Question: Explain how the origins of theatre in Athens are tied to both religion and politics

Question: Explain how the origins of theatre in Athens are tied to both religion and politics

Politics and religion were very important to the Greeks.  They believed in many Gods and this was evident in there theatre.  The theatre first began as a way to honor and praise the gods and around the time of the Persian war politics became very evident in the theatre too.  An example of their connection for theatre and religion is the festival they had to honor the god of fertility and wine, Dionysus.  This festival was named, “City Dionysia.”  During the festival people performed songs for the god.  At first theatres were mainly for festivals but then people begun to use them as a way to praise the gods through plays also.  A lot of the times people would use plays to show their political views, whether they were criticizing political events or showing them in a story to capture history these plays became almost like a history lesson.  Eventually these plays were even separated in to categories such as the ortragedies, that show with lessons on morality and made the audience think, and the werecomedies, which were funny shows involving politics.  Theatres were even used as meeting places to vote and discuss on issues such as democracy.  As you can see theatres were a big deal to Athens.

Love in War

Love in War

Characters:

Demetrius- A young man going off to fight in the war.

Hermia- His longtime girlfriend and fiancé.

Setting:  A market place outside of Hermia’s house late at night.

Scene I

Demetrius:  Hermia you know I don’t want to do this…

Hermia: Then why are you doing this?

Demetrius: I have no other choice.

Hermia:  You do have a choice, you have me!

Demetrius:  I can’t stay, I must go and fight for us! 

Hermia:  You’re leaving me Demetrius, your leaving this relationship…

Demetrius:  Hermia, you know I love you.

Demetrius grabs Hermia’s hand.  Hermia pulls away hand. 

Hermia: You don’t act like.

Demetrius:  I will return before you know it.

Hermia:  Don’t bother coming home.

Demetrius:  Hermia what are you talking about?

Hermia:  I said don’t bother coming home, you know I’m against the war and so is my family, we will not accept you here.

Demetrius:  You don’t mean that…

Demetrius tries to go after Hermia as she begins to walk away. 

Hermia:  Don’t touch me Demetrius!  Don’t lay a hand on me ever again!  I don’t want to see you anymore!  Just leave, don’t come back!

Demetrius:  But-

Hermia:  Demetrius!  I don’t love you anymore; get that through your head!  Just leave Demetrius! 

Demetrius exits.  Hermia falls to the ground and begins to cry.

Hermia:  Demetrius… Demetrius… don’t go….

Scene end.

5 Years Later

Characters: 

Hermia

Helena- Hermia’s mother.

Hermia:  Mother he’s still all I think about, why is that?

Helena: Because dear you love him.

Hermia:  It has been years and years since I’ve cried over him.  When will his memories leave my mind, for all I know he could be dead.

Helena:  The Spartans are very fierce dear, but Demetrius is a strong young man, he’s alive, I’m sure of this.

Hermia:  Do you resent him, for leaving for the war?

Helena:  No dear I don’t.  I will admit I hated him at first-

Hermia: So did I, I still do.

Helena:  Get that thought out of your mind, you love him, you always have and always will.  But no, I don’t resent him in the least.

Hermia:  But mother!  Look around, do you see what’s becoming of us?  Athens, we were so strong and powerful and now look at us!  Sparta is taking control; it won’t be long until they have all of the power.

Helena:  True, but it is not as if Demetrius is in the war to give Sparta power, he’s fighting against them!  He’s trying to help us, trying to defeat Sparta!  If he wasn’t in the war he wouldn’t be helping at all, in fact there might even be even more of a less of a chance for us to win this war.

Hermia:  By fighting in the war he is supporting it, don’t you see!

Helena:  Well what are we supposed to do, not support the war?  If we don’t support it and fight for ourselves then Sparta will easily take over us!

Hermia: Aren’t they already easily taking over us!

Helena: We are still fighting though; our soldiers will not give up.

Hermia: We don’t stand a chance.

Helena: That’s not the way to think…

Hermia storms off into her room.

More years pass and the war has ended and Sparta has taken over.  Hermia has almost forgotten about Demetrius.

Hermia is in the kitchen cooking breakfast for her mother.  There’s a knock on the door.

Helena:  I’ll get the door.

Helena goes to answer the door and Hermia can hear a man’s voice speaking.

Helena: Hermia, there is a man here for you.

Hermia is confused and isn’t sure who it could be.  She walks to the door and sees a familiar face.

Demetrius:  I know you told me to never come back, but Hermia I’m still in love with you, there hasn’t been a day that has gone by where I haven’t thought about you or what you said to me…

Hermia: Demetrius, I never stopped loving you!  I just didn’t realize that you were fighting so we would have a chance against Sparta!  I’m so sorry my love!

And they live happily ever after.

Question: Do you think Socrates got what he deserved? Why didn't he accept exile?

Question: Do you think Socrates got what he deserved? Why didn't he accept exile?

Socrates got more than what he deserved.  I believe he didn’t legitimately do anything wrong.  The things he was executed for weren’t really a legitimate crime.  Socrates just kept strong in his beliefs and wouldn’t let anyone changed them.  I think the main reason people were mad is that he told others about his beliefs that defied the Athenian culture.  Athens was being destroyed by the Spartan army and really just needed someone to put the blame on so they chose Socrates, a philosopher.  Socrates didn’t deserve execution or exile for preaching his beliefs.  In today’s society there is nothing wrong with telling others about your beliefs and question the law, but back then that was a major issue. Socrates could’ve gotten out of execution and accepted a much less severe form of punishment, exile, but he didn’t.  Accepting exile would’ve shown fear.  Socrates was not afraid of death and begging for exile would just make him look weak and pitiful.  It also would’ve meant he wouldn’t stand strong to his beliefs.  Socrates was also very old and wouldn’t have much life left to live anyways.  If he would’ve begged for exile people would’ve lost respect for him and I believe he wouldn’t be held at such a high position as he is today.  As for the people that didn’t follow him, if he would’ve accepted exile they still would have a problem with his beliefs.  But Socrates stood strong in his beliefs and accepted execution, showing that he had pride in what he believed and no one could change that.

Mada's Megalith

 In Ancient times, people different Megaliths were very important to each culture. Our Megalith of our starting nation, Mada, has been discovered in front of the John Carroll School. It could have been thought of as a way of marking the ground. This is the ground where we started our own, and it means a lot because it is kind of our town’s landmark. It signifies how important our town is and its history.  It is our town’s special monument; it represents our town, and shows how strong our town is. It represents that our town has been founded and that it is very important to us.  We helped to set the structure for early irrigation, art, language, and religion on this very ground.  It is sacred, and not everyone in the town gets to see it. But, it is near the road so people who pass it get to see it. Every year on our independence day, people celebrate on the land around the monument. 

Questions: "Structures, both social and physical are continually improving." Agree or disagree

Questions: "Structures, both social and physical are continually improving."  Agree or disagree.

          Today we live in a living space that has: electricity, heating, air conditioning, alarm systems, etc. and many years ago they had none of that.  We have made many advances in physical structures but for some reason how the pyramids in Egypt were formed and other structures and megaliths are still a mystery to us.  When it comes to physical structure we have progressed because we have a good system politically wise and we are able to vote for our leaders instead of being born in to royalty.  As you can see have progressed but it seems as if at the moment there are issues causing us to back track in this progression.  The economy is a major issue affecting our world.  There are many other issues that weren’t around a long time ago but those issues are a result of the progression we have made.  Eventually we will learn how to overcome these issues and move past them to advance more but that will just cause more issues to come up.  All of this is just a major part of progression and advancing in our world so eventually we will probably keep improving but at the moment it seems as if we are backtracking.  

Question: What is the oldest human-created artifact that has mattered to you? Why/how does it matter?

Question: What is the oldest human-created artifact that has mattered to you? Why/how does it matter?

The oldest human-created thing that has mattered to me is ancient art.  This art has been found predominately in caves across the world and helped to set the stage for modern day art.  These cave paintings have helped us to learn about people that have lived long ago who left no legitimate records behind.  They show what they believed was important and how there life might have been back them  I love art myself and I find these fascinating especially since people still try to recreate these paintings today.  People back then may have even used their art to communicate, such as hieroglyphics, an art in its own.  Art today has grown from these cave paintings and are in ways still connected to them.  Art has advanced in many ways but the paintings that were still around all those years ago were absolutely breath-taking.  I wish we knew more about the people who lived back them, but that’s what makes them so intriguing, they are a mystery.  Their art just lets us look on in their lives a little bit and if we were supposed to know more we would. 

Why do you think so many conspiracy theories surround the pyramids and the megaliths? Give examples of a few and explain where you think they come from.

Question:  Why do you think so many conspiracy theories surround the pyramids and the megaliths? Give examples of a few and explain where you think they come from.

I believe so many conspiracy theories surround the pyramids and the megaliths because people are very interested in figuring out what they mean.  These megaliths are incredible and must hold a lot of meaning to whoever created them.  It would be really nice to know what these structures mean because then we could understand the people who created them better, but we don’t.  We can only study these and learn about them as best as we can.  Some of the structures are really interesting and we think we know what they mean.  They have a lot of interesting means such as meanings for religion, fertility, farming, respect of the dead, etc.  These megaliths are still around today and there are some that we aren’t even sure how the people made them.  The megaliths in Egypt are a good example of this; to this day some people still aren’t sure how they were made.  The ones on Easter Island are some of my favorites.  I think they are one of the biggest mysteries because people still aren’t exactly sure how they were made or how people moved them, it is crazy.  I find megaliths fascinating because of their mystery.   

Our New Language

The sun revolves around the earth.
Li suh tredu oured li nuh.

Question: Is 'Change' a Good Thing or a Bad Thing? (Relate to the origins of art, the agricultural revolution, architecture and urban planning in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.

Question: Is 'Change' a Good Thing or a Bad Thing? (Relate to the origins of art, the agricultural revolution, architecture and urban planning in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.

If you think back to the art found in the caves of France and compare it to an art piece you see in a modern day art museum you realize they are quite alike, they have a specific meaning.  Art from the ancient times mainly related to buffalo, horses, and other animals, all an excellent source of food.  These pictures could have been a way to worship these animals for providing them food.  They also had access to crops for food but in order to farm they needed water.  So an irrigation system was developed to get water from one place to another, this was first developed in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.  All of this change that occurred was because of problems these people encountered that needed a solution.  When you are fixing a situation for the better than that’s a great change!  Because of these changes our world is very modern and advance, but with that comes some issues.

In some ways change is a great thing, but in some ways it is not too good!  All of this modern day technology brings along factories, housing, new developments, and a lot of pollution.  There are few places you can go where there is a wide open space with not a factory in sight.  Because of this modern day economy we are destroying the world we live in.  We are peeling away the ozone layer with our toxic fumes and CFCs produced form these very factories that are helping us to shape the way we live.  With our advances in technology we are losing the original world God gave us.  With this new technology, we are also benefitting our world.  We are developing new technology such as solar power cars and solar panels that are helping us to progress with our technological advances and learning to not pollute so much.  Even though we are getting better with taking care of our world, it was so much better years ago.  I think that the pollution we are spreading in the world is the one major downfall of our advances.  If we can find a way to help the earth in a great way while making even more advances then that would be amazing; however, we have come a great way since the ancient times.

I personally believe that change from the ancient world is great, but nowadays we tend to go overboard!  We no longer rely on necessities but we rely on things we want.  Because of us obsessing over things we want rather than the basics we need we continues to make more and more of things we really don’t need at all.  The production of these things is really destroying our earth!  But there are advancements with technology that we need and that benefit us!  We are able to better understand our earth because of these advancements, but there is still so much mysteries about our earth we have to discover.  These mysteries require even more advanced technology than what we are used to but hopefully people won’t abuse these advancements for things they don’t need.  As you can see change has the potential to be a good or bad thing depending the situation and the protocols people take during the change.  

Question: Which do you think is a better roadmap of history artifacts of the humanities (art, music, dance, theatre, literature, philosophy, architecture, etc) or political/military conflicts? Why? (from Twitter)

Question:  Which do you think is a better roadmap of history artifacts of the humanities (art, music, dance, theatre, literature, philosophy, architecture, etc) or political/military conflicts? Why? (from Twitter)

 

I believe that historical artifacts such as art and literature are a better roadmap of history then political and military conflicts.  I believe this because although political and military conflicts give a pretty accurate description of what the economy or government is going through they don’t exactly dig deeper to learn about individual people.  An example of this is the caves in France.  The pictures on the walls help us to learn about the ancient people that lived in the caves because of the artwork.  Based on the pictures they seemed to idolize animals and hold them as sacred.  There aren’t even any records of politics or military conflicts dating back as long as the artwork found in the caves of France!  Historical artifacts such as art and literature have been around for so much longer than records of politics, providing a better roadmap of our history.  Art, literature, and philosophy help us to understand the individual people that have lived throughout history and some of the findings of these things have helped to shape our modern day art, etc.  War and politics definitely play an important role in our world but we don’t have many records dating back for a very long time ago.  War also deals a lot with conflicts between two large groups of people and doesn’t really tell you much about the individuals.  As you can see artifacts such as philosophy, literature, art, etc. are a better roadmap of history.

Question: You accidentally discover an invention that can immediatelyhelp millions of people; but only if you act immediately. On the other hand, if you just wait three months, you can secure a patent and get rich. Which do you choose and why?

Question:  You accidentally discover an invention that can immediatelyhelp millions of people; but only if you act immediately. On the other hand, if you just wait three months, you can secure a patent and get rich. Which do you choose and why?

 If I were to discover and invention that could help millions of people I would act immediately in order to help them.  Why would I wait three months to get rich?  Face it out world really needs help, soon.  If I was able to guarantee help to millions of people I would want to do it as soon as possible!  Money doesn’t give anyone happiness, it is love and care that give people true happiness and I were to sacrifice money to help others then that would be an example of love.  I would much rather be loving towards the world then be conceited and rich.  Why wait when you can help people?  Money isn’t worth everything and the sad thing is not many people seem to realize that these days.  Also if you were to help all these people I’m sure you would still get a reward but that’s not what matters.  What matters is the self satisfaction you get from doing good for others.  There are so many people out in the world who need help and any chance I get to make a difference, I’ll take it. 

 

Question: Describe the importance of water in the ancient world. (from Twitter)

Question: Describe the importance of water in the ancient world. (from Twitter)

Water was a big deal in the ancient world.  For people living back then water meant life.  They didn’t have much advanced technology so the little water they could get meant everything to them.  Another way water was very important is that they needed to hunt animals in order to survive and the only way animals survived was from drinking water.  Water was also very important for food because of crops.  The only way crops survive is because of a lot of water.  Eventually people developed an irrigation system which is a process of moving water from one place to another for farming and other purposes.  Water was very essential to life and some people even worshiped water, such as rain.  Water is still very important today, but we just have better technology to get water then people did in the ancient world.  We have taken a lot of their ideas such as irrigation and still use it today it is just much more advanced.  Because of their water sources they survived and they were able to plant crops and hunt for animals.  Water was also a source of hygiene so they could bathe.  People in the ancient world weren’t exactly the cleanest but thanks to water they had a place to bathe.  As you can see water was very important in the ancient world and provided a lot of benefits for them and it still is providing a lot for us today. 

Xtranormal!

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/11024446/

Will a "hypertext" world make us more accepting of cyclic history?

Will a "hypertext" world make us more accepting of cyclic history? 

Internet is an amazing invention that allows us to research, search, communicate, and just about everything.  Through internet we are changing the way we live because research is becoming easier, everyday tasks are becoming easier, and so much more is changing because of internet.  A fancy feature that comes along with internet is hypertext.  Hypertext is the ability to easily switch sites or topics with the click of a mouse.  Hypertext is usually identified by a blue underline; whenever you see this you can be certain that more information is available to you with the click of your mouse!  Hypertexts make us more accepting of cyclic history.  According to Google definitions cyclic history is, “a theory which dictates that the major forces that motivate human actions return in a cycle.”  When you think about it the force that is compelling you to click the hypertext is the want for more knowledge on the specific topic you are researching.  As you click to the next page you research more and see another hypertext that seems interesting so you click on it.  It all ends up in one big cycle!  Just like cyclic history.  A lot of things influence cyclic history, hypertext being a major thing.  Since just about everyone uses this cycle of hypertexts everyday then they are accepting cyclic history.  As you can see hypertexts help us to accept cyclic history.  

Don't our traditional forms of information communication, notably "the book" and especially "the textbook" contribute to our belief in linear history?

Don't our traditional forms of information communication, notably "the book" and especially "the textbook" contribute to our belief in linear history? 

            Linear history is basically the belief that history is a time line, and all the events that happen are in a no specific pattern.  This time line comes with a beginning and an end.  The information we learn from our books and text books greatly contribute to this belief because a great deal of what happened involves time lines.  These time lines are helping us to understand the order of which these events occur and when knowing how and when the events took place we can learn to better understand our history.  When we develop this better understanding of the events that took place we can explain in greater detail our history and help to educate others on what took place.  Linear history shows the chronological order of events just like many books and text books do!  Many biographies or autobiographies are time lines of a person’s rise to success or just a general timeline of their career.  These timelines are a major part of everyday life because they show a chronological order of events that happened in history.  Just about almost every historical thing you read today has a little bit of linear history in it.  People don’t want to read jumbled up facts, they want the facts to be organized and in a timely order to better understand the event.  Linear history is most definitely contributed to by books and textbooks.  

Is modern life "always" better than it was in the past?

Is modern life "always" better than it was in the past?

In some ways this modern life we have developed seems like a dream come true, but to many people it is quite the opposite.  All of this modern day technology brings along factories, housing, new developments, and a lot of pollution.  There are few places you can go where there is a wide open space with not a factory in sight.  Because of this modern day economy we are destroying the world we live in.  We are peeling away the ozone layer with our toxic fumes and CFCs produced form these very factories that are helping us to shape the way we live.  With our advances in technology we are losing the original world God gave us.  With this new technology, we are also benefitting our world.  We are developing new technology such as solar power cars and solar panels that are helping us to progress with our technological advances and learning to not pollute so much.  Even though we are getting better with taking care of our world, it was so much better years ago.  I think that the pollution we are spreading in the world is the one major downfall of our advances.  If we can find a way to help the earth in a great way while making even more advances then that would be amazing.  Our world can be restored but it will take a lot of work, this is proof that life isn’t as great as it used to be.  

Does history progress? Is an elephant really "better" than a mammoth?

Does history progress? Is an elephant really "better" than a mammoth? 

Try and imagine life in the 1800s or even before that.  Now compare it to this world we live in now.  From someone looking on the outside in it seems to be almost two different universes!  Our technology is far more advanced and even our appearances have changed.  Our way of life, our government, our jobs, and our laws are so much different!  An example showing how jobs and economy have changed is that with all of this new and advanced technology there are more jobs available for people, because of this there are more people working now in 2011 than there were 100 years ago.  Even our outward appearance has greatly changed.  Women used to only be allowed to wear dresses down to their ankles and their hair had to be very long.  Now there is so much diversity with modern day looks!  An example of how are government has changed greatly is we have an African American president.  In years past racism has been such an issue and having an African American president is proof that people are slowly but surely starting to put aside their differences and develop a new and better world together.  A mammoth is a sure sign of our progressions.  A mammoth was born to survive cold climates; whereas, an elephant only lives in warm climates.  This species has changed greatly overtime just based on where it lives!  Although neither one is significantly better nor more advanced than the other they have changed greatly over time, just like our history. 

Create your own language!

Si sabbar thro ne wurt.  Lopa hahddu orkta juvie retlipe, asha de nedar.  Scientusa tuoves furt.  Laopie ahta ruh fag organ sach thro ne wort.

The earth revolves around the sun.  The sun does not revolve around earth.  Science proves this.  As you can see the earth revolves around the sun.

Question: You accidentally discover an invention that can immediately help millions of people; but only if you act immediately. On the other hand, if you just wait three months, you can secure a patent and get rich. Which do you choose and why?

Question:  You accidentally discover an invention that can immediately help millions of people; but only if you act immediately. On the other hand, if you just wait three months, you can secure a patent and get rich. Which do you choose and why?

 

If I were to discover and invention that could help millions of people  I would act immediately in order to help them.  Why would I wait three months to get rich?  Face it out world really needs help, soon.  If I was able to guarantee help to millions of people I would want to do it as soon as possible!  Money doesn’t give anyone happiness, it is love and care that give people true happiness and I were to sacrifice money to help others then that would be an example of love.  I would much rather be loving towards the world then be conceited and rich.  Why wait when you can help people?  Money isn’t worth everything and the sad thing is not many people seem to realize that these days.  Also if you were to help all these people I’m sure you would still get a reward but that’s not what matters.  What matters is the self satisfaction you get from doing good for others.  There are so many people out in the world who need help and any chance I get to make a difference, I’ll take it.