The Metamorphoses of youth


For the assignment that was given last Wednesday I choose lines from the story of Arachne. My quote from this story is “Not all that old age offers is mere chaff: for one, the years bestow experience. Take my advice: it is enough to be supreme among all mortals when you weave and work your wool, but never do compete with an immortal goddess. Go, beseech Minerva’s for the words you spoke; ask humbly and she will forgive you”. I choose this quote for a couple of reasons. The first being that it is an attempt to give insight to youth about life and life’s metamorphoses. Second I enjoyed its ironic context. What I mean by this is that it is a great example of youth being arrogant and not seeing what is really going in a particular time and situation. Ovid makes this example by having Arachne badmouth the god while she is directly talking to the god and not even realizing it. This quote carries the story of this young wool weaver by showing that are lives are fragile and there are consequences to pay for excluding modesty in life. Old age is simply the metamorphoses of youth through wisdom and experience. Arachne realizes this later in the story when she shows that her skills do rival the great goddess. Her over confidents blinds her and for this she becomes severely punished. Learning through pain and struggle are the ultimate life lessons which is why I choose this to express the metamorphoses of youth

The Worlds Redemption Through Ero’s
By John Nay

I choose to write a blog about the story in the metamorphoses Deucalion & Pyrrha because it is the tale of human of redemption in an apocalyptic state. Prior to this story about these two individuals who had an absolute love for justice we learn about Zeus’s aggression toward the world and his reasoning for flooding it. Zeus’s reasoning for flooding the earth was human greed. The gods felt threatened by the mortal’s actions. Humans were coming into the Iron Age and had created a realm of selfishness and tyranny toward the rest of the living things on earth. Zeus by his all-powerful nature felt obliged to rid the beautiful earth of these fowl creatures. With good fortune the two individuals Deucalion & Pyrrha drifted to shore on the Cephisus stream and headed off to pray to the oracle Themis. The great oracle was so moved by their sincerity that she granted their wish of redemption of the human race. There love was so genuine and free of greed that the human race was allowed to endure. Through these two individuals love the world experiences a great metamorphoses. This story is very moving to me because it almost feels like the world is in for an apocalypse. Are greed is raping the earth. We have warning signs such as global warming and never ending violence. The only thing is will there be an act of extreme virtue to save us. Is the human race strong enough o put greed aside and have our own metamorphoses or are we going to be condemned to death.

Invisible

The Invisible Man Blog
By John Nay

This is just a short blog I wanted to do on the concept of stories with in stories. Currently I am reading the novel the invisible man by Ralph Ellison. I have just finished the introduction and I am cracking away at the first chapter. So far it has been a beautiful well-illustrated story about this concept of an invisible man. Anyway in the introduction to this book he talks about a black prisoner of war in WWII and this symbolic idea of being invisible. Being an invisible man has to do with a self-identity struggle that we see in many stories we read. The story of the P.O.W is that he is the highest-ranking American officer struggling with the inherit racism that is all around him. His life is essentially a story within a story that cloaks this man with invisibility. It seems that stories with in stories have a tendency to do this to a person or even a character. I think this concept of an invisible man is really interesting because of the fact that it does relate to the eternities. It relates to almost every story within a story. It makes you wonder weather you really care to know about a person or would you just rather look through as if they are not even there.