Book 1 sentences

Python - The new world unfurled in great beauty from  the rains of the gods, pythons were killed off and the first competition appeared.

Io and Jove - A greedy God trying to have his way with everything, makes a poor girl suffer a most unfortunate fate, to be brought back to her regular human form.

Phaethon - Insults lead to Phaethon asking if his father really was the god of the sun, indeed he was, so Phaethon takes a trip to his fathers palace.

The Giants - Jove in his rage killed off all the giants living on earth and from their blood created the human race.

The Flood - In Jove's anger he rounds up the God's to help him flood the earth because humans had been disobedient to the Gods.

Chapter 7 memory and forgetting

I really enjoyed this chapter in myth and reality. It talked about all the memory and forgeting in a sense of myth. Theres one part in this chapter where it talks about people who can remember their former lives. I believe in this notion that we live one life after another. Whether human beings, animals, or inanimate objects. The book says that these people have overcome their forgetfulness and in a way cheated death. I believe this because instead of dying and having a whole new slate (conscious and mind) you still have all your prior knowledge from past lives. And each life they keep interpreting new information, which just keeps making them smarter exponentially. I believe that these people must be the rulers and gurus of the world. They are so smart, and have so many generations of knowledge and learning. If everyone had this trait to remember our past lives, this world would be so accelerated I don't even think we could recognize it. Everyone would just have such a great knowledge of the past present and future that this world would be so technologically advanced that no one would recognize it. I am glad that not everyone remembers all of their past lives, because now we have these gurus and teachers to teach us of the past and help us learn and all understand this world.

Someone else's blog

Today I stumbled upon Ashley Arcel's blog. As I was reading some entries, and then I saw some cool bracelets and it happened to be a creation story. It pretty much went through how everything came into existence because the world was lonely. I loved this story. Definitely my favorite creation story that I have heard in this past week, with so many of them. I was thrilled that everything was complete in the world when love came into play. I think that this ties in real well with real life. People are content going through their lives, but when they find true love whether its through friends, family, or a lover they seem to get much happier and everything seems to fall into place.
Good job Ashley on having the best creation myth in my opinion:)

Creation - first memory

One of my first and fondest memories was me skiing off the tram at Snowbird Ski Resort with my parents at the ripe age of three years old. I had ridden the tram many times but every time I had been escorted down on my parents back. This time was different on the tram. I was filled with anxiety. What if I couldn't make it down the mountain? What if it was to hard? All these questions fluttered around my mind as the eight minute box ride took us to the top of Hidden Peak. When we got to the top and stepped out suddenly everything seemed so big! The first pitch off the tram looked like it stretched on for a mile. My mom threw my skis down and said here we go Henry clip in. I was so nervous but i knew that I couldn't cop out now, it was my moment of truth. With that I skated to edge and started making my way down the first pitch to chips. Once we had reached chips, I suddenly realized that this wasn't scary at all but one of the most fun things I had done in my life (which hadn't been much). I made it down falling a few times but none the less made it to the bottom. And ever since that day skiing has been my one true love through thick and thin in my life. It is the one constant that will always be there for me, every winter calling my name to come make beautiful tracks down the sides of these majestic mountains.

Actaeon

This story came out The Metamorphoses of Ovid from page 81 to 86. Actaeon is a hunter, one day while hunting out in the forest with his crew and dogs, they come across a cave. This is where the goddess Diana lives. Actaeon gets a little nosy and decides that he wants to take a look around this cave. When he goes to this cave he sees Diana naked with nymphs trying to cover her body. For this great blunder would cost Actaeon his life. Diana then proceeds to make him into a stag. Soon Actaeon goes out and is soon malled and killed by all of his hound dogs; that had once killed other innocent animals lives. This story is just complete irony, Actaeon who once was the hunter soon becomes the hunted. Before he died he finally realized what he was actually doing to animals.

I feel like this is an all to common act going on today. People not really thinking about their actions and because it doesn't effect them they don't care. But when you are put in a situation like Actaeon, where you have to look at it from the other persons or things view point, you take a step back. You realize what you could be doing can really be hurting or effecting someone else. I think that the Iraqi war is a great example of this today in the modern world. When Al Qaeda hit New York City and Washington D.C. we were so jung ho on going to war in Iraq. But what would have happened if Al Qaeda wanted to fight the war over in the U.S., on our home soil? Do you think Bush would have been super stoked on the idea of us fighting a war on our turf? I don't think so. I think the nation would have had to take a step back and think about if this is really what we want. Luckily we did not have to make a choice like that. But I do believe that choice would have helped a lot with the decision making, instead of just going all out because we don't really have any repercussions over here in America, for a war going on half way across the globe.

I think it is important in decision making to not only think about how the decision your making is going to effect yourself, but also everyone and everything surrounding you. I often times feel like people are very selfish in decision making for this reason, they only take themselves into account. I think that a great deal of people can learn a lot from this story of Actaeon, and teach people many great lessons.

Between heaven and earth.

"we saw that primitive man seeks to preserve the life of his human divinities by keeping them poised between earth and heaven, as the place where they are least likely to be assailed by the dangers that encompass the life of man on earth. " Sir James G. Frazer (794) I really like this quotation because it applies to today's society I feel. Many people are so involved with religion that they sometimes forget to deal with things on earth. They are living in between heaven and earth, just waiting for that holy moment when they can be lifted up with the angels and the gods. Some people abandon their responsibilities on earth just because they think that they should not have to deal with them. Whether you believe in heaven or not, you have been put on this earth to do your responsibility as a human. Whatever that responsibility is, is up to your discrepancy. Whatever you choose your responsibility to be you have to go and follow it to your full potential. You can not be worried about the dangers or threats on earth, because one day every single one of us will die off. So why you are on this earth make the most of each day, don't live with your head in the clouds and be wondering when heaven will call your name. Be thankful for every breathe and day that someone has given you to be on this earth.

Henry Gates

This is my first blog and i have never done this before. It is pretty cool and straight forward. I think that it will be fun posting up blogs every for mythologies. I just started The Metamorphosis of Ovid and I am really digging it. I can't wait to get more into the book. Well I'm just really rambling on but its my first blog so here goes nothing.