Week 3: Famous Last Words

Anyway, it’s been a great week and looking forward to many more!

The end of Week 3 is finally here. I am excited to have completed 3 weeks of this semester already. This class was great this week even though I had to do majority of the class of Saturday. I enjoyed reading Homer’s Odyssey because it contained a lot of great characters. I am curious to read the full Odyssey though so I may try and do that on my extra credit reading either this week or next. I felt my story was okay this week. I think I should have split up the story into two weeks in order to write everything I wanted in this story. Oh well, maybe I can change it up if the Portfolio option is the direction I want to go. School is starting to pick up, specifically my Capstone course. I am now working on this course every day and it is extremely time consuming. I am enjoying it though because it involves somewhat real-world applications to what I have been learning the past few years.

In terms of outside of class, I am excited to say that I have an interview in March for a full-time position. Right now it is hard to find a job as a Petroleum Engineer, so I am extremely thankful for at least the chance to interview for a spot. Additionally, I am super (no pun intended) excited for the Super Bowl tomorrow. My friends and I are going to have a get together and watch the game. I could care less who wins so I am mainly going for the food and drinks! I do hope the Falcons win though.

Super Bowl LI

Next week I am excited to switch from the classical/biblical stories to the Indian story. I was in the Epics of India course last year and I really enjoyed reading all of the interesting stories form this culture. I do not know exactly what I am reading though.

Week 3 Review

This week has been pretty hectic and busy. I am glad that I was finally able to catch up on this class. I think the below meme is perfect because sometimes life isn't fair and the best thing to do is accept it and move on. You need to just push through and ultimately you will find success in anything you do. 

I am really looking forward to the upcoming weeks. 

Weekly Announcements

Wikipedia Trail: From Cyclops to Homeric Questions

Since I just finished reading Homer’s Odyssey, I decided to start my search with cyclops. I learned some information such as cyclops actually means “round-eyed”. The page does mention that Homer’s cyclops in the Odyssey may actually not have been a single eyed giant but instead he had two eyes. Since I actually read Homer’s Odyssey, I ended up selecting Polyphemus as my next Wikipedia page. Polyphemus. He is an interesting character that is a giant cyclops and also the son of Poseidon. I wanted to learn more about his character and his origin. Reading about him, I got more interested in Homer himself as an author. I find it interesting that his life was filled with such ambiguity. No one really knows who he was because there are rumored stories about him. Also, some people question if Homer was actually a singular person or a group of authors. Since there is discrepancies in his life and work, I clicked on Homeric Questions. This is a page that explains some of the potential questions that surround his two famous epics. Below are some of the questions:

•        “Who is Homer”
•        “Are the Iliad and Odyssey of multiple or single authorship?”

This is interesting because I always thought it was known that Homer was a single man. I am going to continue research into his life. 

Wikipedia: Homer

Learn by H.E.A.R.T.

I choose the reading challenge this week because I recently decided to set an hour of my time a night to read a book. Every other night I switch from a fiction book to one that will help me in my future. I currently am reading a book about real estate but I have a  few other books on the topic of investments. I feel this will really help me learn and stay focused. I think reading really does help you learn more and watching TV just gets old after awhile. 

H.E.A.R.T. Blog

Growth Mindset

I think the below quote is very accurate. It is one thing to always set goals that are attainable, however, it is good to stretch out and strive for a difficult goal. This allows a person to grow without feeling like they are failing. It is always important to look at your progress instead of focusing on the end result. 

I also chose this because Bruce Lee is awesome!

Growth Mindset Blog

Tech Tip: Google Timer

I actually have not heard of the Google Timer, but I think it could be really useful. I always find myself wanting breaks and a 30 minute break sometimes turns into an hour or two. This will really allow for me to stay on time and be more productive! I definitely recommend using it.

Countdown

Odysseus and the Sirens

Greats screaming roars filled the bay as the mighty Odysseus escaped the lands of the Cyclopes. Polyphemus, the giant cyclops, was screaming with pain as he had just been stabbed in his only eye by the devious Odysseus. As he calmed down, he spoke with his mighty voice to his beloved father Poseidon.

“Oh mighty father of mine. I know I have disappointed you before, but I have lost one of my most prized possessions. Without my only eye, how will I live? How will I tend to my sheep? How will I hunt? I am at a loss. Please Poseidon, avenge my loss!”

As Poseidon sat in his underwater palace, he heard his forgotten son’s cry for help. He immediately knew what needed to be done to repay Odysseus, and it would not end well for the over confident King of Ithaca. He quickly sent the message through the sea to the one thing that could avenge his son: beautiful sirens…

Odysseus grinned as his ship sailed through the treacherous water. The sea was getting rough but he thought of how lucky he was to have escaped the grasps of that evil Cyclops Polyphemus. As he sat in his cabin eating the freshly cooked goat, he felt an uneasy feeling come over him. He quickly got dressed and ran onto the deck of his ship.

“Elpenor, why are we heading west? Our sails should be heading to my kingdom Ithaca. I cannot wait to tell my wife of my strength and whit to defeat the mighty Cyclops.”

“King Odysseus, the tide strengthens every second, I am afraid there is nothing we can do to change course. The man on the crow’s nest spotted a beautiful island this way though. We can feast and wait for the storm to end. Then we will head to Ithaca.” Odysseus, with irritation, accepted the option.

As Odysseus and his men arrived on the island, they began to cook and drink sweet red wine from the hide skin pouches. The night progressed full of celebration for their escape from Polyphemus. As the sun disappeared over the horizon, a strange noise could be heard from the rustling sea. It was a smooth and calming sound, like a mother singing lullabies to her brand new infant. The men stopped what they were doing and were mesmerized by the music. The men slowly walking towards the ocean in a trance, when all of a sudden a beautiful siren jumped out of the water. The men entered the water to meet these beautiful creatures. As soon as the men reached the water, the music stopped. There was a quick splash of the water and the Odysseus’ men were pulled under the water and drowned one at a time. The sirens attacked the men, destroying all of the ships with their powerful tails.

Sirens

Odysseus recognized this trickery and broke free from the trance. In a panic, he tried to devise a plan to save not only himself, but the rest of his men fighting off the sirens. He studied the hectic shore and noticed that the sirens were avoiding the area next to a beautiful purple jacaranda tree.

He yelled at the only man remaining, Elpenor, “That purple tree is our only hope! They cannot go near this tree for it is poisonous”.

The sirens continued their mesmerizing songs, while Odysseus fought the overwhelming urge to go into the sea. He ran in the tide towards the tree, slowing down as the music intensity increased. Elpenor was following when all of a sudden one of the sirens grabbed his ankle. She started pulling him into the water with her powerful body. All was lost. Elpenor was about to give up when all of a sudden the siren let go. The entire group of sirens screeched and dove down into the depths of the ocean. Elpenor was in shock as he looked up at the strong Odysseus hold a limb of the jacaranda tree.

 

Both men, exhausted, sat on the sand of the beautiful beach and thought of what just happened. They had escaped yet again, but were now stranded on the island with no ships and no men. The long journey home had just gotten a little longer…

Author’s Note: My story was inspired by Homer’s Odyssey. I kept the original story similar in that Odysseus and his men escaped the cyclops and faced a long journey home. I included similar characters such as Elpenor, Polyphemus, Odysseus, and the sirens. I wanted to touch on the fact that Odysseus is very arrogant and thinks that he cannot be defeated. I almost included a part where Poseidon actually defeats Odysseus, but I wanted to stick to the original story in that Odysseus is one of the strongest men. Furthermore, I wanted to include a certain item that would allow for Odysseus to defeat the enemy, so I included the purple jacaranda tree.

Homer’s Odyssey. Translated by Tony Kline. 2004. 

Reading Notes Part B: Homer's Odyssey

Below is a continuation of my reading notes for Homer’s Odyssey:

Scylla

• Circe has given Odysseus a bag of wind in order to make it home after visiting Teiresias. It would be interesting to include a gift from someone to help my main character overcome an obstacle. I could even incorporate that the gift is a trick against the main character.
• It is interesting that one of Poseidon’s sons is actually Polyphemus the cyclops. It would make for a good story to incorporate the relationship between the god and cyclops.
• Teiresias tells Odysseus his fate on his travel back to Ithaca. I feel that Odysseus will lose a lot of his men on his way back home. If he makes it home, it may be unique to make him never make it home because he irritated the God Poseidon.
• I enjoyed the section where Odysseus talks with his mom. It really demonstrates how long he has been away and what toll this has brought on his family. Writing a story from the perspective of Anticleia or someone else residing in Ithaca could be interesting.
• I am considering writing a story where the main character meets many heroes that discuss their famous tales. I really enjoyed reading the section where I recognized famous characters such as Jocasta and Oedipus.
• Agamemnon discusses how his wife Clytemnestra killed him. I think it is funny how he is portrayed as a good guy in this story but in the Trojan War he is considered the antagonist.
• The Spirit of Achilles sort of parallels Odysseus’ story in regards to trying to make it home. Achilles was unable to make it home to Peleus whereas we do not know if Odysseus will.
• Scylla is a villain that may be worth writing a story about. She is a six-headed monster that eats six of Odysseus’ men.
• Even though it was not part of the detailed reading, I would enjoy reading about the sirens and how Odysseus escaped their grasps. 

Homer's Odyssey. Translated by Tony Kline. 2004. 

Reading Notes Part A: Homer's Odyssey

This week I chose to read Homer’s Odyssey. Below are some of the potential stories and events that I enjoyed while reading:  

• ·       I enjoyed thinking about an island where only cyclops reside. This could potentially allow for me to develop a story where they are thrusted into a war with another creature.
• ·       I can envision how these cyclops are herding the numerous goats on their lands. It is unusual how they do not have to really work to have crops and protect their goats. I wonder if this is because the gods feel responsible for them being monsters.
• ·       I wonder if the story would be interesting if the cyclops was actually nice and showed some hospitality to Odysseus and his men.
• ·       It would be interesting to write the story in the perspective of the cyclops instead of Odysseus.
• ·       The wine is used as a method to trick the cyclops. I may use this or another method to trick a character in my next story. Wine is mentioned a lot of times throughout the story therefore it must be important to the plotline.
• ·       It is interesting the relationship the Cyclopes and the Gods have. I feel this would make for a great story to show the creation/origination of the cyclops. I wonder what will occur now that Polyphemus has cursed them.
• ·       Odysseus seems to very courageous almost to a fault. He almost was hit by the rock of Polyphemus because he was so sure he had escaped. This would be interesting to write about: a tragic flaw.
• ·       Some of the men are turned into pigs by Circe. I could write a story where the cyclops has this power to make him extra villainous or implement it somewhere else.  
• ·       Odysseus is able to free his men without having to fight Circe.
•      Odysseus is constantly being told to visit other places before he gets home. I like a story that the main character has to pass many tests before he/she gets what they want. I may include a similar story this week.

Polyphemus and Odysseus


Homer's Odyssey, translated by Tony Kline.