Biblical & Classical Backround to Lit

Final Paper

2005-12-13T14:40:00.000-08:00

The Bull in Greek,
Christian and Other Trad-
itions

I was enchanted from the very beginning of Calasso’s, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, as the story started with Europa being abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull, who then takes her to Crete. The entire first chapter then jumped between stories of similar abductions of Europa’s ancestors and descendents, with the image of the bull or heifer weaved into all of it. Knowing that Greek mythology has more references to this symbol, and I being puzzled with the concept of the massive importance of the bull, wanted to research and find what exactly these are and why it meant so much to the Greeks.
Io seems to be at the beginning of this tradition, the cow/bull link of myths. Zeus took Io as a lover, and keep Hera from discovering this, he turned Io into a heifer. Eventually Hera found out and sent a gad-fly to sting her. This sent the heifer, running, crazed to wonder across the world, and one day as Zeus promised, she was changed back into her human form and birthed generations including the famed Europa and her children, and eventually Hercules who would free Prometheus.
Europa being born away into the foaming waves a straddle a milky white bull is a beautiful image, though of course she is being abducted by Zeus who intends to rape her. It is her destiny, it’s in her blood and deeply ingrained as a constant theme in Greek mythology. Europa becomes queen of Crete and eventually her story is turned into the constellation, Taurus. This genealogy of obsession with the bull, Io, Europa, Pasiphea etc. it particularly fascinating.
Directly from Calasso comes the particularly interesting story about Pasiphea, Europa’s granddaughter. King Minos is punished by the Gods for not remaining faithful to his word. They make his wife, Pasiphea fall in love with a bull and she has a contraption built in which she can approach the beast. She couples with the bull and gives birth to Asterias, known as the Minotaur (later killed by Theseus), who has the body of a man and a bulls head. The Minotaur and the maze has always been a story that I found mystical and entertaining.
The roots of the bull myth spread throughout varied ancient cultures. In Egyptian myth, the bull-god Min was around before the bull cult of Crete. Min is a god of fertility and sexuality, often portrayed as a man with an erect penis, and with often the symbol of an arrow, or holding a V shaped flail (outstretched arm thrusting into its center, symbolizing sex). He was known as a creative god with a destructive side, and to hold him apart from other fertility gods, he was mainly a symbol of male fertility. Min was later portrayed as a great white bull, a sacred animal representing fertility.
“... Min, Bull of the Great Phallus,...You are the Great Male, the owner of all females.The Bull who is unites with those of the sweet love, of beautiful face and of painted eyes,Victorious sovereign among the Gods who inspires fear in the Ennead....The goddesses are glad, seeing your perfection.”
(-- Hymn to Min ).

Min was not the only bull god, there was also Apis and other representations, the bull was a common and flexible symbol.
El was the bull god of the Canaanites, and the Hittites had one as well. In fact the bull god symbolizing strength and fertility was used all over the middle eastern regions, Africa and India during this time. Calf and bull cults were numerous and varied, drawing from the words of the bible and from the importance of the animal to the civilization. In Babylonia, bulls were a constant symbol, and their statues would guard the entrances of important or religious buildings. A paradox, the bible outlawed the bull worshipping, mostly because of the sexual activities involved, and these cults were hunted down, and many destroyed.
In ancient Rome, the people used bulls blood to baptize during rituals (instead of the Christian water baptizing). They sometimes drank the blood as well, it was a process of purification and eternal birth and rebirth, similar to the Christian reasons for baptism having probably been birthed from the same traditions.
These are only a few the examples of the variety of cultures and religions in which the bull is present. Another link that I found was interesting was the one between the actual story of Europa and a possible cousin of this myth in the Christian tradition:
Europa, according to one tradition, was the Great Goddess as mother of the continent of Europe. This is where prophecy fits in. Turn to the book of Revelation, chapter 17, verse 2. Here we are told about a great whore who sat upon many waters and in verse 3 she also sat upon a scarlet colored beast. It may well be that what is meant is that she sat on the beast on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in similitude to Europa.
()
I was surprised by this story, that this theme is in both Greek and Christian traditions. Of course, the Christian tradition interprets it a bit differently than does the Greek, but it is clear that their roots are connected.
The symbol of the bull is spread through many traditions; biblical, Greek, roman, and all across the board during this ancient time period. It is miraculous as well as meaningful that is should be thus, cattle being such a main food source as well as providing skins and ritual blood. I am fascinated by this close correlation between the biblical peoples and the Greek tradition and how there roots seems to have sprung from the exact same place, which is probably correct. I would love to research this even further, and will to discover how the two traditions intertwine with this concept.

Displacement

2005-12-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

-Part I-
Carolyn was sipping tea on the Veranda, the white pillars like gleaming ivory in the night. Her red dress was draped around her like a cloak and the flickering lanterns licked it crimson, the dark swallowing it back up hungrily. She was waiting, had been waiting for years, sitting on this veranda in the night, in the morning in the hot southern day, looking out as if into forever. The view outside the house was of well groomed lawn and then fields, fields of wheat that shimmered like golden waves in the thirsty summer breeze. She would watch the waves, lapping rhythmically, they would hypnotize her and she would retreat into the far recesses of her mind. With little else to do except go to the occasional afternoon tea with friends or talk with the financier, she spent hours, days, months just staring and thinking.
It was seven years since that her husband had left, gone to war, a general and a hero. He had left in a blaze of fire, his soldiers whooping for blood. Before he had left he had done something bad, something unforgivable, something he would pay for she promised herself everyday. Before he had left for war, he had killed their daughter.
Fanny was only a girl in her teens had been sitting in the kitchen when the fight began. She was drinking tea, eating her morning toast when her father, still drunk from the night before came teetering down the stairs with the whiskey bottle still in his hand. When Carolyn had admonished him he flew into a rage and started to hit her. It was then that Fanny ran to her mother to stop him and she caught a fatal blow to the head, the bottle shattering, laying a sparkling carpet for her to rest upon, bleeding her last heart strokes upon the cherry wood floors.
The death had been easily enough explained away, Abe being a general. She had died at the hands of a slave who had taken the devil into his heart and come upon her like a fiend. The slave was burned alive as the townsmen clamored for justice and sucked at amber juices, spitting upon the curling flames, creating a fireworks display of vengeance. The black slaves stood, backs against the shed or post and looked on with dark eyes, silent and motionless. The blood hounds barked and howls rolled out, jowls swinging, tails wagging.
Abe left shortly after, Carolyn sick with shock, lay silent in her bed, nursed by the large ebony woman who cooed sadly to her into the late hours of the night and the crickets accompanying her with their lonely serenade. The war had taken her husband away in a wave of excitement and cheers, and Abe had left his silent wife alone in its wake. As the years passed
Elaine, Carolyn’s other daughter would pine for her father, worshipping his portrait that sat over the marble fireplace, constantly recounting “how things used to be.” Owen their son had left to go to college in Atlanta when he turned eighteen.
Tonight Carolyn sat and thought and stared at the inky waves in the dark ocean of the plantation. A smile played at her lips and her hungry eyes searched beyond the sea of wheat, to the road beyond, on which her husband would return upon very soon now. She felt a hand touch the back of her neck and slowly begin to rub. She did not look back but remained as she was, alert and silent.
“Darlin, how are you tonight?” said a smooth mans voice behind her.
“Fine, just having my evening tea, Augustus,” she responded.
“You mustn’t pine so my Sweet, everything will go just fine, don’t you worry about a thing. I hate to see you here all by yourself in the dark. Why don’t you come to bed.”
With a last gentle squeeze he left, she could hear his heavy footfalls as he entered the house and climbed the arch stairway. She sat and stared, having not moved a muscle yet. She thought she could see figures moving in the surging wheat, silvery shadows in the moonlight. She imagined one was Abe, returned towards her, staggering up the lawn. Her lips curved in a velvet smile, her eyes froze the humid summer heat.

ж

It was that Sunday that he returned home. It was in the later afternoon and the heat beat down upon the bare black backs that beaded with thick sweat, as the slaves picked cotton in the fields on the west side of the big house. Even the bloodhounds who usually roamed the property were slack and lazy in the shade of an elm. Caroline heard the noise before she ever saw a thing, and new this was the day. She slowly wiped her hands upon her apron and then removed it, setting it gently on the hook. She had been pruning her indoor roses and a glimmer of blood slid down her fingertip. She sucked at it thoughtfully and then glided over to the mirror, arranging her hair and smoothing her dress. Her radiant dark eyes were like cool liquid pools, her beautiful cheekbones gave her an aristocratic air. She stared at her reflection for a moment, the silent household loomed around her in the dim light. She stared beyond herself, farther than the reflection and pleased with the results she turned and went to meet her husband.
She stopped at the bottom of the stairs of the verandah. She could see her husband riding down the path with what seemed like an entire battalion of old soldiers. With them also was a woman, cowering on a white horse, hands died and dress dusty. She seemed to be murmuring to herself and looked around terrified.
As Abe approached he spotted his wife, smiled, stopped and dismounted. He came to greet her with a warm embrace and she smiled a great smile and ushered him into the house with words of joy and merriment. The soldiers, most old and some so old they were decrepit took the horses to the stables and unloaded. The woman on the white horse was escorted inside by a young soldier.
“Caroline, it is good to see you, you look well and so does the house. Did you miss me much?” said Abe in rough jolly tones.

“Oh Abe!” she purred, “I have missed you ever so much, it being seven years that you have been gone, and only the newspaper to tell me how you fared. My how I missed you, so much. I have been waiting for this moment for years.”

“Excellent,” he said, “Excellent to be home,” and he grabbed a bottle out of the cabinet and poured himself a drink. “I’ve brought somebody home dear, a sort of orphaned young woman, a Yankee, who we found at an enemies house. She will be staying with us for a time and if you could tend to her that would be wonderful.” He gave her a thankful smile and slung back his drink, wiping his beard on his coat sleeve.
“So glad to see you haven’t changed Abe, by beloved.”

That night the house rang with the noise of celebratory drinking as some of the older soldiers stayed at the plantation and many from the town came to toast to the war hero. Cassidy (the name of the captive Caroline found out), was dragged from her guest room in the midst of the celebrations and was forced to sit on Abe’s lap and endure his increasingly boisterous advances. Caroline was obliging as she brought more drink and ordered the servants and kept the men happy. As the night wore on a handsome gentleman appeared at the plantation to offer congratulations to Abe for his military success. By this time, Abe was so drunk that he sloshed bourbon on the guest as he shook his hand and yelled, “Good to meet you Augustus!”
One by one the soldiers dropped off to sleep, Cassidy was taken back to her room by Caroline, who then coaxed her stumbling husband up to the bedroom. She drew a bath for her husband and he gladly soaked as she administered the sponge to his skin. As the fumes evaporated in the hot steam, he began to sober up. The longer he soaked and the more Caroline washed, the more sedated he became. As finally his head began to knock and he grew dizzy, he lifted himself out of the tub and Caroline handed him a towel and a robe. He felt disoriented, his head felt extremely hot and his blood seemed to burn. He was almost blinded by his pounding head, but could have sworn he saw a mans figure step into the bedroom outside the master bath. At the same moment, as he dried to stand straight and squint at the doorway. There were two figures there now, one was Caroline, and the other, the other? The man looked familiar, they had met earlier Abe was sure. At this moment the man handed Caroline something and she came straight at Abe and the last thing he ever heard, and with surprising clarity was Caroline: “I’m so glad your back darling, like I said, I’ve been waiting for years,” Abe fell to the floor, a knife sunk deep in his stomach. Cassidy too lay still forever, poisoned by the tea that Caroline had prescribed her before bed. Augustus held Caroline into the early morning, but it was not she that was suffering, she slept like a kitten with a belly full of cream.

2005-12-12T21:19:00.000-08:00

Frye Lightbulb:
Since I am in Literary Criticism and have read some of the more classical critics in class (Longinus, Plato) I found this statement interesting

"Our starting point here is the word myth, in its common and popular sense of a story (mythos), usually about gods, and usually referred back to a remote past. I am still emphasizing (I will not use the word “privileging”) the narrative aspect of literature. The typical myths just mentioned arise in the earlier stage of social development, before the verbal controls of logic and evidence are firmly established. Literary criticism is mainly confined to the era of written documents, so that oral and pre-mythical cultures have to be passed over here. " -Words of Power

Jackpot!

2005-12-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

Hey, for all of you who have trouble remembering all of the brilliant things that Frye talked about in Words of Power (and haven't yet found this), look at this site- it has great brief summaries on the chapters in the book (explanations: Garden, Mountain, Cave, Furnace).

http://cla.calpoly.edu/~smarx/Publications/frye.html

Samson Story

2005-12-12T20:47:00.000-08:00

***Here is the peice of the Samson story out of the Book of Judges that our group (4), was referring to. This is a great story (though it is only the beginning of the Samson story).
I love this riddle section, where he eats the honey out of the lions carcass, what fantastic imagry!
The Samson and Delilah section is the more famous one, and it is worth looking up.

1)Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman.
2) When he returned, he said to his father and mother, "I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife."
3) His father and mother replied, "Isn't there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me. She's the right one for me."
4) (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)
5) Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him.
6) The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.
7) Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.
8) Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion's carcass. In it was a swarm of bees and some honey,
9) which he scooped out with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion's carcass.
10) Now his father went down to see the woman. And Samson made a feast there, as was customary for bridegrooms.
11) When he appeared, he was given thirty companions.
12) "Let me tell you a riddle," Samson said to them. "If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.
13) If you can't tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes." "Tell us your riddle," they said. "Let's hear it."
14) He replied, "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet." For three days they could not give the answer.
15) On the fourth [a] day, they said to Samson's wife, "Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father's household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?"
16) Then Samson's wife threw herself on him, sobbing, "You hate me! You don't really love me. You've given my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer." "I haven't even explained it to my father or mother," he replied, "so why should I explain it to you?"
17) She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.
18) Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him, "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?" Samson said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle."
19) Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he went up to his father's house.
20) And Samson's wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his wedding.

Attention Dr. Sexson:

2005-11-27T20:44:00.000-08:00

I had early entries on this blog, what I can remember is that I had info about Frye and Vico,
stuff on The Grapes of Wrath, and a diagram of the writers of the bible...
These entries are not appearing on my blog anymore along with some others I'm sure. I will write some more to make up for them but I thought I would let you know and warn the class of possible blog thieves... could be small and green and not cute- OK thats all - Sophie

QUIZ, NOV 28, 2005

2005-11-27T20:39:00.000-08:00

Quiz:
Assigned:

Calasso chpt 6-8
The Oresteia- prologue and 3 sections
Mark (40pgs)
Job (50pgs)
Proverbs- read enough to get a good idea for the material and author
Ecclesiastes (14 pgs)
Revelation (30pgs)

Group Presentations-

Maggie: Cave
Allison: Garden
Amy Blog: Check out for Mountain Group presentation stuff
*Mick Blog: Has info about all ( & Furnace)

Questions:
***Realized (god is everywhere every time (“Kiaros”) -the apocolypse already happened) v. Literal Eschatology (Eschatology is the branch of theology which deals with last (or final) things.)

1) Which of the Synoptic (Meaning: Complete Overview) Gospels was written earliest: Answer: Mark ( * the Q Document (?) Thomas).
2) What is a good adjective to describe the community of Jesus and his companions: Esoteric ( the opposite of open, public/ Esoteric is secret, closed, exclusive)
3) Naked Man- Linen- Answer: Mystery Religion
4) According to classic Greek religion, Why does the earth have seasons? Persephone (Korry “abducted maiden) - Hades- Mother
5) What are the 4 stages/levels of the axis mundi: Hell, Purgatory, Earth, Heaven
6) According to Native American, Black Elk, where is the center of the Universe: (he was at: Mount Harney in South Dakota)- Answer: Wherever you happen to be standing at the time –Esoteric - has in common with Jesus
7) What were the three synoptic gospels: Mathew, Mark, Luke ( not John- why?)
8) What word is used 42 times in Mark: Immediately
9) What were the Euminides originally: The Furies
10) Why do we suffer? Which is most likely to come out of 1: Oresteia (we suffer into the truth), which out of 2: Homer’s Odyssey ( so that the bards can sing about us), Which out of 3: Job, and which out of 4:our English Class.
11) Retributive Justice: Dice, Theodicy- God, Justice
12) The Second best thing to Death: To never have been born at all- Tragic view
13) “Remember your creator in the days of your youth…” Ecclesiastes 12
14) Which of these Gospel lines is not synoptic “In the Beginning there was the word…” = non-synoptic gospel/John
15) What 2 things were the prophets concerned about? Social Justice & Exclusive worship of YAHWEH
16) Why is the Gospel not a good source for historical factual information – Is about Prophecy (not law), is a Kerygmatic testimony
17) Where does the word “testament/testimony” come from: Biblical tradition- in a trial, placing ones hand on the thigh beneath the testicles to prove ones truth.
18) What is the message of the New Testament: Love Your Enemy, Treat Others How You Would Wish to be Treated
19) 1)By what title did Jesus refer to the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) and 2)Which book did he quote from most frequently: 1)Law of the Prophets & The book of Isaiah. 2) The Kingdom of God
20) What are the two types of wisdom: (Polonium) Conventional; Speculative
21) Why did the Furies go after Oresties instead of Clytemnestra: Avenge the blood
22) What is the main difference between Greek and Biblical (essay?):
23) What precedent is behind every action: Myth
24) Meaning of apocalypse: Unveiling
25) What is the definition of Hubris: thinking one knows everything- arrogance over the gods
26) What are the 3 elements to revere in Greek classic tradition: Gods, Parents, Stranger
27) Who did Agamemnon sacrifice to put wind in his sails: Iphigenia
28) How do Prometheus & Job stand apart in their attitude toward the gods/god : Prometheus- Defiant-not submissive to Gods (Hubris) / Job- submissive-submits to God

*******Please go to this website, it will give you excellent information on the synoptic gospels and the difference between them and JOHN http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_john.htm

Judeo-Christian:
Eschatology: es'ka-tol'o-je, n. [Gr. eschatos, Last, and logos, discourse; word.] Theol. The discourse of the last or final things; Kingdom and end time doctrines such as the after life, judgments, apostasy, Christ's return, and the final destination of the soul; Declaration of future prophecy or biblical events; also Prophesy. --es-cha-to-log-i-cal, es'ka-to-loj'i-kal, a. --es-cha-to-log-i-cal-ly, adj.--es-cha-to-o-gist. n.

COULD SOMEBODY ANSWER MY QUESTION PLEASE:)

I am having trouble finding exactly what Realized v. Literal Eschatology is, what do they both represent exactly, I typed up the basic idea I hope on the study guide, but I want to know more. I guess I didn't catch it in class.

Persephone/Seasons: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mythology/persephone_seasons.html&edu=high
Persephone was the Greek goddess of the Underworld and the wife of Hades. Hades fell in love with her after seeing her picking flowers in a plain in Sicily. He decided at once to abduct her and carry her off to the Underworld.
Demeter, sister of Zeus, was the mother of Persephone. After Persephone's abduction, Demeter wandered the world in search of her. Finally she learned of her daughter's fate, and pleaded with Zeus, to obtain the release of Persephone from the dark kingdom of the Underworld.
He consented, providing that she had not eaten anything during her stay in the lower world. Unfortunately, Persephone had eaten some seeds of a pomegranate which Hades had offered to her. After much crying and sadness, Zeus allowed a compromise, whereby Persephone was allowed to spend half of each year in the light of day, on Earth with her mother, and the other half in the underworld, where she reigned as Queen of the Underworld alongside her husband the god Pluto.
During the half year with her mother, spring and summer cover the Earth in warmth, flowers bloom, fruit is on the trees, and the birds raise their young. During autumn and winter, the Earth is in the grip of icy cold. Flowers die, the trees are barren, and birds disappear from their nests. This legend, therefore, relates the mythological creation of the seasons. Romans identified Persephone with the Latin Proserpina.

Kerygma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Kerygma: (κηπύσσω, kērússō,) “to cry or proclaim as a herald” (Matthew 3:1; Romans 10:14), is the Greek word used in the New Testament for preaching (see Luke 4:18-19).
As Jesus launched his public ministry he entered the synagogue and read from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet. He identfied himself as the one Isaiah pointed to when he declares, "today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." The text is a programmatic statement of Jesus' ministry to preach or proclaim (Kerygma), good news to the poor and the blind and the captive. These words describe a condition of the spiritual life as well as the physical life.
kerygma
Main Entry: ke·ryg·ma Pronunciation: k&-'rig-m
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek kErygma, from kEryssein to proclaim, from kEryx herald
: the apostolic proclamation of salvation through Jesus Christ
- ker·yg·mat·ic /"ker-ig-'ma-tik/ adjective

Clytemnestra's Tomb & Ruins

2005-11-14T22:40:00.000-08:00

2005-11-14T22:08:00.000-08:00

Thanks Dr. Sexson for the book salon, Nov. 1st (post Halloween)

It was great to get some insight into this Trickster stuff, I really liked the cultural stories that were brought up in the discussion (the Tibetan one's were really fun and surprising). The mythology aspect was really interesting as well, If I can find my notes I will post them, as of now happy memories- great to see a variety of listeners and contributers.

Interesting Books to Look Up

2005-11-14T22:03:00.000-08:00

Orrie's Story - by Thomas Berger
(Extra Credit: write story- displacement- Orestian Tril.)
The Chelsea Whistle- mentioned in class- from Women in Lit. class
The Red Tent - Anita Diamant- Dinah bible story, told from her point of view (Thanks Laura!)

Some Class Links:

2005-10-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

Spencer Ward
Laura Kebschull
Clint Shearouse
Andrew
Brett
Sadie Tynes
Collin
Emily

Oh by the way...

2005-10-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Dr. Sexson, I remember some of the switching partner plays that I couldn't remember in class, it was a coffee-free day I guess!
Midsummer Nights Dream (of course)
Measure for Measure
A couple of sonnets I'm sure, mostly commedies/romance- I'm sure I'll find some more

Leda and the Swan

2005-10-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

Like so many women in ancient Greece (both real and mythological), Leda was important as a wife and mother. In legend, she was the wife of Tyndareus (a king of Sparta). Leda was the mother to many noble children, including the famous beauty Helen, the heroine Clytemnestra, and the twins Castor and Polydeuces (the pair, incidentally, were also known as the Dioscuri). However, this is where the story of Leda becomes complicated. For while Leda was the mother to all of the characters listed above, her husband Tyndareus was not the father of every child. Let us explore this subject in a bit more detail.
According to myth, Leda was approached by the god Zeus while he was masquerading as a swan. Indeed, Zeus made love to Leda in this form. And the memorable union between Leda and the Swan (who, remember, was actually Zeus) has long been immortalized by painters and poets. In addition to influencing artists, however, this coupling also influenced mythology. Here is another poetic plot twist - the legend is that Helen was born from an egg because her father Zeus appeared as a swan when he impregnated Leda (it should be mentioned that some versions of the tale instead claim that it was the goddess Nemesis who laid the egg from which Helen hatched). Additionally, some ancient sources state that Polydeuces was also the son of Zeus, while his twin brother Castor was Tyndareus's child.
http://www.loggia.com/myth/leda.html

2005-09-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

Repetative Parallelism

2005-09-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here is some random stuff that I found on Repetative Parallelism- Nothing Concrete- just some references:

Parallelism runs over us like as series of waves driving the message home. There are different kinds of parallelism:
semantic parallelism
Synonomous parallelism (e.g. Ps. 2)
Identical - Ps.24:1
Similar - Ps.19:2
Antithetic parallelism - Ps.1:6; Prov.10:1
The thesis & antithesis are making the same point.
Synthetic/Constructive parallelism (everything that doesn't fit the other patterns)
Completion (a parallelism of rhythm rather than of meaning) - Ps.2:6
Comparison - Prov.15:17
Reason - Prov.26:4
Climactic or repetitive parallelism - Ps.29:1
Emblematic parallelism - Prov. 25:25, 11:22, Ps. 26:2, 42:1
The use of imagery in conjunction with parallelism.
Pivot pattern - Ps. 98:2
A clause is shared between two lines.
Chiasm (e.g. Ps1:1,6)
The entire 2nd Psalm is a chiastic form (1-3 & 10-12)
grammatical parallelism
This involves the repetition of the parts of speech from one line to the next, although not necessarily in the same order (e.g. Ps.2:5; He rebukes them in his anger {verb-direct object-prepositional phrase} and in his wrath he terrifies them {prepositional phrase-verb-direct object}. This serves to tie one line with another.
http://www.xenos.org/classes/psalms/psweek1.htm

a. Staircase parallelism This feature of the parallelistic couplet, otherwise known as 'climactic' or 'repetitive' parallelism, or the 'expanded colon', has long been recognized./23/ Wilfred Watson notes some forty examples,/24/ including Jer. 31.21:
larcy tlwtb ybwv Return, O virgin Israel,hla °yr[ la ybv Return to these your cities.
From a formal perspective, the description 'staircase' is apt, but from a more semantic perspective it is easily seen that such a form is an instance of the parallelism of greater precision. In the example quoted, the Þrst line leaves unstated the place to which Israel is to return; the B-line speciÞes the full signiÞcance of 'return' in A. It is true of course that it is not only that the B-line is more speciÞc than the A-line but also that the A is more speciÞc than the B. Such cases do not negate the parallelism of greater precision; they are a subset of the examples of our feature.
http://www.shef.ac.uk/~biblst/Department/Staff/BibsResearch/DJACcurrres/Postmodern1/Parallelism.html

Class Notes, Monday Sept. 12

2005-09-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

Underline passages in Fry and Calasso

Google: Talmud
Canonical- is approved, approved set of texts/canon
- Canons evolve

Group 4: Mountain

iconoclastic- means literally: breaking of images

psyche- greek: Soul Metempsychosis- the transfer of souls
theology: birth of the gods

Disgusting Creatures: Tricksters- Dr. Sexson book salon - Nov. 11 or 12

Calasso: referencing:
Homer
Heseod- theogony
Homeric Hymns
Ovid- Metamorphosis
Greek Playwrights- Sophocles, Euripides, _____
Vergil

Greatest that influenced:
BCE (before common era)
Greek: Trojan War
Jewish: Exodus
1) creation
2) revolution (exodus)
3) law (torah)
4) wisdom
5) prophecy
6) gospel
7) apocolypse

Talmud

2005-09-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

check out this site, it has entire Talmud and a whole lot more on the subject!

Genesis Passage

2005-09-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

Notes from Wednesday, September 7

2005-09-08T00:44:00.000-07:00

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/2/Judaism/jepd.html
Google: Documentary Hypothesis

Documentary HypothesisLiterary analysis shows that the Pentateuch was not written by one person. Multiple strands of tradition were woven together to produce the Torah.
The view that is persuasive to most of the critical scholars of the Pentateuch is called the Documentary Hypothesis, or the Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis, after the names of the 19th-century scholars who put it in its classic form.
Briefly stated, the Documentary Hypothesis sees the Torah as having been composed by a series of editors out of four major strands of literary traditions. These traditions are known as J, E, D, and P. We can diagram their relationships as follows.
(directly from website)

Notes:

Metaphor
Repetative Parallelism

1. Descriptive
2. Conceptual
3. Ideological Rhetoric
4. Romantic/metaphorical, myth, kerygmatic, speculative, imagination

Poesis: the maker - Greek

Fry-Vico:

Gods- hieroglyphic
Heroes- aristrocratic
"Men"- economics
Chaos- gibberish

Look at: Passage on pg. 113 Fry

2005-09-08T00:37:00.000-07:00

Northrop Fry

"His theory of a historical development of literary modes as a series of displacements of the hero as god originates in his exposition of the seven stages of Albion in The Four Zoas. Frye modulates that sequence into Giambattista Vico's four stages--stories of gods, aristocratic heroes, and the people, followed by a ricorso through chaos back to the beginning--to arrive at the five stages of the development of modes in Western literature in the first essay of Anatomy of Criticism: myth, romance, high mimetic, low mimetic, irony."

http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/hopkins_guide_to_literary_theory/northrop_frye.html

http://www.northropfrye.com/aboutfrye.htm

Check Out These Cites

2005-09-08T00:27:00.000-07:00

VICO

http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/new_science.html

"But as the popular states became corrupt, so also did the philosophies. They descended to skepticism. Learned fools fell to calumniating the truth. Thence arose a false eloquence, ready to uphold either of the opposed sides of a case indifferently. "

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/vico/

http://www.cforc.com/kjv/Isaiah/63.html

2005-09-08T00:23:00.000-07:00

Book of Isaiah
Chaper 63

63:1
Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
63:2
Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
63:3
I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
63:4
For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
63:5
And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
63:6
And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

Notes from the Past

2005-09-08T00:13:00.000-07:00

September 2nd

Perfunctory- what is necessary/ required
Thes= God dice= justice/ Theodicy- the actions of God that don't make sense to mankind.

Hurrican Relief: msn.com- hurricane relief- any search engine online
Red Cross- give blood/ water

Theocentric/ Anthropomorphic

The Grapes of Wrath- The Book of Revelation
Google: Iseah 63

Read chapter of: Cadmus and Harmony
Words of Power
Hidden Book in the Bible
Genesis

GROUP 4

Previous Notes

2005-09-08T00:04:00.000-07:00

From Monday August 29

1. Repitition is Good
2. Originary- power of being first "in illo tempore" - being first
3. Hypoborean- comes from the northern climate
4. Mythos, story - myth
5. No using word: "Old Testament" - insults Jewish bible
6. BEWARE of getting what you want, Good comes with BAD and vice versa

For Wed. Aug 31: Northrop Fry: Chpt 1
Centripal- on the inside- inner text/material
Centrifugal- things outside of text into play- outer sources that influence text- conversation between books.
Google: Grapes of Wrath

Squish, ewwww!!! Can you wash your shoe sir?

2005-09-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting site to check out for those Grapes of Wrath fans as related to the bible and our class discussion, Here is an excerpt:

Rose of Sharon
The Hibiscus Syriacus, more commonly named the Rose of Sharon, is a medium-sized ornamental shrub. However, it is the flower that eloquently blooms on this shrub that retains the most significance. The flowers are large and showy, and originally found in Syria.
As for the character Rosasharn in The Grapes of Wrath, her name is decidedly relevant to play as it is embedded in Biblical metaphor. Mentioned in the bible, the flower encapsulates thehumble quality of the young women in the romantic book of Song of Songs. In this ancient biblical text, the young woman refers to herself as a Rose of Sharon or a Lily of the Valley,both flowers commonly found in Israel at the time. She is in fact calling herself 'ordinary' or 'common', not unlike Rosasharn in The Grapes of Wrath. Ironically her circumstances are by nomeans ordinary by the end of the play.

look @:

http://www.usq.edu.au/performancecentre/education/thegrapesofwrath/biblical.htm

Hello Class

2005-09-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

Just wishing everybody a great Labor Day weekend (and Friday night). Well... here goes...
see ya on Wednesday!