Storybook Topics Brainstorm

Topic: Pirates from the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730)
Comments: I really enjoy movies that focus on pirates (Pirates of the Caribbean) and also played video games that involve playing as a pirate character.
Possible Stories: I know that Blackbeard is one of the most well known pirates as the name seems to appear in every movie and book I have ever read including pirates. I would like to learn about other pirates that were relevant in that time alongside Blackbeard.
Sample Story Comments: I looked for websites and books that had stories relating to pirates. On golden-age-of-piracy.com I found a list of many different pirates and there were many stories on each of them. I found out that "Calico" Jack Rackham was the first to fly the popular flag associated with pirates today.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: 'Calcio' Jack Rackham
Book Title: A General History of the Pyrates
Book Author: C. Johnson
Year: 1724



The Jolly Roger first flown by "Calico" Jack except he used swords instead of bones (Wikipedia Commons).

Topic: Legends of Dragons Around the World
Comments: I have seen movies and read books that have lots of dragons in them and I have also read many fairy tales that have a princess being saved from a great dragon. I am interested in what more in depth legends about dragons are out there.
Possible Stories: Many stories were found on the Sacred Texts archives. I could include the stories of Beowulf and possibly that of Saint George.
Sample Story Comments: I read the story of Beowulf and the dragon he slayed. While researching more I found that most often stories including dragons depicted them as a figurehead for the Devil.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: Beowulf and the Dragon
Book Title: Teutonic Myth and Legend
Book Author: Donald A. Mackenzie
Year: 1912

Topic: Mythical Sea Monsters from Around the World
Comments: I have always been interested in the Lochness monster since I was young and the sample post got my brain thinking about the mystery again! There are sure to be lots of other stories such as this that could be incorporated into my storybook.
Possible Stories: I would of course write about the Lochness monster and add stories about the Kraken, sea serpents such as Thor's nemesis Jormungandr, and others. There are lots of different sea monsters that are thought to be out there!
Sample Story Comments: I am not the biggest comic book fan but have seen all the Marvel movies that have come out recently and found Thor to be one of my favorite superheroes. I was surprised to learn that Thor fought a sea serpent named Jormungandr. This gives me an idea to tell the stories of these sea creatures from the point of view of the heroes that tried to slay them.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: Jormungandr
Website: Wikipedia

Topic: The Adventures and Conquests of Poseidon
Comments: Once again, I am intrigued by Greek Mythological Heroes and Gods. Poseidon was one of the Twelve Olympians and has many stories to read and choose from.
Possible Stories: The War of the Titanes, the Division of the Cosmos, his role in the Trojan War, and many others that I found on Theoi.com.
Sample Story Comments: I researched Poseidon a little and found that in addition to being the god of the sea he was also the god of horses and earthquakes. I read this to get more background on Poseidon. He seems to be in constant fits with Zeus so that could be an interesting topic to include.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: Tales of Poseidon
Website: medeaslair.net


Essay: Patroclus the Hero

Dictionary.com defines a Classic Mythological hero as "a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who often came to be honored as a divinity" or " an immortal being". I would personally describe a hero as someone who personifies courage and overcomes obstacles to perform acts that can be seen as noble. Patroclus in Homer's Illiad may not conform to the Classical Mythological hero but in my description of a hero Patroclus fits the mold.

Patroclus was faced with a tough situation in the story The Deeds and Death of Patroclus when his best friend, Achilles, chose to not fight in the battle against the Trojans due to his spoils being taken from him. This can be described as the obstacle that Patroclus had to overcome. He knew that by going against what Achilles was trying to achieve by staying out of the battle he could lose his friend. He chose to do what was right anyways and told Achilles as much. By choosing to join the battle he showed courageous traits and a great sense of moral right and wrong. He also knew that the possibility of death was great since a large number of the Greek's best warriors had already been slain. This in itself could be seen as a heroic act but Patroclus also showed more "traditional" traits of a hero once he entered battle. 

Achilles mourning the death of Patroclus (Wikipedia).

In battle Patroclus donned the armour of Achilles and showed many acts of heroism and courage. He started out by taking on the son of Zeus, Sarpedon, and took down the great Trojan hero with his spear. He then took Hector head on in a battle to the death after charging into the Trojan army many times with no regard to caution. Although Patroclus ultimately died at the hands of Hector by doing so he showed tremendous courage and pride by continually taking on warriors that were thought to be largely better men than he. He did not care that he was outnumbered or was not considered the mighty warriors that these two were. Patroclus fought for what he believed in and stood up to the known dangers he would encounter.  

Patroclus may not have been regarded by his people as a great hero such as the likes of Achilles or that of Hector but in my eyes he was a hero equal to them. He did what was right even when he knew he could lose friends and ultimately paid the price of death for fighting for his beliefs. He took on the responsibility of Achilles and did so without being asked to. Patroclus definitely fits the mold of a hero in my book.

Week 2 Storytelling-Achilles' Great Armour

As I hung in the corner of the room I quietly listened to Patroclus emphatically tell Achilles that he wanted to join the fight against the Trojans. I had never seen my owner act in a such a manner. Refusing to fight because of a wrong doing against him. Usually this made him even more anxious to join the battle. I was ready to fight as well. The Greek troops were being advanced upon by the Trojans and most of our great fighters had long ago perished.  I was the most feared and respected set of armour in the land. Consisting of breastplate, shield, and helmet I glittered in the sun shining through the window.

After long and heated discussion Achilles finally gave Patroclus his blessing to join the fight on one condition: Patroclus wear me and strike fear into the Trojan army's hearts! As Patroclus cinched me tight to his body I beamed with pride. I had never protected anyone else during battle other than Achilles and in normal circumstances would have been disappointed to learn I would be worn by another. On this day, however, I was proud to be worn by Patroclus. He showed mighty courage by resisting the temptation to stand by his stubborn friend and instead chose to do what was right. We jumped aboard Patroclus' chariot and raced towards the tall flames emitting from the Greek ships.

When we reached the raging battle many Trojan men fled the battle at the sight of Patroclus wearing the most mighty armour in the land. Patroclus and I drove the Trojans back from the fleet of ships in a matter of minutes. Although most Trojans fled the battle field there were but a few that stayed behind to continue the fight. One of these men was the great Sarpedon. He was but a mere child against the combination of Patroclus and I. I deflected Sarpedon's sharp spear with my shield while Patroclus' aim was true with his. Struck directly in his heart, Sarpedon died a swift death.

Partoclus' spear embedded in Sarpedon as he lay dead (Wikipedia).

 

At this time we thought our fight to be over. This was not to be as Hector decided to stop his fleeing and charged back down at Patroclus and I with his army. Multiple times Patroclus thrust me into the charging armies and multiple times we came out unscathed by sword or spear. Alas, all the glory was not to be ours. One final time Patroclus thrust us into the swarm and I could not defend against the final blow. Perhaps I was no longer the most feared and effective armour in the land. As Hector stood above Patroclus and I and proclaimed his victory this was painfully obvious. My only hope was that Achilles would come to rescue from the bloody battlefield.

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Author's Note: This story was taken from The Deeds and Death of Patroclus found in Homer's Illiad by Alfred J. Church (1907). In this story, Achilles will not join the fight against the Trojans because he wants to show the Greeks how much they actually need him. Patroclus, Achilles' best friend, decides he can no longer sit and watch. He joins the battle, wearing Achilles' armour, and succeeds in pushing Trojan troops back and slaying Sarpedon, Zeus' son. Patroclus ultimately is killed and this drives Achilles to cast aside his stubbornness and join the battle. I chose to tell this story from the armour's point of view because I wanted to talk about the actual battle and the action portrayed in it. I kept the overall plot the same I just added thoughts of the armour throughout the story. The image chosen was used because I thought this represented one of the most important and intense moments within the story. Overall, I wanted to give an impression of how the battle was portrayed through somewhat of a bystander's eyes. By telling the story from the armour's point of view I thought it would give a neutral view on both Patroclus' and Achilles' actions. 

Reading Diary B: Homer's Illiad

Here are some of my favorite things I took from reading the second half of the Homer's Illiad reading unit:

Favorite Story

My favorite story from the second reading of Homer's Illiad was The Rousing of Achilles. This involved the death of my favorite character from the first reading, Patroclus. I liked how Achilles felt badly for his role in the death of Patroclus. Patroclus was his best friend and he lost him due to an episode of jealously that could have been avoided. If Achilles would have just gotten over how he was wronged than he could have fought against the Trojans with Patroclus and likely saved him from being slain. I also enjoyed how all the Greek men decided to stay and fight to keep the Trojans from taken the slain body of Patroclus. I thought this was a great show of honor to Patroclus after he had shown the courage he did without the mighty Achilles to help him.

Favorite Character

My favorite character from this reading of Homer's Illiad was by far Achilles. In the reading of The Slaying of Hector I thought he did a good job of redeeming his childish and jealous qualities that he let rule over him in the first reading. His chase of Hector around the walls of the city show how much Patroclus' death hurt him and he showed how far he was willing to make up for it in this sequence. I especially liked his quote to the dying Hector regarding his best friend Patroclus:

"Hector, you thought not of me when you slew Patroclus and spoiled him of his arms. But now you have fallen, and the dogs and vultures shall eat your flesh, but to him the Greeks will give honourable burial."

Achilles slays Hector effectively avenging Patroclus' death! (Wikipedia Commons)



Reading Diary A: Homer's Illiad

After reading the first half of the reading unit Homer's Illiad here are some of my favorites from the story:

Favorite Character

My favorite character so far has to be Patroclus. I liked that even though he was faithful to Achilles he could see that his allegiance to Greece was more important than standing by Achilles and his foolish pride. Patroclus did not let the animosity between Achilles and Agamemnon cloud his judgement on what he though was right. I thought this was an honorable thing and he seemed to be the most level headed male character in the story up to this point as most others were only concerned with being honored correctly and gaining their spoils.

A photo of a mosaic detail of Patroclus taken by D. & M. Hill.(Flikr)

Favorite Stories

One of my favorite stories includes my favorite character thus far, Patroclus. The Deeds and Death of Patroclus shares the story of how he tells Achilles that if he will not fight then he will fight for him to inspire the wavering Greek troops. I enjoyed how Patroclus got to experience slaying a mighty warrior in Sarpedon while wearing the glorious armour of Achilles. Although he was ultimately slain, I thought Patroclus showed courage by rallying the troops by portraying Achilles.

My other favorite story was What Thetis Did for Her Son. What I thought was really entertaining was that Zeus' wife, Hera, got upset with him for sneaking behind his back and speaking with Thetis. Zeus tried to act like he was up to nothing when in fact Hera knew exactly what he had done the entire time. He was caught in a lie!

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Overall, I really enjoyed the first half of the reading unit. At times I did get confused since there were so many names being thrown around but after slowing down and concentrating the story began to become easier to follow and comprehend. I am ready to see what happens in the next half of reading!