I can honestly say that I am sad to see this semester end. Yes, I am definately glad to be rid of the endless burden of homework for three short weeks but I miss going to class and seeing all of you wonderful people already! :-) I know...I'm a loser. Dr. Sexson, thankyou for making class so enjoyable and for creating a sense of togetherness within the class. I definately walked away with some great friends...and some extra knowledge about literature too...! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas break and enjoy your time with your families. God bless!

The movie was great! I was so impressed with how true it remained to the book. I hope that they make more...Preferably Prince Caspian or the Silver Chair...my favorites! I think most people who have read the books know that C.S. Lewis intended for the stories to be a biblical allegory and when you watch the movie there is little doubt in your mind what he was trying to portray. The most moving scene, in my opinion, is when Aslan sacricifeces himself on the Stone Table in place of the ridiculously arrogant and selfish...yet repentant Edmund. The girls, Susan and Lucy, follow him and sit sobbing by his body hoping agaist hope that he will return. It was such a beautiful picture of love and faithfulness. They were so dedicated to this lion that they hardly knew. Knowing his character was enough to ensure their allegience. What is so great is that as the story continues, a deep friendship developes between the 4 siblings and Aslan. Like I menioned earlier, I WISH I had more time to reread these books again!

Everyone's presentations so far have been so great! When Sunny Rae went up there, I'll admit I was a little intimidated... :-) She would make a great teacher someday! Anyhow, I noticed how many people touched on displacement, including myself. So I decided to keep an eye out for displacement in any form of entertainment I noticed over the last two days. It really is everywhere! Tonight I am going to go to "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." I am sooo excited for it because I know it is going to be amazing. C.S. Lewis is such a phenominal author and I really hope the movie does justice to the books. I think I have read the entire series twice. To any of you who haven't read them, I would strongly encourage it! They are probably 5th grade reading level so it shouldn't be too time consuming. Lewis wrote these tales intending them to be displacements. I have always heard them described as "allegorical" but I think that labeling them a displacement does them more justice and adds to the meaning behind the story. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" tells the story of a time when it is always winter and never summer. Aslan- the great lion finally steps onto the scene and engages his people in an epic battle for the world inside the wardrobe...their apocolypse of sorts. I am getting excited just thinking about it! Make sure all of you go!

~MY PAPER~
Upon first glance, the Biblical and Classical traditions in literature may both seem like a collection of strange, ancient stories, bearing no relevance to today’s society. Chances are that if a reader opens the pages of the Bible to a book like Judges or Revelation, or stumbles upon “The Orestaia” in one of its many forms, he will discover something equally strange and ancient. However, irrelevant they are not. Both are engaged in a timeless tug of war; each competitor straining to pull the reader onto their side of the divide.
It has often been quoted, “All of life is a displacement of myth”. There is nothing new in life, as the 21st Century knows it that has not been previously captured by one of these polar traditions. Not only has it already happened, but that first occurrence is actively shaping the second and on into eternity. This is why it is so important to know and understand the differences as well as the similarities between the two traditions. One’s life is undoubtedly shaped by what one knows.
Let us assume a young child grows up being told the stories of Persephone and her mother Demeter or engaging in the tale of the city of Troy. How would these ancient myths effect the rest of his life…if at all? Many would argue that they would have no effect saying that these stories are simply stories and have no bearing on real life. If all of life really is a displacement, this is thoroughly impossible. Perhaps as in the story of Persephone descending to the underworld this young boy would view life as a continuous series of fours with out even knowing it. What was read to him as a child imprinted his mind while he was unaware. Perhaps he would unconsciously be ever waiting for the spring of his life where he would somehow rise to the top and the world would be perfect. It is also possible that his life would be molded by the story presented in “The Orestaia.” While the young boy, now a man, swears by his own head that he is adamantly opposed to war and any form of violence, his life and attitude might be characterized by the greed, anger, and arrogance he could not help but admire from his childhood story times. Simply by admiring a character like Agamemnon, Achilles or Hector, the boy’s life could start to imitate theirs. It would not have to be a conscious decision of “I chose to shape my life after….” but an unconscious drive to be like the one held in such esteem. If this boy’s life is a displacement of myth, it seems logical that it would more likely be a representation of the myth that he knew.
On the other hand, it is equally likely if not more so for one’s life to be influenced by the Biblical tradition simply because in American culture it is so readily available. Obviously, almost everyone in the United States knows what the Bible is but certainly not everyone’s life is a displacement of its primary story. This would only happen to the people who know the story like it truly is their own. They have read it and claimed it, shocked at how the writers of old knew of their story all those years ago. The small child that grew up under this tradition is me. From the youngest age I grew up reading about Samson and Delilah, Cain and Able, Mary and Martha. These stories were never presented to me as mere “interesting stories” but as stories that inevitably pointed to my own. The story of Mary and Martha is the one that I hope my life becomes a displacement of. Mary and Martha were sisters and friends of Jesus Christ. One day while Jesus was resting in their home trouble arose. Martha was in a daze, preparing food like the end of the world was just around the bend and if no one ate they would surely all die. She began to grow angry at the lack of help she was receiving from her sister Mary who was selfishly sitting at the feet of Jesus listening intently to every word out of his mouth. What was Jesus’ reply? What Mary did was better. The point of this story was that no amount of work we do for “the Kingdom of Heaven” is more pleasing to God than the gift of time spent with Him. What a glorious displacement this would be! Now let us examine the core story of the Bible: Jesus Christ coming to earth to seek and save the lost. I think in almost every book my A.P. English class read in high school we ran across some sort of Christ figure. Jesus seemed to pop up everywhere! The story of the redeemer is one that no one tires of hearing. Some people take it a step further and allow themselves to become a displacement of The Redeemer. Their lives are no longer their own but live to do the same as Christ did 2000 years ago.
The Biblical and Classical traditions are both so intriguing and both incessantly speak of human nature. Yet, they both deal with human nature in such completely different ways! The Biblical tradition praises God that his condition is not permanent while the Classical tradition embraces its condition and almost glorifies it. Perhaps how man responds to what is true about himself is what effects which displacement he will inevitably embody.

Northrop Frye was quoted as saying, "Revelation is a book that either finds a man mad or leaves him so." What a revealing statement! This is the first time I have ever whole heartedly agreed with something this crazy mad said! Revelation is a book that most well read Christians have no idea what the cast majority of it is about. I am afraid to say that I am probably one of them. (However, I do have intentions of learning the details eventually.) Every time I have attempted to read the book I end up getting frustrated, not because it angers me but because it is so complex understanding it in its entirity would take years. The glory is found in actually understanding it! From what has been explained to me, this book is the culmination of everything since Genesis has been pointing towards. The long awaited Messiah is finally here to set up his kingdom...."The Kingdom of God" if you will :-) Job suffering under the weight of lost family members and physical burdens, Simon the Cyrene carrying the cross for no reason, Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice his son...all of these suddenly make sense! The answerer has come. Yes, to the Christian there is great joy in this book. On the flip side, to the person who reads the book as nothing more than a crazy man's imagination running wild, it is nearly impossible to not go mad. All the talk about dragons and babies and judgement. Who would want to read that? Actually, I think it was Eric the other day in class who made the comment that he did not like Revelation because it portrayed God as narcicistic. To this all I can do is point you to God's response to Job. He basically says who are you to question me? And really, if God is who He says He is, who are we to accuse him of being narcicistic. He is holy, righteous, and infinately good. Who are we to criticize? Revelation in essence sums up the hope of believers: the idea of someday getting to know this God even better and understanding Him in his complexity.

I know that Dr. Sexson always talks about how often in the Bible we miss the story for the moral but I respectfully disagree. I do not think that the purpose of the writer of Ecclesiastes goal was to tell a really depressing story in the form of poem just for the sake of a really depressing story. There must be a moral other wise what makes the Bible any different than any other novel? So than I started thinking about why Ecclesiastes was chosen/divined to be in the Bible. What is the reader supposed to gain from the text? Truthfully, I am not sure. My guess is this: the author is fed up with this life. He is tired of work, play, sleep and basically everything in between; simly dissatisfied. This made me think of a quote by C.S. Lewis. Im guessing as to the exact words but it goes something like this, "If I find myself with a longing that nothing on earth seems to fill, than chances are I was made for another world." I would agree with this statement as would the author of Ecclesiastes. I think that the moral of the story, and yes, I do think there is one, is that we should allow our pleasure in this world to trump what we could experience in the next.

In class today Dr. Sexson mentioned the phrase "master plot" mentioned on pg. 221 of "The Oresteia". Orestes says that this master plot had bound his father and it seems as though he now seems to be under the same curse, if you will. My guess is that this "master plot" is simply revenge. I mean, it does seem to be a recurring theme (as I mentioned at length previously). This just adds fuel to my fire. Revenge is the basis for basically all of the Classical Tradition.

First of all, reading "The Oresteia" is MUCH more enjoyable than reading anything by Northrop Frye. I think I am actually getting a handle on it for the most part...all of the story seems to be making sense (atleast on a literal level!) One thing that I definately have a question about though is simply, "What is 'The Oresteia'"? It seems to me as though it is telling exactly the same story as the "Illiad" and the "Odyssey" do. Is it just another author's rendition of the same story? If anyone is able to answer this for me I would really appreciate it!

Also, here is one highlight I found from my reading today. (Pg. 18) I had been wondering why these people were so bent on violence and revenge and Fagles answered it beautifully for me. He points out how the Greeks were under the extreme influence of Dionysus. In my mythologies class we have probably studied about 5 different Dionysus type characters. I think that he was such a popular god because people actually enjoyed being under his sphere of influence! I mean, it actually allowed them to act not under any moral code but under the banner of "...but I have to be true to myself...!" In the case of the House of Atreus, the children felt that they had to be true to their family line and in order to do so revenge was more than "an option"; it HAD to be done. In doing so, they would become almost superhuman or something. Anyhow, I just thought that was kind of interesting. Hope you all are enjoying your reading!