Overall, the selections I read over the break were very insightful and I enjoyed the fresh perspective of the new authors. I was struck by the recurring relationship between good versus evil and how this influences behavior. At times it was hard to grasp what was happening in the text, so I focused on forming larger connections and taking away a greater picture.
I enjoyed reading the creation stories from Book I of Ovid’s Metamorphosis and am fond of Ovid’s poetic and sophisticated tone. I hope to learn about the symbolism behind all the references to nature, as well as analyze the various characters, because it was hard for me to keep track of all of them during my reading. I noticed an overall theme of power; as humans gained more power, they demanded more power of the earth in return. The power fostered this dialectic relationship between mankind and earth. As we gained power, we became more violent and cruel to everything around us. This relates to Greenblatt as it demonstrates how shifts in culture influence behavior and identity, and how we react to the forces around us. I am curious to see what humans do with their growing power as we continue reading Ovid. This theme relates to what we have previously read because it highlights how our identities and actions are shaped by the overarching forces that govern us, and how cultural shifts, such as increased power, change identity. Upon reading Lucretius, I formed the connection that both creation stories begin with chaos that eventually gets organized into the world as we know it. The main difference is the use of God for this organization, which does not appear in Lucretius. The theme of power is also apparent in this text, however it focuses more on the power of nature rather than the power of man. Lucretius writes “by now do you see, don’t you, how a frail nature can be most powerful, conjoined with a substantial body, as the air combined with earth, as our own power of mind joins with our physical natures?” Ending the passage with this rhetorical question was Lucretius’ was of allowing the reader to accept his conclusion as their own answer. He gives the reader what he wanted them to understand the entire time without merely presenting it as a fact. I am excited to continue drawing connections and comparisons between Ovid and Lucretius as we continue reading. This relates to Greenblatt’s analysis of power structures and how they influence identity. I continued forming connections as I read the first nine chapters of Genesis. Like in Metamorphosis, God is both the creator and organizer of the Earth. After reading the story of Adam and Eve, I am curious to know what the serpent represents. While in this story it can represent temptation or deception, serpents can also represent fertility or creative life force. I wonder if this dialectic was intentionally chosen for this story. The Old Testament relates to Scott and Greenblatt’s ideas by portraying the opposing forces of good versus evil, as well as the authority, God. Paradise Lost was the most challenging work for me to understand, and I look forward to sharing ideas and interpretations as a class to see how mine compares to those of my peers. Like the other works, this book shares the theme of man’s disobedience, specifically the loss of paradise due to this disobedience. Like in Genesis, it is the serpent that caused man to fail. However in this work, the serpent is represented as Satan, who revolted against God and brought angels into Hell, a place of darkness and chaos. The battle between Satan and God relates to Greenblatt’s idea of alien versus authority, and the identities that are fashioned by these forces are the angels who submit to their higher forces. This demonstrates how the opposition between the alien and the authority can result completely different identities who submit to their governing forces. This dichotomy of good versus evil portrays a dialectic relationship, which relates to Greenblatt, because without evil there cannot be good, and vice versa. Some particular phrases that stood out to me was the last sentence of the Argument for Book I, “Pandemonium the palace of Satan rises, ” as well as the tenth line of the same argument, “Chaos: here Satan with his angels lying on the burning lake, thunderstruck and astonished.” These descriptions paint a unique and dark portrayal of Satan in ways that clung to me as a reader long after I read them. Overall, Paradise Lost struck me as a darker retelling of Genesis, with the use of Satan as the serpent to represent man’s disobedience. Paradise Lost is full of vividly dark imagery to capture the eternal chaos and suffering of hell that Satan endures. Milton employs an elevated, dense writing style, and his study of insanity and evil serves has a darker explanation of what is not explained in Genesis.
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