Arabic Poetry

1) Address two themes / ideas raised Ibn Hazm's "The Dove's Necklace" that interest you. How do these themes relate to the overall ideas of love that you find in this reading.

The first theme I would like to address is the theme that love is synonymous with pain. Hazm goes over many ways that love can be very painful. He describes how dreams of love can haunt people, how expectations of those unseen can turn out terrible. Hazm attributes fighting as a natural part of true love. He also describes how love can make many people paranoid. In one passage, Hazm even compared love to mental illness. This is not to say that Hazm doesn't describe the glorious parts of love as well. He goes on and on about the positive, and beautiful aspects of love. His portrayal of love from numerous perspectives (not just the blissful ones) makes true love seem more realistic, more part of life. In this way, he defines what love truly is. In a way this makes love ever more beautiful. The contrast in live between good and bad is truly the only think that allows good to even exist. He approaches love from a very realist point of view. My favorite display of this balance that is love and that is life, is when Hazm describes how ice burns skin just as fire does, and tears come from both joy and sadness.

2) How do the themes raised in "The Dove's Necklace" carry over into the poetry? Address at least two specific poems.

In the poems, this theme of shedding light on loves negative portrayal is also seen. In the last poem, labeled 9, the poet goes on and on about how love has brought him pain. The poet is forever separated from his lover. Perhaps his lover is dead. As a result, even though he his in love, he feels great pain. In the poem labeled F, Hazm speaks of sleeplessness from being in love, and in the poem labeled F, Hazm speaks about how the only moment he truly lived was when he kissed his love for a brief moment. All other life seems thus dreadful in comparison. Once again, the poets are not only negative about love. We are simply presented with negative perspectives so we can see the balance and hard work that is love. In the poem labeled H, we see a brighter perspective, where Hazm is simply grateful that he is on the same planet as his loved one. Poems A and C speak of the true blissfulness that is love. The negative side of love is simply portrayed in order to display the contrast that is real life.

1) Address two themes / ideas raised Ibn Hazm's "The Dove's Necklace" that interest you. How do these themes relate to the overall ideas of love that you find in this reading.

The second theme I would like to discuss is that of possible homosexual connotations. Perhaps I am reading into it too much, but from my point of view, I feel as if both "The Dove's Necklace" and the poetry have homosexual connotations. In "The Dove's Necklace," Hazm speaks of love, but it is not until the very end that he involves any trace of love having to do with just a man and a women. He even gives examples of how he has fallen in love with noble men through writing letters. In some instances the love fell apart, in others it lasted. Perhaps these are just his good friends, and once again I am over analyzing, yet Hazm is certainly not against homosexuality. He repetitively uses general words in sentence like "when a man falls in love with someone" (just an example, not an actual quote). It seems intentional that Hazm is cluing to the fact that all kinds of love between two people is acceptable.

2) How do the themes raised in "The Dove's Necklace" carry over into the poetry? Address at least two specific poems.

In the poems, the poets often talks about falling in love with "him". Hazm talks about not being able to take his eyes off of "him" in poem D. In F he talks about how he will never name his male love. In H he speaks of the joy he finds in the fact that his male love is on the same planet. In the first poem, labeled 4, the poet describes a male figure in beautiful ways that are metaphors to nature. It almost seems as if there was a general overall acceptance of homosexuality.

METAMORPHOSES by OVID Books 1 and 3

I will be discussing one of my own topics for book one, and answering one of your questions for book three.

The largest shock in book one, at least to me, was when Jupiter raped Io. Immediately in the beginning of the text we are told that Jupiter is not that great. He marks the end of the golden age, and rules during the lesser silver age. During this silver age the weather becomes more harsh and less temperate. Summer and winter are formed. It doesn't necessarily give a reason as to why Jupiter forms these new seasons, but I assume it is just because he is a mediocre god. Later in the text, Jupiter captures innocent Io and rapes her. His wife comes down from the heavens to catch him, but he quickly turns Io into a cow, and lies to his wife's face. He covers up that fact that he raped Io. Io then suffers for years in the form of a cow, unable to speak, all because Jupiter wanted sex. There are even more mentions later in the text of Jupiter cheating on, and tricking his wife. The gods in Metamorphoses are very different then those in The Odyssey. As it is, the only god in The Odyssey who seemed a little bit unfair, still had justification to act as such. Jupiter has no justification except for lust, and I don't think that should even count. He is a reckless god, that does not serve as a good example for humans.

5. Deceptively simplistic question: With what or whom does Narcissus fall in love? What is the problem with this? Many writers see in this myth the foundation of love found in all relationships (I would agree!) - what does the myth have to tell us about human desire?

Narcissus does not truly fall in love with himself. At least not at any deep level. He only falls in love with his own physical appearance. To prove the shallow nature of his love even further, one must also analyze his interaction with the echo. The echo is his own voice, his personality. He runs away from this. He is not at all inserted in a relationship with his personality, nor does he seem to like it. Shortly after running away from his voice, Narcissus falls in love with his own physical reflection. The problem with this is that what he feels is not truly love, rather it is lust. This myth is making a statement about how human desire is only skin deep. Perhaps for some people this is true. It is at least true at the beginning stages of many relationship, before the couple truly gets to know each other. That's why there is supposedly such thing as love at first sight.

Plato: The Republic

2nd Passage

In the second passage we were assigned to read, I find it interesting that the characters are discussing the problems between the rich and poor social classes. The idea that only a small precent of the population has a great majority of the wealth is still a pressing issue, especially recently with the occupy movement. I find it especially interesting that there are hints to the idea of shared wealth in the text. They are talking about democracy, yet there is an undertone of socialism. Democracy and socialism are two things that now a days, are never put next to each other.

The characters speak of true equality in government, and in life. This true life equality leads to the though of financial equality. Financial equality is something that still don't exist at all, yet it was though of so long ago (when financial equality is mentioned, many people call it socialism and dismiss it right away). The Republic also speaks of women's and children's rights. Women still are not completely equal in our "democracy", and children are not equal at all, especially not in the school system where time and time again court cases prove that children have limited rights in school.

3rd Passage

In this passage the characters discuss democracy not only as a form of government, but as a way of life. It is interesting how the characters go through an entire man's life, and point out all of his potential flaws and strong points. They even give reasons why each may exist. They mention bad parenting as a reason why many people end up flawed human beings. They essentially go on to describe how the principals in democracy can be applied to ones life, in order to make them better. This form of democracy is more then just government, it is a way of life. This once again is reminiscent of socialism. A way of life, true equality, government for the good of the people, people acting for the good of the whole. While that may be true, the most important thing is the sense of balance that is portrayed in the text. To much of anything is bad, and not just one thing will work. A balance of all ideals is imperative.

Question:

What context is this in? Is this a manuscript of actual meetings, or a story? What is the background info? It is hard to tell just reading excerpts.