COMPARING LEDAS!

In The Norton Anthology of World Literature, there are two poems that illustrate the same idea in Greek mythology. "Leda and the Swan" by William Butler Yeats and "Leda" by Ruben Dario both describe the same event-the almighty and powerful Zeus takes the form of a swan to rape a mortal named Leda.

Yeat's poem mainly focuses on the rape of the girl..."A sudden blow: the great wings beating still /  Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed /  By the dark webs..."
 (1-3). He describes how the girl is so helpless against Zeus's powerful force. The poem is short, but it has a powerful meaning.

Dario first sets the scene of the poem, the swan seems innocent [described as snow] far away in the darkness, but as the animal gets closer to the prey it becomes more vibrant with red and amber colors. Dario describes colors a lot throughout this poem which adds something unique that I like about it. Even though this Greek myth is about a rape, Dario illustrates it peacefully in the beginning and then the action begins by the third stanza. "The bird from Olympus, wounded by love, swells out /  his silken plumage, and clasping her in his wings /  he ravages Leda there in the singing water" (9-11).  The poem picks up steam by the beginning of these lines and the act begins. Also, Dario adds another character to the mix in this story, Pan. He is the god of the woods and an onlooker in this scene of the poem.

I thought it was interesting that this Greek myth caught so much attention to painters, writers, and sculptors alike because so much artwork and writing has been done about this story. I found some of the artwork that I thought was interesting and included it in my blog.

This sculpture at the left was created by J.C. Nolan.






I found this cartoon piece at www.cartoonstock.com


This myth also caught the attention of many famous painters as well, such as Michael De'Angelo!

Things Fall Apart:Part 2

So as I continued to read Things Fall Apart by Achebe the more and more I enjoyed the novel. Okonkwo is such a complex character in this part of the story this makes it difficult to understand the ending because it does not make sense and came as a shock to me and probably to most other readers as well! 


In part two, Okonkwo and his family have moved away from their home land because Okonkwo accidentally killed a member of his tribe so he was banned from the land for 7 years. They move to Okonkwo's mother's place of birth, and this land was very significant in the story. Mothers and females in general held a special place in everyone's heart in this region. Okonkwo's uncle is clarifying this significance by stating, "Your mother is there to protect you. She is buried there. And that is why we say that mother is supreme" (2918). Okonkwo did not realize what he had before it was too late. He did not enjoy his life in his mother land because he was constantly worried about what has happening in his tribe. 


The story takes a bad turn when people discover that the white men are coming in and converting their people, including Okonkwo's son, Nwoye, to Christianity. Okonkwo is outraged by all of this and in the end it is the white men who win over Okonkwo. He hangs himself by a tree before the white men come to kill him. 


Up until this point, the author has told us how strong and masculine Okonkwo is, and he never gave in or conformed to other people's ways. However, by the end of the story,  the white men coming and controlling the tribes was too much for him so he killed himself. This is completely out of his character since page one of the story, and I think that is why it came as such a shock to the readers because I would have hope he would die with a loud bang not a simple hang.

Things Fall Apart

This story by Chinua Achebe describes the tale of a man named Okonkwo's life and family living within a tribe in Africa. Like in most communities, individuals are responsible for abiding by what their master says, in this situation it is the Oracle and the spirits. The people in the Umuofia village strongly respect their master's wishes and commands, like in Okonkwo's situation he had to kill his adoptive "son" because the Oracle ordered the act to be done.

Okonkwo is the main character in this novel and Achebe forces the reader into his world of past and present. The author describes Okonkwo's father and his distasteful characteristics-coward and poor, but above all the money he borrowed to people he was a genuinely happy man. However, his son sought never to be anything like this man and learned what hard work was at an early age. Achebe also describes events that are happening in the present moment with Okonkwo and within the tribe. For example, he illustrates a daily live in the main character's house with 3 wives and many children. Also, a wedding is a huge clan event that everyone participates in. The culture within the tribe is very important in this story, because one has to strictly abide by these laws.

Furthermore, I thought some of the words that Achebe reiterated several times were handy to know so I picked out a few.

1. Yam foofoo: this the food that the wives usually bring their husbands and guests to eat. I provided a link that describes the dish and how to prepare it, but I learned that it is an African dish similar to mashed potatoes. http://www.congocookbook.com/staple_dish_recipes/fufu.html
2. Locusts: grasshoppers, if you were not sure what the story was referring to. The tribe was very excited to find grasshoppers every where in their village because it was a source of food. 
3. kola nut: used as religious objects for offerings, burials, naming ceremonies, etc. 

There are many more cultural words that can be defined in this story, but I picked a few to start!

Death and the King's Horseman

I thought this play by Wole Soyinka was a bit confusing to read and it reminded of Shakespeare's writing in some ways. For example, both this play and some of Shakespeare's end in death. Most of Shakespeare's works were tragedies like Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Also, the language was difficult to understand because of the time period and place it was written in, the same with Shakespeare's writings. The play's setting explores African culture and society, so therefore the diction and style that Soyinka writes in is something that I have never seem before.


However, within some of the confusion I found this play rather interesting because the plot is based off a true story about sacrificed ritual in certain cultures. In the play, the king of the nation died, therefore his horseman must do the same so the king can make his way to his afterlife. However, according to this particular play, the horseman is stopped from killing himself for a while because the British police found out what he was planning to do and thought this was immoral. This situation caused caused the horseman's son, Olunde, to commit suicide to regain the family's honor and keep with the tradition. Upon hearing this news, the horseman strangles himself in the jail cell with the British police by his side.


My favorite quotes of this work would have to be...

"LIFE IS HONOUR. IT ENDS WHEN HONOUR ENDS." (3030)

"TODAY IS YOUR DAY AND THE WHOLE WORLD IS YOURS. STILL EVEN THOSE WHO LEAVE TOWN TO MAKE A NEW DWELLING ELSEWHERE LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED  BY WHAT THEY LEAVE BEHIND." (3034)

"Walking Around"

This weekend's events reminded of Pablo Neruda's poem "Walking Around." Since I do not have a car in Erie, I rely on the EMTA bus for transportation and most of the time it decides never to come on time, and it really frustrates me when this happens especially when I get to the bus stop in advance to make sure I do not miss it. So, therefore I am tired and wish I could change today's society. Similar to the speaker of Neruda's poem, he wishes he was not apart of society and that he could do whatever his heart wanted, but unfortunately that is not the case with today's world. This poem is passionate and violent at times. It describes death with imagery and then it depicts veryday routines which bother the man. In this world, humans have a list of every day norms that they should abide by and Neruda reveals a character that wants to live against them. Neruda states, "I want nothing but the repose wither of stones or of wool, / I want to see more establishments, no more gardens, / nor merchandise, nor glasses, nor elevators /" (6-8). The speaker wants stop being human and live by his own set of rules like how I wished I was not apart of this society that had to wait for buses to show up on time. With a car, I would have my freedom to do whatever I wanted in Erie, but of course I am held back by the restraints of society.