Beyond the Borderline

“The average is the borderline that keeps mere men in their place. Those who step over the line are heroes by the very act. Go.”

To me, a hero is not Superman, or Spiderman, or Batman. To me, a hero is someone that like this quote says, steps past the “borderline that keeps mere men in their place.” Heroes are born when people realize that they are not content with following the steps of every other person in society. Eventually, through their actions they rise above and the average man. Though the point of blogging about heroes may have been for me to say; a hero is a mythological or iconic figure of great physical strength and supernatural powers who always destroys evil, I truly believe a hero is someone with strong morals who is brave, gracious, and humble. True heroes are the types of people that set out to do good not because they are looking to get a cool “hero” title, but because they genuinely want to help and bring happiness to the people around them. They’re the people that put themselves at risk for the sake of someone else and always do the right thing, though it may not make them popular. But in the end, I think true heroes are people who make decisions based on compassion and leave some form of legacy long after they’re gone.

True heroes are finally recognized

"Old myths, old gods, old heroes have never died. They are only sleeping at the bottom of our mind, waiting for our call. We have need for them. They represent the wisdom of our race."
- Stanley Kunitz

People do not choose to be heroes. They are ordinary people confronted by extraordinary cirumstances, that result in the very best being brought out of them. Heroes do not seek to be called heroes, heroes are people that we look up to, and strive to be more alike. It is for this reaeson that other people choose to label them as heroes. Acts of heroisim serve as examples to other people. Most people are be saisfied with acheiving modest objectives. If everybody was satisfied with themselves and beleived that they had acheived their reached their full potential, there would be no need for heroes. Heroes remind us that perhaps we too can act heroicly, and they encourage us to acheive more than we ever thought we were capable of. Humanity needs heroes. In todays society, celebrities are commonly confused with heroes. One positive, but unfortunatly temporary outcome of 9/11 was that true heroes were finally recognized. The true heroes in the events of that tragic day were the fire fighters, police officers, doctors, paramedics, the passengers on the highjacked planes that hit the world trade centre, and the office workers in the twin towers. Celebrities were finally reduced to the "cheerleaders" for real heroes, ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. We need to admire the simplicity, the purety, and the nobility of what constitutes a hero. They are role models that we need to emulate and to admire. Heroes remind us of what we are capable of, and what we should aspire to be.

The Wisdom of Our Race

"Old myth's, old gods, old heroes have never died. They are only sleeping at the bottom of our mind, waiting for our call. We have need for them. They represent the wisdom of our race." -Stanley Kunitz

Myths were created as a way to explain natural phenomena and provide a moral code that the Greek and Roman people could live by. There was need for them and there still is, as humans today can still relate to the basic ideas of these stories. Myths represent "the wisdom of our race" because even though they were written thousands of years ago, people today can still learn important lessons from them. They are "sleeping at the bottom of our minds" because these stories are based on human nature.

Heros are never Satisfied

“If everybody was satisfied with himself there would be no heroes.”

Mark Twain In my mind a hero is a human who battles adversity and goes above and beyond what a normal human thinks they can do. A heroes battles throughout his or her life for immortality. Played out with battles, tasks, and great challenges to prove his or her heroism. Heroes are never satisfied with being a number in a crowd, left to die and forgotten. But to do something extra ordinary so that thousands of year after their death their name lives on.

What makes a hero a hero?

"If everybody was satisfies with himself there would be no heroes."

-Mark Twain

What is a hero? They are everything we want to be. Selfless, giving, self sacrificing; the best of us. We idolize heroes because, even thought they have their flaws, they are put in extraordinary circumstances and come out victorious. If we thought of ourselves as perfect than there would be no traits that we aspire to have, and as a result no heroes.

My Conception of a Hero

“Virtue is not necessarily qualification for heroic status: a hero is not a role model. On the contrary, it is of the essence of a hero to be unique and therefore inimitable.”

~ Lucy Hughes-Hallett

The quote by Lucy Hughes-Hallett accurately describes the way I perceive a hero; not necessarily someone with high or moral standards, and also not necessarily someone that people look up to or try to imitate. Heroes are rather unlike anyone else, and so much so that it makes the hero someone that is impossible to copy.

What is a hero?

“Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.”

Carol Lynn Pearson To me a hero is exactly what Carol Lynn Pearson said, Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves. People always look up to heroes, they always cheer when they walk down the street or get honored with a medal. A hero is somebody that is a "freak" they have unhuman like capabilities. Such as human strength or ability to see through walls, jump high, just stuff out of the ordinary. My example of a hero is Hercules or Spider-man they do what is needed without thinking about if they would be safe or not.

Because we share that nature, we can identify...

"Because we share that nature, we can identify with these individuals and respond to them." The common denominator between myths and modern day are the human experiences explained within them. They have an enduring impact on mankind because they have eternal meaning. We still discuss these meanings today because we can relate, and learn from these experiences. They have stood the test of time because they are still of significance. Afterall we all are still human beings, we all make mistakes. However, a smart man learns from his mistakes, but a wise man learns from others mistakes. The only way to grow today is to learn from yesterday.

Fooling the Fates

The one of the main concepts in The Creation of the Titans and the Gods, is greed and selfishness. Cronus is hungry for power and was willing to do anything to get it, including eating his own children. Cronus believes he can "fool the Fates", but he later pays for his actions when his own children wage war against him. The moral of the story is basically that being greedy usually does not end well. The Greeks seemed to believe in fate, and thought that everyone had a predetermined destiny that you can neither fight nor change.

Dare to Fight Fate?

A reoccurring theme throughout The Creation of the Titans and the Gods is the idea of Cronus trying to fight the Fates. The concept of people battling and attempting to cheat their fate is still relevant to today’s society. I am not saying I believe that everyone is born with a predetermined fate that is their destiny, what I am trying to say is that some people (especially ancient Greeks), believe that once your fate is determined, there is no way for you to change it. Essentially to them, your fate is your destiny. Cronus’s story follows this very belief. His arrogance and selfishness to rule for eternity lead himself to believe that he could in fact “fool the Fates”. Even though they had prophesied that one of his own sons would overpower him, he believed if he ate every one of his children, it could never be true. But thinking he could get away with that was naïve and one day it eventually caught up with him. Cronus was inevitably trapped by his fate and was overpowered by his sons.

Gaea's Role

Among the first three immortal beings Gaea played what seems to me like the most important role in the creation of the titans and gods. Gaea was clever, and not unlike any human mother today. She created Uranus, Ourea and Pontus along with other immortal children. Gaea was responsible for all Greek gods and without her "mother-like" qualities, the myths we know today would all have something missing.

Everlasting Love

Examining the way a society envisions their own creation, reveals the principles they believe are the most basic and fundamental. If you want to uphold a value, having it present at the beginning of time allows it resonate with all your peoples, shaping their character to the core, because the value is seen as a value that all of humanity has seated within them, time immemorial. The Iroquois people's creation story of a giant turtle sprouting from the vast ocean, and from this ancient turtle all forms of life flow, shows the importance they place upon the earth, honouring it constantly because it is from which they too came. The Abrahamic religions believe in the story of Adam and Eve, in which the fundamental concept of sinning is the main factor, this shows that one of their core values is right from wrong, and resisting temptation. In the Classical Civilization the theme of motherly love is present.

Gaea's unrelentless love for her children, no matter their beastly attributes is a driving force in the creation myth, showing the importance they place on a mothers' loving protection, loyalty to the hearth, and most sacred of bonds between mother and child. These values resonate in the old greek culture with their adherence to the power of the maternal entity and its holy properties.

The creation myth of the ancient greeks is long outdated, and virtually no modern human believes that the present state of nature is because of the inner conflicts between immortals who lived on Mount Olympus. We now know that Mount Olympus has no apparent supernatural properties and that Uranus' genitalia most likely did not turn into Aphrodite, but the myth still evokes a human response upon reading, we still see where the characters are coming from, their reasoning, their motives. Be it these entities are fictional, but the because of the human characteristics we empathize with them and are engaged. The reason for this engagement is because this myth, and others like it, deal with the timeless constant of the human experience. Though these characters are ancient and immortal their actions and reactions are understandable, allowing the story to speak truths and speak to us through their themes and morals. Therein lies the value of myths in the modern day, the morals that the ancients learned from these stories can also be learnt by us. The morals of resisting temptation, respecting the earth, and recognizing the unique bond between mother and child are all truths that humans of all times would do good to adhere to.

-Yaseen

Treasure of Realities

"Myths are a treasure of realities- a kaleidoscope which, depending upon the age experience of the reader, reflects and illuminates his experiences, fantasies, hopes, and fears."

Much like many other forms of great literature, myths draw from past experiences that are exclusive to each individual. The emotions that these stories instil within us are dependent on our character. The lessons that we learn from these stories are reflected in our past. And the adversity experienced by the characters address our own largest fears. Though myths may contain supernatural elements, the characters and plotline are still somehow very relatable. This relatability and entertainment factor is directly correlated to their long lasting existence. The way these stories teach us such important morals is what makes them so unique. It’s the reason why even now days we continue to study these works of literature and analyze them in great conversation.

Titans and gods

Through out the myth "The creation of the titans and the gods" the overall big picture to me is, that mothers in general do not have to much power over there husbands doing. Gaea had no control when Uranus in prisoned her children, he could do whatever he wanted. Mothers that love there children have always have been very protective of their children. A few years there were stories about how a car trapped a mothers child and she lifted then car using superhuman strength. The human body can do a lot of crazy stuff like the strength of Hercules, strength of the three Cyclopses, and the Hundred hand giants. Gaea in the myth does not give up on getting her immortal children back from there imprisonment, and that is a very important thing to understand. Things can always get better for Gaea(mother Earth) just need to wait and see what happens. Myths have a lasting impact on humanity, or just to who ever wants to listen and learn about the past and learn the theme or meaning behind the story/myth. In my opinion myths are very important in modern day society that we live in today. I think the whole point behind myths are to pass on funny and interesting stories about the past and give us an imagination. I would have never thought that the sun comes across the sky by some guy in a chariot pulling it, without myths (Helios did it i think)

A face only a mother could love.

The idea that the female is the prime caregiver for her children is shown in this myth. Gaea (Mother Earth) morned the banishment of her first two children: the three Hundred-Handed Giants, and the three Cyclopes. It shows how much she loves her children because she goes to her children for help to emasculate Uranus and get her children back. After this is done Cronus goes back on his promise to retrieve the three Hundred-Handed Giants and the three Cyclopes, Gaea still does not give up in getting her children back, and bids her time. She does not give up, this is the concept that has transcended through time. The concept of motherhood is that the mother does not give up on her child(or children) and does not leave them behind. That idea, which is still believed today was created with the creation of Gaea.

Reflecting on the Values of the Myths

Gaea's heart overflowed with pride and satisfaction.

Over the coarse of the myth, many feelings throughout the family become apparent as though it was a modern day family. First off when Uranus sends his children to Tartarus in secrecy of Gaea, his wife. This secrecy is a sneeky effect that arises in modern day marrages/relationships, that in turn causes hatred, distrust, and a feeling of betrayal. In my quote at the top it talks about when Gaea asks her children to seek revenge on their father for his wrong doings and only one of them shows the courage to face their father. This youngest Tritan was named Cronus. As a mother showing pride and satisfaction to her children would be like a modern day mother feeling the same way about their child succeeding in school or sports. I find that these values in society to family's show a lot of relation to modern day family values. Which I believe is why myths are still relevant in our lives today.

The "Sacred" Sacrifice

Something that caught my eye while reading was how easily the Matriarchal culture-which tended to be a peaceful society, could sacrifice "the sacred king" in such violent ways. However, as time passed the Matriarchal society eventually put an end to the slaughtering of the sacred king's and was persuaded into using animals as a replacement for the young boys and king.

"I Can Relate to That..."

"Those who treat others with arrogance and disrespect still bring personal disaster upon themselves."

The reasons that myths are still relevant today is because human nature is the same as it was thousands of years ago. We might have developed more sophisticated technology, live in different locations or speak different languages, but in our core we are the same. So the struggles that the protagonists in the myths face are ones people today struggle with. We can relate to them the same way people could at the time they were created.

The Value of Myths

Myths throughout history has stood the past of time because of there able to relate and reflect on the common persons. In the times when these myths first were told they serve a higher purpose. They showed people of the time proper rights and behaviours in society. In the 21st century, these myths still are around, and we read them not only for entertainment purposes but to reflect on how these mythological tales connect to our everyday life.

Eternal Truths

"Thus, the myths reveal eternal truths about the nature of man and his quests in life."



Myths have had a staying power for thousands of years. This is because you find yourself able to relate to not the stories, but the moral dilemmas the characters face. Myths did not focus on the time, but rather human nature and that is something that hasn't changed; almost everyone has a curiosity about mans origins and the societies that helped shape our modern day world.

Value of Myths

Throughout time myths have stood out to children and adults they are about heroic acts and life in the past with gods and goddess. Myths have no definition every person sees them differently and understands the story behind differently, compared the the person sitting beside them. Myths started on the island of Crete and where sophisticated enough to create 4 story buildings with plumbing and skylights and could be told orally from generation to generation. Myths were and still are valuable to anybody and everybody that wants to listen and be intrigued my them. When myths first appeared years and years ago they were not called myths they were stories and people believed them, but now in the 21st century they serve a different purpose and that is to entertain us and some times the stories are about modern day people.

The Effect of Ethics from the Classical World on our current Western Culture.

Hundreds of years ago, classic civilizations shaped the path for our modern world in terms of ethics through culture, mythology, science, philosophy, religion, and prosperity in economics, and politics.

Ethics and morality are pretty much the same thing, and ethics are equivalent to moral philosophy. This is the philosophical study of moral values & rules such as the golden mean, virtue, right versus wrong, and other fundamental issues of practical decision making. Ethics are a set of principles governing morality and acceptable behaviour like personal behaviour, corporate behaviour, behaviour towards society, and behaviour towards the environment.
Moral philosophy (ethics) is used to determine what values we hold, or "what behaviour is “ethical”?". It is used around the world because it is, and has always been, part of our human history. Ethics is determined by everyday life through the choices we make as people and it originated when humans started to reflect on best way to live.

We see ethics through myths that are still vital in some societies and cultures today. Myths help humans examine how man copes with the physical, social, religious, and political environment. Just like characters from a book, we can learn important lessons and values in order to best live our life. We see these in stories like Narcissus & Echo, Midas, Daedlus & Icarus, Pandora, and The Bacchae. Myths provide mankind with gallery of models (positive & negative) and revealed eternal truths about the nature of man and our personal life quests. For example, we can see this from the Mycenaean’s who valued leadership and Heroism.

For the Minoans, Religion a big part of culture and they Gave women advanced rights and political power. During the Archaic period, with the beginning of the Phalanx formation, we see that there is a sense of community even in their military. From this we see that community had a profound impact on how the people functioned together in their society and what their culture truly valued. Alexander the Great “created” cultural exchange by a vast empire and the Romans valued women, who had prominent role in society (seen in their art).

Through science, our culture and technological improvements can all be the effect of the ancient worlds' society and advancements. Gaelin, the philosopher and doctor, “founded” physiotherapy, discovered nervous system, was skilled with modern surgical practices & tools, and introduced cosmetic surgery. Pythagoras investigated causes and reasons of nature, and believed that “Imbalance affected health and character”. Aristotle linked medicine with biology, botany, anatomy, and founded logic, physics, political sci, economics, psychology, meta-physics, and meteorology. It is because of people from the classical world like this that we have technological advancements that bring ethics into question.

Philosophers sought rational explanations of phenomena for the world. Socrates is and example or a moral philosopher. He asked questions like “How shall we live?”, “What is good?”, “What is truth?”, “What is just?”; and the answeres to these questions bring happiness in life. He was the first cosmopolitan. Aristotle is said to have created ethics by asking things like “What is existence?” and “What does it mean?”. The cynic, Diogenes said that “all that matters are true vs bad values” whereas skeptics don’t believe in truth. The believed that “persuasion, not truth, is better”. At the time, Athens centre of intellectual world and from this, the ideas of thinking spread to other parts of the world. Academic and philosophical conflict lead to the birth of debate (examples: Heraclitus & Paramenides, Zeno).

Political ethics involve dike/justice which provide a certain climate for citizens to abide by. This formation allowed for the ideals of justice to be put in practice, which in turn layed the groundwork for individualism and democracy. This began the “first among equals” concept. An example of debate regarding this was the war between the Greeks and the Persians (5th cent.). This war was a war of ideas such as freedom vs slavery. These are some ideals that rule our lives today. Going along with this, Salan worked with Athens’ existing laws and created new ones to benefit the people of the society (Reforms).

Overall, it can be said that classic civilizations shaped path for our modern world. However, I have to say that this is truly a personal opinion.

"In a sense, civilization as a way of life is still in the experimental phase. We do not know whether it will be as successful in the long run as the hunting and gathering existence that sustained our ancestors for most of human history." - The Ancient Mediterranean World (Pg 3)

Sources:
- Classic Civilizations notes & resources from class
- Conser, James A. Law Enforcement in the United States. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett, 2005. Print.
- "ethics." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 02 May. 2010 .
- "Ethics in the Workplace Improved During the Recession, National Employee Survey Shows." ERC: Ethics Resource Center. Web. 06 May 2010. .
- Garcia, John D. "CIVILIZATION AND ETHICS." CREATIVE TRANSFORMATION: A Practical Guide for Maximizing Creativity. 1991. Web. 02 May 2010. .
- Gilly, Thomas Albert., Yakov Gilinskiy, and Vladimir Sergevnin. The Ethics of Terrorism: Innovative Approaches from an International Perspective. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 2009. Print.
Holborn, Hajo. History and the Humanities. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1972. Print.
- Prasad, Rajendra. A Conceptual-analytic Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals. New Delhi: Jointly Published by Centre for Studies in Civilization and Concept Pub. for the Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy, and Culture, 2008. Print.
- Striker, Gisela. Greek Ethics and Moral Theory: The Tanner Lectures on Human Values. California: Stanford University, 1987. Print.

The Invention of the Arch

The arch is possibly the most significant element of architecture perfected by the Romans. It in itself has led to the inventions of vaulted ceilings, and domes. As these aspects got higher and higher, arches were then created in the form of buttresses to maintain the structural integrity of these edifices while adding to the dazzling set of features on these monolithic works of art. The Beauvais Cathedral in France is a incredible example of the evolution of Roman archwork. As shown in the image, the buttresses rise all the way to the roof using the basic principals of the arch to support the behemoth weight being pressed down and outwards by the force of gravity. The vaulted ceiling itself is an adaptation of the classic arch since in essence it's an extravagant show of arches criss-crossing the ceiling blending aspects of art and basics of structural integrity.
The dome is another extension from the arch. Essentially, if you had two symmetrical arches crossing each other in a perpendicular manner, you'd have four quadrants. Similar to cutting pizza slices, theoretically, you could cut an infinite number of slices. Using this principal, you could fill all the gaps in the four quadrants with and infinite number of arches, thus resulting in the dome. The most famous Roman example of the dome is its Pantheon with its famous oculus. To avoid the possibility of collapsing in on itself (before the invention of the buttress), the unknown architect designed in the inside with a series of ribs creating trapezoid shapes as shown in the image. This saves overall weight and the oculus doubles as a material saver by being the temple's main source of light.
Possibly the largest example of the arch is the Roman aqueducts. These engineering marvels were precisely measured and created to deliver water from large sources to the bathhouses of Rome. To overcome the obstacles of deep valleys and gorges, the Romans made strong use of their arches. Not only do they look gorgeous, but they save immense amounts of material while being structurally sound. All in all, the arch is an extremely important aspect of Roman architecture since it has countless uses that have been shown over the course of history.

Art is circular

I don't want to give away my thesis for my summative on Greek Art, but it is quite apparent. We know more about Greek art from its rebirth in the Renaissance, so I've taken all the significant movements since then and compiled them into the only fitting shape - a circle. There's no timeline because people tend to go back and forth, just like in politics. Perhaps a pendulum would be a more fitting metaphor, but I'm sticking with circle. I apologize for my messy writing.

"Elocutio"

The Etruscans incented the arch and one of the most recognizable thing in western society is the GOLDEN ARCH OF MCDONALDS ; Americas symbol !