A THANKSGIVING FIGURE TO ANALYZE!

Hey! It's Thanksgiving time! Let’s look at a figure!
Here is our next figure, an ink on paper portrait from the Tang Dynasty.

As always, let's start out by pointing to important observations and building safe inferences.

Please be sure to review the comments that others have written before you post your own.

Feel free to invite a friend or family member to make observations and inferences as well! Just be sure they identify themselves.

-- click on the image to enlarge it --

Is the move Siddhartha makes as he leves the Buddha behind--the move to go without a teacher, and to get to know his own ego, to read the book of life, a positive move? Why or why not?

AND/OR

Siddhartha no longer considers himself a Brahmin; he no longer considers himself anything; he is just Siddhartha ("Now he was only Siddhartha, the awakened one, nothing more"). Is he right about this, according to the book? According to you?

AND/OR

If you got to the same point on your speiritual journey as Siddhartha has here, would you--from the vantage point of who you actually are right now--be in a good place or not? Why?

An image of the Buddha.

1. Try to summarize what it is that Siddhartha is saying to the Buddha.

AND/OR

2. Is Siddhartha being wise in this chapter or not, as far as you can tell?

Siddhartha 13-23

1. What, in your own words, was the point for Siddhartha of becoming a Samana?
AND/OR
2. What did Siddhartha in fact achieve by spending time as a Samana?
AND/OR
3. What was frustrating to Siddhartha about his time as a Samana?
AND/OR
4. Can you see what would be positive about learning how to leave one's self, one's ego, completely behind?

BY THE WAY,
This novel presents a number of terms that are unfamiliar to most of us. I look them up and find that most of these terms have multiple meanings; different schools of thought over the centuries have had different ideas as to what they mean; I don't know for sure what Herman Hesse, the author, meant by them. I am going to do my best to choose a definition for such words that I think might be the most pertinent, and provide these definitions on this blog as we go along. You don't need to memorize them. Just read over them and when you encounter the word again, remember that you can find a definition here. I'll update the list as necessary:

--Brahma: the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe.[1]


Atman:

--each being's inborn potential to become and the future status as a Buddha

--a philosophical term used within Hinduism and Vedanta to identify the soul. It is one's true self (hence generally translated into English as 'Self') beyond identification with the phenomenal reality of worldly existence.

satya: truth ( in a capital T sense) or the pursuit of truth

source: Wikipedia

Siddhartha 3-11

What Siddhartha's father might look like.

In this reading, Siddhartha and his father have a conflict, because Siddhartha wants to leave home because--

1. Why, in your own words and thinking, does Siddhartha want to leave home?

AND/OR

2. What do you think about the way Siddhartha behaves toward his father?

Lavinia 265-272

This painting features Philemon and Baucis, an elderly couple who are hospitable to a couple of what they take to be men. The "men" are really Zeus and Hermes. They reward Philemon and Baucis by granting them a wish. Although they are poor, they don't desire to have more than they do. So they ask that the gods allow them to die at the same time so neither has to grieve for the other. A few years later, the gods turn them into trees with interlocking branches. The connection to Lavinia is tenuous. Yet I think there is one.

1. In how many different ways is the ending to Lavinia a happy ending?

AND/OR

2. What happens at the very end (starting at "For a time after Maruna's death I did not go to Albunea" to the end at p. 272)? How does this ending bear on the overall meaning of the book?

AND/OR

3. Can you find a way to compare the Philemon and Baucis story (see above) and Lavinia's story?

Lavinia 257-265

An image of Achilles mourning the death of Patroclus. Compare Ascanius and Atys.

The story of Ascanius and and Atys is told indirectly, but it turns out to be important.

1. Please try to establish what the story of Ascanius and Atys is. Someone attempt a plot summary (just of their relationship and how it bars on the book) and then people can offer amendments to the thie original plot summary if necessary. Then

2. Address the question: how did their story end up being important to more than just Ascanius and Atys?

3. How does their story reflect what we have learned already in this book about character? For example, you might think about the energizing passion v. reason/piety/morality dynamic.

4. If you'd like, compare the story of Achilles and Patroclus with the story of Ascanius and Atys.

OR

4. Ask a question about the reading (anything about it), or about something earlier in the book; or try to answer such a question that another student has raised.

Lavinia 246-257

have you noticed the reference to owls? Keep watching for them.

Please comment on a place in the reading where setting is important to the meaning; or where diction is important to the meaning; or where imagery is important to the meaning.

Lavinia 238-246

Romulus and Remus, descendants of Aeneas and Lavinia, are traditionally considered the founders of Rome, and the legend says that they were suckled by a wolf.

Can you spot the references to wolves in the reading? What is the effect of these references as they occur? At what other places are animals important in Lavinia? In what way are they important?

Lavinia 229-238

This reading assignment focuses on the child of Lavinia and Aeneas, Silvius.

1. Can you find anything from earlier in the book that connects with this reading, or feeds into it?
2. Why might Ascanius want Silvius to stay with him at Alba Longa while his mother goes back to Lavinium?

3. What do you make of the omen of the white sow and her piglets?

Answer any of the above, or a combination.

Lavinia 219-229

Ancient Greek pottery depicting the death of Sarpedon, a Trojan warrior, who died at the hands of Patrocles. The standing figure in the center with the hat with wings is Hermes/Mercury, one of whose jobs was to accompany souls to the land of the dead.

How sad is the death of Aeneas for Lavinia? What makes it seem sad? What if anything makes it seem not so sad?

Lavinia 212-219

According to Plato, the ideal state would be ruled by philosopher-kings, aided by trained warriors; together these parties keep the people in a well-ordered state. This state of affairs mirrors the human soul. Reason should rule; courage helps reason keep the appetites under control.

Note that "virtue" in this reading from Lavinia is used in an old-fashioned sense; it means "manliness," "manhood." Aeneas discussions with Ascanius (and others) might not make much sense without knowing this. Note also that Ascanius was sent away to Alba Longo to govern there, basically to keep him out of trouble, but that he caused trouble there through his aggression, his eagerness to fight, his eagerness to prove himself. So Aeneas has brought him home to Lavinium.

Note also that these discussions of virtue treat the same problem we discussed in class today (Thursday): "what is the relationship between energizing passion and morality?" becomes "what is the relationship of manliness and piety?"

Prompt #1: In Aeneas soul, which--reason, courage, and appetites--are in control? Who well do the three "get along" with each other? What about in Ascanius' soul? If you're not too sure of Ascanius' character, you could answer this question for Turnus instead. Or Achilles.

OR you could address this prompt:

Prompt #2: (a) does the energizing passion v. morality ever come into play in the lives of young people like yourselves? How so? (b) How does your answer to this question pertain to this part of Lavinia?

The Myth of Er

Now that you have read Plato's Myth of Er (Er is the name of the man who comes back from the dead), please come up with one or two inferences about it. Supply at least one observation for each. You can come up with random inferences, or use this as your guiding question: what values does Plato seem to have, based on this story that he tells? (Note: Plato made up this story; he didn't get it from anywhere.) Good luck!

Lavinia 202-212

The Three Fates, or Moirae. Lavinia worries about what the poet told her was Aeneas' fate: that he will rule for only three years.

Please detect moments where you the author is expressing her implied attitude toward character and events, or her attitude toward the reader. Quote the moment--the passage in other words--and explain. (The implied attitude of the author is known in literature study as tone.)

Lavinia 196-202

Achilles and Priam

Try to find connections between the reading we did in class--the Achilles-Priam episode--and tonight's reading in Lavinia. OR choose a detail from either reading and think about it and come up with an inference based on it.