OBWAT, the Odyssey, the Bible

Since O Brother, Where Art Thou? is based on the Odyssey, there are many resemblances between the two. A few that I find important are:
1. If Odysseus was American, he would be just like Ulysses Everett. They are both clever and wordy; neither one is modest about this. Also, both are adventurous leaders. Even their wives share the same name, Penelope.
2. The main characters' followers are carefree and not very smart. For example, Pete and Delmar think that they are absolved from the law after they get baptised, much to Everett's chagrin. Odysseus' crew disobeyed him many times, like when they ate the Lotus flowers or when they opened the bag of winds intending to steal some of his loot.
3. They both go through the abyss of the hero's journey. Odysseus' abyss is the actual Underworld, while Everett's is when he finds the KKK lynch mob and when he has to tell Pete and Delmar that he lied about the treasure.
Although we already talked about the common themes of O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Odyssey in class, we never discussed OBWAT's relationship with the Bible.

OBWAT seems to satirize the Bible at times, even to extremes. Dan Teague claimed he was a "Bible salesman", but he just turned out to be greedy and violent. He beat up Everett and Delmar and when he found out they had no money, he killed their frog and drove away in their car. Big Dan comes back even later in the film as a participant at the KKK meeting. This completely opposes the Christian worldview that everyone is equal and it is wrong to hate. At the KKK meeting, they had a burning cross, so they thought they were doing good in the name of their lord, but they were actually doing just the opposite.

My question is, did you find any other significant similarities between OBWAT and the Odyssey? How about the Bible? Also, just for fun, how do you think of the song "Man of Constant Sorrow" and how the people in the movie went crazy over it? I think it's pretty catchy myself.

panacea

Humans have a tendency to believe that they can fix anything. Fixing things seems to be a comfort to man. We cant always fix everything, but we can try to fix the things that we can. In some ways, fixing things is a way to keep ourselves busy or occupied in order to procrastinate or stray from our own problems. Metaphorically speaking, fixing things can refer to problems within ourselves that we struggle with, but it can also mean physically fixing an object. Both of these outlooks relate back to the idea that humans are always trying to be the solution to every question without an answer. We all know the story about Adam and Eve. They were seeking perfection by eating the forbidden fruit in order to become perfect and powerful just like God. Humans still do this today. We are constantly striving for perfection because we believe that what we have at the time isn't' good enough. We either have to get something better, or fix what we think is broken. Fixing things comes from our innate idea that everything needs to have structure and order because thats what we find comfort in. Jesus used to be a carpenter which means he was constantly fixing and building things. Men today are still doing jobs that are similar to this which means that some things haven't changed. Why do you think that men more often than not find themselves working laborious jobs while women do just the opposite? Why do humans try to fix everybody else's problems even though we have unsolved issues of our own? Do you think this tells us something about our society and the way we live today?

Xenia In Ancient Greece

The Greeks would commonly practice Xenia, the means having hospitality to your guests. So when any person showed up on their doorstep the person would let them in and treat them well. The three main parts of Xenia are respect from host to guest, the host must be nice and offer food and drink to a guest before asking questions. Secondly the guest must respect the host, the guest should be nice and courteous and not pester or annoy the host. Finally the host should give the stranger a parting gift. Zeus is the god of Xenia and those who mistreat their guests or mistreat their hosts will receive grief from him.

The Odyssey contains many examples of Xenia and many examples of bad fortune coming to those who treat their house guests with disrespect. For example when Eumaeus, the loyal swineheard, welcomes Odysseus into his house he offers him food and drink and gives him the better chair. The swineheard entertains him with talk while he eats and drinks. Then the guest asks him a few questions. After the host answered the questions the guest then asks him who he is, what is his story, where does he come from and how did he end up here? The guest answered all of the questions and told his life story.

A example of bad Xenia is when Ctesippus, a guest in the home of Telemachus, disrespected a beggar in Telemachus's home. When the beggar was getting food from everyone he came to Ctesippus and he threw a oxhoof from the floor and threw it at the beggar, but fortunatly he missed his target. In Greece at this time attacking a guest would be horrible, dangerous even. In tales the Gods disguise as beggars and visit people, often just to see if they would get any grief from this individual.

Now that you have seen Xenia and examples of it:

1. Do you think that Xenia was reasonalble? As in do you think it is resonable to give so much respect and gifts to a person you barely know?

2. Do you think that Odysseus was trying to get one of the suitors to be mean to him, like Ctesippus was? If so why, in your mind, would he do this?

3. Do you think Xenia is still alive? If so then describe the differences between modern Xenia and ancient Xenia. If not then say why you think it isn’t alive anymore.

Odysseus' Ego

What would have happened if Odysseus had not told his name to the cyclops Polyphemus? Would he have had to go against Poseidon? Could he have made home to see Telemachus and Penelope before the suitors started to eat him out of house and home? Would the rest of his men made it home? The reason that Poseidon learns of Odysseus's name is when he brags to Polyphemus that the the name of the who defeated you is Odysseus. The cyclops calls on his father and tells him to curse Odysseus for hurting him. The ocean would not have tried to sink him as often as it had. He might not have had to run into Circe, Calypso, Scylla, Charybdis, or the sirens. However on the other side of the argument there might not be mentors. If Odysseus had made it home the reason of Athena coming to Telemachus as Mentor would be nonexistent. Where would the term Mentor come from?

Narcissus: A Great Tragedy as well as a Great Lesson

The story of Narcissus is a great lesson embedded within a tragedy. We all know that Narcissus was a handsome young man with whom every girl he met fell in love with. One of these young women was Echo, a nymph named Echo. Echo had been doomed to forever repeat the words of others, and when trying to have a conversation with Narcissus, he thinks her to be mocking him and sends her away. She eventually deteriorates so that the only part of her that is left is her voice (fable for the creation of echo). Narcissus was so vain that when he saw his reflection in a pond, he fell in love with himself. He did not eat, sleep, or interact with any other people, he simply stayed at the side of the pond, staring at his own reflection. Finally, he died, and in his place there were some lovely yellow flowers (which can be seen on the left) which were called Narcissus after him. This story is a clear warning against vanity, which was not appreciated in the ancient Greek civilization.
One cannot help but wonder what might have happened had Narcissus not been so vain. Perhaps if he'd realized that he was mortal and had his faults, he might not have died in the tragic way that he did. Had he fallen in love for an ugly girl, he may have lived happily for the rest of his days, and the moral of the story would have been the old cliche 'do not judge a book by its cover', which again warns against vanity.
Do you think that Narcissus deserved the death he got? Do you think he 'had it coming'? Why or why not? What decides what is a fair death of certain people?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW7OGGZpHbI

Telemachus is vital character in The Odyssey. Many people sustain different opinions about Telemachus. Such as whether he was a true warrior or if he had lived up to his father’s kleos, who knows? Telemachus starts off in the book at the age of fourteen and his father, Odysseus left him at the age of one. Which means Telemachus practically does not know his father. He matures with the help of a mentor named, Athena. But when he was about fifteen she stuck it to him and told him that he needed to grow up and rescue his father, and that she would help him along the way. Telemachus did just that and got his act together. He told his mom to continue stalling the suitors and went out on a quest to find Odysseus. However, in the end he goes on the quest to find his Odysseus and ends up running into him right back where he started, on the island of Ithaca. His name is said to come from thes Greek words distance and fighter. Which brings me back to the point, What did or did not Telemachus do to earn his name? And do you think he deserves a name such as he has?

Tantalus' Punishment and Tantalize

The Greek myth of Tantalus, a man who was punished because he killed his own son to please the gods, which made them aggravated. So for his punishment, the gods tantalized him with both fruits and water, but they made it impossible to get it. Since the gods tempted Tantalus with fruits and water that he could never get, we get the world tantalize from the story of Tantalus. Tantalus was one of Zeus' mortal sons, was the King of Phrygia in Greece. It is said that his name meant the "sufferer and the bearer". So when someone was making the word tantalize, they thought of the story of Tantalus and found that without fruit or water, he was suffering for eternity. However on Earth, Tantalus either obtained two of the following punishments:

1) He was punished by having a stone forever float above his head.

2) He was driven away from his kingdom every time he tried to return.

Knowing this, many things are adapted from the story of Tantalus. A liquor holder where the bottles are held down by a metal bar. It gets the name Tantalus because workers and slaves were tempted by the liquor and when the went to get some, they found out that you needed a key in order to open it.

Knowing the story of Tantalus, What morals does the story of Tantalus teach us? Why do you think we got the word tantalize from the story of Tantalus? Why do you think the gods gave him the punishment that they gave him instead of death in return of killing his own son?

Homeric Epithets

Athena was constantly referred to as
"Gray-eyed Athena" in the Odyssey.

The Odyssey is full of epithets. Homer was so well known for his use of epithets that a whole new category of these was made under his name. Familiar Homeric epithets you may recognize would be "Rosy-fingered Dawn," "Menelaus, lord of the warcry," or "Gray-eyed Athena." At first glance, the purpose of adding these descriptive words to one's name seems to simply be for extra detail. But why would this extra detail need to be repeated the exact same way throughout an entire epic? Homeric epithets serve as much more than descriptive words. One reason Homer used epithets was to help the Odyssey and his other works  fit the meter that poets use when writing poetry. Epithets could be added to names to fill out the meter when necessary. However, their most important job was as a mnemonic device. Mnemonic devices are things we use to help memorize pieces of information. We must remember that the Odyssey was originally told through oral tradition.  As a listener, hearing epithets while being told an epic like the Odyssey would aid you in remembering that character. From book to book of the epic, hearing "Gray-eyed Athena" every time she was mentioned would bring back information you heard about her earlier. Now if Homer had already decided that he would be using these epithets over and over again, which ones would he want to use for each character? The epithets he used could tell you about the individual's appearance, their character, their role, or even their heritage (i.e. "Odysseus, son of Laertes"). 




In a comment, come up with an epithet for your own name and elaborate on how it relates to you and why you chose it. Then describe the experience you had with Homeric epithets while reading the Odyssey. Did they help you remember certain characters/certain things about characters? Why or why not? 

The Death of Xenia

So much of American culture is based off of old Greek ideals. The fundamental value that America is based on, democracy, came from the Greeks. Some philosophies did not carry over throughout the years though. One being xenia. Xenia is the ancient Greek idea of hospitality. This idea of treating visitors with the highest honors was something the Greeks took very seriously. In fact, it was preached about in their own religion. Greeks told stories about what happened to people that did not treat random visitors with respect and honor. The Peter Paul Rubens painting above depicts the story Philemon and Baucis. In this story, Zeus and Mercury disguised themselves as mortals and traveled to a village to test their hospitality. They wandered in town, begging for a place to stay. All of the villagers turned them down until they came across Baucis and Philemon. The two gods decided to reward the couple by telling them to leave town, because Zeus was going to destroy the rest of the village. What happened to that courtesy and respect? In modern times, if a stranger appears at our doorstep we immediately think that something is not right, or that they are doing something dangerous. My question is why has time changed our point of view on strangers and hospitality?
As civilization advances, so does the speed at which people receive information. Nowadays, within minutes of something happening it can be read about, listened to, or watched online. Sadly though, stories that are spread more quickly are generally bad ones. Those stories get spread because of the fear that it causes people to feel. Spreading of information has caused people to be more weary of the world around them, because they now know what kind of awful things occur everyday. Fear of strangers is why xenia and other means of hospitality have faded throughout the years. People now fear what is out in the world and do not want to bring in someone they do not know into their house because of it.
What other values have died out over time and what caused the change?

#1 Full Court Press; David and Goliath

Start video at 30 seconds..

A Full Court Press was intended to use the energy and quickness of a smaller team to disrupt the flow of a bigger team's offense. It was also implemented because most bigger teams couldn't dribble that well. An example of the effectiveness of the press would be the UCLA Bruins. In 1964 and 1965, the legendary coach John Wooden led his UCLA Bruins to the NCAA championship with the full court press. In the video above we see how Seton Hall uses their diamond 1-2-1-1 full court press. The effectiveness of their press allows them to get turnovers and score easy points. However, if the press isn't executed properly, then the offensive team gets an easy lay-up. This also shows the vulnerability of David's strategy, which would result in death. Relating to the biblical story of David and Goliath, David used tactics that involved quickness and maneuvering . David went to King Saul for approval to fight Goliath. In the process of receiving a blessing from King Saul, he was offered the King's armor. David declined the offer responding saying that the Lord was on his side. So Goliath was appalled to see a boy coming to represent the Israelites (as were some of the Israelites). After a short battle with David coming out victorious, the Philistine army was squirming to get as far away from the Israelites as possible. Inevitably, the Israelites caught up with and killed the Philistine army.

This profund victory won by David astonished the Philistines as shown in their expedited retreat to safety. Was the victory of David because he was at an advantage against Goliath, or was it because Goliath was at a disadvantage? What might've happened if David had lost the battle and was slain? Explain your reasoning.

Quixotic: Beauty in the 21st Century

Click on the link:
http://youtu.be/iYhCn0jf46U

Quixotic- idealistic but not practical

The word quixotic usually refers to something odd or out of the ordinary, such as the sky being red or people flying in the air. Quixotic can also explain the world's perception of women. Women displayed in magazines, movies, television commercials, etc. having flawless complexions and skinny bodies, are the quintessence of what the world sees as an "average" woman. Women all around the world see images of these "normal" or "average" women, and believe they need to change themselves. The reality is that these women in magazines exceed the norm, and probably modify themselves to achieve exceeding the norm. Some examples of this modification are cosmetic surgeries such as plastic surgery, Botox, breast implants, etc. and also photoshop, which can digitally edit anyone to make them look flawless and "beautiful". People, especially teenagers and young adults, go to extremes to change themselves to look "perfect". The media does not focus on true, inner beauty. A beautiful woman ignores what others think, displays confidence, and will not let anything get in her way. This video shows us that our view of beautiful women has been distorted by photoshop and editing, and that maybe the women we see in the media are not what they appear to be. After watching the video, explain your reaction. Were you surprised? Did this change the way you will look at women in ads? Explain in what ways. How do you think this ties back to the word quixotic? Explain your answer in a way not listed in the above explanation.

Scylla and Charybdis

After staying for Circe for an entire year, Odysseus finally makes up his mind to return home. Unfortunately, fate doesn't make things easy for him. To return to Ithaca, he must pass through a channel, each side with a monster. On one side was the horrible sea monster Scylla, a being that had 6 long necks, each topped with a head. Each head had sharp, jagged teeth, forever wanting to rip open the flesh of a sailor which came too close for comfort. Its counterpart, Charybdis, is depicted as a whirlpool, capable of swallowing entire galleons into its gaping jaws. To pass this trial, Circe gives him advice: Odysseus should sail closer to Scylla, the reasoning being that losing 6 men creates a much more favorable situation than losing the entire ship. Odysseus follows the advice, and loses 6 men while passing through the channel.

However, it is important to note that the two beings did no exist as monsters their entire lives. According to Ovid, Scylla was once a beautiful sea nymph, and the sea-god Glaucus fell in love with her. Glaucus then immediately visited Circe, in order to ask her to procure a love potion for him. However, Circe fell in love with Glaucus, and another deadly love triangle formed. As Circe attempted to woo Glaucus, he would not succumb to her, and she became furious. She poured an awful poison into the bath where Scylla would come to bathe. When Scylla stepped in, she transformed at once into an abomination with dog heads sprouting around her waist. In her despair, she ruined as many sailors as she could that passed through the channel.

Charybdis, on the other hand, was an ocean naiad, a daughter of Poseidon and Gaia. She proved extremely loyal to her father and his feud with Zeus, and claimed much territory for Poseidon by submerging entire villages under water. She stole so much land from Zeus that Zeus transformed her into a monster, whose entire face was a mouth, and whose hands and feet were flippers. Three times a day Charybdis swallowed up huge amounts of water, only to spit the water out again, creating a maelstrom that would lay waste to any kind of ship.

After learning the history of these creatures, do you think it is right for them to seek revenge against the world that transformed them so? Do you think it is a right for Odysseus to quickly accept the loss of 6 men than to find a way for his entire crew to survive? Do you think that Circe had an ulterior motive for sending Odysseus to a creature of her creation? If so, why?

Writer's block has been solved!

Have you ever had writers block? Even the best writers of all time have blank sheet of paper in front of them and no ideas coming forth. Great writers overcome writer's block by using tricks. Ms. Fleming’s students may not realize this, but having writer’s notebook every day, helps us become better writers. By writing out our thoughts in such a short time span, it does not give us time to have writer's block. This exercise, trains our brains to write down what comes to mind and then go back, to read it and fix it.
William Stafford, a great poet, wrote a poem that gives advice on how to deal with writer's block, specifically, “There is no such thing as writer’s block for writers whose standards are low enough”. This is not saying that you have to write badly, it is saying you have to relax and let go. Do not worry about what others think about your writing, just write. Then go back and see if you have an idea that sparked while you wrote your ideas down.
When writing, you need to start somewhere. Writer’s notebook helps you brainstorm and clear your mind about thoughts. As humans, we have so many thoughts in our heads at once, that if we took a second we could write them down. By writing our thoughts down, an idea from your writer’s notebook may flourish. What does the writer’s notebook do for you? Can you see that it helps you with your writing? When you start to write a paper and cannot think of what to write about, what do you do personally?

When I was doing my research I used two websites:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/brainstorm_block.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stafford_(poet)

Jacob's Ladder

Jacob's ladder, or the stairway to heaven, has become a commonly used theme literature and music since the original vision that Jacob saw in his dream. To the left is a representation on the Bath Abbey in the UK of the angels climbing to heaven on the stairway, and it is one of the many representations of the stairway in architecture. In th Christian view of the story of Jacob , they interpret the stairway to also symbolize Jesus Christ as a representation of the ladder, with him acting as the bridge between Heaven and Earth. In many versions, there are many different descriptions of the ladder to heaven, and there are also numerous interpretations of the passage describing the stairway. The ladder has been seen throughout literature and history, and in many songs. What are some of the adaptations or references to the ladder, and how closely do they relate to the original description of the ladder? Why do you think the artist, architect, or songwriter decided to reference the ladder, and what elements of the adaptation or reference are similar to the original story?

"He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and the angels of god were going up and down it." - description of the stairway in The Bible as in Literature, p.87 (for more descriptions, click on the link "interpretations")

Samson and Delilah

People normally see the story of Samson and Delilah as a simple story of betrayal. Samson loves Delilah, but Delilah only cares about power. We see stories similar to this one everywhere in our culture, but the story of Samson and Delilah contains more depth then the average love/betrayal story. In many versions of the story Delilah cuts Samson's hair herself, but in others, she orders servants to cut his hair for her. In the second option, why did Delilah tell a servant to cut off Samson's hair? One answer could be that Delilah felt a little guilty about betraying Samson, who would have done anything for her. Another option would be that Delilah actually did love Samson, and she did not want to be a direct part of his suffering. Delilah also simply might have thought that she was to important to waste energy cutting Samson's hair herself. Why do you think Delilah didn't cut Samson's hair (expand on your response if you choose one of the above reasons)? Do you think that Delilah felt guilty after seeing how much she caused Samson to suffer? Why? On the other side of the story, Samson never got mad at Delilah. During her first failed attempts of taking away his power, Samson simply smiled and ripped away his chains. Through the whole story, Samson never blames Penelope. When the Philistines chained him to the pillars, he doesn't even give Delilah a second thought. It seems strange that Samson has enough anger inside of him to kill hundreds of Philistines, but he can't seem to find the energy to see that Delilah betrayed him and their love. How can a man be willing to forgive a close one's betrayal, but at the same time commit a mass murder while killing himself in the process. In a comment explain why Samson was either more of a forgiving or a short tempered man. Why do you think Samson was able to kill hundreds of Philistines, but laugh at his wife's attempts to overthrow him? Considering the arguments throughout the paragraph, do you believe that Samson or Delilah was a more terrible person?

Penelope, how could you?

When we read the Odyssey, we accepted that Penelope stayed faithful to Odysseus when she could have made her life easier by marrying one of the suitors. We accepted the double standard of how it was excusable for Odysseus to cheat, but not Penelope. However, what if Penelope had married a suitor? Would we even still be reading the Odyssey? The entire Odyssey centers around Odysseus returning home to Ithaca. However, is it possible that Odysseus would never have left Ogygia because the gods never would have sent Hermes to order Calypso to release him from her island if he had nothing to return home to? In that case, theoretically wouldn’t the entire Odyssey never have happened because it all centers on Odysseus managing his way home. Maybe it is possible that modern day values would have changed. For example, maybe we would not only accept the double standard as normal, but it people might still implement it. Many stories between the Odyssey and several other religious texts withhold stories nearly identical stories. If the Odyssey’s morals changed, do you think that it is possible that modern day values, relayed by religious texts would have also changed and thus our entire society would be different? How do you think our society would be different?