Confucian Values

Ok, so I'm just going to cut to the chase and say that the poems we read for China did reflect many of the confucian ideals. But the one I saw most dominant in the poems was the idea of repicrocation between two people, namely those involved in a marriage, but in other ways as well. The reprocation reflects mainly the idea that one must serve another in order to recieve from that person, or basically contribute in a way the maintain a relationship. We see in Quince that there is a reciprocation, even if unequal, between two who love each other. And although the main point of the poem is that love is a powerful force, it is also the force which drives that same balance and harmony of their relationship. In contrast, in the Willows by the Eastern Gate, we observe a failure of reciprocation between one person and another. The two have agreed to meet at a certain destination, however, only one shows. This sort of stand up reflects the absentee's failure to uphold an agreement or obligation between himself and the other person. In She Bore the Folk, Lord Millet sacrifices himself so that he might feed others, and in return, they sear the crops so that he may grow back again and be resurrected. Ultimately, the idea of reciprocation seems pretty big in Chinese culture, as these poems and our class discussion can attest.

Does Juno's attempt to hurt the Trojans actually benefit them in the end while at the same time hurt Carthage?

Throughout the epic, Juno makes her displeasure for the Trojans clear.  From the beginning, she hates them as it is prophesied that they will lead to the downfall of Carthage.  Juno tries to make Dido and Aeneus fall in love in order to protect Carthage from being destroyed by the Trojans or Dido's brother Pygmalion.  In the end, this only leads to Carthage experiencing tragedy as their leader, Dido's heart is broken by Aeneus and she kills herself.  Aeneus, at the same time, goes on to eventually establish Rome.  Juno's attempt to protect Carthage and hold back Aeneus fails.  At the end of the epic, Juno again tries to hurt the Trojans (Aeneus specifically) as she turns King Latinus against him in his fight against Turnus.  King Latinus was originally Aeneus's friend who's daughter he was going to marry, but in the end Juno makes him his enemy.  However, Aeneus still pulls off a victory against Turnus which leads to yet another one of Juno's attempts on causing the Trojans' failure unsuccessful.

Roman/Greek Monsters in Harry Potter

Was it just me or did anyone else see the similarities between Harry Potter's monsters and the Aeneid's? It was really awesome to see that the three headed dog within Harry Potter was based off Cerberus. The three headed dog in Harry Potter guards the elixir of life (which could let one live for eternity), in direct correlation with Cerberus's guarding of Hades' eternity. Moreover their are harpie like creature in Harry Potter which are identical to the mythical Greel creatures in all but name (they are called pixies in Harry Potter). The Chimaera can be found in the book "Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them" which lists creatures within Harry Potter and describes their habits, allot like a Discovery Kids book for magical creatures. Those are the creatures I can think of that are the same. J.K Rowling is awesome, buy her new book (it's not about magic though).    :( If you're interested in seeing the comparison's of creatures here's a Wikipedia article on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_creatures_in_Harry_Potter

The Siebel and Aphrodite

        We talked a lot about how Aeneas is not very good at keeping his priorities straight and seems to constantly need reminding. Well I think I have stumbled upon a genius discovery. This discovery being is that the Siebel acts as a mother figure for Aeneas because his current mother, Aphrodite, is never present and only shows up at random times. The Siebel helps Aeneas to keep going through the Underworld and prevent him from becoming distracted. The Underworld is one of the most pivotal times in the story in terms of the outcome of the future of Rome and the Siebel is partly responsible for this since she helped Aeneas so much.
        So, could we now say that Rome was founded, somewhat, by divinity and that the gods must have wanted Rome to be founded or else the Siebel, a divine figure, would not have helped Aeneas through the Underworld? This aspect of divinity would also add on to the idea that Octavian was a descendant of a god and therefore the city would have been divine under him alone, but now there is another aspect of divinity thrown into the picture. Was Rome the divine city? the promised city under the gods?

Epicureanism....Rationalism?

Could epicureanism have been the start of the modern day rationalism? I say this due to the fact that Epicureanism held the belief in "atomness". When someone says atomness, it triggers a scientific chord in my mind. Now maybe the Romans did not mean for atomness to refer to science but I sure think they did. They were an advancing society and who knows what those philosophers and thinkers were conjuring up after sitting in the libraries, immersed in their studies. Another reason I think epicureanism might be a precursor to rationalism is due to the fact that they thought people had their own free will. This idea of free will does not seem to be very prominent in ancient cultures and even some cultures after the BC, but the epicureans were an example of a culture based on free will. This idea seems very modern because a lot of people nowadays believe in the idea of free will. I believe epicureanism laid the foundation to modern day rationalism, and even if it didn't it certainly seems like a very modern set beliefs held by the Romans.

Epicureanism in the Aeneid

I'm just spitballing here, but did anyone else notice some semblances of Epicureanism present in the Aeneid now that we've learned what Epicureanism is? I took careful notice of how Aeneas seems to reflect both the ideals of lessening one's ambitions and enjoying the pleasures of life when in Carthage with Dido. Firstly, he should be listening to his mother, not just because of the impulse we all have to listen to our mothers, but because he has been given a divine mission to found a new city. Yet he's wasting his time and not fulfilling that ambition. Secondly, he enjoys his love life with Dido, and that I think can be considered a pleasure of life. (Even if it all ended horribly wrong...but hey, better to have loved than to have not loved at all.)

Another ideal I found similar not to the Aeneid per se in its diction but with its implications and depictions of God's being indifferent to human endeavor and suffering, which we also get from those poems we read about Helen and Leda. The gods are indifferent, which sort of implies that we should not therefore concern ourselves with the gods because they are distant and remote. Of course the second part of the ideal in Epicureanism doesn't hold true at all in the Aeneid, that the gods have no influence on human life, but let's not dwell too much on that

Copycat Romana

It seems like Rome is just the youngest sibling who has all these great relatives to look up to and he/she tries so hard to be like them but they won't accept his/her imitation as flattery. Of course Rome is not just a hand-me-down nation, and it has had various successes and periods of prosperity, but it keeps taking elements from other cultures. So far the major one we talked about is the Roman copying of Greece. I believe Mr. Williams said that Latin was basically Greek, but they "took out the awesomeness." There was also the Aenead which borrows many elements from its epic poetry predecessors such as the Iliad and the Odyssey. And now I am reading about how rome "absorbed" much of the Etruscan culture and many arts and ideas from the "entire Mediterranean world", they are like a huge super-being that feeds of the powers and successes of other cultures to create one great nation. Im sure there is more evidence of mimicry but I'll let you guys have a chance to post some in the comments.