10/2/19 Benjamin Evelson Pd 2

10/02/19

Benjamin Evelson Pd. 2

Although no notes were taken today, students walked in today after a four day weekend into a reading check pop quiz on the first 12 pages of Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton. In these 12 pages, the reader is introduced to Greek mythology, learning how mythology shows how humans thought and felt, how Homer created the first written record of Greece with the Iliad, which contains the oldest Greek literature, and even the difference between how the Greeks made the g-ds in their own image, while the Egyptians made them human-animal hybrids. After being tested on our knowledge of an introduction to mythology, with five tough questions, our teacher flipped to the next slide to reveal that we were going to do a classwide Kahoot, based off of the passage as well. Totaling up to 16 questions, and a ton of competition, the top two places went to group 2, scoring them 170 points, while team 3 got third, gaining 50 points to their total.

10/2/19 Billy Dong PD 7

October 2, 2019

Billy Dong  PD 7

Notes:

Class took reading check quiz in order to find out what students learned from pages 1-12 of Mythology by Edith Hamilton

Played Kahoot! so Ms. Fusaro can figure out what the student don’t understand

The first few pages of the book Mythology explains how Greek mythology separates itself

from other mythology and religion. 

Greek mythology, unlike Egyptian mythology, had humanized deities that had flaws much

like humans. The Greeks appreciate the beauty of humans and therefore made their gods

similar to them while in Egyptian mythology, deities were feared and was made to look like

hybrids. The Egyptian mythology also puts emphasis on preparing for death while the Greeks

just accepted as part of their lives. 

Edith Hamilton also clearly defines the line that separates Greek mythology from religion.

Although both religion and Greek mythology has common aspects such as having

gods and goddesses, religion includes many other things such as a moral code that

people must live by. Greek mythology, on the other hand, was an explanation that the

Greeks came up with on why things happen in nature. To the Greeks, these stories are

no different than science is to people right now. 

Knowings these differences allows the students to further understand these stories

as they learn their origins. In the future, as we continue to read these stories, we

would have a better understanding of where these stories come from and how the

Greeks thought of the stories. 

10/2/19 Nafi Osmani PD1

10/2/19 Nafi Osmani Modern Mythology 2020 PD 1

10/2/19

Nafi Osmani, Period 1

Modern Mythology 2020

“Introduction to Classical Mythology” Pages 1-12 of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

Do Now: Reading Check Quiz

To start off today’s Modern Mythology class we completed a reading check quiz for pages 1-12 “Introduction to Classical Mythology” of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. The reading check quiz comprised of five short-response questions, which asked for concise answers. The questions were similar to the ones provided below:

Greek and Egpytian Mythology focused on the ______ in people’s lives

How are Greek Mythology and Egyption Mythology similar and different?

Who is the first known writer of Greek Mythology?

What is unique about the story of Circe and Medea?

After the reading check quiz, we went over some information of Greek Mythology, specifically Mythology as told by author Edith Hamilton.

Some information to take note of Greek Mythology and Egyptian Mythology from Edith Hamilton includes that:

Greek Mythology is also folklore, in the sense that is believed to have stemmed from centuries of oral tradition from, or in ancient Greece. 

Greek Mythology did not fear the dead and or did not believe in ghosts.

Gods in Greek Mythology looked like and behaved like humans, where as gods in Egyptian Mythology looked like hybrids between animals and humans.

Greek Mythology emerged before christianity, and that in comparison of the origins of Greek Mythology and Egyptian Mythology, Egyptian Mythology emerged first.

Greek Mythology is not a religion, but the ideas of Greek Mythology, such as gods were incorporated into everyday lives and or beliefs of ancient greeks. 

Elements of the savage, brutal, or “barbaric” past life of Greeks remained in Greek Mythology.

Once we went over this information, for the remaining duration of class we played a game of Kahoot which was originally meant to gauge our initial understanding of classical Mythology but as our class learned and Ms. Fusaro learned became a tool that gauged the number of students who actually read the assigned reading that was due today Wednesday, October 2nd after returning from a four-day weekend. The results of the 16 question Kahoot game were: Jacob in first place, myself in second place, and Edward in third place, with 100, 70, and 50 point awards respectively which resulted in Team 2 Labyrinth Navigators earning 150 points and Team 4 αφρόκρεμα earning 70 points. 

What did I learn? Today in Mythology,  I learned how to distinguish between Greek and Egyptian Mythology and specifically learned about key features of Greek Mythology in addition to some misconceptions that people might have had about or with Greek Mythology.

Why did I learn it? I learned this because this is the introduction to classical mythology lesson, which in other words means that the information that I learned today will serve as a strong background or stepping ground as we dive further into Mythology and the topics that are covered in Edith Hamilton’s Mythology Timeless Tales of  Gods and Heroes. 

How will I use what I learned? I will use what I learned in this lesson to further understand and keep a note of the similarities, differences, and key features of the different types of mythology that we will learn in this class, which so far are Greek Mythology, Egyptian Mythology, and Roman Mythology. I will further use the information that I learned in this lesson to excel in the discussions and activities which we will have in this unit.

9/27/19 Stanley Kong PD 8

Stanley Kong
Period 8
Modern Mythology
9/27/2019

     -Aim: How can we create and define the value of ancient mythology in contemporary?
     
Today in class, we learned the correct pronunciation and definition of the Greek words Hamartia and Hubris. Hamartia means a tragic flaw and Hubris means excessive pride. It
was said that during the Greek times, a high majority of all Hamartias were caused by Hubris. For example, envy meant you had excessive pride within yourself to believe you deserve what others have. Or greed, where you had excessive pride to believe you should keep everything to yourself and be greedy. We also discussed Icarus's death and how we labeled it insignificant. A quick recap to the lesson on the 26th where we analyzed a picture explain Icarus's death. The image was a painting of normal life where everyone is working and animals are living normally. The painting also consisted of Icarus in the dark corner drowning after he fell into the ocean. This painting made the point of no matter how high and mighty you might feel, life will always move on and someone will always be able to replace you. During today's lesson, we analyzed poems written by W. H. Auden and William Carlos Williams. Both these poems were written about Icarus and how his death was completely ignored and how irrelevant Icarus was to society and the world. The poem written by W. H. Auden talked about a farmer who had continued to till his land, the Sheperd just continued on with his day and a sailor on an expensive ship who had to get to his destination. The sailor watched in awe while Icarus fell but did not even think twice to go towards him. In Williams' poem, he talks about another farmer who was working hard in the hot sun that melted the wax of Icarus's wings. Off in the distance, there was Icarus splashing into the water while the farmer was not even aware of it. We discussed the difference between these poems and how Auden was showcasing people 'ignoring' Icarus's fall while Williams wrote about the farmer completely unaware of his death thus implying 'ignorance'. We also had a discussion about the difference between Greek philosophy and Western philosophy. The obvious meaning of the story about Icarus is don't fly near the sun but western philosophy also has a similar statement. "Reach for the stars." These two statements are complete opposites but are similar based on the wording. Our class discussed the definition of both and how they could both be implying the same meaning. One person stated that the word 'reach' implied going as far as you physically can while not actually flying near the sun. Today's lesson was extremely down to Earth and I learned the harsh reality of the world. I am not ignorant like Icarus but I am always confident with myself and sometimes I should learn to be humble as this story shows I am replaceable and very small compared to the vast universe. 

9/27/19 Terrance Chung PD 7

9/27/19 Terrance Chung PD 7 

Aim: How can we create and define the value of ancient mythology in contemporary society?

Team name changes 

Ms Fusaro reads poem ( landscape of the fall of Icarus) and asks us to annotate and

discuss 

Auden and Williams (author of poems) 

Stylistically difference, style change meanings, sentiments do they echo to the painting 

Any relevance to the original story of Icarus? 

Who is the monster in the poem? 

Auden: ignoring 

William: ignorance prefix -unsignificant 

unaware when in our own universe 

Monster: people ignorance or ignoring 

Greek philosophy: Don’t fly so close to the sun. 

Contemporary western philosophy: reach for the stars. 

Greek advocates for balance. Know your limits. Being humble. 

Connect monster in the road to Icarus 

Are people bad people for living for themselves.

Today, we discussed how ancient mythology is valued in contemporary western society. Ms.

Fusaro discussed the poems by W H. Auden and William Carlos Williams. Both of these

poems were inspired by the painting (The landscape of the fall of Icarus).  We then

discussed the meaning and stylistic differences between the authors and what they want

regarding the story of Icarus. Auden’s meaning in regards to the story of Icarus was the act

of “ignoring” whereas Williams meaning was “ignorance”. Auden’s interpretation showed how

people choose to ignore their surroundings, carrying on their daily lives even while Icarus

was drowning in the corner of their town. Williams’s interpretation of the town was that even if there

were people that noticed Icarus falling from the sky, it wasn’t in anyone’s personal interest to

react to it or help him. The Shepard carried on with his day, the farmer continued to till the

land, ships continued to sail as if nothing happened, all while Icarus was drowning. The moral

of the poem was that life continues going on even if something happens to someone else, helping and going out of your way for someone is not in human nature. We then connected the poems and painting to The Road by Cormac McCarthy. We discussed how the monster in the poems and the novel were ultimately the same and for the same reason. Are people considered bad people for not worrying about other people? This question is recurring throughout The Road and heavily focused on in the poems. Another topic we discussed in class today were Greek philosophies vs contemporary western philosophies. Greek philosophies focuses mostly on balance of life. This is prevalent in the story of Icarus as he loses his life because he didn’t know his own limits and wasn’t being humble.

9/26/19 Thomas Doyle Period 2

Lesson started by reading the story of Daedalus and Icarus. We concluded that lessons of moderation and hubris could be taken from this. Hamartia is a tragic flaw. In the picture shown we observed a man drowning in a seemingly fine scene. The class begun to debate if he was drowning or swimming. The words “Zeus was like yeet” Senan cracked it by realizing it was the landscape of the fall of Icarus. Not just a flaw but rather a tragic flaw, as it will inevitably lead to your downfall. Everyone is expendable. It was noted how Icarus perceived himself as a higher being as he was physically higher than the rest of the world, and he fell i

9/26/19 Daniel Knutsen Period 8

9/26/19

Daniel Knutsen, PD 8

Modern Mythology 2020

Blogger #9

Aim: How can we create and define the value of ancient mythology in contemporary society?

Do Now: read the story of daedalus and icarus- what lessons are being clearly elucidated by this story

The story portrays the idea of hamartia, or tragic flaw, that everybody has in them. In particular, Hubris. Hubris is the trait of excessive pride, and according to the Greeks, it is the biggest flaw, and the root of all other flaws. For example, it can lead to envy, vanity, etc. 

-The idea is that everybody has hamartia. Mortals, Gods, Goddesses, etc. 

-More often than not, the flaw is Hubris.

Second activity:

-We studied  painting. The painting was of a landscape, with a man plowing a field, and a shepherd gazing into the sky. After further observation we noticed what appeared to be a person, seemingly drowning. We discovered that this was a depiction of Icarus, drowning in the sea after he flew too close to the sun. 

-The painting was intended to depict the fall of Icarus. Despite this we noticed that Icarus himself was painted very small, and was covered by the shadows of other things in the painting, like the cliff shown in it. He is not only small, but not one person shown in the painting appears to be paying attention to the demise of Icarus. 

-The symbolism found in the painting was quite interesting. The shadows, and Icarus being painted so small, we reasoned, was to show that despite how much pride he had, he was really just small and insignificant, like all people. Everyone has a purpose, but in the grand scheme we are all small and insignificant. We decided that this was showing a message in humility, that no matter how big and important we think we may be, life still goes on without us. 

We learned about this tragic flaw idea today for a reason. The idea of a tragic flaw, especially something like hubris, is very easily relatable to the real world. This made it a great topic to discuss. It shared with us the lesson that we all need to be humble. Everyone sees themself as important in one way or another, and nobody wants to think that they are as insignificant as everyone else in the world. It's a seemingly pessimistic idea, but it gives you a very realistic view of the world, which made it such a good thing to learn. Hopefully we will all use this lesson, and the information we learned today to be much more modest in our lives, and to never think too highly of ourselves.