Week 3 Essay: Ovid's Metamorphoses II (Books 5-7)

Secret's in the Sauce

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Found on Red Hook Flicks

This week I choose another story from the Classics reading unit and went with Greek Myths: Ovid's Metamorphoses II (Books 5-7). I very much enjoyed this unit, as I expected I would. My favorite readings were the stories of Prosperine (who I learned was the same person as Persephone) and Dis as well as Procne's Revenge. The overall story of Prosperine is not a happy one, but it did inspire me to learn more about Prosperine and who she became later on in her role as Queen of the Underworld. It also made me wonder why Cupid chose Prosperine to be he wife of Dis. As for Procne, I did not enjoy the story much because it is a horrific story, but got a weird since of justice served at the end and also liked that it went on to explain why a few birds look the way they do. Origin stories have always been of interest to me.

I felt like this unit was somewhat lacking in background information. I'd have liked to have a sentence or two about many names who popped up in this story and who they are/what their significance is. For instance, I ended up Googling who Ceres was as well as who Typhoeus and why they could influence the weather. I also thought the sing-song nature of the stories made them more difficult to read and understand, but was grateful that the entire story was not told that way.

This story was chosen because it featured females that I knew were powerful, however they were often not portrayed as such and many times were made victims in their stories. I suppose this is how many strong women are thrown into the light. Their power is often not known and their ability to create great change not realized until something terrible happens and they have to demonstrate their abilities in response. I am possibly going to write about strong females for my storybook, so I chose this set of stories based on that. I learned a lot from this reading because, apart from Medea, I had not read the stories of the other women (I was slightly aware of Persephone's story).

Week 3 Reading Diary B: Ovid's Metamorphoses

This week's Myth-Folklore reading unit is Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 5-7)

Tereus Marries Procne

• Tereus = King of Thrace
• Procne = daughter of King of Athens 
• The two were married with none of the gods, fates, etc there under the bad omen of a screech owl- they also made babies 
• Procne's sends her husband to go pick up her sister for a visit. When he gets there and sees her, he becomes completely filled with list for her. Now Tereus REALLY wants Procne's sister to come home and he pleads quite passionately with the king, even going so far as to cry during his speech. He is viewed as incredibly loyal and is given the a-ok. 

Tereus Rapes Philomela

• Tereus spends all night thinking of Philomela and the next day the king sees her off with love and the promise of return. They shove off and arrive in his domain where he takes Philomela off to a high-walled tower and locks her away. Then, he rapes her- taking her virginity as she cries out for help (what a douche).
• Philomela mourns and screams at Tereus. He gets scared and angry so he cuts out her tongue with his sword before raping her again. Then, he went back to his wife, leaving Philomela in his tower, and told her that her sister had died which sends Procne into deep mourning. 

Procne's Revenge
This crazy story can be found here!

• Holy crap this one was a trip! I think I might use it for my storytelling this week. 
• A year had gone by now.
• Procne has woven a tapestry illustrating the crime committed on her. She gives it to a servant to give to her sister who reads it and rushes off with vengeance on the brain. Procne adorns herself with a deerskin, vine wreath and javelin. She breaks down the tower door and rescues her sister before taking her secretly into the palace. Procne tells her sister that she's willing to go to war with her husband over his wickedness. Procne kills her son- stabbing him and slicing his throat open. She then chops her son up and cooks him before serving him to her husband. When she reveals that he has eaten his son, he asks where the boy is and Philomela throws the child's dismembered head at him. 
• Tereus then goes after the women with his sword, but they turn into birds and fly awau. Procne becomes a nightingale. Philomela becomes a swallow (and that is why the swallow has a red belly-because she was forever stained from the murder). Tereus also changes into a bird, a hoopoe, which looks like it's armed. 

Tereus Confronted with the Head of his Son Itylus

By Peter Paul Rubens, found on Wikipedia

Medea and Jason-The End 

• I've actually read the entire Medea tragedy before and love sit. I read it for my Revenge Tragedy class a few semesters back. 
• Medea loves Jason with all her heart. The two get married, she tries to use magic to extend his father's life-it works, the two work to kill Jason's evil brother who stole the throne from him, and pop out a few pups before Jason turns out to be a total douche and leaves Medea even after she had to betray her family (and therefore get country) to be with him. He leaves to go be with a younger princess. 

Week 3 Reading Diary A : Ovid's Metamorphoses

This week's myth-folklore reading unit is Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 5-7)

Cupid and Dis

• Quick note: Dis = Hades, Tartarus = the underworld 
• Ceres, goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships = Demeter
• Typhoeus = immortal storm giant 
• OKAY, on to the story:
• Typhoeus wants to be a god up in heaven and as such is creating a serious ruckus on Earth. The ground is splitting open and Dis worries his domain will soon be cracked open and exposed to the lights. As such, he makes his way to the sky and circles the island Typhoeus is on before retiring back to the underworld.
• Venus sees Dis and tells Cupid to go make him fall in love so that she may claim Tartarus as her own. Cupid complies and takes his sharpest arrow, draws it back, and fires it right into Dis's heart. 

Dis and Proserpina 

• Prosperine = Persephone 
• Proserpine is picking flowers when Dis sees her and falls in love. Dis snatches her up and takes her off in his chariot back toward his domain. As they are flying and she's crying out for help, a nymph  named Cyane stops the god and tells him he can't just take that girl! He is supposed to ask her hand in marriage, not abuse her. Cyane then stretched her arms out wide, blocking Dis from moving further, but he just opened up the Earth below him and created a doorway to Tartarus where he escapes to.
• Cyane weeps and is so consumed with grief over Prosperine's rape that she withers away and becomes one with the Earth. 
• Ceres was having something to drink when a foul-mouthed boy offended her and she turned him into a newt. She was searching for her daughter, but could not find her. Then, she happens upon Cyane who no longer can talk, but instead shows her daughter's bow in the mystical pool that sits in her area. Ceres freaks out and condemned all the lands for taking away her daughter. The lands grew infertile and barren as a result. 

Ceres and Jupiter 

• Ceres asks for Jupiter's help
• Arethusa pleads to Ceres- please don't take it out on the land, it did not want to open up and let Dis escape with your daughter in tow! 
• Ceres is shocked, then mad. She goes to the heavens to ask Jupiter for help. He agrees to bring back their daughter (even though he thinks her being with Dis isn't so bad) but only if she has stayed true to her fast and not eaten anything.

Persephone's Fate

• The problem was that she HAD eaten something- a pomegranate from the garden. Only Ascalaphus saw her eat it but he rattled anyway. In response, Ceres turned him into he bird of bad news. 
• Jupiter decides to split the year in half and have Persephone spend half with Dis and half with Ceres.

Arachne and Minerva

• Minerva = Athena 
• Minerva is mad because Arachne is well known as a spinster and she doesn't worship Minerva. 
• Arachne says she won't give credit to Minerva unless she proves she is better than her. So, Minerva takes the form of an old lady and tries to tell Arachne to respect the wisdom of her elders. Arachne essentially tells her to buzz off and have Minerva come challenge her herself. Minerva then takes her true shape, but Arachne is not shaken. They sit down to weave. 

Minerva Weaves a Web

• Minerva begins weaving stories into her cloth. She includes Jupiter and Neptune arguing over the name of the city, herself, Athens, an olive tree, and Victory herself. She also does scenes of mortals who used to be gods, the date of the queen of the pygmies, Antigone who was turned into a bird by Juno, and Cinyras holding his daughter's limbs and weeping. She finished by adding olive wreaths of peace around the edges and her emblem of a tree.
• Arachne weaves scenes of Europa being deceived by a bull, Asterie held by the eagle, Jupiter as a satyr, daughter of Nycteus with twin offspring, Prosperine as a spotted snake.
• The judges liked Arachne's tapestry and Minerva gets jealous so she turns her into a spider.

Niobe Rejects Latona

• Latona decrees that all the women of Thebes must celebrate and worship her with displays of dancing, doing their hair, and music in the streets. Niobe, however, rejects Latona and refuses to worship her. She gives reasons why she is better and breaks up the celebration, ordering people to go home and take that crap out of their hair. 

The Death of Niobe's Children

• Latona sends her sons to punish Niobe for her pride and unwillingness to let the worship of Latona occur in Thebes. They killed 4 of her 7 with arrows, then Apollo stabbed one. Next, an arrow flies through another son's throat. The last son begged for mercy but was shot down too.
• Niobe falls upon her sons' bodies and weeps, but then talks crap to Latona about still being better than her. In response Apollo kills 6 of Niobe's 7 daughters. She begs for Latona to spare her one child, her youngest daughter. Latona refuses and she is killed. I'm her grief Niobe turns into a marble statue, frozen in her sadness.

Latona and the Lycians

• Latona had just given birth to her two twins and went to get a drink of water when she met the Lycians who refused to let her drink from their pool. They jumped around and stirred up the bottom, their rudeness producing anger in Latona. She says, fine live in that swamp forever! She turns them into frogs. 

Marysas

• Marysas is a satyr who challenged Apollo to a flute playing contest and lost. His punishment for losing was being flayed alive. 

The Fate of Marysas the Satyr 

By Marfias, found on FanPop

Week 2 Project Brainstorming: Topics

Bad Girls of Mythology

• The word "bad" in this sense would not mean evil, corrupt, or wrathful. Instead, it would mean awesome, in-control, and owning it. This storybook would take the more modern usage of "bad" (as often is used in songs to describe bad b**ches) and relate it to seriously cool goddesses who know how great they are and expect to be worshipped. I might up the drama and make it similar to "Bad Girls Club," a television show where bossy, entitled women are thrown in a house to party together. I might have them live together and throw in some drama between them, but I don't want it to be full of catty behavior and rudeness like the TV show is. I want them to find a camaraderie in their shared boss-status and fierceness. 
• I feel like Persephone would be good for this storybook because she has a crappy fate, but ends up being a very powerful player. I think she would be an social media queen if she were a modern woman. I'd use her story from the un-textbook to show how she got where she is but use outside sources to show that she's really a bada** who is here to take the world by storm. I mean come on! She's the queen of the underworld! Her Wikipedia page along with information from Theoi Greek Mythology and Mythic Arts will allow me to give her more character, personality, and sass. Plus, it would help me characterize her in a more modern way.
• This storybook would likely be set in modern times and so I would have to do some real alteration to the stories, but it could be a lot of fun. 

Animals

• This would focus on gods/goddesses and their animal companions. It would highlight the relationship between animals and divine women. It would pain loving pictures of companionship, love, and awesome power. It would be like if you took the Disney princess Jasmine and her pet tiger, Raj, and gave her divine powers; sort of like princesses with powers, pets, and personality to spare. The Egyptian goddess Bastet would be a great example of someone I could include in this storybook due to her binding relationship with cats. In fact, most Egyptian gods/goddesses would be great to write about if focusing on relationships with animals. 
• The Santal Folktales and Khasi Folktales units of the un-textbook would be really great for this storybook. 

Finding Your Inner Goddess, A Guide Through Examples

• This would be part self-help, part storybook. It would use examples of strong goddesses to teach others how to find their inner goddess and become more confident, powerful, and strong. It would tell of these amazing, powerful goddesses and would choose a story for each goddess to use as an example of their awesomeness and why someone would aspire to be like them. Each story would aim to teach a lesson and help guide the reader to empowerment. It would be fun, but include some of the ways self-improvement could positively impact your life. It would be mostly geared towards women though, which could be boring for some of the male students in the class. 
• This would also be a fun way to do some self-evaluation and soul searching for me. I would have to think about what aspects of goddesses are positive and important and how I would want to incorporate that into my own life. 
• Isis might be a really good goddess for this. I could use her story from the un-textbook, The Journey of Isis , as well as further information about her from Egyptianmyths.net , Wikipedia , Britannica , and Goddessgift.com. After all, Isis is the Egyptian mother of all! She would be a great goddess to highlight the best of womanhood. 
• Britomart from the un-textbook might also be cool for this storybook and would become an honorary goddess. She was a female knight and faerie queen, but i'm not sure yet. Here's her Wiki page just in case though. 
• I bet I could also find some cool goddesses in the Japanese mythology reading unit too! 

Women Scorned

• This would be similar to a documentary-style TV show that is both entertaining and based on "true" events. It would profile the women/goddesses and what led up to them freaking out and exacting revenge or otherwise demonstrating their wrath and ending up in jail. It's kind of like the TV show, "Snapped" which is about women who just snap and kill someone, but with goddesses who demonstrated both their power and their fury after being mistreated.  
• One story that would fit in this category would be Venus and Psyche from my week 2 reading. Venus feels she has been wronged from the beginning by Psyche after people start worshiping her as an incarnation of Venus due to her beauty. However, things really go sour when Venus tells her son Cupid to screw Psyche over and instead, he falls in love with her and marries her in secret. I would use the Cupid and Psyche reading unit and tell the story of Psyche and Cupid's love affair and Psyche's beauty in third person, then have a section where Venus gets to give her input on the situation. I would pull information from Wikipedia, the Ancient History Encyclopedia, and Theoi Greek Mythology to ensure that I get Venus's personality right and can include more information about her in order to give some background about why she did what she did (her motive). 

The Bro Code 

• This would be a humorous storybook that would tell the tales of "true bros" and what all bros should learn from their stories. It would focus on friendship/brohood, how to treat your fellow bros, and what men of the past can teach men of today. I think it would be a pretty funny storybook and it would feature such names as Poseidon, Zeus, Rama, Sinbad, etc. 
• My knowledge from being in Indian Epics and reading The Ramayana will help me a lot, plus the Ramayana reading unit will refresh my memory. Rama would be a good person to include in this because he's seen as a great example of honor and manliness, but he is not devoid of emotion. Hanuman would also be good for this, maybe a story with him and Rama, a story of their strong friendship and loyalty, would be good! 
• Another male character could be Sinbad the Sailor. His Wikipedia page paints him as a great hero who goes on many wondrous adventures. Surely, he could lend some insight and advice to this storybook. 

Week 2 Famous Last Words

Snoooooooooowww! 

My photo (January 2015)

As you can see by the above photo, I was pretty surprised when I woke up to snow this morning. This week the weather has been so nice, then yesterday it got pretty chilly, and this morning... snow? Oklahoma really needs to get its act together. I cannot handle all of these seasons in one week. My allergies have been seriously kicking my butt; I've been sniffling, sneezing, and rubbing my eyes like nobody's business. However, the weather was nice in some ways: my roommate and I were able to take Lily to the dog park (which was actually pretty scary/crazy because she got attacked by a much bigger dog and bled everywhere- don't worry though, she's fine and only has a tiny scratch on her nose that was fine after a much needed bath and some Neosporin), I got to comfortably wear my new slacks and blouses in the nice weather, and the cold gave me reason to get my favorite Starbucks drink (peppermint mocha... yum). 

Peppermint Mocha, you Seductress

(My photo, January 2015)

Anyway, apart from the allergies this week was really good. I celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by not going to class (which meant no class all week since I only have class on Mondays), doing homework, and writing my admissions essay for the OU Masters of Social Work - Advanced Standing Program. It was a relaxing day and when I was done with my work I read some of my favorite quotes and speeches by the late, great Martin Luther King Jr. He is one of the most inspiring people i've ever learned about. Sure, he was an adulterer who smoked cigarettes behind closed doors, but you can't fault a man for those things when he did so much for our country. I'm a big proponent of equality for all people and have demonstrated that through work with the lgbtq community, special needs children, African-American foster youths, and through participating in the Sooner Ally training my freshman year. 

5 Quotes from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that Will Inspire

Article by Josh, found on MyChannel957.com

Week 2 Essay: Cupid and Psyche

This week I chose to read Cupid and Psyche from the classical stories reading unit option. I'm glad this was the story I picked because it really was a lot of fun to read. At first I was worried it would be a chore because it had over 20 chapters, but I found that it was a fast read and kept me interested. I knocked out both reading diaries relatively quick because I was so engaged and genuinely wanted to move on and read the next section. I liked that this story had elements of other stories i've read in it, particularly elements similar to Cinderella. I also liked that it was classically Greek, that is to say that there are so many large personalities and the gods are causing mischief like they always seem to do. Plus, it featured Venus, a vengeful but very interesting goddess. I'm thinking about integrating her into my storybook but am not sure just yet if I am going to.

Psyche and Amor, also known as Psyche Receiving Cupid's First Kiss (1798)

by François Gérard, found on Wikipedia

I enjoyed this unit and as such wouldn't change much about it. The story is great and the snippets of background information given before each section were a big help! I appreciated the links to wiki pages about the characters, the pictures, and the quick blurbs about details we might need to know to better understand what's going on in the story. The only thing I really wish I could change about this unit is the introduction/ending that focuses on a kidnapped girl, an old woman, and a donkey-man/hero. It just seems kind of random and unnecessary to me because we don't really know much about this donkey-man or any of the other captives. For that matter, we don't know much about the kidnappers; why are they doing this? What's their story? Anyway, I think it would be nice to just cut out those bits and focus entirely on the Cupid and Psyche story (but that's just my opinion).

Check out Alicechan's rendition of Cupid and Psyche

Found on DeviantArt

Storytelling for Week 2: Erik and Lila

Hey! That's me! 

My name is Lila. I used to be the whole town's daughter, the picture of youthful beauty and innocence. Things are a bit different now and I've really come into my own skin. Anyway, I'm the youngest of three sisters and was pretty much spoiled and adored by my loving parents until I was 17 and condemned by my church for being "predestined to bring about destruction and unhappiness," whatever the hell that means. After hearing this news, my crazy-religious parents kicked me out. They cried, I cried... It felt like I was falling off a cliff, spiraling towards my death and about to land on the wave-worn rocks below. Everything was so dark and terrifying! Then, I met Erik.

This guy is my hilarious, hunky boyfriend Erik. He dressed up as Cupid a few years ago for Halloween and I just can't resist using the photo every chance I get. 

Erik came into my life like a gust of cool air, and swept me up just before I landed in the violent waters below. We met on an internet chat tool/game called Second Life. We were both in a beautifully made castle set in a Greek-esque environment from the time of the gods. I was exploring the chat room with my avatar, Psyche. I danced in a grand hall as lute music played through my headphones and called out to the chat room, "Anyone home?" I got no responses, so I kept exploring and ended up in a beautiful bedroom with a gigantic bed and luxurious bath. I thought to myself, "Man, I wish this was where I really lived," then had my avatar lay in bed while I went AFK to get something to drink. When I came back to my computer, grape soda in hand, I saw that I had a ton of messages from a mysterious user who was no longer in the chat room. He told me I was beautiful and that he hoped to get to know me better. He spun tales of two lovers destined by chance to meet in a magical, dream-like palace in ancient Greece. His words were so beautiful, and his final message simply said, "See you tomorrow night?"

Our love story is one of mystery and deceit, revenge, and one seriously impossible mother-in-law.

We talked and talked, each night he managed to sweep me off my feet all over again. To say I fell hard for him was a bit of an understatement, but how could I fall for someone i'd never actually seen? Our online love affair went on for months and I knew I had found someone who truly understood me. He didn't seem to care about my family issues or the fact that most people at home thought I was probably dead in a ditch somewhere; all that mattered was that we fit together like two pieces of a divine puzzle. We talked for a year and in that time a lot changed. I got back in touch with my sisters, and even invited them to come over for pizza and catching up. He was excited for me, but wary. He was afraid my sisters would make him out to be some sort of monster or stalker. I assured him everything would be fine, and said goodbye before logging off to greet my sisters. 

Check out my drawing of us as “Powerpuff Girls”

I was obviously “Bubbles”

Everything went great! We sipped wine and ate pizza while I told them of my whirlwind Second Life romance. It was like the good-ol' days and it felt great to have my sisters back, or at least that's what I thought. Time flew by like it does when you're reminiscing, and soon it was time for them to leave but we made plans to meet up the next night for coffee. I hugged them goodbye and once they were out the door, I hopped on my laptop to talk to my invisible romeo until I fell asleep slumped over in my bed.

The next day, at coffee, my sisters were like harpies! They hounded me about Erik. Who was he? Where does he come from? How can I be so sure he's really who he says he is? They said he was probably "Catfishing" me and that he surely wasn't the hunk they saw in his pictures. I defended him, but somewhere in my mind, doubt planted it's nasty little seed and began to grow. After coffee, I headed home to talk to Erik and I had a great time, but could not shake the idea that maybe they were right. I had never met this guy. He could be anybody! I freaked out and called up the main star of the show, Nev, and told him my situation. He was interested, and we hatched a plan to find out just who this guy really was. 

That's Nev, full-time Catfish TV moderator, part time cutie

It took a few days for Nev to get all of his research done, but then I got the call: he had an address. We loaded up the car, notified the camera man, and began the drive to Erik's house. I was so nervous. I felt like I was betraying Erik. How would he feel? Probably like he just got stabbed or burned! My stomach churned as my anxiety rose. The drive felt like forever as we passed endless hills and small towns. I hoped my sisters were wrong and he wasn't some creeper, but I couldn't help but worry that he was. I prepared for devastation. 

Suddenly, the car began to slow and turn down a long dirt driveway flanked on either side by tall trees that made the driveway feel almost like a gazebo. It was beautiful, but the scenery couldn't distract me long and before I knew it, we were stopped and Nev was asking if I was ready to meet Erik. I hesitated, growing more nervous and imagining so many awful scenarios as the cameras rolled on my face. I nodded and slowly crept up the steps to the beautiful plantation-style home. Nev and I exchanged glances, and I gulped down the lump that had risen in my throat. It was now or never. 

That driveway was something right out of a dream 

The doorknob turned and the door opened so slow it was as if I was dreaming. Everything was moving in slow motion, but then, standing before me was the man i'd seen in so many pictures. I was so relieved and excited. "Erik?" I asked. "Lila?" he replied, obviously confused. He looked at the cameras, then at Nev, then me before he realized just what was going on. His face changed, becoming grim and he slammed the door in my face! Shocked, and now bawling, I asked through the door why he didn't want to see me. He sent me a text that just said, "You thought I would catfish you?!" My distrust in him had really hurt him, but after a few hours and much discussion through the door, he once more opened the heavy wood door but this time, I was greeted with his Adonis-like smile. 

Image Information:

1. Girl by Keulefm, found on Pixabay
2. Not so Self Portrait, Rambo Meets Cupid by Mattysflicks, found on Flickr
3. Lovers by Bellezza87, found on Pixabay
4. Powerpuff Girls by WonderlandCaveman, found on DeviantArt
5. Moderator Nev Schulman by Mingle Media TV, found on Wikipedia
6. Orton Plantation Driveway by Brian, found on Wikipedia

Author's Note: 
I based this story off of parts of the story of Cupid and Psyche (which you can find here), particularly the sections titled: Psyche's Beauty, The Oracle of Apollo, The Magical Palace, The Mysterious Husband, The Jealousy of Psyche's Sisters, Fear and Doubts, and Psyche's Husband Revealed. I enjoyed this story a lot and wanted to put a modern spin on things by making the magical palace a chat room designed to look like a Grecian palace and the invisible husband another person who the main character falls in love with online. I had a little trouble deciding how to do the reveal/betrayal of Erik/Cupid but thought the MTV show called "Catfish" was a perfect example. It's about two guys who went on a journey to meet the woman that one of them had been engaged with in an online relationship for a long time only to find out she was not anything like who she said she was and who she showed him in pictures. I know the ending feels a little rushed, but I was trying really hard not to over-write. I guess sometimes you should trust your gut about the one you love (although, with technology, you can never be too careful).

Reading Diary B- Cupid and Psyche

Cupid and Psyche Table of Contents

Venus and the Goddesses

• We rejoin Psyche who is wandering in search of Cupid. A big white seagull rushes to Venus and tells her of Cupid's scorched shoulder and of the lack of faith in both her and her son who seem disconnected from the people who normally worship them. Venus gets very angry and descends upon Cupid. She gives him a verbal lashing before leaving and running into Juno and Ceres. They tried to defend Cupid, which just made Venus more mad so she left. 

Psyche's Prayer

• Psyche winds up in a temple and begins attending to proper ritual when Ceres arrives. Ceres tells of Venus's plan to enact revenge and Psyche begs for help. She asks to hide in Ceres's temple for a few days, Ceres says sorry but she cannot help her for Venus is her niece and friend. Psyche moves on to the temple of Juno (the protectress), but Juno is unable to help too. 

Venus and Mercury

• Desperate, Psyche decides to just go straight to Venus and surrender. Venus goes up to the heavens and asks for help from the Messenger, Mercury. Mercury puts a bounty on Psyche's head for Venus- the reward? 7 sweet kisses from Venus herself including a bonus kiss, with tongue. Nice. Psyche runs into Venus's servant who talks some crap. 

Venus and Psyche
Psyche A.K.A Cinderella

• The servant grabs Psyche by the hair and throws her in front of Venus.Venus summons Anxiety and Sorrow to flog and torture Psyche. Venus then beats the crap out of Psyche before mixing wheat, millet and barley, poppy-seeds, chickpeas, lentils and beans and telling Psyche to sort them into separate piles by that evening. She then leaves to attend a marriage feast. Psyche sat there, feeling totally screwed, and some passing ants took pity on her. They assembled a large group of ants and quickly separated the piles for her. 
• This first task/story is very much like Cinderella in a LOT of ways. 

Venus Punishing Psyche with a Task 

By Luca Giordano, found on Wikimedia Commons

Psyche's Next Task
Task #2

• When Venus saw the piles, she claimed that Psyche had not done it, but Cupid and threw some bread at Psyche before going to bed. In the morning, Venus gives Psyche her second task: she must go into the woods across the river and obtain the golden wool from a sheep who lives there. Psyche left willingly, planning to throw herself off a cliff and end her torment, but was convinced by a reed to finish the tasks. He told her not to approach the sheep out right, as their wool absorbs heat and makes them crazy. Instead, he suggested, she should wait until the evening when they have calmed down and retired to rest for the night then go into the woods and there will be bits of wool stuck to the branches from their craziness earlier. She simply has to pluck it from the branches. 
• She follows his instructions, gathers the wool, and presents it to Venus who is unhappy and gives Psyche her final task; she must go to the tip of the mountain where the river Styx and the stream of Cocytus meet and retrieve the freezing liquid from the bubbling hot spring that is located there. Venus gives her a special crystal jar and a few more choice words. 

The Third Task

• Psyche climbs the mountain as snakes warn her to go back and beware for she surely will die. Providence saw her struggle and sent Jupiter's eagle to help her. He swooped down, grabbed the jar, and filled it for her. 

The Jar of Beauty

• Psyche brings the jar to Venus who is not pleased. She tells Psyche to take the jar to the underworld and give it to Persephone with a message from Venus saying that she wants enough beauty for one day in return as she has exhausted herself taking care of her son. Venus then tells Psyche to hurry up as she's having deities over soon. Psyche feels defeated and climbs up a tower, intending to jump off, before the turret comes to life and tells her how to get to Tartarus (the underworld) and make it past all of the barriers located there (including Cerberus). She follows it's instructions and ends up at her destination, however she is plagued by a foolish thought. How could she leave without taking some beauty for herself? Surely it would help her win back Cupid. 

The Sleep of the Dead

• Psyche opens the jar like an idiot and is overcome by a death-like sleep (kind of like Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, but without Maleficent and the initial curse). Cupid felt better and flew down to Psyche who lay motionless. He woke her up and helped her finish getting the beauty before sending Psyche with it back to Venus.

Cupid and Psyche

Artist Unknown, Found on Flickr

• Cupid then flew up to plead with Jove and Jupiter to help him in his quest to be with his bride. Jupiter agrees to help Cupid so long as Cupid can find him a woman who is equally beautiful to make his bride. 

Cupid Pleads with Jupiter for Psyche

by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, found on Wikimedia Commons

The Wedding Feast

• The deities are gathered and Jupiter calls for Pysche to be brought to heaven where he gives her a cup of ambrosia and makes her immortal before marrying the two lovers and engaging in a wonderful feast. Psyche goes on to give birth to a daughter, Pleasure. 
• After the happily-ever-after, we return back to the kidnapped maiden and the old woman who has been telling her this story. Quickly, the point of view switches to that of the donkey again who is getting poked and prodded and the robbers are debating why they keep him around. After all, he has a broken hoof and a limp. 

The Escape

• Donkey-guy breaks free and the girl grabs his reigns and is drug behind him before hopping on and riding the donkey to freedom

Reading Diary A- Cupid and Psyche

Cupid and Psyche Table of Contents

The Captive Woman

• We meet our donkey-hero, the old lady, and the captured lass. She is inconsolable even after the robbers assure her they do not plan to take her honor or torture her. The old lady is told to soothe her, but she still pleads for death. She wants to kill herself and the old lady gets tired of her crap and, in essence, tells her to shut her dang trap!

Her Dream

• As it turns out, the robbers kidnapped our young maiden on her wedding day. The girl tells the old lady of her dream in which her fiance is searching for her and lamenting over her capture before being beaten to death with a large rock by one of the robbers. The old woman decides to tell her a story to take her mind off of things. 

Psyche's Beauty

• There's a king and queen with 3 beautiful daughters, the youngest of which is the most stunning. Citizens came from far and wide to behold her beauty and pray to her as if she was the goddess Venus. Soon, people began to say she actually was an incarnation of Venus and people no longer visited Venus' shrines and temples. They no longer performed their rites and rituals in dedication to her. Instead, they traveled to see this young daughter. 
• Venus got tired of everyone worshiping a mere mortal instead of her. Venus briefly monologues to herself, but says, "she’ll reap no joy from usurping my honours, whatever she may be: I’ll soon make her regret that illicit beauty of hers." So, she summons her son, Cupid (a naughty little guy who goes house to house  making adulterers out of husbands and wives, and generally engaging in much tomfoolery). She begs him to make her fall in love with the most wicked and wretched of men; someone who is broke, insignificant, and preferably not very healthy. Then, she sends him off to do her dirty deeds.

The Oracle of Apollo

• Everyone wanted to gawk at Psyche, but no one wanted to marry her. Both of her sisters were married and she was left a lonely virgin stuck at home. So, her dad suspected the gods were angry with her and consulted the oracle of Apollo. The oracle told him that she would be married in a "fatal" marriage and not spawn mortal children, but serpent-like, winged creatures who would spread fire and misery about the land. Obviously, her dad was pretty upset; he slumped back to his home and told his wife of the prophecy told to him by the oracle. They cried, but made preparations for the dark wedding (complete with fiery red veil). She walked to the high mountain perch accompanied by her parents and a throng of citizens, all of which wept and grieved for what was to come. They reached the peak and said goodbye before leaving Psyche all alone to face her future. She waits, terrified, before a gust of divine wind sweeps her off the cliff and lays her on a bed of grass. 

The Magical Palace

• Psyche falls asleep on this bed of grass and dreams of a beautiful palace. She walks through the palace halls before is told by a disembodied voice to retire to her room for some rest and a bath before there will be a great feast. She took a nap, had a bath, then sat down at a table where food magically appeared and music played but no one was in sight.

The Mysterious Husband
Mysterious Invisible Man

• Psyche finishes dinner and goes to bed where she is greeted by an invisible man who has sex with her. This happened many nights before she learned to enjoy the sex and the halls of the palace were filled with her pleasure. While she lived in this dream palace, her parents got very old and news of their frailness and Psyche's supposed death spread to her sisters, who quickly made way to their hometown. Psyche's still-invisible husband tells her that when her sisters look over the cliff and see her, she must not answer their cries or move even an inch or she will cause him great pain and ruin (as well as her own ruin). 
• She agrees but spends all day and night grieving and threatening to kill herself until he finally says, FINE! Ignore what I said, do what you have to, but don't expect any special treatment from me when you come back crying and wishing you had listened to me. But, he said, if you do this I will no longer be your husband. Her tone quickly changes, because she doesn't want to lose his love. She compares him to cupid himself before begging him to have her sisters brought to her instead of going against his command. He succumbs. 

The Jealousy of Psyche's Sisters

• Psyche brings her sisters to her palace and shows them of her new beautiful life and lies to them, telling them her husband is a handsome young man with a little facial hair. This made her sisters incredibly envious. They claimed that she hoped to be turned into a goddess and had planned for this fortune to befall her the entire time. HOW UNFAIR (sarcasm)! They complain about their lives and agree to return home, but to come back and punish her sister for having better luck than they do. 

Psyche's Husband Warns Her

• The sisters plan to murder young Psyche. Pysche's husband returns and warns her of her evil sisters' plans. He tells her that when they return she must not talk to them, or at least to not listen to anything they say for if she keeps their secret she will bear a divine child, but if she lets slip the truth of her husband, her child will be mortal. Psyche grew bigger and bigger as her pregnancy continued; she adored her growing belly and looked on in surprise at how much her body was changing. Soon though, her husband warned, her evil sisters (who he compares to harpies, furies, and sirens) will soon return and they will want to kill her but she must not look at them or listen to what they say or she will lose everything. Psyche cries and wishes to see her husband, but if she cannot see him she wants to see her sisters. The mysterious husband agrees to have the wind bring them to see her once more before disappearing. 

Fears and Doubts
Check out this story here!

• The sisters arrive and flatter Psyche, telling her of their excitement for the new baby. Psyche offered them rest, baths, food, and music before the evil wenches steered the conversation to the mysterious husband. They asked about his background and Psyche told them he was a middle aged man from a neighboring place, an obvious lie to the evil sisters. The sisters left and when they returned they claimed that Psyche's mysterious husband was actual an evil, monstrous serpent similar to what was prophesied by Apollo's oracle. They say that when she delivers the baby, he will devour her. They tell her to trust them, and in her innocent ignorance Psyche became terrified. She cried out for them to help her and in an instant they seized her, holding her down with blades to her throat. 
• They then tell her to dim the lights and hide a blade under her pillow so that when he hops into bed with her she can decapitate him. After which her sisters would be waiting to help her find a mortal husband. With this they left, leaving Psyche to her thoughts. After much debate, she prepared to carry out the evil deed and as with every night her husband slipped into bed and fell asleep.

Psyche's Husband Revealed
It's Cupid!

• Psyche goes to kill her husband, but in the light of the lamp it is revealed that her husband is in fact the god Cupid. Psyche dropped the knife and smiled to herself as she explored her husband's arrows. She was touching the tip of one of the arrows when she accidentally pricked her finger and fell even farther in love with Cupid. She leaned over and covered him in kisses, holding a hot oil lamp so she could examine her love. However, a drop of oil fell onto his shoulder and he awoke, startled and upset that she had found out who he was, he tried to fly off but she grabbed his ankle and they both fell to the floor. 
• He told her that his mother wanted him to sentence her to a terrible marriage, but that he came to her as her lover instead but was made out to be a terrible  monster. He knew she had planned to kill him and he promised to enact revenge on her sisters. As for her, he would punish her by leaving her all alone, and so he flew off into the night. 

Amore e Psiche (1707–09) 

by Giuseppe Crespi, found on Wikipedia

Psyche's Despair
This should really be titled "Psyche's Revenge"

• In her sadness, Psyche tries to kill herself by jumping into a river, but the water catches her as it respects Cupid, and gently lays her on the riverbank. Here, she runs into Pan the god of the wild who notices that she is obviously in some sort of love-centered distress. He tells her to pray to Cupid for aid, she thanks him and walks on before arriving at the residence of one of her sisters. She tells her sister that in his anger, Cupid banned her from her bed, drove her from the palace, and planned to wed her sister in revenge. The sister quickly came up with a plan to ditch her husband, she told him her parents were dying and headed back to the cliff where she'd jumped to visit her sister. She leapt, but this time there was no wind to catch her, and she fell to her death. After this, Psyche traveled to meet her other sister and told her the same story. Not surprisingly the second sister also jumped off the cliff hoping to marry Cupid but instead fell to her death. 

Pinstamatic Tech Tip

For this tech tip, I decided to give Pinstamatic a try and create my own quote picture for my blog. I adore a multitude of Martin Luther King Jr's quotes, but chose this because it resonates with a lot of my life experiences. I am a pretty liberal person who grew up in a very conservative home. I've been outspoken and forthcoming about my views on where our country needs to head socially which have gotten me kicked out of my church, threatened, beaten up, and yelled at. So, I feel like this quote sums up how I feel about my beliefs and about what i've gone through to stay true to them.

made using Pinstamatic

Quozio Tech Tip

made using Quozio

I love Maya Angelou and all of the amazing things she did in her life. I hope that even though I likely wont bring about as much change or reach an audience as large as hers, that I will at least lead a positive life and impact someone in a good way before I go. I have really embraced the idea of creating my own bliss and finding beauty in everything. 

Rest in Peace Maya Angelou

April 4, 1926-May 28, 2014

To learn more about Maya Angelou and her incredible life, visit any of these links:
The Maya Angelou Website
Wikipedia
Biography.com
The Poetry Foundation


Also, check out this beautiful video:

Love Liberates

Maya Angelou (2013), Found on YouTube

BeHappy.me Tech Tip

made using BeHappy.me

I decided to play around with the quotemaking website BeHappy.me and chose this quote by Ben Franklin because I just finished a lovely glass of wine from a bottle that I got at a winery called Girls Gone Wine in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. It was called B'Ark and it's so so yummy! Plus, some of the cost goes to the local animal shelter! 

Go check them out! 

Girls Gone Wine

Google Timer Tech Tip

I did not know Google had a timer until now! Google has so many neat functions! I think I will definitely use this because I like to set out specific amounts of time to do things so that I don't get burnt out. For instance, sometimes I will set a timer for an hour and dedicate that hour to schoolwork. That means that for that hour I have to focus on doing homework, reading for class, writing papers, etc. and when the hour is over I can take a break. Usually I will put on a show on the TV or set another timer so that I can watch my time before I have to get back to work. This helps me manage my time in a healthy way. Otherwise, I will spend hours sitting at my computer doing classwork, but will not get as much done because I will be looking for some sort of distraction. My mind just gets worn out from working on school stuff for too long. Breaks are definitely important! I feel like finally I understand that even when it comes to schoolwork, you have to take care of yourself. Time management really aids with self care.

Pinterest Widget Tech Tip

Follow Bria Waters's board Myth-Folklore on Pinterest.

Week 1 Famous Last Words

This week marked the first week of my last semester before I graduate with  my Bachelors of Social Work from OU. I can't believe how fast time has flown! It feels like freshman year was just the other day! I've had a lot of good experiences and a lot of bad ones since i've been at OU, but they have all made me a better person and I am so thankful for that. Anyway, I am positive this semester is going to be great. My roommate and I have resolved to make good grades, work out more, and volunteer more. In fact, she is joining me at my practicum site, Calm Waters, as a volunteer! I'm so excited to see what adventures this semester takes me on. 

As for this week, it's only Tuesday and I already have a lot to write about. Lets start with the weekend that led up to my first week of class. My roommate and I drove back from Kansas after spending a few days with her grandmother (and her adorable, lovey horses) on Friday so she could attend training at Calm Waters. Saturday, we celebrated her birthday by having dinner with her family at Zios (omg, so delicious) before heading to the city for my gift to her. I arranged for Amber (birthday girl), my boyfriend (Rafy), myself, my bestie Michael and his girlfriend, and our friend Seth to stay at a hotel in Bricktown. We stayed at the Homewood Suites on E. Sheridan in a giant room that was right across the street from the Circus Partybar, a nightclub that we planned to go to that night. The service was great and the room was amazing.  We had the best time! Then, on Sunday we had lunch with her family, including her grandparents. Her family is so amazing. I count them as my own. 

Pictures from Kansas and Amber's Birthday Party

made using PicMonkey

Monday was the first day of class and I loved it because I only have two classes that I actually have to go to and they are with professors I had last semester that I really enjoy having. So, after getting to see my fellow social work classmates again (finally) I came home and made birthday dinner for Amber (Monday was her actual birthday), a yummy meal of chicken and broccoli tortellini alfredo, with a little hookah for dessert. It was a great end to a lovely and productive day. 

Also, every time I try to do homework my cat gets on my hands and meows at me until I stop and pet her. She says "no" to homework. 

BooBoo being Rotten

my photo from 1/13/15

Checking out the Untextbook

Here's the Untextbook

The four units that really caught my eyes were:

Dante's Inferno- I read parts of Dante's Inferno in high school and really loved it, so i'm looking forward to getting into it again. Also, I just replayed the Dante's Inferno video game and I will be able to compare the game and it's rendition of the levels of hell with the epic that is Dante's Inferno! Here's a collage I found of screenshots from the game:

Dante's Inferno Montage

by ImmyG93, found on DeviantArt

Egyptian Myth- Obviously I am looking forward to this unit because I am a huge fan of Egyptian mythology and always have been. I am excited to see which gods/goddesses/stories are featured in this unit.

Alice in Wonderland- who doesn't love this fairy tale? Honestly, Alice has always been a fun story that was both a little inappropriate and fantastical which has drawn me to her story. Plus, I took a quick look at the actual unit and it looks like we will be reading most of the original story so i'm excited about that. I've never actually read the original!

Brothers Grimm (Hunt)- I have read the entirety of the Brother's Grimm tales and love them. I love comparing what we see in Disney movies to what the actual story is like! I am interested in all of the Grimm units, but chose this one because these were household fairy tales.

Storybook Favorites

I chose to check out 4 storybooks for this post. I chose them initially because the names interested me. I am super interested in both gods AND goddesses, but lately i've been trying to embrace my inner goddess and as such decided to focus on the female divinities for the first three. The last one called to me because I LOVE Doctor Who. Anyway, here they are:

The Princess Constellations

First of all, I really love the picture on the cover page. It's a stunning picture, and it really adds to the overall layout of this storybook. Next, I checked out the introduction and was in no way disappointed. I love this person's writing style, plus the image they chose was actually a gif and I now am determined to use more gifs in  my blogging. I keep a tumblr (actually two) and it is almost half gifs! There was only one other story, but it was a great one. It was well-written and I had never heard of the princess she wrote about so it got me more interested. I wanted to read more! An extra plus was that the image was once again, STUNNING. 

Here's the picture from the cover page, so gorgeous. 

The Princess and the Stars 

Imagination by maf04 (2014), found on Flickr

Here's the link, go check it out! 

The Princess Constellations

Mermaid Tails

I chose this storybook because ever since I was little I have always wanted to be a mermaid. I love the ocean and how prevalent mermaids are in multiple cultures' stories. They are not always beautiful, friendly creatures and I love the morbidity of the stories where mermaids seduce men and drag them to their deaths. It's strange, but super cool. I loved that they played on words with their title too. The theme was appropriate, but kind of boring compared to its subject matter. 

Mermaid Tails

Queen of the Underworld

This storybook focuses on Persephone, a goddess who (in my opinion) is overlooked and needs to be given a voice so I loved it! The style of this storybook was great and I loved the stories. It was cool that they all focused on Persephone, but I think for my storybook I want to feature more than one central goddess. I also liked that this storybook was like a diary. I feel like Persephone would keep a diary, after all, her story is one of seclusion (for the most part).

Go learn about Persephone and her side of the story. 

The Doctor and his Rebels 

Right off the bat, i'm into it because the cover page features the Time and Relational Distance in Space or TARDIS. I would have done a little more with the background and layout, but it's clean and easy to read so I liked it overall. So, I started checking out the stories and OH MY GOSH! I love it! I would never have thought to take traditional fairy tales like Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, and Rapunzel and turn them into aliens with their own planets and cultures. It was so cool! The author of this storybook also included a native american story which was super neat! 

If you want to get into it, click here: Enter the Tardis and take a ride!

Storytelling for Week 1: The Cunning Cat and Common Sense Fox

There were once two pals who were travelling companions. They found snacks, small meals to maintain sustenance but mostly passed their time talking. They talked for quite some time before the discussion turned into an argument; and as arguments often do when between people who know each other, theirs became personal.

The fox spouted off to the cat, teasing him. "I bet you find yourself to be pretty smart, huh? Thinking you're always right, thinking you always know the best way to do something."

The cat admitted that he did not have many tricks. In fact, he only had one; but that one trick was extremely valuable, more so than any of the fox's tricks. Quality over quantity, he stressed.

The fox, opened his mouth to reply, but quickly shut it. Both of their ears perked up; they'd both heard the sound of approaching hunters. Their horns rang out and their dogs' barks carried through the trees and across the land.

Instinctively, the cat jumped up into the tree and vanished, hidden among the leaves and branches.

The Fox and the Cat by Winceslaus Hollar

Retrieved from Wikimedia

From deep within the foliage, the fox heard the cat say, "Here is my trick! Show me yours!"

The fox's head twitched and his eyes moved side-to-side as he thought through his multitudes of escape plans. He had so many! The fox ran, trying to decide which plan to take and buying some time as the hounds approached, biting at his paws.

He tried many things: diving into random burrows, taking sharp turns, doubling back, and running as fast as he could- but these were simply not enough. The hounds quickly caught up to and overtook the fox, quieting his bragging and teasing.

In the end, the cat's common sense won him not only the argument, but his life. The fox's tricks and supposed cunning were too much and not enough at the same time and he paid the ultimate price.

Author's Note
This story is based off of the fable by Aesop titled "The Cat and the Fox" which can be found in the book Aesop for Children, illustrated by Milo Winter (1919). The fable tells the short tale of a cat and a fox. The cat relies on his instinct, whereas the fox hatches schemes, makes plans, and over-prepares while ignoring his basic instincts. He acts as though for something to be good or right, it must be complicated and new. However, when the two must run from a pack of hounds, the fox cannot make a decision on which plan to choose and ends up being hunted down by the hounds. The fable ends simply with the following words:

"Common sense is always worth more than cunning."

I like this story because I agree that simple is sometimes the best option, and one should always listen to their instincts or "go with their gut." This really stuck with me because I try to always listen to my instincts because when I don't, things simply seem to go bad. I liked that this story featured a character that is really smart, but thinks things through just a little too much. I can be the same way; sometimes over-thinking things or second-guessing myself, but I have tried to start trusting myself more like the fox should have in the first place. 

Introduction

So, who the heck is Bria Waters???

Weirdo

Sooner

Headcase

Future Social Work Super Hero

Age: 21

Major: Social Work

School Level: Senior (Class of 2015)

Where I'm From: Frisco, TX

Hobbies: Bellydance, makeup artistry, tumblr, writing, drawing, reading, dancing of any kind really, giving animals love, volunteering, occasional crafting, & not wearing pants

Pets: My cat, BooBoo Kitty; my roommate's dog, Lily; our betta fish, Bobby 

Lily in the first snow of this winter!

My photo from November 2014

BooBoo Kitty is a huge creeper, but I love her!

My photo from December 2014

Campus Activities: Volunteer with the Women's Outreach Center, member of the Undergraduate Social Workers Association, member of Alpha Lambda Delta, member of the OU LGBTQ Club, member of the sooner ballroom dance club, & a trained Sooner Ally

Other Important Stuff I Guess: 

• I had lapband June 26, 2014 and have lost 80 pounds since then! I feel sooooo much better! 

BEFORE: 267 lbs, size 24 

My photo from May 2014

DURING: 206 lbs, size 16

My photo from October 2014

I currently weigh 192 lbs and am hanging out in a size 14. I am 32 lbs away from my goal weight! 

• I am an intern at Calm Waters in OKC. 
• I volunteer with Valir Hospice.
• I LOVE animals!
• Oh, and I have 3 tattoos and want so many more!!!

Tattoos Body Piercing - Lolo

Photo by Jeff Turner, Found on Flickr