Unit 13: Of Sirens and Mermaids

                It would seem that the myths of creatures like sirens and mermaids were formed in order to be cautionary tales. They were created in a time when there was much unknown about the world and therefore much to fear. What these two mythical creatures have in common is the idea that they lured men to death at sea which supports the idea that these myths were formed from a fear of the unknown. These myths gave an explanation for seemingly unexplainable disappearances of sailors or even entire ships.

                Mermaids and sirens are cut from the same cloth, so to speak. They both fit the archetype of the alluring creature that charms men or tricks men to their dooms. Where they differ is more in their specific details such as appearance. Mermaids are thought to be sea creatures that are half woman, and half fish. They are responsible for using their guiles to lure men into dangerous waters where they drown. Sirens on the other hand, are not sea creatures but are more bird-like. They are reported as birds with the head of a woman, or as women with wings. Rather than using their beauty to lure men to their doom, the sirens sing their song and draw entire ships into the rocky shores where they are shipwrecked.

                The modern film series Pirates of the Caribbean deals largely with myth and legend from the age of pirates. In the latest film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, mermaids are presented as cruel and dangerous creatures. The film closely followed the archetype of the mermaid; that is, a beautiful woman from the waist up, and a large fish tail from the waist down. In the film, the mermaids were also presented as very dangerous creatures that lured men to their death with their beauty and their songs. The characters in the film were very aware of the dangers that the mermaids presented but when faced with the creatures themselves, succumbed to their charms all the same.

                 Outside of film, authors have used the myth of mermaids as a means to create stories of forbidden love. There is a sort of Romeo and Juliet archetype that is often associated with mermaid and human romances. One such example is the wildly popular story of The Little Mermaid. The original, written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1836, tells of a young mermaid who falls in love with a human prince but struggles to make the romance become a reality because they are from different worlds; he is of the land, and she is of the sea. In this incarnation of the mermaid myth, the focus is on the physical aspects of the mermaid rather than the danger that is often associated with the creature. 

Unit 12: Rewriting Gender

Once there was a wolf, who quite egotistically, referred to himself as “The Big Bad Wolf.” One day this wolf caught the scent of a small family of pigs who each lived a house of their own design. These three pigs, Peter, Paul, and Penny, were perfectly content living in their houses made of straw, sticks, and bricks respectively. The wolf followed his nose to the house of the first pig, Peter, who resided in a lovely house made of straw. The wolf courteously knocked on the door and tried to coax the pig out. Peter the pig refused. Realizing the house was made of a rather frail material, the wolf proclaimed “Come out now or I’ll totally destroy your house!” And totally destroy the house, he did. In the destruction, Peter was able to scurry away to his brother’s house next door. Peter and Paul huddled together and phoned their sister, Penny, who lived next door. “Get over here, Penny!” The brothers urged. “There’s a wolf trying to eat us and he totally destroyed Peter’s house!” Penny explained to her brothers that her house was made of brick, a material that the wolf would be unable to totally destroy. The brothers, as they always had, insisted that they knew better and told her that Paul’s house of sticks was so well built that it was the only safe place. As they said this, the wolf reached the house of sticks and, smelling not one but two delicious pigs inside, decided to forgo his previous attempt to persuade the pigs, and opted to simply and totally destroy the house. This time however, the wolf did not let the pigs slip away and he hungrily gobbled up the portly pig brothers. Penny, seeing the horror that had befallen her brothers, quickly locked the door to her house made of bricks and confidently settled into her chair to read a book. Just as she settled in, she heard a knocking at her door. Knowing full well that it was the Big Bad Wolf, she ignored the knocking. The wolf, persistent as he was, pressed a button beside the door that seemed to be for the doorbell. This button did not sound the doorbell however, and was instead a home defense measure that Penny had installed, despite her brothers’ mocking insistence of its futility. This defense measure, when pressed, fired a .12 gauge shotgun slug from the peephole of the door that all but decimated the head of the Big Bad Wolf. At the sound of the shot, Penny opened to door to find the headless body of the Big Bad Wolf. Satisfied by her wit, yet mournful for her brothers, Penny lived the rest of her days safely and happily in her quaint brick home.

The End. 

                                                                       Penny the Pig

Unit 11: Contemporary Myths

        In the film “O Brother Where Art Thou,” Homer’s the Odyssey is adapted into a modern telling of the epic. Along with aspects and symbols of the Greek myth, the directors also used tales and legends from other times and cultures. One such example can is Sheriff Cooley, who is described as being the devil. When the group meets the blind prophet, Tommy Johnson, he describes the devil is “as white as you folks, with empty eyes and a big hollow voice. He loves to travel around with a mean old hound.” The Sheriff fits this description throughout the movie and in fact, we never actually see the sheriff’s eyes; we only ever see him wearing large reflective glasses, giving them an empty look.

Sheriff Cooley

        Along with his physical description, this character is also representative of the Christian notion of the devil in his actions. The devil is often thought to be always present and always trying to take souls away to Hell. While the Sheriff is not literally always present, he is always on the groups trail and breathing down their necks, so to speak, in an attempt to take them back to prison; also known as hell. 

Unit 10: Magic Realism

     In the story “The Distance of the Moon,” we are told of a magical realism story in which the moon’s far away orbit from Earth is explained. In the story, we learn that the moon was once very close to the Earth; so close, in fact, that people used to travel to and from the two masses. In the end of the story, a woman chose to stay on the moon as it distanced itself from the Earth. She did this out of love for a man who only loved the moon. This idea feels very much like the idea of a creation myth. One that comes to mind is the Navajo legend of the sun and moon.

     In the legend, the world was barren and without light or heat so the inhabitants had two wheels created, one that gave off light and heat, and one that brought rain and lightning. The two wheels were placed upon opposing mountain peaks but were without movement so that there was one bright and warm side and one dark and cold side. Two elders then gave their spirits to the wheels in order to give them movement; thus creating the sun and the moon. 

     While there are obvious differences between the two stories, at their cores, they are very similar. The two stories give an elaborate origin to the moon and explain its position in the sky. Both stories also touch on the idea of a human spirit that gives some greater meaning to the moon. For these reasons, the story “The Distance of the Moon” can be viewed as more than a Magic Realism story and in fact as a pseudo-creation story for the moon. 

Unit 9: The Vampire

     When I think vampires, I think of a beautiful and seductive creature with terrible power. No representation of a vampire fits this description better than Kate Beckinsale’s character, Selene, from the Underworld movie franchise. Selene very much fits the established sexual image of the vampire that was set by literary works such as Carmilla and Dracula, and in cinematic works in the 20^th century. 

     This character is not only stunningly beautiful, but she is also immensely powerful. The films representation of vampire successfully portrays the immortality and the power of the creatures that is sometimes forgotten in cinematic depictions. In the film series we see not only Selene survive and dish out some very serious assaults, but we see what other vampires are capable of as well; making this series a great modern portrayal of the myth of vampires. 

Unit 6: Antigone

       In the story of Antigone, great tragedy befalls a number of characters. Antigone, driven by her honor and love for her brother, broke the king’s laws and buried her brother in the name of the gods. In doing so, she sentenced herself to death. Creon, the man who invoked the laws and the sentence on Antigone, experiences his own tragedy as well. In sentencing Antigone and being staunch in his beliefs, he set into motion a series of events that would take the lives of his son and his wife. For this reason, I believe that Creon is the tragic hero in this story. 

       Much like the tragic hero, Oedipus, Creon is a man who is responsible for the pain that befalls on him. These men believe so strongly in their actions and in their search for justice that they are blind to the effects these actions may have. In Creon’s case, his decision to not waver from his conviction of Antigone led to her death. Her death then resulted in the grief-stricken suicide of his son, Haemon. Similarly, the death of his son led to the grief stricken suicide of his wife, Eurydice. What makes Creon a tragic hero is that he realizes his mistakes, but only too late. After he finds his dead son, he proclaims: “…vain shadow that I am, who slew thee, o my son, unwittingly, and thee too…” We see in this quote that Creon truly realize that his actions alone resulted in the death of his loved ones. 

Unit 5: Heroism

            In the TV program Arrow, Oliver Queen is a billionaire playboy who after a harrowing experience on an island, become a hero. This character is based off of a comic book series called the Green Arrow and, as we know, modern super heroes often share characteristics with the heroes of myth. This show in particular does is a very good example of a tragic hero’s story and that theme repeats in various forms and plots.

                                                      

            The tragic hero from Greek myth is nearly always of noble origin. While Oliver Queen does not come from a line of rulers or kings, he does come from a family of great wealth and power. In contemporary times, this is as close to nobility as it gets. Individuals born into wealthy families can be compared to noble families in antiquity in terms of wealth, power, and social standing.

           

            The manner in which Oliver Queen became a hero was very characteristic of a tragic hero. He was on a vacation on a large yacht with his friends and family when the boat capsized, killing everyone but Oliver. He washed up on the shore of an unknown island where he was taken by a mysterious military force and was tortured for some time. This is characteristic of a tragic hero in that the story starts off well, but soon declines into serious trouble for the hero.

                                          -Kevin Sullivan