So, stemming from a conversation in another thread, I thought I might start up a thread where we could talk about religion through the lens of literature, or how various fictions and/or poems portray religious figures. This would require that at least a few users actually share some common knowledge of the literature; I was thinking that we could post poems or books (NO non-fiction), preferably shorter reads, that at least some of us might read and then discuss.
I'll start off by asking if anyone's read, or is willing to read:
Euripides' Bacchae
Euripides' Cyclops
Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound
Milton's Paradise Lost
I'm currently taking a course in Greek and Roman drama, and the topics we're discussing are fresh in my mind, so that's why all the plays pop up. The plays are all about hour-ish reads; Paradise Lost is a long read. Anyone want to discuss/are you willing to read the books/what do you think of this thread? By the way, feel free to suggest or commentate on any other literature in which the author is tackling religion
not really literature, so this might have been better in the 'religion' thread. Anyways there's not much here for me to deconstruct, as the video is a deconstruction of various religious literature.
That said, I think it's a pretty valid interpretation that muddles some facts here and there. It would be better if it were in a reference paper or book. Some problems I had: (1) Dionysus was never "resurrected" unless they're talking about his 'twice-born' status which really stretches the story: he didn't die and become reborn, he was never born in the first place but taken from his mother's womb and put into Zeus' leg; (2) eon is a synonym for age, but you can never hinge an argument on semantics: for instance, eon and age mean very different things geologically; (3) if I remember correctly, Constantine was the best thing that happened to christianity in the Roman world: he stopped persecution of christians which had been rampant prior to his emperorship; and (4) Rome wasn't brought down to it's knees by christianity but barbarian tribes (goths, visigoths, vandals, francs, etc).
Also, the music and animation was pretty horrible. Again, I think it would help their case if this was published as a referenced paper or book, not a quasi-educational video
For now I just have a few comments to make because at this time I have many irons in the fire and my Illuminati thread is time consuming but important to me.
I started getting into the works of the great thinkers of long ago when at 13 my 7th. grade teacher turned me on to this fascinating area of study. Then, on my own, I started getting into Greek and Roman mythology, poems, plays and philosophy.
Euripides and Aeschylus were certainly great playrights that I wish were alive today. Imagine the epic movies that they would make and would beat the Hell out of a lot of the trash they are making today and calling movies. What if Homer were alive today and had his own band. We might be on a thread titled "Who has made better concept albums, Pink Floyd vs Homer"
From what I remember from Paradise Lost is that it's one of the greatest works, PERIOD. I will have to brush up on it a bit and anatomize it in order to make a more informed and in depth thought on it though. I do know it's an awesome poem that's right up my alley. I've not yet read Paradise Regained, have you Purple?
You know, Socrates, Aristotle and Plato have received much more fame and accolades but I prefer Parmenides. Although he lived over 2,500 years ago I feel that we have yet not fully grasped all of the things he wrote. I have always loved his belief that the flow of time is only an illusion with the past existing along with the present. _________________ .
I owe $100,000 and wasted 4 years of my life.
nah, I've never even heard of Paradise Regained; and I've heard of parmenides but not read any of him. And the Greek tragedians really did put on great shows, with every play really digging into some heavy concepts; and there would also be singing and dancing. And Homer, Euripides, Sophocles, and Aeschylus blow any lyrics from a modern musician out of the water; however today's music is much more diverse and complex than what would have been danced to during the plays, or sung to with the epics.
I really encourage anyone who has an extra hour this weekend to read one of the plays I posted so we can kickstart this thread.
Maybe if you asked some more specific questions about the plays or the Paradise Lost poem. If you set some parameters for what you want to discuss you might get some nibbles and then hook people into a discussuion. Just a thought.
Like with Racchae, is it Dionysis or wisdom that you want to discuss, the battles between men and women or the rich and poor? _________________ .
I owe $100,000 and wasted 4 years of my life.
reading the Bacchae as an anti-religion vs pro-religion play is what I would want to discuss. I'll get back to this by the end of the week. the hell-week before midterms is in full-effect
Bobby Henderson actually did a pretty solid thing there. It is as impossible to disprove those claims as the one's made by any of the traditional religions, which does indeed help putting religious claims at the level they should be. The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is also a quite funny read (albeit a bit too silly for some tastes).
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