The two works that I have enjoyed already was reading the excerpt from Beowulf, and Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King). I remember reading Beowulf back in 12th grade. I've always liked the story, besides the fact that I like a lot of very old stories. Some of the Germanic writings are fantastic; a lot of the Germanic writings have shaped European cultures, arts, literature, and politics. I'm very much interested in German literature, and plenty of popular fairly tales come from Germanic speaking nations.
This is my third time reading Oedipus the King, I have a copy of The Theban Plays, which I read for a class up at BYU-Idaho. I am definitely paying more attention to the story now going through it again. I catch the irony from the words of Oedipus, when he's condemning and judging the "murderer" of the story when it ends up being himself the whole time. Although this drama, a little irony with situations and words can have their places in a story.
I'm so glad that you are rereading Oedipus Rex. What specific things did you notice upon rereading? And looking at the context of Germanic writings for Beowulf is of course very appropriate. You mentioned fairy tales. Those seem so far from the epic style and content of Beowulf. And yet they share a common tradition? A provocative thought.
ReplyDeleteRemember to write your blog posts toward a general audience and not just to yourself, teacher, or current fellow students.
I encourage you to think of better titles for posts.
Thanks for getting going on the blogging!