The Decameron Day 2

Within the assigned readings, I chose the Fifth Day, Eighth Story and the Third Day, First Story. On the Fifth Day, Eighth Story, it told a tale about a woman who created on her husband (her GAY husband) with the help of a troublesome elder lady. When the husband finds out about this affair, he has a surprising reaction. In most of the other stories, men were not looked upon different if they cheated but women were seen as whores. This being said, I was seeking the reaction of the husband going mad on the wife. However, the husband does not care. Instead, he tells the wife to invite over the man she cheated on her husband with. The three of them, then, have a threesome. I found this very weird but interesting. In most other stories we have read, the wife would have been killed, literally, if she cheated. In this one, the wife gets away with it and gets permission to have a threesome? Not only would this not have happened in the other stories, but this would not really happen in real life relationships as well. On the Third Day, First Story, it told a tale about a seedy man who pretends to be deaf and pretends he cannot talk as well. He uses this story to lure young pretty nuns to him in order for sexual advances. The nuns, however, appear to be more sexual than he is. He gets angry with this (as well as slightly embarrassed) because he cannot keep up them with physically and mentally during sex. I found this story even stranger than the first because not only is a man being applauded for pretending to be vastly ill to get sex, he is having sex with NUNS. Nuns aren't supposed to have sex with anyone, yet, they are all having sex with the very same man repeatedly. 

Both of these stories have to do with lust, even though it is in a strange way. Both stories tell of situations where inappropriate sexual advances are overlooked and are almost rewarded with sex again. It almost seems as if sex isn't this act of love anymore, even though this is how it is portrayed in some of the stories we have read about. In one story, a man lies about a disease and has sex with nuns....and the other is about a wife cheating on her husband and then her husband initiating a threesome with the guy who had sex with his wife! As I saw in Hilary's blog, it make me question what people will do these days in order to have their sexual wants to be taken care of. The wife risked her marriage to have sex with a random man and the nuns are risking their connection and devotion to Jesus and God in order to have sex with a lying scumbag. In both of these stories, surprisingly, the women are the ones who commit these heinous acts. All the men want are love. However, they don't care when they find out what the women did in order to have sex. 

The Decameron- Day One

Day One of The Decameron is about Ser Ciappelletto and his horrid behavior and actions he thrusts upon others. Within this class, one of the main themes we have studied is the theme of religion. Religion was very important during these times, especially in the Mediterranean region. Within this story, Ciapelletto is horrible man who commits sin everyday. He does not respect anyone, including any religion or any God for that matter. However, karma comes into play and one day, Ser CIappelletto becomes very very sick when he is working. The strange thing that happens is that he requests a priest come to him before he maybe dies so he can confess all of the sins he has committed over the years he has been alive. The old Ser Ciappelletto would have even lied during confession, making his matters and sickness even worse. He technically did confess to the priest some things, but he never went into detail about all of the wicked things he has done in the past. I was hoping that he wouldn't be sent to heaven but he was in the end because "he became pure"...I don't know about anyone else but I feel he cheated his way into heaven. He did not even confess anything worth confessing! he might as well have not even confessed as well.

Middle Ages Travel Stories

The tale of Margery Kempe was very unique. In the olden days, women were inferior to men and had their own place in society. However, she was very strong willed. She traveled alone from her home in England to Jerusalem with help from other men. This act was definitely unheard of during that time period, which is why it is very interesting to read and reflect on. Women were seen as being employed in their own houses, by doing dishes, laundry, cooking, and basic homemaking. So not only did she technically "quit" her job, she traveled also. Her story was very inspiring to many women and should be told more. I'm surprised I haven't heard of it until the reading was assigned. However, her story started to fall apart. She talks to God, Jesus, and Mary and they made an oath to protect her wherever she went. When she went to Mountain Calvary she was the first woman to have something like that. She was just important as a man if he went. However, she started to get depressed. I don't get why tears are a gift of God but she continues on her journey and realizes how precious life is.

Arabic Poetry

When I read "The Dove's Necklace", the assigned reading for this week, all of the themes were typing back to a common motif of love; most of the descriptions were very in depth. The most common message I received throughout the whole poem is to always support your partner in everything they choose to do and how people morph into the person their lover wants to see them as instead of being their true self. When a person has a lover, they tend to change into the person that their lover wants to see them as. This can be physical changes but also personality changes as well. For instance, a boyfriend can want his blonde girlfriend to have short brown hair and she will cut and dye her hair to make him satisfied. Also, he may not like bubbly, over the top characteristics so she may tone down her own personality to make him happy and accept her more. This is very common in today's society and I have experienced first hand changing for someone you are connected with. In addition to people morphing into someone they're not, people also will support their lover until the end, even if it means risking their own morals or even lying. As Samantha said, couples tend to help each other lie to help the other one not fail in something. For example, couples lying on the stand to back each other up. it is breaking the law but that is what people do in the name of love and in the name of what they believe is right in their eyes, their partner's eyes, and their own relationship. Due to these two common themes, I believe love is the most powerful emotion one can have over another. People do crazy things in the name of love and will continue to to get love if they do not have anyone to love. We see it everyday in the news, in our own lives, and in society as a whole. Love changes people for the worse, but sometimes for the better.

Islamic Art

Early Islamic art was influenced greatly by the Byzantine empire and the Sasanian empire as well. When the Byzantine and Sasanian empires had their own artwork, they progressed little by little into Muslim patronage. A good, traditional example of these empires showing how they progressed with Islamic art is a stucco relief plaque, with a king riding a horse in the mountains. This image was very common in early islamic art and with the byzantine empire as well. Glass work was also common but was influenced with Roman styles. During the medieval times, the Islamic empire was gaining power and was moving into various parts of Italy and Africa. Different religious backgrounds influenced many forms of art because within these areas, there was a lot of diversity with religions. Countries also were at different standards of living. For example, Egypt was in the Golden Age, where they had vast amounts of gold, jewels, and and crystals. In the later times, the late medieval era, Chinese culture started to affect Islamic art. There were more colors and metal involved within the artwork. The art had a better sense of life. Mongolian culture also affected the artwork because their art depicted fantasy items, such as clouds, dragons, and various flowers. In addition, scripts were inclusive as well, especially Shananama.

Ovid Day two

The myths about Tereus and Medusa are very similar because they both seem to represent going against authority or their family due to only seeing their way as the right one, and then receiving punishment. In Tereus's story, he is a tyrant. He marries Procne, the daughter of the king of Athens, after he and his people take over. A few years into their marriage, Tereus allows Procne to see her sister, Philomela. However, when his soldiers bring back her sister, Tereus rapes her over and over again. Philomela then says "Now that I have no shame, I will proclaim it. Given the chance, I will go where the people are, and Tell everybody". To make matters worse, he then cuts off her tongue so she can't tell anyone what happened. It is a very gruesome scene to read, nonetheless, and his morals clearly are not in touch with himself. Revenge gets him back though when Philomela made a picture for Procne. Procne then killed her only son and served him as a MEAL to Tereus. Tereus eats him and finds out he just ate his son. The three of them then turn into birds. Researching this further, I found that Procne was turned into a nightingale, a bird that sings a sad song, Philomela into a swallow, a bird with no song, and Tereus was turned into a hawk, a very violent predator. Even though the story is not directly related to going against the gods, this part of the book shows a side of deception. Tereus went against his own family and raped his wife's sister and then mutilated her to ensure silence. However, Procne committed sin as well by killing her only son and having Tereus eat him, unknowingly he became a cannibal. These things all relate to the fact of deception and ultimately, going again the gods. I know they went against the gods because I'm pretty sure the Gods wouldn't want a family to rape, mutilate, and cook/eat each other.

The story of Medusa tells a story of deception but not towards family, instead, towards the Gods. Medusa was portrayed as a very pretty woman. This made her have her heads in the clouds and think she is above everyone else. She even thought she was above the Gods, and they knew this. Obviously this angered them. The Gods made Athena talk to her. This only egged on Medusa, because Medusa then went on a whole rant saying how Athena was jealous of her beauty. Since Athena was a God and Medusa was dumb, Athena took away Medusa's beauty and made her into a disgusting creature. This creature is the one we typically see as having snakes for hair. This story was relating to deception because if Medusa was humble and respected her Gods, she would have been able to keep her beauty. However, since she was arrogant and ignorant, she caused her own pain.

Ovid (Books 1 and 3)

1. The first book of Ovid was very very confusing to me. I was very lost because I did not get any background information such as characters, location, time, and everything like that. I felt that I could not even understand the text or even the foundation of the text for that matter. I felt like I was just thrown into a random page of a book and know nothing about it. I had to read the first book about 5 times to finally start getting it. I know the title of the book was about the creation of the world, which was the ONLY reason I started to understand my analysis of the first book/song. Therefore, I feel Ovid's story about creation is very similar to the first stories we read in the beginning of the semester, Genesis. For the first example, they created the Earth, land and water, as one. So, the stories of creation of the world were very similar. However, the biggest similarity between the two was the fact that both "authors" feel the human race was a huge mistake and road block for the world. In Genesis, God tried to flood the earth. In Book 1 of Ovid's Methamorphoses, he floods the earth to. However, both stories leave a couple survivors in hope of changing the course of creation.

5. In Book 3, Narcissus falls in love with "someone". However, this person technically is not real. Narcissus's true love is...actually himself. He sees his reflection all the time in water and that's when he sees the person he loves. His deepest desire was to have someone to love but when he tries to reach for this loved one, the person/image is disturbed due to splashing the water around. It's a bit sad actually. I like what Emily said on her blog about people generally falling in love with people who are similar to themselves. People try to find a lover with similar interests so Narcissus goes to the extreme, obviously, and falls in love with himself. Maybe he can't love others because he can't love himself? As you can see in the third book, there is an underlying self-hatred going on with Narcissus.

Plato's Republic

I feel one of the main focuses in Plato's Republic is the switch from oligarchy to a republic. Oligarchy is a government by a small group of people and a republic is when the power of the state rests in the hands of the citizens and representatives that are chosen by the people as well. In our society, people like republics because they feel they have more of a say and are not being "bossed around". However, Plato said that men wanted to be as wealthy as they could, so they wanted to switch to a republican government. I think this was a bit odd because nowadays, oligarchy,communism, dictatorship, tyranny, and fascism type of governments have more separation of classes and unequally distributed wealth. Therefore, I found this statement to be unjust and shows how far society really has come around.

Another interesting concept is how the better rulers back then are the ones that have a sort of warrior-like personality. It reminds me almost of the spartans. They go based on their social norms and values. Values, for example, that have a strong tie to fighting. Warrior is very high on the social ladder than farmers, homemakers, and workers. I feel that this has also changed during our time period and back then, they found the smartest people to be the warriors with their tactics.

The Odyssey (Books 21-24)

1. Odysseus's bow symbolizes his devotion to Ithaca and strength/being cunning. In the story, it says whoever can string the bow will steal the throne from the king, Odysseus. However, none of the potential suitors of Penelope even get remotely close to stringing the bow. This proves that not only are they unfit for the throne, but they are also unfit to begin Penelope's new husband. The only person that comes surprisingly close to stringing to bow and becoming king is their son, Telemachus. If Odysseus did not instruct Telemachus to stop stringing the bow, then he would've finished. Not only does this prove Telemachus's coming of age, it also shows that even though Odysseus was gone for a long time, his son is still loyal to him. This point of the book shows why family is such a main motif throughout the story.

3. Another symbol in the book is Odysseus and Penelope's bed. It is made from the roots of an olive tree, which cannot be moved, broken, or changed in any way. This bed obviously symbolizes Odysseus and Penelope's marriage and relationship with each other. Even when Odysseus went to the war and was gone for over 2o years, Penelope was still faithful among a group of suitors. When Odysseus was gone, also, he resisted temptation with Calypso and many others because he did not want to break the bond between him and his wife. When Odysseus came back to Ithaca, the kingdom was just how he left it all due to Penelope and his matured son, Telemachus. The bed shows the strength they had and how nothing can change it. Also, olive trees and branches symbolize hope and I believe when Odysseus was gone, him and Penelope were both hoping the best for each other and hope that they would be reunited once again.

The Odyssey (Books 11-15)

1. Odysseus, in book 11, descends into Hades. Hades is the land of the souls. In Hades, he talks to friends, deceased family members and famous war heroes. As he talks to them, he gains a lot of knowledge about them and learns a lot of life's lessons. Metaphorically, Hades is a dark place where the soul goes and this is where he will most likely gain the most insight. Achilles, the most important character he met, tells the story of Troy. After this Odysseus thinks of Penelope and Telemachus and feels he should be with his family, not in Hades. He has to appreciate them more and go home immediately.

3. When Odysseus arrives in his hometown, Ithaca, he does not recognize it due to the length of time he has been away. Also, Athena, a famous goddess tries to hide it from him. After Odysseus has conversation with Athena and ultimately tricks her into showing her true identity, he realizes he can win Penelope back. 25 or more years affects Odysseus heavily and it foreshadows struggles he may have to overcome.

The Odysssey (Books 6-10)

1. Calypso and her island represent true love and family vs. deceit within the overall story. The gods told Calypso to release Odysseus and let him go home, but she wants to keep him for herself. On Odysseus's part, he could either stay on the island and be wealthy and free with a beautiful wife, or he can go back home to his family, Telemachus and Penelope. If he goes back to Penelope, his wife who has turned down suitors upon suitors in case he comes home, he will prove that he really does love her and his son, Telemachus. However, if he chooses to stay on Calypso's island with her or one of the other women and remain, then it shows deceit. His wife and son do not know if he is dead or alive, and to keep them guessing and from starting anew, that would be deceitful and disrespectful. However, this is the point of view from people nowadays. Back then, the man could be unfaithful and have no harm put upon him. If a woman did this though, she would be considered a, if you will (lack for a better word), whore.

4. Because Cyclops is a demigod, half human and half god (son of Poseidon), I believe this is why he is such a huge part of the novel. When Odysseus fights him, he beats him using his own intelligence and wits of mental and physical strength. This is the first struggle that Odysseus will face on his trek home but it will not be his last. I believe it will foreshadow the events to come and how Odysseus grows as a person. By Odysseus being called a Nobody, it helped him escape from the Cyclops. By being a Nobody, Cyclops killing him wouldn't mean anything. He wouldn't be killing someone of interest, he'd be killing a Nobody.

The Odyssey (Books 1-5)

The main ideas and themes I find in the opening verses of Book 1 are the focus on Odysseus's voyage home and the coming of age of his son, Telemachus. Since the Trojan War, Odysseus is being trapped on the island by Calypso, woman who will not let him go because she loves him too deeply. Back at home, his family, Telemachus and wife Penelope, have come to the conclusion he is dead. Telemachus does not enjoy the suitors and wants to fill the void of family man. He wants to be the man of the house and hates competing his mother's suitors. I think these two ideas od Odysseus's voyage home and Telemachus coming of age are important because I believe this is what the story is about. I do not believe this novel is based on Odysseus's life alone. I believe it is like the Bible, most people think it is all about God but in turn, it's about all the people involved WITH God. Also, the poetic voice serves a nice backdrop to the tense situation. It brings in a sort of calmness and artistic vibe even though the whole situation itself is dark and dramatic.

I think we hear Telemachus's story first because as I said before, I feel the story is not solely based on Odysseus. As the Bible is often confused for only being about God, The Odyssey is often confused with just begin about the life and struggle of the home voyage for Odysseus. I believe the Odyssey will be based on Telemachus's journey to discover who he is and if he can fill the void of being the man of the family. Also, it will be about him coming forward with age and how his mom, Penelope, handles it. I feel Penelope will also be a main point because she doesn't know her husband is alive but has all these suitors at her feet to become the new father/husband role in the home.

Chapters 37, 39-50

Within these chapters in Genesis, we learn about Joseph, the son of Israel, and his life. There is a lot of the green monster (aka jealousy), and betraying people around you within the reading. Joseph is favored the most among the brothers by Israel, which causes them to basically plans mutiny against Joseph. The whole idea of betraying your own family due to a jealous outrage is so stupid. This happens in every family but not all of them plan to kill one of their own. In addition, when the famine comes, JOSEPH, is the one that brings food for the survivors. However, since his brothers left him naked and starving in a ditch to die, Joseph gives them a taste of their own medicine and shows them how it feels to be betrayed in a time of need by someone who is your blood or is close to you. Joseph really tries to be mean and rude to them, but he realizes God brought him to Egypt for a reason. At this point in time, he saves his brothers and realizes how much a family is supposed to mean to you. Yes, being a family does entail arguing but it no means, does it ever give someone permission to kill or plan to harm another. People need to realize that family is there forever and the consequences of your actions will come back and bite you...

Jewish Culture: Genesis (Chapters 4, 6-9)

Two themes that continuously were working together in the story were very distinct human passions and violent deaths and punishments. When Cain killed Abel, he was suffering from having very intense feelings of anger towards his brother. This led to him suffering very intense punishments, such as cursing him from the ground, no strength, and be fugitive and wanderer of the Earth. This led to his family being cursed, especially Lamrech when he killed and wounded two men when they wounded him. He was cursed seventy-sevenfold. When Cain asked sarcastically if he was his brother's keeper to the Lord, I think it was shown to see how man is being rebellious against their Creator. God purposely linked him to the soil so he can feel the pain that his brother felt when he killed him. In addition, one thing that confused me about the reading of Noah's Ark, there was so many dates that I was messing up. There were the forty days and nights, then being the 600th year, water being on Earth for 150 days, and seven days for it to happen. It was just very confusing and I couldn't keep up with the story because I couldn't understand the time frame and what was happening.

Jewish Culture: Genesis (Chapters 1-3)

4) In Genesis, the first man and first woman are presented in a specific manner. First of all, God created Man before he created Woman. He formed him out of dust of the land and breathed in through his nostrils in order to give him the breath of life. God then created Eden, which was located in the east, had a tree of life and a tree of knowledge, and had four rivers (Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates). When Man arrived, God told him to eat from the tree of life and not from the tree of knowledge, which shows the difference between good and evil. If he ate from this tree, he would die. However, God then took one of Man's ribs and created his companion, Woman. After they were created, we read about the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After reading this chapter, I cannot condemn her. Yes, she disobeyed God but I would have done the same thing in that position. Also, she did create pain of childbirth and the fall of mankind, but it was due to the fact that she had no prior knowledge. If she ate the fruit or was provided with knowledge before talking to the serpent, she wouldn't have caused this mess. As for Man, God gave him dominance, responsibility, and similarity of God himself. However, he listened to his wife when in reality, he should've told her no or talked to the serpent himself.

5) Personally, I think the Tree of Knowledge is a huge tease. Why provide the Tree if Adam and Eve couldn't eat from it. There is always a desire of knowledge within everyone so I don't know how God thought that they would be any different, even if they were the first people on Earth. Humans always want the desire to know more about their surroundings and life itself. Then again, he did give them the options of many other trees to eat from. However, I personally would've eaten from the Tree of Knowledge if I was in their position. I think the point of God's plan to have them not eat from that tree was so they didn't have to know what evil was. He wanted them to live a life of only knowing the good and being pure/innocent. However, the serpent (Satan) went against God himself and tried to tempt Eve to join him. After the whole scandal, not only did Adam and Eve ruin their pure evil-less relationship with each other, they ruined their relationship with God. God wanted them to trust Him and live a life of good. Also, God made sure that thetree was lovely to look at. God tried to almost to seduce them and see how far they would go trusting him. Obviously, they did not trust God's advice that much seeing as the first sin happened fairly early. This being said, I do believe there is a link between vision, desire, and knowledge. If something is visually appealing to you, you develop a strong desire to have it. In this case, Adam and Eve were not knowledgable of anything so when presented with the opportunity to be like God (as the serpent put it), they chose to take it.

6) Personally, I think there are some positives to Adam and Eve's punishments. If they stayed in Eden eternally, with no knowledge of evil, this type of life would not have accurately reflected the true human experience here on Earth. God wanted humans to have a life of no sin and enjoy His company to the fullest extent. However, I personally have learned and gained so much from making mistakes ("sins" if you will). How can we better ourselves if we can't mistakes and learn by them. How are we supposed to know how great our life is or how good we are doing if we have nothing to measure it up against (for example, evilness in the world)? This is why I think that there are some positives gained by Adam and Eve's punishment. For example, one of the consequences of Eve's actions was pain during childbirth. To many mothers out there, the pain shows their children in the future what they went through in order to have a child to love and call their own. The pain represents the extent to which our parents went to give us life. Also, God said they must work or kill for food. This is relevant to today because it shows to have determination, strength, and proactiveness in order to get that we want. In other words, we have to work for what we want. We don't necessarily have everything handed over to us. Lastly, God also said the lifespan will be limited, also known as everyone will die. This gives people a motive to live life to the fullest and appreciate the life they were given by their parents and by God himself. Therefore, I think that the punishments God gave Adam and Eve did, in fact, taint the overall view of humans and disobedience but it also shows how we take these punishments and make the most out of them.