Tales from the Inuits: Styles Brainstorm

Topic: My storybook will be based around stories from Knud Rasmussen's Eskimo Folk-Tales and any other sources I find. My goal will be to take four different tales from across the Inuit culture that deal with the animals that inhabit the vast amount of land that spans the Inuit culture. Two stories that I want to use are When the Ravens Could Speak and The Giant Dog. There is a trove of rich stories by Rasmussen to choose from for this project along with stories by Henry Rink and Waldemar Bogoras. My main criteria for choosing the stories will be to just make sure that the animals featured are all starkly different from one another. By that I mean I do not want to have a story about a dog and a story about a wolf. I want to try to get the most out of showing the difference between all of the animals and the moral of their stories.

Bibliography:

1. When the Ravens Could Speak, from Eskimo Folk-Tales, by Knud Rasmussen (1921).

2. The Giant Dog, from Eskimo Folk-Tales, by Knud Rasmussen (1921). There are a ton of great stories to choose from on sacred-texts.

Possible Styles:

Tall Tales of Rasmussen. After reading about Rasmussen's adventures finding these stories, I thought it would be a fun idea to spin the tales as if Rasmussen were a larger-than-life character that has interactions with the protagonists of the different stories that he recorded. Stories would be told around a local watering hole of his most heroic deeds as he tangoed with some of the biggest creatures in the north.

Tales from the tail trail. Since dog sledding was such an integral part of transportation to the culture, I was thinking of having a map of Greenland with a dog sled trail leading to points where different stories happened. I'll just allocate different animal stories to different regions of the country since that is where Rasmussen's tales are from. The storytelling would be done through different sled dogs at the different points of the map. 

Campfire stories. Another format I was thinking about using is having a bunch of different young animals sit around a campfire and swap stories about their Inuit culture. It will be like a competition for each of the youngsters to outdo one another with their stories, but it will also be a learning experience for all of them.

Summer with Grandparents. My last style approach would be to have an animal from another land, like North America, come to visit his grandparents in an Inuit rich area, like Greenland. The grandchild could come visit his grandparents for the first time with no knowledge of his cultures stories. His grandparents would be able to tell him fascinating stories about the rich culture that he came from. The grandchild could initially think that being up in the colder areas of the north is boring, but the grandparents could quickly change the perception of their grandchild and make become proud of his family's past.

(A hunter and a monster, source: Sacred-Texts)

Extra Reading Diary- Homer's Iliad

I chose to read Homer's Iliad  for my extra reading diary. I've only ever read snippets from the Iliad, so it was great to be able to read the stories that were in-between what I have read before.

The Quarrel: This was one of my favorite stories since it clearly illustrated the tension between Achilles and King Agamemnon. I also like how Achilles is not even afraid to talk back to the king. He even went so bold as to say the Agamemnon took the lion's share when he just sits in his tent all day. My absolute favorite part is how a plague upon the livestock and men is caused by Apollo's arrows. I think this is a brilliant way of explaining a plague by attributing it to the gods. I also liked how it is shown early how much influence the gods have on the war; especially when Athena stops Achilles from drawing sword on Agamemnon without anyone else seeing. The amount of influence that gods have on Achilles is very interesting, in my opinion. I also found it very intriguing that Achilles was mad enough to tell his mother, Thetis, to beg Zeus for the Greeks to lose the war. 


(Athena stopping Achilles from drawing his sword)

What Thetis Did For Her Son: This story did a great job of illustrating the very complex relationship between Hera and Zeus. They have so much distaste between each other that Zeus even threatens to harm her for trying to meddle in his affairs too much. One of my favorite things from this story was the use of dreams. Zeus calling upon a dream and giving it instructions for misleading Agamemnon was great. I loved how Zeus was able to tell it what he wanted Agamemnon to see. It is such a clever way of deceit since Agamemnon would most likely take it as a vision from the gods that he was bound to sack Troy.

Storytelling for Week 3: A Captain's Log

Captain's Log, April 25, 1174 BC:

We narrowly escaped the clutch of Polyphemus in his cave. He even pleaded to his father, Poseidon, to strike us down. His words echoed far and wide, but they could not possibly reach the ears of anyone that mattered. You could hear the anger and pain in his voice as he called for our undoing. He is nothing but a savage brute living on a remote island. He was just wallowing in his own pain since he could no longer see. My crew seems to be in decent spirits since we were able best the cyclops. They have been pouring libations and recanting the tale of how we tangoed with the cyclops and took his vision. I do not revel with them; the burden of losing some of my men hangs heavy with me. Why could I not save them? I am, in fact, Odysseus. Tales of my trials and conquests have swept across all of Greece. The mighty Odysseus should have been able to keep all of his men alive. How can I live up to this standard that these tales have set for me? I must stay strong in the face of adversity. If I were to show any signs of weakness my men would surely lose their hope.


Captain's Log, May 1, 1174 BC:

It has been days since our last meal at the land of the Cyclopes. I can sense the doubt and discouragement starting to plague a few of my men. I put on my bravest face and assure them that it is storm season and it is expected to hit some rough water during this time of year. At first I actually believed that, but now I am unsure. The way we have been thrown around by sporadic gusts of wind and turbulent water is as if the gods are playing with us. Was Polyphemus' prayer heard? I laughed at the thought of him actually doing anything when he swore upon us. Why would the gods listen to the prayers of a savage cyclops? Why did I let my ego get the best of me? We were set to escape the island without Polyphemus ever knowing who bested him. I am beginning to think that I might have doomed my crew with my braggadocios ways. Athena, if you can hear my prayers, please grant me and my crew a safe voyage home. Please do not punish them for my lapse in judgement. With all of the gods as my witness, I swear I will change my ways if I can ever return to Ithaca.


(Odysseus and his men fleeing from Polyphemus, by Bocklin)

Author's Note: For this story, I wanted to focus on how Odysseus would write about his epic journey home to Ithaca in Homer's Odyssey. The Odyssey focuses on the ten years that Odysseus endures before he is able to return home from the ten-year Trojan War. Odysseus travels all across the Peloponnese facing adversity after adversity. The hero faces encounters with the gods, the dead and a plentiful supply of mythical characters and beasts all while trying to return home from war. One segment of The Odyssey delves into Odysseus encounter with Polyphemus, a cyclops, on the Island of the Cyclopes.

I wanted to specifically focus on the period right after all of the Cyclops stories. I wanted to do it from the perspective of Odysseus since his private log entries would be the only time he could fully express his thoughts, emotions and feelings about the series of events that unfold. He always has to have his guard up since he is leading his crew back home. It is interesting to note that Odysseus translate to "trouble" in Greek; this helps to explain why he is constantly getting into dangerous situations.

I thought the image I used gave the best visual of how daunting and angry Polyphemus is. I also really liked it since it shows just how close Odysseus and crew were to being obliterated by the mighty cyclops.

Bibliography:
The Odyssey, translated by Tony Kline (2004)

Homer's Odyssey - Reading Diary B

I continued reading Homer's Odyssey for my reading diary, and it was superb. There are so many rich characters that Odysseus meets on his treacherous journey back to Ithaca. Something that I really enjoy about the Odyssey is how some of the very significant characters from the Iliad resurface in these stories. It is also very unique since I expect them to be completely done as characters since they are dead. They are also able to bestow a lot of wisdom upon our hero since they have lived life and met their fate.

A great story from this was The Ghost of Agamemnon. I always had a little bit of admiration for Agamemnon since he was a powerful king, and he was able to command a rebellious Achilles better than I think anyone else could have. What I love most about this story is how his wife turns out to be more powerful. She is such a strong, intimidating character that feared no one. It is really is such an interesting fate for the king of men to face.

 
(Clytemnestra donning her bloody ax, by John Collier)

Another great encounter story from the Odyssey is The Spirit of Achilles. What I liked most about this story is how different of a light you get to see Achilles in. I have always perceived his character as being arrogant and whiney after reading the Iliad and seeing the movie.  I really like how Achilles starts this story as hating being dead and how just in a bad mood all together. His change of pace after hearing great news about his son opens his character up a lot. He shows that even though he is dead, he is actually human. He loves and cares about his son so much that hearing good news about him made being dead not as much as a burden. I saw traits in Achilles that I did not think he was possible of.

Homer's Odyssey - Reading Diary A

This week I chose to go with Homer's Odyssey.  I was never able to read a lot about Odysseus in school, but he was captivating from the stories I did get to read. He is a great protagonist in, in my opinion, since he not only is he very skilled at combat, but he his mind is just as sharp as his blade.

One of my favorite stories from the Odyssey is Offering the Cyclops Wine. This story is the perfect example of how cunning Odysseus is. He knows that he can not take the mighty cyclops on in a normal fight. He has to do something to level the playing the field if he wants to have a chance of getting him and the rest of his men out of the cave safely. I also like how he realizes inebriation is the best way to give him a chance of defeating the cyclops.

(Odysseus offering the cyclops wine, Illustration by Flaxman)

Another great story that is integral to the dynamic of Odysseus is Telemeus' Prophecy.

What I love about it is how it shows just how human Odysseus actually is. He has his flaws along with his great strengths. He had to boast to the cyclops and let him know what man was able to best him. His crew warned him not to speak anymore so they could sail along stealthily. Odysseus would not hear such a thing. His ego was to get the best of him.

Those stories are directly linked to the next story, Polyphemus' Curse. This story shows exactly how Odysseus sealed his fate after being too braggadocios. Polyphemus, the cyclops that he blinded, was able to get revenge in his own way by calling a curse upon Odysseus. I really loved how it seemed like Odysseus and the gang would be safe since they are out of arm's reach, but that could not be further from the truth. I also love the foreshadowing that comes from his curse, specifically when he mentions that what he wants to happen to Odysseus if it already fate for him to return home.