October 12 Lecture Notes

October 12, 2010

Myth Notes

Relationship between reality and the imagination

Foreground Information: general information that gives a general setting for the story (ies) to come

Europa=sister of Cadmus, granddaughter of Io(who had also been turned into a bull while dealing with Jove)

            Painting by Tesha: The rape of Europa

Ekphrasis:: a literary description of or commentary on a visual work of art

Minerva (to the Romans)(Athena, to the Greeks)-the daddy’s girl & Arachne

            -“to praise is less rewarding than receiving praise” Minerva—she’s a bitch!

-Arachne claimed she was a more talented weaver than the great goddess Minerva-foreshadowing for awful things to happen to those who claim to be greater than a god

            Hubris: extreme haughtiness or arrogance

Corrine’s parents: Christine & Tom

Mentor: a teacher or helper, an experienced or trusted advisor

Painting: Velazquez’s Spinners

Persian Story Teller: “This was so (logos), and this wasn’t so (mythos), It happened, and it didn’t happen”

            I.e.: Aladdin

Pagan (Secular) Tradition: human beings>gods –Ovid is in this tradition!

Religious Traditions (Christians and Jews): humans should be submissive to the gods

In her contest, Minerva depicts the hill of Mars (pg. 180)

            -1. The glory of the gods, herself in particular. 2. Shows what happens when mortals contest against the gods

            Moral: didactic: designed or intended to teach--  you will respect the gods or else!

Arachne’s depiction: Shows the victims of the gods and how they use their power to be deceitful, they are immoral and they commit awful crimes

            -Her painting was better which ANGERED Minerva: she hung Arachne and turned her into a spider

Mendala: Any of various ritualistic geometric designs symbolic of the universe, used in Hinduism and Buddhism as an aid to meditation.

Perfidy: treachery, duplicity, deceit, infidelity, faithlessness

Assignment for Presentation: The background of a mythological story

            -We will be assigned a story and will become EXPERTS on the story and give a 1 min presentation about the story. Know it forward and backward, research it, make it apart of your being!

A shining gold basket from generations past, given to Europa, if she would have looked in the basket, she would have realized

-Painted in the basket, 2 men were watching a heifer swimming in an ocean with a young virgin girl, Zeus was also in the painting—the story of Io! (Europa’s great-great-great grandmother)

Myth: you discover from which story you come!