Storybook Favorites
Real Housewives of Greek Mythology
I love this idea. There is a ton of drama in Greek mythology, and I've never seen the stories told specifically from the women's point of view. I also find the format really interesting. I really like the uniqueness. The stories are given in episodes of a season (unfortunately it appears to have been cancelled after season 1). The stories themselves are given in the format of a screenplay. Overall I'm just loving the creativity that went into this storybook.
As I was reading Season 1, Episode 1: All is Fair in Love and War, I was caught off-guard by the author's characterization of the Goddesses. Whereas I always thought of Athena as very logical and calculated (she is the goddess of wisdom and strategy after all), but this story portrays her as being rather short-tempered. I have to wonder how much of that portrayal is based in the author's interpretation of the myths about Athena, and how much is based in the desire to add a bit of drama to her personality so she more closely resembles a Real Housewife of Atlanta or New Jersey.
Overall, this is an entertaining storybook with a creative approach and interesting characterizations.
Epiphanies of Independence: Women Who Take Charge of Themselves
This storybook is similar to Real Housewives of Greek Mythology in that it tells the story from the point of view of the women in the stories. However, this storybook puts a modern spin on the stories. Sita is an entrepreneur. Draupadi is in law school. Shoorpanakha is a gofer for a large company. But what really caught my attention was the fire that the author put into these characters. In the original tellings, the women were often portrayed as docile and deferent. However, in this storybook, the women refuse to bow to the wants on their men, and take their fate into their own hands. While I really dig this interpretation, I find conflict in wanting a story I really enjoy and wanting a traditionally accurate story.
Earthen Perspectives
Surprise! Earthen Perspectives....is from the perspective of a woman. Bhumi, the Hindu Earth Goddess, to be specific. I was drawn to this story because of the author's approach to the Ramayana. When I heard the Ramayana, I couldn't help but feel that Sita had gotten the short end of the stick, a perspective that the author of Earthen Perspectives apparently agrees with! I do really appreciate the choice to adopt the viewpoint of a more minor character. It can be easy to try and understand what the main characters are thinking, but it is much more rare to try and get in the head of others.
Oh, this is super, Alex: you have now seen one of the best things that happens in this class and also in the Myth class, with students bringing their own voices to the storytelling, retelling the stories of the legendary women and goddesses too. Because men monopolized so much of the written world for millennia, most of the stories that have survived in writing were written down by men (most... but not all!) -- but just because we are reading a lot of stories by-men-for-men in the class does not mean we cannot turn that around to look at the women and think about their stories on their own terms. There are also a love of amazing women writers in India doing that right now with the epics, like Chitra Divakaruni, Samhita Arni, Kavita Kane, and more. You'll be finding out more about the reading options in class next week, and there are lots of options by women writers, and lots of stories about women and goddesses to read. :-)
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