Class Notes: 10/20/09
-Read Book or Job and Susanna, compare Stevens and Susanna; read The Slave; there's a lot to do.
-A skimpy class today, is everyone sick? If so, stay away!
-Reading the whole bible: perhaps the biggest literary challenge ever, a chore or sorts.
-A Nova Clip: sophisticated smart clip
The P writer arrived late on the scene, had hard task of putting everything together.
Possible answer to how the Jews survived.
Invention of writing, Semitic, a Venetian intention, perfected in Greece and Rome,
Art and biblical themes,
Frye:
Page 50, top of page, Israelites and Moses were not black, but were slaves, people in bondage, and so black slaves were mythological ancestors of the Israelites, the archetype of the slave, trying to be free of bondage.
Missoula Montana, fishing, Funk, the bible, myth and fact. The Jesus Seminar, Project.
The two German Words, in Frye, page 50, Holy History and Actual History; the holy history is way more interesting. “Before Karen was born there were omens in the sky, celestial phenomena that portended some amazing event was going to happen, Karen was born and immediately jumped out of her crib and shot a polar Bear!!”
Page 50 cont: “traditional language would say that Myth redeems history” “Easiest to see in Myths of deliverance” the biggest myth of deliverance: the bible.
The Mobile God in a box, the arc of the covenant. Thanks Indiana Jones.
Read Susanna in the apocrypha, a.s.a.p.
Biblical tales are constantly influencing literature, millions of examples. Absalom, Absalom. Any canonical text is going to relate to or reference the bible.
A bit of world history from the clip; Joshua, a military story; The Hill of the Foreskins – what an image; Judges 11 or 12, grotesque; Ruth will be presented by a group; Samuel, great literary book; David, great stories of David, sees Bathsheba, He wants her! David arranged for her husband to get killed in war so he gets the woman. Solomon, associated with wisdom, judicial decisions, the wisdom of Solomon, he has 1000 wives, builds the greatest temple to Yahweh; Kings, similar to Shakespeare’s early plays. Early history, one story, story of greed and power, slavery, kings, presidents.
-Movie, very good, part documentary, part cinematic performance;
-The book of Susanna, artist depictions.
-Frye’s attempt to examine the bible as a poet would want to understand it, in The Great Code.
Three greatest tragedies ever written, the worst that could ever happen, especially innocent suffering: King Lear, Shakespeare; The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevsky;
The Book of Job: Poetic testament to the nature of suffering; how the Israelites managed to continue faith in exile. “Why do innocent people suffer?” Job’s suffering, boils, friend say he probably did something wrong. Could that be? Greatness of Job determined by possessions, hmm, interesting
-The popular culture theory of Job: the patience of Job, but Job’s not patient at all, these people have never read the bible.
-The biblical Satan: an accuser, as in a trial, the devils advocate always bringing up the contrary view.
-Job’s possessions stolen, a really bad day, servants die, but his wife remains with him, not part of the punishment.
