Metamorphoses is a poem about the inevitability of change; the story of the Great Flood in Book I suggests that humans, like stone, are built to withstand constant change.Continue readingMetamorphoses 3: Change Is the Only Constant
Category: Catholic Reader
Posts that deal primarily with literature & the reading thereof.
I love stories about time travel, but what I love even more are ancient stories that take me back to the time in which they were written.Continue readingLiterature: The Best Kind of Time Machine
Looking at the immediate context in which Ovid’s flood story occurs, we see that, above the will of the gods, a higher destiny seems to be at work to preserve humankind.Continue readingMetamorphoses 2: The Flood Story in Detail
Ovid’s Metamorphoses emphasize the eternal theme of love amid the constant upheavals of history. In this context, he tells the story of the Great Flood.Continue readingMetamorphoses 1: Context of the Flood
Primative as the Epic of Gilgamesh may seem to us today, the rich and powerful still are tempted to grasp at godlike immortality — at the risk of losing their humanity.Continue readingGilgamesh 4: Can the Epic Still Speak to Us?
Influential screenwriter and movie critic Barbara Nicolosi applies the insights of Aristotle’s Poetics to the art of screenwriting.Continue readingMovie Makers Need to Read Great Literature, Too
This homily by St. John Chrysostom shows that quiet of Holy Saturday conceals the hidden, salvific action of Christ, already at work in liberating souls from captivity.Continue readingHoly Saturday, the Still Center of All Creation
When we look at the flood account in the Epic of Gilgamesh carefully, we see that it is a warning against grasping at immortality. Living forever is not all it is cracked up to be.Continue readingGilgamesh 3: What Does the Flood Teach Us?
The story of the Great Flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh is a tale within a tale, a man who was given immortality dissuading another from seeking the same.Continue readingGilgamesh 2: A Story within a Story
To read such as the Epic of Gilgamesh with understanding, we start by considering what kind of literary work it is: Rhetorical context.Continue readingGilgamesh 1: Context of the Flood Story
A recent movie reminded me that there are many ancient myths about the Great Flood, and each one communicates a different vision of man and his place in the cosmos.Continue readingAncient Accounts of the Great Flood
An episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation reminds us that great stories have great power, but only if we know and understand them.Continue reading“Sokath, his eyes opened”: Cultural Literacy Matters