classical lit: Wednesday April 11

THE MORALS OF OVID:

"All life is suffering"

Robert Graves

T.E. Lawrence: from 'Lawrence of Arabia'

CUPID AND PSYCHE:

Mister Ed~ Mickey Rooney
Bottom's ears= Lucius
visualized western culture
'The Oldest Love Stories in the World' ~ book
Psyche thought she would see a beast, but she saw the most beautiful man in the world instead
like in these fairy tales:

1942 version of La Belle et La Bete by Jean Cocteau
"Lend me your ear, you generations of readers" - Apuleius
the moral of the story is the experience of the story its self
The Tempest= Medea
"What seest thou in the dark abyss of time..." ~ Prospero
"All heroes are fools" ~ Dr. Sexson
stories within Lucius: Arachne's victims, slave economy of ancient times, beasts of burden story of the ass
Ass- both the lowest and the highest of animals
Ass= the Bishop
"That which is at the bottom is at the top"
is a story about your eventual transformation/metamorphoses into initiation
Isis: mysterious initiation
is definitely and frame story: told by a bandit lady to the captive woman, and then retold by Lucius
Fred Astaire: "He can't act, can't sing, but he can dance a little"
"the power of laughter"
like The Game with Michael Douglas
Venus is like Jane Fonda in Monster in Law
"but not by the shell she starts, archaic by the sea" ~ Wallace Stevens
'Amore and Psyche' by a Yung Scholar
the verdict on marriage is not pretty because it is all about rape and abduction
women go through the 'male tasks' and trials
moral: 'Don't look back" Actaeon, and Orpheus especially
"All weddings are funerals"
falling in love with love reminded me of a song from the movie Cinderella with Brandi:

FALLING IN LOVE WITH LOVE

Falling in love with love is falling for make believe

Falling in love with love is playing a fool

Caring too much is such a juvenile fancy

Learning to trust is just for children in school

I fell in love with love one night when the moon was full

I wasn't wise with eyes unable to see

I fell in love with love with love everlasting

But love fell out with me