10/18/19 Bernard Kelly iii Period 2

10/18/19

Bernard Kelly III PD 2 Blogger #18

Aim: How can we explicate the flower-myths to derive morals?

Each group was given a flower myth to explain the moral of the myth, as well as a short summary.

Group 1: 

• Story: Hades had wished to be with Persephone, so while Persephone was out collecting flowers, Zeus had created an extremely beautiful flower. So much so that Persephone had become completely captivated by its beauty and reached out to grab it. Suddenly, Hades appeared and stole her away to the Underworld.
• Moral: 
• Don’t be tempted by beauty
• Be on your guard
• Don’t mess with what you don’t know

Group 2:

• Story: Echo was a nymph in love with Narcissus, an extremely attractive mortal, but Hera had thought that she had feelings for Zeus. So, Hera cursed her to only repeat the last thing she heard, and she had to watch Narcissus die as he starved to death staring at his own reflection.
• Moral: 
• Baseless accusations ruin lives
• Be aware of your surroundings
• Be considerate of others

Group 3 & 6:

• Story: Narcissus was a very handsome human that was loved by many, including Echo. However, he paid them no mind, as he only cared about himself. The last girl he denied had cursed him to fall madly in love with himself and shows him his reflection in a small pond. He instantly became infatuated, and remained at the pond, staring at himself, until he eventually starved to death. After he died, the narcissus flower sprouted.
• Moral:
• Don’t be conceited and be more open-minded
• Be humble
• Too much love for yourself can lead to your demise

Group 4:

• Story: Apollo and his friend, Hyacinthus, were throwing discus as a friendly game. However, Apollo threw his discus extremely far, so far that it flew around the entire world and hit Hyacinthus in the back of the head, killing him. In his death sprouted the hyacinth flower.
• However, there is another version of the story where Zephyr, the West Wind, was jealous of Hyacinthus for being friends with Apollo. So, he manipulated the discus in the air to make it hit Hyacinthus.
• Moral without the west wind:
• Know when to show restraint
• Moral with the west wind:
• Envy is powerful and can make you do terrible things

Group 5:

• Story: Adonis was another extremely attractive mortal that even the gods fought over. Namely, Aphrodite and Persephone both wanted to have Adonis, and Zeus decided that they should share him, with Aphrodite being with him half of the year and Persephone being with him in the Underworld the other half. Since Persephone was able to let Adonis leave at the end of the year, Adonis was mauled to death by a boar, and as a result was sent to the Underworld, where he stayed with Persephone. Wherever Adonis’ blood was spilt by the boar, the Adonis flower sprouted.
• Moral:
• If you love something, let it go.
• Love can’t be forced.
• Love can hurt.

It is believed that the deaths of all of the characters originated in human sacrifice. Pre-Olympus Greece had much human sacrifice in order to “restore the land with blood.” By the time the Olympian gods came about, the Greeks understood how farming worked and that human sacrifice wouldn’t help the crops.

Reflection

I learned the explanation for echoes and certain flowers in Greece, as well as where the word narcissist and phrase Adonis come from. I also learned of tragic tales of hubris, egotism, and sacrifice. I learned this because it will help me better analyze later myths, as well as using the morals in the stories to help make me a better person.