1/3/20 Anthony Cheng PD7 (Late)

1/5/20 Anthony Cheng PD 7

Aim: After studying Ragnarok and Book of Revelation, how does humanity’s perspective on the apocalypse reflect its feelings about the present and the future? 

Do Now: What are the characteristics of the apocalypse in different mythologies?

Steven started off the discussion by talking about how the apocalypse, in essence, is very paradoxical. He juxtaposes the death and dread of the apocalypse with the rebirth and necessity of it. 

Ryan believed that its purpose was to cleanse the world of people who have sinned and through this cleansing, only the pure will survive and restart this purified Earth.

Fire was then brought up as a uniting factor across all apocalypses in mythologies. It was always used as a tool for purifying the evil, with the high death toll being proof of that. 

We then watched a video that detailed the events that would unfold during Ragnarok. First Baldr would be slain. Then, Fimbulwinter would occur, freezing the world with three successive Winters without any intervening Summers. Finally, there were would be three roosters that would warn the giants, the dead, and the gods that Ragnarok had begun. Several monsters such as Fenrir, Nidhogg, and Jörmungandr would break free from their chains and torment the world. Through battle, many of the major gods and monsters would slay each other. The most notable ones were Thor and Jörmungandr killing each other and Fenrir slaying Odin, who would be avenged by his son Vidar. Once the vast majority of the gods and giants had slain each other, the new world would resurface from the water green and new. A man and woman named Lif and Lifthrasir would survive Ragnarok by hiding in a tree and would later repopulate the world. 

After watching the video, we learned that Norse stories were not written down because the Norse did not have a written language. It was revealed that through music, these stories were able to survive through the ages. 

Reflection: I learned that across all mythologies, the apocalypse is depicted as a necessary event that will bring about a new age of prosperity for the world. In all cases, the apocalypse is seen as the purification of all that is evil in the world and the salvation of all that is good. The gods in Norse mythology are killed because they are willing to sacrifice themselves for the people that worship them. I related the abstract idea of the apocalypse with the very real problem of global warming today. Just like the apocalypse, global warming is brought about by humanity’s own doing and threatens to destroy us one day. By learning from a “fictional” event, we need to realize that it does not need to be the intervention of gods that destroys humanity, but humanity itself.