World Mythology -- Third Period -- Monday

[atreideslioness]

Ghanima was sitting on her desk, absently eating lemon drops as she watched the students arrive.  She was even slightly tanned, despite the fact it was January in Maryland.  She'd spent most of the break with her family on the island, but there had been a handwavedomg trip to see Aly.  And sunshine.  But mostly Aly.

"Good morning," she said, her voice carrying effortlessly.  "I am Lady Ghanima Atreides, and this is World Mythology.  You may call me Lady Ghanima, Miss Ghanima, or Miss Atreides, whichever you are more comfortable with.  The first person to call me Lady Atreides gets detention."

"This is a survey class, intended to give you a gentle introduction to various pantheons and mythologies around the world.  We will not be covering any country in-depth, instead, consider this a whirlwind tour." 

"During this class, I’m going to ask you to keep in mind that many stories we consider today to be folklore or myths were originally part of a religion.  I’m going to ask that you keep an open mind, and try not to let any ethnocentric biases show too badly.  Yes, you may consider tales of the Tuatha de Danan or the Morrigan to be nothing more than fairy stories, but to someone else it may be a fundamental truth."

"Today we will start with the definition of a myth.  In the academic fields of mythology, mythography, or folkloristics, a myth, or mythos, is a sacred story concerning the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to be in their present form. The active beings in myths are generally gods and heroes. Myths often are said to take place before recorded history begins. In saying that a myth is a sacred narrative, what is meant is that a myth is believed to be true by people who attach religious or spiritual significance to it. Use of the term by scholars does not imply that the narrative is either true or false.  For the purpose of this class, myths are stories that originate in the beliefs of nations and races and present episodes in which supernatural forces operate.  Some myths try to make visible and concrete ways that humans see nature, like the division of the year into seasons.  Many myths show the ways that humans see the forces that control them, and often explain creation, religion, and divinities; they guess at the meaning of life and death, or at the cause for good and evil."

"Now, it is important to separate myths from other types of stories.  Mythology is frequently confused with fiction, legend, fairy tale, folklore, fable, and urban legend, each of which has a distinct meaning in academia.  There is also epic poetry, which may retell a myth, but not every epic poem is a myth – many are legends or folklore.  Instead of doing the typical introductions, I'd like to hear about the myths near and dear to your hearts." 

 "Now, I found myself in need of some assistants, and I took the liberty of selecting based on the class rooster."  A list that, curiously, seemed to have been used for target practice with sharp objects.  Alianne was a horrible influence.  "Miss Solo, Miss Menolly, please see me after class."

[there is ocd, have fun!]

Comments

Sign-In #1

[atreideslioness]

Name, class, and favorite myth!

Re: Sign-In #1

[trigons_child]

Raven, Sophomore, Demeter and Persephone

During the Lecture

[atreideslioness]

Take notes, pass notes, etc.

Re: During the Lecture

[solo_sword]

It was weird, but sitting in the first of her last classes here, it was really starting to hit Jaina that she didn't have a ton of time left here. It wasn't a bad realization, just sort of an odd feeling somehow.

Not that it distracted her from listening any.

Re: During the Lecture

[spiritandsword]

Annja was taking notes as she listened to Ghanima. Sean's sister had recommended this class to her, and she was surprised not to see the other girl in here.

Re: During the Lecture

[ktarian-wildman.livejournal.com]

Naomi listened carefully to the lecture, taking down detailed notes as she did so.

Re: During the Lecture

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri was paying attention, quiet and intent as she usually was in Ghanima's classes (and as she tended to be more and more often in general lately). The idea of having to cover so many different mythos from one single planet had gotten less strange in the year and a half she'd been here, but still called for pretty extensive note-taking.

. . . ha, Jaina as a TA? She couldn't help being amused by that, at the end of the lecture.

Re: During the Lecture

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Leda actually found herself taking notes. She was pleased to find herself genuinely interested in this whole thing, including the differences between the different terms.

She hoped she wouldn't be offended by any myths concerning the Fae.

Re: During the Lecture

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

Firekeeper was neither taking nor passing notes. Nor was Blind Seer, obviously.

They were both listening intently, though. To a wolf, a story was a story, so all these subtle differences in how humans defined things was worth paying attention to.

Re: During the Lecture

[harper-journeys.livejournal.com]

Menolly had forbidden all the other fizelizards to come to the class with her, but Beauty provided too much reassurance to make her go too.

So Menolly was in class with a golden firelizard on her shoulder, mostly hidden in her hair. And she was listening with a type of fearful interest. Half-wondering what all these things were and half peeking around in awe at the number of girls in the class with her.

Re: During the Lecture

[she-sheds.livejournal.com]

Joolushko was listening and taking notes, happy to be back in classes after the break.

Discussion: Favorites!

[atreideslioness]

"Most cultures have a mythology of some type, and I'm interested to know what your favorite myth is and why. Give us a basic summary, just a sentence or two, and tell us why it's important to you."

Re: Discussion: Favorites!

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

Firekeeper looked a little uncomfortable and frowned. "Wolves is not having these myths," she said, finally. It wasn't entirely true, as the Wise Beasts had gods, and creation myths to go with them, but the Royal Beasts, whom she'd grown up with, had no such thing.

Re: Discussion: Favorites!

[solo_sword]

"I don't have a favorite," Jaina admitted. "I never really had to think about it, and the one I've got the most experience with is one I'm trying to get some distance from." You know, due to almost getting sacrificed because of it.

Re: Discussion: Favorites!

[trigons_child]

"I have studied some of the mythologies of Earth," Raven said, "and I was intrigued by the story of Demeter and Persephone and how it was used to explain the passage of the seasons. Demeter's daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped by Hades, the god of the dead, and forced to wed him. While Persephone is in the Underworld with Hades, Demeter mourns, and winter falls upon the world."

Re: Discussion: Favorites!

[wannabehunter]

"My favourite's the Riddle of the Sphinx. Basically there's this great big monster that eats people who can't answer its riddle, then kills itself when the riddle gets solved," Jo said. "I like it because the guy used his brain to get rid of the monster. Of course he later killed his own father and slept with his mother so it does make you wonder why no one else figured the answer out before him."

Re: Discussion: Favorites!

[endsthegame]

"I'm afraid I'm still catching up on the mythological angle," Ender said, wryly, "Hence why I'm here. I'm interested by the Aeneid, though-- the story of the burning of Troy and all the attempts at redemption that came with it." A quick twist of his mouth, and he added, "Of course, it's also pretty interesting in terms of what people can come up with to justify anyone's reign, considering what Caesar did with it. But that's not my main attraction to the story."

Re: Discussion: Favorites!

[glacial_queen]

It felt weird to be sharing this myth--doubly so, since she was only summarizing it instead of explaining it fully. "The myth tells the story of an island kingdom named Zuul that was ruled by a greedy and corrupt Queen," Karla said slowly, teasing out the relevant aspects of the story. "To punish her and her people, the Darkness rose up and destroyed the entire island--not just physically, but through time. Throughout the rest of the Realm, everything that had its origins on the island--people, artwork, records, everything--ceased to exist, save in memory."

Tucking her hair behind her ear, she explained, "Very few people know this story; Queens are told it and maybe some Warlord Princes. But it shows the consequences a Queen's actions can have upon her people."

Re: Discussion: Favorites!

[need-no-moon.livejournal.com]

"I think the Quileute stories I know are actually legends going by this definition," Jacob said with a shrug. "So I don't really have one."

Re: Discussion: Favorites!

[harper-journeys.livejournal.com]

"I'm not totally sure what you mean by myth," Menolly admitted, blushing at telling the teacher she didn't understand. "I know all the Teaching Ballads, but they're history and you are saying these are false?"

Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

She's around, before & after class.

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[solo_sword]

Jaina had a feeling she knew what this was about, but she still started with, "You wanted to see me?" when she went to see Ghanima after class.

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[harper-journeys.livejournal.com]

Menolly approached the teacher hesitantly. "Master Ghamina?" She said, giving her the highest level of respect due her Craft and assuming 'Atreides' to be the name of the teacher's Hold or Craft. Beauty hummed reassuringly in Menolly's ear, and she reached up to touch the gold tail that circled her neck like a necklace. "I'm Menolly. You wanted to see me?"

OOC

[atreideslioness]

I'm totes blowing off work tomorrow, so no world ending.

Re: OOC

[morpherboy.livejournal.com]

Diana won't be in today - I can only play one chara while here and Marco won the coin toss.