So, let me just start by saying I love how thought-provoking the material in Great Books is. The concepts we’re reading and discussing are deep and rich; even though these events happened thousands of years ago, the struggles the characters go through and the questions they ask are ones we still wrestle with today, in some form.
One of the most prevalent topics in society today, since the beginning of time, is: what is happiness, and how do people find it? While reading Bacchae, one statement the chorus makes really made me stop and think. “Happy is the man who has come away / safe on the beach from a storm at sea, / happy is the man who has risen above / trouble and toil. Many are the ways / one man may surpass another / in wealth or power, / and beyond each hope there beckons another / hope without number. / Hope may lead a man to wealth, / hope may pass away; / but I admire a man when he / is happy in ordinary life” (902-911). I was drawn to this passage because it places more emphasis on happiness than on hope. The text implies that hope, while it may bring some success, such as “lead[ing] a man to wealth”, may only be temporary (908-909). The man who is happy “in ordinary life” is described as being admirable (910-911).
The idea of “being happy in ordinary life” is very interesting to me (911). What kind of “ordinary life” things is Euripides talking about? Is it subjective happiness, such as the happiness I feel when I drink strawberry lemonade? Or is it happiness most people feel about certain things like getting a good grade on an assignment or when it's finally below 90 degrees outside? The happiness described at the beginning of the text is that of a man who has just come out of a scary or trying situation (902-906). His happiness comes from making it out of a tough situation alive. We’ve all heard stories about people who had a close encounter with death and afterwards had a greater appreciation for “the little things”. Taking time to stop and smell the roses, to realize what you have to be grateful for is a wonderful thing that contributes to happiness. I do think that sometimes we become so caught up with looking to the future, what we're hoping for - graduation, jobs, starting a family - we make the things in our lives now seem less meaningful; and the text implies that the only thing after hope is more hope (905-909). So, is hope pointless? Should we abandon hope altogether since it doesn't seem to have a reward?
If hope is pointless, if the final result of hope is just more hope, how is my faith affected? As a Christian, I am called to hope - my hope that the trials and pain of this life are nothing compared to the glories of Heaven. I think as Christians we are called to hope because with that hope we can truly be happy. While we know that there are better things waiting for us when we get to Heaven, we have happiness because of that hope. Hope is not pointless. There is a chance we could get caught up in hoping for a better situation and miss life now, but hope also has the potential to be what keeps us keep going. I think we need hope to have happiness in the little things and the big things. Happiness from ordinary things is temporary; however, the happiness from ordinary life feeds into our lasting hope.
Happiness and hope are like peanut butter and jelly - either one by itself is good, but together, life is better.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Love Potion #9
Hello, my fellow Great Books 1 students! Were you as outraged as I was when Aeneas left Dido? I know he had a destiny and everything, but he just left her in a tragic state. However, I think the person most to blame for Dido dying is the love goddess herself, Venus. It was Venus’ love magic that caused Dido’s breakdown and her eventual death. In this essay, I will explore the various components of Venus’ plan that lead to Dido's death.
The poison Cupid inflicted on Dido changed her from who she was. Dido was a strong, confidant ruler and woman. After learning her husband had been killed by her own brother, she left her homeland, traveled to a new land, and started building a city (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 59). Virgil described Dido as, “aglow with beauty,” (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 64). She had endured so many trials, yet she came out of them a compassionate and empathetic person. Venus said to Cupid about Dido, “But now Phoenician Dido has him [Aeneas] in her clutches, holding him back with smooth seductive words,” (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 70). Venus realized the possibility of Aeneas falling in love with Dido and staying in Carthage. She knew that in order to make sure that didn't happen, she would have to change Dido. The “secret fire” Cupid put into Dido dulled the memory of her late husband which allowed an obsession for Aeneas to take its place (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 71). Once the obsession took root, it began to to consume Dido.
The love magic caused Dido's emotions and passions to be elevated and made her do things she wouldn't normally have done. It is implied that Dido took some kind of vow after the death of her husband, Sychaeus. On line 690 of Virgil's The Aeneid, Dido declared, “I broke the faith I swore to the ashes of Sychaeus.” Dido felt that if she let herself follow her heart and pursue Aeneas, she would be dishonoring the memory of her late husband. She did eventually let herself fall into Venus’ trap, and the first thing she was described as doing was wandering “in a frenzy through her city streets like a wounded doe caught off guard by a hunter [...]” (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 129). Her conscience was against the passion for Aeneas, but the love curse stripped her of the choice to keep her vow. She was literally driven mad, and all Aeneas left her with was shame. Shame for letting her people down, and shame for the affair she had. The shame she felt was the main propellant to her committing suicide.
Venus’ love magic caused Dido to die an undeserved death. Dido’s emotions were intensified, and she convinced herself she couldn't live without Aeneas. After Aeneas refused to come back, Virgil says of Dido, “Then, terrified by her fate, tragic Dido prays for death, sickened to see the vaulting sky above her,” (The Aeneid, p. 143). She felt like her whole world was falling apart. Scared of the future, Dido killed herself; however, this was not supposed to happen. Her death is described as, “not fated or deserved, no, tormented, before her day, in a blaze of passion,” (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 152). The love magic from Venus completely sabotaged Dido's future.
This was just one example of why the gods should have just left the mortals alone and vice versa. When Venus interfered, she caused the premature death of a powerful woman. It is a shame, but it also shows just how powerful obsessive love is. After Dido's tragic demise, Venus truly gave love a bad name.
The poison Cupid inflicted on Dido changed her from who she was. Dido was a strong, confidant ruler and woman. After learning her husband had been killed by her own brother, she left her homeland, traveled to a new land, and started building a city (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 59). Virgil described Dido as, “aglow with beauty,” (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 64). She had endured so many trials, yet she came out of them a compassionate and empathetic person. Venus said to Cupid about Dido, “But now Phoenician Dido has him [Aeneas] in her clutches, holding him back with smooth seductive words,” (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 70). Venus realized the possibility of Aeneas falling in love with Dido and staying in Carthage. She knew that in order to make sure that didn't happen, she would have to change Dido. The “secret fire” Cupid put into Dido dulled the memory of her late husband which allowed an obsession for Aeneas to take its place (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 71). Once the obsession took root, it began to to consume Dido.
The love magic caused Dido's emotions and passions to be elevated and made her do things she wouldn't normally have done. It is implied that Dido took some kind of vow after the death of her husband, Sychaeus. On line 690 of Virgil's The Aeneid, Dido declared, “I broke the faith I swore to the ashes of Sychaeus.” Dido felt that if she let herself follow her heart and pursue Aeneas, she would be dishonoring the memory of her late husband. She did eventually let herself fall into Venus’ trap, and the first thing she was described as doing was wandering “in a frenzy through her city streets like a wounded doe caught off guard by a hunter [...]” (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 129). Her conscience was against the passion for Aeneas, but the love curse stripped her of the choice to keep her vow. She was literally driven mad, and all Aeneas left her with was shame. Shame for letting her people down, and shame for the affair she had. The shame she felt was the main propellant to her committing suicide.
Venus’ love magic caused Dido to die an undeserved death. Dido’s emotions were intensified, and she convinced herself she couldn't live without Aeneas. After Aeneas refused to come back, Virgil says of Dido, “Then, terrified by her fate, tragic Dido prays for death, sickened to see the vaulting sky above her,” (The Aeneid, p. 143). She felt like her whole world was falling apart. Scared of the future, Dido killed herself; however, this was not supposed to happen. Her death is described as, “not fated or deserved, no, tormented, before her day, in a blaze of passion,” (Virgil, The Aeneid, p. 152). The love magic from Venus completely sabotaged Dido's future.
This was just one example of why the gods should have just left the mortals alone and vice versa. When Venus interfered, she caused the premature death of a powerful woman. It is a shame, but it also shows just how powerful obsessive love is. After Dido's tragic demise, Venus truly gave love a bad name.
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