Myth Into History, Week 4: It's All Greek To Me [Thurs/1st Period, Danger Shop]
Today, as the students filed into the Danger Shop, they would find it set up as a large, desolate dirt plain with what appeared to be oddly shaped rock formations until closer examination proved them to be giant bones.
Janice was perched atop a half-buried skull, chomping on her cigar, but in unprecedented deference to her students' potential squeamishness, the long tables and chairs were set up for them in a clear space between a couple of massive femurs. "Welcome to the giants' graveyard," she said casually once everyone had arrived. "You want to talk about larger than life figures? We have the literal embodiment right here. Or the literal, virtual remains, anyway. I mentioned the Cyclops, Polyphemus, last week: anybody know of other examples from history and folklore, Greek or otherwise?"
She waited to see if anyone volunteered a name or two, and then continued.
"So we're going to cover one specific account of a giant today. You've probably heard of him and with any luck one of you mentioned him a few minutes ago when I asked, hint hint: Goliath. Yes, as in 'David and.' David had help, though, just keep that in mind. Something else to keep in mind? Goliath didn't deserve all of his bad reputation, either." Janice? Sounding slightly bitter about undeserved bad reputations? No, not really -- just the macabre class setting playing mind games, that's all. "Giants in the ancient world were useful as mercenaries. Think about it: they could probably stomp most ancient armies flat in a few steps. Goliath wasn't any different. 'course, his family was killed in the war between the Israelites and Philistines, so he was out for a little revenge. Plus, the Philistines were paying him."
Okay, so she didn't actually say "Can you blame him," but it was most definitely implied.
"Sure," she went on, picking up a pebble and tossing it up into the air repeatedly, "David killed Goliath with a sling and a stone, but come on, you really think Goliath just stood there and let him? If Xena hadn't come up with a way to distract him . . . but no, we can't give credit where it's due just because she was a woman, and --"
Luckily for everyone in the class, Janice cut off the rant before she really got started.
"ANYWAY. That's a different take on an event typically found in the Old Testament, and it's not the only example of that in the Scrolls: there's evidence that Xena also had something to do with Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, which is a story you'll not only find in the Old Testament and Tanakh, but the Quran as well, although in the Quran, Ishmael is the son to be sacrificed, not Isaac." Janice paused, started to pace back and forth atop the skull, and swore as her leg went through an eye socket.
Followed by the other leg.
Then the rest of her.
"Dammit." Once she'd extricated herself from the inside of the skull, she straightened her fedora, gave her cigar an extra-vicious chomp, and continued. "The names according to the Scrolls are Anteus, Ikus, and Mael, and the whole sacrifice was part of Mael's scheme to have his brother killed and gain his father's favor, but there's enough similarity between . . . well, it's like how most cultures have a story about the Flood."
She fished the Danger Shop remote out of a pocket and punched a few buttons, transforming the graveyard into an idyllic forest path with a roadsign next to a statue. If anyone were to look up through the trees, they'd see that it was an overcast day, with a storm threatening. Perhaps more immediately evident would be the fact that the ground was shaking subtly, as if with the rhythm of very large, very heavy footfalls.
"Your assignment today is this: get the revenge that Goliath couldn't." She pointed toward one end of the path. "The village of Laurel is that way. They're being harassed by Gareth, the giant who killed Goliath's family, and he's threatening to raze the place if they don't give him every dinar. The other way is Piedmon: the warlord Zagreas and his army are getting ready to sack that town. You guys? Get to split into small groups and stop both things from happening." Janice picked up a large kite with a very long string that had a belt buckle hanging from it. "Just bear in mind that giants stomp armies beautifully, Zeus killed giants with thunderbolts, and it's about to start raining."
[OOC: Class Info Post, Syllabus, and Roster See the OOC thread for further activity details, and OCD is up!]
Janice was perched atop a half-buried skull, chomping on her cigar, but in unprecedented deference to her students' potential squeamishness, the long tables and chairs were set up for them in a clear space between a couple of massive femurs. "Welcome to the giants' graveyard," she said casually once everyone had arrived. "You want to talk about larger than life figures? We have the literal embodiment right here. Or the literal, virtual remains, anyway. I mentioned the Cyclops, Polyphemus, last week: anybody know of other examples from history and folklore, Greek or otherwise?"
She waited to see if anyone volunteered a name or two, and then continued.
"So we're going to cover one specific account of a giant today. You've probably heard of him and with any luck one of you mentioned him a few minutes ago when I asked, hint hint: Goliath. Yes, as in 'David and.' David had help, though, just keep that in mind. Something else to keep in mind? Goliath didn't deserve all of his bad reputation, either." Janice? Sounding slightly bitter about undeserved bad reputations? No, not really -- just the macabre class setting playing mind games, that's all. "Giants in the ancient world were useful as mercenaries. Think about it: they could probably stomp most ancient armies flat in a few steps. Goliath wasn't any different. 'course, his family was killed in the war between the Israelites and Philistines, so he was out for a little revenge. Plus, the Philistines were paying him."
Okay, so she didn't actually say "Can you blame him," but it was most definitely implied.
"Sure," she went on, picking up a pebble and tossing it up into the air repeatedly, "David killed Goliath with a sling and a stone, but come on, you really think Goliath just stood there and let him? If Xena hadn't come up with a way to distract him . . . but no, we can't give credit where it's due just because she was a woman, and --"
Luckily for everyone in the class, Janice cut off the rant before she really got started.
"ANYWAY. That's a different take on an event typically found in the Old Testament, and it's not the only example of that in the Scrolls: there's evidence that Xena also had something to do with Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, which is a story you'll not only find in the Old Testament and Tanakh, but the Quran as well, although in the Quran, Ishmael is the son to be sacrificed, not Isaac." Janice paused, started to pace back and forth atop the skull, and swore as her leg went through an eye socket.
Followed by the other leg.
Then the rest of her.
"Dammit." Once she'd extricated herself from the inside of the skull, she straightened her fedora, gave her cigar an extra-vicious chomp, and continued. "The names according to the Scrolls are Anteus, Ikus, and Mael, and the whole sacrifice was part of Mael's scheme to have his brother killed and gain his father's favor, but there's enough similarity between . . . well, it's like how most cultures have a story about the Flood."
She fished the Danger Shop remote out of a pocket and punched a few buttons, transforming the graveyard into an idyllic forest path with a roadsign next to a statue. If anyone were to look up through the trees, they'd see that it was an overcast day, with a storm threatening. Perhaps more immediately evident would be the fact that the ground was shaking subtly, as if with the rhythm of very large, very heavy footfalls.
"Your assignment today is this: get the revenge that Goliath couldn't." She pointed toward one end of the path. "The village of Laurel is that way. They're being harassed by Gareth, the giant who killed Goliath's family, and he's threatening to raze the place if they don't give him every dinar. The other way is Piedmon: the warlord Zagreas and his army are getting ready to sack that town. You guys? Get to split into small groups and stop both things from happening." Janice picked up a large kite with a very long string that had a belt buckle hanging from it. "Just bear in mind that giants stomp armies beautifully, Zeus killed giants with thunderbolts, and it's about to start raining."
[OOC: Class Info Post, Syllabus, and Roster See the OOC thread for further activity details, and OCD is up!]