Arethusa

Over spring break I read Arethus from the Tales from Ovid. At first I was very skeptical because the story was only about 3 pages long. I wondered how anything could really happen in a story that was only 3 pages long. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I read the story.

The three pages were filled with action. I did enjoy the fact that the story was about the woman. Her metamorphisis was based on a one-sided love connection, which I think might be a pattern in these stories, based on the things we've discussed in class. Also a pattern that I am expecting to see is that the changes, are caused by gods since they are the only ones that would have that kind of power. There are no exceptions in my story. Arethus is changed into a stream by the goddess Diana. I found my story extremely interesting and I am really looking forward to hearing about the other stories that people have read. I have a feeling that despite the fact that all these stories are about metamorphisis, that they will all be very different and all entertaining.

Death of a Child

In today's world we have become desensitized to many things. We see and hear things on TV everyday that would horrify and shock our grandparents and older relatives. Rap songs talk a lot about hoes, bitches, drugs use, sex, you name it there is probably a rap song with it. TV really isn't much better also having tons of sex, drugs and foul language. We see tons of things about rape and murder on TV, but constantly think that none of that will happen to us. The death we see on TV doesn't really seem to affect us that much anymore.

In class we talked about how Euripedes really understood tradegy and really understood how to tug at our heart strings. On Friday we watched the scene where Hector's wife learns that her son is to be killed. It was a heart wrenching scene, one of the worst I have ever seen on film. I believe in today's world this tradegy is something that still effects people very deeply. The death of a child is considered one of the worst things to ever happen and Euripedes understands that. Recently a teacher from my hometown lost her one year old son. I had never met the baby and barely knew the teacher, but as soon as I heard about it my heart went out to her and her family. There have been several sites, including a facebook group, created for people to send their condolences and support to the family. No matter how much our culture is exposed to I believe that the death of a child will never be something that people can deal with or just brush off. As we saw in the movie the death of a child deeply effects people no matter how close you were to the child or the parents.

My Favorite Part of Lysistrata

I throughly enjoyed Lysistrata as a whole, it was crude and funny. I believe that Ruden did a stellar job translating the jokes to the modern day. One particular part of the story I found especially enjoyable. Cinesias comes to visit his wife, Myrrhine, and he wants to have sex with her because he has been deprived for so long. Lysistrata greets him and then calls down his wife.

His wife is distracted by their baby so he sends the baby away and then asks her to have sex right there on the floor. She refuses and then proceeds to come up with many excuses to avoid having sex with him before running off and leaving him in a "compromised" position. Although we didn't talk about it much in class I believe this is one of the best examples of womanly wit in the play. A regular Athenian women would never have denied her man sex, and here Myrrhine didn't really do that either. She used her intelligence to not only to keep from having breaking her pact, but also to advance their cause. By teasing her husband he is more likely to get others to do what the women want. It was an enjoyable scene mostly for show of a strong female character that I always enjoy.

Athenian Women

For some reason I had this idea in my head that Athenian women had more power than other anicient women. I had an idea that they had more say in what was done and had more freedom with their lives. However, after reading the commentary on Athenian Women, I realize that I was dead wrong. They were more repressed than most other women. Their lives were made harder by the fact that many male Athenians were misogynists and wanted as little contact with women as possible. It makes me wonder what the women thought about their situation. I think they probably didn't realize their repression and were just happy to be provided for and to have their children provided for.

This fact made me enjoy the character of Lysistra even more than I already did. She is a strong female character who knows what she wants and exactly how she is going get it. She is interesting and funny. As Sarah Ruden says in her preface "She is just wonderful to have around, comforting and inspiriting as well as entertaining, a Joan of Arc you can go to a bar with."

Flyting Between Sisters

Most of my flyting over the years has happened between me and my sister. Being siblings close in age who shared a room, we had our fair share of fights. We are two very different people and the fighting was endless, especially when we hit middle school.

I don't remember that exact content of any specific fight, but I can come up with one that is pretty close to how a real fight would have gone. HER:Can I borrow a shirt to wear to school today? ME: Which one? HER:I don't know which one can I wear? ME: I don't really want you to wear my shirts, you'll stretch them out. HER: You're such a bitch, why don't you ever let me borrow anything. ME: You're the bitch, I'm so nice to you I give you rides everywhere. I'm too nice to you. HER: No you're not. You're a big bitch. All you do is tell mom what I say and tattle on me all the time. ME: Do not. Someone has to be nice to mom and dad, you only care about yourself. You're so self-centered! HER: Well at least I have friends. ME: You're an asshole!! The fight would eventually end up in a physical fight and we were always yelling. We've become closer since then, but we still fight because we have to share and a car. We both think that we deserve to have the car more.

First Thoughts On Lysistrata

Lysistrata is indeed full of crude sexual humor. I believe it is very well translated by Sarah Ruden. She does a good job of making as many jokes as possible, funny to a modern audience. I found the play extremely funny, enjoyable and quick read.

One of my favorite characters from this story is the choruses of old men and women. Today in class we were talking about how today we look to "shelter" older people instead of them sheltering us, but that definitely doesn't apply here. The old members of the story are as crude as their younger counterparts. They mostly argue with other and don't hold back on the insults. At one point the chorus of women says "Fine. Try it. Here's a cheek for you to smack. And then I'll tear your balls off like a bitch." By the end they have resolved their differences and have become one united chorus, but their arguments are definitely a constant source of enjoyment throughout the play.

Line From Aristophanes

In the Symposium Aristophanes, during his story on the three genders, says "For the intense yearning which each of them has toward the other does not appear to be the desire of intercourse, but of something else which the soul desires, but cannot tell..."

This is one of my favorite lines from the Symposium. It is something that in modern day everyone wants to find. We are all looking for our better or, at least, other half. Some people don't believe in only one person for everyone, but in the end we are all trying to find a partner in life that we can share everything with. That relationship, when we finally find it, it definately about more than sex. As is pointed out in the Symposium, if love is only the love of beauty then it will fade, but I believe the love of the person will remain much longer.

I believe that this quote speaks to all people. Many people know when they've found "the one" based on the fact that their relationship is deeper and has gone beyond the physical. It is something that still speaks to every modern day couple.