Catching up! Book 5

I would like to preface this post with some background of my mythological background, which also leads a bit into what my paper will be about.  Prior to this class I would have said loud and clear that "I do not like Mythology!!"  I have always avoided it like the plague (mythological, huh?!) and always thought of it as an old ancient form of science fiction, which I also claim to hate.  I am very happy to say that now that I have taken this course, and yes, read Ovid, cover to cover, I really enjoy Mythology and have a completely different view of it.  I have had a tendency in my life to avoid and or ignore things that I have little knowledge of, or simply don't understand easily.  I grew up in Montana and when I moved to New Jersey at 18 I recall telling some newly found friends that "I hated seafood."  One day one of them asked me how I knew that appreciating there was probably limited amounts of seafood in Montana.  It was at that point I realized I had never tried seafood............and guess what..............I LOVE seafood!!!  Who Knew???!!  My experience with Ovid is no different.  I have learned that I need to pursue that which I am skeptical about and have an open mind and let it in!  When I saw the book Ovid that was required for the course, I remember thinking clearly, Oh, dear god, I hope we don't actually have to read that!!!  I hope we just have to refer to bits and pieces, little bits and pieces!  Now that I have read it all, and many, many parts 2 and 3 times over, I could not be more thankful to have had this experience and learned not only that Mythology is beautiful and lovely and the source of incredible art, and music and has the incredible ability to help us understand human life and behavior.  Thank you for that!  With all of that said, with my newly found interest in mythology, I realize that part of the reason that I avoided it before is because I found it completely unbelievable, and quite honestly just weird.  Now I know that I don't have to believe it, just learn from it.  Let it take me to what I can relate to, it is not my job to make sense of it, but to let it make sense to me.  So, in many of my sentences of the stories, I will relate the story to what it made me think about in my current world.  Much of it seems absurd, and yes, maybe a little disrespectful, but I think it's OK, because taking it too seriously is what made me avoid it my whole life.  I think you have to have fun with it.  So here I go! 

Book 5

Perseus - This has got to be the worst wedding reception ever!!!  I will always and forever think of this story as I sit and suffer through my friends children's weddings!! 

Minerva and the Muses - I think of this as one of the first versions of American Idol with the whole music competition thing.  Minerva would be the first Simon Cowell and having the singers that did not win turned into magpies could explain many of the outfits that you see on some of the "music stars" at the awards shows, like Lady Gaga!  She must have lost some competition!!