We’ve been working on breaking down Ovid’s tales into their most basic elements, and I’ve often used modern works to illustrate that the themes (jealousy, unrequited love, change, naïveté) are being pondered still, two millennia after they put down by the Roman.

Your objective over the break (as you continue journaling for our discussion of Book V on Monday) is to find as many connections to these ancient stories in modern works as you can. Here are a few I may have mentioned before. I’m using music, but look in movies, television, advertising, novels, and the like for inspiration.

See if you can name the stories:

“Running Bear” is the story of two young Native Americans separated by a “raging river.” This, like many of the teenage tragedy songs of the ‘50s and ‘60s, ends badly for both. (It also gives us insight into the offensive mid-20th Century opinions of other cultures.)

A bit more modern, this track from the Decemberists’ Castaways and Cutouts tells the story of two other star-crossed lovers:

A subgenre of the teenage tragedy is the car crash ballad. Here’s one of the most famous:

This one had to be included:

Lastly, this song from Thrice subverts the moral from one of our myths. Or maybe they just didn’t get it:

The copies of Ovid’s Metamorphoses are available at the Barnes & Noble at 41st under my name or the name of the school. You should read (and journal) through section two by Monday.

As you read, try to parse down the most essential elements of the stories (as we did today with Phaethon’s story), and record any connections you come up with between them and other works.

Thanks for the input, guys. I’ve placed a copy of the syllabus on WinsomeWiki, so I can edit it as needed throughout the semester, because plans always change.

Ellen and Okie—the (relatively) modern works you mentioned would be great for World Literature and Brit Lit, as well as the connections we’ll make to our primary texts. Keep ‘em coming! I’m trying to keep our required reading sources before 1000CE, though that may change as the semester progresses.

Let me know what you think.

I’ll port more syllabi as they become publishable.