Redemptive Power of Art

I'm not so sure that I understand what Dr. Sexson was saying when he said the redemptive power of art on Wednesday. I just don't think I have quite gotten a grasp on the concept yet. From what I got this means that art can change your life and others. This is like when Daedalus turned his attention to the unknown arts (he made wings among other things). This gave him the power to change his life and others. Art can change people or lift a curse on a family or change a serial rapist like Zeus.

We completed our defenition of tragedy the other day in class. It is comprised of wasted youth, death, and the worst thing that you could possibly imagine. Tragedians used to compete with one another to see who could come up with the most terrible tale of suffering. That's twisted. If you have ever seen the movie Saw it is sort of like this. This "mastermind" makes up these puzzles where you have to give up something you love to live and stuff like that. Would you be able to cut the key to a mask that would smash your face to bits in a minute out of your lover's eye? I mean the saw movies are getting stupider as they go on, but the first one definetly thinks in twisted ways like tragedy. Are the people who wrote this stuff conscious of what tragedy used to be based on though that is my biggest question? If they aren't aware of what they are doing they are just sick individuals! That really creeps me out. I don't like knowing that there are people in our society living today that think like that. Someone could really do that stuff to people! EWWW!

Phaethon

I chose the story Phaethon from the Metamorphoses because I like what the story symbolizes. It is the typical story of a child not heeding to a parent's warning. It also shows good parenting in my opinion because Phoebus decided to let his son make his own decision. As a God Phoebus couldn't deny his son the promise that he made even though he wanted to say no. Phaethon was a child who found himself in over his head and wished that he had never wished to drive the chariot. It is an old example of what every teenager goes through. Some of them live to see another day, learning what could have been and to take heed in their parents advice. Some like Phaethon don't listen and don't live to see another day.

The story also speaks to another aspect of modern society in the affect that if a parent doesn't step in and stop a wreckless child a higher power will step in and take action. Juno takes the role of police on and stops Phaethon because Pheobus didn't stop his rampage. Phaethon destroyed most of the earth and because of that he was killed by Juno.

I found a link to another translation of the same story from the Metamorphoses... http://www.webwinds.com/thalassa/phaethtrans.htm Just to show everyone what the same thing could look like in from the exact same text.

Graceland

Graceland... Home to Elvis, The King! Grace means a gift from God. God is ever present and we are completely blind to it.

All the time people are looking for the Man behind the Myth. (meaning the author, I believe)

We should be looking for the Myth behind the Man. I suppose that this means that everyone has a story to reduce it to a cliche. I think that is very true. We all have some sort of a story and being the conceited creatures that we are we want everyone to know about and be enthralled by our story.

Pentheus

His name literally means a man of constant sorrow. This is so true!

Metaphor

To carry over from one to another. You are sort of giving something another's quality or likeness. It makes sense.

Tragedy http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/netshots/tragedy.htm

It appears when there is a huge gap between the crime and the punishment. The punishment is completely unjust or very questionable. When the Gods create a problem for someone they then punish them unjustly for not handling the situation the right way. It explains it more in the link above.

Scapegoat

Scapegoat This is the word that we use to label someone or something that we relieve all of our sins on and exile. In Lysistrata the females do this to the counselor. They dress him up like a woman and then dress him up like the dead.

scape·goat (skāp'gōt') n.
One that is made to bear the blame of others.
Bible. A live goat over whose head Aaron confessed all the sins of the children of Israel on the Day of Atonement. The goat, symbolically bearing their sins, was then sent into the wilderness.

Aristophanes was making fun of the phalocentricness (is that a word) of the Greek community. The men thought of themselves so highly and they thought that they were so high and mighty that he couldn't help but make fun of it. That is what the women do when they dress up and humilate the counselor. It's fun stuff! And no one should feel bad for the scape goat. It's not right?!!

Dead Day

This is when women have power for a period of time. It may be a day or a few hours or a few weeks. When there is a dead day no punishment is incurred no matter what these women do. They can humiliate men and act inappropriate and nothing will happen to them.

Bacchants

These were the women who danced for Dionysus, the god of wine. These women were letting go of all repression. It was a celebration that took place once a year. All the women got drunk and danced on the mountain.

Dionysus and Elvis

These men have the common interest that they aren't interested in smart people. They are interested in people who want to do what is natural. Dionysus is pictured as a pretty man. He is meant to look ambiguous... is he a man or woman? Elvis was a pretty man too. Dionysus' purpose is to drive people out of their minds literally. He will make you think too much if you refuse to go "party" with him. Dionysus means the "liberator". He makes chaos equal to enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is an out of body experience.

300

WOW! That is what I said when I saw the movie 300 this weekend! It was incredible! I honestly could apply it to what we have been talking about in class. It had an oracle, creepy ugly old men, and all sorts of hot men! Sorry that had to be said! There were 300 completely beautiful "Spartan" men in that movie. The only thing that I found really inaccurate was that a woman got to speak in front of the council. I don't think that would have happened in Greece even when she was the Queen of Sparta. There was a very good part that applied to Greek tragedy and the theme of it having better to have never been born. There is an extremely deformed man who wants to fight for Sparta and he is turned down. He goes to fight for Xerses and when the King of Sparta finally sees him he said "I wish for you (his name) live forever." It was like wishing the harshest of punishments on someone. It was great! I just thought I would let everyone know! Girls especially don't think there is nothing to see here. It isn't that gory, and there are lots and lots of gorgeous guys in it.

Have a good spring break everyone!

Neurotic!

I find it quite funny that Dr. Sexson said art comes from Neurotic people the other day. I was reading Lysistrata the other day and my boyfriend came up to me and asked what I was reading. I held up the book without even thinking about the cover. He's like,"they assign you porn in school! Are they crazy?" I just thought it was quite an appropriate comment because it is a very crazy book. It's pretty funny too. I let him read some of it and he was actually engaged in reading it. (That doesn't happen very often.) It just proves that the classics will live on forever!

Comedy is about the Community!

Although comedy may focus on one individual there is nothing shameful in comedy. The entire community is affected and entertained. The idea of comedy is that if it is human nature to do something then it is ok.

Old comedy contains certain elements

Politics

Obscenity

Death/ Rebirth

Celebration of Women

No limitations or Shame

They have to turn the world as we know it upside down. They have to make fun of the state for what they hold sacred.

Comedy deals with people who are worse than they are and tragedy deals with people who are better than they are.

Comedy comes from phallic procession. (don't google that one)

Comedy is carnal. Very vulgar and of the body and flesh.

Body-the physical structure and material substance of an animal or plant, living or dead.

Bawdy-indecent; lewd; obscene OR coarse or indecent talk or writing

(Both of those definitions come from dictionary.com)