Reading Notes: Inferno Part A

Dante and Virgil 

Dante's Inferno is a classic from his narrative poem from Divine Comedy. The purpose of this story is Dante's quest to fall back into God's good graces and overcome his sinful actions. He goes through several "circles" while in hell, each having a punishment created by God. He is aided on his quest by Virgil. A Roman poet from 70-19 BC. He is the one who takes Dante through the nine circles of hell.

I quite liked the story of Dante and Virgil's encounter with the Furies and Medusa. I think it's interesting that Dante included not only Christian lore but Greco-Roman mythology in the hellscape. It trumps all preconceived notions of hell belonging to one religion. For me this is a much more plausible iteration of what hell could really be like. I would like to play with the idea of creating an original character that has to go through the circles. I could possibly even connect it to my Achilles story. After his death he finds himself in hell with no guide to aid him. 

I found it curious that when Virgil named each Fury he only described one; Megaera, the weeping one. I haven't done enough research as to why she is considered, "the weeping one". But that could be another interesting storyline. A look into why she was given such a name. And her relationship with the other two Furies. 

Source: The Furies and the Heretics, Dante's Divine Comedy translated by Tony Kline (2002)     

Reading Notes: Russian Part B

 

Female spirit

This week I chose to read about Russian folklore. Many of the Russian folklore from the unTextbook surround the supernatural (i.e. ghosts, vampires, witches and warlocks) This is right up my alley because I am completely obsessed with the supernatural. I am not sure if I am a believer in ghosts per se, but I really want to. The story that took me the most was the first one in the collection. The story is about a the child of a husband and wife. When the wife dies the husband worries about how he will take care of the baby on his own. To aid his worries he hires an old woman to take care of the child. The old woman notices that the child is unruly during the day but at night can sleep soundly. When investigating one night she heard somebody walk into the nursery. After alerting the father, the townsfolk gathered to do a group investigation as to who was entertaining the child at night. Upon investigation the watched as the dead mother walked into the room and breastfeed the child. I like how the author described the townsfolk as "terror-struck". Unfortunately, in the end the child was dead upon discovery. In my opinion, I felt that the mother felt that if she could not have this private time with her child she would take him away from the wandering eyes. Therefore, by killing the baby, she could essentially be free to do as she desires. Be a mother. I think that if I was to retell this story I would definitely modernize it. Instead of the townsfolk I would write in paranormal investigators. I could try to spin it as if it was a group of investigators filming for a paranormal TV show, like the ones I'm so obsessed with.

Bibliography: "The Dead Mother", Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S Ralston (1887)   

Week 13 Story: "stan"

 

Harry Styles on tour in Nashville

In the city of Nashville where country music reigns supreme, there was a girl by the name of Olivia. Olivia, despite her peers' affinity for the sound of the south, was not a fan. She quite actually despised it. She found herself in her room listening to the sound of alternative rock most often. There was only one artist that could take her away from the continuous loop of guitar riffs and snare drums in her head. That was Harry Styles. She had been a devoted fan of his since the days of One Direction. And her love for the singer only grew throughout his solo career. 

On the day of Harry Styles' newest album release, Olivia found herself singing along to the new tracks while she walked through Downtown Nashville to go to his concert. As she passed by a nearby bar multiple men found themselves distracted by her head bobbing and singing. Enraged by their own prejudices against the artist they quickly banded together to teach the girl a lesson, even though she was doing nothing wrong. The men quickly left their table and followed the girl. Due to her headphones and being completely enveloped in the music she had no idea they were anywhere near her.

The men were finally able to circle around her and started to yell and criticize her taste in music and insult her favorite artist. Because she was one girl in the presence of a group of men she felt very vulnerable and scared. 

Olivia couldn't breathe. No words could escape her lips nor could she escape the situation itself. She feared for what might happen next with this group of drunken men until she heard a voice shout, "Hey!".

The group of men turned to see a swarm of girls flocking around them. Screaming at them the same way they had done to Olivia. Olivia felt a pair of arms grab her and pull her away from the men. She looked up to see a kind face looking down on her. Olivia joined the group of girls in efforts to scare away her tormentors. With victory, the squad of girls was able to scare away the drunken country fans.  

"Thank you so much for that I don't know what would've happened if you all didn't show up," Olivia breathed out a sigh.

"No worries, we would never let a fellow Harry stan get into trouble. It's just like he says, 'Treat People With Kindness'," The girl that had helped her escape winked back at her. 

Olivia's heart swelled at the thought that a mutual interest in a musical artist could have saved her that day. She went to the concert and felt an even bigger sense of community than she had felt only a few hours prior. Olivia had never been more grateful to be a Harry stan. 

Author's Note:

This story is surrounded by fan culture terminology. If you don't know, "stan" is a word that was created to describe someone who is a fan of something. But not just a usual fan, "stans" are completely enveloped by the content. Whether it be a musical artist, actor, or even a book series. Because this could be loosely related to religion I decided to use it in my retelling for "The Prioress' Tale: Little Hugh". Originally written by Chaucer but retold by Eva March Tappan in The Chaucer Story Book written in 1908. In the original a boy named Hugh is killed on behalf of Satan for his public singing of a hymn about the Virgin Mary. His body was left hidden but the VIrgin Mary allowed him to be found by placing a grain on his tongue that allowed his voice to carry even in death. For my retelling I decided to change the ending and not have my protagonist die. But to use the person my character looks up to and have a way for them to save her life. (p.s. Yes, I understand that I basically wrote a Harry Styles fanfiction, let's just pretend it didn't happen.)

Reading Notes: British/Celtic Part B

The Blessed Mother

The  story I decided to focus on was called The Prioress’s Tale: Little Hugh. The story follows a young boy named Hugh who has an affinity for the Virgin Mary. One day in school he hears a hymn his classmates are singing and is captivated. After asking an older classmate what the song means he karen’s that it is a dedication to the Blessed Mother. The boy was delighted and somewhat obsessive over the song. I believe that his obsession over the Blessed Mother and this song in general could signify devout Christians. High would sing the song to and from school. Eventually Satan grew tired if hearing this boy and called upon the Jews to discard of the boy. They hired a murderer to take care of the boy. I can also see this as a metaphor for those who seek to disprove those with faith. High is killed and left for dead in a ditch. But is found because even in death his voice rings out singing the remembrance song of the Blessed Mother. I found that the end of this story was a bit unnecessary. The fate of the Jews and an explanation of how the boy was able to sing was revealed but if I rewrote this I think I would leave it up to mystery as to what happens. 

Bibliography: “ The Prioress’s Tale: Little Hugh” The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappan (1908)

Reading Notes: British/Celtic Part A

 

Old crone from The Unknown Bride

From the first section of reading the story of the knight and his bride stood out to me the most. When sentenced to death a knight is given a chance at survival when he is asked, "what is it that women most desire". On his venture for the answer he stumbles across a haggard looking woman who agrees to answer his question but at a price. The knight must agree to whatever the woman requests no questions asked. Desperate, he agrees and his life is spared with the answer. The old woman shows up before the knight after giving the queen his answers and demands he fulfill his part of the deal by marrying her. He initially begs for any other  request of him but eventually gives in. While with the woman, she tells him about the more important features to a spouse. Money and beauty weren't the only thing the worry about. I found this a great message and a classic way to convey it through storytelling. There have been many examples of "ugly" women or men that change the protagonists mindset. And when the knight finally accepts the woman as his wife, flaws and all, she transforms into a beautiful girl. I couldn't help but think of the Princess and the Frog and wonder if it was possibly based of this story. 

Bibliography: "The Unknown Bride" The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappen (1908)  

Reading Notes: Ancient Egypt Part B

 

Ancient Egyptian plowing

The story that stuck with me the most throughout this second part of reading was the story of "The Two Brothers". This story also had themes of familial deception and betrayal, similar to Part A. In this story A younger brother lives with his older brother and his wife. The wife makes a move on the younger brother. He of course rejects her out of respect for his older brother. But the wife calls for her husband telling him his brother made an advance on her. This family betrayal is an interesting theme I have been seeing in the Middle Eastern and Indian units. I think this could be a good theme to incorporate into my storybook project. My storybook project is surrounding the Greek mythology, however, they are all related and have sibling rivalry or backstabbing parents. In the end the brothers make up and go to save the younger brother's wife from a king together. I could bring together the family in my storybook by having them complete a common task.   

Bibliography: "The Two Brothers", by Donald Mackenzie (1907)

Reading Notes: Ancient Egypt Part A

Egyptian Goddess Isis

This week we were to read Middle-Eastern and Indian mythology. I chose to learn about the Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses. Part A started out with the creation of the gods. Nu was the essence which was found in the water. He created a son by the name of Ra. Ra was far more powerful than his father and became the "Mighty One", reigning over all the gods including his own father. It was from Ra that all the other gods were born. Ra had a child by the name of Isis. her story intrigued me the most. It dealt with unknown family betrayal. Isis was the the goddess of magic. But she was dealt to roam the lands as a woman. She grew tired of the ways of mankind and sought to walk alongside her father with the other mighty gods. Ra was given a secret name, from which his power derived. She betrayed her father in order to strongarm him into giving her the name as power of her own. The author's descriptions made this seem like it was a betrayal for a throne. Similar to the first Thor film. Loki found his father too weak to rule and brought along frost giants to put him in the Odinsleep. I believe that children defying and betraying their parents is not an uncommon theme in mythology. I just thoroughly enjoyed how Donald Mackenzie portrayed it in this retelling.

Bibliography: "The Secret Name of Ra", by Donald Mackenzie (1907)