Books 21-24

2

As a veteran of war, Odysseus has developed a range of painful emotions causing him to be extremely impulsive.I  thought maybe Odysseus would be the better man about things since he reminesed such a heavy guilt of his murderous past but he still killed more people than I think he should of had. Anyone can kill and you don't deserve to be honored as a genuine warrior if vengeance is the only thing you want. Odysseus was more powerful than the average mortal, so I believe he could of used his enemies in a beneficial way rather than to just make blood. The faithless women were barely a threat, especially since at that day and age they could not possibly pursue his wife's love like the suitors attempted to. Women were already overruled by males, so to be slaughtered the way they did was unnecessary. Odysseus set himself up for more people to hate him like the loved ones of everyone he murdered.

5

When I started to read the Odyssey, I found the poem difficult to understand due to the complex translation. Once I did a little research and compared a few versions of this adventurous tale, I saw how Homer's The Odyssey ultimate classic. I liked how the reader was on the same level as almost everybody else in the books because as a reader, we are waiting for the ultimate reunion between the characters and the characters are waiting to be reunited. With Penelope being faithful as she is, it gives us the feeling that Odysseus' journey back to her is worth fighting for and throughout all the murders, fighting, pain and suffering, love can still exist. Even though Odysseus has many flaws about him , from being distracted to impulsive, it was overall a good story. Also, I find that the Odyssey isn't also just telling an epic tale, but revealing history about the Trojan war and the value of God and Goddesses in Greek culture. It also gives us the roles and authority between male and female, mortal and God.

Books 11-15

Since Odysseus's had the cunning strength and skill to achieve almost anything, making a journey to and from the underworld alive would prove he was the ultimate hero. Not only would he prove his willpower but also he would be able to live his life again in Ithaca. He already agonized through so many burdensome experiences in the earlier books, so he had nothing to lose by descending into Hades. Odysseus's journey reminds me of  Josephs story in Genesis when their was a famine in the land of Canaan for several years and the brothers had to being Benjamin with them to Egypt to receive the food they needed to survive. Odysseus needed to sacrifice and bring an animal so the blood would attract the dead and he could receive the information he was seeking.

The Cattle of the Sun
Odysseus and his crew are tested for their ability to listen and follow orders. When Odysseus leaves his men for a short period of time, they are tested again , but not by Helios. Eurylochus manipulates Odysseus' men , causing them to fail through Helios instructions to respect the animals on the island of Thrinacia. I think he does this because of the grudge he holds against Odysseus when Odysseus threatened to kill Eurylochus.Helios offers his trust in this story and with broken trust comes consequences. It was wrong for Odysseus to leave his men unattended especially since he did once before when they opened the bag of powerful winds thinking it could provide them wealth. Helio received the justice he wanted with the help of Zeus. I feel like Odysseus could of gotten along better traveling by himself rather than carrying the trouble his foolish men made.

Book One

Telemachus: 

"My mother verily saith that I am his; for myself I know not, for never man yet knew of himself for his own descent. O that I has been the son of some blessed man, whom old age overtook among his own possession! but now of him that is the most hapless of mortal men , his son they say that I am, since though dost question me hereof."

Telemachus needs to see it to believe it. He is at least twenty years of age and still has no proof of his father other than by the word of what others say. Without knowing what a father's love is like, he has no reason to believe that all the responsibility he has been given by to protect a kingdom would be a task left by a father.

 

 

Though Telemachus is making an effort to be man of the house and kingdom, Penelope has a lot stress on her as well. She faithfully waits for her husband's return, while suitors try to court her, for they know that if they do, they will become King. She refuses to remarry to anyone but does not say it to any of the suitors because I think she sometimes has doubts that her husband will not come and she will be alone. So instead of refusing anyone, she tells them she hasn't decided yet and that she will marry once she has finished weaving a burial garment for her father in law, Laertes. At night she takes apart her weaving, so it will never become finished. If she married one of the suitors, she has given up on her husband and would give her the mindset that he is dead or with someone else. With a love so extreme for him, she cannot give in so easy.

Both of these characters are struggling to find hope , but they know they have no time to waste moping around because their kingdom is in danger from all who want it. This fight that they are going through is torturous but it is definitely making them stronger .

Genesis Day 5

After reading this story, I found a pattern of favoritism and the conflicts that arise from it. Jacob favors Joseph by giving him a special coat.Rachel, who is Joseph's mother, and I believe she is also favored over Jacob's other wives. Joseph is the eldest out of the sons Rachel had, which would make sense for Jacob to love them more. Once Joseph is abandoned by his brothers, he is then favored by the Pharaoh with the help of the Lord. Everything goes from bad to good , until it becomes too good when the Pharaoh's wife favors Joseph over her  own husband by continuously commanding Joseph to have sex with her. But even when Joseph is put into prison , he is still in a good position because the Lord is with him and makes Joseph to be favored by the one who runs the prison. The Lord basically made everyone like Joseph, which is kind of unfair. Then when Joseph is at the top of his game, feeding the world, the brothers finally favor him as well because they thought he was God. After all the brothers are reunited, Joseph favors his youngest brother Benjamin. Two reasons to believe this because Benjamin did not travel with the rest of the brothers when they sold him, and another reason is because they both were the offspring of Rachel. Favoritism both destroyed and rebuilt the relationships in this story. It was the conflict made to save.

A second theme is reconciliation. Joseph took care after his brothers, even when they sold him. Joseph did this because he believed it wasn't his brothers that sent him away, but that is was the Lord who did this. Having the power to interpret and being a likable man, Joseph really had nothing to lose, and to keep his family safe and secure to him made everything perfect. He knew he had control over them too since he was the provider and the savoir to them.

Reading Genesis 26 started to make me think that Isaac was Abraham and Rebecca was Sarah . I mean, did the bible lose it's creativity here? At least we know that Isaac made his Wife act like his sister so they could spare there lives. Luckily they didn't need to do that in the first place, so what is this fear that is being passed down the family genes?

Rebecca was obviously not a understanding woman as she deceived her husband and son. Even though the Bible states no specific reason why she loved Jacob more , but I think that is has something to do with Jacob always staying home while his brother is always out hunting. Since the role of a woman was to stay close to home and take care of things there, she was able to be close to her son Jacob , which led to favoring him. I think her speech in Genesis 27 was important because it might be trying to say that forgiveness takes patience. 

Genesis 12, 16-18,  21-23

2. Sarah might have kept her mouth shut, because the Lord said to Abraham “him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  I think she also understood that there was a reason behind all of this because her husband said that she was beautiful, so at least she knew Abraham was not ashamed of her. If she did spill the beans, Sarah and Abe would have been killed or punished by the Egyptians before the Pharaoh would be afflicted by God. Since Sarah was beautiful, she made the perfect distraction so Abe could successfully get what he needed.

3. Abraham and Sarah did not seem to me that they were wealthy enough to have servants. This is where I question how they decided who was higher than the other. I thought maybe Hagar was a whore who Sarah and Abraham took in. With this decision to have Hagar into their family, jealousy comes into play again in the Bible. I think Sarah is more envious of Hagar, not because she gets to have sex with Abraham, but I think it is because she cannot have a child like Hagar can. Sarah says herself that after Hagar gave birth, she feels like she is worthless and has no power, when in truth Sarah is the one who overpowers Hagar. Sarah was the one who let Hagar have a child for her anyways, so Sarah should have been thankful for Hagar.

4. At this point of the story, Abraham has no other choice but to listen to God. Abraham knew God was capable of anything. Since he blessed Abe and his wife a son, which they thought was impossible to do at their age; he also knew he was capable of punishment for not listening.  I’m sure Abraham loved his son, which kind of makes Isaac the perfect sacrifice. If you gave the Lord a sacrifice that wasn’t too meaningful to you, it wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice.  

Genesis 4, 6-9

Cain & Abel:

Question 2
If Abel was protected by God, and God let Cain know Abel was being protected, Cain would have not pursued his deathly actions by how he truly felt. If the murder didn't happen, the knowledge of justice would never exist.Like in Genesis 1-3, God gave Adam and Eve choices, and just like in Genesis 4 he gives the brothers a chance to choose how they deal with their feelings. Adam and Eve were also unprotected by God when they met the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, and their punishment for what they did carried off to their offspring so they were unprotected too. Abel may sound completely innocent, but that is because we really know nothing about him or his relationship with his brother. Since there is lack of information about Cain and Abel's earlier life, I came to wonder how did one become a farmer, while the other the Shepard? Did they choose their own career path? Or were they assign by God? Because if so , Cain was treated unfairly since he was growing fruits and vegetables when God had already made fruits and vegetables, so the offering of Cain would be not as plentiful as a Shepard's work. God also created animals,but as a Shepard, Abel was able to take care of those animals enough for them to offspring. It took on different responsibilities. It also sounded like Cain was receiving help from the earth, because when Cain was punished , God said "When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength".

Question 4

At first I found the Mark of Cain the most confusing out of Genesis 4... Cain kills, and God doesn't want vengeance against Cain, but he does want vengeance if Cain is killed by another man. Then I realized factors to this reasoning...God doesn't want to kill Cain because he wants to punish him in a suffering way rather than not suffering at all by killing him in an instant. If he didn't put a mark on Cain , Cain could just find a human being he meets as he travels the world and just ask them to take his life so he can escape his punishment. So at first you think, "oh God is really nice and forgiving since he will let Cain live", but then in truth he is really true to his word about justice by making Cain's life a miserable hell. God may be doing this not to protect one person, but to everyone else that Cain may cross so they can see what happens when you have deeply sinned.


Noah

In Genesis 4, murder and vengeance is first discovered and that disappoints God. He insists on punishing those who do wrong, but in the chapters immediately right after it contradicts when God commits murder to not only one person,but probably billions of people! From the time of when the earth was created to Noah’s story, it was at least a few centuries that have gone by and many generations were born.

God created everything out of nothing within just a few days, so I’m pretty sure he would have the ability to destroy what he created within a matter of minutes, rather than 40 days, 40 nights and a yearlong flood. Since God  saw Noah as a good man on the outside, there is a possibility he could have been testing his goodness and faith on the inside by commanding him a task so bizarre. Though why would you ask a 600-year old man to do the labor that should be done by 600 men? It startled me to know that despite his age, Noah was in perfect condition to build a ridiculously gigantic ark. Also, why did he wait so long? Before Noah was born or before he reached the age of 6 centuries, it’s hard to imagine that there was not another man equally as decent as him before his time who could of not done the task just as well.