A Journey Through Stories: Mythology and Folklore

Athena appearing to Odysseus to reveal the Island of Ithaca. Oil painting from the 18th century by Giuseppe Bottani. Web source: Wikimedia Commons.  This week I decided to work on a story lab instead of retelling a story from one of my readings. For this project, I watched a series of Crash Course videos on world mythology. I really enjoy using this type of video to learn more about encompassing subjects, like mythology because it helps break these big ideas down into smaller, more digestible concepts.  What is a Myth? Crash Course World Mythology #1 I thought that comparing mythology to a Slurpee was a really great (and funny) way of explaining how many different subjects contribute to mythology. Just during the first few weeks of this class, I have read stories that could be incorporated in my gender studies, history, or international studies classes. Theories of Myth: Crash Course World Mythology #12 This lesson focused on how myths are studied. Th...

Painting of Saint Martha and the Dragon by  André Abellon in 1430. Web source: Wikimedia Commons.  Today's story is about Saint Martha, sister of Mary Magdalene. Saint Martha  - Martha is a hostess of Jesus Christ, and after his ascension, she goes a on a big trip in a boat. A few of the people on this trip are her sister Mary, brother Lazarus, and Saint Maximin. - The boat is going on the river of Rhone. There is a dragon in this area. The dragon is half beast and half fish, with sharp teeth, horns, a lion's head, and serpent's tail. So yeah, this thing sounds pretty scary and gross. Did I mention that this dragon monster thing eats humans? Because it does. - Because somebody has to stand up to the beast, Martha takes charge and attacks it with holy water and showed him a cross. She then tied up the creature with her girdle and killed it with a sword weapon. - Moving forward, Martha lived a rather blessed life. She fasted and ate only once a day and p...

S aint Christine. Engraving by N. Mellini after V. Pizzoli. Web source: Wikimedia Commons. Today's notes are going to be all about Women Saints! More specifically, I am going to focus on Saint Christine of Italy. Saint Christine -Christine was a beautiful woman, born in Tyre, Italy. She was so beautiful in fact, that her father kept her locked away in a tower. All of the men wanted to marry her, but Christine's father was adamant on her maintaining her virginity (a little creepy in my opinion) so as a way to worship the gods. - The girl was not on board with these sacrifices and tried to avoid doing them if at all possible. Christine refuses to sacrifice to multiple gods, so her father gets very mad and chains her up (again, really weird). - So basically she is tortured because she refuses to worship all of these other gods. Her dad tries to set her on fire and instead of her being burnt, 500 other men are burned. Christine's father claims that this mea...