Final Presentation

My blog on the “Legacy Left Behind by Greek Mythology” provided me with the opportunity to learn things about a new topic in multiple ways. The book that I read for this project, Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin, was certainly beneficial to me because it exposed me to many of the different stories of Greek Mythology. This book also gave me more of an interest for Greek Mythology and helped me understand the connections from my research that were made between society today and Greek Mythology. Another enjoyable and key factor of this blog project was the interview that I had the privilege of doing with Professor Shannon Rogers Flynt from Samford University. It was neat to personally hear someone else’s testimony on how they believed society is affected by Greek Mythology and on how they had a passion for Greek Mythology as well. Over all, I think that the most interesting thing that I learned through this project was that Greek Mythology is very significant in the study of Psychology. Sigmund Freud even borrowed many of his ideas from Greek mythology for developing his theories on human psychosexual development. I honestly never would have thought that Greek Mythology would have had a psychological affect on society. I had no idea!

I have to say, I have learned quite a lot from this project. I’ve learned that Greek mythology has had an affect on many things such as, literature, art, theatrics, psychology, an understanding of nature, diplomacy, and advertising. All of the research that I’ve done on this topic un-doubtfully confirmed my belief of Greek Mythology to begin with. Greek Mythology has indeed had a large affect on society and has had part in the evolution of society and how it is today. Article after article that I have read, all have agreed with this very thought and with all of the proof to back it up, how could anyone question it? This is the exact reason as to why I side with this statement.

I believe that I have fulfilled my project to the best of my abilities at the time that it was done. However, if I could go back I would do some kind of hands on research. For instance, I would have really enjoyed going to some kind of Greek museum and seeing first hand the beauty of the art configured by Greeks themselves and evolutionized by the people who have felt influenced by them. I regret not being able to do something like that, but even though I won’t be doing this project anymore, I am still interested in going to some kind of museum like that or doing something else that exposes more of Greek culture and Greek mythology to me.

Multimedia Interview with two Authors

This multimedia interview, from metmuseum.com, is between Shawn Hemmingway (an associate at the metropolitan art corporation) and Rick Reyerdon (the author of the Pursey Jackson series). In the beginning of their talk they are both relating to how, at a young age, they both agree that they had a strong interest in mythology. Reyerdon stated, “One of my earliest memories is of me with my dad reading folklore literature of tall tales like Paul bunion and Native American mythology”. He continues to explain that that exposure got him into Greek mythology. He says that there is something very universal about Greek mythology to where it doesn’t matter where or when you grew up; there is something always to relate to. The Myths just have everything you could possibly want which is mystery, tragedy, murder, loyalty, romance, monsters, and just everything. Reyerdon even explains the amount of excitement that his students have when it comes to the time to teach Greek mythology. The two men then discuss how one of the beautiful things about Greek mythology is how they derive from oral tradition and change depending on local origin. It has never been a fixed text, but has been something that has literally faced an evolution of its own. They then both go on to talk about the books that they’ve written and the thoughts that their fans had on them.

I was pretty surprised that I found an interview like this! I thought it was pretty cool to here two authors’ points of view on mythology and how they first started getting interested in it. I also agreed with their points of view that were made. I too think that Greek mythology includes every element of excitement necessary to capture and interest an audience. It really does have all the attributes of mystery, tragedy, murder, loyalty, romance, monsters and anything and everything in between. I also agree that Greek mythology does hold an element of beauty to it due to oral tradition. It’s something that’s able to hold many forms but still hold its true colors and I absolutely love that about it.

http://www.metmuseum.org/audio/family/mmaFamilyPodcast.03292010.068.mp3?refpage=mma_xml_link_068

"Metropolitain." Web. 11 May 2010. .

Greek Mythology in Advertisement

Greek Mythology is something that has followed us all the way into the present and Pontikis says that, "It is particularly shown in advertisement". There are hundreds of companies, groups and corporations that take their name, logo or theme from ancient Greek mythology. For instance Amazon, which is a huge on-line bookstore, actually means a race of warrior women and Nike relates to a winged goddess of Victory, who can run and fly at great speed. A couple of others include companies like Olympus, (a name of a popular camera and photographic technology company) which is the home of the Olympian gods and Medusa (a name of a cement company) which is actually a terrible monster whose glance could petrify you.
I thought this article was pretty insightful. Once again, I have never actually taken into account how much Greek mythology is used and seen and day to day life. It has really never hit me how much advertisements use Greek mythology or even that they use them at all. I guess it’s just something that I always overlooked. What’s even neater is that the Greek mythology being used is even connected and has relevance to the product being sold or the company’s duties. I think of it as pretty clever and witty actually. Now, I’m not going to be able to look at a name of something without trying to make connections to Greek mythology.

Pontikis, Nick. "Mythology in Modern Business." Myth Man persona. (1995): 2. Print.

Interview with Professor Flynt

I did my interview with Professor Shannon Rogers Flynt from Samford University. After constant struggles to find a point in time where we could both talk with one another we finally established that we would simply just have to talk over phone instead. So, we introduced our selves to one another and each shared little about our selves before the conversation was to take off. Despite my fear, she was actually a very nice woman. Our conversation was pretty fluid and was a constant without any awkward pauses or silences, thank goodness. When the conversation was coming to a close, she thanked me for asking her to do my interview and I thanked her for accepting my invitation.

My first topic of discussion was about her of course. I asked her what had made her decide to be a professor in the course that she teaches and she told me that she has just always had a passion for the arts and especially took interest in the arts of Western Europe. After that conversation had concluded, I asked her what story of Greek Mythology or Greek decent did she get the most reaction from her students. She replied that the students most enjoyed the story of the creation of the Earth. She said that she thinks that they take interest in that story most because it’s a different view compared to what the usual outlook on how the world began. Next, I asked her if she thought that our society of today had been influenced by Greek Mythology and in what specific areas. She agreed that it has definitely had an influence on our society and how it’s so funny that many people don’t ever realize it. She kept explaining how is in everything like advertisements, holidays (Valentines Day), arts (literature, theatre and art work), words, phrases, names, sports, and even moral and physiological developments. I then asked her why she thought that Greek Mythology had influenced our society so much and she responded that it almost had a slow pandemic forming kind of way about it. It’s something that captured the imaginations of many in one’s culture and then slowly began to be a fascination of others to where it got to the point where everyone knew it and used it with all of its influences. After that was all said, I asked her what her favorite work of art depicting a character or story of Greek Mythology and why. She answered that she particularly likes sculptures of Atlas because she feels that at some point, everyone feels as if they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Lastly, I asked her what story in Greek Mythology has the most significance to her and why. Her answer was the story Orpheus and the significance of it to her was the depth of the hero’s passion. Orpheus is willing to go through hell for his love but is ultimately unable to save her and is destroyed by his grief. This kind of passion is moving and beautiful and she believes that there should be more of it in the world. Finally, we concluded our phone conversation and said our good byes. I have to say, I really did enjoy talking with her. It was nice to talk to someone about Greek Mythology who was passionate about it, just like me.

The Birth of Modern Diplomacy

The article,Diplomacy by Simon Szykman, said that the earliest evidence of diplomacy is shown in through Greek literature. Hermes was known for his charm, cunning and trickery which are some of the many qualities for a diplomat. Zeus employed Hermes for diplomatic mission of being regarded by the other gods as the mediator between the upper and lower worlds. The Greeks regarded him as the patron of travelers, merchants and thieves. This article stated that, "One of the most known examples of diplomacy in history was during the Homeric period". This is where official agents of negotiation were chosen due to certain qualifications such as good memory and a loud voice. This made Greek cities more sophisticated and raised the bar for those who wanted to be ambassadors. Within time, the Greeks had developed a system of continuous diplomatic relations thus creating the start of diplomacy for everyone.

Honestly it took me a couple of times to read over before I actually got the jest of the whole article, however it was kind of neat when I realized what it was talking about. The fact that the idea of diplomacy all started with mythological stories of Hermes, Zeus, and the separations of the worlds is pretty bizarre and cool. Just think how far we’ve come. That one story brought of the views and ideas that brought on a whole new outlook and form of intermediate communication and processing. Through all this time between now and then there is a clear evolution of how it’s all changed, yet the over all idea still remains the same. And it all started with a little Greek mythology.

Szykman, Simon. "Diplomacy: A Historical Perspective." Zinc. (1995): Print.

Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths

Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin is a book that provides a brief and vivid over view of the popular stories of Greek Mythology. While re-telling these stories, Evslin makes a reminder of exactly how within our society today, our stories, idioms, names, and words are mostly derived from these epic myths. In this book, Evslin connects the stories of the Greek gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, Artemis, Apollo and Aphrodite, as well as connecting with many of the lesser known gods. He also tells the stories of the nature myths of Prometheus, Narcissus and Echo, Eros and Psyche, and stories of the demigods Perseus, Theseus, and Atalanta. Evslin also relates to the story of Pandora’s Box and the story of how the spider got the name Arachnid.

I actually enjoyed reading this book very much. Bernard Evslin wrote this book to where it was easily comprehendible which I appreciated very much. It gave me a chance to be able to respect and value the stories told rather than be frustrated with not being able to understand what the stories were actually talking about in the first place. Even though this book is dumbed down a little, it is still a well written retelling of the ancient stories of Greek Mythology that have greatly influenced our culture of today.

Another great vice about this book is that it didn’t just tell the stories of Greek Mythology: It connected them to an instance, word, or idea that is currently used in society to this day. For instance, the story of Athene and Arachne explains how the name of the spider came about. Due to the fact that Arachne dared to state that her weaving was better than Athene, Athene challenged her to a competition to see who actually the best was. When judgment time came into play, it was clear to see that Athene was indeed the winner, so out of fright Arachne went to the woods and hung herself. Athene pitied the girl, but because of her lack of humbleness and pride, Athene made sure that Arachne would stay alive and would spend the rest of her life spinning and weaving. Evslin makes sure he explains this by blatantly stating, “That is why spiders are called Arachnids by those who know them best”(14). This selection of the book is just one of the many examples that portray the true meaning of the story at the end of each chapter.

Evslin, Bernard. Heros, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths. New York: RandomHouse Children's Books, 1966. 204. Print.

Greek Mythology: The Myth of Creation

This multimedia video and information is about the beginning of the creation of life and Greek mythology in gerneral. It tells how in the beginning there was only chaos and Gaea but that out of a void Erebus formed. Then, later Love was born too which brought on the forms of night and day. Gaea then gave birth to Uranus who then became her mate. Together they bore Cyclopeses, the three heades Hecatoncheires, and twelve Titans. Uranus wasn't a good father and imprisoned his children deep into the womb of Gaea which angered her to where she asked her brave, yougest son named Cronus, to kill Uranus. The video states that, "Out of the killing of Uranus came the goddess Aphrodite". Cronus became ruler and married his sister Rhea, whom it had been prophesized that one of Cronus sons would over throw him. So, every time Rhea gave birth, Cronus would swallow the child whole. ONe day Rhea decided to trick Cronus and hand him over a rock instead of her son Zeus, who was being raised by nymphs. When grown, Zeus went up to Mount Olympus, poisoned his father, and got back all of his swallowed brothers and sisters. A war still ended up raging between Cronus and Zeus, but Zeus eventually won and became ruler of Mount Olympus. As time went by the gods and goddesses grew bored and decided to create mankind for entertainment, but didn't expect for any of them to be deceiving being that they were a lower power. Zeus didn't share Prometheus' feelings and wanted to prevent ment from having power, expecially over fire. Prometheus cared more for the man than for the wrath of the king of the gods, so he stole fire from Zeus' lightning, concealed it in a hollow sstalk of fennel, and brought it to man. Prometheus also stole skells from Hephaestus and Athena to give to man. This outraged Zeus, so he put him up on the top of a mountain where every day an eagal would swoop down and pick out his liver and every day he'd grow that liver back so that the same torture could be preformed daily. He did this so that all mankind would know that decieving would lead to punishment.

This multimedia information and video was pretty entertaining to me. I had never hear the Greek story of creation until now and by seeing it I've realized some pretty weird parallelism. First off, it basically brings up the identity of mother earth (Gaea) which we still make connections and inferrences to today. The next realization that I came to was that of the effects of incest. The story tells how the children born from Gaea and her son, Uranus, were that of monsters, thus making the connection of the effects of incest in real life. This story also foretells the consequences of actions and the effect of karma. For intance, Uranus ends up getting over thrown and Prometheus ends up getting punished with torture for his defiance and his thievery. I also liked how it put a twist on how exactly mankind began and how, by the influence of Prometheus, we started to evolve into a more complex race.

http://www.multimedia-english.com/contenido/ficha/greek-mythology-the-myth-of-creation/343

Castano, Angel. "Greek Mythology: the myth of creation." Multimedia English Class Room. N.p., 2008. Web. 8 Apr 2010. <• Career Cruising. 1999-2009. Job Description. [Internet] Toronto, Ontario. Anaca Technologies [12 November 2009] Available from: http://www.careercruising.com/Careers/JobDetails.aspx?LoginID=d2f4f8ea-454e-4f32-a8bb-5183420763da-&OccNumber=611&Language=English>.