My example of a katabasis in modern popular culture is from the (2004) Sci-Fi television series Battlestar Galactica, created by David Eick and Ronald D. Moore. The basic premise of the series is that a civilization of humans is nearly, brought to extinction after a surprise attack from a cybernetic race known as the Cylons and subsequently the survivors set out on a voyage to find a fabled lost homeland. I thought this series would be a good example because of all the motifs it borrows from Greek and Roman mythology. For one the surprise attack in which the series begins is essentially the story of the Trojan horse, except the horse is a Cylon known as Caprica, presented in a woman’s form. She is then able to trick a Gaius Baltar into letting her gain access to the defense mainframe, thus disabling the defenses and allowing the invasion of Cylons to occur. In retrospect, I think the whole series is an allegory to Greek myth; Caprica is Aphrodite presented normally in a bright red dress, image of sex and desire, whilst Gaius Baltar is Adonis given his vanity, death and rebirth and eventual mostly female cult dedicated to him.
In any case, my example of katabasis from this series would be Kara Thrace known as “Starbuck”. She is a rather hot tempered and wild heroin, who really personifies many aspects of the katabasis from both Geek and Roman myth. One example of this would be when Laura Roslin, the president of the surviving humans, instructed Starbuck to journey home to Delphi to retrieve the Arrow of Apollo so that they could open the tomb of Athena and find the fabled homeland known as earth. This plotline is straight from the story of Aeneas and the Golden Bough. Laura Roslin acts as the Pythia or Sibyl of Cumae an old woma...
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...nation of the journey towards salvation, Apollo turns toward Kara Thrace to ask her what she will do with her newfound freedom, hoping that she will not have any excuse to deny his love anymore. Once he turns towards her to hear her answer, she simply vanishes in the wind, in an equally eerie and somewhat heart wrenching way as Eurydice fate in the story Orpheus and Eurydice.
Therefore, in summation, after reading chapter eleven of Classical Myth 6th edition by Powel and having just realized a show I had watched over a year ago was just a rather complex allegory to Greek myth specifically dealing with Orphism, polytheism colliding with monotheistic Christian beliefs. I feel that Kara Thrace personifies of the katabasis for her journey and role in the overarching plot take on every aspect of a katabasis, merging all of the Greek stories of a katabasis into one.
The 300 Spartan Hoplites were the epitome of Spartan ethos, not only did they die bravely for their country, they also represent Spartan fear of dishonor. They were sent to die as sacrifices to preserve the view of courage and fearsome warriors and hide the caution and cowardice of Sparta. The Spartan educational system and laws resulting in some of the greatest warriors but their force is inhibited by the Spartan mindset, they are courageous in battle but fear dishonor.
Daly, Kathleen N. Greek & Roman Mythology A to Z. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004. Print.
A popular ancient Japanese saying states that “The sword is the soul of the warrior.” (Buchanan 120) The warrior in the proverb pertains to the samurai of feudal Japan and the sword refers to their most prominent weapon, the Katana. An ancient blade made through a complicated forging process, the Katana is truly a work of art. Also known as the Japanese long sword or the samurai sword, the Katana is a curved, single-edged blade with ridges along its exterior. It is primarily used as a weapon to cut down or slash its foes (Robinson 28). The ridges along the blade, called the hamon, divides the soft metal components, the shingane, from the hadagane of the hard metal components used to forge the sword to give it its trademark razor sharp edge and flexibility (Turnbull 12). The blade of the Katana is around sixty to seventy centimeters in length and is often likened to the arc of the new moon. With its signature curved edge and its fusion of hard and soft metals, the Katana is considered to be the greatest offensive weapon ever created (O’Neill 114,116). It is a hallmark of Japanese sword history and is a noteworthy aspect of Japanese craftsmanship. The Japanese Katana is an important symbol of Japanese culture whose significance must be asserted.
To be sent to search for Vaporia was to be sentenced to an unknown fate, as none ever returned. Despite such grim outlooks, the Pegasus Tribes still
Kyle, D. G. (2003). " The Only Woman in All Greece": Kyniska, Agesilaus, Alcibiades and Olympia.
Myths relate to events, conditions, and deeds of gods or superhuman beings that are outside ordinary human life and yet basics to it” ("Myth," 2012). Mythology is said to have two particular meanings, “the corpus of myths, and the study of the myths, of a particular area: Amerindian mythology, Egyptian mythology, and so on as well as the study of myth itself” ("Mythology," 1993). In contrast, while the term myth can be used in a variety of academic settings, its main purpose is to analyze different cultures and their ways of thinking. Within the academic setting, a myth is known as a fact and over time has been changed through the many different views within a society as an effort to answer the questions of human existence. The word myth in an academic context is used as “ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions: How did the universe and the world come to be? How did we come to be here? Who are we? What are our proper, necessary, or inescapable roles as we relate to one another and to the world at large? What should our values be? How should we behave? How should we not behave? What are the consequences of behaving and not behaving in such ways” (Leonard, 2004 p.1)? My definition of a myth is a collection of false ideas put together to create
Bader-Saye begins to speak about the concept of fear and how it is a natural reaction to the world in today’s society. On page 11, he quotes “We find it hard to quell the fear long enough to analyze how it is being produced.” Pop culture, like Bono shows how fear influences people’s lives, and how being vulnerable to God is what’s important, even when we think fear can manipulate us. Bono states, “The path out of fear is not power but trust, not strength but vulnerability before God. (12)” Soon, the speaker realizes that his own fears are present when he is going to be a new parent. He realized that there is both fear in getting information about how to take care of a baby from professionals and also his own family who have raised
Spretnak argues that prior to the establishment of the patriarchal Olympic mythological tradition, which developed after early Greece was invaded by the lonians, the Achaeans, and later by the Dorians, who took up residence from about 2500 to 1000 B.C., there existed an oral tradition "firmly rooted" in "Goddess worship." The goddesses of these matriarchal pre-Hellenic myths were both powerful and compassionate, but Spretnak notes that when they were incorporated into the Olympian myths, they were transformed into jealous, disagreeable, sexual objects. Robert Emmet Meagher also examines how early myths depicting women as birth goddesses and creators were subverted by the later mythological system and by the poet Hesiod into beings created by male gods for the purpose of bringing misery and death to human males as a punishment. In a different approach to the role of women in Greek mythology, C. Kerényi studies the nature of the Kore, or maiden goddess, in Greek myth. Kerényi discusses both the subjugation of the maiden goddess, as in the rape of Persephone, and the power of the bond between mother and daughter, as demonstrated by Demeter's descent into the Underworld to recover her daughter,
A society’s culture is composed of diverse morals, values, and beliefs that determine what is socially acceptable. “Was kogwayay merely a cultural value that disguised male dominance over women…what were we to make of Gebusi ‘good company’?” (p. 20). Gebusi culture has many different morals, values, and beliefs regarding their sexuality than my culture does, while also having very similar ones. With respect to distinction of differences in sexuality among genders of the Gebusi, I have deduced that while sex is certainly pleasurable and significant for both men and women, it is more socially acceptable for men to express their sexuality than women due to the implied domination of men within their culture. As I observe, compare, and contrast
Many people have been getting tattoos lately. People of all ages have been getting them and from all different backgrounds. On a nice day in just about any public place one can spot a tattoo about every five minutes, from the business man who had a portrait of his daughter put on him to a young girl with a butterfly on her ankle and even people with extensive tattoo coverage. What is even more interesting is the rise in the number of people who are heavily tattooed and that they come from all different backgrounds. Not too long ago tattooing did not experience the popularity in mainstream culture that it does now. The question that must be asked in order to understand this fascination that popular culture has had with tattoos is why people get tattoos.
One of the characters is Athena. Athena is the daughter of Zeus and the goddess of wisdom, purposeful battles, and womanly arts. In Part III of the "Odyssey", she tries to help Odysseus, who is a protagonist in the story, on his journey back home. This shows that she is a helpful person and cares about people. She is also very smart because she told Odysseus to dress as a beggar so that he can learn about what's happening at
Napoli, Donna Jo, and Christian Balit. Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, & Monsters. Washington: National Geography Society, 2011. Print.
Claybourne, Anna. "Achilles." Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology. Marshall Cavendish Digital, 04 Jan 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. http://marshallcavendishdigital.com/articledisplay/41/8483/89264.
Bertolt Brecht asserted, “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.” Art, encompassing all popular culture artifacts, both reflects the society that creates it and is itself an agent capable of changing social reality. Popular culture artifacts, like the Harry Potter series discussed in Nexon and Neumann’s work, Harry Potter and International Relations, exert agency, or causal power over the meaning and interpretation of cultural elements, by influencing the way ideas and values are constructed in everyday life. This paper will demonstrate that popular culture artifacts construct meanings and influence interpretations of reality.
Klytaemnestra in Agamemnon is a strong and wilful woman, who relishes her part in the downfall of Agamemnon himself. She is proud of her action, accepts full responsibility for his death at her hands; she takes her vengeance against him for the death of Iphigeneia2. This is shown in lines such as 'I exult' (A 1417) and after she kills him, 'you think I'm some irresponsible woman?' (A 1425). Aeschylus uses her to embody the powerful 'heroic' ethic of vengeance - blood for blood.