Past Politics in Later Art

Classics

Jacques-Louis David (French painter, 1748-1825). Intervention of the Sabine Women, Overall view without frame. 1799 (creation), Image: 4/31/09 (creation). http://library.artstor.org/asset/SS36066_36066_23794134. Web. 1 Dec 2017.

Just like the modernist age that was discussed in Prof. Simon’s class, there is a political statement within this image. The painter himself was a man who hid many meanings within his paintings, making political paintings during the French Revolution. This was something very common in the modern age, although the traditional “fine art” techniques are still used here rather than more abstract and chaotic methods used within the modernist era. It seems the peace that the women try to bring within the image is the main interest in the subject. Further research states that he made this in a time he was jailed, where the artist stated they wanted to draw something to the more Roman aesthetic.

The quote I chose for this piece specifically comes from Vergil’s book:

“The joyful peace, which put an abrupt close to such a deplorable war, made the
Sabine women still dearer to their husbands and fathers, and most
of all to Romulus himself.”

Although even in the intervention depicted in the illustration, the war still continue to unfold, the quote shows an importance to their role.

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Art

During Unit 5 we learned more about the modern world that deviated from traditional techniques. The artist’s strokes became more apparent and the subjects within the painting didn’t look like they were going to bounce out at you anymore. With that, followed abstract art, or even messy looking art that at first glance looked as though it had no purpose in a gallery, but at second glance you can see every stroke had a purpose. This was somewhat the case with Marry Cassatt’s Woman on a Bench. The artist here was trying to capture life as she saw it with the little time she had. It was a form of experimentation, which is something a lot of the modernists art had.

Now if you’re looking for something even closer to present time than that then look no further than the video games we see around us. A YouTuber by the name of The Game Theorists covered such a topic in more detail on a video called Gaming is BROKEN!  …What Comes Next? He speaks of how gaming is following the same pattern as modern art history. As time progressed, games have become more abstract and what could be considered a game or what makes a game is pretty loose with new genres being born.

We have managed to create life-like simulations within games. It looked as though you could almost touch the grass, or a video recording of the real world rather than 3D models generated through a computer. They have done an amazing job at immersing the player, making you feel like you were there, something art had striven to do. As The Game Theorist continues to point out that “…,but with so much progress and games being so beautiful and massive and textures feeling more and more real, where do you go now?”

This is where we arrive at post-modernism. All that progress and innovation removed, a rejection of modernism because “everything and anything can be art”.  We see this same idea in indie gaming today with titles such as Rock Simulator and Pony Island. These are games that break  the rules of what and how to play, and games that know their games. A trend we see in post-modernist art, where art knows it’s art. Even in some of the examples we saw in class, it was discussed that some of the artists purposely wanted you to see the painting as just that, a painting.

The difference between the past and the present is that we have become more interactive with the new art forms out there, after all even video games – something that tell stories like the paintings did – is considered art now a days.

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Citations

Jacques-Louis David (French painter, 1748-1825). Intervention of the Sabine Women, Overall view without frame. 1799 (creation), Image: 4/31/09 (creation). http://library.artstor.org/asset/SS36066_36066_23794134. Web. 1 Dec 2017.

Cassatt, Marry. Woman on a Bench.1881. Pastel on Green Wove Paper.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Art History.

The Game Theorists. “Game Theory: Gaming is Broken! …What Comes Next?” Youtbe, commentary by Matthew Patrick, 26 Nov. 2017, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxzKZdTxNp8.

 

-Yekaterina Ignatyeva, Team Cronos

 

Some People have the same Ethnicity

I interviewed three Brooklyn College students called (Stephen, Richmond, and Raven) at the West End Building near the tennis court on a Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. via face to face. The interview gathered information about them and their personal opinion on various subjects. This paper summarizes the responses of the discussion and their relationship with stories about the origin of Rome. The three students happened to have come from the same ethnic group; hence they had similar responses to the interview questions.

The interviewees were ready and willing to respond to the various questions of the interview, which mainly focused on their ethnicity and origin. Additionally, they gave me the go-ahead to record and include their responses on the class blog as they felt that the answers provided an accurate reflection of their background, which they are proud to share. Since they were born and raised in America, they did not identify with any other ethnicity beyond the U.S.A. Therefore, the only life they have ever known was the American life. In describing America, they praised it as a country of opportunities that gave every person a unique and special way of being successful. They also mentioned that through all the racism and crime they still love the country that they call a home of the brave and the land of the free, because comparing America to other countries, it is one of the best to live on earth.

However, they emphasized the importance of personal initiative for the achievement. All three of my interviewees also described the American society as one with equality, belief in change and progress, sound work ethics, action-oriented, and competitive. The three students all identified Martin Luther King Jr as a hero who is famous in their ethnic group because of the efforts he made in advocating for civil rights.

The interviewees agreed to share a story of George Washington Carver, who is one of the most decorated American scientists (botanist) and inventor in history. They told me about how George was able to prevent soil depletion by actively promoting alternative crops to cotton. The values from the story are important in the traditions of the people because they inspire young people to make essential contributions to the society despite their social status. I’ve read about Rome’s origins is that everyone has a unique story about their city. The similarity between the stories and background of Rome stories is that all these leaders and the founding father’s have all grown into legends that have been used to inspire people across many generations.

The excerpts of Vergil-book one states, “Why, you too, cruel as the rest? So often, you ridicule your son with your disguises! Why can’t we clasp hands, embrace each other, exchange some words, speak out, and tell the truth?”

The quote portrays the cruelty and unfairness as the character of one of the founding fathers of Rome. The quote represents the injustice that some ethnic groups may be exposed to prompting the fight for liberation and civil rights as seen from the interview response.

Richard, Team Vulcan.

 

 

 

Aeneas Carthage

Perino del Vaga. Venus directing Aeneas to Carthage. early 1530s. British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/. http://library.artstor.org/asset/AGERNSHEIMIG_10313160280. Web. 11 Dec 2017.

This drawing shows the disguised Venus (mother of Aeneas) and Aeneas itself. Venus advises Aeneas to go to the city of Carthage. She directs him to talk to the queen of the Carthage, Dido who would warmly welcome him and his friends. Aeneas is fleeing away from his native city, Troy which has been destroyed in the war. Juno, queen of the Gods despises Aeneas so she brings various traps on Aeneas’s way so that he cannot reach Carthage. However, his mother, Venus helps him in reaching Carthage and tells him about the queen of Carthage, Dido.

I can connect this drawing to something that I learnt in Art History class. This painting has a linear perspective. Linear perspective is the illusion of three-dimensional space on the two-dimensional surface. Likewise, this drawing does look three dimensional because the orthogonals if made from the floor will meet at one point on the top which is known as vanishing point. The figures such as Venus and Aeneas are much closer to the viewer. The mountains and trees in the background seems far away. This all creates linear perspective. The colors used are white and brown. Colorful colors are not used.

“She looked like a young girl, a Spartan girl decked out in dress and gear or Thracian Harpalyce tiring out her mares, outracing the Hebrus River’s rapid tides. Hung from a shoulder, a bow that fit her grip, a huntress for all the world, she’d let her curls go streaming free in the wind, her knees were bare, her flowing skirts hitched up with the tight knots.” (Vergil’s Aenied Book 1). This quote is very similar to the picture that I chose. Venus in the picture actually looks like a young girl. Both the quote and the picture portrays that her knees are bare and her skirt is hitched up in the tight knots. In addition to the similarities, there are few differences between the quote and the image that I chose. In the picture, there is something that hangs from her shoulder but it doesn’t look like a bow which contrasts to the quote because it says that a bow hangs from the shoulder. In the image we see that her hair is tied with no open curls. However, the reading says that her curls streamed free in the air.

Some of the artist’s own inventions in the drawing are the trees, few animals, people and the mountains. The artist might have added these details to describe the setting of the scene. Since, Venus and Aeneas met each other in the forest, the artist uses these details like animals, trees, bushes, etc. to the convey the idea that that they are in the forests.

The two figures, Venus and Aeneas most interests the artist. Since they are the main subject of the work, he draws them the way they look with all the characteristics that they actually have. There are movements in their posture because they both are pointing their arms and legs in forward direction which depicts that Venus is directing Aeneas to Carthage. The homework texts also has Venus and Aeneas as important figures because the text is all about Aeneas’s journey to Carthage and his mother, Venus helping him to reach there.

Gurleen Kaur, Team Venus

The Lady and the Sea Monster

Domenico Guidi (Italian, 1625-1701) Commissioned by Francesco II, Duke of Mantua and Reggio (Italian, 1660-1694) , who died before the sculpture’s completion. Andromeda and the Sea Monster. 1694. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
http://www.metmuseum.org. http://library.artstor.org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/asset/SS7731421_7731421_11776266. Web. 11 Dec 2017.

This sculpture, though made in the Common Era, resembles traits of a Hellenistic sculpture from Ancient Greece. The depiction of Andromeda in this fluid like movement is very common in Hellenistic style art as well as noticing how the free-standing Andromeda is much like new upcoming sculptures in BCE. Having the subject in the nude like so relates to how the Greeks shaped their art to show how the human body should be shown off as such, as it is in the Gods image.
This piece of art can relate to a quote from the Vergil’s Aeneid, Book 1:

“Her fury inflamed by all this, the daughter of Saturn drove over endless oceans Trojans left by the Greeks and brute Achilles. Juno kept them far from Latium, forced by the Fates to wander round the seas of the world, year in, year out. Such a long hard labor it was to found the Roman people.”

The sculpture of Andromeda is in relation to Greek art, and not Roman art. We can clearly tell by observing how the breasts of Andromeda are revealed and not hidden by shrubbery. Greek and Roman themes do relate sometimes, where we can see how Andromeda, goddess of dreams, who usually accompanies with Poseidon, can be like the daughter of Saturn. Both are strong mythological female figures, with relation to “driving over endless oceans” They differ from their cultural origins, but both parts of Greco-Roman mythology can be connected.

The artist wanted to try his best, from a 17thy century perspective, to copy an old time Greek sculpture to the best of their ability. The artist Domenico Guidi, was a prominent Baroque sculptor, who had a short life as an artist. His intentions for creating art are not that important for the relation to Roman era literature, since they are two different time periods.

Sean Reilly, Team Artemis

Question Time!

Cindy T., via Facebook, Wednesday night

1. Are you comfortable if I ask you some questions about you ethnicity and origins?  Can I write about your answers on a public class blog?
– yeah sure.

2. Do you identify yourself with an country or ethnicity beyond the United States of America?  If so, which one?
– Chinese, from China

3. How have you learned about the origins/history/past/importance of that place? (If they feel no strong connection to other place or identity, then ask them to talk about being American.)
– A little but not very much because my parents never told me about their life in china. Well as an American, I feel like I am conflicted between what I am known as, Chinese or American. Often I get confused if I should even include myself such title. I want to be able to personally express my self as an individual, not by race.

4.Is there one person, maybe a hero or ‘wiseman’ or king or law-giver, that is important to your people–someone people tell stories about, maybe legendary, maybe true?  Can you tell me a story?
-Yes, theres a monkey king. He is famous in the Chinese mythical tales of the gods and power. He restores order when someone consumes too much power in a china. The Chinese monkey is symbolized as wise.

5. What values do you think that story teaches?  Are those values important in the traditions of your people?  how?
– I was taught this story from a young age. It taught me that all evil must be taken away and if there is no balance, we should take initiative in balancing such action from happening.

Cindy has been told about the great monkey that has been taken as a historical context. Despite not knowing what she is identified as, she know what she is. Most importantly, the great monkey can be a great example of Vergil’s Aeneid, it state, ” …will inherit the line and build the walls of Mars and after his own name, call his people Roma” I felt this quote has correlation to the great monkey because it both talks about prosperity in a country. These nationalistic view becomes an essence in obtaining trust by the people. I hope Cindy learns to obtain a different value of what she is.

Ahmed A, via text msg, Wednesday Afternoon.

1. Are you comfortable if I ask you some questions about you ethnicity and origins?  Can I write about your answers on a public class blog?’
   – mhm
2. Do you identify yourself with an country or ethnicity beyond the United States of America?  If so, which one?
   – Pakistan, Islam
3. How have you learned about the origins/history/past/importance of that place? (If they feel no strong connection to other place or identity, then ask them to talk about being American.)
   – Yeah a little. I am more Americanized because I came to NY at a young age. Uhh my family heard about dreams coming true and having a better life in the US so we moved.
4. Is there one person, maybe a hero or ‘wiseman’ or king or law-giver, that is important to your people–someone people tell stories about, maybe legendary, maybe true?  Can you tell me a story?
   – The father in a family household. My dad take care of everything. Having a dad must be important in the Islamic culture because it shows masculinity for the children and respect the values of our own culture.
5. What values do you think that story teaches?  Are those values important in the traditions of your people?  how?
   -They tell me that I must have a family when I grow up. That I must be a good dad too. Having a dad to son/ daughter relationship is important as the child grows up. They can have problems if they do not have a father.

   Ahmed seems more of a chill guy. He wants to be able to communicate not the religious value of his culture, but what he has known by practicing islam. I do not see any similarities between the readings of Rome and Ahmed’s story. However, I can say that having a powerful and strong leader does obtain the continuation of a great country.

Gao J. via Facebook, Tuesday night

1. Are you comfortable if I ask you some questions about you ethnicity and origins?  Can I write about your answers on a public class blog?
   – Yes I am comfortable if you ask away.
2. Do you identify yourself with an country or ethnicity beyond the United States of America?  If so, which one?
   – Yes you may and you have my every permission to do so. I see myself as Chinese American, so I guess Chinese ethnicity.
3. How have you learned about the origins/history/past/importance of that place? (If they feel no strong connection to other place or identity, then ask them to talk about being American.)
   -I have learned about the different Dynasties and the many trades and wars that makes China what it is today, but I don’t really remember it. I have learned about the history of America, and I can tell you one thing: that our history was all sorts of messed up.
4. Is there one person, maybe a hero or ‘wiseman’ or king or law-giver, that is important to your people–someone people tell stories about, maybe legendary, maybe true?  Can you tell me a story?
   – I don’t know anyone who is important to “my people” (you mean like the rest of Chinese population in China?) I do know a story (but not really a story :/) that has captured the hearts of some Chinese people though, and it is the Gospel 🙂
5. What values do you think that story teaches?  Are those values important in the traditions of your people?  how?
   – That Jesus has come down to Earth to release all of our chains from sin and bring grace upon us. The values are important to those who know Him but also for those who don’t know Him.

   I found Gao’s story interesting because religious believes was not a powerful century for it. Despite that, Gao’s religion seems to motivate him by what he has learned about the Gospel. In relations to the Roman’s text, Aeneas can be best in relationship to God. ” Aeneas puts in here with a bare seven warship saved from his whole fleet.” This quote shows that Aeneas has given hope to these people that were in need of rescue. God also saved those from their sins in order to restore grace upon us. I was very glad to have heard Gao’s answer in response to these questions.

 

How don’t you know? Bruh

I interviewed about eight people from different ethnicity and chose the most informed answers to include in this blog post, even though they aren’t well informed.

Noor Fawak, Libary Laguardia Room, Monday afternoon

This girl is a Muslim American woman of Syrian heritage but she was born here. When she was younger, she traveled back to Syria and attended school for four years. During that time, she discovered that Syria was being led by ignorant oppressors. She considered the hero to be the everyday people who wake in the morning and challenge the oppression. Syrians has been controlled by the Asahd family for a long time and finally people decided to speak up against this form of control. So the lesson she learns from this is never give up, pursue what you believe in. “Even though its not worth it because we’ve lost a lot of blood, we can’t stop now, we cant let it go to vain right now.”

Anastasiya Lyubimova, Library 2nd Floor, Monday afternoon

This girl is Slavic born in Russia. She reads books and watches documentaries about Russia on her free time. As to Russian leaders, she says they didn’t have any prominent rules or law givers. However, there was the sar regime family that was well respected by the people. Also, she respects Dostoevsky as a hero because he captures the Russians souls in his writing and suffering of the people. According to her, there were many stories of him being a great author, maybe the best of his time and he was non comparable. The stories that she hears of him inspires other people and allows them to understand the mentality of the Russians. She has learned that expressing yourself is a good way of living.

Samantha Blafford, Library 2nd Floor, Monday afternoon

This girl is third generation Italian-American. She learned little of Italian history in her language class. Although she doesn’t know anyone specific, she knows that people from the Renaissance, artists, and musicians basically shaped the culture that she has now. I was kind of disappointed with her answers because i expected someone from Italy to know their history and tell me about few common stories, but nope.

I expected a lot from the Italian girl because some of the great artists that we learned in Art1010 were Italian such as Michelangelo, Masaccio, Caravaggio and etc. Roman culture was reflected their arts. For example, change in culture meant change in style therefore, as culture advanced so did their statues, paintings, and architectures.

Roman empire made up parts of Europe such as Spain, France, and Italy. Roman was a place of power where their army conquered a lot of land and empires. To compare this to Russia, Russia was once known as the U.S.S.R. it had many countries as one. Now that each country has succeeded from the ‘union’ making up their own country, following their own rules, and have their own freedom, Russia is now a single country under the rule of one president, Putin. Romans were similarly ruled by one man, the King. Every leader of a country has their duty and they are pressured to accomplish it. For example, in the reading it says “But Aeneas, duty-bound, his mind restless with worries all that night, reached a firm resolve as the fresh day broke.” This even Syrian people as they’re to fight for their freedom, they have to if they want to live freely. They wake up everyday not knowing what might happen that day, in constant fear.

-Amir, Team Juno

 

 

Sabine women:)

MLA format: 

Orley, Nikolaus van (Netherlandish (before 1600) – Flanders, act.1550-ca.1586/91) (author of design) [painter]; Herzeele, Joost van (Netherlandish (before 1600) – Flanders, act.1570-1585) (workshop) [Weaver]. Romans admiring Sabine women, Story of Sabine women, Story of Romans and Sabines, Cleveland/Metropolitan Museum of Art set. c. 1570-1586. United States, Ohio, Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/photo_study_collection/, French & Co. purchased from Henry Symons, Inc., received 9/15/1927; sold to John L. Severance 8/7/1928.. http://library.artstor.org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/asset/GETTY_GGTAP_1031172027. Web. 11 Dec 2017.

This is  Flemish textile designed by Nikolaus Orley. Because it was made during the 16th century this work may represent a Renaissance style. Orley illustrated here Sabine women. Figures on this piece look so idealistic and smooth. In addition, the fact that designer was inspired by Roman stories suggest that this work was made in Renaissance style. Women here looks so calm and gentle. The textile is decorated with lots of flowers which make this work even more beautiful. In the title, it says: “ Roman soldiers admire Sabine women” which could mean that Sabine women were really beautiful and Roman soldiers so they look at them with enthusiasm. I think that’s not only because they are gorgeous, but also, that they did something important for Rome.

In the reading Vergil’s Aeneid, Book 1. It says: “Then it was that the Sabine women, whose wrongs had led to the war, throwing off all womanish fears in their distress, went boldly into the midst of the flying missiles with disheveled hair and rent garments. Running across the space between the two armies they tried to stop any further fighting and calm the excited passions by appealing to their fathers in the one army and their husbands in the other not to bring upon themselves a curse by staining their hands with the blood of a father-in-law or a son-in-law nor upon their posterity the taint of parricide.” Here in the reading main focus is on war and effect of Sabine family on it. Therefore these women helped soldiers at war and in this painting they are depicted as glorifying women.

-Yuliya K, Team Minerva

Aeneas and Achates

 

 

 

This image that I chose is called Carthage: Aeneas and Achates by David Cox. This painting in my opinion uses chiaroscuro because the trees on the sides of the paintings are painted in dark colors while the water and city in which the two men are walking towards are painted in lighter shades of white and blue. This is in order to give attention to the vast water and city in the far away distance. This painting also includes linear perspective because it is able to bring a three dimensional perspective on a two dimensional surface. The painting gives the viewer the illusion  that they are viewing this scenery from a higher point than the two men. A quote from the excerpts of Vergil book one that would relate to this picture is, “Aeneas puts in here with a bare seven warships saved from his whole fleet. How keen their longing for dry land underfoot as the Trojans disembark, taking hold of the earth, their last best hope, and fling their brine-wracked bodies on the sand.” This quote that I choose is similar to the painting in that it describes their longing for dry land which they would illusion to be like the painting above. The difference is that in contrary to the violent and gruesome scene described in the quote, the above painting reflects a more calm and peaceful environment. I believe that the artist includes the vast view of the ocean to help give the viewer know that the Romans had a vast empire as well.

Ashley G. ~ Team Juno

Diverse Interviews

Last week, I interviewed three of my friends about their ethnic background and what they identify themselves as.

The first person I interviewed was Shirley Z. at the Student Center, on Thursday, while we were on our lunch break. She told me she didn’t mind being interviewed. Since she grew up in a traditional household, she mainly identifies herself as Chinese, specifically Fujianese. Her mother plays a crucial role when it comes to getting background information and family history. Shirley mostly learns about her origins based on the stories her mother tells her about Fujian,China. Shirley states that “most Fujians are of the Han origin, but due to Fuzhou’s location, the culture is influenced by neighboring provinces,” which is why Shirley is able to speak three different dialects of Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, and Fujianese). When asked about who controls Fuzhou, she states that, “The Republic of China mostly controls the territory. There’s not one specific person who controls the province because China itself has way too many people to take care of, so they have one central system of government that controls different parts of the country.” Though there’s no specific story the government tells, their laws play a vital role as to monitoring the Chinese citizens. Shirley explains, “By blocking specific websites such as Facebook and YouTube, the government tries to censor Western exposure through media. They want to keep the Chinese culture intact by limiting Western influences.” This further shows how powerful the government is when it comes to controlling their citizens.

The second person I interviewed was Minho L., over a phone call Friday night. He thought it weird that I was asking about his background, but I convinced him when I said it was for a homework assignment. He identifies himself as Korean American. He learned about his Korean background because before coming to the United States at the age of 9, he lived in Korea for half of his life. He learns about what is happening in his home country by watching the news. He tells me that, “One of the biggest events that recently happened was that Park Geun Hye, who was a female President of South Korea, was impeached for illegally taking thousands of dollars from the government for her own use.” Not only is this a form of corrupt government, but it is a representation of abuse of presidential power. Minho states, “This scandal brought shame upon my people, but it is definitely not a representation of how Korean people are.” Minho believes that Koreans are naturally hardworking people. He mentions, “A lot of the citizens work endless hours and receive little pay. There’s a saying where ‘we work til we drop’, which means Korean workers work so hard that they literally drop to the floor due to exhaustion.” Park’s actions do not reflect the Korean working class, but instead the exact opposite of it. Minho states that, “It’s in Korean tradition to work hard for something and not take free hand outs.”

The third person I interviewed was David L., Friday evening after a handball game. He said it was if I interviewed him. He identifies himself as Asian American. He states that, “My mom’s White and my dad’s Chinese, but they lean towards the Chinese part of me because I have more relatives on that side of the family.” He learns about his ethnic background because his grandmother from his dad’s side tells him stories about her experiences in China. He mentions, “She even makes me write Chinese characters so I’m more in tuned with my culture.” When asked about Chinese leaders he states, “I don’t really know too much about Chinese leaders, but I did watch the Disney movie Mulan. Whether she’s real or not, her story is really famous in terms of persistence, bringing honor to one’s family, and saving China.” The story of Mulan poses as a reflection of how it’s cultural norms to value a male more than a female, but also emphasizes the word “honor”. The actions that happen in each generation builds a reputation in each family.

The similarities that I noticed between each interview was that each person felt a deep connection with their culture. Their parents made it essential to keep in touch with their roots and tried to expose them to as much of their background as possible, whether it be through news or listening to stories. Likewise in Roman culture, storytelling definitely influenced the society’s morals, pride, and ethics. When David mentioned how Mulan was a well known heroine that saved China, it reminded me of Rome’s Emperor Augustus who protected his father’s estate and legacy by keeping the Roman Empire safe. In contrast, I noticed that in the interviews there were no mentions of war, but in Roman history, war is not something new. In the Excerpts of Vergil, in the story Aeneas Meets His Mother, there was a was a fight between Pygmalion (Dido’s brother) and Sychaeus (richest man in Tyre & Dido’s husband) where, “That unholy man, so blind in his lust for gold he ran him through with a sword, then hid the crime for months, deaf to his sister’s love, her heartbreak. Still he mocked her with wicked lies, with empty hopes.” This shows that due to Pygmalion’s greed for money and power, he committed a crime by murdering Sychaeus to gain everything. Regarding the interviews, Minho mentions how Park Geun Hye stole money from the government. Although she didn’t hurt anyone physically, she took advantage of her presidential power and abused it. She also tried to conceal her crime just as how Pygmalion tried to hide the truth of him murdering Sychaeus. Both figures in power were corrupt by their personal greed, but their actions do not reflect the virtues of the citizens.

Mary, Team Vulcan

 

Aeneas and Venus

image cite: Jean Cornu (French, Paris 1650-1710 Lisieux). Venus Giving Arms to Aeneas. 1704. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org. http://library.artstor.org/asset/SS7731421_7731421_11284669. Web. 11 Dec 2017.

This sculpture was built in 1650-1710 which was the later reign of Louis XIV witnessed the real explosion of the real Baroque sculpture community dedicated to the classical myths of the past. The faces of every characters that’s the part of this sculpture all looks externally real, the faces were all expressing the different emotion, you can almost hear what they want to say. It was the moment when the goddess Venus descended from the sky and showed her son, the Prince of Troy Aeneas, a spectacular armor. As a supplement to the story, Aeneas’s half-sister Cupid raised his shield. The clothes that they wearing doesn’t looks rigid like a sculpture but real clothes that was blowing by winds, you can see where the winds came from.

This is the sculpture makes me think about the story in the ‘Aeneas meets his Mother’ in Vergil’s Aeneid, Book 1. Aeneas and Archates collide with Venus who’s a young female hunter as they enter the forest. Aeneas knows what happened and asked the woman what goddess she is. Venus disguised, said she was just an ordinary girl in the forest. Venus will fill Aeneas when what’s going on in the city. Then, she ended her story, and asked Aeneas who he is. Aeneas answered with his name, his pursuit of his favorite color. Finally, he said how he was attacked in the storm, lost a bunch of companions. Venus comforted him with story of twelve swans and eagle. Then the goddess turned away and Aeneas recognized her (“He knew her at once—his mother”). He called and said: “Why, you too, cruel as the rest? So often you ridicule your son with your disguises! Why can’t we clasp hands, embrace each other, exchange some words, speak out, and tell the truth?” But Venus did not answer. Instead, she wrapped Enias and Archates in the fog, invisible. This made them in the heart of Carthage. Around them, people are busy building bees in the new city. After this story, Aeneas’ face in the sculpture seems to expressing a emotion dejected and doesn’t want Venus to leave him.

 

Yao, Team Zeus

A Trojanpiece

Apollonio di Giovanni di Tommaso, Italian, Florence, ca. 1415/17 – 1465. Aeneas at Carthage. ca. 1450. Yale University Art Gallery, Early European Art, http://artgallery.yale.edu/, University Purchase from James Jackson Jarves. http://library.artstor.org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/asset/AYALEARTIG_10312577055. Web. 10 Dec 2017.

This piece shows the different parts and an overall summary of Aeneas at Carthage from Virgil’s Aeneid. From left to right you see Aeneas, Dido, the construction of Carthage, and a glorified Rome. Dido is in the temple of Juno meeting Cloanthus along with other Trojans. In the temple you can see a part from the Trojan war that shows Achilles dragging Hector’s body. You can also see the wooden horse that was used to get into Troy. In the glorified Rome, you can clearly identify structures like the Santa Maria and Pantheon that we’ve learned in Art History. This piece also gives us an example of linear perspective as was discussed in a previous class. Your eyes are led straight into the middle of the scene on the gold piece in the center.  The paining tells a story throughout with different scenes, but your attention gets focused on the center, at the temple of Juno.

The part that stood out most interesting to me was what was going on in the temple of Juno. In the story, we read that when Aeneas arrived at the temple, it was truly amazing. According to Virgil’s Aeneid, Aeneas comes across something, “—all at once he sees,
spread out from first to last, the battles fought at Troy, the fame of the Trojan War now known throughout the world.” While exploring the temple, he sees the battles at Troy which we can see in the painting. This was very painful for him to look at, as he was brought to tears. The painter probably decided to show because this turns out to be an important part in the story. Aeneas spends a good amount of time examining the battles and being “spellbound” as brought out in book one. Later on in book two, we have Aeneas explaining to Dido what happened at the Trojan War. This is the centerpiece of the painting that ties the whole work of art together.

Ivory, Team Artemis

Interviewing Interesting People

Last weekend I interviewed three people throughout Brooklyn College about their ethnicity and origins.

The first person I interviewed was Tony at the West Quad gym after we were done playing basketball. He did not mind me asking him some questions about his ethnicity and gave me permission to post his answers on this blog. He told me that he was born in the United States but identifies himself as Vietnamese. Since he was born in America he has learned most of the history about Vietnam from his parents and siblings. He mentioned to me that there was always one person through Vietnam’s history that everyone knew. This person was named Ho Chi Minh. He was known for doing many beneficial things for his country and the people that resided in it. He played a major role in the creation of the democratic republic of Vietnam. He was a great man that everyone really looked up to and will continue to be celebrated by the future generations. The values created by Ho Chi Minh’s legacy was extremely important to Vietnam and he played a major role in the country’s development.

On Sunday I interviewed my friend Mohammed H. through text message. He stated that he was fine with me asking him a few questions and sharing his answers online. He told me that he was born in Pakistan but moved to the United States around the age of 11. He spent most of his childhood in Pakistan and really grew up accustomed to the culture. One person he learned about from his parents is Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was known as the founder of Pakistan and once a great leader. My friends parents were very young at the time Muhammad Ali Jinnah leaded the people of Pakistan but they continue to pass down his legacy because of how much of an impact he had on the country. He told me Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a person of extreme importance and it’s highly unlikely that he’ll ever be forgotten.

Monday afternoon I interviewed another one of my friends at the West Quad gym after playing basketball. His name is Matthew and he said that it was okay for me to ask him some questions and allowed me to post his responses online. He stated that he was born in America and does not have a strong connection to any other place. He says that his main inspiration was our former President Barack Obama. He told me that he really enjoyed Obama’s presidency and is grateful for the numerous great things he did for this country.  Barack Obama will always be a person that changed history by becoming the first African president and he is glad he was alive and present to witness it.

One major similarity I noticed between my interviews and the stories we learned about Rome is how they all remembered a significant leader. All of my friends that I have interviewed told me about a certain leader that played a major role in the development of their country. One leader the people of Rome similarly remembered and appreciated was Augustus. He was once a great warrior and leader that brought many changes to Rome. the quote I found was located in Vergil’s Aeneid and it states, “May this day be one of joy for Tyrians here and exiles come from Troy, a day our sons will long remember.” the quote is stating that this event be remembered for a long time and it connects to my interviews because all of my friends mentioned a certain leader that they have learned about from either their parents or siblings and it was passed down. It shows how big of an impact a leader can have on future generations and how their stories can be passed down.

Naim Nuvel, Team Vulcan

 

 

Combining different beliefs

Pactricson P., Via Facebook messenger, Sunday evening

Are you comfortable if I ask you some questions about you ethnicity and origins?  Can I write about your answers on a public class blog?

“Sure”

Do you identify yourself with an country or ethnicity beyond the United States of America?  If so, which one?

“If someone asks for my ethnicity, then i would say African American. But if they don’t, I consider myself a Haitian American.”

How have you learned about the origins/history/past/importance of that place? (If they feel no strong connection to other place or identity, then ask them to talk about being American.)

“I learned about America in school”

Is there one person, maybe a hero or ‘wiseman’ or king or law-giver, that is important to your people–someone people tell stories about, maybe legendary, maybe true?  Can you tell me a story?

“Barack Obama. Obama’s win in the election opened chances for every individual, especially black people. Examples such as Obama care and Michelle Obama’s healthy activities. Obama was also able to get the U.S. out of the recession in 2008”

What values do you think that story teaches? Are those values important in the traditions of your people? how?

“To aim high, which is why black families aspire to do something to do something greater in their lives instead of being stereotyped”

 

Ray R., Via iMessage, Sunday evening

Are you comfortable if I ask you some questions about you ethnicity and origins?  Can I write about your answers on a public class blog?

“Sure”

Do you identify yourself with an country or ethnicity beyond the United States of America?  If so, which one?

“African American/Caribbean American”

How have you learned about the origins/history/past/importance of that place? (If they feel no strong connection to other place or identity, then ask them to talk about being American.)

“Stories/research/parents”

Is there one person, maybe a hero or ‘wiseman’ or king or law-giver, that is important to your people–someone people tell stories about, maybe legendary, maybe true?  Can you tell me a story?

“Any person of power that maybe could found in the bible. We respect our elders but don’t revere them as legendary, like God”

What values do you think that story teaches? Are those values important in the traditions of your people? how?

“The values taught by us in the bible help us make morally just decisions in any and every scenario, specifically aspects of life, in which such judgement is needed. To list a few, a clean diet, respect for a community, and a lot for your family and people. These are some of the values held by our people in their traditions”

 

Tristan R., Via iMessage, Sunday evening

Are you comfortable if I ask you some questions about you ethnicity and origins?  Can I write about your answers on a public class blog?

“Yes ma’am”

Do you identify yourself with an country or ethnicity beyond the United States of America?  If so, which one?

“Yes, Jamaica and Panama”

How have you learned about the origins/history/past/importance of that place? (If they feel no strong connection to other place or identity, then ask them to talk about being American.)

“Word of mouth/passed down stories”

Is there one person, maybe a hero or ‘wiseman’ or king or law-giver, that is important to your people–someone people tell stories about, maybe legendary, maybe true?  Can you tell me a story?

“No there isn’t”

What values do you think that story teaches? Are those values important in the traditions of your people? how?

N/A

 

“There as an ancient city held by Tyrian settlers, Carthage, facing Italy and the Tiber River’s mouth but far away– a rich city trained and fierce in war. Juno loved it, they say, beyond all other lands in the world, even beloved Samos, second best” (Vergil, 1). This quote was found in the opening of Vergil’s Aeneid, Book 1. The Roman goddess, Juno, made goals for Carthage to become powerful and desperately didn’t want the Fates to take control of its future. She used all her strength and determination to make Carthage into the kind of power she wanted. Although the stories that my friends shared didn’t relate to fighting for the future of the country, they mention the importance of having a great leader. This relates to Rome’s origins because there was typically a leader to make the best decisions for their people.

-Estrella Roberts, Team Vulcan

We all are unique in a different ways!

Over last week, I went to Brooklyn College to interview three different people around the campus. The interview helped me to learn about people’s ethnicity and their unique stories.

Last Monday afternoon, I interviewed a person named Jane Katie in Brooklyn college library. I saw her by on the second floor of the library and by the express computer. I asked if she was ok with me asking questions about her ethnicity and if she was ok with me posting it on the blog. Jane Kate said she was definitely ok with me posting it on the blog. She identifies herself as American because she was born in New York and grew up here. However, she still respects the country her parents came from which was Africa. Jane said she does not really know the history of Africa since she only been there once. She said she likes being American because she knows a lot history about how America was founded and she loves the freedom system in America. Also, likes all the opportunities offered to all the people such as health insurance and education. She considers her sister being her hero because her sister is a lawyer and she helps the minorities people with problems that they go through. Her sister tries to help people who are in the unfair system such as when minorities are mostly targeted by the police.  The value that the story teaches is that there are people in society who are trying to help the poor people or the minority people who get locked up in jail for no reason. Also, people who will fight for justice that those minorities deserve. The tradition is important in America because many minorities are being treated unfairly by the law and get locked up in jail for no reason for being colored person.

On last Wednesday afternoon, I interviewed a person named Yolanda Gonzalez in Boylan Hall. She was sitting on the red sofa at the Learning Center. She said she was ok with answering questions about her ethnicity and me posting on the blog post. She identifies herself as Mexican because she was born there and came to America when she was seven years old. She said she knows a lot about Mexican history. She said, In 1810 the Mexican priest Miguel Hidalgo started the Mexican war of independence. The first leader of independent Mexico was Agustin de Iturbide. She considers her mother as a hero because she migrated to America with three children by herself. She works really hard to raise the children. Her mother dream is to go to a nursing school. She went to college here and became a nurse. She loves to help people in her hospital. She teaches her kids about helping other people. The value that the story teaches is that if people work hard, they will always get the positive result. And it is will always good to help other people. The tradition is important in America because helping other people is important and especially nurse helping the patient to make sure that the patients are comfortable and feel good about their health.

The last person I interviewed was last Thursday morning. The person named is Benjamin Smith. I interviewed him in the Brooklyn College Library on the first floor. He sits at the computer I was using. He said he was definitely ok with answering questions about his ethnicity and me posting on the blog post. He identifies himself as American because he was born and raised in New York. He said, he likes being American because he knows a lot about American history. He said that in America, people have so many opportunities. People can do whatever they like because there is so much freedom and rights are given to people. He also said, he loves the fact that in some city in America have so much diversity. He considers Muhammad Ali as his hero. He considers him as his hero because he was one of American professional boxer and activist. When he does boxing, it looks more like a peaceful fight than aggressive. Benjamin said he wants to become a boxer like him one day. The tradition is important in America because people see Muhammad as a motivator and people want to be like him.

After interviewing three people, the similarities between these stories and the stories I’ve read about Rome’s origins is that everyone has a unique story about their city. In the Rome, Juno shares the story of the city she loves. In the excerpts of Vergil-book 1 states, “Juno loved it, they say, beyond all other lands in the world, even beloved Samos, second best. Here she kept her armor, here her chariot too, and Carthage would rule the nations of the earth if only the Fates were willing. This was Juno’s goal from the start, and so she nursed her city’s strength. But she heard a race of men, sprung of Trojan blood, would one day topple down her Tyrian stronghold, breed an arrogant people ruling far and wide, proud in battle, destined to plunder Libya. So the Fates were spinning out the future . . .” This quote compares to the interviews because, in the quote, it explains about how Juno lover her city and the three people that I interviewed, they all have the story behind on how much they love their city.

Mantaha Mannan, Team Vulcan

Are they American?

This week I interviewed three of my friends asking them about their ethnicity and story behind that.

1. Last Thursday, I interviewed my friend Joanna L. after our business class in Ingersoll Hall building at Brooklyn College. She said that she is okay with answering the questions about her ethnicity and me posting it on my blog post. She identifies herself as American, however, she was born in Greece, Europe and lived there only 3 years, so she did not study much about the history of the country. She came to the United States when she was 3, and started school here and studied about American history. She said that her hero will be always Barack Obama as he made a lot of great changes in this country, and also because the role of the president is such a responsibility which not many can handle. She also said that the story behind it is when she met him personally. She had the chance to meet him because one of her teachers from high school knew him privately, and because she was one of the best in her senior year, her teacher took her and 2 other people for short meeting. I was really surprised when I heard the story.
2.  On Tuesday after my English class on our way to the train station, I interviewed my friend Kathy B. She said that she is okay with answering the questions about her ethnicity and me posting it on my blog post. She identifies herself as Spanish because she was born in Spain, Europe and spent there 10 years of her life. She said that she does not remember much about the history of Spain, however, she the person that she would value would be definitely a president, which was very surprising for me because the girl I interviewed first said the same thing. Kathy also explained to me that in her opinion president is a person who carries many responsibilities, and people against him.
3. On Wednesday morning, before my INDS class, I met one of my friends, Olivia S., and interviewed her on our way to classes in Roosevelt Hall building. She said that she is okay with answering the questions about her ethnicity and me posting it on my blog post.She was born and raise in New York City, so she identifies herself with American. However, her parents are from Columbia. She said she does not know the history of Columbia, only a few facts that her parents used to tell her, but she only learns the American history. Olivia said that for her, heroes are her parents. She said that is for many reasons, and one of them and the most important is that when they were young they came to the NYC by themselves without much money or ability to speak English. However, they did all they could to build a great family and raise her for a good person. She said that there are thousands of reasons why she treats them as heroes, sometimes little for others, but big for her.

All of these 3 interviews from Brooklyn College are interesting and each of them is different in its own way. I think that the first 2 people who said that president is definitely the hero for them can identify with Rome’s origins because the hero there was a ruler. Quote that I found:
” This was Juno’s goal from the start, and so she nursed her city’s strength” (Vergil’s Aeneid)
I think it can be connected all of my interviews because it emphasizes how did goddess care about the city and people. The same it’s with people who chose the president as their hero, he is the one who takes care of the city. It also connects to Olivia for whom parents are the hero because they had to take care of themselves and prepare to take care of her.

Edyta, Team Aphrodite

The Shepherd and the Babies

Nicholas Mignard, French, 1606 – 1668. The Shepherd Faustulus Bringing Romulus and Remus to His Wife. 1654. Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, USA, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, 1970.25, http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org/. http://library.artstor.org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/asset/AMICO_DALLAS_103842291. Web. 9 Dec 2017.

This painting was created in 1654 in the Renaissance period. It has a lot of classical imagery, regarding to the idealistic figures. The women have soft skin and curvy bodies. The man, who is Faustrulus has a muscular body. It also has chiaroscuro lighting. You can see the lighting shown on the skin and drapery of the women, the man, and the two babies. The babies are Romulus and Remus. You can see the darkness and shadows inside the house and in the background.

Quote: “According to the story, his name was Faustulus. He took the children to his hut and gave them to his wife Larentia to bring up”(Vergil’s Aeneid, Book 1. Page 11). There are a lot of similarities between the quote and the painting. Faustulus is the man carrying the babies. He is bring them to his wife, Larentia, who is also in the painting and is reaching out to the babies. The quote is basically describing what’s happening in the painting. Though, the quote did not mention the names of the two other women in the picture, it also did not mention that there is a dog and two doves.

The artist might have added the dog into the painting to represent that Larentia was known as the “she-wolf”. Dogs are closely related to wolves. Though the story is a Roman Myth, there are some biblical sayings in the painting. The two white doves are symbols of the holy spirit. Faustulus is a shepherd, which is a figure used a lot in the Bible.

What most interests the artist is the classical tradition and idealized bodies. The artist seemed more interest in his work than the myth itself. As an artist in the renaissance, they want to do their best work to bring out the symbols and realism. The artist did a good job making the roman myth come to life in a painting, so yes, it is important.

Caroline, Team Cronos

Lucretia

Rembrandt Van Rijn. Lucretia. 1664. http://library.artstor.org/asset/SS36847_36847_36038086. Web. 8 Dec 2017.

In this painting is the depiction of Lucretia from The Rape of Lucretia as recounted by Livy. This story took place in sixth century BC during the reign of the tyrant known as Tarquinius Superbus. This depiction of Lucretia may be somewhat inaccurate in regards to the clothing she wears; the story took place in 600 BC, yet the clothes she wears in this painting suggests the Renaissance (from 14th-17th Century AD).

Lucretia is shown to have naturalistic proportions as her proportions look like a normal human and makes her appear life-like. Her pose is somewhat awkward, though there is still the impression that motion is present in this painting due to the contrapposto of her somewhat twisted body.

From Livy Book 1: “But only my body has been violated; my mind is not guilty. Death will be my witness.”

This painting is similar to the literary version because of the knife that Lucretia holds in her right hand. In The Rape of Lucretia, she chooses to take her own life to “regain her honor” after being raped by Sextius Tarquinius, the tyrant’s son. In the painting she is holding the knife and has a somewhat distraught expression present on her face. The difference between the painted version and the literary version is the style of her clothes as the painted version depicts her wearing a dress and jewelry from a completely different time period from when the literary version took place. The artist’s own contribution was the way Lucretia is dressed; instead of wearing Roman garbs.

 

-Stacy, Team Minerva

The Founders

1.  Lily Lei, via Messenger, Tuesday Morning
   “I would say China because that’s where my parents came from! And I consider my roots to be there too! I haven’t learn much about China’s history, but I’ve been taught the about the culture from my family’s past experience! Not that I know of! Or not anyone specific off the top of my head! I don’t know anyone.”
   

2. Jackie Li, via Messenger,Monday night

“Yes I am comfortable if you ask away. Yes you may and you have my every permission to do so. I see myself as Chinese American, so I guess Chinese ethnicity.
I have learned about the different Dynasties and the many trades and wars that makes China what it is today, but I don’t really remember it. I have learned about the history of America, and I can tell you one thing: that our history was all sorts of messed up.
I don’t know anyone who is important to “my people” (you mean like the rest of Chinese population in China?) I do know a story (but not really a story :/) that has captured the hearts of some Chinese people though, and it is the Gospel 🙂  
That Jesus has come down to Earth to release all of our chains from sin and bring grace upon us. The values are important to those who know Him but also for those who don’t know Him.”

 

3. Jonathan, via message, Monday night

“Yes, I’m comfortable with you asking me questions about my ethnicity and origin. Yes you can write my answers on the blog. Ill identify myself as a hispanic American, i have lived in the United States for my entire life but I still kept in touch with my parent’s culture. One story my parents tell me is the story of the three kings which is basically their Christmas, thats the day kids get present. The story taught me how to value my religion, as well as who i am and where i come from. The values are important because it teaches everyone to appreciate everything they have.”

 

The stories are different from the story I read about Rome, my friends did not take the founders, but Jackie mentioned gods and both him and Jonathan mentioned religions. Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Mars, the god of war. “After the government of Alba was thus transferred to Numitor, Romulus and Remus were seized with the desire of building a city in the locality where they had been exposed.” (Book 1: The Earliest Legends)

 

Team Jupiter: Shiyin Zhao

The Ruler

I interview three friends I have in Brooklyn College, and asked them the following questions. “Do you identify yourself with an country or ethnicity beyond the United States of America?  If so, which one?How have you learned about the origins/history/past/importance of that place? Is there one person, maybe a hero or ‘wiseman’ or king or law-giver, that is important to your people–someone people tell stories about, maybe legendary, maybe true?  Can you tell me a story? What values do you think that story teaches?  Are those values important in the traditions of your people?  how?”

“I identify myself as a Punjabi from India and she learned about the history through the internet. There was a freedom fighter named Bhagat Singh who fought for India’s independence from Britain. The reason why I bring Bhagat Singh is because he is never mentioned in history lessons when India’s independence from Britain is taught.The values this story teaches are that Punjabi’s are brave. Non-Punjabi people may not believe it, but Punjabi people pride themselves on being the fighting warriors for India.” Chahat L., via Email, Tuesday afternoon.

“I identify myself as Chinese, which is ethnicity beyond the United States of America. I had learned about the history from that place from my parents. I was being taught that Mao, ZeDong was a hero to all Chinese people in the 20th century. He lead China to walk toward great success during the time of civil war. The value of the story teaches me that it is important to have intelligence and bravery to be a leader, and the key of being a great leader is to make the country strong and the citizen of the country can have a satisfy life.” Huiyi X., via WeChat, Monday night.

“I identify myself as Chinese. But I do not know anything about the origin from China because I came to America when I was 13, and at that time, I was still young and have bare knowledge about my country.” Shuting C., via WeChat, Monday night.

The similarities I found on my three interviews are two of my friends think in order to be a leader/hero of a country, they usually consider to be brave and smart. Under their leads, people will always to be proud of them because they brings peace and freedom to their own country. Otherwise they will not be consider to be “great”. The difference in the two story is Chahat said that “Bhagat Singh” is a fighter that have bravery and in Huiyi story, Mao Zedong is a intelligent leader. One of them fight in real war and the other fight with his mind and stratagem.

“These were the principal events at home and in the field that marked the reign of Romulus. Throughout – whether we consider the courage he showed in recovering his ancestral throne, or the wisdom he displayed in founding the City and adding to its strength through war and peace alike – we find nothing incompatible with the belief in his divine origin and his admission to divine immortality after death.” Vergil’s Aeneid, Book 1 [1.15]. The reason I choose this quote to connect the answers with the two interviews is because I think that in order to be a good leader, wisdom and strength are indispensability and Rumulus have both strategies as a leader of Rome.

Different Cultures

I interviewed three different people that go to Brooklyn College who are not in our class and these were their responses:

The first person I interviewed was Linda C. and this interview took place on Tuesday afternoon at the library. She said she was comfortable answering questions about her ethnicity and said it is fine to use her answers for my blog post. Linda said she identifies herself with a country and that is China. She was actually born in China and moved here at the age of 9. She remembers a lot of her childhood in China since she spent half of her life in China and half of it here in America. Linda remembers a little when it comes to learning about the history of China but this was only when she was in school in China. She said her parents really looked up to Mao Zedong who was a Chairman and led a communist revolution. There was a huge sculpture of him that took very long to build and this proves that Mao was probably looked up to by most people in China for what he has done for the country.

The second person I interviewed was Anthony L. and this interview took place on Tuesday afternoon on the train when we were both heading home from morning classes. He said he was comfortable with answering questions about his ethnicity which is he identifies himself with being American. Although his parents and grandparents are from China and he knows that all his family who was born in China came to American for a better life as in a better job so they could provide food and necessities for their family. Since Anthony identifies himself very strongly about being American, he learned about America’s history in history and social studies classes that he took in high school. He said there is not really anyone that he sees as a hero so he was not able to answer the last question.

The last person that I interviewed was Connie J. and this interview took place on Wednesday morning after INDS class when I bumped into her on campus. She said that she was comfortable answering questions about her origins and is okay with me using her answers for a public blog post. She said she identifies herself with being an American just like the second interviewee who said the same thing. She said she had learned about America’s past in high school classes as well as in college. She is a a few years older than I am so she has taken more classes where she learned about the history of America. Connie said that the person she looks up to is overtime a president is in charge because the president makes changes for the people and she finds it important to support our president.

All three of these stories from three Brooklyn College students are similar in that they all identified with a place, although two of them identified as just being American but they learned about their origins past while in school so that depending on the place you are in, you will be taught about the past of that area. This is a little similar to the story we read for class, “I am Aeneas, duty-bound.I carry aboard my ships the gods of house and home we seized from enemy hands. My fame goes past the skies. I seek my homeland—Italy—born as I am from highest Jove. I launched out on the Phrygian sea with twenty ships, my goddess mother marking the way, and followed hard on the course the Fates had charted.” This quote explains how Aeneas sees himself as one who is a great hero. This quote relates mainly to the first interviewee since Mao Zedong was seen as a leader where many people looked up to him.

-Raine, Team Jupiter

 

When in Rome, Do as Infants do.

Peter Paul Rubens. Romulus and Remus. Pinacoteca capitolina (Rome, Italy). http://library.artstor.org/asset/LESSING_ART_10310119992. Web. 6 Dec 2017.

 

Peter Paul Rubens is one of the artists discussed in Art 1010. The painting we discussed exclusively was “Elevation of the Cross” that showed the religious power during the time. As Professor Simon repeatedly says: “A change in era/time/politics equals a change in the form of art.  This work of art, similar to the “Elevation of the Cross” is also a piece of Baroque work, identified by its use of chiaroscuro (the contrast of light and dark in a painting to give a dramatic effect). The painting is given depth using a form of linear perspective where the two infants are in the center (center point) while everyone else takes to the background. The babies, both pale and pink are clean, protected by the she-wolf which tells the story of the twins, Romulus and Remus.

Then one, Romulus,
reveling in the tawny pelt of a wolf that nursed him,
will inherit the line and build the walls of Mars
and after his own name, call his people Romans.

Excerpts from Vergil’s Aeneid
Book 1

This image is literally the story of Romulus and Remus. Were twin brothers. Legend has it, they were the founders of Rome. Their mother, a Vestal Virgin, claimed she had been violated by Mars, the god of war. She was thrown into prison and the children were ordered to be drowned in the Tiber River for the sin her mother committed (breaking her vow not have sex). Rape was overlooked and women were thrown in jail for making such accusations. The twins survived. They were brought to a sacred fig tree and were protected by a she-wolf and a woodpecker that watched over them and brought them food.

The wolf is seen lying under a tree giving suck to an infant, while another plays nearby. The herdsman, Faustulus, who discovered them, is approaching. The god of the River Tiber reclines on his urn. Under the rule of Romulus the city of Rome grew in size and strength. Ruben highlights the survival of the twins being a great and wondrous gift. They are the center and bright part of the image so he wants them to be noticed.

The reason this image is the most important to me and for the homework is because it give a direct approach and visual to what the twins looked like when they were found by the huntsman in the woods. Romulus is reaching to the sky as if he knows that he is the kin of Mars- the Roman god of war. This supports how Rome got it’s name although it is a mere myth.

Cameron Team Jupiter

Gods, But Not Heroes.

I asked three students the five questions given in the instructions to the blog post.

1. Michael V., Sunday morning, via text.

a) yeah, sure.

b) yes, i’m Jewish.

c) yes

d) yes, there’s a story about King Solomon, King of Israel who died in the 900s BC. the story goes that two women came to home fighting over a baby which each women claimed to be hers. to solve issue, king Solomon proposed an idea: they could split the baby in half an each women would get half the baby. when one women readily agreed and the other did not, the king knew write away who the real mother was.

e) the major thing to learn from this story is his wisdom. he was known all around             the world for it. not much of a value, but rather holds historical value.

2. Rahel S., Monday afternoon, In the library.

a) yeah

b) yes, i’m Israeli.

c) yes

d) yes, someone very important to our people is the former prime minister of                   Israel,  Golda Meir. Meir was born in the Ukraine and then moved to the United States with her family. Golda’s parents did not support her education so she moved away and completed high school on her own. she later moved to Israel and became their first female prime minister. She was a political activist almost her whole life and was extremely influential.

e) Growing up, Golda Meir had always been an inspiration to us girls. so many people told her she couldn’t achieve what she did because of her gender and she proved them all wrong. she was an incredible feminist icon to so many of us and opened up so many minds about the capabilities of women.

3. Sammie D., Monday afternoon, in the libary

a) yes

b) Yes, im from Haiti

c) yes

d) yes, Toussaint Louverture. He was one of the main leaders of the Haitian Revolution. he was partially responsible for the independence of my country. even throughout slavery, he encouraged the people and never gave up.

e) it teaches us to never give up and to always be positive and have hope, which is something we need in this day and age and looking back at this hero gives us hope even today.

In all three interviews, the students spoke about someone who was great among their people because of what that person had done for others. Golda Meir for women, King Solomon for the Israelites, and Toussaint Louverture for the Haitian people. In the Greek mythologies, the gods are portrayed as selfish, and do thing that benefit themselves without any care for anyone else. they act impulsively on emotion and do not consider the consequences of their actions on others. “Even furious Juno, now plaguing the land and sea and sky with terror: she will mend her ways and hold dear with me
these Romans, lords of the earth, the race arrayed in togas” (Virgil, 3). In this quote, it shows how the goddess Juno acted out of her own anger and emotions, against the benefit of the people, and very selfishly.

Gabriella, Team Hestia

China and Rome

I’ve asked a couple of students that haven’t been questioned yet, and here are their responses.

Jeanette Ou:

1. Yes, sure.
2. China.
3. I leaned about ancient China back in the middle school in my history class. I found the history of China interesting and I leaned something out of it.
4. Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor that centralized ancient China. Before him, China was not a centralized country and it was pretty not stable. But he did so many violent things.
5. You can’t control people’s minds, the only place people have their freedom fully is essentially their minds. Violence can not solve everything, there are instances where moderate violence helped to achieve great goods, however, in general violence should never be the answer.

Via WeChat, 15:16, Sunday 12/03.

 

Kelly Zhao:

1. Yeah
2. China
3. I learned about Chinese culture here in the United States so sadly I know pretty much nothing, I am Americanized now.
4. I was taught that Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. I learned that there was a civil war in which the North of the US fought against the South. Abraham Lincoln happened to be the president at that time and he had to deal with this crisis. From what I know he was the one who finally freed slaves and made slavery illegal.
5. A lot of things are considered the “norm” until someone points at it. Back in those days slavery was considered normal practice and pretty much everyone had slaves. However, thankfully, people somehow started realizing that a human should now own another human. So, sometimes you have to challenge norms in order for the society to progress.

Via Messenger, 22:14, 12/03

Zong Ying Ou:

1. Yes sure
2. Yes, China
3. I learned about the history of China through TV. I think China is an amazing country that went through a lot of hard times.
4. Mao Ze Dong and the Communist party was supported by the people in lower class. He led the party, and they got through so many hard times. He set the people from lower class free from old capitalist society which let them live a happier life without using too much violence. The party that went against used lots of violence and ended up failing in gaining support from majority of the people and fled to Taiwan.
5. The best way to make a lot of people listen to you and agree with you its not to argue with them, violence will never help. Instead what you could do to appeal to people is show them why they should choose you. Mao Ze Dong showed to poor people that they don’t have to be always poor and he told them in a society where everyone is equal they will live just as someone who was previously rich. You have to in a way place yourself in their shoes, how would you feel if you were in their situation?

In KungFuTea on Avenue U, 17:07 ,12/03

Since everyone I’ve interviewed was Chinese, they told me similar stories. They told me that violence is not a way to resolve issues, instead you should try to think like the people you are trying to appeal to. I feel like the origin of China is somewhat similar to that of Rome in a way that the creation of a strong dynasty and republic there has to be violence. However, both Mao Ze Dong and Augustus used as little of violence as possible. “Tell me, Muse, how it all began. Why was Juno outraged? What could wound the Queen of the Gods with all her power? Why did she force a man, so famous for his devotion, to brave such rounds of hardship, bear such trials? Can such rage inflame the immortals’ hearts?” (Excerpts-of-vergil-book-1) Here in this quote we see that again, use of violence is never welcomed. You can’t force people to like you, you can’t make them do as you want. You have to appeal to them in one or another way, and then after that’s done you can send side signals to them with the things you want them to do, but don’t be direct- make it look like it was their idea to begin with!

-Diana, Team Mercury

 

 

Appreciating and Learning Cultures

For this last blog post, I decided to interview some classmates of mine to answer for Unit 8.

The students that I interviewed are Lily Y. , Amy Y. and Wenjing L.

I proceeded to ask them the 5 questions.

1.  Are you comfortable if I ask you some questions about your ethnicity and origins?  Can I write about your answers on a public class blog?
2. Do you identify yourself with a country or ethnicity beyond the United States of America?  If so, which one?
3. How have you learned about the origins/history/past/importance of that place? (If they feel no strong connection to other place or identity, then ask them to talk about being American.)
4. Is there one person, maybe a hero or ‘wiseman’ or king or law-giver, that is important to your people–someone people tell stories about, maybe legendary, maybe true?  Can you tell me a story?
5. What values do you think that story teaches?  Are those values important in the traditions of your people?  how?

For Lily, I interviewed her at the campus cafeteria on Thursday morning. Her reply for number 1 was “Yes” for being comfortable with her questions being on the public blog and with discussing her ethnicity and origins. Lily says she identifies herself with an ethnicity beyond the USA, which is Chinese.  For number 3, she had the most struggle as she wasn’t raised in a traditional household, where she was raised in an Americanized culture. Because of that, she lost her connections with her home country. Since she was raised in an Americanized culture, she learned mostly about American history. As for her countries’ history, she learned whatever the textbook provided her. As for question 4, she didn’t have a hero really that she knew or could talk about. I thanked her afterward for her cooperation.

For Wenjing L., I interviewed her at the campus library, on Monday afternoon. She agreed with the 1st question, allowing her answers to be in a public blog post and being asked about her ethnicity and origins. For the 2nd question, she answers “Yes I do, it’s China because I’m proud of where I’m from and being Chinese as an individual person.” For the 3rd question, she answers “Yes I have been educated in my countries history because I was educated over there for a few years. I know the basic foundation of knowledge for my country.” For the 4th question, she explains the story of Mao Zedong. She tells me how Mao was told to her from when she was a young girl. Mao was a president of China, right after the last dynasty was put to an end. He saved China from evil and helped established the new system of the country that China has currently to this day. She also tells me how on the bills of China, it’s only Mao’s face that is on all the bills, which can symbolize how important he was to China and its people.

And finally, for Amy Y., I interviewed her on Tuesday morning, before class started. She answers yes for me being able to ask her about her origins and ethnicity. For the 2nd question, she does identify herself with an ethnicity outside of the USA, which is China as well. For the 3rd question, she tells me how she learned the past and history of China from her parents and what she watches on the news. As for the 4th question, she tells me how she couldn’t think of a specific hero or legends of China besides Mulan. She tells me how Mulan is a tale of a young lady taking the place of her father to help fight for the war the next 12 years. During those years, she was never discovered to be a girl and that was what made its impact. Knowing during the time of China, girls were deemed not useful besides being a housewife or taking care of the house/family. Going into the war was a man’s job, which is why the story of Mulan was so powerful. This let girls and young women be strong and confident with taking positions or jobs that were mainly given to men.

“My comrades, hardly strangers to pain before now, we all have weathered worse. Some god will grant us an end to this as well. You’ve threaded the rocks resounding with Scylla’s howling rabid dogs, and taken the brunt of the Cyclops’ boulders, too.9 Call up your courage again. Dismiss your grief and fear. A joy it will be one day, perhaps, to remember even this. Through so many hard straits, so many twists and turns
our course holds firm for Latium. There Fate holds out a homeland, calm, at peace. There the gods decree the kingdom of Troy will rise again. Bear up. Save your strength for better times to come.” ” This quote from the Vergil Book reminded me of Wenjing’s story on Mao Zedong. I can imagine how he was basically a hero to the people of China back then and how he wanted to save them from the evils that were (happening or bound to happen.)

 

-Michelle Z. Team Zeus

 

The Sabine Women Who Were Spirited Away

Jan Muller, 1571-1628, Adriaen de Vries. A Roman Abducting a Sabine Woman;, Un Romain enlevant une Sabine. http://library.artstor.org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/asset/BARTSCH_1690

The image above depicts a dramatized version of the Rape of Sabines. It is an engraving, which uses its monochromatic scheme, in order to emphasize the subject, this being the brutalization of the Sabine woman by the Roman man. The piece has a pale, soft background, which is juxstaposed by the foreground which is harsh, with clearly visible contrast between black and white, rather than the more totally mute gray. By having the ‘soft’ background give way to a ‘harsh’ foreground, the abductuion of the woman is made  all the more palpable. She is shown writhing against the her attacker, trying to struggle free, though in vain. She has. One arm pushing the man away, and another being held onto by the Roman man. Her feet are similarly in a state of movement, showing that her attempt to break freee is not a half- hearted one. The Roman man on the other hand is clearly portrayed as a brute. While the woman had a cloth, that was ripped away from her, the man is completely nude, without the slightest hint of embarrassment. This makes him seem like a beast,  a rightful depiction to make, considering his position in the matter. He is full of bulging muscles, yet the body is uncanny. The Classical Greek/ Roman ideal body in drawings and sculpture was indeed muscular, but not to the almost grotesque degree depicted. In this image, the man, and by extension, the whole of the Roman men are depicted as savage beasts, forcefully and mercilessly attacking women, both physically and sexually.

“… and the Roman youth dashed in all directions to carry off the maidens who were present. The larger part were carried off indiscriminately… The abuducted maidens were quite as despondent and indignant. Romulus, however, went around in person, and pointed out to them that it was all owing to the pride of their parents in denying right of intermarriage to their neighbors (Vergil’s Aeneid).”

It is certainly correct to say that both the engraving and Vergil’s account depict the Rape of the Sabines. However, I feel that the similarities end there. In theory, the same story is shown, but in actuality, two different stories are being told. The best way to describe this would be to say that Muller’s engraving captures the view of the Sabine women’s parents while Vergil’s writing captures that of the Romans. Since more of this history is told from the Roman point of view, it would be right to assume that the purpose of Muller’s engraving was to shed light on the anguish of the parents. Vergil’s account of the Rape of the Sabines, essentially makes it out not to be a rape. If anything, the women and their parents are characterized as being overly difficult in the face of the ‘reasonable’ demands of the Romans. Rather than view themselves as agrressors and sexual predators, they blame the Sabine people for being too unaccomodating, forcing them to have to take the women by force. The rape and abduction is not even written as a traumatic experience, like the image by Muller shows. Instead, it written in the account in a way that is comparable to a tantrum, on the part of the Sabine women, that has to be pacified by the ever -so admirable Romans.

Skaie Cooper, Team Ares

The Wolf Stands Alone

     

     The sculpture above portrays who the Roman people once considered to be the founders of Rome , Romulus and his brother Remus.Romulus and Remus are curdled in the furs of a wolf due to the understanding that it is believed that the wolf acted as their mother and raised them , when they were abandoned as infants..This is proven because in the text it says “the boys had been exposed had been left by the retreating water on dry land, a thirsty she-wolf from the surrounding hills, attracted by the crying of the children, came to them, gave them her teats to suck and was so gentle towards them that the king’s flock-master found her licking the boys with her tongue”. This sculpture is an accurate portrayal of  what actually happened in history and the text The only difference is that the infants were discovered by the Tiber river and the sculpture doesn’t acknowledge the importance of the surrounding history about Romulus and Remus. The artist contributes raw history to the artwork and it can be shown that the origins of Rome is important for the artist to convey.

Correspondingly, this relates to what we are learning in art in that these ideas are portrayed in modern art.

This shirt portrays a modern more abstract almost surrealist view of Romulus and Remus. It is s considered surrealist due to the fact that it isn’t a solid picture, but an artist creative interpretation of it.We can tell due to the fact that the baby forms are created from a series of lines.Of course this is different compared to most surrealist art in that it isn’t a completely unique idea or portrayl.Additionally, this can also be compared to The Red Studio by Mattisse in that it uses but the use of lines and negative space to create a concept.

Samantha, Team Minerva

Citation

She-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus. 16th century. Musée du Louvre, inv. M.R. 1649.. http://library.artstor.org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/asset/LESSING_ART_10311441198. Web. 28 Nov 2017.

The Wolf Stands Alone

The sculpture above portrays who the Roman people once considered to be the founders of Rome , Romulus and his brother Remus.Romulus and Remus are curdled in the furs of a wolf due to the understanding that it is believed that the wolf acted as their mother and raised them , when they were abandoned as infants..This is proven because in the text it says “the boys had been exposed had been left by the retreating water on dry land, a thirsty she-wolf from the surrounding hills, attracted by the crying of the children, came to them, gave them her teats to suck and was so gentle towards them that the king’s flock-master found her licking the boys with her tongue”. This sculpture is an accurate portrayal of what actually happened in history and the text The only difference is that the infants were discovered by the Tiber river and the sculpture doesn’t acknowledge the importance of the surrounding history about Romulus and Remus. The artist contributes raw history to the artwork and it can be shown that the origins of Rome is important for the artist to convey.

Samantha, Team Minerva

Citation

She-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus. 16th century. Musée du Louvre, inv. M.R. 1649.. http://library.artstor.org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/asset/LESSING_ART_10311441198. Web. 27 Nov 2017.