Mythology in Everything

"The reluctance to mention the names or even syllables of the names of persons connected with the speaker by marriage can hardly be separated from the reluctance evinced by so many people to utter their own names or the names of the dead or of chiefs and kings; and if the reticence as to these latter names springs mainly from superstition, we may infer that the reticence as to the former has no better foundation." (Page 292)

I read this story for my Children's Literature class and had a desire to blog about it. It comes from the book Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor. It is a fairly new book, so I don't think it is widely popular yet. The story is called "Spicy Little Curses".

They story begins in Hell. A demon and the Ambassador to Hell. The demon loves to play tricks on people and put curses on them to get their souls. The Ambassodor, Estella, replaces the children's souls with people who have done terrible things. One day twenty two children were trapped under rubble from an earthquake. She makes a deal with the demon to save the children only if she will put a curse on one girl. She accepts the deal.

She held onto her side of the deal by going to a baby girl and cursing her to have the most beautiful voice anyone has ever heard, but cannot speak a word or everyone who hears will die. The little girl, Anamique, grows up and knows she cannot speak without harming everyone she loves. She writes all her thoughts and feelings in a diary.

Then one day a soldier coming back from the war on a train spots Anamique's missing diary and proceeds to read it. By the time he reached his final destination, he had fallen in love with the owner of this diary. He decides to find this woman who cannot speak. When he spots her, he immediately is entranced. It is love at first sight for both.

They write each other and go to balls and fall more and more in love. He finally whispers in her ear to say something. He doesn't believe in the curse. Then one day he proposes to her and before she can answer, he kisses her. She realizes he is afraid of her and flips out. She goes straight to the center of the room at this grand ball and sings this beautiful song. Everyone within hearing range falls over dead--including her love.

The demon was so happy his curse finally lead to souls coming to Hell that he was dancing and bragging. Estella, the Ambassador, was very old and upset. Anamique was so upset she had killed her one true love that she went down to Hell to get him back. While down there, she ran into Estella who told her all about the deal she and the demon had made and that she was terribly sorry for the curse. The only way she could make up for this terrible curse she put on the girl was to get James, Anamique's lover, back from the fires of hell. The only way that could happen was for Estella to sacrifice herself. After Estella died by Anamique singing the most beautiful song Anamique walked into the fire and grabbed went on a search for James's soul. While still singing the Lord of Hell heard her singing and was entranced. He made her a deal. He would let her bring all the people she killed, including James, back to life if she would replace the now dead Estella as the Ambassador of Hell. She gladly accepted. "She didn't see James or the others and she didn't turn round to look for them...She had learned from Orpheus's mistake, and did not look back".

She and James were married and had three beautiful children. She lived in both worlds. She had her family up on Earth and she would sing as much as she wanted while in Hell. The demon who ordered the curse on her in the beginning softened when he heard her sing and agreed to save as many children she wanted.

Bad Days

I haven't experienced a truly bad day in quite a while. I have not experienced a good day too. Every morning I wake up feeling terrible. I am taking this new medicine that is supposed to be making me feel better, but it is not. I wake up every morning feeling really weak. (Needless to say it is hard to get out of bed.) I wake up to a screaming two year old and his parents yelling back at him in Chinese. I finally make it to the kitchen where I try to block everything out of my head and get something to eat, but people are always asking me questions. I don't want to tell them that I really don't care about what I want for dinner tonight when I feel as if I am going to faint right now. It is super hard to keep your cool and not scream at someone when you feel terrible. I have gotten to the point where I feel terrible everyday. I put on a good face and never talk about it, but it gets me down sometimes.

To top it off, I injured my back at work. The doctor said I tore all of my muscle tissue along my spine and that is why it hurts so much to sit for long periods of time. So not only am I feeling terrible all day long to begin with, but now I cannot find a comfortable position to sit. When you have class all day long and have to carry around books, it isn't exactly the best thing for your back.

All in all, my days aren't really that bad. I don't feel great, but my computer hasn't broken down, or I didn't have a fight with my boyfriend, or my car hasn't broken down. I feel lucky to have had most of the things work in my favor and I am constantly surrounded by people I care about.

Daedalus and Perdix--Jenna Theisen

"It is natural to suppose that the various events of the agricultural year were celebrated by the Egyptian farmer with some simple religious rites designed to secure the blessing of the gods upon his labours" (429).

One day when Daedalus was burying his son, he saw a bird flapping its wings. Daedalus knew this was no ordinary bird. He knew it was his dead nephew Perdix.

Long ago when Perdix was only twelve years old, he came to stay with Daedalus and his wife. The boy wanted to observe Daedalus make things, so he would try and be just like him. Perdix studied Daedalus and started taking Daedalus' inventions to the next level. Instead of inventing a blade, Perdix went one step further and put teeth along the sharp blade to make a saw. Daedalus was enraged his nephew invented this new object without his approval. He was so enraged he threw Perdix down from Minerva's citadel and said he fell. Minerva quickly turned Perdix's clothes into feathers and gave him wings to fly. Perdix was turned into a bird just before he hit the ground.

Perdix was turned into a Partridge. To this day Partridges lay their eggs in lower shrubs and do not dare to fly too high because of the fall Perdix took.

"For in Egypt the oxen which were sacrificed had also to be red; a single black or white hair found on the beast would have disqualified it for the sacrifice" (Pg 441).

PHAETHON: A kid talks his dad into letting him drive the sun chariot, but loses control and dies.

EROPA: Jove turns into a bull and leads Eropa into the water.

CALLISTO: Jove rapes her and Juno turns her into a bear.

CORONUS: A woman turns into a bird and Apollo shoots her, not knowing she is pregnant with his child.

"It is natural to suppose that the various events of the agricultural year were celebrated by the Egyptian farmer with some simple religious rites designed to secure the blessing of the gods upon his labours" (429).

I was a little disappointed in my test score. I studied a lot, but have a difficult time with names. The names on the test killed me. I think for the next test I will study the names A LOT more. Hope everyone did better than I did.