Critical Theory Week 2

Class Summary

This week our attention was focus on myths legends, folklore, taboo and symbols. We learned how to differentiate between myths legends and folklore, which was pretty cool, because i love all that kind of stuff… i mean look at Norse gods, i’d take Odin over any god any day, he has all the wisdom in the world, a six legged horse and a magic spear, whats Jesus got? charity?

So we also discussed taboos from different cultures, how they have developed, and how they have evolved over the years, its funny how certain ancient taboos continue to exist long after outliving their original intention, for instance people taking their shoes off indoors because they come from agricultural background, in the past they would take their shoes off because they were mucky, but now even people living in the suburbs from the same background continue the ritual.

 

 

Class Assignment

This Week myself and Adnan teamed up to tackle a set of questions based around the topic we’d been covering in class; Myths and Folklore!

The questions were as follows:

1. describe and analyse a myth
2. give examples of some taboos from around the world
3. Draw a symbol that is meaningful to you

Myths

For our myth we chose The 12 labors of Hercules or Heracles, depending on what side of the Ionian sea your from, anyway, the twelve labors or Hercules is a tale about Pride, falling from grace, and above all redemption. It has all the typical drama of Greek myth; beginning when the mighty Hercules accidentally butchers his entire family, after being temporarily driven insane by his stepmother; Hera. Tough break.

So to make up for his crimes Hercules is sworn into the service of King Eurystheus, and given ten tasks to perform initially. Hercules accepts payment for one task and accepts aid for another, thus rendering their completion null and void, and So Hercules must complete two additional tasks to make up for this. and these are not minor tasks, these tasks are serious business, every task he’s given is  mini Illiad in itself, but this is Hercules and  this guy always  delivers.

So, straight from Wikipedia, here is the impressive list of tasks Hercules is charged with, and subsequently completes:

1. Slay the Nemean Lion.
2. Slay the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra.
3. Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis.
4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar.
5. Clean the Augean stables in a single day.
6. Slay the Stymphalian Birds.
7. Capture the Cretan Bull.
8. Steal the Mares of Diomedes.
9. Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.
10. Obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon.
11. Steal the apples of the Hesperides
12. Capture and bring back Cerberus.

I Mean look at that last one, catch the Cerberus! that’s some serious stuff, what King Eurystheus would gain from owning a Cerberus is beyond me, but he picked the right man for the job.

This myth features some of the classic elements of modern story telling; in the Beginning Hercules is well known and loved by all, not a single tarnish on his record, He is a good man, but he is also a proud man, who thinks himself better than his fellow man.

After his incident with his family, his old life is gone, taken from him, tragically by his own hand. Hercules has to make it up to himself and to those around him, whilst he has lost his great reputation, he still retains his misplaced pride, and is angered by having to work for Eurystheus, who he views as a lesser man. this is indicative of Hercules’ approach of the tasks he completes half heatedly, accepting aid, or payment for them.   This story is as much about combating your own Pride as it is walking the road top redemption.

In the end Hercules is returned to glory and becomes a god… even Hera forgives him.. and gives him her daughter to marry…yup, his own half sister, that’s Greeks for you.

Taboos

We explored the Taboos of Bosnian and Japanese culture regarding footwear indoors. In Bosnia Shoes are never worn in the house, because Bosnian culture is heavily involved with agriculture, so typically when one comes homw after working the fields their shoes are filthy, this has evolved over the years to the point where shoes are removed as soon as one enters a house, regardless of how mucky the shoes are.

Japan has a similar taboo, only in this case the shoes are removed as a mark of respect for the homeowner.

In Ireland a common superstition /taboo is for someone passing a graveyard, church or Ambulance with its sirens blaring to bless themselves or say a short prayer, this is something that has developed over our years as a strict predominantly Catholic country… how a few years can change everything.. i don’t even know anyone who goes to church anymore

Symbols

So i decided to upload a symbol that used to mean something to me when i was in school, and had a fantastical  idea of how the world worked, its a symbol that when i was young and stupid i really believed in, but now it’s just something i like to draw because it looks cool.

So this is the symbol for anarchy, a wonderfully stupid theory about everyone living by their own rules… can’t see any problems there. but when i was younger i idealized the idea; people living for themselves and for each other, working together out of  mutual respect as opposed to being bound together with law… nowadays of course  its more associated with terrorism than anything else. But that’s human nature for you.