Letter To The Leaves: ENG 340 REDUX Myth in Television

My Fellow Contributors,

I was relaxing, exhausted after playing in my high school's annual alumni Baseball game, when Odysseus: Voyage to The Underworld, came on the Sci-Fi Channel. In the info box was written:

"Odysseus and his warriors encounter Persephone and her deadly shadow beasts"

Now, granted it has been a year since I've taken ENG 340 Myth as Literature, but when I was going through my mental rolodex of classical myths, this combination of characters didn't fire off any synapses. I this must have been that part of The Odyssey that scholars tend to forget when discussing this epic. So with the hope of learning literature thru television, (a very slippery slope) I watched on.

But by the middle of the movie I began to realize that this wasn't a story either Ovid, or Homer had written, and the most interesting thing was that it didn't seem to matter.

What mattered was that Persephone, Odysseus and Homer were all on my Television screen going through an adventure; fighting and planning and just trying to get home.

Even as the original myths were ignored, bent or even changed, I found myself captured by it just as Odysseus was captured by the Siren's scream. This made-for-TV-movie, although at times rough, was enjoyable.

Not a bad couple hours spent recovering from a day of baseball.

But why bring this up Bermuda?

Because we must remind ourselves that there are plenty of myths still to be written. And we here at A Few Lines magazine, want to read, hear, and publish yours.

As Always
Undoubtedly Yours,

Bermuda

PS
Be sure to check out our Facebook profile and add us to your friends, search "A Few Lines". Our Facebook is more than just a way to stay connected to the magazine. Think of it as "The Word of the Day" but instead of words we bring you epic moments of literary history.

Sorry Arthur C. Clarke, Homer was there first . . . Kinda . . . Well not really, but it doesn't matter . . . Does it?

Hello, once again, my loyal readers and literary appreciators, today I have a good one for you. I have pulled myself away from a stack of books I'm sure Emma Lazarus would have a word or two for, and found the glorious time to reconvene with you. I have been thinking quite a bit about how some authors are deified in the minds of some readers as members of an almost supernatural pantheon of writers, and, to put it bluntly, it disgusts me. Now I'm not saying its wrong to have a favorite, or even a number of favorite writers who inspire you or blah blah blah, I'm just asking people to question why these certain writers are or should or should not be immortalized. Specifically, I am thinking of Homer, a name near and dear to every reader from sixth grade on up. . . except to one E.W. Strege. Yep, you guessed it, a literary rant is on the way so batten down the hatches, Put beeswax in your ear, and for God's sake don't eat the lotus root, because we're a long way from Ithaca on today's blog. God's speed, and I hope to see you on the other side.

***As I sit and meditate ever so pensively next to the belching stacks of Taco Bell’s deep fryers, it occurs to me that a certain amount of hypocrisy exists between the way we (contemporary appreciators and scholars of literature) deem authors “worthy” of positive attention and adoration. The general consensus amongst my peers – at least the ones to whom I have spoken – has been that The Odyssey is a retelling of a tale through a textual medium. I both validate and understand this view, but am still puzzled as to why we view Homer as a canonical writer worthy of our attention, seeing as all he did was transcribe a common tale without any remarkable attention to poetic form. On the other hand, Virgil adapted a tale and expressed it quite sophisticatedly with great poetic erudition. I hope this is not coming across too cynical, but if I were to write down the story of Star Wars with the occasional superficial change here and there, I am not a brilliant writer because I am “ripping” off Star Wars, I am not a genius, George Lucas is. Likewise, just because the enigma we know as “Homer” wrote down the Odyssey, it doesn’t change the fact that the true genius stems from the originator of the tale, who is probably some nameless, faceless, Greek who lived ages even before “Homer”. I want to be put on record as saying that I, by no means, mean any disrespect to anyone who adores Homer, or even to Homer himself, I aim to merely develop an interesting topic for discussion which will, with any luck, help to elucidate some of the deeply important – if not a bit too philosophical – issues in literature. ***

Okay, there you have it folks, my brief musings on Homer fueled by burnt coffee and a dish which had altogether too many tortillas involved.

I most earnestly implore you to comment, discuss, and actively participate in the dialogue we here at AFLM tirelessly endeavor to initiate. Many thanks to all who have been commenting on my blogs, I deeply appreciate your time and attention to my work and hope that your interest continues in what I am sure will be a wonderfully colorful exploration of literary issues.

One more thing (I'm curious to see if this works) I am currently taking requests for blog topics by you, the readers! I am always trying to discuss things that are viewed as thought provoking by myself and others, and what better way to do it than answer directly to the people for whom I am writing . So, If you have any recommendations, leave them as a comment in the designated space directly under this blog and I will address them in the order they are received.


With all due respect,

Eric W. Strege