Robert+Marchini

(Artist's rendering of Troy, Home of Aeneas; In game shot of Vault 101, home of the Lone Wanderer).
 * Assignment 7 (due before 1 June 2011):**

The tale of the epic hero leaving his home for a higher calling, a destiny, has been thematic throughout almost all history. It has appeared as early as the story of Gilgamesh, circa 2500BC. The Greeks and Romans patronized it in their epics. It was a typical plot theme of the romantic poems and plays that dominated the dark ages, romanticizing the bravery of the kings and soldiers of the time. This trend comtinued into more modern times; e.g. television programmed having central plots about a character and his destiny (typically called a Drama). Other medium take advantage of this as well, such as Military recruitment posters telling people to "answer the call of duty". It makes sense that this would continue into the most modern method of story telling, video games.

In the Aeneid, Aeneas is forced from his native Troy after they lose the Greco-Trojan War. Aeneas, "driven on by fate" (line 32), is to take his family and a group of hardy Trojans, and establish a new City in Italy (explained to him by his Wife's Ghost). Along the way, they are hidered by Juno (which Vergil asks the Muse to explain to him: "Why are there such great angers in divine minds" [line 11]). He is enlightened, and explains that Juno hates the Trojans for two reasons: Firstly, Carthage is her favorite city, and she is aware of a prophecy that a race, descended from Trojans, will destroy it. Secondly, she is still "nursing the wound in her heart" (line 36) because of the Judgement of Paris which said she was not the fairest (imagine, such an outrage!). Juno serves as their primary serves as the Trojans primary source of danger throughout the journey. There are numerous diversions throughout the Trip that serve to distract the Trojans from their main goal. A primary one is their stay at Carthage. With a little help from Neptune, they arrive weary at Carthage, domain of Queen Dido. They remain here for several months, however, the fates call, and Aeneas and the Trojans leave (light Aeneas's father, who dies in Carthage). Eventually, they make their way to the Coast of Lavinium, and found a city there, which will eventually become Rome. That is the basic story of Aeneas; I may have skipped a bit ahead but it ties the story together neatly.

This bears striking similarity to the story of the video game Fallout 3. It is set in 2277 after a devastating nuclear war between the US and China where both sides end up losing. Your character, the Lone Wanderer, leaves the sheltered paradise of Vault 101, a bunker, to fulfill his destiny in the wasteland. Unlike Aeneas, you are not a respected military officer with a family; you are merely 19. Your journey is also not a literal point A-to-B journey, but rather an end goal. The Journey is just the path and actions you take along the way. You are driven on by fate to finish a water purifier and provide clean drinking water to millions in the wasteland around Washington, D.C. You leave your sheltered home of Vault 101 and enter the wasteland, similar to Aeneas embarking on his quest. You do so because your father has gone missing, and in your quest to find him you discover both his and your destiny - the water purifier, long abandoned. Along the way, you are hindered in your trip by the choices you have to make in your day-to-day dealings. For instance, while Aeneas made many stops along his journey across the Mediterranean, you too can do many side quests that side track you from your main goal. You can chose to ignore your destiny and instead be a pillager of villages, or you can follow the path that you will eventually have to take and build the purifier. There are cities in this new world - you could chose to spend your time drinking and gambling and ignoring the purifier built in the old Jefferson Memorial just a stones throw away. However, like Aeneas at Carthage, destiny pulls you away from such temptations, and you find yourself in search of your father in the remnants of the modern world. You find him and bring him back to the purifier, where you really begin to embrace your destiny; you are now hopelessly entangled in it. Similar to Aeneas, along this Journey, your Father dies as well and forever seals your fate. He was killed by the Enclave, the remnants of the fascist US Government, and will be your hindrance for the rest of your life, in a fashion that would make Juno envious.

Here, the parallels become more defined. In the tale of Aeneas, you have the 'good' guys of Aeneas and the Trojans fighting to fulfill their destiny of establishing the city and Juno fighting to stop them, while in the game you have the 'good' guys fighting to fulfill their destiny of activating the purifier and the Enclave fighting to control it for themselves. Several times in both stories the protagonists are almost overwhelmed by the power of the opposing forces. For instance, when Aeneas is being battered by the winds sent by Juno he proclams and "raises his palms to the sky" (line 93) that he is doing this for all whom died at Troy. You are captured by the Enclave and are given the option to cooperate - it does not end well if you do. In the end, both Hero's amasse amazing strength and courage with their hardy band of followers (Aeneas with his Trojan comrades; You with the former sponsors of the purifier project, the small and secretive but very technologically sophisticated Brotherhood) and overwhem the forces opposing them. Aeneas sacrifices his love for Queen Dido (leading to her suicide) to continue his quest; you lose many friends, your father, and eventually your own life. While Aeneas does not die in his quest, his epic tale leads to his deification by Jupiter. Aeneas rather fades away, after fighting Juno for so long Jupiter eventually intervenes on his behalf and says in short "Let it Go. All things must Pass". On the other hand, The Lone Wanderer goes out with a bang. You die after an epic battle with the Brotherhood against the Enclave for control of the purifier; in the last moments of your life are spent in the Radioactive control room of the purifier which will explode due to damage incurred during the fighting unless you activate it. You do so and fufill your destiny, dying in the process.

While both stories have clear overtones of the epic hero fighting a seemingly unstoppable force (Aeneas fighting Juno, The Lone Wanderer fighting the heavily armed Enclave) and eventually, despite distractions, emerging victorious due to the guiding powers of the Fates, both stories also reference a large number of Previous epics. For instance, the entire premise of the Aeneid is based off of the story of the Illiad, written by Homer. Fallout 3 contains many Biblical Refrences, such as the Quote your Father repeats to you often, Revalations 21:6. The Illiad is a key starting point in the Aeneid, serving for the basis of Juno's anger, and the basis of the fate and glory themes found within the Aeneid. The Biblical quote represents a major theme in the game: "the fountain of the water of life freely.", the freedom of every man to his basic needs. Here, the themes almost cross - Is not a place to call home a basic need as much as clean water? The mentions of these previous Epic texts shows how deep-rooted the themes expressed here go. Additionaly, neither charecter knew their mother - Aeneas was the son of Venus, and obviously wouldn't have met her. The Lone Wanderer's mother died shortly after giving birth due to an unmentioned disease. Both can be said to be the instigatiors of a lot of this - Aeneas's mother was named "The Fairest" by Paris and had a lot to do with the beginnings and progression of the Trojan War. The Lone Wanderer's mother's Death led many to believe the project was unsafe and began to jump ship, including baby you and your father, which led up to your eventual residence in Vault 101. (A Statue of Jupiter in Rome; Michelangelo's painting on the roof of the Sistine Chapel). The similarities between the first book of Ovid's //Metamorphoses// and the first of the Christan Bible/Hebrew Torah [Genesis] are striking. While this is for some now-understood historical reasons, at the time it would have been very moving themes. Some of the similarities to the Greco-Roman Gods and more modern religions include being visited by mystics from the east, being born on Dec. 25, dying after being betrayed by a friend on a cross or a tree, etc. It seems that the whole stories of the books are similar - The Torah was historically written around 600 BCE, while ovid lived until about 17 CE, and it is certaintly feasible he wrote a more Greek version of the Jewish story of creation.
 * Assignment 6 (due before 21 April 2011):**

In the first part of the stories, God/Saturn create the universe & mankind. Man undergoes a "Golden Age" initially; in Ovid man is described as living in a Utopia where everything was in balance and at peace. Food was abundant and man did not need shelter. In Ovid's version of the story, Saturn is overthrown by Jupiter and quickly instills major changes, which lead to the decline of man and the breakdown of the utopia. Eventually this got to the point where fighting broke out, and man descends into sin. Ovid breaks from the standard narrative to mention the attack of the giants upon Mt. Olympus, and a story about the impiety of man (he kills whatever, "delighting in blood") while Jupiter considers destroying the earth. After the story of Lycaon turning into a wolf, Ovid describes the elimination of man by Jupiter sending a great flood, wiping out the population of all of the Earth. This obviously differs from the Bible in several ways. Firstly, instead of all of man being created at the beginning of time & the Golden Age, only 2 people (Adam & Eve) were created in the Genesis story. Furthermore, while Lyacon murdered pretty much everybody he could find, and disregarded Jupiter who had come and said he was a God. Finally, Lyacon turned into a wolf and murdered his sheep in murderous debauchery. This is completely different from the murder story in Genesis, where Cain murders his brother Abel in jealousy. While Ovid's story of the battle between the revolting Giants and the Olympians doesn't appear in Genesis, it can bee seen as another battle between good and evil. Finally, the ending is almost plagiarized - While there is no Noah & His Arc (and in fact all the creatures of the earth are killed), Ovid's version is almost the same verbatim. God/Jupiter gets angry at the sinners on earth, and unleashes a massive flood to kill them all and recreate the world.

After the end of the world, somebody's got to clean up the mess. After Jupiter gives the order for the waters to receede, the two surviving humans on earth (forewarned of the flood by Prometheus), Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha, beg for help & mercy from the gods. An Oracle helps the two re-create the human race as they cast stones to make people, while the earth remakes the creatures that were lost. In Genesis, Noah is charged with saving the creatures of the world and the human race on his arc, and God lets the people of Earth live, but creates language so they will separate from each other and form distinct cultures. After the scattering of People from Babel, the book of Genesis ends with man having been reborn. Ovid's book continues, but it is not about the rebirth of man but instead the antics of the gods (e.g. the rape of Io). Clearly, the two flood stories have the same message and themes about the rebirth of mankind.

(The apotheosis of Hercules by Francois Lemoyne [1733]; the Ascension by Garofalo[1600]) I was searching through the list of summaries of the stories in the Metamorphoses and I was casually Googling those that interested me. I googled the Apotheosis [deification] of Hercules and was struck almost instantly by the similarities to the Ascension of Christ, and I am not a particularly religious person. Many similarities can be drawn between the paintings, despite the difference in the artistic style periods that they were drawn and the time that was between them. For instance, on both the paintings, figures at the bottom are seen looking up towards Hercules (holding the club) as he ascends the mountain towards Zeus. This implies that Hecules is viewed as a greater deity than those that are looking up towards him. The same can be said of Jesus - the mere mortals on the ground view Jesus as better than themselves. Another interesting point is the people that Hercules & Jesus are ascending to. While obviously not the same God(s), it shows that they are both going towards a higher power and/or judgement. The other characters in the painting are not just background filler. In the Hercules painting, he is ascending towards Zeus and Hera, and is presently passing by Eros. He is on a chariot - indicative or perhaps drawing upon the idea of a Roman Triumph - he is a hero. Others are visible, such as Hermes with his winged helmet looking up from the middle of the painting. Similarly, in the painting of Jesus, there are the 12 Apostles watching him ascend upwards.
 * Assignment 5 (due 11 March 2011):**

The format of the paintings is clearly different. While the one of Jesus uses bright colors and imagery (e.g. the church in the background), the one of Hercules is very drab and heavy. This is because of the periods that they were painted in. The Jesus painting was done in the hight of the Renisanse style, with bright colors and vibrant detail. Most charecters would typically wear pastels. This lightness comes from the happiness that most people felt at the time - times were good and old ideals of the Greeks and Romans were being rediscovered. Similar paintings in this style include the //Birth of Venus//, a very well known painting that is in similar lightness. On the other hand, we have the dark and heavy Hercules painting. This was because it was done in the Baroque period. This time was charecterized by heavy and dim paintings, where most characters wore dull brown/grey/black clothing. The idea behind the style was for it to be very dramatic and have very high contrast - it was originally promoted by the Church as a new method of religous imagery in resposne to the Protestant Reformation. A good example of this is Brueghel's //Entry of the animals into the Arc.// Most charecters are also in unusual poses and have their faces painted in very stark ways. The Jesus painting is intended to incite joy in the viewer for the second coming, while the Hercules one is supposed to convey a dramatic procesion.

The reason that these paintings both symbolize changes is that both characters are becoming full Gods. Hercules, a demigod, was mortal. After his death, he ascended to Heaven where he was greeted by Zeus & Co, and was made into a full god by Zeus. This is obviously a massive change - he goes from being a mere mortal who was betrayed by his wife to being a full god. Jesus suffered in almost exactly the same way. His major change was also a deification, where he, a mortal, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven to be reunited with his father and become part of God again. Jesus was also betrayed, although not by his wife but by Judas Iscariot, but it was still a betrayal that led to his painful death. (Hercules was poisoned, Jesus was betrayed & Crucified). (Statue of Horace looking like a boss in Rome; Cover of Slaughterhouse-Five) In Horace 1.11, horace expresses a fatalistic view about the world. In line 1, he tells the reader "Don't ask" about fate, for it is "forbidden to know". It is already apparent he feels that whatever is going to happen is going to happen, and it is as pointless to resist as his metaphor in line 5 describes "sea against the cliffs" paints a visual. He continues throughout the poem on this track, talking to an unknown person, Leuconoe. He cautions the reader/Leuconoe against other such methods of knowing the future, such as line 3's "babylonian horoscopes", because Horace feels this fate as decreed by Jupiter is unchangeable. The meat and bones of this poem are line 6's "strain the wine" and line 8's "sieze the day". After Horace explains his position on why events are unchangeable (fate) he tells the reader that he must make the best of things. The idea of straining the wine is a visual metaphor of straining the wine to take the bad things out (debris, poor quality wine) and leave only good and pure wine at the end. This metaphor is supposed to be applied to life - strain out the bad things and only think of the good. Siezing the day, a now famous quote and idea, is the idea of attempting to make the best of every day no matter what the day throws at you. It implies that if jupiter has decreed your day will have opportunity, you should jump on it. Similarly albeit somewhat darkly, if Jupiter has decreed that today you will be hit by a bus, at least you have lived what life you had to the fullest before. This idea of not knowing if you will wake up tomorrow morning is described in a less blunt form in line 8: "trusting [very little] in tomorrow". Horace is saying that today is all that you may have - so sieze it at make the best of it.
 * Assignment 4 (due 7 Jan 2011):**

The protagonist of Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim, could use a little Horace. Billy is a fatalist, but his ideas of the use of fate are grossly in contrast to those of Horace A disheartened soldier/POW during WWII, he finds himself in a mysterious way 'unstuck in time' when he is captured by aliens from the planet Tralfamador. As a result of his own free movement in time, Billy sees most of his life - his days as a child or his death at a speech in Chicago. He is further convinced by the residents of the planet, who have already seen all of their lives and have found that Earth is the only planet with the idea of 'free will', that predestination is the only option. This is in similar fashion to Horace's idea of it being decreed by the gods. As a result, he begins to despair, which increases the frequency of the incidents of his movement in time, becoming a self-fufilling prophecy. He is returned to earth a Billy that contrasts with what Horace envisioned. Horace's theory of fate is that no man should know it, which the exact opposite of BIlly and his captors. In addition, Billy lives an extremely dull life - he's got a very bland home life, spends his days as an eye doctor, and is quite clearly not siezing the day in his home life after the war. Horace would have been appaled at how boring Billy was. However, the idea of Horace on line 3 of "accept whatever shall be" is very similar to the line Billy repeats throughout the novel "so it goes". Both parties feel that events in life are a unbreakable chain. In addition, Horace would have been pleased in how little Billy trusts in tomorrow (although still distasteful of the manner in which he aquired such feelings): in the end of the book, Billy is giving the speech in Chicago and when people become upset when he explains he is soon to be assasinated he declares "if you think that death is a terrible thing you have not understood a word I have said". In this statement, he may redeem himself in Horace's eyes to a degree - in his own way, he does feel as if he lived his life to the fullest, in addition to not trusting the next day (for reasons already stated above). The idea of fatalism runs deep between both works, and while there were quite different paths to reaching the idea of a pre-determined fate, the similarities between the two works is impossible to ignore.

media type="youtube" key="Mc-sOgSgRG8?fs=1" height="385" width="480" (YouTube video of The Beatles "You Won't See Me"; Cover art of the Album it is on, Rubber Soul.) __Lyrics:__ __When I call you up __ __ Your line's engaged __ __ I have had enough __ __ So act your age __ __ We have lost the time __ __ That was so hard to find __ __ And I will lose my mind __ __ If you won't see me __ __ You won't see me __
 * Assignment 3 (due 3 Dec 2010):**

__ I don't know why __ __ You should want to hide __ __ But I can't get through __ __ My hands are tied __ __ I won't want to stay __ __ I don't have much to say __ __ But I can't turn away __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> And you won't see me __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> You won't see me __

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> Time after time __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> You refuse to even listen __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> I wouldn't mind __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> If I knew what I was missing __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> Though the days are few __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> They're filled with tears __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> And since I lost you __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> It feels like years __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> Yes, it seems so long __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> Girl, since you've been gone __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> And I just can't go on __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> If you won't see me __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> You won't see me __

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> Time after time __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> You refuse to even listen __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> I wouldn't mind __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> If I knew what I was missing __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> Though the days are few __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> They're filled with tears __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> And since I lost you __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> It feels like years __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> Yes, it seems so long __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> Girl, since you've been gone __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> And I just can't go on __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> If you won't see me __ __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"> You won't see me __ In Catullus's poems 12/69/77/84, he attacks the behavior of various aquaintances while not attempting to cause any hard feelings between him and the object of his attack. The Beatles "You Won't See Me" is a perfect example of a person (in this case, a group of 4 people preformed it, though it was written by Paul McCartney) berating the behavior of another person, though not attempting to cause real animosity between them. The main difference between the poems and the song is while the poems (with the exception of 77 which will be covered in a moment) are very light and happy, seemingly just poking fun, the song is a very melancholy piece, with the lyrics expressing annoyance with an airheaded girl ignoring the calls [of McCartney].

Poem 12 attacks an Asinius, who is stealing the napkins of guests at dinner parties, for either a practical joke or monetary gain. Catullus attacks him, warning him he will write "300 syllables of hendecasyllabic poetry" unless the sentimental napkin is returned. This is similar to the line in the song "I don't have much to say //But I can't turn away", despite it's obvious contradiction. McCartney is saying that even though now, at the moment, he's not going to say much assuming this girl can get her act together, if she doesn't he'll publicly embarass her. Both threaten to use their words as weapons against somebody they do not really want to fight with.//

//Poem 69 attacks silly Rufus, who in short smells yet publicly laments being unable to get a girlfriend. He doesn't realize that his stench "of a rank goat under [his] armpits" is the reason he cannot get a girlfriend. This annoyance irritates Catullus who attacks Rufus, telling him to "kill the smell which offends our noses". In earlier lines Catullus says Rufus has attempted to bribe these women "with gifts a dress of fine texture or a delightful translucent jewel". Catullus implies that Rufus needs to grow up and realize that his money is not the problem - his hygiene is. The same idea of 'grow up' is used in the song. The line "I have had enough// so act your age." are an almost word-for-word restatement of what Catullus is thinking. In the song however, McCartney is not mad about the complaining of a friend, but rather his ditzy girlfriend's ignoring of his calls.

Poem 77 is a very angry and upset poem, and is somewhat reflected by the song. In poem 77, Catullus is very angry that his friend Rufus has cheated with Lesbia (whom Catullus was cheating with on Lesbia's husband), and calls Rufus a "friend trusted in vain" and says that he has "snuck into my chest and burned my guts". He finally proclaims "you are the cruel poision of my life" (whether he is referring to Rufus or Lesbia is irrelelvant, and it is kept generic and open-ended for a reason). The song has many lines of similar style to the final line where a feeling of breakup is had. "You refuse to even listen //I wouldent mind// If I knew what I was missing //Though the days are few// they're filled with tears", and in addition "and since i lost you //it feels like years// ... I just can't go on". Powerful stuff, and it really speaks for itself. Both parties are extremley angry in these examples, expressing anger towards their signifigant others who they feel have wronged them.

Poem 84 makes fun of an Arrius, who has a bit of a speech impediment. He inserts an improper H in various words (Catullus uses the example of Hambushes instead of Ambushes). This vocal problem greatly annoys Catullus, who snickers that he "learned it from his mother, [sic] who learned it from (list of descendants)". The problem goes away when Arrius goes away to Syria (despite snickering about the 'hionian' sea). This is seemingly what is implied not only by the title of the song but by the last 2 stanzas of each verse. The line of "If you won't see me //you won't see me" reads out as: "if you won't see me [at your home/dinner date/etc]// [you'll never see me again]". The Romans (Catullus's group of friends) thought that if they didn't see Arrius again, they wouldn't hear of his speech problem again. Turns out it came back to haunt them, with the 'hionian' sea [joke]. The song says that if this girl doesn't want to see McCartney, then he dosen't want to see her.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(the title shown at the beginning of an episode of LOST after the cold open & episode setup; season 5 promotional image of Jack & Kate.)
 * Assignment 2 (due 1 Nov 2010):**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Poems 8/70/72/85/87 begin to show tension in Catullus's relationship. The relationship can be seen to fall apart, progressively towards last few poems. This is similar in structure to the relationship between Jack & Kate in the television program LOST. In poem 8, Catullus has been wronged by Lesbia in some way, and he laments this before proceeding to degrade her. This implies that Catullus has just seen a side of Lesbia he was not aware of before, and was shocked by it. He also proceeds to degrade her, seemingly refusing to see her again. Such shock can be seen in Jack's face in the Season 2 episode "What Kate Did". Jack has become increasinly confused as to Kate's circumstances on the plane - there was a US Marshal on the plane and he had a breifcase with several firearms in it. Although wounded severely during the crash by shrapnel, he had regained conciousness and warned Jack, the doctor, not to trust Kate. Jack asks Kate what he meant, and Kate explains that she has been on the run from the law ever since killing her father in Iowa and fleeing to Austrailia. Jack is upset in a similar fashion to Catullus, and also stops seeing her (for a time). This is also similar to the feelings Catullus expresses in poem 72. In this poem, he proclaims that although he no longer has a 'relationship' with Lesbia, he has been moved to love her more, but to he less friendly to her. The same thing happened to Jack. Although he has strong feelings for Kate, she leaves him and instead forms a bond with Sawyer, a con man also on the run for killing a man, which lasts through the end of Season 2 and all of Season 3. Jack is frusturated by this, but hides it and keeps his relationship with Kate purely at a working level.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Other minor characters are held hostage on a secondary island throughout most of the 3rd season by other people on the Island, they eventually call a nearby boat on one of the crew's satellite phones for help. Help is delayed, however, by a rainstorm. The survivors begin to squabble about whether they should have called the boat or not, and split into to groups. Sawyer breaks off his relationship with Kate and goes with the group who thinks they shouldent have called; this group leaves into the jungle. Kate and Jack take shelter in a piece of the old plane and begin to rekindle their relationship, talking about things that have happened because of the plane, like the death of their friend Charlie, who drowned in a mission on the island. This is again similiar to poem 72, in which Catullus describes Lesbia as "you are much less worthy and fickle." Jack feels the same way about Kate. Although he is upset with her criminal past and his white-knight conscious rebells against it, he begins a relationship with Kate again. This is similar to ﻿Catullus in Poem 8, or rather after Poem 8, where his relationship can be seen to be going strong again after he was 'wronged' by Lesbia.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Catullus's relationship eventually crashes and burns in the last few poems, particularly poem 85. Catullus is being quite blunt in this poem, and says simply that he "hates and he loves" and that although he doesn't know how the end of their relationship happened, he says "but I feel it happens, and I am tortured". While the relationship between Jack and Kate doesn't end in such a dramatic and traumatizing fashion, it is still tortuous for them both. In the final episode, Jack is in a fight to the death on a cliff, and is about to be killed with a knife. At the last moment, Kate appears, and shoots his attacker. (The two defeated him together). However, Jack has been mortally wounded by the knife, and says goodbye to Kate before fleeing into the jungle to end the show. This is where the relationships split in similarity. While in Poem 8, Catullus attacks Lesbia, saying that he was the best for her, and that she will find no one else, Jack tells Kate that she can be with Sawyer now, and then leaves. Catullus is angry at Lesbia after the end of their relationship. Jack is not angry - he just wants Kate to be happy as he accomplishes his task.

(3rd edition cover of I, Robot; bust of Catullus at family home in Sirmione)
 * Assignment 1 (due 4 Oct 2010):**

Catullus wrote a collection of short poems regarding himself as a young man searching for meaning in life, through his lover, Lesbia. Although much different in execution, Issac Asimov's collection of 10 short stories in the book "I, Robot" is a similar nature - young men named Gregory Powell and Mike Donovan searching for meaning. There is much paralell structure between these two works. While Catullus speaks in hyperboles (e.g. in poem 5: "da mi basia.... multa fecerimus" [give me 1000 kisses clause]), the two men almost act in hyperboles to complete their various jobs. For instance, in the Asimov's 3rd story "Runaround", Gregory risks his own life to repair a malfunctioning robot and complete the mission.

There is also a seeming indifference in these works. In poem 5, Catullus says he wants to do nothing more than "nox est perpetua una dormienda" (sleep a never ending night; read: die together). He illustrates with his words an almost fatalistic view of life; an attitude of almost "I don't care if I live or die, I just want to spend the time with my lover". The two men in the book face many problems that also seem to not affect them, and approach them with a similar "So it goes" attitude: In story 4, "Reason", they are faced with a malfunctioning robot that asserts that it is a god and nothing really exists. However, because it's still doing its job perfectly and protecting the planet(s) from solar flares, they leave it be. While the charecters may be indifferent to their fates, they are not indifferent to their lives; in Catullus's case, its his desire to spend the rest of his life (marriage, although not expressly stated, is implied) with Lesbia; in poem 5, he says "Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus, [let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love]". In Gregory and Mike's case, they want to just go home and end their monotonous and dangerous employ at US robotics. Catullus describes himself as mad (risk-taking is implied, as well as known through historical evidence to be somewhat unusual), and the two men of Asimov's book take strange risks to get their pay.

Both books have a philosophical side as well. In poem 7, Catullus draws abstract comparisons between numbers of kisses and grains of sand (quaeris quot...iacet Cyrenis), while in story 5 "Catch that Rabbit", or in story 8 "Escape!" they observe robots defaulting to child-like behavior when faced with contradictions in their absoloute orders. Catullus also talks in a slight abstraction in poem one about "quare habe tibi quidquid hoc libelli" [(sic) have for yourself what this little book is]. Asimov deals with greater abstractions in taking things as they are; for instance, in "Escape!" the robot psychologist Dr. Calvin is talking with political candidate Stephen Byerley, who has been accused of being a robot [and therefore ineligible for office]. Unable to be proven either way, his opponents continue to smear him with questions about his humanity until a demonstrator comes on stage when Byerley is giving a speech, demanding that he prove his humanity by punching him in the face. He does, and as robots cannot injure humans, his opponent's campaign fails and he wins the election. Calvin is saddened, thinking that a robot would be a good leader due to it's cold logic. Calvin realizes there is an exeption - a robot can injure another robot. Byerley doesn't answer and the question remains open. Asimov draws obvious questions about the need for humanity in government.

Finally the comparison needs to be made between the ideas in poem one about "plus uno maneat perenne saeclo." [last for 1 longlasting generation] and the ideas of mortality implied by the passage. Catullus does not want his work to die [perhaps even himself], and wants it to be shared throughout the generations. Asimov talks about the long view of robots, with their infinite thinking capabilities. In story 10, "The Evitable Conflict", he talks about society being taken over by robots to prevent humanity from damaging itself. These themes of fatalism, of long views, of indifference, and of meaning in life run through both of these works. These themes can translate over ~1500 years because they are universal and can be understood by anyone [not nessecarily agreed upon], even if the execution varies.