step is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity, it does not have to be a male; just someone or thing with incredible power. For the transformation to take place, the person as he or she has been must be "killed" so that the new self can come into being. Sometime this killing is literal, and the earthly journey for that character is either over or moves into a different realm.
   5. Apotheosis
      To apotheosize is to deify. When someone dies a physical death, or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss. This is a god-like state; the person is in heaven and beyond all strife. A more mundane way of looking at this step is that it is a period of rest, peace and fulfillment before the hero begins the return.
   6. The Ultimate Boon
      The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life itself, or a plant that supplies immortality, or the holy grail.
   
   
3. Return
1. Refusal of the Return
   So why, when all has been achieved, the ambrosia has been drunk, and we have conversed with the gods, why come back to normal life with all its cares and woes?
2. The Magic Flight
   Sometimes the hero must escape with the boon, if it is something that the gods have been jealously guarding. It can be just as adventurous and dangerous returning from the journey as it was to go on it.
3. Rescue from Without
   Just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, often times he or she must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life, especially if the person has been wounded or weakened by the experience. Or perhaps the person doesn't realize that it is time to return, that they can return, or that others need their boon.
4. The Crossing of the Return Threshold
   The trick in returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate that wisdom into a human life, and then maybe figure out how to share the wisdom with the rest of the world. This is usually extremely difficult.
5. Master of the Two Worlds
   In myth, this step is usually represented by a transcendental hero like Jesus or Buddha. For a human hero, it may mean achieving a balance between the material and spiritual. The person has become comfortable and competent in both the inner and outer worlds.
6. Freedom to Live
   Mastery leads to freedom from the fear of death, which in turn is the freedom to live. This is sometimes referred to as living in the moment, neither anticipating the future nor regretting the past

I now know these perfectly...except only when im in the classroom. HAHA 

King Arthur

I have always been a large King Arthur fan! However, as much as I like the King Arthur stories, I am not sure how much of them could be based on historical fact.  For instance, if there were a king arthur and his wife cheated on him with one of his best knights, he probably would not hesitate to straight up execute them both.  And in the story hes all hesitant and kind. You just dont really here about those kind of rulers....ya know?  Not that it wouldnt be a great thing but if it were socially acceptable i bet hilary clinton woulda just gone straight for the kill.  Thats totally what I would do...no biggy. I love King Arthur though....his wife is a bitch. WTF?! Lets just cheat on the nicest guy ever.... even though he diiiid sleep with his half sister. his bad. he didnt know..okay

Cupid and Psyche

 

The tale of Cupid and Psyche is what we today would call a soap opera. Psyche is so beautiful that Venus gets jealous and sends a man to make her life miserable...he falls in love with her. Venus freaks out. Sounds to me like an mythical episode of days of our lives. =P I thougth it was intersting how we talked about the differneces between  male and female sexuality in class. And how in order for Psyche and Cupid to finally be together they had to embrace eachtoher into their lives rather than just their aggressive sexuality. Things were out of balance without a combination of both. Yin and Yang if you will.  Now according to the definition this aggressive sexuality would be defined as male.  I think it is easy enough to distinguish the difference between male and female.