Good Omens...And Bad: Prophecy in Theory and Practice, Class Nine

[a-phale.livejournal.com]

Monday, November 6, First Period

In addition to the usual arrangement of tea and pastries, there is also a stack of handouts on the table, which Aziraphale draws attention to once the class is in session.

"Before we begin, I want to first give you some information regarding our upcoming field trip. These handouts include important details about our flights and hotel arrangements, so please be sure to read them, and let me know after class if you have any questions. I'll also need to know if any of you will not be able to join us for the trip."

LECTURE: "Prophecies cover a wide range of subjects, from weather to victory or defeat in battle to births and deaths. The central character of The Scottish Play receives numerous prophecies regarding his future and his death. The Greek mythological figure Cassandra made pronouncements regarding the Trojan War. The Judeo-Christian bible is filled with prophetic statements covering everything from wars to the births of future leaders.

Although divination can give us information regarding such mundane issues as what sort of harvest can be expected this year, the most notable predictions center on people, usually individuals. These individuals are often of particular interest to the social group that the prophecy is created for.

Nearly every culture has a story about a "Chosen One", a person who will perform a specific task which is held in high importance by that culture. Sometimes this "Chosen One" is prophecied to be a leader, to accomplish some heroic task that will result in an improvement in the lives of his or her people. Sometimes, the "Chosen One" is seen as a villain, who will bring about the ruin of a leader or a social group through his or her actions. Or both even, depending on your point of view."

DISCUSSION: Can the "Chosen One" of a prophecy choose not to be Chosen? In other words, does being the object of a prophecy take away one's Free Will, one's ability to make one's own destiny? Does a prophecy force a destiny on you, or can you choose to take a different path?

HOMEWORK: Write a brief essay on the pros and cons of being the object of a prophecy. How could it benefit the person Chosen, how could that person's being Chosen benefit others? Inversely, how could being the Chosen of a prophecy turn out to be more of a curse than a blessing?

Syllabus
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[ooc: Please wait for OCD threads are up.]

Comments

Turn in Your Homework

[a-phale.livejournal.com]

Turn in your homework from the previous class (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomhigh/1082389.html#cutid1).

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

Anders turned in a slightly rambly paper about several prophetic figures from Colonial history, all of whom seemed to have met pretty undesirable ends -- unsurprisingly, his conclusion was that he definitely wouldn't have wanted to be in their places. Particularly because most of them had existed before the advent of modern Pyramid.

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[demonbelthazor]

Bel wrote about the Seer and how she served the Source of All Evil.

He also mentioned a new up-and-coming Seer who looked a lot like Cordelia and wore substantially less clothing.

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[daemonridden.livejournal.com]

Lyra turned in an essay on Cassandra, and how she would emphatically not want to switch places with her, thank you very much. Not even for money. And a sundae. She hadn't quite got the hang of footnotes yet, though.

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia's essay was on Milo Rambaldi, since she'd been meaning to research him for some time, anyway. It was rather lengthy and thoroughly detailed, thanks to her having spent most of her time since the last class in the clinic without much else to do. It ended with a debate on the merits of being able to decide to make the prophesies even weirder and harder to interpret and the drawbacks of being a medieval Italian asshat.

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[lovelymissbrown.livejournal.com]

Lavender turned in an overly long essay on Cassandra Trelawney and how she was unsure if she would trade places with her.

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe turned in a long paper about the Oracle of Delphi.

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

If Anders had read the subject of Phoebe's paper, he'd have asked her when she'd ever been in his hometown, 'cause Delphi? Wow.

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty turned in his homework which was filled with handwavy goodness!

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi writes a paper about the Oracle at Delphi in the play Oedipus Rex. Pippi supposes it would be a boring but pleasant life, though it would likely be vexing to have all these stupid people asking questions they don't actually want the answers to all the time.

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

John handwaved his homework.

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[maias-notebook.livejournal.com]

Maia wrote about a boy at her old school before it was shut down who didn't see the future but could see moods and read your mind and see what happened in your past to get an idea of how it will effect the future. He and Maia had often compared notes.

Re: Turn in Your Homework

[likethegun]

Sam turned in his terribly late and handwavey homework.