Story telling: Odysseus Live From Hades!

The host, Odysseus

*Intro music begins softly slowly growing louder*

Live from the House of Hades, its OOOOOOOOOOOODYSSEUS!

*Odysseus walk out to a standing ovation from the audience*

Odysseus: Oh stop it! Stop it! I can't handle it! Thank you all for being here this afternoon and welcome to the show. Today we will have the wonderful opportunity to speak with some brave souls, FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE!

Audience: OOOOOOOO

Odysseus: Our first guest will be the beautiful, amazing and most amazing mother ever, Anticleia!

*Audience applause enthusiastically*

*Out walks Anticleia*

Anticleia: *sitting down across from Odysseus* Thank you! Thank you for such the kind welcome.

Odysseus: Welcome to the show Anticleia! We are so glad to have you hear today. How are you feeling?

Anticleia: I'm dead tired to be quite honest.

*Audience bursts into laughter*

Odysseus: Oh Anticleia! Always with the puns. So please share with us, what is the after life like? We want to hear it all! The good, the bad, the ugly!

Anticleia: Honestly it is extremely lonely. I missed you so much Odysseus while you were away on your long journey that it drove my soul from my body. Although my heart is cold and still, I feel warmer and more alive now being near you than I have since you departure.

Odysseus: Well mother the feeling is mutual, and I'm sure our audience is just as happy to have you here as I am. Isn't that right folks?!

*Audience burst into applause and cheers*

Odysseus: So lets get down to the nitty gritty. What has been the most horrifying thing about the underworld?

Anticleia: Wow, it's so hard to narrow it down to one specific thing! The thought of never escaping is awful. Knowing that you will never be able to hold your loved ones against haunts my every moment.  But by far the worst thing.....Spirits have awful breath!

*Audience laughs uncontrollably*

Odysseus: *chuckling* You don't say? That of all things is what makes life as eternally undead unbearable?

Anticleia: You have no idea. For some reason every one's breath smells of rotting teeth. You can't make this stuff up.

Odysseus: Well I guess breath mints and mouth wash are not common items in the House of Hades. I can't wait to hear more of what it's like on the inside loop of the spirits of the underworld!

Anticleia: Oh trust me, I have more stories than you have years.

Odysseus: Well we will get to as many of them as we can, right after this commercial break!

Odysseus and his audience

Author's Note:

The original basis for this story was from Homer's Odyssey specifically the story of The Spirit of Anticleia. This is when Odysseus is in the House of Hades and sees his deceased mother. They talk for sometime about how things are back home in Ithaca and how she came to dwell in the underworld. It is a very somber and saddening story about a mother and son separated. I decided to take the complete opposite approach to it and make it a humorous and light hearted encounter. To make this possible, I placed it in the middle of a day time talk show since those are usually fun and casual in subject matter.

Bibliography:

Homer's Odyssey: The Spirit of Anticleia as translated to English by Tony Kline

Reading Notes: Homers Odyssey Part B

This entire second part would be a great basis for a story book! I could select 3-4 ghosts and retell the stories they share with Odysseus while he is in the underworld. All of the ghosts are so different and unique. It would be interesting to go through and tell their stories in a different, modern format. I especially like the story of Odysseus's mother Anticleia. It is so somber and it gets the reader emotionally involved. For once, we are seeing a softer side of Odysseus where he is not being arrogant or careless. He is crying out for his mother, wanting to embrace her but is unable to because she is deceased and remains only in the form of a spirit now. It would be an emotional story to re-tell.

On the opposite end of that, I loved the story of Achilles. It is the exact opposite of all the other stories because it starts with Achilles lamenting over his passing but ends with him prideful in the way his son has conducted himself and become a hero back home. Instead of being a story of sorrow and mourning, Odysseus tells Achilles of all the great an honorable warrior moments Eurypylus exhibited. It's an interesting contrasting between his story and the more serious and depressing stories told to Odysseus by the spirits.

The warrior Achilles in battle

The story of Scylla and Charybdis through me for a loop at the end. While I knew that Odysseus was the only one of his entire crew to survive their treacherous journey, I had no idea the end for the rest of his shipmates to come so abruptly and brutally at that. Although it was sad reading about the death of all Odysseus' men, it was also somewhat satisfying that Odysseus's arrogance is what led them all to their death. If I had to redo the story I would have had all the men turn on Odysseus and stay with the boat on the shore instead of following him into the goddess Circe's temple. Lastly, it was so frustrating to me that they survived all those other terrible encounters and yet still perished before they made it back home to Ithaca. I would have preferred a happier ending, but I guess Homer had something else in mind. 
Bibliography:
Homer's Odyssey Part B  as translated into English by Tony Kline

Reading Notes, The Odyssey: Part A

This week I chose to ready Homers: The Odyssey: Part A. The first few stories are about when Odysseus and his men have a horrific run in with a cyclopes. Strangely, I really enjoyed the repetition in the description of the daily tasks the cyclopes does. It didn't feel repetitive, but instead, had a somewhat poetic feel to it.

By far one of my favorite things about these stories is how clever Odysseus is! From lying to the cyclopes about his name to getting the giant drunk enough that he could inflict revenge on him, he is by far the most courageous and intelligent character in this reading so far. In my future story I want to incorporate a character with as much wit as him, but perhaps a little more humble and cautious. I think it will make for a very likable character for the audience!

I love how repeatedly there is an endearing personification of the "rosy fingered Dawn". That sweet description really helps me visualize not just the dawn but the view that Odysseus has of it personally. In my own story telling, I will try to incorporate that same descriptive personification so the readers can get an inside perspective of the view the characters have.

Odysseus and his men sailing

Something about the goddess Circes really moves me. I love how she is such a dynamic character, starting out deceitful and then undoing the harm she caused. She was even moved by the tearful reunion of Odysseus and his men. I'd love to include in my future story a character who could make such a change and win the readers over with their change of heart and compassion. In my story though it would be more organic since in The Odyssey Circes had to make an oath that she would not do harm to Odysseus or his men. Instead, I would hope the character would make the choice out of pure realization of the morality of their actions.

Out of all the characters I respect the courage that Eurylochus had to confront Odysseus and his arrogant tendencies. Eurylochus has a personal relationship with Odysseus but that does not deter him from tell the truth that Odysseus does not consider how is actions and words will affect the other men in the group. He makes selfish decisions both when they encountered the Cyclopes and when they were dealing with Circes. I wish Eurylochus would have stuck to his guns and not followed Odysseus and his men to the goddess's temple but I would change that if I incorporated a character similar to him in my own stories. 

Bibliography:
Homer's Odyssey as translated to English by Tony Kline

Growth Mindset

   In the Spring of 2016, I took Epic of India online and first discovered the concept of the "Growth Mindset". It was an intriguing idea about looking at learning in a more positive light and trying to combat that sense of discouragement that can go hand in hand with trying to learn something new.

During my four years here at OU, I have learned that I am an auditory learning; I thrive in open discussions or lectures because hearing the material makes it easier to absorb for me. On a less positive note, I also am a very determined student. While most professors love that I am dedicated and persistent in learning new things, it can backfire on me in tremendous ways. If I am unable to grasp a topic or task the first time around, I will continue to try. With each new attempt or effort I become more frustrated and disheartened and begin to put myself down for not being able to pick up the material faster or as fast as other students.

In reference to the H.E.A.R.T acronym, I need to spend these next two semester focusing on health and happiness. Senior year is a lot to take on between challenging courses, finding employment after graduation, and somehow fitting a social life in there so you don't go crazy. This semester my course load is dense with classes that are heavy on reading and research and will require a lot of my focus. They are all in regards to topics that I enjoy, but the schedules can be extremely daunting. I need to make sure I am internally praising myself when I do well on assignments or get a lot of studying done. If I end up struggling with an assignment or concept, I need to teach myself that it is alright to seek help and that does not make me a failure.

Keeping a happy and positive mindset will truly benefit my learning excursions for this fall and spring semester.

This is one of my favorite motivational quotes

Starting the Semester

  One of the blog tips that I found useful was to create a class email folder. This will better organize the thread of emails that I send and receive. Additionally, my email tends to get full between a multitude of different classes and work. Implementing a folder specifically for this class will keep me from overlooking or missing important emails about assignments or things I need to work on.
 
 In the past, when I took Epics of India, I had a bad habit of opening the emails with out reading them. So this semester I really want to focus my efforts on getting as organized as I can, especially since I have a lot of professors this semester who like sending emails out regularly. By implementing this strategy, I hope it will keep me on track with the course.

Physical representation of folders

Reading Options

   For my first choice I picked Homer's Odyssey. I read the book a while back in high school so I am excited to revisit in on a new platform and see if my perspective and opinions about the stories have changed.

Odyssey

My second reading choice is Infancy Gospels that talk about the life of Jesus as he grows up. I am a Lutheran so I had to take Catechism to get confirmed but it has been a while since I studied the bible. Similar to my last choice, I look forward to reading these stories and seeing what changes in my analysis of the stories.

Child Jesus by Murillo

  My third and final choice for readings will be Jewish Fairy Tales. I have never spent a lot of time studying the Jewish faith, so I look forward to broadening my religious horizons and learning more about the religion and its culture.

Jewish Folklore

Storybook Favorites

      The first story book that really caught my eye was Mount Olympus Gossip. The title its self pulled me in because I love Greek and Roman Mythology. What kept me reading though was the tone of the story book. It might have been in my head, but the narration sounded very similar to the tone of the show Gossip Girl. The narrator has the inside scoop on all the secrets that go on between the gods and goddesses and the time has come for them to reveal all the dirt they have, very similar to the plot line of the show Gossip Girl. When I first started reading the story book, I had anticipated more dialogue from the main characters. I was moderately surprised when there was little to no quotes used in the stories but it grew on me. It kept the story feeling more secretive as if you and the narrator were in cahoots and the gods had no idea.

Mount Olympus

     The next story I was excited to read was Ghost-Chasers. I will be the first to admit that I really love ghost stories and all things paranormal, so right off the bat, this storybook have my vote. While the language in the introduction was a little simple for my taste, I did like how the author divided up each story within the book with its own link, introduction and little picture. I gave me a quick glance at what the whole story book was gonna be like! I also really enjoyed how the introduction ended with back and forth dialogue between members of the Ghost-Chaser team. The fact that the entire storybook was told through dialogue and narration made it feel like I was watching a movie such as paranormal activity or the Exorcism. It made it all that much creepier and intense getting to hear it from the perspective of the character. 

Ashoka Pillar at Feroze Shah Kotla, Delhi, 1861

   This third storybook caught my attention for reasons completely different than the other two. The character portrayal in The Heroes' Diaries was so compelling and deep. You got such a good sense of the character from the way they spoke and acted that you could really relate to them as normal people. The dialogue between Greg and Neville in the introduction was so well written and I like the format as quotations. It was easy to follow and I never lost track of who was speaking because the author did a great job of giving each character a very distinct voice. Each of the diaries of the different heroes had a different tone to it. It was so distinct and clear, you could almost see and hear the individual characters speaking directly to you!

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

Comment Wall

Gather 'round, It's story time

On a small farm in the middle of the countryside resided a cock and a dog. While they were an unlikely pair, they became close during their years on the farm. However, the cock and the dog both had dreamed of seeing the world outside of the white picket fences that kept them at the farm.

“There is so much more outside of these gates that calls us to explore!” the cock declared.

A rooster walking through the woods

“I agree,” the dog said. “Let us be allies in our worldly adventures.”

A dog panting

Neither of the two friends had left the farm before so both the cock and dog were unaware of what dangers awaited them in the forest. Deep in the heart of the woods lived a sly fox known for his deception and cunning tongue. His greatest weapons were is suave ways  and his knack for devious plots. He preyed upon animals just passing through the forest since the rest of the regular dwellers were aware of his reputation. The fox had no friends or allies because he could not be trusted by any of the animals in the woods.

Late one night, the cock and the dog set off for the forest without any anticipation of whom they might run into during their adventure. They agreed to be allies and watching out for one another. The cock would set up in the trees and alert the dog if he saw any impending danger. The dog was a good hunter and was able to provide meals for the cock and himself.

A fox watching its prey

After a day full of exploring, the cock and dog found a tree that would be suitable shelter for the night. The cock was able to reside in the branches and the dog found a hole near the base which he took shelter in. When they laid down to sleep that night, they were unaware that they were being followed by the sly fox all day long. In the middle of the night, the fox began to creep towards the tree that housed the cock and the dog. The cock heard the rustling of leaves on the ground and woke up startled. The fox, realizing he had been discovered, took to his methods of persuasion and brown nosing to cover his tracks.

“Good evening sir!” he greeted the cock confidently. “I apologize for rousing you, but I was looking for a safe place to lay my head for the night. Could I bother you for some shelter just for this evening?”

The cock pondered this request and unexpectedly heard a soft growl from the bottom of the tree. He quickly understood that the dog had been awakened by this suspicious guest and he too and also did not trust the fox.

“Why of course, it is no trouble at all!” the cock said with a knowing grin. “Come around to the other side of the tree and you will find a hole you may sleep in.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” the fox said.

Without suspecting he had been tricked in his own game, the fox trotted around to the other side of the tree and was startled to find the dog there with his teeth barred. The dog chased the fox out of the forest and returned to the tree moments later to inform the cock they were safe again. They spent the rest of their night safe in the tree unaware that they had become heroes to the rest of the forest dwellers.

Author’s note: This story is about a dog and rooster who wanted to seek adventure outside the confines of their farm. Their curiosity was strong but they were naive about the dangers of the world beyond the white picket fence that surround them. By becoming allies, they were able to defend and protect one another as they journeyed throughout the forest. I adapted the original story to give more background information on how the fox was rejected by the rest of the forest animals because of his sneaky ways. I wanted to give more depth on how by being selfish he drove other forest dwellers away and was alone by consequence. This way, when the fox is introduced to the story, the reader has a preconception about his intentions. Instead of the dog actually attacking the fox, I changed it so he was chased out of the forest therefore making the cock and dog heroes. I made the title “The Forest” because the story somewhat reminded me of the musical Into The Woods. Innocent adventures hoping to satisfy their curiosity and they wind up in a life or death situation. Of course, like the musical and fable, this story has a happily ever after.

Bibliography: This story is inspired and adapted from the fable “The Dog, The Cock and The Fox”from the book The Æsop for Children written by Æsop and illustrations done by Milo Winter (1919).

TA DA! It's Me!

I am Savannah Jung and I am a senior here at OU. I'm a PR major double minoring in Communication and Enterprise Studies. I took Epics of India online in the Spring and liked it so much I decided to enroll in the sister class, Mythology and Folklore.

My schedule is crazy to say the least. I'm in 18 hours this fall, a recent member of Lindsey + Asp, an active member of Alpha Chi Omega and will be joining PRSSA here in the fall. I work on campus as a Student Ambassador at the University Community office.

This summer I mostly just worked and took classes (oh the joys of adulting!) but on my days off, you could find me pool side. I love the water and would love to take a beach vacation sometime soon. My sister is 4 years older and works as a dancer in musicals at Disney World in Orlando Florida. I'll probably visit her and get some ocean time in (two birds one stone)

You could say I am obnoxiously close with my Greek Family. We are huge because I took twins and one of them did too. We finish each other sentences, have family dinners once a week and our Group Me is boarder line insane. I wouldn't trade any of those crazy girls for the world though!

Although being a senior is scary, I am beyond ready to graduate, move and start working. I would love to move back to Dallas but honestly I will go where ever a job is. My parents are ready for me to graduate too so they can sell the house and downsize to a condo probably somewhere in Florida (my family really seems to like that state). I'm excited for this class to get rolling! Reading has always been a hobby of mine so getting to do it for a class will be pretty great.

I can't wait to meet y'all!

Favorite place

My favorite place now would be Seaside Florida. The last time I had a class similar to this one, I chose a favorite place that I had not been to but would like to visit. This time around I wanted to be sentimental and chose somewhere that had aspects of what I loved about St. Barthélemy but also had some personal ties to it.

My family always took a vacation to Seaside Florida once every year during the summer. We stopped going all together whenever my sister graduated college about 5 years ago. It was too much of a struggle between her new job and me starting classes in the fall to get everyone together to get away if even for just a week. The beach has always been a place of solitude for me. While many people like water sports or sand volleyball, my time at the beach is spent detoxing. I would wake up in the morning and run on the beach (running in sand is a fun challenge haha) and the rest of the day I would sit on the shore tanning and reading a good book.

I miss the relaxation for sure but most of all, Seaside is my favorite place because of the memories that are attached to it. My parents, my sister and I would go during the Fourth of July weekend and so we would sit in the big town square and listen to blue grass music play right before the firework display over the ocean. It was beautiful and getting to spend quality time with my family are some of the things that makes this place deeply rooted in my heart.