Essay for Week 2: Love. It's complicated.

Cupid and Psyche by Joshua Reynolds, via Wikimedia Commons

I really enjoyed the readings in the Cupid and Psyche unit. I chose this unit because I love Greek/Roman mythology and because in the overview it was compared to the "Beauty and the Beast." I got the "Beauty and the Beast" vibe for the first half and then it lost that when Psyche discovered who her husband was. I would like to take a moment to compare the two sisters to the traditional "evil step-sisters" that are in stories. As in other stories, these evil sisters are trying to ruin the happiness of their sister. If these two cannot be happy with their lives, than neither can Psyche. My least favorite story this unit is Venus and Psyche. I really hate how Venus still tortures Psyche while she is pregnant with Venus's grandchild. It is not Psyche's fault that Cupid fell in love with her and it definitely is not the baby's fault. My favorite story this unit is Psyche's Husband Revealed. I hate that Psyche doesn't listen to Cupid and that gets her into trouble. However, I admire the courage it must have taken Psyche to look at what she believed was a monster. I also find it hilarious that she was so mesmerized by her husband that she let the candle wax drip and burn Cupid. The candle is a "poor servant to Love." This situation sounds like something that would happen to me. I love how the author introduced the characters in this unit. He takes a couple paragraphs just to describe how beautiful Psyche is and another paragraph to portray the despicable creature that Cupid is. I appreciate details because this really helps me picture exactly what I am reading. One thing about this unit that I thought was weird was when Psyche falls into "death sleep." It doesn't elaborate on how long she was like that. Was it five minutes or five years?  I really find it surprising that this unit has a happy ending. I thought that most Greek/Roman mythology stories ended badly for the main characters. I guess it ended up well for Cupid and Psyche though.

Storytelling for Week 2: Dream a Little Dream

The sky was so clear that when you looked up all you saw was the twinkling light from the stars. I am running but I am not sure what from anymore. Suddenly, I am in a beautiful meadow. The grass flows in the wind like waves in the ocean. The flowers are fragrant and vibrant with colors I have never seen before. Somewhere a robin is singing a song and the bees buzz in harmony. I grab a flower that is purple with yellow splotches and tuck it behind my ear. "This place is so delightful," I say to no one in particular, "I could stay here forever and be happy!" Laughing I lay in the grass and stretch my arms out wide. Whoever or whatever I was running away from before was no longer my problem. Somehow I know that everything will be just fine if I stay in this meadow.

Out of the corner of my eyes I see a shadow. I whip around to see what might be watching me. Nothing. "Who's there?" I cry out. Something rustled near by. With my heart pounding in my chest I yell, "I'm not afraid!" My voice fails me and it comes out more like a croak than a roar. Next to the trees, on the outskirts of the meadow I see the shadow step forward. "What do you want? Who are you?" The shadow does not move. "Show me your face!" I command. I hear a man's laugh. "Don't you remember Psyche?" says the voice. "That's what got you in this mess in the first place." The man stepped into the meadow, his golden hair glistening in the sunlight. "Cupid?!" I say with relief. "Yes! You remember!" he replies with a smile and a kiss on the cheek. "It's time to wake up sweetheart." I look around at the meadow and glance at my hands. Shaking my head in confusion I reply, "What do you mean? I feel awake.""No Psyche," Cupid stated gently, "You opened the jar of what you thought was beauty, but it was really Stygian sleep." Looking around at the meadow, I know he is right. This place cannot be real, it is too perfect. "Okay how do I wake up?" "That is easy" he says as he gingerly cups my face into his hands. "Close your eyes and count to three." Closing my eyes I count to three. I wake up to Cupid holding me. "Thank goodness you are alright!" he declares while engulfing me in a bear hug. "Now," he says, "let's go talk to my uncle. We have a wedding to plan!"

Wedding Banquet of Cupid and Psyche by Raffaello Sanzio from Web Gallery of Art

Author's note: I chose to base this weeks storytelling off of The Sleep of the Dead from the story of "Cupid and Psyche" by Apuleius. Psyche has been given different tasks from Venus as punishment for hurting and loving her son Cupid. Her latest punishment is to get a jar of beauty from the underworld. After escaping the underworld Psyche decides to try a little bit of the beauty, but the jar isn't what it seems. Instead of beauty, the jar held sleep. This made Psyche very tired. In the original story, there is not a lot said about what happened when she was asleep. It only says she went to sleep and was later reawakened by her lover, Cupid. I wanted to focus more on what Psyche was experiencing during her "death sleep." I felt that it should be a place that she would never want to leave and that the only reason she would leave is because Cupid came for her. My version is a "true love conquers all" kind of a story where love can defeat all types of darkness.

Bibliography: "Cupid and Psyche" from Apuleius's Golden Ass translation by Tony Kline (2013) Web Source: Untextbook

Week 2: Reading Diary- Cupid and Psyche

Psyche's Beauty

I cannot believe Psyche is letting people treat her like a goddess. I mean, I am sure it is really nice. However, nothing good can come of it. I also thought it was really interesting how Cupid is introduced as "doing not an ounce of good." This doesn't sound anything like the cute cupid we see everywhere on valentines day. In this story he is going into battle to ruin life with love, not to create love into something that makes life beautiful.

The Mysterious Husband

It's weird to me that you can fall in love with someone without seeing what they look like or even knowing their name. It's not that I don't think you can love without seeing your significant other. I just think that if I was with a guy and he wouldn't tell me his name or let me see his face, I would be slightly creeped out.

The Jealousy of Psyche's Sisters

I am fairly certain that it would have been much better for Psyche if she had just let her sisters mourn her death. Her sharing her treasures and creating what her husband looks like just created a monster within her sisters.

Psyche's Husband Revealed

The stupid lamp! It ruined everything! I love how the lamp is blamed in the story even though we know that Cupid told her all along not to look at him and to not listen to her sisters. In the end it was Psyche's fault for deciding she needed to look upon her husbands face.

Venus and Psyche

I don't like how Venus doesn't offer Psyche any slack at all. She is pregnant and Venus still has her beaten and tortured! I do love that the ants took pity on her and the "six-footed folk" helped Psyche complete her first task given to her by Psyche.

The Third Task

I think it is interesting that to test Psyche's bravery, Venus sent her to the place the gods themselves fear. Venus was obviously setting Psyche up for an ultimate fail and most likely Psyche's death. I love the Eagles bravery to help poor Psyche. He is willing to go to somewhere awful to honor his relationship with Cupid and to protect Cupid's wife.

Jar of Beauty

It is so weird that when Psyche is about to give up on life, something tells her what to do. A thing. I think that I would be very concerned if I heard a tower talking to me. I think it is interesting that part of the challenge sent by Venus is to have Psyche not help others. She is not allowed to help the lame driver or help some women weave. I CANNOT believe that Psyche would be so stupid as to try to use some divine beauty for herself. After all she has been through, you would think she would learn to do as she is told.

The Sleep of the Dead

I am completely shocked that the sleep that was in the vial did not last long. I was expecting Psyche to be out for some time and perhaps make this Beauty and the Beast story combine with Sleeping Beauty. I love that when Cupid asks Jupiter for help Jupiter tells Cupid all the reasons he should not help him. Only to then agree to help him if Cupid can get a beautiful woman for Jupiter.

The Wedding Feast

I cannot believe that this story had a happy ending! I was expecting the baby to be the weird serpent from the prophecy. I am also wondering what happened with the prophecy. I mean I thought that was a big thing with the Greek/Roman stories. The prophecy might not always end up in a way you would expect, but I thought they were still supposed to be dead on. I will also be honest, I forgot about the beginning with the old woman and the girl that was kidnapped. I was kind of confused when it went back into that story.

Week 1: Introduction - My Life

Hello! My name is Chelsey Zerby! I am from Oklahoma near the Oklahoma City area. Naturally that means I am a die hard OKC Thunder fan. I am really missing basketball season at the moment. However, I am extremely excited for football!! I am in the Pride of Oklahoma, which is the University of Oklahoma's marching band. I am in the colorguard. In other words: I am one of the girls spinning flags during halftime and doing Big 12 kicks with the huge flags during pregame. I mention all that to say 1) I have been extremely busy and tired the last few weeks.. so please cheer really loud when we get onto the field to perform and 2) I get really great seats for the football games. Right now it is my dream to go to the Rose Bowl and this year it is a possibility! I am definitely praying our team will get us there!

The Pride of Oklahoma marching to the stadium on a rainy game day.

This summer I was extremely boring. I worked and took a summer class. I work as an office assistant at Vision Therapy Associates. It's been a very good experience and I have learned SO much about how your eyes and your brain are supposed to work together and how a lot of people have issues with making them work as teammates. My summer class was Human Anatomy and Physiology part 2 at OCCC. I took anatomy at OU.. that was awful. So it was definitely easier at OCCC. I really enjoyed learning anatomy and physiology together instead of having them as two separate classes. However, I had class from 5:30- 11:00pm. Which was really awful. On a fun note for the summer, I got to do a lot of reading for me. I got really into everything John Green has ever written.

I am very glad to be back in Norman and am really excited for what this semester has to bring! Honestly, I am also really looking forward to this class. It isn’t anything like my other classes, but is still something I love!

Week 1: Storybook Favorites

The first storybook I looked at was The Prince Diaries. I couldn't help but look because I love the Disney movie "The Princess Diaries" and I wanted to see if it was a spin off. It wasn't like the movie, however, the author did tell the story like the princes were writing inside their diaries. I also love the idea behind the storybook and how the story is told based off of the guy's point of view instead of the girl's.

The next storybook was Bedtime in Oz. I loved that the author of this storybook expanded onto the story of The Wizard of Oz that everyone knows so well. I also enjoyed how you get to read the events from the story in each main character's perspective as they are telling their story to their children. I like how it gives you a glimpse of what their life has been like since they visited The Wizard and how the journey they went on with Dorothy changed their lives for the better.

The last storybook I looked at was Dragons Anonymous. Dragons are something I wish was real (like nice dragons). They sound so majestic and riding one would be amazing. I loved the creativity behind this storybook. I especially love that there is even a creed for the dragons saying that they are not villains, they are just dragons. I also like how it went into detail as to why each dragon was there and what their motives were for destroying cities and killing people. I really enjoyed the idea of a bunch of dragons getting together to try to move on from the terrible things they have done in their past to look toward a brighter future.

In all of these storybooks, I really enjoyed the creativity of each author. They all told their stories in a way that grabbed the attention of the author and presented the information in a new and entertaining way.

Week 1: A Very Merry Untextbook

As of now... This is what I'm thinking my Un-textbook will look like this semester.

Week 2: I am really excited to read about some Roman mythology. I have always been really interested in Greek and Roman Mythology and love to get my hands on anything about it. So for week 2, I will choose Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche for my weekly reading. I love the story of "Beauty and the Beast" so I am really excited to compare this to the traditional story that I know so well.

Week 3: I will probably choose Bible Women for my reading during week 3. Some of my favorite Bible stories are about strong women like Esther and Mary. However, I sometimes feel like those stories are overlooked. I would love to look deeper into these stories about the women of the Bible.

Week 4: This week I will most likely be reading The Voyages of Sinbad from the book The Arabian Nights. I love a good Odyssey inspired journey. Books that are about a journey and the different obstacles the main character overcomes really grabs my attention. Since I decided not to read The Odyssey in the first 2 weeks, I will have to read the adventures of Sinbad this week.

Week 5: I love riddles and trying to solve them. So deciding to read Twenty-Two Goblins was a really easy decision. I would love to see if I can figure out the answer to the puzzle before the king answers it in the story.

Week 6: Next I might choose to read Folklore of Laos. I haven't picked anything about animals yet and in the overview this one grabbed my attention. The story about why a parrot repeats itself and doesn't say what it thinks sounds intriguing.

Week 7: Joel Chandler Harris's Brer Rabbit sounds like a great choice for week 7. I like that the dialect is really important to this story and would like to listen to it. I think this will be a phenomenal change to what I would have been reading earlier in the semester.

Week 9: I will be honest with you, I saw Cinderella and immediately had to choose Native American Marriage Tales. Cinderella is one of my favorite stories so I cannot wait to compare the "Turkey Girl" to the different versions of Cinderella I have been told.

Week 10: To kind of go along with the fairytale theme from the week before I will read American Indian Fairytales this week. The different stories you tell your children reflect the different values in your culture. For that reason I am interested to see what these stories are all about.

Week 11: These next two weeks are going to be so difficult for me to decide on one! I will have to chose King Arthur for one of them though. I absolutely love the story of King Arthur. I loved the BBC show "Merlin" and I took a class about Arthurian Legend and Literature. So I will most definitely be reading some more stories about King Arthur.

Week 12: As of now, I think I will read Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. I love to read different classic novels and I have not been able to get to this story. I think it would be a perfect opportunity to read the actual story of Alice and Wonderland and stop comparing the story to the Disney movie.

Week 13: This is so hard to choose from! I would love to read all of the original fairytales. Maybe one day I will be able to. This week I think I will choose Grimm (LibriVox). I have already read a Cinderella like story so I would love to read the original Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty. I also chose this one because I think this would be a great story to listen to.

Week 14: Finally, I will choose Hans Christian Anderson. I would love to hear/read the original dark story of the little mermaid. I have also been told that Anderson wrote the original story of the Snow Queen and am really hoping to read that as well.

Week 1: Storytelling - The Stag and His Reflection

Stanley the Stag was a great deer. He was one of the best deer you would ever meet. However, he could be more than a little vain at times. Stanley's pride and joy was his antlers. He was the envy of every stag in the forest. Everyone wanted antlers like him. Stanley would spend hours in the morning making sure they looked perfect for all of the does in town. His antlers resembled branches extending from a tree and they had over twenty points on them. With all the attention he received, it was no surprise that he had such an enlarged ego. However, he was insecure with his legs. Stanley had high and unrealistic expectations of how he should look. He insisted that if his antlers were indeed flawless, then he could perfect the rest of him as well. He was always looking at deer fashion magazines. He tried all the best leg workout on the web, but, he could not get his legs to look the way he wanted. So Stanley did the only thing he could think of and had surgery on his legs to make them immaculate. Although Stanley had the legs of his dreams, the surgery left him very weak. He could hardly stand and was told by his doctor to not participate in a lot of physical activity. The next day Stanley went to his groomer, Panther. Panther hated Stanley and his perfect antlers. While he was trimming around Stanley's antlers Panther cut a little too close and chopped off the left antler. With a quick smile, and only a second of hesitation, Panther cut off the right antler too. After realizing what had happened, Stanley went completely insane with grief over his lost antlers and ran toward the forest. While he was running, however, Stanley's new legs failed him. He fell into a cave waking a very angry bear and was never seen again.

Red Deer Stag by Bill Ebbesen transferred from Wikimedia Commons

Author's Note: The original fable "The Stag and His Reflection" can be found in  The Aesop for Children with pictures by Milo Winter. The original story is about a stag that is looking at his reflection in the water and is admiring his antlers. He also notices his legs and is ashamed of them. The stag then notices a panther and runs for it. However, his antlers get caught and the panther killed him. The thing he admired most about himself ended up being the stag's downfall and what he despised was more useful to survival. In my version, I concentrated more on the vanity of the stag and how it became his downfall.

Bibliography: "The Stag and His Reflection" from Aesop's Fables written by Aesop and illustrated by Milo Winter (2006). Web Source: Project Gutenberg 

Week 1: My Favorite Place(s)

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” -- St. Augustine 

I have been pretty fortunate to be able to read a couple pages and I simply cannot choose one specific place! So here are my top three!

Orlando, FL:

I am convinced that there is no way you can ever be too old to go to Disney World. I went there for my high school senior trip with my family and we had a blast! I would probably go there tonight if someone told me to just hop on a flight and go. I mean I would make it in time for the fireworks! I also love Harry Potter. So naturally I loved the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. That is actually a picture of my siblings and I in front of the Hogwarts castle.

   ( © Jorge Royan: Wikimedia Commons)

My family in front of the Hogwarts castle.

                   

Biltmore:

The Biltmore is the home of George Vanderbuilt. It is located in Asheville, NC and is the largest home in the United States. I love to tour old homes and this one is BEAUTIFUL! As you can see it is huge! It also has a couple of gardens and a great view. I would highly suggest putting it on your bucket list. I took this picture a couple summers ago and I would love to go back around Christmas to see it decorated for the holidays.

Biltmore

Yellowstone:

Yellowstone is a national park located primarily in Wyoming. It is larger than some states. This place is beautiful. Definitely the prettiest place I have ever been to. These are all pictures I took on my iPhone and they still do not do the place justice. Not only is Yellowstone beautiful with nature but their lodge next to Old Faithful is stunning.

Lower Falls

Mammoth Hot Springs

Old Faithful Lodge

Bighorn Sheep

   

Testing Testing 1, 2, 3!

This is my blog for my Mythology and Folklore class at the University of Oklahoma!