As I am sure most of my readers know I just completed CB22x, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, an online course from Harvard through Edx. Reviews talk about the course being a life-changing event. I agree and that's in a good way! So I am taking CB22.1x These are my random notes from Hours 0 and 1.
The Ancient Greek tragedy, "Oedipus at Colonus" by Sophocles reenacts the death of Oedipus, King of Thebes and slayer of the Sphinx. Both Thebes and Athens wanted to be his burial site. Jim Thorpe seems to be in the same situation, with his sons and city battling for this body. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KVg_9JOPlv4
The Athenians hid the body, I wonder the people in Pennsylvania are as smart.
Achilles
speaking of that Asian war; “I have
no quarrel with them. They have not raided my cattle nor my horses, nor cut down my harvests on the
rich plains of Phthia; for between me and them there is a great space, both
mountain and sounding sea.” Iliad
1:154.
“When (Iphidamas) reached the stage of adolescence,
which brings luminous glory, ( Kissēs) wanted to keep him at home and to give
him his own daughter in marriage, but as soon as [ Iphidamas] had
married, he left the bride chamber and went off seeking the kleos of the Achaeans along
with twelve curved ships that followed him." Iliad XI
225-28 His story sure sounds like Protesilaus the
first of the Achaeans to die. “warlike Protesilaus, while yet he lived; howbeit ere now
the black earth held him fast. His wife, her two cheeks torn in wailing, was
left in Phylace and his house but half established” Iliad 2. 638
Iliad1:525 “See, I incline my head that you believe me. This is the most solemn act
that I can give to any god. I never retract my word, or deceive, or fail to do
what I say, when I have nodded my head.”
“The blessed gods laughed out a loud approval as they saw him bustling about the celestial dwellings. Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun they feasted, and all had their full share, so that everyone was satisfied. Apollo struck his lyre, and the Muses lifted up their sweet voices, calling out and making response to one another. But when the sun’s glorious light had faded, they went home to bed, each in his own abode, which lame Hephaestus with his consummate skill had fashioned for them. So Zeus, the Olympian Lord of Thunder, hastened to the bed in which he always slept; and when he had got on top of it he went to sleep, with Hera of the golden throne by his side.” Iliad 1.599-610 I hope your life is just as sweet.
“Internalizing
in this context may perhaps be compared to planting seeds in our subconscious.
We are entering a new, (yet very old) dimension. We cannot expect to understand
what is really happening on first contact. We must suspend "rational"
judgment and allow the song to sing. Through slow reading we are opening the
door; we are planting suggestions that will in time flower to allow us a deeper
understanding of what Homer is really trying to tell us. It is indeed an epic
journey. We are told that if we are patient, and if we can endure, we will be
well rewarded.” Fellow student “Flying
Cloud” in CB22.1
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