|
A Thousand Ships By Summer Killian What is a myth? It may be a falsehood or a stereotype. It may be a path to follow; its characters may be idols. It may be an idea or it may be a person. It may be truth itself. It may be the only thing standing between us and truth. Its definition is in constant flux. As part of the Writing Program's new Distinguished Visiting Writers' Series, poet, author, and myth-lover Dr. Judy Grahn taught a Master Class here on campus during the week of March 20. Grahn decided to focus the week's work and discussion on myth and ritual. Her work has been inspired by mythology since she first began to write. Her life has been influenced and shaped by myths--both contemporary and ancient, Grahn said. She moved 14 students to decide a few things; we were to know what we thought to be the definition of myth. We were to understand some of the myths that we had bought into, either individually or culturally. We were directed to discover myths that might guide us; It all sounds very abstract--maybe so abstract it seems simple. But I knew that just scrawling down "Achilles" and saying that he helped me find my weak spots wasn't going to cut it. Then Judy told us about the archetypal Helen of Troy illustrating how myth crosses cultures and time again and again. Helen doesn't just appear in Greek mythology. She's left her mark in Germany, Scandinavia, West Africa, and Japan. She's influenced traditional Hawaiian stories. She's part of the Iroquois tree of life story. She's the Great Spinster of China. She becomes Inanna in Sumerian myth, a character upon whom Grahn chose to base a series of four books of poetry. In her book "The Queen of Swords," Helen is represented as beautiful, blissfully ignorant, somewhat snobbish and in need a of a swift kick. "The Queen of Swords" is set in a lesbian bar and all of the characters of the myth of Inanna's (Helen's) journey to the underworld are represented there. The story works, and has been presented as a play numerous times. Grahn is intrigued; An ancient myth sparks interest and, better still, a sort of emotional connection to Helen among contemporary readers and viewers. In many ways then, Grahn said, we are all always working within the context of myths. One of her assignments to us was to find an ancient myth that we could relate to our lives somehow. The class responded with parallels to Haitian, Native American, African, Greek, Celtic and Norse mythology. It seemed that with enough research, everyone could find a myth that they could relate to. The next assignment was to find a contemporary myth, describe it, and then create characters who lived within and without it, creating a dialogue. Out came myths about race, family, gender, beauty, love, manhood, friendship, strength and authority. The list went on and on. We realized, quite suddenly, that Grahn was right. We were all working within the context of mythology. Even when we are denying a myth, we are still using it as a model. We can decode all of this: We have to. It sounded a little off to me when she first tried to tell us about using myths as models. But ... One person described the myth of beauty. Every woman is supposed to somehow achieve this magical ideal "femaleness" as demonstrated in any issue of Glamour, Cosmo, etc. Why is it then, that at the same time some of us may know that we cannot look like her, we still want to look like her? Why does survey after survey return results that say that an overwhelming majority of men are not attracted to this type of woman if she still stands as the representation of beauty? Someone is lying here. Either that, or we really like myths. Mythology enables us to decipher the world, and sometimes that can be a very frustrating thing to do. Mythology can also be quite empowering, and the positive aspects are what Grahn focuses on in her work. She is interested in the origin of myths, and in the stories of origin created by mythology. She has written a book called Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World. The book is based on ancient and contemporary myths and rituals believed in and practiced by women across the world. She states that her claims are "unprovable"; Who would believe that menstruation's connections to the moon and the tides could have actually created the way of the world? Many would believe, but no one could ever be sure. This book then, sheds fresh light on more "scientific" creation stories as they have never been told like this before. Certainly the story of Helen has never been told like Grahn tells it. Rethinking the myths and even re-writing them to fit an historical or contemporary moment should be seen as a positive effort to learn how to live. Writers like Judy Grahn are gifted with the power to change perspective and language. Myths can be deconstructed and reconstructed for all time, and therein lies a kind of balance between the known and the never-to-be-known. Summer Killian is a junior sociology major at Ithaca College. |
