Annie Jiang, Period 7, 10/15/21

 Annie Jiang

Period 7

10/15/21

Modern Mythology 2022

Literacy & Learning

Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or nonfiction covered in class.

Today, we talked about the story of the Garden of Eden and how it compares to Greek creation myths. The main point of discussion was the women in these stories, and how they are perceived to be the “root of all evil.” For example, Eve, who ate the apple and thus caused God to banish her and Adam, and Pandora, who let free multiple types of evils into the world. I thought it especially interesting that these women were tempted by outside forces into doing what they did, yet they were the ones that were blamed. Women are seen as an automatic scapegoat because of the belief that they are inherently weaker because of their sex. We also discussed the family structure as shown in the story of Cronus, Rhea, and Zeus. The mother, Rhea, and the child, Zeus, had a much closer relationship than Rhea had with Cronus. I thought that it was because Rhea has a maternal love for her child that couldn’t be matched with her relationship with Cronus who she didn’t necessarily marry out of love.

Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.

Analyzing these stories from long ago has made me think more about what kind of societies these stories were written in. For example, misogyny, as seen in the stories of Eve and Pandora, might’ve been indicative of a patriarchal society. I’ve become more conscious about spotting these themes in literature and trying to make sense of them in the time period these stories come from.

How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?

Analyzing different aspects of a society through literature can be applied to sociology. Seeing the family structure and dynamics between the sexes expressed through text has helped me to understand Ancient Greek culture more. I’m hoping to apply this to other cultures so that I could better understand them as well.