NOTE: I posted the Paper #3 assignment below this one in case you lose your copy, or simply want to reference it. Our readings from Morales are designed to complement this assignment and help you see The Odyssey in a slightly different light.
Answer TWO of the following for Tuesday's class:
Q1: Many women scholars have understandably wanted to abandon classical myth and its related literature altogether, finding it too enmeshed in patriarchal values and misogynist discourse. However, as Morales explains, many scholars and writers are also engaging in what she terms "psychic activism" (95). What does this mean, and how would this enrich the myths and works we do have? How might this help us read Homer, for example?
Q2: Morales explains in Chapter 5 that Freud viewed myths as "case studies, from which he draws conclusions about men's universal experiences" (74). Why might this be a fruitful way to use myth...and what are also its limitations? Why, too, was his approach more suited to men than to women?
Q3: According to Chapter 6, what are some of the reasons (we think) that ancient Greece, Rome, and Renaissance Europe were so obsessed with depicting rape in mythology? Does every culture think about 'rape' the same way? And how could a myth change the way (or normalize the way) we think about it as a culture?
Q4: Somewhat related to Q1, the psychotherapist Joseph Schwartz wrote that "we are now too mature to rely on the Greeks for our narratives" (79). Despite this, we continue to think in terms of the Greeks even in our popular culture, as movies such as Wonder Woman demonstrate. Why might it be premature to claim that we've outgrown myths? What might be the consistent appeal to myths in a world as technologically advanced as the 21st century?
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