Hipsy's View: Oeipus the King

In my World Literature class, we are required to write an interact for each reading we discuss in class. By this, I mean that we the students are read our assignments, discuss them in class, and then give our opinion on the readings. One that I did earlier this year was on Sophocles Oedipus the King. I thought it would be interesting for you all to read it; it kinda makes think. Hope you enjoy it.

Oedipus: Was It Fate or Ignorance?

            Many of us know the story of Oedipus: as a younger man, he killed his father and married his mother, not knowing his true identity or that he fulfilled the prophecy the Lord of Apollo in Delphi told him. When he found out the truth, he dug out his eyes with his dead mother-wife’s dress pins, saying he did not deserve to see since all the once beautiful things he knew were gone with the truth revealed. But one must wonder if it was fate that caused this happened to Oedipus or if it was his own ignorance that caused his ill fortune.

            This is a very strong, debatable conversation. One like this can possibly lead to someone’s faith. Are we set on a path that leads us to our fate, be it good or bad? Or are we in control of our own life and can we make our own path by the choices we make? What if it’s both? If we look closer to the story of Oedipus, we learn from not one, but three oracles that Oedipus was destined to kill his father and lay with his mother; to the oracles, this was the will of the gods. When Oedipus tries to escape his fate, he instead runs straight into the path the gods set for him. Then, being ignorant and not thinking before he speaks, he sets his own destiny of exile and hardship while charging the late King Liaus’ murderer before finding him.

So, many could say Oedipus set his own path. Or that whether he tried to escape it or not, he had a set path ahead of him that he was meant to take. I believe both of these statements are true: Oedipus had a set path and it evolved in time with the decisions he had made. What I’m trying to say is whether we think it or not, our decisions coincide with the path all ready set for us, and together, the path and the decisions shows a future we must face, be it great or horrible.

©2010 Sky Duran

Hipsy's View: Happy Halloween

Hello, my frightful ghouls and ghosts.
I'm mostly writing this blog to say Happy Halloween. Now "All Hallow's Eve" is a very popular holiday. In fact, it's the second most popular holiday known in the world, the first being Christmas. Many celebrate the holiday by dressing up (originally to scare off evil spirits), trick-or-treating (usually done by the poor who could not afford to buy a meal; in return, the poor would give the giving family a prayer to protect their home), and enjoying ourselves by going to parties, watching our favorite scary movies, and reading our favorite eerie poems and novels. Some of us have either all ready celebrated Halloween last night (on Devil's Night) or plan to do so tonight. I for one will be continuing my Halloween by reading Bram Stocker's Dracula, watching A Nightmare before Christmas, and just spend time with my family.

So to end this blog, I am hoping you all enjoy yourselves. Read Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven and The Tell-Tale Heart, watch your favorite classic horror film, and have fun dressing up as a vampire, a zombie, a ghost, a princess, WHATEVER you want to be. Have fun and stay safe tonight.

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Hipsy's View: John Malkovich

This is my first view on an actor, and is more than likely not the last.

John Malkovich, in my opinion, is one of the greatest actors known in today's entertainment society. Every character he brings to life is unique in its own way. One of my favorite characters Malkovich help bring to the movie screen was a character named Lenny. Lenny is a character from a book by John Steinbeck called Of Mice and Men. Lenny is mentally disabled, due to kick in the head by a horse when he was young. He's a big man who is more like child in his own way. In 1992, Malkovich starred in the the movie Of Mice and Men, along side with Gary Sinise (who also directed the movie). Just look at the video clip from the movie (the link after this paragraph) to see Malkovich's performance; those that have read the book may agree with me that his performance was great. http://movieclips.com/watch/of-mice-and-men-1992/lennies-dead-mouse/

One the thing I love about Malkovich's performances and portrayals is that he makes the viewers believe in the characters; the characters become real to us. We feel what we are suppose to: we feel fear for him and Mary in the movie Mary Reilly when he plays Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde; we feel sympathy and remorse for him in The Man in the Iron Mask because of how he lost his son Raul; we don't like him when he plays the bad guy on Eragon. These are just some of his characters! The main point I'm trying to show is that he is an exceptional actor whose portrayal of so many characters amazes me that I can't help but what to watch the movies he is in over and over again. If I ever had the chance to meet him in person, I would consider it an honor and a privilege to meet someone with great talent such as his.

The following link is to Mary Reilly, available on hulu.com (note: you must have an account through hulu to view this; it's meant for mature audiences only):
http://www.hulu.com/watch/174888/mary-reilly

Hipsy's View: Another Reason for Helen leaving with Paris?

Ok, I don't mean to seem obsessed with this Illiad topic, but I couldn't resist this one. My mother and I were talking about it just the other day, and I just can't get it out of my head. So maybe writing it down may help.

Now I know of two versions of how Paris brought Helen to Troy: 1) He brought her by force and so the Greeks were fighting to save her. And 2) Helen went on her own accord with Paris because she loved him. But after reading Book IV of the Odyssey, I saw Helen seemed quite faithful to Menelaus. This brings me to a possible third way of Helen's reason of leaving Sparta for Troy:

We know that Aphrodite promised Paris the most fairest and beautiful woman on earth if he chose her as the most beautiful goddess and not Hera or Athena. We also know Paris took Aphrodite's offer. Here's how I see: Helen may have loved Menelaus, and was happy. Aphrodite saw Helen was the most beautiful and fairest woman considered on earth, but also noticed that she was happily married. Aphrodite may have not liked Troy like Hera and Athena didn't, or it was just fate for Troy to fall, but Aphrodite was also a part of the construction of destroying Troy. Seeing how Helen was married, and wanting to keep a promise to Paris (or create chaos), Aphrodite sent her son Eros (Cupid) down to Earth to strike Helen with a love-struck arrow. After this was done, and Helen went with Paris to Troy, the battle began.

Now there have been in some Greek stories that the love sick feelings sometimes fade away, and I believed this happened to Helen. In Book IV of the Odyssey, she states in lines 288-296 how she was happy to see Odysseus and other Greeks in the city of Troy:

      "The rest of the Trojan women shrilled their grief. Not I: / my heart leapt up--my heart had changed by now--I yearned / to sail back home again! I grieved too late for the madness / Aphrodite sent me, luring me there, far from my dear land, / forsaking my own child, my bridal bed, my husband too, / a man who lacked for neither brains not beauty." ll 291-296

Now either she is a good liar, or Helen was telling the truth. That is how I view a possible third version of how Helen came to be with Paris.

Hipsy's View: The Illiad

Note: This blog contains spoilers to the movie Troy and the epic poems The Illiad and the Aeneid. If you have not seen the movie or read the poems, and do not want to know the endings or any specific details, I advise you not to read this. But if you don't mind, then carry on and read my blog.


Most of us have seen the movie Troy, which is based on Homer's epic poem The Illiad, and know how it ends: The Greeks invade Troy by hiding in a wooden horse, which was a false offering of peace to the Trojans and was brought into to the city; Briseis killed Agamemnon; Paris, Helen, Hector's wife and child, Priam, and many other Trojans escaped the attack by a hidden door in the palace; and Achilles is killed by an arrow shot through his tendon (the one named after him). But when reading The Illiad, we see none of this; instead, we see the burial of Hector. The ending of Troy is more based on what is read in the Aeneid by the Roman poet Virgil.  But instead of seeing the ending of the movie, think of the ending of this tale like this: Helen and Menelaus go back to Sparta as though nothing happened; Andromache, Hector's wife is enslaved and his son Astyanax is thrown off the highest tower of Troy by Greek soldiers because they were afraid of what he would grow up to be as a man; and Agamemnon was murdered by wife. This just a taste of how Hollywood "enhances" an epic tale in order to gain others' attention to the the story.

Like many others, I watched the movie before reading the Illiad, and as usual, the written part of the story was far more better than the movie based on it. In the movie, the battle of Troy is fought and won within almost a year, whereas in the poem, the war has been going on for almost ten years. The movie shows Hector as a strong and good man, which he is, but they neglect to show his arrogance and how his prideful ego brought him to his death. The movie did well showing a little bit of Achilles' vulnerable side, but in my opinion, they could have gone deeper; in it, you see how Achilles is considered almost godlike and is known for his passion to fight and be in war. The poem shows this, but it also shows how he is human, and he does have feelings that can be broken, just like other human beings. The portrayal of Agamemnon was dead on; Agamemnon was power hungry, and greedy. Briseis was barely mentioned in the poem, same with Paris and Helen. If you read the true story and not watched the movie, you would certainly have a different point of view of how it was told.

There were so many differences between the movie and the poems. But either than that, they all gave a story to the audience that will entertain us for generations to come. If the story has been around since before Christ, it is more than likely going to be told after our time has come to an end.

What do you want me to view?

Ok, here's the deal. I will try my best to keep these blogs updated. I'll give you my views on music, books, videos, movies, art, and who knows, I'll probably throw in a website or two. But what would you like me to view for you? Leave me a comment to let me know.
Hipsy.