September 15th

"And yet, of all men, he was the closest to being a god. Because he had taken the place of he who should have put an end to Zeus, his own end was forcibly etched into his flesh."  - Page 105

This quote is in reference to Achilles. In this part of Calasso, you are really getting a unique picture painted of Achilles before your eyes. I liked this part because it was easy to understand and it really gave you the whole beginning chapter of Achilles life. Calasso goes on to say how he is an "only child," however six brothers died before him in Thetis' attempt to make them immortal. Achilles is almost immortal. He was closest of all men to being a god. However, because of the name and position he was born into he will suffer a short life. There is nothing he can do about it accept play out the role he has been given. In Calassos' words instead of a god who would out live other gods, he was a man that would have a shorter life than other men. With all this said, he is still the closest to the gods then any other man and his temper is more furious then any other warrior. All this is really all going with the theme that everything is prewritten and you just have to know what motions to go through. And if you don't do one thing there is a whole different story played out the opposite way.

Today in class we listened to the remaining creation/origin myths. I presented mine which was the comanche creation myth.

A Comanche Legend

One day the Great Spirit collected swirls of dust from the four directions in order to create the Comanche people. These people formed from the Earth had the strength of mighty storms.
Unfortunately, a shape-shifting demon was also created and began to torment the people. The Great Spirit cast the demon into a bottomless pit.
To seek revenge the demon took refuge in the fangs and stingers of poisonous creatures and continues to harm people every chance it gets.