Mythology and Folklore

( Alden Island by Tristan Schmurr) The Sixth Voyage by Andrew Lang: Characters: Sinbad, King of Serendib, Haroun Sinbad: Starting to realize that sailing just doesn't go well for him. Decides to go sail again anyways because he is very bored at home. His friends and family tell him that this is a terrible idea.  King of Serendib: Welcomes Sinbad readily. Wants to look good for the Caliph Haroun.  Haroun: Receives Sinbad when he comes back from Serendib. Thinks the King of Serendib is pretty cool because Sinbad told him that he is pretty cool.  Plot: Sinbad heads out for his 6th voyage despite his family and friends telling him that's a terrible idea. They head off and are caught up in a current that sends them straight into the mountainous side of an island. They see the remains of many ships and sailors. They ration out there food and one by one the sailors starve and Sinbad buries them. Eventually, when he is the last one left, Sinbad decides to make raft to sail down...

( Humpback Whale by Sylke Rohrlach)   First Voyage by Andrew Lang: Characters: Sinbad (first person perspective), Captain, Whale, King Sinbad: Bad with money, but now knows that he is bad with it. is evidently pretty resourceful. Captain: Honest dude, wants to return Sinbad's stuff to his family. A swell dude Whale: acted like an island, does not like fires on its back. How big was this whale. Sea monster? King: is welcoming to someone who definitely could've just robbed him, Plot: Sinbad inherits a lot of money and being the young naive person he is, spends it all frivolously and is just hemorrhaging money. He decides to sell all of his things so he can join a merchant crew and make a living for himself. They set off and eventually decide to stop at a small island for the night. They light a fire to keep them warm, but as soon as they do they see it was actually a giant sleeping whale, not an island. The men try to return to the ship, and some make it back, but Sinbad and se...

 Once upon a time, in Egypt, there lived King Rhampsinitus. He had a problem. A very good problem to have, too much treasure! This weighed heavily on the King's mind. Where was he to put it all and keep it safe from all wrongdoers. He decided he needed a treasure house, but not just any treasure house. It needs to be secure and well guarded.  A builder was selected. He was extremely skilled and accepted the contract. The construction went well and the grand storeroom was built swiftly and with grand adornments to illustrate the King's opulence. Through out the project, the builder had his official and a set of secret ones. He knew the King had wealth, so much in fact, that he wouldn't notice if some of it were to walk away. Under the cover of darkness, he continued to work, and continued to create a secret entrance for himself. A single false rock is all it would take.  Eventually, The storeroom was finished and the treasure securely tucked away and guarded by the King'...

( Rhamsinitus species of Beetle by Bernard Dupont) The Tale of King Rhampsinitus by Donald Mackenzie Characters: Rhampsinitus, Builder, Son1, Son2, Mother Rhampsinitus: The King. Is very rich. wants to keep is treasure. likes tricksters. Builder: Skilled at building treasure houses with weaknesses Son1: Is greedy Son2: Is greedy and really weird person. Mother: Sad because one of her sons dies (understandably)  Plot: The King Rhampsinitus wants to store all his treasure in a nice safe place. He hires the builder who does a pretty good job except he makes a purposeful false rock. He does this so he can come in and take some treasure. This is going to plan until he becomes extremely sick and won't be able to take the treasure. This causes him to tell his 2 sons about the secret so they can get some money. After their father died, they began to plunder the treasure house. They snuck in through the secret hole and stole some loot. The King being understandably confused stationed more...

( The Mythological Trinity by Karl Baedeker)  " The Death of Osiris " by Donald Mackenzie: Characters: Osiris, Set, Isis, Ra, Scorpions Osiris: Current king of Egypt after Ra ascended. Set: Wants to be king and acts like Osiris's friend. Isis: Osiris's wife and daughter of Nut and Geb. Ra: Ascended king of Egypt before Osiris. Also is nice to Isis Scorpions: Protectors of Isis and were sent by Ra to guard her as she looked for the coffin that Osiris was sealed in Plot:  Osiris is returning from his journey around the world spreading knowledge, wisdom, and peace. A huge feast is prepared to celebrate Osiris's return. Set comes to join the party. He has secret agents ready to attack and seal Osiris away. To do this, Set makes a game where whoever can fit exactly in the chest will get tons of treasure. Everyone fails of course because it's designed for Osiris, so when he lays there. Set has his minions spring the trap and seal him inside nd throw him in a river....

 The main idea for my storybook project will be mythological Serpents and Sea Monsters. These creatures are usually portrayed as villains or adversaries for other more prominent mythological characters to battle and overcome. I think for my project I want to flip the script a little bit and let these beaten baddies have a little time in the limelight.  Some of the stories I've decided to remix and explore are things such as Apep from the Egyptian mythos. Apep is a deity of chaos that fights with Ra every night. Ra, of course, wins these nightly battles and reemerges everyday victorious and brings the sun up. The second I chose is one of Heracles's 12 labors, the Drakon Hesperios. There must have been something to make it earn a spot in the 12 labors, so I would like to explore more of ferocity and rumors that made it so legendary that it required a demigod to defeat. Lastly, I want to take a bunch of monsters and kind of combine stories for them a little bit. I need some more ...

  ( source : Welcome Lettering Typography) This is the comment wall for my storybook !

( Flowchart by Kayau)   Twine : Twine seems like a really cool tool. I played around in the editor a bit and it was really intuitive and easy to use. I liked that when a block was empty it displayed all the instructions for how to format text and make the clickable links.  I think this would be really useful for making a cool choose your own adventure type story. It would let me explore different aspects of a story within one entry. I'm also looking forward to learning more about the scripts and programming that you can do to spice up the story. There could be some rogue-like elements to add into the stories.

( Charybdis et Scylla by Ary Renan) Odyssey: The Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis Translated by Tony Kline: Characters: Odysseus, Crew, Sirens, Scylla Odysseus: Tells crew to tie him to the mast so he can listen to the song that the Sirens sing. He tries to get his crew to release him so he can go the sirens but they do not. Then when they pass Scylla and Charybdis he is in his armor but can not do anything as his men are carried away and probably eaten.  Crew: more of them die. This time to Scylla. I am surprised they were able to resist wanting to listen to the Siren's song. I think it could be interesting if one did.  Sirens: Try to lure Odysseus and the crew towards them so that they can eat them all.  Scylla: Attacks the ship and doesn't have dialogue in the translation. Eats a bunch of Odysseus's men. (maybe a metaphor for cannibalism??) Plot: After explaining that he has talked to a bunch of dead people, Odysseus has his crew set sail to try to return home to Ithaca....

( Head of a Cyclops , Picture by Steven Lek)   Odyssey: The Curse of Polyphemus: Translate by Tony Kline Characters: Polyphemus, Odysseus, Crew, Poseidon Polyphemus: Is the cyclopes. He gets blinded by Odysseus and they escape him. He prays to Poseidon to get revenge or justice on Odysseus. Throws a bi rock at the ship as they leave. Odysseus: Previously blinded the cyclopes. get men to sail on and they got lost. Kills some magic deer. (feel like since this is all from his perspective maybe he killed his own crew to survive) Crew: just rowing Kind of boring not much personification. I think adding them into the between island journey as their morale fades and hunger takes over could be interesting. Poseidon: Hears Polyphemus's prayer that he want Odysseus to return home broken and beaten. Plot: After blinding Polyphemus the cyclopes, Odysseus and crew escape and have lots of sheep. Polyphemus prays to Poseidon to ruin Odysseus. He then throws a huge rock towards the ship and narrow...

( Common Kukri Snake by Anagha Devi) I think for this project I'm going to focus on the Serpents and Sea Monsters. Going off of what Laura recommended to me, I think doing a storybook around various mythical reptiles could be interesting. Most of my story ideas here are kind of simple where I flip the story and the serpent/dragon wins.  First story idea: Wikipedia: Apep I could make this story based around Apep's eternal battle with Ra and them fighting every night. This would of course include Ra winning every time. Maybe they could get tired of fighting over time or Ra becomes more and more arrogant because he thinks he can never lose and his victory is always assured. Maybe one day the prayers stop and Ra is finally defeated, thrusting the world into eternal darkness and chaos.  Second story idea: Theoi: Drakon Hesperios This is the 100 headed serpent who guards the Golden Apples of Hesperides. It's name is Ladon and it is killed by Heracles as part of the 12 labors. I ...

The first article I read was " Try Feedforward instead of Feedback " by Marshall Goldsmith: I thought the focus on future changes was an interesting idea. Instead of focusing on what happened in the past, the article advocates for ideas how to do things in the future. I feel like this advice could be helpful, but it seems it could be too general. Especially with it saying the feedforward could come from anyone that, even people who don't know you. I think this may lead to people getting really generalized advice when they may just need help in a very specific way. I do agree though that it's easy for people to take feedback personally, and by focusing on future tasks, it alleviates some of that feeling. I think point 7 in the link is the biggest part. It's just uncomfortable to criticize someone's performance and it feels bad to receive it.  The second article was ' Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job" ' by Alfie Kohn: I never really though...

( Menelaus Holding the body of Patroclus , picture by Guillaume Piolle) Patroclus leapt from the deck of Achille's ship. The light from the fire turned the sky a dark orange color. The Trojans had started to set fires to burn down the Greek ships. Patroclus looked on into the sea shimmering helmets. He knew that he needed to take Achilles's place, and with his arms, carry the Greeks to victory. He charged into the fray. The Greeks taking him to be Achille's were spurred into a greater fury and they fought the Trojans back.  Patroclus was unyielding and fought farther and farther ahead. His mind was clouded from his victory on shores, and he did not heed the words of Achilles's. "Don't go near the walls of Troy," He said, "The Trojan Walls are impenetrable, and they will be well-fortified. Only drive them away from the boats and return here to me." Patroclus pressed on, determined to slay even Hector and bring the Greeks victory. Sarpedon, one of ...

( Achilles Dragging the Body of Hector around Troy by Gavin Hamilton)   The Slaying of Hector: Characters: Achilles, Apollo (god), Agenor, Hector, Priam, Athene Achilles: Is enraged by the trojans killing Patroclus and taking boys, weapons, and armor. He is too mad to bargain with Hector before he kills him. He knows that he is stronger than Hector. loved Patroclus and will do anything to avenge him. Apollo: saves Agenor and buys time for the rest of the Trojans to run back into the walls of Troy. Plays tricks on Achilles to lead him away from the walls. Agenor: gets courage from Apollo and stays to fight Achilles but is carried to safety by Apollo who replaces him.  Hector: takes and wears the armor of Patroclus. This angers Achilles a lot.  Priam: is the king. Is watching over the battle and wanting everyone to come inside because Achilles is too powerful.  Athene: tricks Hector into thinking he is safe with his brother. This causes him to face Achilles and die. P...

( Walls of Troy by CherryX ) The Deeds and Death of Patroclus (end) Characters:   Hector, Patroclus, Apollo(god)     Hector: Kind of cowardly, needs his heart to be changed by Apollo to actually do any action.      Apollo: Drives more of the action in this part of story. I think he should have less of a role because ultimately this is a story about men.      Patroclus: Gets kind of screwed over due to forces he can't control. Was being very heroic, but Apollo takes him out. Plot:  Patroclus has gotten frenzied because he defeated one of the best warriors on Troy's side, Sarpedon. This has caused Patroclus to repeatedly attack the Trojan lines, killing multiple people each time. Eventually Apollo is is tire of his side being killed and blinds Patroclus (very unfair). Hector then calls out Patroclus for not actually being Achilles despite wearing his armor. Patroclus is then stabbed by Hector with a spear and Patroclus calls out Hecto...

(source: Apep Seul ) Topic 1: Gods and Goddesses of Olympus ( Theoi ) I have a little surface level knowledge about Greek mythos's from popular media and books. This is all mostly from the Percy Jackson series that I read ages ago. I also enjoy watching Overly Sarcastic Productions cover history and myth on their YouTube channel. I would like to do some deeper dives into some less big name players on Olympus. I think there's definitely a lot of focus on big names like Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, but less so on like the titans.  Topic 2: Stories from China Once again I've seen a little of the stories from China. I've references mainly to the "Journey to the West" in games such as Overwatch. I also have seen some of the "Journey to the West" explained series by Overly Sarcastic Productions . I really feel like I don't know much and it has honestly been a while since I've watched that video series. I feel like the videos give a good overview, bu...

( Simple Feedback by Trevithj)   The first article I read was " Why Rejection Hurts so Much - and What to do About It " by Guy Winch: The main takeaway I got from this article is that the reaction people have from rejection is mostly the self depreciation people after the fact. I'm applying to medical schools to this semester and I've already been placed on waitlists, I know it's not the same as outright rejection, but it's still hard to not replay my interview over and over in my head. I agonize over every response and just keep wondering where and why I went wrong. I expect to receive many more rejections, so hopefully I develop some better coping mechanisms. I definitely think some of the strategies discussed here would help me. Things like replacing self deprecating internal thoughts with actually helpful ones would be good, but I feel like it's difficult to not take it at least somewhat personally. I do like the advice to be more social but in the ag...

(source: The Trapped Tiger by Snehil Singh )   Once upon a time, there was a poor Brahman walking through the forest. He happened upon a tiger caught in a hunter’s cage. “Let me out of this cage, oh pious one!” cried the tiger. “Nah you’ll probably eat me if I do” remarked the Brahman, “How could I trust you to do anything else?” “No!” bellowed the tiger swearing oaths the Brahman had not even heard of, “I will serve as your slave and always be by your side!” The Brahman’s mind raced. “A tiger slave? But how can I trust him? But tigers are pretty cool. And I might be able get some fame and fortune. Who wouldn’t come to see a man and his slave tiger,” He thought.  He said to the tiger, “Ok, I will free you,” and after some trouble he released the tiger from its imprisonment. It leapt upon him and said. “You fool, how could you be so naive as I’ve been for so long and worked up quite an appetite. How did you even plan to subdue me into beijing your slave?” The Brahman said, “ My...

The Tiger, The Brahman, The Jackal by Joseph Jacobs in "Indian Fairy Tales." : (Bengal Tiger source ) Characters: A Tiger, Brahman, Jackal, Tree, Buffalo, and a Road. Plot:  The Brahman frees a tiger from a cage, but the tiger wants to eat him. He goes and asks a Tree, Road, and a Jackal if he should accept being eaten. Everyone except the Jackal says he should accept being eaten. The Jackal tricks the tiger into going back into the cage, saving the Brahman.  Techniques that were interesting:  The author build tension by having by having two of the character that the Brahman asks for help tell him to just accept his fate like it's just how the world works. He (author) made it seem like the Brahman would probably have to accept it. Also, how convincing was this tiger, Like having a tiger slave would be cool, but like what were the logistics of it. Why'd he think this was at all a good idea.  Also, I liked that the jackal didn't go right into helping the man out. H...