An archetype is a character, action or situation that represents a pattern of human nature. Through the usage of characters in situations of literature, the literary work is given a universal acceptance because the readers are able to identify the characters and situations in their social and cultural contexts. In Metamorphoses, Ovid works his way through subject matter, and jumps from one tale to the next, telling stories of creation that were heard centuries before his time. Metamorphoses does entail some archetypes, due to the creative stories and creatures involved, and because of Ovid's writing, the readers are able to enjoy the reading and the search of these archetypes that make the creation story unique.
The archetype that stands out the most to me in Metamorphoses is Chaos, whom was not known as a "god" but was the creator of the world, according to Greek mythology. In my opinion, Chaos is the "hero" of this particular creation story, since it is the one that brought creation unto the world in the minds of the Greeks. Chaos is a "raw confused mass, nothing but inert matter, badly combined discordant atoms of things, confused in the one place" (728) and because of Chaos, the world became a better place. Before Chaos, there was land, sea and air, but these all needed more. Chaos made the water swimmable, gave the air light and made the land livable for man and animals; basically Chaos fixed everything to better serve human life that eventually exists. Chaos represents the perfect pattern of human nature, just like God to Christians also does this. God is the creator to modern-day Christians and those before, and Chaos was and still to this day is a god to Greeks. Those who believe in the creation story Metamorphoses accept how the world was created, making Chaos an archetype in Ovid's work.
Another archetype that I was able to identify in Metamorphoses was love - be it Cupid's strike of love upon Apollo most importantly. The love Apollo had for Daphne was not brought upon him by the goodness of Cupid, but because of Cupid's fierce anger. He stated to Apollo, "you may hit every other thing Apollo, but my bow will strike you: to the degree that all living creatures are less than gods, by that degree is your glory less than mine" (733), which entails that Cupid's strike is only to teach Apollo a lesson. He falls in love immediately and wants to marry her, but Daphne wants no part in that of course. I think that this love between the two reveals to readers that not all love is real, and that sometimes feelings can be one-sided. This love expressed in Metamorphoses is a social situation in a cultural tale that easily represents human nature, because situations such as these happen all of the time in real life, and even today. Of course people, in all seriousness, do not get hit with Cupid's arrow and fall in love - that's just absurd! But it's sort of ironic how in American culture, Valentine's Day is based on the story of cupid. This archetype shows how Greek mythology relates to our creation stories and beliefs, and how past mythologies that are thousands of years old can still play an important role in our cultures today.
Lastly, rape and the other mistreatments of women in myths of Metamorphoses is an important set of archetypes. These stories of rape are definitely the most abundant, where violence and suffering are marked, and the consent of the woman is unheard of. It's sad because women have gone through traumatic incidents not only in Metamorphoses, but in real life too. Mistreatment of women, including physical violence and alienation of rights, existed in the time period of Metamorphoses to even today, where some people think it is easy and acceptable to attack women. This archetype entails how the world viewed women then, and how times have changed and what still remains of the violation of women.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Monday, January 23, 2017
Post 03: Personal Archetypes in my Life
In literature, an archetype is a character, action, or situation that may represent the patterns of human nature. These archetypes include special symbols, occasions or even people in our lives that have an impact it negatively or positively. Archetypes for us and for characters in stories help shape the structure of our personal lives, and in stories it supports the function of the literature represented in the particular story.
According to literarydevices.net, an archetype is "also known as a universal symbol, but may be a character, a theme, a symbol or even a setting" so in my personal life, one archetype would be the a cross, as we discussed in class today. A few years ago, my grandma gave me a charm bracelet for the birthday, where I could place important charms that represent my life, for example what is important to me and what I enjoy, etc. The very first charm she gave me was a cross. She gave this to me to remind me that God is the center of my life, and that I should never forget His unconditional love for me. My family is very religious, and I've grown up learning about God's love and hearing Jesus' parables generations ago, so the cross is very beneficial to my life, which makes it the most important archetype in my life today. I've taken that little tiny charm for granted until now, because I've realized that it serves as a symbol for my life and how I live for God.
Another important archetype in my life would be my family's traditional Christmas Eve dinner. This is considered an archetype of setting or even a situation. This dinner has been a tradition since before I was born, and it brings my family together during a special time of year: Jesus' birth. We get to come together and enjoy our family, and we get to celebrate and thank God for how blessed we really are, even though we might not think we deserve it. In my opinion, being able to have plenty of loving family members to celebrate such a special time with, and just having loved ones near to help shape my life and influence me, just really serves as a archetype that serves a great purpose in my life today, yesterday, and tomorrow.
Lastly, an important archetype in my family or community would be my parents, siblings, grandparents, and even my friends. These people go along with the example of characters, because they all play important roles in my life story. My parents encourage me, and have helped me grow as kid to a teen, from a teen to an adult, and now they're even helping me grow in my adult life. My grandparents are a lot older and wiser than I probably will ever be, so they keep me on the right track and understand what I'm going through better that I do, because they've been there and done that. My siblings and friends are always there to give me a good laugh and also provide a support system and just help me get through life, as I help them through as well. The characters in my life story keep me going and give me the push in life that I need, which is an important archetype in my life.
According to literarydevices.net, an archetype is "also known as a universal symbol, but may be a character, a theme, a symbol or even a setting" so in my personal life, one archetype would be the a cross, as we discussed in class today. A few years ago, my grandma gave me a charm bracelet for the birthday, where I could place important charms that represent my life, for example what is important to me and what I enjoy, etc. The very first charm she gave me was a cross. She gave this to me to remind me that God is the center of my life, and that I should never forget His unconditional love for me. My family is very religious, and I've grown up learning about God's love and hearing Jesus' parables generations ago, so the cross is very beneficial to my life, which makes it the most important archetype in my life today. I've taken that little tiny charm for granted until now, because I've realized that it serves as a symbol for my life and how I live for God.
Another important archetype in my life would be my family's traditional Christmas Eve dinner. This is considered an archetype of setting or even a situation. This dinner has been a tradition since before I was born, and it brings my family together during a special time of year: Jesus' birth. We get to come together and enjoy our family, and we get to celebrate and thank God for how blessed we really are, even though we might not think we deserve it. In my opinion, being able to have plenty of loving family members to celebrate such a special time with, and just having loved ones near to help shape my life and influence me, just really serves as a archetype that serves a great purpose in my life today, yesterday, and tomorrow.
Lastly, an important archetype in my family or community would be my parents, siblings, grandparents, and even my friends. These people go along with the example of characters, because they all play important roles in my life story. My parents encourage me, and have helped me grow as kid to a teen, from a teen to an adult, and now they're even helping me grow in my adult life. My grandparents are a lot older and wiser than I probably will ever be, so they keep me on the right track and understand what I'm going through better that I do, because they've been there and done that. My siblings and friends are always there to give me a good laugh and also provide a support system and just help me get through life, as I help them through as well. The characters in my life story keep me going and give me the push in life that I need, which is an important archetype in my life.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Post 02: Creation Stories and Our View on the World
Creation stories, no matter the culture or religion, have made an impact on not only how we as humans were created, but also how we choose to view the world we live in today. These stories provide a force, which is known as a "God" or some sort of spirit as we read these stories, that navigate the creation of the world we live in. Each story we have read have all had the same theme: a creator brings about human life and the features of the Earth - simple enough right?The differences are the important feature in the the view of our world. They make each creation story come to life and make them unique. These important differences, along with the similarities, are what make the huge impact on us of how we see the world, and how we relate to and connect with others around us.
There are some creation stories that place man in life on Earth, with other creatures and the physical features of the Earth, where they form a relationship, and there are others where man is placed on the Earth with creatures, but man is seen as being in charge of the Earth, instead of just a part of it. For example, in the Native American myths, a brother and sister are placed along side the animals and other features of the Earth, and do not try to take over, but instead they all multiply and live together. However, in the Genesis stories, Adam is placed on the Earth by God to till the ground and care for the animals. God created Adam to be an image of him, and instead he turned away from God, and became the dominion of the world God created.
In the Genesis story, when God created Adam and Eve, they chose to disobey their creator and ate from the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil", which is a prime example of how we view the world. As we read this creation story, we observe God say, "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever" which is basically God stating that humans will live with sin now, and life will have struggle and sorrow because of Adam and Eve's bad decisions. As humans, we witness that we can continue to live with knowledge of what is good and what is bad, and no matter what decision we make, life will continue. We can live lives pleasing to God, or we can live the opposite, and unfortunately humans take advantage of this. Humans view the world as just a place we live and that we control, when really the creator controls it all, since in fact He created it. We are like Adam and Eve, where we choose to view the world in our own ways, including our opinions of others, and what we choose to do with our lives, which lead us into bad situations that we are eventually punished for, which illustrates our life of sin.
A quote from newstories.org states that "relating to the Earth as a dead object, a vast repository of resources to be used by man for his own purposes has, on the one hand, vastly accelerated our knowledge of the universe and produced lifestyles unimaginable to earth-centric cultures" and this also represents how we view the world. We don't really think of the Earth as a functioning planet that we would not have life without. We tend to not think about what would happen if the Earth were to stop functioning properly. The article I quoted from previously states that we as humans act as a cancer (how we view/treat the world) that is outgrowing its host body (the creation from the "God", spirit, etc.) and this couldn't be more spot on. Our way of life and our attitudes are killing the things that give us life. With this being said, if you are a religious person like me, we fill our attitudes and how we live with toxic behaviors and push away the one who gives us life and reason to live: God.
In conclusion, we view the world in a negative manner, and tend to forget what creation has done for us. These creation stories have caused us to take advantage of our creation, and instead of living differently from the humans created in these stories, we tend to live just like them and love to receive the punishment. The creation stories do help us view how our world was created, no matter what religion believe, but they also give us the opportunity to live negatively, instead of us learning lessons from those creations.
There are some creation stories that place man in life on Earth, with other creatures and the physical features of the Earth, where they form a relationship, and there are others where man is placed on the Earth with creatures, but man is seen as being in charge of the Earth, instead of just a part of it. For example, in the Native American myths, a brother and sister are placed along side the animals and other features of the Earth, and do not try to take over, but instead they all multiply and live together. However, in the Genesis stories, Adam is placed on the Earth by God to till the ground and care for the animals. God created Adam to be an image of him, and instead he turned away from God, and became the dominion of the world God created.
In the Genesis story, when God created Adam and Eve, they chose to disobey their creator and ate from the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil", which is a prime example of how we view the world. As we read this creation story, we observe God say, "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever" which is basically God stating that humans will live with sin now, and life will have struggle and sorrow because of Adam and Eve's bad decisions. As humans, we witness that we can continue to live with knowledge of what is good and what is bad, and no matter what decision we make, life will continue. We can live lives pleasing to God, or we can live the opposite, and unfortunately humans take advantage of this. Humans view the world as just a place we live and that we control, when really the creator controls it all, since in fact He created it. We are like Adam and Eve, where we choose to view the world in our own ways, including our opinions of others, and what we choose to do with our lives, which lead us into bad situations that we are eventually punished for, which illustrates our life of sin.
A quote from newstories.org states that "relating to the Earth as a dead object, a vast repository of resources to be used by man for his own purposes has, on the one hand, vastly accelerated our knowledge of the universe and produced lifestyles unimaginable to earth-centric cultures" and this also represents how we view the world. We don't really think of the Earth as a functioning planet that we would not have life without. We tend to not think about what would happen if the Earth were to stop functioning properly. The article I quoted from previously states that we as humans act as a cancer (how we view/treat the world) that is outgrowing its host body (the creation from the "God", spirit, etc.) and this couldn't be more spot on. Our way of life and our attitudes are killing the things that give us life. With this being said, if you are a religious person like me, we fill our attitudes and how we live with toxic behaviors and push away the one who gives us life and reason to live: God.
In conclusion, we view the world in a negative manner, and tend to forget what creation has done for us. These creation stories have caused us to take advantage of our creation, and instead of living differently from the humans created in these stories, we tend to live just like them and love to receive the punishment. The creation stories do help us view how our world was created, no matter what religion believe, but they also give us the opportunity to live negatively, instead of us learning lessons from those creations.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Post 01: View on Creation
A creation story tells a story of how the world began. I've discovered that most of them are just basic themes rather than going into great detail. For example, in the Genesis creation story, God wanted there to be light, so he said "Let there be light" and there was light, and it can't get anymore simple than that. The purpose of creation stories are to inform us of how the world, and we as human beings, were created and how we've changed and grown since the "beginning". Every religion or culture has a creation story, and the amazing thing about them is that they all differ, but they have similarities as well. It sort of makes me wonder which one is the "real" creation story, and how it really happened, because what if what we have faith in and what we believe is actually not what really happened in the creation of our world?
How did this world come about? Where did we, as human beings, come from? Why are we here, and what is our purpose for living? These are some serious questions that can make anyone wonder what the meaning of life really is. Most of us have a belief, and we're sticking to that belief, including myself. However, creation stories from other religions interest me, even if I don't believe it for a second. My personal view on creation is simple: I believe that God created a Heaven and Earth, which is the Heaven we can only imagine and read about in the Bible, and the Earth that we live and thrive upon today. I believe in the creation story of Genesis, because that is what our world and lives were built upon and how they were created. I have grown up learning the creation story of Genesis along with other stories in the Bible, so that's one reason why my faith in this stands firm. I realize and understand that some of my colleagues have other beliefs, or maybe even no belief at all, and I completely accept that because everyone has a different mindset, and we were all raised in opposite households. We as people are affected differently by certain creation stories and tend to believe and take in aspects of the creation of this world in different perspectives. The other creation stories that I have read, such as Metamorphoses, are interesting to read about because Metamorphoses consisted of different "ages" of life, and their world was created by "Chaos" and "nature" and the world wasn't organized as effectively as God in Genesis. These types of creation stories just seem so unrealistic and fictional in my opinion, even though I do find it entertaining. These creation stories are the foundation for world literature because there are other cultures and religions out there who believe the world was created differently, and that is okay because everyone is entitled to their own opinion in any given area, not just the creation of our world. I enjoy reading other creation stories because it helps me gain better knowledge and understandment of the world and its literature, along with how other cultures choose to believe differently about the creation of the world.
How did this world come about? Where did we, as human beings, come from? Why are we here, and what is our purpose for living? These are some serious questions that can make anyone wonder what the meaning of life really is. Most of us have a belief, and we're sticking to that belief, including myself. However, creation stories from other religions interest me, even if I don't believe it for a second. My personal view on creation is simple: I believe that God created a Heaven and Earth, which is the Heaven we can only imagine and read about in the Bible, and the Earth that we live and thrive upon today. I believe in the creation story of Genesis, because that is what our world and lives were built upon and how they were created. I have grown up learning the creation story of Genesis along with other stories in the Bible, so that's one reason why my faith in this stands firm. I realize and understand that some of my colleagues have other beliefs, or maybe even no belief at all, and I completely accept that because everyone has a different mindset, and we were all raised in opposite households. We as people are affected differently by certain creation stories and tend to believe and take in aspects of the creation of this world in different perspectives. The other creation stories that I have read, such as Metamorphoses, are interesting to read about because Metamorphoses consisted of different "ages" of life, and their world was created by "Chaos" and "nature" and the world wasn't organized as effectively as God in Genesis. These types of creation stories just seem so unrealistic and fictional in my opinion, even though I do find it entertaining. These creation stories are the foundation for world literature because there are other cultures and religions out there who believe the world was created differently, and that is okay because everyone is entitled to their own opinion in any given area, not just the creation of our world. I enjoy reading other creation stories because it helps me gain better knowledge and understandment of the world and its literature, along with how other cultures choose to believe differently about the creation of the world.
Introduction
Hey everyone! My name is Marlyn and I'm really excited to get to know everyone in this class and learn more about world literature!!! I'm looking forward to reading everyone's opinions and blogs every week!
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