12/17/19 Helen Huang Period 8

Modern Mythology 2020

12/17/19  

Helen Huang  

PD8  Blogger #8

Aim: How does Norse mythology compare and contrast with Greek mythology?

For the Write Now we had to answer the question of “Are the Greeks or Norse more relatable to contemporary society?”

An example of our responses is Chloe’s:

“The Greeks are more relatable to contemporary society. As we learned yesterday, the whole Norse philosophy is based on being brave and courageous. The Greeks however are more like us, especially in stories where they are jealous or petty. We can relate more to the stories of their flaws than the Norse stories of bravery.”

We were shown a clip where Rick Riordan (author of Percy Jackson & the Olympians series) was the narrator and Ms. Fusaro explained that he was someone that although created inaccurate books, has gotten the young generation interested in mythology in the first place.

Video: 25 Facts About Norse Gods Hollywood Won’t Teach You

Ms. Fusaro announces that she wants us to interrupt with whatever questions we have throughout the slides to help better understand the topic.

Lucas read aloud the 1st slide that explains who Odin is

Odin hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil, pierced himself with his spear, and peered downward into the shadowy waters below. He forbade any of the other gods to grant him the slightest aid, not even a sip of water. He stared downward and called to the runes. He survived in this state, where the living is separated from the dead, for no less than nine days and nights. At the end of the ninth night, he at last perceived shapes in the depths: the runes! They had accepted his sacrifice and shown themselves to him, revealing to him not only their forms, but also the secrets that lie within them.

• Joshua asked about the significance of numbers in these stories. In many cultures, numbers are presented repeated showing importance such as the number 7 in the Bible.

• There always seems to be one god that has one great sacrifice in order to be able to give to people. A parallel to Odin is Prometheus, in order to give people fire he had to be tied to a stone and suffer. Every day an eagle tore at Prometheus's body and ate his liver, and every night the liver grew back. Because Prometheus was immortal, he could not die. But he suffered endlessly.

Ryan read the 2nd slide about Balder and Mistletoe 

Pair Share:

• What’s the connection between mistletoe and Loki?
• Joshua says they are both corrupt.
• Chelsea says the norse don’t honor Loki because he is not honest and straightforward.
• Sarah said that what they thought was harmless really wasn’t.
• Loki is not a god but has a sworn brotherhood with Odin, acting simultaneously as an insider and an outsider. He is like mistletoe because he benefits off of the other gods and it teaches people to not undermine people.
• Ryan suggested that Loki is similar to the two sided concept of bravery and cowardness.

• Why does it make sense that the Norse would have mistletoe destroy Balder?
• Joshua says it’s because Balder is seen as love, peace, and justice so this symbolizes that he can only be destroyed from the inside out like the things he represents.

Joshua read aloud this slide about Thor who is best compared to Zeus

• Oak trees were superior because they were very water repellent.

• Likes Hercules what Thor lacks in mind, he has in strength.

• The norse believed in magic that in a way connected them to the ground known as divination.
• Divination is a skill set that is only passed down in women.

• Mateusz asked, How do we know Frigg is the highest of them all and at the top? It is assumed because she is married to Odin.

• Tyr is known as the god of war and presides over matters of law and justice.
• The story of Tyr is important because we can see the christianizing of communities.
• For people who aren't even particularly religious, they still believe in something related to an afterlife because it’s easier to hold onto an idea for afterlife that is not constantly mentioned in your life.

Reflection:

From today’s lesson I learned more about the significance / purpose of these characters in Norse mythology. We learned about this because the role they play is also shown in other cultures, allowing us to relate them to each other even though they occurred in different places at different times. Odin is closely related to Greek Mythology’s Prometheus in the fact that they sacrificed themselves to help people. Thor is connected to Zeus, Hercules, and even the Hulk. The divination shown in the story of Freyr can be connected to the belief that all evil magic doers were witches/women. I will use this knowledge to connect different origin stories because I now know about the similar aspects of them and the significance of certain roles/characters. While digging deeper into Norse mythology, the understanding of these characters is crucial in understanding why an event plays out the way it does.