Should Homer be considered an early feminist or an old-fashioned sexist?

I consider Homer to be an early feminist because of the power he gives the goddesses. At this point in time, women didn’t really amount to anything other than staying home and running the household. Homer uses Athena and Hera to show that women could be much more. The Goddess Athena is shown as a strong character when she takes charge of Telemachus’s journey. When Telemachus is sitting at home worrying about how to deal with the suitors, Athena takes charge and plans a trip for him in search of his father, Odysseus. Another example of her being show as a powerful figure is when she changes into an eagle and flies away. Menelaus is amazed and they hold a feast in her name which shows how much they respect her. Hera is also a good example of women stepping up and being more powerful. In The Iliad, she stands up to Artemis and knocks her down when she is trying to help the Trojans. Hera also defies Zeus by going against him and helping the Achaeans. Although she knows they will eventually win, she hates seeing her beloved people dying and the fact that she goes against the king of the gods shows that she has much more a backbone then most women in those days. By using Athena and Hera Homer shows that women can be more than just the simple housewives they are expected to be.

Visual Analysis Post

The movie review I just a read was about Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which is the first movie in the trilogy. The critic, Sean O’Connell, talks about how typically in Hollywood pirate movies are a no go but Pirates of the Caribbean could be the movie that changes that. He says that a big part in its success is how well it was made. With the technology available they were able to digitally turn real people into skeletons and back again which was a very intriguing aspect. Something I found interesting was that even after all that praise, the critic only gave the movie a 3.5. Its one of my favorite movies so personally I would give it a 5!


http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-The-Curse-of-the-Black-Pearl

Relaxation

When i was younger and having trouble falling to sleep, my dad would always tell me to "say goodnight" to my body starting with my toes and ending with my head. He said that by the time i got to my head i would be completely relaxed and fall right to sleep but i thought it sounded ridiculous. That may sound a little funny to you too but I just read an article from the Mayo Clinic which basically says the same thing. The article talks about how even if you don't have a lot of stress in your life you can still benefit a lot from little relaxation techniques. One of the relaxation techniques was called Autogenic relaxation. In this technique you simply visualize a peaceful place and focus on either relaxing breathing, slowing your heart rate, or slowly relaxing one part of your body at a time, which is what reminded me of my dads old trick. With this relaxation tip you can gain more energy, better concentration, fewer physical and emotional responses, and overall more efficiency with your daily activities. After reading this article i am going to try and help my body relax more with these simple techiniques and i suggest trying them on yourself!

Just A Dream

"Just A Dream"

It was two weeks after the day she turned eighteen
All dressed in white
Going to the church that night
She had his box of letters in the passenger seat
Sixpence in a shoe, something borrowed, something blue
And when the church doors opened up wide
She put her veil down
Trying to hide the tears
Oh she just couldn't believe it
She heard trumpets from the military band
And the flowers fell out of her hand

Baby why'd you leave me
Why'd you have to go?
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know
I can't even breathe
It's like I'm looking from a distance
Standing in the background
Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now
This can't be happening to me
This is just a dream

The preacher man said let us bow our heads and pray
Lord please lift his soul, and heal this hurt
Then the congregation all stood up and sang the saddest song that she ever heard
Then they handed her a folded up flag
And she held on to all she had left of him
Oh, and what could have been
And then the guns rang one last shot
And it felt like a bullet in her heart

Baby why'd you leave me
Why'd you have to go?
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know
I can't even breathe
It's like I'm looking from a distance
Standing in the background
Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now
This can't be happening to me
This is just a dream

Oh,
Baby why'd you leave me
Why'd you have to go?
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know
Oh, now I'll never know
It's like I'm looking from a distance
Standing in the background
Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now
This can't be happening to me
This is just a dream

Oh, this is just a dream
Just a dream
Yeah, Yeah

I like the song "Just A Dream" by Carrie Underwood because it actually makes you feel something. The title really fits because what the character in the song goes through truly would be like a dream. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have the person you love go to war and have their life be in danger every second let alone actually losing them. It seems like the hardest part of losing them would be not being able to say goodbye. Even though it will hurt no matter what, having some closure would probably help. I also connect with when she says they “sang the saddest song that she ever heard”. It’s interesting how a random song can affect you so much depending on how you’re feeling. I know that I have a couple songs that really get to me just because they remind me of something. I think that this is a good song and people should listen to it and try to put themselves in the other person’s shoes.

WELCOME!

Hey everyone welcome to my english blog! Throughout the year this blog will be updated atleast once a week. I will be adding reviews on things such as newspaper articles, short stories, professional essays, and lyrics and commenting on other peoples entries. You might not agree with everything i say but that is why they're called opinions. Keep checking back for more!

Adios