The End

Personally, I thought this ending was great. I really liked how the last scene was happy, it had a lesson, and it was about love, metamorphoses, and every other theme touched before. It was the only scene that doesn't really have any tragedy, and it's a beautiful story of how by being a good person you can be happy for ever, no matter how much material things you have.

I really liked how the whole base of this scene was that "Zeus, the lord of the heavens, and Hermes, his son, came down to earth to see what people were really like (p. 77)." It was funny how the reason for all of that happening was as simple as that.

I also liked how the narrators divided the telling of the story, and how the scene had a rather comedic feeling to it. It had funny parts and it was never really tragic. The theme and lesson is a very recurring theme in modern literature as well as in children stories, because it is really very important.

I also liked how she incorporated the metamorphosis theme by granting the poor people a wish, which was to stay together forever, and how they accomplished that by making them both into trees.

It was very nice how it started with a serious tone, then it changed to comedic, and at last it could be seen like it had a horror story ending because of the part where they say: "Walking down the street at night, when you're all alone, you can still hear, stirring in the intermingled branches of the trees above, the ardent prayer of Baucis and Philemon (p. 83)."

Basically, I liked this ending a lot, as well as the whole play, and in my opinion it is the most interesting book we have read so far. I can't wait to read more!



This video shows how discrimination shouldn't exist, because they only reason no one allowed the gods in their house was because of racist discrimination. This video advertises against discrimination:

Phaeton, Eros and Psyche

I read two scenes tonight. Both of them had a very unique way of expressing itself. I really liked the way in which the scene of Phaeton was written, because it was very fun to read. It was written in a very modern way, in which it is easy for the reader/viewer to relate to the story. Not only was it a lot shorter and with fewer details than other interpretations, but it was also written in a way in which we can know what Phaeton was feeling and what his reasoning was behind his actions all the time. It was exposed as a conversation between a psychologist and her patient, in which he tells her everything he was thinking.

In lines like these I like how the image of Phaeton is portrayed to us: "It was over before it began. It was chaos, okay? Out of control, as if no one was driving. You know, my knees were weak, I was blind from all the light. I set the earth on fire. And I fell. And it just destroyed me-you know, I was just completely and utterly destroyed. O-V-E-R. Over (p. 67)." I really liked how words like "okay", "you know", and "O-V-E-R" really make it seem modern and a story that could have been invented just some months ago.

Something else that I liked was a description Phaeton made in which he talked about his father in a literal way, but that if you really see it they are talking about more than just the literal: "And there he is all shining and golden, and I can't even look at him he's so bright (p. 54)." Many kids, when they first see their parents, even if they are not the sun itself, think that they are really "bright" and "golden", and might even be afraid of talking to them because of that.


In the next scene I read, about Eros and Psyche, was also written in an atypical way. It was written in a modern question-answer kind of way. The "Answer" person was telling a story while the "Question" was asking what happened next all the time. This format helped you organize your thoughts better, and read the story faster. I really liked this way also. It also had many funny parts, like this one: "Q: What's going to happen to her now? / A: She's going to suffer. / Q: And? / A: She's going to suffer. / Q: And? / A: She's going to suffer. (p. 73)" It really makes the audience watching the play laugh and enjoys it more.

Basically, these two scenes were really good in content and interesting, but what I liked the most was the change in format.

Iambic Pentameter of Phaeton

For being brute, the world was all burned down;
No happiness came from this foolish clown.

Pomona, Vertumnus and Myrrha

The first small scene on these scenes was the Narcissus one, in which a man looks at himself in a lake and is so awestruck by the reflection that he is paralyzed. Personally, that was one of the Greek myths that I had heard the most, so I am actually very surprised that they didn't really make it a complete scene but only an interlude in another scene. I thought it was more important and relevant than that.

The next scene that comes up is Pomona and Vertumnus. This, I think, is the prettiest scene of all. I liked it more than the rest, and it was the one which made the greatest impression on me after I watched it as a school play. It is such a pretty story of love, passion, perseverance, and at the end it is very nice how it has a lesson: "When at last the god revealed himself just as he was, much to his surprise, he had no need of words. Little Pomona was happy with what she saw, unadorned and undisguised. (p. 62)"

However, before the end of the story, a scene in the middle is told by Vertumnus dressed as an old lady, to make Pomona fall for him. He tells how a girl falls for her father, and they unite every night, until one day the father sees her, and she flees far away, and then dissolves into tears. This scene was sad, and I thought the father would react better than trying to drown his daughter when he found out.

It is also very nice until what extent Vertumnus can flirt with Pomona. It can be compared to all that modern boys will do to have the girl they want, but doing other things. I liked these scenes a lot, and now that I look back to the presentation made by the school, I really like their representation of the text also.

Erysichthon, Orpheus and Eurydice

In this part of Metamorphoses, we read two different stories: Erysichthon, and Orpheus and Eurydice. The one which I liked the most was Erysichthon. It was about this man who didn't believe in the gods, or at least didn't respect him. One day, he cut a tree, ignoring the cries of sadness. The tree talked to him and said that at least it was happy because he would not get away with that. Erysichthon wasn't afraid, and went to sleep.

Meanwhile, the god Ceres heard the cries, and sent Oread to go for Hunger and tell him to do anything he wanted with Erysichthon. He did. He was attacked by hunger and couldn't stop eating; he ate everything he found in his way, and sold anything he owned just to buy food. When he didn't have anything else to sell, he even sold his mother.

She, being taken by her new owner, prayed to Poseidon, who heard her and helped. He turned the mother into a little girl. The owner left her on the shore, and she can still be seen on that shore walking around now.

At that time, Erysichthon didn't have anything more to eat, so he did what we knew would have to happen since the beginning; he ate himself.

I liked how this story can be connected with the idea that not having faith in the gods is bad, and also with the so mentioned idea that cutting trees is wrong, and it will only finish in consequences and death. I don't think this was a creation of Mary Zimmerman, so that means that the take-care-of-the-forests idea has been going on since even before the Greeks.


The other story was about Orpheus and Eurydice, which I didn't like that much that talked about seemingly two different interpretations of the same story. It was that Orpheus and Eurydice got married, but Eurydice died. Orpheus went to look for her to hell, and asked if they could give her back. They agreed, proposing only one consequence; if Orpheus turned around he couldn't have her back ever.

Obviously, as a good lover, Orpheus turned around, afraid it was a joke. He saw how the others took Eurydice away from him, but he saw it many times. In the other version, when he turned around, Eurydice couldn't see him.

That is basically what happens in these stories. I didn't really like this story as much as I have liked the rest, but it was also interesting. It actually reminded me of modern problems and values dilemmas, and also of true love. I wonder if any of these characters appear again.

Alcyone and Ceyx

This chapter, I liked a lot. Since childhood I have liked Greek myths and stories, and this is all what Metamorphoses is about. I am very glad we can now read the modern play and don't have to listen to the weird Latin-English story narrated online. I understand much better now, and I'm liking it a lot.

This story was very cute; it talked about Alcyone and Ceyx, who loved each other a lot, but one day, Ceyx had to go on a voyage, living Alcyone a widow. Even though she fought and screamed and cried, Ceyx was decided to protect her and continued along with the plan.

Alcyone waved at the ship for as long as she could see it, and then went back to sleep in an empty bed, where Ceyx had one slept. Meanwhile, Ceyx was with his sailors on the boat, when the god of the seas, Poseidon, became mad and decided to throw a storm at them. The ship started sinking, and people everywhere were screaming, thinking about their families, their wealth, and everything else. Ceyx only said one thing over and over again, Alcyone! Alcyone!

After surviving for a long time, he couldn't do it any longer, and the sea ate him, while he was still pronouncing Alcyone's name. Alcyone still came every day to the shore to wait for Ceyx, expecting to see him any day. The gods became sad at seeing Alcyone so hopeful, and decided to send Sleep to tell her the fate of her husband.

When Alcyone knew the truth, she was very sad, but when Ceyx's body reached the shore where Alcyone was, and she saw his dead body, she ran towards him. In the way, she transformed into a bird, like the dead body at her feet, so both lovebirds could live together forever.

I really liked this because of the love story, and how it shows that even if the gods are mean sometimes, they can also grant your wishes. In Alcyone's and Ceyx's case, they got granted their biggest wish, which was to stay together forever.

I also liked thinking how this isn't really the true story, but an interpretation done not-so-long ago, much easier for us to relate to and to understand. I liked the idea of true love and how Mary Zimmerman describes indestructible love and how she manages the story. This seems to relate a little to the Iliad, because of the similarities in characters and obviously in time period.

I wonder if the play finishes with a connection between all plays, or if it will just continue being different stories told by the laundresses. I think I am enjoying this reading much more than the other books we have read in class until now.

Metamorphoses - Creation

I have to say the truth. For me, it was very difficult for me to understand what Metamorphoses was about. I couldn't understand very well what the voice said, not because he had a bad pronunciation or because I didn't understand the words, but because it was complicated for me to piece up the information with the Latin translation in between. I think they should just have done two different versions.

When I understood something in it, they changed to Latin and I lost my thread of thought. It was difficult to concentrate, and to put it all together.

Judging from the title of the chapter and by what I did get from it, it was something about how the gods first created the earth. He said that they made everything, and made the planet as a perfect ball, so that each side would be equal. Whoever the god was who decided to make the world, then made water, to mix the earth, making rivers and lakes; all the water flowing to the sea.

He made all the valleys and made the mountains grow out, with water in between. The water and the land complemented each other. He then created snow and the climate, and balanced out the heat and the cold in temperature by making the temperate climate.

He went on about what he created in the earth, how and who did it. I understand that for the next chapter I will have to pay a lot more attention, because I realize it is not that easy to listen to a story. It might even be easier to read, because you can go at your own rate. I promise that next time I will do a better job, and that my post will be longer and more complete. =)

So Finally...

So... We finally finished with the Bhagavad-Gita. After reading the whole book, we all realized that it's main purpose wasn't actually what we thought it was at the beginning.

I have to say that even if I don't want to accept it, I liked this book. I liked how it made me think, how it always kept me comparing with other religions and inspiring opinions and discussions.

Well, what we figured out today in class was that what Krishna was trying to do the whole time was not to actually convince Arjuna to fight, but to teach him everything he needed to know to act with knowledge in life, and in the end be able to make his own decision of if he was or wasn't going to fight.

I liked the way in which Krishna said all of his thoughts, and the way this book was written. It was actually very interesting. I also liked the description of Krishna as a god a lot.

What we found out in the end was that we would never really know if Arjuna did or didn't fight, because we are only told that he decided to follow Krishna's orders, but that didn't necessarily mean that he was going to fight. We know that he understood Krishna's teachings, and obviously agreed with everything he said.

I liked how the book was open-ended, and actually left it open for the reader to decide if Arjuna fought based on Krishna's teachings.

I liked it a lot, and I hope that other religious books we read in class can be as interesting, awakening, and discussion-starting as the Bhagavad-Gita.

=)

Krishna's Ideals

This is an image of all the teachings that Krishna gave to Arjuna, and what he believes should be done. Notice how desires is crossed out. It is Krishna's conception of the universe. Enjoy.

The Vision of Krishna's Totality and The True Spirit of Man

In the eleventh teaching, Krishna reveals himself on his true form to Arjuna. This was very surprising and unexpected to me. Here is his description:

"It was a multiform, wondrous vision,
with countless mouths and eyes
and celestial ornaments,
brandishing many divine weapons." (p. 98)

After Krishna's transformation, Arjuna started a long speech about how he was surprised at seeing Krishna that way, and started telling him that everyone would look at him in awe, because of his many arms and many mouths. He said that he didn't understand the change, so he asked Krishna to explain.

Krishna responded that he was the God who killed the world, and that all the warriors would die even if Arjuna didn't help him. Then he said that he would just be his instrument, so that was why it wasn't wrong to kill them. He was basically using Arjuna.

Arjuna got scared, and he told Krishna how, if he had ever offended him, he was sorry. Then he asked Krishna if he could become the one he knew again.

Krishna accepted, and said that Arjuna was the only person who had ever seen him in his pure form, and that he should not suffer, so he changed back. Something that I didn't really expect was that he called Arjuna "great hero", so he must certainly appreciate him. I thought he didn't like because he was inactive and didn't want to fight, but it seems like he does like him.

"By devotion alone
can I, as I really am,
be known and seen
and entered into, Arjuna." (p. 108)

This quote means that Krishna was convinced that Arjuna was loyal and devoted to him, and that he was valuable enough, even more than the gods, to see him in his full form.


In the fifteenth teaching, Krishna starts off talking about the tree of life, and how they say it never changes, and its roots and leaves reach everywhere. There is one part that I didn't understand, which was this quote that, as far as I know, is saying that detachment kills the tree, or ends with life itself:

"Its form is unknown
here in the world;
unknown are its end,
its beginning, its extent;
cut down this tree
that has such deep roots
with the sharp ax
of detachment." (p. 123)

I don't think this means what I think it means, because they had said before that the key to happiness was detachment.

Then he goes on again with his I-am-the-best-and-the-world-would-suck-without-me speech, saying that there are three types of spirit in a human; the transient, the eternal, and the supreme, and since he has a higher status than the transient and the eternal, then that he himself is the supreme, and that "...one has understanding... [when] he devotes his whole being to me."

Something that I still want to know and haven't been able to find out is if Arjuna will or won't fight at the end, but I am pretty sure he will, because with each teaching, his respect for Krishna grows.

The Man of Discipline, Knowledge and Judgment, The Infinite Spirit, and The Sublime Mystery

As we all though would happen, Lord Krishna continued his long speech in these teachings.

He started talking about the self, and how a man who controls himself has another friend.There was a quote that I didn't really agree with, which was

"A man of discipline should always
discipline himself, remain in seclusion,
isolated, his thought and self well controlled,
without possessions or hope." (p. 66)

I don't think this quote is at all accurate, because even if it is true that a man should discipline itself, having no hope and remaining isolated is definitely not a good life.

After that, he talk about how to discipline yourself, which I found extremely familiar. I think he was talking about meditating, but without saying the word. He also goes on saying that when he has meditated and reaches understanding, he is illuminated.

Krishna also talks about Karma and how it can decide where you are born again, like I believe:

"...for endless years, until he is reborn
in a house of upright and noble men.

Or he is born in a family
of disciplined men;
the kind of birth in the world
that is very hard to win." (p. 71)

In the next teaching, all that Krishna says is that He is the one, and he describes himself as a God. He says that people who follow him know, and the ones who don't are ignorant. I don't like it that much.

Then, at last in the eight teaching, the word meditate appears:

"...meditating, one reaches
the supreme divine spirit of man." (p. 80)

Krishna explains to Arjuna how to meditate, and how it can help you get away from the suffering of rebirth.
In the ninth teaching, the only thing that Krishna says all over again is that he is the solution to everything. All of it is something like this:

"I am the way, sustainer, lord,
witness, shelter, refuge, friend,
source, dissolution, stability,
treasure, and unchanging seed." (p. 87)

Krishna thinks very highly of himself, which is beginning to be a little annoying. This is basically what these teachings were about.

This song could describe how Krishna feels about himself:

Discipline of Action, Knowledge, and Renunciation of Action

I think I am beginning to understand why the divisions in this book are called "teachings" and not just chapters. They teach. A lot.

This really seems to be like the author of the book giving his point of view on what is morally correct, from the point of view of Krishna and Arjuna.

This time, Krishna did all the talking, explaining how it is very important to follow him as a leader, and how being disciplined in action and knowledge can help you understand the world. Again, this time I found many quotes that can be directly linked to modern Buddhism and what I believe in. I think I agree with most of the things that Krishna says, except that Arjuna should fight because only the body will die. That should be no reason to kill.

For example this quote:

"I have passed through many births
and so have you;
I know them all,
but you do not, Arjuna." (p. 51)

This could mean that Arjuna is illuminated in Buddhism, because it is said that when you can remember your past lives in reincarnation, you are illuminated.

Also, where it says:

"The wise say a man is learned
when his plans lack constructs of desire,
when his actions are burned
by the fire of knowledge." (p. 53)

That is also something that Buddhists say, that is that you are not ignorant anymore when your actions are driven by knowledge, and not desire; when you can decide what to do or not to do without caring about your desire or your momentary needs.

And another interesting and Buddhist-like quote would be:

"When ignorance is destroyed
by knowledge of the self,
then, like the sun, knowledge
illumines ultimate reality." (p. 61)

This is also something I believe in, which is that as long as ignorance prevails, humans won't be able to illuminate, or fully understand the world around us. Only knowledge can help us defeat ignorance, and I would say that is made possible through meditating. Other religions would have different points of view, but I thought it was interesting how it was so connected with what I currently believe.

The rest of the chapters go on about other moral teachings, and what is or isn't right.