unforum

[Myssfitz]

[konamouse]

Finally got passed the assistent to the Professor

[phensley]

Ms. Hensley:

My apologies for inserting myself in the process here. Thought you
should know that the Professor is out of town for several days delivering a
paper. However, yours is one of several letters that will be on his
desk on his return. All of you have identified the gruesome details of
things that have happened to this poor man. Although I am not certain how much an academic like the Professor can help, I'm sure he will do
whatever he can.

The Mythology as History course was much as it sounds. It is an
exploration of some of the great sagas of myth (the Labors of Hercules, the Golden Fleece, Beowulf, etc.), and the premise that many of these tales are grounded in the true history of that time. From the many accolades I have seen from his former students, I think it was a very popular class.

Erica Sundstrom

Wonder what paper he is out delivering? And to whom?

[phensley]

I went to googling after receiving the above email and found.

The goddess Hera, determined to make trouble for Hercules, made him lose his mind. In a confused and angry state, he killed his own wife and children.

When he awakened from his "temporary insanity," Hercules was shocked and upset by what he'd done. He prayed to the god Apollo for guidance, and the god's oracle told him he would have to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, in punishment for the murders.

As part of his sentence, Hercules had to perform twelve Labors, feats so difficult that they seemed impossible. Fortunately, Hercules had the help of Hermes and Athena, sympathetic deities who showed up when he really needed help. By the end of these Labors, Hercules was, without a doubt, Greece's greatest hero.

His struggles made Hercules the perfect embodiment of an idea the Greeks called pathos, the experience of virtuous struggle and suffering which would lead to fame and, in Hercules' case, immortality.

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hercules/labors.html

Beowulf , written in Old English sometime before the tenth century A.D., describes the adventures of a great Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century

http://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/

The teachings of the prof were of heros and their quests. They were all chasing something (thank you kona) Don't know what all this means, but maybe someone can go somewhere with all this.

[MageSteff]

[Myssfitz]

EMAIL: The Professor might help:-)

[Varin]

[quote="Magesteff]Pam try this on for size.. Campbell's Hero's Journey
http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~sparks/heroj.html

I'd speculate that Dale is somewhere in the initiation section of going through trials.

This "should" end with Dale mastering two worlds and being free to live his life if this is the path being followed.[/quote]

I like this magesteff.

Here's a few links that expand on the steps...

http://www.angelfire.com/tx/afira/roleplaying/handbook/heros.html

for those of you who compare everything to star wars (not that I would ever do that )... http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~sparks/sffilm/mmswtab.html

and from this site...

1. The Ordinary World of the hero with its suffering, boredom and neurotic anguish. Dale when he was working with Bruce?

2. A Call to Adventure when the ordinary world is no longer endurable and the hero is ripe for change. Dale on his own, having created synthasia?

3. Refusal of the Call when the hero is scared, even terrified at first, and avoids the challenge. Dale owes lots of money and is ready to kill himself

4. Meeting a Mentor who acknowledges, supports and spurs the hero onward. Enter the Wish?

5. Crossing the First Threshold when the hero begins to feel really weird, and gets very scared. Dale accepts the Wish's offer and his family dies?

6. Tests, Allies and Enemies when the hero feels greater stress and anxiety than ever before, is tempted to pack the whole thing in but finds people who can help, and often a few dangerous ones who can hurt. Dale contacts us and begins our adventure?

7. Approach to the Inmost Cave where the hero glimpses the dark side of his true, hidden self, the side he's always denied for most of his life.


8. The Supreme Ordeal in which the hero attempts to use those parts of his true self that terrified and shamed him before.

9. Reward for Seizing the Sword when the hero slowly discovers new passion and begins to feel a steady, daily glow from harnessing the power of his true self.

10. The Road Back when the hero must adjust his new-found passion to the demands of the ordinary world, a trying time for imaginative heroes impatient with bureaucracies and the tedious people who inhabit them.

11. Resurrection when the hero glimpses his impending death, takes his "What have I done with my life?" exam and grades himself.

12. Return with the Elixir when the hero shares what he's learned with younger heroes and heroines in the ordinary world.

What do ya think?

[Varin]

Just spec'ing out loud.... feel free to rip apart..

[konamouse]