If myths, as I've metaphorized in class, are like kaleidoscopes and, each we turn them, we can see past the literal meaning into new angles and new meaning, where have you seen something about your own human experience in any of the myths we've read? Please explain.
The first time I had read Demeter and Persephone was in this English class and I felt it related to my life in a big way. Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and was forced into being, metaphorically speaking, an adult. She became a woman once she had consumated her relationship with Hades by "eating the pomegranate". This is talking about how she lost her virginity and had now become a woman and would not be able to come back to her innocent old self. This relates to my life because, I can tell you now that especially being in high school, guys are always talking about how the only way to become a "man" is to lose your virginity. This shouldn't be true for everyone but to most guys that's the way they picture it. I don't believe that is the way to necessarily become a man. I believe it should have something to do with becoming a more matured person. Showing chivalry and showing that you have a great respect for others. That should be the way men should look at the perspective of being a "man".
ReplyDeleteI felt that the story of Daedalus and Icarus related to me. I am overall a good student and I get A’s. There have all ways been people smarter than me but I am usually above average. School has never been particularly hard for me and I don’t have to study a lot. Last year I signed up for Honors Algebra. I had barely gotten considered for it but I still tried it out. My first test was only review and I got an A- . The next test though was very hard and I got an awful grade that I wasn’t expecting. I can relate this experience to Icarus. I tried to fly and be better than average but I fell. Unlike Icarus dying, I stayed in Honors and picked my grade back up but it was hard. That is how I feel that the Daedalus and Icarus myth relates to me.
ReplyDeleteIn the myth Sisyphus, the gods punish him by making Sisyphus continually push a boulder up a hill, but every time the boulder reaches the top it rolls down. In my life sometimes I experience rigorous tasks, where I feel like I can never push the boulder over the top. In my family I have three younger siblings, one including my eleven year old sister. I try my hardest to exemplify a good role model to her, but sometimes cuss words slip out in front of her, or I talk badly about someone. Then she repeats the word, or calls someone weird, andI know she learned it from me. Other times I become annoyed with her or kick her out of my room which causes her to become angry. I know I must continue to work hard in being an ideal role model for her, even though sometimes I mess up and the boulder drops.
ReplyDeleteI perpetually strive for personal best in all aspects of my life, while also attempting to stay within the boundaries of set standards. But remaining within the regulations of standards set by elders can be hard for me, as I have a tendency to test unappealing authoritative figures. As in the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, Icarus tests the limits of high wings by pushing set boundaries. Icarus attempts to cross the metaphorical boundaries cautioned by his father, and as a result faces the consequences. I too can sometimes test the boundaries established by a superior and also have faced consequences. The myth of Daedalus and Icarus can be shaped into a cautionary tale, or a comparison of acts I tend to do in my life.
ReplyDeleteMy childhood was taken from me at a very young age. My dad was never really around he was always traveling so in some sense I had to grow up and help out around the house and with my mom, since i'm the oldest. But the moment when I really grew up was when my parents actually split, I have a six year old sister but she was three at the time of their divorce( I was 10-11 ) I had to grow up and help raise her. In some ways the Persephone and Demeter myth really reminded me of that it's not that i became a woman in the sense of loosing my virginity but I lost a lot of my just being a child with no responsibility. Demeter also reminded me of my mom and how she felt. Demeter was sad because Persephone was not pure anymore and my mom was upset because she knew that I lost those good years of no responsibility and she kind of feels as if it was her fault but it's ok because I was happy to help out and i'm glad that I made things a little easier for my mom!
ReplyDeleteTaylor,
DeleteThank you for sharing this with us. I think you'll really appreciate the Odyssey, which is essentially a story about an absent father and a young son trying to protect his mother. Please be careful of run-on sentences. If you'd like to work on that, come see me!
Narcissus' story can be a great metaphor to make sure that people don't get out of line. Narcissus was a hunter who was known for his ravishing good looks. Nemesis, who was very envious his spellbinding beauty, attracted him to a pool where he could see his own reflection. There he stared at himself and fell in love. Narcissus could not move because he was so attracted to his own beauty. He eventually died because he never moved from his reflection. His story should remind everyone not to get too full of themselves, and to realize that we are all human and we are not capable of doing everything. That being said, it doesn't mean you shouldn't try to do everything in your power. Narcissus teaches a good lesson for everyone, and it is always good to realize that you are not everything.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all the myths and discussing every one's meaning and themes, I believe the story of Daedalus and Icarus are mostly related to my story of life. The main message of the myth is never to become too ambitious or hubris because it will eventually lead to your downfall. This theme was shown when Icarus believed he could fly closer to the gods and the consequence was death. As I read the story, I realized that my life included many of the themes that were illustrated in the myth except in a more positive way. Throughout my life, I always had ambition, perseverance, but never too much pride to the extent of hubris of vanity. A certain amount of pride is necessary for all human beings or else we will let others control our every move. For example, without ambition or setting extremely high goals for myself, I would never become a great tennis of golf player which requires a lot of time and effort. If I had not set a goal to reach my fullest potential, I would have maintained the "middle" path never trying to push my limits. However, everyone is human and must fail like Icarus except it is what one does after his mistake that makes him great. Many times I have lost a match but never gave up on my goals. Overall, I believe that ambition and setting goals for yourself is one of, if not, the most important trait anyone could have. Without it, one will never fulfill his full capabilities in life and in sports.
ReplyDeleteWe all strive to achieve and succeeded at something in life, but imagine if we knew we could never reach our goal. Sisyphus could never reach his goal, everyday he would push the boulder up the hill and almost reaches the top, it rolls back down. I make the biggest connection with this myth and I have seen it happen a lot. Imagine you have been practicing for months to prepare for your big match, but a week before the big game you have a major injury and cannot play in the game coming up. Practicing for the game is like rolling the boulder up the hill and becoming injured is like the the boulder coming back down. However, instead of giving up you get back on your horse and start to take care of your body so your healthy again to play. Getting healthy and starting to play again symbolizes starting to roll the boulder back up. In my kaleidoscope I see the myth of Sisyphus being a tale of never giving up and to keep trying.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the myth of Demeter and Persephone in many ways relates to my life. I hadn't fully come to the notion that he was dead until I was 5 and I couldn't keep saying he was just "at work." In fact, I barley even knew what a dad was, not having remembered mine. In ways, I was forced to grow up too fast without the support only a dad can bring you. Throughout my childhood I longed for something to replace the void in my heart, but as Persephone had to come to the fact that she had lost her innocence and could no longer stay fully out of the under world, I had to come to the fact that maybe I would never find a father. But with growing up comes responsibility, and with that I want to devote my life to uncovering the secrets of cancer, the very thing that brought my father to his knees. Without one day growing up, one would never realize the true beauty in everything that goes on.
ReplyDeleteColin,
DeleteLike I said to Taylor, thank you very much for your honesty and vulnerability here. I think that, like Taylor, you might very much appreciate the Odyssey, especially Telemachus' story (the son with an absent father).
As I come into high school here at Kinkaid, I feel that my school day routine comes more and more like the life that Sisyphus has. I wake up early every day to show up to school, and I go to class. After my classes, are done I go to football, and work hard until I finally get to go home to hours of homework. After I have completed my homework, feeling accomplished, I finally get to go to sleep, but I wake up in the morning and do it all over again. Sisyphus's life is a metaphor of my life, in which the person works hard all day, and when they reach the a point of accomplishment, a point in which you have a feeling that you are done with everything, you have to restart and go through the entire process again.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all the myths in class, I could relate to the myth of Demeter and Persephone the best. One could view the myth as a mother not wanting to let go of the youth and innocence in her daughter. However, it could also be viewed as a daughter maturing and approaching adulthood. I can relate this myth to my life the best because of several reasons. My peers and I have entered high school: the final leg of our education until college. While we view this as a milestone, our parents might view it as a time when they realize we are going to be moving away in the next couple of years. Also, in May, I will turn 16 and receive my car. I am excited, while my parents are anxious and concerned that I will soon be able to drive on the roads. In other words, these events in my life can either be looked at optimistically or pessimistically. A glass half full or half empty.
ReplyDeleteStuart, I love you style. I especially love how you judiciously used a colon in you fifth sentence.
Delete"your" (even teachers make typos)
DeleteI can relate to Icarus because he was flying high and just wanted to see what is was like to feel the freedom of flying. Sometimes when we get to a height we have strived for we get a little greedy and go higher or father. Icarus did not realize that he had already beaten every single human being by being able to fly. But i guess that wasn't processing in his mind very well. He thought that he had to go higher and higher. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with trying to set higher goals once you meet you previous ones but it comes to a point when it is just overwhelming. That happened to me when I was in the seventh grade and i had just found out i had made the A team for basketball. Also my mom wanted me to start playing the piano again and i had about two or three hours of homework. And don't forget i had to clean up my house and do my chores. Once i had all of these responsibilities for a little while it seemed like i could do it. But not to long all of it started to drag me down. My grades started to slip, i was not playing well in basketball, i was not getting my piano practice in, and i was forgetting to do my chores. That could be my peak or when I started to melt, and i fell a little bit. In order for me to get back on track i had to drop a few things like piano. When i did that everything fell back into place.
ReplyDeleteI feel I can relate to Sisyphus' punishment the most in my life. Each day feels like another day rolling the bowlder up the hill. The start being that I have to wake up early each morning. The middle being the seven hours of school each day, and that I have to give my best attention to all the teachers so that I will be prepared for exams and quizzes. Near the end when I am finishing up my long homework assignments, and finally right when I feel accomplished of what I'm doing as I'm falling asleep, I wake up the next morning to do the same thing for nine straight months.
ReplyDeleteThroughout my childhood, i have realized that when i find something i like i strive for perfection in it. This seems to be similar to the myth of Prometheus. He loved the humans he created so he tried to give them as many advantages as he could. Even when the fire was taken from his humans he stole the fire back to help out his creations. I am not saying I have cheated to accomplish any of my feats, I am saying that, for example, i have countless hours of practice in the sports that i love every since i was around three years old. In Prometheus's defense, i personally believe that he did the right thing by stealing fire back for the humans because he was under the law of Zeus, who was being unfair and in a fit of rage at the moment of his decision. After it all, he still did cheat and steal from the gods. I am similar to Prometheus in many ways but i would not break the rules or cheat to get to my greatest potential.
ReplyDeleteThank you for using Prometheus! Also, Jack, please be careful to capitalize "I" in every part of a sentence.
DeleteOut of all the myths we read, I can relate to the myth of Orpheus the best. Orpheus is ruled by his emotions. He struggles to accept his wife's death. Sometimes it really hard to cope with certain situations in life and it can bring such drastic changes. I can relate to this because when I was in eight grade, I went through so much stress that i just broke down. I could not take it, it was so hard for me to cope with everything that was going on in my life at that point. It brought me to the point where i completely change my outlook on everything. Orpheus looks back at his love and lost everything he wished for once again. It's hard to look back and think that you can never change what has happened; I been told several times, "Shut the past, cut the future and live in the present." From my experience, I have learnt that everything happens for a reason; attempt to accept what has happened and move on.
ReplyDeleteIn my life I relate to the myth of Demeter and Persephone. Persephone was dragged in between Hades and her mother Demeter. My parents got divorced two or three years ago. They were always trying to convince my sisters and I who was right and who we should "side with". My sisters and I were very distant at the time so I had to keep all my thoughts to myself and always wear a smile on my face. To me the pomegranate represents my limited childhood. Having to make my own adult decisions at a very young age. I compare to the way that Demeter and Hates had to share Persephone. My parents have to share my sisters and I with each other. I can understand Demeter's grief through my parents eyes as I leave their houses. Demeter and Persephone's story reminds me of how my family has struggled though this period in time.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this, and I think this myth is rich with meaning for your situation. Be careful about sentence fragments like "Having to make my own adult decisions at a very young age," which could be tacked on to the previous sentence following a comma. Also "Hates" should be "Hades."
DeleteWhen I read the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, I felt like I could relate to Orpheus. In the end of the story, when Orpheus is so close to getting Eurydice back, he turns around and Eurydice is pulled back into the underworld. Orpheus's anxiety and fear of not achieving eventually resulted in his loss. In my life, I know that I constantly try to pursue goals that I set for myself. After I've put in a lot of work into reaching my goal, I begin to question if I'm actually doing the right things to get there. Similar to Orpheus, I turn around to make sure everything is okay. Usually, I try to change something because I think it will result in getting to my goal more quickly, but it ends up ruining all the progress I've made and I have to start over.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice the best. The way I look at this myth is that bad things happen and life doesn't always go the way we want it to. Within this myth, it teaches us that it's not what happens to us, but how we deal with it. For example, Orpheus looses his wife, Eurydice, as she walks down the isle of new life and marriage. He chooses to sing excruciatingly sad songs while mourning for years. However, what the myth wants to show us is that Orpheus should have excepted her death. He should have moved on and remembered the time that he spent with her, not that it was over. Instead of dwelling on the past, we should look towards the future and be happy that we are alive. An example in sports especially in volleyball, is if you shank the ball you have to pull yourself together and make the next play. We should live life to its full potential and be happy for what has gone well in our lives and not dwell on the bad.
ReplyDeleteOut of all of the myths we have read so far in class, I feel like I can relate to Orpheus the best. Orpheus's downfalls were his passion for Eurydice and his raw and uncensored emotions. I can relate because, quite frankly, I tend to let my emotions get the best of me a little too often. Whenever I make a commitment or buy into something, sometimes I give it everything I have instead of just putting one foot in front of the other. Instead of taking things one step at a time, I will push and push, and sometimes things crack. Orpheus's fatal flaws were not vanity, hubris, or ambition; to me, his fatal flaw was his often uncontrollable state of mind. I pray that my undoing in life is not my passion, and I will try and learn from the mistakes Orpheus made.
ReplyDeleteZach, it's true that Orpheus faltered with regard to the Greek idea of the "golden mean", which is a balance between the intellectual, emotional, and physical (Athena, Aphrodite, Dionysus). However, our culture prizes the intellectual and physical, perhaps, more than the emotional so you would do well to cultivate that in yourself while still striving for balance (it's a life-long endeavor for all of us, finding that balance).
DeleteEvery one has read the tragic story of Sisyphus and his cruel punishment of pushing a boulder up a Mountain, only to have to do it again when the boulder roles back down. When most people hear this, they probably feel sorry for Sisyphus and his fate, which they should. But there looking at it in a negative way. Through this hard labor, Sisyphus is force taught persistence. And some point it is no longer a burden for him and therefore is no longer a punishment. A good example of this in my life is Cross Country. Every day I would dread of the long workout ahead, and the work I still had to do after it. However, in the last few weeks I have come to realize that the workouts are a reward, not a punishment. They let me blow of steam at the end of the day, and help me get into better shape. While I may be doing the same basic thing every day, I look forward to it, just like I think Sisyphus does.
ReplyDeleteReagor, I like your comparison to cross country (and yoga?). Please be careful about using "there", "their", and "they're" correctly.
DeleteOne myth we read that I relate to my life is Orpheus and Euricydice. Once orpheus loses his wife to the underworld he loses balance in life and lets emotion take control. I find that I often have the same problem. When faced with a difficult or overwhelming situation I often lose my balance and become overly emotional. I have a tough time getting over the little things like doing badly on a quiz or messing up in sports practice. I let myself get so upset that I fail to see the big picture. In my emotional state i lose my intellect and material enjoyments and only focus on what is upsetting me. However, fortunately for me, I am able to regain balance rather than being torn apart by nymphs like Orpheus.
ReplyDeleteI think my life can be related to Sisyphus's eternal punishment in the Underworld for many reasons. From as long as I can remember, I have always had to pay full attention to my grades and make sure that I kept them up. In elementary school, I knew that I had to get in to Kinkaid, and that was not going to be a cakewalk. I made sure I did all my homework, studied well, and payed attention so I would have good grades on my application. In middle school, I had to work even harder to keep my grades up because I knew that to get into my dream college, I would have to take honors classes in high school. Now, I am working harder than ever, striving for the best I can be in my Honors classes without tiring myself out. In this way, I have, am, and will constantly put all my energy in "pushing the boulder higher up the mountain," (or pushing myself to do even better) even when I know I will have to do the same every year for a long time.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written.
DeleteI feel that the myth of Prometheus relates to my experience with friends as a kid. At my previous school, a new girl joined us in 3rd grade. She had trouble making friends because she was a little bit shy. I eventually became good friends with her because we shared a lot of common interests, but the friend I used to hang out with did not like this and started to hate me. She began to constantly pick on me, and I could do nothing to stop it. This is what Prometheus did. He reaches out a hand of friendship to the humans, and all that ends up happening is that he suffers everyday due to his helpful and kind actions toward his friends. Sometimes, I feel like Prometheus when I try to do something nice to somebody, somebody else hates me, and I pay the consequences. Interestingly enough, the girl who joined our grade that year is still one of my best friends.
ReplyDeleteI think that the myth of Sisyphus relates to life very well. His eternal punishment is having to push a boulder up a hill for eternity. Just as he approaches the top, the boulder goes tumbling back down to the bottom of the hill, for him to have to push it up again. This is like everyday life, because everything that you do is a challenge, like Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the hill. He may get extremely close to the top, but he knows that the boulder is going to come back down eventually. We may be having a great day, or get a great grade on a test, but we all know, even if we aren't thinking about it in that moment, that at some point our lives will be rough again. However this is simply a fact of life. We wouldn't be who we are if we didn't have struggle in our lives, and life would be boring if everything was great all the time, because eventually the greatness would just fade into normalcy, and all things great would be gone.
ReplyDeleteOut of every myth, I believe my life most relates to Sisyphus' punishment. Sisyphus is forced to push a bolder up a hill everyday. Everyday he feels the same, and does the same stuff. This relates to me because many mornings I wake up with a strong desire to stay home from school. However, I am forced to go to school, and sit in class while being very tired from the hours of homework that was required the night before. Many times this feels like it is just repeating itself. As if I get up every morning having to do the same thing, and then leaving school with more homework to do, which means less sleep.. which continues the cycle. Like Sisyphus,i feel tired of doing the every day thing.
ReplyDeleteIn the myth Demeter and Persephone, I saw a lot of recently experienced situations. One of them is the fact that I lost my childhood at a young age, not in the sense of consummating a relationship, but rather due to family problems including a divorce. My mom felt I had to be more like other girls my age and be graceful and live happily. Instead I spent my time worrying about our economic issues due to the divorce and also custody. This really worried her because she felt I could fall into a depression of some sort, but I believe that the divorce has made me a stronger person because I have come to realize so much about how relationships are structured as well as how they function. This can relate to the myth because it shows how parents worry about their children and also how parents don't necessarily want their children to go through things one might realize or experience at an older age. It can also relate because Persephone becomes a women literally, but you can also measure a women by her maturity.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the myth of Daedalus and Icarus because in life I try to strive for the best, but don't we all. I understand the feeling Daedalus must have felt, losing his son after all the years of preparation of escaping right in front of his eyes, and unable to do anything. After working vigorously on his invention of wings, he feels hopeful and triumphant, but little did he know that it would all fall apart and he would have to build from the feather's ashes that had been singed marking his failure. In life there are always going to be obstacles that I want to over come, but can't. It is not because I'm are not good enough, but instead they were set too high or secretly the success is meant to be discovered in the ashes. I constantly work hard on what I find important, but do not necessarily accomplish all of my goals. But as my mother always tells me "Things happen for a reason". Honestly I hate the fact that it is true, because you always wonder what if? What if Icarus lived? What would be different. "if only, or what if" will always haunt me, but what is now wouldn't be, if i never had a little failure. I can't have a rainbow without rain.
ReplyDeleteAs I read Demeter and Persephone, I was reminded of a struggle I went through as a fourth grader. I was like Persephone, unhindered by any sorrows and having only petty problems. However, at the end of the year, my uncle was killed in a plane crash. I was very close to him and his son, my cousin, Jake. Jake is my age, and his loss at such an age is horrible. Both he and I became the tainted Persephone, because once you taste the loss of a loved one, even though you may, with time, 'move on', you can never forget them or your sorrow at their death. We experience the prosperous seasons as life happens around us, and we do our best to survive life's obstacles. However, when anything comes up about death or uncle Jim or even my father's family, winter comes, and both of us are forced to remember.
ReplyDelete