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Tiresias and Calliope

          As stated in Greek mythology, Tiresias is a hermaphrodite and identifies as both male and female at different times. Also, Tiresias is blind but he is the "seer" in the story Oedipus the King. Finally, although Tiresias only shows up in one seen in Oedipus the King, that is a scene with many conflicts.

         Callie plays Tiresias in the play Antigone and her role in the said play is a small one. She only shows up for one scene, but while she is waiting to go on stage, there is an actual death. This fully reflects the connection between Callie and Tiresias because many conflicts surround the two and they play an important role for a short amount of time. There is the obvious comparison as well, both are hermaphrodites. Although Callie is unaware of her situation at the time, she knows something is different internally. 

          One can also think of Callie as a "seer" because although she is not blind, she observes many people around her, particularly the Object. She sits off to the side and analyzes many things going on around her, she sees or watches everyone. While waiting to go on stage, she was watching the Object, and describing her in great detail. As stated on page 336, Callie is playing Tiresias and watching the Object's every movement. She admires her and for an entire passage, she describes every little thing she is doing. 

          Although there are many differences between Calliope and Tiresias, if one is to think deeper about the aspects of the character's traits, there are many similarities such as, they're both hermaphrodites, they are both "seers", and there is conflict surrounding them.

Personal Experience

At the beginning of page 271, Callie describes how Desdemona feels now that the love of her life, Lefty, is dead. Cal recounts, "She didnt like being left on earth. She didn't like being left in America. She was tired of living" (271).
          I have severe clinical depression and I have been dealing with this disorder for my entire life. I can very much relate to how Desdemona is feeling because although I have not lost my husband, I have been tired of living. Like Desdemona, I often stay in bed for many hours and I think about my own personal death. I have made attempts in the past to end my life, and although Desdemona is not suicidal, she does not put any effort into living. Desdemona is heart broken and grief stricken, therefore she has just given up on attempting to be happy and living without the love of her life. She is also selfish because her family needs her but she does not care, she just wants to o what he thinks will make her happy, dying. I can also relate to this because I have made the very selfish choice to attempt to end my life and I did not think about my family or  what they would benefit from. When an individual feels as though they do not have anything to live for anymore, they completely forget about the ones that still love them. Like Desdemona, I have a great life and a family that loves me, but I think selfishly and I want to end everything because I am tired of being sad. Constantly, I hurt myself because I know that although I have loving people around me, I do not want to feel sadness anymore. I try to do anything I can to feel something, even pain, other than sadness. Desdemona does this to herself as well because she mentally hurts herself by isolating herself from the rest of society. She also does not take care of her loved ones or herself, and Desdemona is a caring person so it must hurt her to see her family tending to her every need. Every situation of depression is different so I am in no way comparing my life to hers, but our feelings resemble similar outcomes. Both Desdemona and I no longer want to be on this earth, both of us are self destructive and lastly both of us are selfish.
I am getting the therapy and medication that is needed, the necessary adults know of all that is shared above so please do not be alarmed.

Current Events

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/actor-vienna-accidentally-stabs-real-knife-stage-front-live-audience-article-1.357011

An Austrian actor accidentally stabbed himself in the neck with a real knife during a suicide scene instead of using the collapsable prop knife. This scenario is similar to when Maxine died during her death scene on page 339 because although the character was supposed to die, the actor almost died, or did die in Maxine's case. Apparently this is something that happens often because real weapons get mistaken as props on set and can result in injury or death. It is difficult to tell if the actor is good at acting or if they are actually hurt, so in the case of the Austrian actor, they didnt realize anything was wrong until he didn't get up after the curtain call. In Middlesex, Maxine's mother could only tell Maxine was dying because she knew her so well, but the audience thought she was just a great actor. This is a very tough situation because the props can be replaced with actual weapons and it can appear as negligence when its really a planned murder.

Key Passage Response

     Key Passage

          The passage about the prostitutes that goes from page 236-237 shows a severe hierarchy between race and gender in Detroit and throughout the country. The prostitutes work for the black men who are paying customers, but then they also must sleep with the white police men for free. The black men are also under the police men because of the very apparent racism of this time. The white policemen as well as the black men use the women for their bodies, showing that women are of the lowest social status. When Cal recalls, "At the curb the girls recognize the cops because they have to do them for free" (237), this really displays the hierarchy because the women do not flee when the cops come, they recognize them as loyal customers that use them for free sex. Normally, one would imagine that prostitutes run from the police, as their job is illegal, but the fact that the men use them for free sex so the women don't feel the need to run, shows how corrupt the police force was at the time. Also the fact that the police go after the men shows how arresting one for their race was more of a priority than arresting a woman selling her body illegally. The social order in Detroit shows how primal the country was at this time and displays the ignorance of many white men to black men. The women were willing to sleep with either race, but the white men only arrested the black men because of the color of their skin. The policemen had the opportunity to arrest both the black men and the prostitutes but the free sex is so important to them that they only arrest the men. This also shows how important sex is to men while the women are numb to it. As stated in the passage, "...high enough by 5 a.m. to be numb to the rawness between their legs and the residues of men no amount of perfume can get rid of" (236), sex is not as important to the women than it is to the men because the women would rather numb the feeling. The sex is so significant to the men that they are willing to put their jobs at risk to continue having free sex.

A Room of One's Own Journal Revision

New York City Connection

Although a train can be compared to a “normal” person’s brain, a better example is that a crowded New York City subway is equivalent to a depressed individual’s mind. The outside of the subway is slick, clean and silver and looks uniform throughout, but the inside is full of sweaty sticky, angry and discombobulated beings. Depression has the same affect on the brain, the outside is composed, but the inside is swirled with negativity and confusion and all the thoughts are different. Just as people clash on the train, there can be conflict with the thoughts and they cannot flow. Every human comes from different backgrounds therefore they act as an individual and not alike one another. Thoughts are the same because sometimes they can be opposite to one another and they’re all different but in a small, enclosed space together. The subway is completely flooded with bodies one after another as far as the eye can see. When you look down from one end of the train you cannot see the end because there are just bodies. A depressed mind is flooded too with swirling negativity. You try to look for an end to the sea of depression but when you search, you just see more sadness. All the thoughts are different and they can range from very minor to more than extreme, just like people. In a train there can be minor tempered individuals that are just on the train to get to work, while the others can be having a bad day and they’re angry at everything. All these people are close together and they cannot move anywhere even if they needed too. The train is infinitely full of angry people, shifting and moving, pushing one another and even yelling at each other. The brain can be the same because your thoughts are always changing and making connections even if its all negative. The thoughts are all clustered together and they can either go harmoniously or clash with one another.

If one were to look into a train from the outside, they would just see the organized and uniform shell of the train. The train is actually a casing to a disorganized hell that is full of sadness and confusion. An individual with depression looks normal on the outside because they try to protect the negative thoughts on the inside from coming out. Little do outside viewers know, the inside of their minds are so full of darkness and sadness that nothing else can be seen. No matter how content they may look on the inside, the thoughts are always there and they are always discombobulating and overwhelming.

            

Oedipus Project

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QUOTE: “your pain strikes each / of you alone, each in the confines of himself, no other. But my spirit / grieves for the city, for myself and for all of you.” (74-76)

ANALYSIS: Oedipus takes on responsibility of the city and its people. He is emotionally invested in them and feels the pain that they feel. The city also reflects the conflict that Oedipus has in his life. From prior knowledge it is knows that Oedipus has broken many taboos. Thebes shows this strong conflict because they are suffering from a major plague and are in great distress. Oedipus will do anything to help the city, its people, and himself. Oedipus claims some pity from is citizens by saying that his spirit grieves for himself even though it is he who is not suffering (yet) from the plague. 

Also the random pauses, where the slash marks are, show that Oedipus is in somewhat distress because his diction is choppy.

READER RESPONSE:

I chose this drawing to represent my feelings about Oedipus because he feels pity for his people, but simultaneously he is showing that he is at a higher level than the Thebans by saying that his spirit specifically grieves for people including himself. Oedipus is in color because to me he stands out more than the citizens, and also he makes sure to include himself in his statement.

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QUOTE: “you’ve lost your power, / stone-blind, stone deaf-senses, eyes blind as stone! / I pity you, flinging at me the very insults / each man will fling at you so soon.” (422-424)

ANALYSIS: Oedipus is insulting Tiresias because he is not telling Oedipus what he wants to hear. Dramatic irony is very apparent here because Oedipus made a comment about how Tiresias is blind, and Tiresias refutes that comment by saying that people will say the same insults to Oedipus in the future. This is ironic because Oedipus blinds himself when he finds out the horrible deed that he did. Tiresias pities Oedipus because Oedipus is in denial that Tiresias wont help him. Also I feel like Tiresias is being passive aggressive and twisting his words in a way just to provoke anger from Oedipus. Although Oedipus was not being very kind to Tiresias, it is still Oedipus’ right to know what he needs to do to save the city.

READER RESPONSE:

I chose Tiresias’ mask to look manipulative because he is passive aggressively manipulating his words. Oedipus is sad, hence the blue tears, and he is angry, shown by the fire. He feels these ways because Tiresias is not telling him what he wants to hear. I chose my mask to portray a conflicted look because although I feel bad for Oedipus because he isn’t getting told important information, he is being mean to Tiresias, so I am not sure who I feel pity for.

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QUOTE: “…what man alive more miserable than I? / more hated by the gods? I am the man / no alien, no citizen welcomes to his house, / law forbids it-not a word to me in public, / driven out of every hearth and home.” (899-903)

ANALYSIS: Oedipus is self-centered even now. He is saying that he is the most miserable man alive; meanwhile his entire kingdom is dying from a plague. He is saying that he is the most hated man, even by the gods, though he may thing this is true, it is a rather radical feeling to jump to. He calls himself an alien, and finally wraps it up by abiding by his initial rules. He is exiling himself and saying he is no longer allowed to step into peoples homes. Even though is does not benefit Oedipus, he still follows his initial curse for the benefit of his kingdom. This is a selfish act for Oedipus because although personally exiling himself is harmful, he is being loyal to his kingdom and doing what he things is best for them. Oedipus has shows severely selfish traits in the past, but this is a turning point in his character and shows how

READER RESPONSE: Oedipus is showing a new found maturity by acknowledging his wrong doings and willing to follow through with the proper punishment. Although Oedipus shows self centered qualities when he is wailing about how he is the miserable man in the world, he makes up for it by taking the punishment. Although Oedipus does not have control over his fate, I do not feel pity for him because he had control over his actions and future until he killed Laius. The play demonstrates that one does not have control over their destiny, but if Oedipus did not kill his father, he would not be feeling the pain he feels now.

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QUOTE: “Racked with anguish, / no longer a man of sense, he wont admit / the latest prophecies are hollow as the old- / he’s at the mercy of every passing voice / if the voice tells of terror.” (1001-1005)

ANALYSIS: Jocasta is stating how Oedipus will listen to every bad thing someone says. His surroundings and the people around him easily influence Oedipus. Jocasta is saying that the prophecies are “hollow” or not important and meaningless. What influences Oedipus is not the supernatural, but the opinions of his people, which is not the case prior in the text. Oedipus no longer has any sense because he is so reliant on what his people say, he is anxious without the guidance of his kingdom. The things going on around him are slowly chipping Oedipus away. His people weaken him, the people he is supposed to protect, and he can no longer thing for himself Even in this quote, Jocasta is speaking for him and telling everyone how Oedipus is feeling. Oedipus is getting continuously weaker which is understandable because he goes through so much emotionally.

READER RESPONSE: Throughout the text Oedipus has become weaker and weaker. It is understandable that this is happening to him because he is in many emotionally difficult situations. Jocasta is acting maternally towards Oedipus and speaking for him. Although it is not confirmed at this point in the text that Jocasta is Oedipus’ mother, she still acts motherly towards him. She displays a natural maternal instinct and uses this to help the emotionally fragile Oedipus. I respect Jocasta because she’s taking the pressure off Oedipus even though he did it to himself.

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QUOTE: “You, / you’ll see no more the pain I suffered, all the pain I caused! / Too long you looked on the ones you never should have seen, / blind to the ones you longed to see, to know! Blind, from this hour on! Blind in the darkness-blind!” (1405-1409)

ANALYSIS: Oedipus blinds himself after hearing that he fulfilled the prophecy and ended up killing his father and marrying his mother. Initially, Oedipus exiled the murderer of Laius and said that he should be blinding, and now that Oedipus discovers it was him that committed these deeds, he’s going along with the plan. Oedipus is addressing himself as “you” as if he were talking to the murderer who was another person. He is saying how the murderer, himself, will not be able to see the pain he caused, because he is exiled and blinded. This may be a defense mechanism to avoid being hurt by the suffering that he personally caused. Oedipus is now blind to the people that he shouldn’t have met and blind to the people he has wanted to meet. Therefore he is blind for both his past and present actions.

READER RESPONSE:

I chose Oedipus to appear in dark and messy clothing because he has been degrading emotionally from all the treachery. My mask has a conflicted relieved appearance because I feel pity for Oedipus because he will now suffer blindly and be exiled from his kingdom. I am relieved because he is saving the Thebans and caring for his people.

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SYNTHESIS: Initially I thought of Oedipus as a selfless leader that is willing to do anything for his people. As the story continued it became clear that although Oedipus is helping his people but that is actually a side effect of helping himself. He makes a point in almost every quote to turn the feeling of pity on himself and in the conclusion of the play, Oedipus is demanding all the pity from the people of Thebes. At first I liked Oedipus because, under false knowledge, I thought of him as the leader that Thebes needs. In the end of the story I don’t like Oedipus because the emotional strain chipped away at his character making him a selfish person.

            Through the tragedy of Oedipus the King, I learned that to be a successful leader one must be selfless and put the best for the kingdom first. Oedipus did care about the well being of Thebes but he cared more about his morality and ego; he cared more about what people thought about him than the health of the kingdom. Creon, on the other hand displayed more selfless leadership and was the successor of Oedipus, proving that the selfless leader is the more successful one.

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REFERENCE:

Sophocles, Oedipus The King. The Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. New     

York: Penguin classics, 1984. Print.