fandomhigh | World Mythology -- Third Period -- Monday

Papers papers everywhere, along with large leather-bound volumes that seemed to tower over Ghanima's desk. Ghanima herself, however, was for once not holding piles of handouts.

"Today, class, we journey back to the Classical era, to visit the land of myth that many of you from this planet are perhaps most familiar with. Today, we meet the Greeks."

"Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars refer to the myths and study them in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece and on the Ancient Greek civilization, and to gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself."

Hopping off her desk, Ghanima began pacing the room as she talked, not bothering to refer to any notes. "Greek mythology has had extensive influence on the culture, the arts and the literature of Western civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in classical mythological themes. "

"It is important to understand that mythology was at the heart of everyday life in ancient Greece, " she said. "Greeks regarded mythology as a part of their history. They used myth to explain natural phenomena, cultural variations, traditional enmities and friendships. It was a source of pride to be able to trace one's leaders' descent from a mythological hero or a god. Few ever doubted that there was truth behind the account of the Trojan War in the Iliad and Odyssey. Homer was considered the "education of Greece", and his poetry "the Book".

"All eras must end, however. After the rise of philosophy, and history, prose and rationalism in the late 5th century BC the fate of myth became uncertain, and mythological genealogies gave place to a conception of history which tried to exclude the supernatural, such as the Thucydidean history. While poets and dramatists were reworking the myths, Greek historians and philosophers were beginning to criticize them." Ghanima shook her head sadly. "Everyone's a critic. A few radical philosophers like Xenophanes of Colophon were already beginning to label the poets' tales as blasphemous lies in the 6th century BC; Xenophanes had complained that Homer and Hesiod attributed to the gods "all that is shameful and disgraceful among men; they steal, commit adultery, and deceive one another". This line of thought found its most sweeping expression in Plato's Republic and Laws. Plato created his own allegorical myths, such as the vision of Er in the Republic, attacked the traditional tales of the gods' tricks, thefts and adulteries as immoral, and objected to their central role in literature. Plato's criticism was the first serious challenge to the Homeric mythological tradition. Nevertheless, even Plato did not manage to wean himself and his society from the influence of myth. The old myths were kept alive in local cults; they continued to influence poetry, and to form the main subject of painting and sculpture, and they continue to influence people today."

Returning to the front of the room, Ghanima perched on the edge of her desk. "Now, I'd like you to pair up. On your desks are handouts talking about House Atreus and the tale of the Oresteia. This gruesome sequence of events is only the last installment in a long litany of abhorrent crimes. The story begins with Tantalus, who hubristicly decides to test the gods' omniscience by killing, cooking and serving his own son, Pelops, to them. The gods detect the ghastly plot and resurrect Pelops, who, being of exceptional beauty, acquires the god Poseidon as his lover. Poseidon's favors secure Pelops the royal bride Hippodamia, at the expense of causing the death of her father, King Oinomaos. Pelops and Hippodamia beget two sons, Atreus and Thyestes, but Pelops favors Chrysippos, a son he already had by a nymph. The brothers, aided by their mother, then kill their half-brother, whose patrimony they covet. Banished for their crime, they usurp the throne of Argos as joint kings, but soon Thyestes seduces Atreus' wife. Atreus then kills Thyestes' sons and serves them to their father as dinner. Thyestes flees in despair, and is advised by Apollo to father a son by his own daughter: only such a son (Aegisthus) could exact vengeance against Atreus' son, Agamemnon. This succession of five generations of horrid intrafamilial crime is the emotional and juridical load that the Trilogy must resolve."

"I'd like you to discuss whether or not Orestes can be held accountable for his actions. This is the first ever recorded case of 'extenuating circumstances', and the Gods play a large role. Under orders, or under a curse? Does it even matter? You decide."

[~~Wait for the~~ OCD of JUSTICE has arrived! Go forth to Victory!]

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"Orestes had a terrible upbringing," Raven said softly, "but it was ultimately his choice to kill his mother. He could have sought justice in another way."

"I feel like this entire cycle is an argument for conventional justice over vengeance," Karla said thoughtfully, tapping her pen against her pad. "It's all curses and people getting vengeance on others by being increasingly horrible to one another. Only when Orestes went to the law, ie Athena, and was properly tried for his crimes, was the curse broken."

Someone might have been a little infatuated with Professor Cabot and her class, yes.

"Why did he not attempt to bring his mother to justice before taking matters into his own hands?" Raven said. "That would have spared him a great deal of trauma."

"I think it was an honor thing," Karla said awkwardly. "His father had been murdered. He was honor-bound to avenge his father's death. Letting someone else do it would have been an insult to his father's soul...or something."

If Karla ever read the part where Athena let him off because, 'technically' children weren't related to their mothers, she was going to lose her mind.

"But would his father have wanted to condemn his son to madness and persecution?" Raven wondered. "That is not the kind of father I would wish to avenge." Not that she would ever avenge anyone; she found the concept frightening.

Karla shrugged. "He murdered his own daughter to get the fleet going again," she said wryly. "I think 'honor before devotion' was kind of his thing. I wouldn't want to avenge him either, but then, neither of us were brought up like barbarians, either."

Ummm, people in glass houses, Karla.

"I do not understand their world," Raven said, nodding in agreement. "I am glad that I do not have to live there. There is too much violence and bloodshed."

Not that Fandom was sweetness and light all the time.

"My world isn't a stranger to violence and bloodshed and this is still nuts," Karla said dryly. "We draw the line at cooking and serving our younglings."

As soon as she said it, Karla went a little gray.

This is Dannie, Rose's voice whispered in the back of her mind.

Raven reached for Karla's hand, knowing what her friend must be remember. "They fed her leg to us for dinner," Rose had told her. "Dannie's buried out back. They let her bleed out." "Karla," she said softly, trying to draw her attention back and out of those dark spaces in her mind.

Karla snapped her eyes back to Raven's. "S-Sorry," she whispered, sternly telling herself that she was not allowed to be sick in class. "Just--you know. There."

She was mostly able to keep Briarwood away from her conscious mind, but sometimes it lurked in places, waiting for her to trip over it unexpectedly.

Raven squeezed Karla's hand, sending her a wave of comfort and warmth. "You are here, and you are safe," she said.

"I know I am," Karla said, squeezing Raven's hand back. "It's just those others that...I can't believe someone would do that to children, still. I think of those girls and want to cry. Or be sick. Or ki--hurt something." She gave Raven a guilty glance as she tripped over that last desire, there.

"I know," Raven said softly. "I feel much the same." She raised her free hand to gently brush at Karla's hair. "Do you need to leave here? Get some air? I am certain Lady Ghanima would understand."

Karla shook her head, stubborn to the core. "I'm good," she said, tilting her chin. "I just have to remind myself that these are memories and they didn't even happen to me, and therefore I just need to buck up a little."

"They may not have happened to you, but you did experience them," Raven said. "It is only natural that they still have some effect. I would offer to soften the memory of them, but I think you would refuse."

"I'm keeping them for her," Karla said softly, just the slightest hint of reverence on the 'her.' "They're her memories and until her crystal chalice is strong enough to bear them, I must. When she is, though..." she looked at Raven again, her eyes very weary, "...I'll ask you to lessen them. Believe me, even now I wish I could. But," and Karla straightened unconsciously, pulling her shoulders back and her head up, "someone must stand witness. And for right now, that someone's me."

World Mythology -- Third Period -- Monday

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