Ethan’s Comments (group member since Sep 15, 2011)

Ethan’s comments from the 2012 - Ms. Richardson L.A. group.

By Ethan Bennett
The first step of the hero’s path is when the hero is living in the mundane world. Odysseus is in the mundane world when he is with Calypso the goddess on her island. This is the mundane world because life is so easy and not challenging him everything is given to him by beautiful maidens. He also lives on a beautiful island even the god Hermes thinks the island is one of the most beautiful places he has seen. He doesn’t even have to try with Calypso she loves him no matter what and it doesn’t challenge him.

The second step on the hero’s path is when the hero is called to adventure. This happens to Odysseus when Hermes the messenger for the gods, is sent by Zeus to tell Calypso to let Odysseus go. This is the call to adventure because he is being taken away from the mundane world and being put into an adventure that could potentially kill him.

The third step on the hero’s path is when the hero crosses the threshold. Odysseus crosses the threshold when Hermes is sent by the gods to ask Calypso to set him free. Which surprisingly she agrees to do, but she gives him the choice whether to stay or go. He actually crosses the threshold when he decides to go and answer the call to adventure. This is a big deal because to stay would mean paradise and to be waited on for the rest of his life. But he chooses to go and face a number of trials that kill many of his troops and almost claim his life as well.

The fourth step of the hero’s path is when the hero travels the path of trials. Odysseus faces many trials and finds many new enemies but also finds new friends. The first enemy he encounters is Poseidon the god of the sea, who is furious at Odysseus for the part he played in the Trojan War. You see because Poseidon supported the Trojans and Odysseus fought for the Greeks. So to get even with the Greeks he decided to knock Odysseus and many other Greek ships on their way back home after the war off course. This is an important event because if not for this Odysseus would have made it home a lot earlier and probably never have met the Cyclopes or the Sirens. This event also leads him to a new friend a King who throws a banquet in Odysseus and his men’s honor. So this jealous and hateful act by the sea god Poseidon kind of kicks off the entire adventure.

The fifth step is the mastering of two worlds. This step is by far the most important because if he masters both worlds it means that he has learned from his mistakes and has conquered his downfalls so they don’t control him anymore. Odysseus does this by returning to his hometown where his wife has been waiting for him for many years. When he returns everybody is not too happy with him and how it took him forever to come home. They think he has been drinking and partying and delaying to come home. Odysseus conquers his hubris by not wanting to challenge all the suitors for his wife, he also conquers his hubris by accepting that he isn’t the best thing to ever happen to the planet.

What Joseph Campbell is basically saying in this quote is it is basically a blueprint on what to do and not to do when going on a quest in ancient times. Also it kind of explains what heroes have done in the past to ruin their quest. “We have not to even risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us.” What this quote basically says is that the hero now already stands more of a chance against the trials of the universe than the previous people because we know not to make the same mistakes as they did.

This is a good idea because revenge is very bad it blurs the line of good and evil and can end up destroying you and the people around you that you love. Also because ambition can also be very bad sometimes in certain situations it is good to be a little ambitious but usually it leads to going too far. Being to competitive is one of the most common things in males especially the ones in Greek mythology this can lead to the demise of many innocent people just to get what you want.

This idea of finding things you didn’t know about one’s self when not expecting it is very often what happens when you try to obtain a goal or accomplishment. This is very good to keep in mind so you can embrace it when it happens and not brush it aside. Because you never know when you might need something that you already discovered.

This relates to mythology by including gods in the quote and warning heroes of ambition, revenge, and discovering yourself. These themes such as ambition, revenge, greed, jealousy, and power plague the heroes of Greek mythology and other mythology also. But what separates Greek mythology from other religions and myths is that the gods are just as greedy, ambitious, power hungry, vengeful, jealous, and corruptible as the heroes and villains of Greek mythology. That is what entices and makes this the most popular mythology to study.

The first thing that is said in, A Tale of Two Cities is, “It was the best of times it was the worst of times” (pg. 1). This quote summarizes the books main problem so clearly and is so relevant to what is going on right now in our country today as well, that I don’t see how you can make an argument that this novel is not relevant.
In Paris, France over 200 years ago there is fear of a revolution because the rich higher class is so much more powerful than the poorer weaker class. This allows the rich to get away with treating the poor very cruelly without consequences. These poor lower class citizens that are starving and killing each other to try to survive are fed up. Things cannot continue to go on like this, revolution is inevitable.
This is what is going on right now in the U.S. with the top 1% and the lower sometimes homeless class of America. Obviously it is not as drastic the rich aren’t running over people in the street then giving the victim’s family a dollar so they’ll leave them alone(pg.79-90), like in A Tale of Two Cities with the Marquis. But people in the book and right now are rebelling but there is a difference between Occupy Wall Street and attacking the government and executing them with the galantine. Yet again, the same but not as extreme. It is possible that it could escalate to the point of total revolution. It’s interesting because even though much has changed since the 1700s, this cycle of people’s actions leading to inequality keeps repeating itself.

In the book the "Hunger Games" By Suzanne Colins I think that she rejects the female archetype for the character Katniss. Yes, at times she embraces the female archetype, but shes does that mostly out of necessity to look good and still she does that very rarely.

Even from the first chapter of the book Katniss shows strong male characteristics being. For example she is the primary provider “I swing my legs off the bed and slip on my hunting boots”. But the only reason she is the primary provider is because her father died in a mining accident. It just goes to show that one incident can affect whether to reject or embrace the normal archetype that society has branded you with.

I think even if her father didn't die she would still probably reject the female archetype. Mostly because of her enviroment, everyday you have to fight to survive. You have to claw and kick just to get your next meal. And that determination to not give up to not have someone else save you but to save yourself usually comes from a male and hero archetype.

The Ibis clearly represents Doodle in alot of ways.The most prominent wayis probably the way the family reacted when they met both of them. When Doodle was first born the family kind of ignored and purposely tried to keep there distance from, because he was not supposed to live long so they stayed away so the y wouldnt grow attached then be heartbroken when he died. Also with the bird when they first heard it they thought it was a weird creature and there mom told them not to go near it because it could have hundreds of diseases.

In the short story "The Most Dangerous Game" Rainsford is our protaginist, and at first he has little emotion or empathy towards the animals he huunts. And he says things like "Who cares how a jaguar feels?"
But I think after his encounter with General Zarroff and after being hunted he has a different view on hunting. I think he now knows how the animals feel. He may not completely stop hunting but i think he might find more empeathy towards the animals.