Ashley Luo, Period 2, 10/27, Day A

 Ashley Luo 

10/27/20

Period 2

Modern Mythology 2021

Reading & Learning

Write your thoughts regarding the most current reading

  In class, we talked about Hercules, one of the most famous heroes in Greek mythology. He is freakishly strong and very noble, but unlike other heroes like Odysseus, he is also very slow-witted. He doesn't think things through and he is very impulsive leaving him to have to repent after doing something so he can fix his errors. He is very emotional and sensitive. For example, he threatened to shoot the sun with an arrow because he was too hot. He doesn't think before he does something so he makes a lot of mistakes. However, you can't seem to hate his character because he has the honor and is willing to fix his mistakes, and goes to extreme lengths to fix what he has caused. When he killed his family, which was Hera's fault and not necessarily his, he goes and imposes the 12 tasks on himself as a way to rid his own guilt and wrongdoing. In class, we related his story to a commercial in which a dog owner leaves his pet by itself throughout the entire night. We talked about how from the perspective of a dog, they worship their owners as if they could do nothing wrong. The owner makes the mistake of leaving the dog by itself throughout the night and in the morning comes back and tries to make it up to the dog. The dog gladly accepts its owner and is happy again which relates to how we would feel with Hercules. We can see his mistakes but he can as well which makes him one of the greatest heroes in Greek Mythology. His willingness to fix his mistakes and his morality is what makes him a hero rather than his brute strength. 

Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception

    We discussed the story of Cupid and Psyche in class today. Psyche is a mortal who is beautiful and her beauty rivals that of Venus which causes the Goddess of Love to become jealous and vengeful. She sends her son, Cupid, to force Psyche to fall in love with the vilest creature on Earth. However, upon seeing Psyche, Cupid falls in love with her and wants to marry her. He carries her away to her own castle on an island where he marries her. The only catch - she must not see her husband's face and can only hear his voice next to her at night. Regardless she falls in love with Cupid and his gentle, loving nature. She lives happily while her sisters begin to plot out of jealousy. They convince Psyche that her husband is a vile serpent and will kill her in her sleep eventually. They convince her to look at him while he sleeps and kill him. Although she can't bring herself to kill him out of her love for him, she does, however, take a look at him, breaking the trust he has towards her. He leaves and in an effort to win him back, Psyche goes to Venus who gives her very hard, nearly impossible tasks. She perseveres through each task however and in the end becomes a goddess and lives happily ever after with Cupid. 

    This tale is one where true love conquers all. Once Cupid leaves Psyche due to their broken trust, Psyche does anything and everything in order to win him back. She goes to Venus who is still jealous and angry with her in an effort to apologize to the Goddess as well as gain Cupid back as her husband. She is put up to tasks like traveling to the underworld to retrieve something for Venus. These tasks are impossible for a mortal to accomplish alone but Psyche doesn't give up. Instead of turning the other way and fleeing, she braces herself against each of the tasks, earning help from others. In the end, Psyche succeeds and Cupid once again marries her. There was an interesting point we learned in class today about Psyche and Cupid. It was an equation. Psyche + Hardship = Cupid. Psyche means the human spirit, the soul while Cupid stands for eternal love and happiness. So, Psyche + Hardship = Cupid would translate into The Human Spirit + Hardship = Eternal Love and Happiness. It's to show that without hardship there cannot be a relationship and there cannot be true love. You would need to experience hardship to know what losing your other half would mean to you. Hardship brings people together and brings them closer to each other rather than apart. 

    Although Cupid and Psyche is a story of true love, looking at the story through a feminist lens it goes to show the patriarchal society that the Greeks had. To us, it would be completely normal for Psyche to want to know what her husband looked like. It makes more sense to us, in 2020, to trust the sisters as a family rather than a man you've never even seen before. However, even though Psyche listens to her family, she loses her lover due to her unfaithfulness and has to work to earn him back. It goes to show that the lesson the Greeks really wanted to highlight, that once a woman is married off, she is no longer her family's, but rather her husband's. Psyche should no longer listen to her family once she is married to Cupid, she needed to listen to Cupid who told her that under no circumstances must she see his face. By, disobeying him, she is deemed unfaithful and ends up having to endure the wrath of Venus.  

How is what you're learning applied to any other classes/world around you? 

    We discussed the importance of trust in a relationship and how it is needed in order for a relationship to fully function. You see this in the case of Cupid and Psyche in which his trust in Psyche is broken and thus he has to leave her. Similarly, in a real-life relationship, without trust, the relationship would simply fall apart without trust. In Cupid and Psyche's case, it would've been much easier if they had talked to each other about their doubts. Psyche should've asked Cupid why she couldn't see his face and he should've explained it to her. This way she wouldn't have been swayed by her sisters and betray Cupid's trust. Similarly, a relationship is about communication and coming to a consensus together. Trust and communication are two of the most important things in a successful relationship so whether if it's a mythology story or not, that theme will remain consistent. 

    We also talked about the reason why fairytales and mythology transcend throughout time. Those stories get passed down throughout time in different versions and altered versions. It applies to our world since people still read these stories. These stories aren't written for entertainment but rather a lesson. The Greeks wrote their mythology not only to explain the world around them but to teach lessons to the people that read them. Although their stories can be deemed as sexist and double standard now in 2020, it doesn't change the fact that they were written for the purpose of educating people. Similar to the fairytales that kids will read growing up. They read fairytales and learn lessons from them without realizing it, making it a big reason why these stories transcend throughout time and will continue to transcend throughout time.