Hanging By A Thread.

Las Hilanderas, c. 1667, Oil on Canvas, Museo del Prado, Diego Velazquez

  One of the most well known and frequently depicted myths in Ovid's Metamorphoses is the story of Arachne. While the specific details of this tale are not necessarily applicable to today's society, the underlying story has been told and retold, time and time again. A young person who is proficient and prideful in their work gets the idea that they can outdo the master in their craft. After much boasting, they end up challenging the master despite the admonishing of friends and elders. After a challenge ensues, the prideful youth receives a lesson in humility in some form or another at the hand of the master. 

  As an Art History Major, I really appreciate accurate depictions of myths, and (as seen in the above photo) Diego Velazquez goes above and beyond simple story telling. Through the different layers and scenes in this painting, Velazquez seems to communicate the moral as well as the fable.  In the painting, there are two distinctive rooms, one in the foreground and one in the back. The room in the foreground is dim and cluttered with young and old women staying busy with their spinning and weaving. The women are painted in such a way that the viewer can almost feel the immediacy of the room and see the dignity in hard work. Despite this room being at the front of the painting, the real action takes place in the back. Up a couple steps, the viewer sees a room that is bathed in a bright light that creates a divine quality. Athena can be identified on the left hand side by the silver helmet on her head as she peers onto Arachne's tapestry. Arachne can be seen in the center with her arms open wide, pridefully presenting her depiction of The Rape of Europa. Velazquez borrowed the image that Arachne spun from a painting by Titian to show his veneration for the Venetian master. Obviously, Diego did not want to commit the same folly as Arachne. 

   It does not take a detective to see that this tale is one about the dangers of pride. After Arachne challenged Pallas to a spinning contest and loses, Pallas strikes her down and Arachne hangs herself to save her pride instead of admitting defeat. Oddly, the god shows mercy and saves Arachne by turning her into a spider (which is why spiders weave webs).  This myth elegantly illustrates the dangers of boastful pride and how it can lead to downfall or a forced change. In Ovid's version, Pallas Athena disguises herself as an elderly woman in order to talk to Arachne and present her with the opportunity to repent saying, "Wisdom arrives with years- take my advice, accept your reputation among mortals...but give your goddess grace for your gifts and ask her to forgive the thoughtless speeches of a foolish daughter; You'll be forgiven if you say your prayers". Obviously, this warning fell onto deaf ears and Arachne issued her challenge and Pallas accepted, and subsequently won. 

Behind the facade of our big egos we constantly do hide
And pride of five letters is only that just pride
And some will even tell you pride comes before a fall
From life we have been learning from before we learned to crawl,
The thing we refer to as pride not easily understood
A little pride is necessary but too much pride not good
Pride can lead to big egos and snobbish self conceit
A truly humble person is one you don't often meet
The self opinionated and self conceited never known to be rare
Those who promote their egos in the bigger World out there
From the seeds of a big ego success is often grown
A humble quiet achiever is one I have not known
A little pride is necessary and self esteem okay
But too much pride can lead to arrogance and that seems sad to say. 

- Francis Duggan

The Rape of Europa, 1562, Oil on Canvas, Titian 

  

The Beauty of Sisyphus.

Sisyphus, 1548-49, Oil on Canvas, Titian 

   A vast majority of people in today's society have heard the story of Sisyphus or a displacement resembling the original tale. Out of the people that have experienced this saturnine tale, I believe that many of them would agree with me when I say that Sisyphus's plight appears quite tragic on the surface. A man who is doomed to push a large boulder up a steep mountain side, only to have it plummet down the other side once he reaches the summit hardly shows any potential to make one feel cheery. While I do concur that this myth is quite disheartening on the surface, I think that there is a small amount of beauty to be found as well.

  Personally, I envy Sisyphus. Now, before you write me off as crazy, hear me out. I do not envy Sisyphus's circumstances in any way, but I do envy his resolve. Even though he is on a forced charge to repeat an impossible mission, he has more determination than I have experienced in my lifetime. Despite the fact that the slope is steep and his load is heavy, Sisyphus still pushed that rock up, knowing full well that it would fall down the other side immediately. I think that there is a lesson to be learned in this myth. I see a metaphor about being persistent in the face of supposedly immanent failure.    I can only hope that someday I can learn to have the same amount of bravery and determination depicted in this fable. 

Oh, but to have the passion of

Sisyphus... To be contemptuous 

of Hope...

To look forward to the endless

struggle... To rail against that 

heartless slope...

Freedom is found within the

heart, Tyranny cannot enter thee...

We are invincible, we are defiant

of Life's absurdity.

-Larry L. Conners

Crossing The Threshold.

  Henceforth I ask not good fortune—I myself am good fortune;                                            Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing.                                                                Strong and content, I travel the open road.                                                                                                                                    —Walt Whitman

  In my 20 years of life experience, I cannot count how many times I have heard the statement "Life is an adventure waiting for you to answer the call". While I have always understood the purpose behind adults telling me this I always found it to be cliche' and overused. How could life truly be an adventure? All the adventures I had come across through reading and media (Lord of the Rings, Eragon, Harry Potter, etc.) were so grand and involved great peril followed by great reward for those brave enough to embark on the journey. Each of these heroic tales started with grandiose calls to action followed by engrossing tales about the adventure ahead, while the closest I had ever come to a "call to action" was my high school art teacher telling me to run to the office and make a copy for her. So day by day I went through my life waiting for my "calling" to appear and whisk me away to my destiny... but it never came. 

  After arriving at Montana Sate University, I started to gain exposure to other great works of literature containing even more tales of enterprise. It probably comes as no surprise that one of these books is Ovid's Metamorphoses. Happily I read along through the different tales until I came to the parable of Theseus and the Minotaur. After I finished reading something struck me like a lightning bolt. Theseus did not wait for a sign before he took action, he willingly sought it out when he saw that it was necessary. 

  I was quite taken aback by this seemingly obvious solution to the problem I had been living through for years. While life might be an adventure waiting in the wings, it is not going to click on a neon sign signaling you to take action, sometimes you have to grab a flashlight and search for it. It was at that moment that I walked into the study abroad offices at MSU and applied to the Lorenzo di' Medici University in Florence Italy. After a few weeks of fretting, I received my acceptance letter. So that is that, soon I start my own monomyth with me as my own hero. I cannot wait to go through every bit of my separation, initiation, and eventually, my return. Sometimes all it takes to wake you up to reality, is a long forgotten myth. 

The Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog, 1818, Oil on Canvas, Caspar David Friedrich 

I Must Be Mistaken.

Daedalus and Icarus, Oil on Canvas, c. 1620, Anthony van Dyck

  It is no secret that Professor Sexson's homework assignments are unorthodox to say the least. Being asked to "go hug a tree" or "pay more attention out there" are not uncommon requirements for this class. Despite their peculiarity, each of these tasks are centered around the concept of metamorphoses and our unexpected growth as students, people, and mythic detectives. Out of the laundry list of sapid missions that I have been sent on, one has always vexed me. "Go out and make a mistake". The task seems easy enough due to the vast amount of slip-ups I get myself into, but none seemed to fit the bill in my mind. It wasn't until now, with the end of the semester looming on the horizon, that it hit me. 

  My ENTIRE semester has been a mistake.

  I understand that this statement can come across as pessimistic or defeatist, but I mean it in the best way possible. I guess I relate my experience this semester to that of Icarus (without the whole crashing to your death fiasco). What I mean by this is that my cumulative mistakes were all made to teach me about balancing my personal and scholastic life and the proper way to fly in the middle of both. 

  Before I left the safe nest of Colville Washington, my mother gave me advice that I wrote off due to it's simplicity. My mother told me, "Have fun and study hard, but don't do too much of either". After reading Ovid's Metamorphoses, this advice reminds me of what Daedalus told Icarus before they took to the skies. "Remember to fly midway, for if you dip too low, the waves will weight your wings with thick salt water, and if you fly too high the flames of heaven will burn them from your sides" was the warning presented to both Icarus and myself. And like Icarus, I didn't listen. 

  At the beginning of my classes I was adamant on being the best. I would spend hour upon hour in the library or in my room studying. As my grades and knowledge rose up and up, the more burnt out I was becoming with education and the scholarly process. To counteract my dwindling desire to learn, I thought it would be beneficial to take a break and live it up a bit. I took a figurative dive down from my school work and into the party scene. The more partying I did, the more weighed down I felt and it eventually lead to my inevitable string of illnesses. 

  Thankfully I was able to take the hint nature was giving me. I am in the process of balancing my flight path in order to grow as an intellectual. My mistakes gave me lessons in life and the way to live it, so ultimately...I think I did my homework.

Sparagmos: From Myth to Modernity

Pentheus torn apart by Ino and Agave, Lekanis Lid, ca. 450 BC

  As we all know, the term sparagmos roughly translates into "to tear, rend, and pull to pieces". Being students of mythology, there are many different tales that we can find which fit this description, the best known being the story of Pentheus. According to Ovid, Pentheus was viciously torn to pieces by the Bacchae (women under the influence of Bacchus) for being a headstrong "God mocker". Even Pentheus's aunt Autonoe got in on the action crying "Look at him. I'll tear arms, legs, all hanging parts from that rough body". Sounds painful right? Right. Punishments such as this seem to belong only in the dark and twisted tales that come from Ovid's Metamorphoses, but after some research is done, we see that this is not the case.
  If you have ever read any stories that take place in England around the 1300's, then you have probably read the phrase "hanged, drawn, and quartered". This phrase describes the punishment that was inflicted upon men that had committed high treason against the crown. It started with the man being hung until he was almost dead and then he would have his stomach slit. Immediately following this, the guards would tie each limb to a different horse and have them run in different directions, tearing the man into "quarters". If this doesn't fit the term sparagmos, then I'm not sure what does. Sadly, acts such as this did not end in the 1300's. In 1993 there was an incident known as Black Hawk Down that happened in Mogadishu. Members of the U.S. military had their mutilated bodies drug through the streets after their helicopter crash during a mission. While this might not have the same "tearing" action that sparagmos literally means, this is still an action that hearkens back to the mutilation of Pentheus.
  Pain, punishment, and sparagmos are things and experiences that occur in modern times that have a mythic feel to them. Not all actions that can be traced back to "origins" are pleasant. If you don't agree... Go ask Pentheus.

Origins and Originality

  

Fin de' Arabesque, Oil on Canvas, 1877, Edgar Degas

  At the start of the semester I remember walking in a couple minutes late to class and hearing Professor Sexson say "There is no such thing as originality". Now, as an Art History major, a photographer, and a former modern dance instructor, I took slight offense to this before he went onto explain that "originality" really means "going back to origins". At first, I didn't buy this notion entirely. In my head I remember spending hours and hours in the dance studio attempting to choreograph dances that had never been seen before. As the choreographer of many different dance routines, I allowed myself to think that I succeeded in experiencing true originality, but upon reflection I realized that was not the case. 

  Whenever I was creating a dance and could not think of where to take the piece, I would look up other contemporary dances on youtube for inspiration. This alone takes the "originality" away from my creations, but with a little more thought and research, I realized that the dances I was creating could be traced back to the mythological beginning of time. 

  The dances that I stumbled upon all used moves that could be traced back to Martha Graham (the mother of modern dance) and her seemingly innovative modern dance company and style. Even though Martha Graham was considered to be an innovator and visionary, she too, had her origins. Martha (like many girls) was most likely taught classical ballet in her youth, which has been preformed since the Italian Renaissance. This got me thinking... The word "renaissance"translates roughly into re-birth which brought up the Greek creation myth concerning the birth of the world. In the beginning (in ilo tempore) the Greek goddess Eurynome danced on the waves of Oceanus to create the world! Before this class I would have never realized just how mythological my daily action of choreographing really was.

  * On an intriguing note: Martha Graham's dance company preformed a three part dance program entitled Myth and Transformation.

Link: One of my dance pieces

Link: Scenes from Martha Graham's Myth and Trans.

Catch Me If You Can

  

  Lana was almost finished with her senior year at Pattonville High School in St. Louis Missouri and already had accomplished many things in her 18 years. Along with maintaining a 3.75 GPA, Lana was involved with the Earth Day Club, Drama, and Band. While she was very dedicated to her clubs, it was no secret what she was really known for. As every record book in PHS could validate, Lana was the fastest runner to ever compete on the track team. In all four years of competing, there was not a single racer (boy or girl) that could beat her times, and Lana was very proud of this. Every morning at 5 am, she would get up to practice and train. With the combination of training, school, and extra-curriculars, Lana had little to no time (or desire) to pursue any other endeavors, especially romantic ones. For most young girls, avoiding romantic advances would be a non-issue, and it would be the same for Lana if she was not breathtakingly beautiful. 

  With the end of the school year looming on the horizon, posters sporting phrases such as "PROM! Who are you going with?"started popping up like the flowers outside. With Senior Prom in the minds of the young men, Lana was getting bombarded by date requests on an increasingly regular basis. After weeks of avoiding the lustful advances of adolescent boys, Lana came up with a plan. Jogging down to the track Lana declared that whoever could beat her in a 400 meter dash would be her prom date, but anyone that lost would be thrown in the dumpster behind the school. 

 A few young men felt up to the challenge and lined up for their chance to race the beautiful Lana. To no surprise of the on-lookers, no boy was able to beat her, and were subsequently tossed into the dumpster like a carton of milk gone sour. It seemed like Lana was going to escape without a date until a young man pushed through the crowd. 

  Mason was a handsome boy who had just moved to town. He came from a very well off family due to his great grandfather being the owner of the Neptune Cruise Line and much like the others, he was instantly captivated by the gorgeous Lana. After catching his eye, Lana too felt a rush of blood that reddened her face and made her skin warm. Due to her foreign emotion, Lana tried to convince Mason to walk away from the race, in the hopes of sparing him the humiliation. Little did Lana know, Mason had a plan. 

  With both pairs of feet on the starting line, the flag was waved and the two runners took off. Mason, while being a strong young man, was no match for Lana's pace. As she started to pass him, Mason put his plan into action. Quickly glancing downward, he spat out the piece of bubblegum he had been chewing, and with one more step, Lana got stuck. She paused only for a second to scrape off the gooey pick mass and then continue on. This happened two more times, allowing Mason to pass Lana a little more each time. On the last 100 meters, Mason spat out the biggest, stickiest piece of Bubblelicious bubble gum which held Lana up long enough for him to cross the finish line. 

  With mixed emotions clouding her mind, Lana went home to pick out her prom dress and a matching tie for Mason.