Kevin+McNamara

The Story of Aeneas and the Tv show "24" are similar. In the Aeneid, Aeneas is portrayed as a patriot on a journey for his country. 24's season 5 features Jack Bauer, a former CTU (counter terrorist unit) director, fighting for what is best for his country despite being one of the most wanted men in the world. He captured a Chinese man (in doing so he was forced to kill a few Chinese) and this led to the discovering of foreign nuclear bombs in the U.S. However, Jack has been on the radar of the U.S. government because this was not authorized by the President and was done without permission. So now the corrupted U.S. Government and the Chinese government (powerful forces) were after him. Similarly, Aeneas is constantly being slowed down by Juno (powerful goddess), who wants to see Aeneas fall. However, Aeneas perseveres through all the obstacles (storms, Juno's wrath, deceptions, etc.) and makes a lot of sacrifices for his country. He has to leave his wife and instead he took the people of troy with him. This shows a lot of patriotism. Like Aeneas, Jack persevered through attempted assassinations and captures, gunfights, persecutions, and frames. Jack also sacrificed a lot for his country. He has sacrificed (basically given up) his relationship with his daughter, Kim. He also has sacrificed a conventional lifestyle which unfortunately he hasn't been able to live because he is constantly caught up in fighting terrorists, protecting his country. Aeneas and Jack are two virtually identical characters in that they showed incredible amounts of nationalism. They endured tough obstacles yet still persisted to sacrifice and to do good things for their respective countries.

4/17/11: The Story of Phaethon and the movie Aladdin are related to each other. Phaethon, the son of Apollo, wanted to drive his father's sun chariot. He wanted to do this in order to show his friends that his father is a god. Clearly it was unnecessary and selfish of Phaethon to want to drive the chariot, after having been told it is very dangerous. Eventually after constantly being asked by Pheathon, Apollo gave in and let his son ride the chariot. However, when riding the chariot, Phaethon lost control and was flying too close to the earth, resulting in everything burning up. Zeus stepped in and shot Phaethon out of the sky killing him. The transformation here is Phaethon was on top of the world, riding a sun chariot but all this glory is what killed him in the end. In Aladdin, Javar, the Sultan's evil assistant, becomes the most powerful sorcerer in the world because of his genie's wish granting abilities. When he realized that he still wasn't the most powerful being on earth (the genie still was), his third wish was to become a genie. This wish shows Javar's arrogance and was completely unnecessary since he was already in control of the world. So when the genie granted Javar his wish, Javar became even more powerful. He was unmatched by any being in the universe. However, every genie has a lamp, and in order to be free, someone has to find the lamp and wish the genie free. So Javar soon after was stuffed into a lamp that was launched far away, landing deep in the sands of a desert. Javar exemplifies a transformation similar to Phaethon's. All of his power ultimately doomed him in the end. He was superior to anyone and in control of the world, but his arrogance is what killed him in the end, like Phaethon.



3/10/11: The Story of Cadmus and the movie "10,000 B.C." are similar. Cadmus, is in search of his sister, who was abducted by Zeus. The main character in the movie, D'leh, is searching for his lover Evolet who was abducted by horse raiders and brought to a far away place. In the story of Cadmus, while searching for his sister, he has to fight off a monstrous dragon snake, which killed all of his companions. Similarly, in the movie, D'leh fights off many "terror birds", which killed a few of his friends and companions. Pallas, Cadmus' guardian, tells him that if he sows the dragons teeth, a people will generate. In the movie, D'leh, short after the terror birds, encounters a tiger which is trapped. D'leh saves this tiger. Later on, when the tiger is threatening a certain tribe, D'leh speaks to the tiger and it goes away. The tribe people tell D'leh of a prophecy; the one who talks to the saber tooth will free their people from the raiders and will establish a new civilization. Back to the Cadmus story, Cadmus listens to Pallas, and he founds Thebes. In the movie, D'leh believes the prophecy, gathering up other tribes, to take down the raiders and their gods' fortress (where Evolet is). D'leh and his allies defeat the raiders and their gods, and establishing a new world and ending the terrible reign of the raiders.

1/6/11: The film "Good Will Hunting" relates to Horace 2.10. In the film, WIll Hunting is an extremely intellegient, yet troubled young man. When discovered by a math professor, he quickly shows he is smarter than anyone ever imagined. When many big name companies offered jobs he never showed up at the meetings so he was set up with a psychologist, Sean. Sean first off tells Will to stop acting immature and taking risks by letting his temper get the best of him. This relates to when Horace says "neque altum semper" in line 1 which translates as "and neither by always sailing on the deep sea". Horace, by saying "deep sea" indicates that the reader should limit the risks in his life and live properly. Sean also tells Will he doesn't have to strive for the big jobs, like the professor is pushing for, and he can live life however he wants. He tells Will that he strive for more than he could handle, and he is perfectly happy with every decision he had made, even if he could have made more money. This relates to 2.10 when Horace mentions that if you go extreme, you will ultimately fall. One example of this is when he says, "et turres decidunt" in line 11 which translates as "and the proud towers fall". "Proud" and "towers" indicate that he is talking about the biggest and most extreme things, and those who strive for these things are the ones who fail the most. Furthermore, in the film, the professor constantly urges Will to use his innate ability to achieve the highest awards and to earn him high paying jobs. The professor is saying to Will that he should take advantage of the gift he has and of the opportunities it opens up. This is similar to 2.10 when Horace says "sapienter idem contrahes vento nimiumn secundo turgida vela" which translates as "likewise if you are wise you will take in the swollen sails with too favorable winds". By saying this, Horace implies that you should take advantage of favorable times and exploit every oppurtunity the good times offer.



12/1/10: The song "Thank You" by Simple Plan shares a similar betrayal theme with Catullus 77. In "Thank You" the singer is addressing his past friend, saying that he betrayed him. In Catullus 77, Catullus is accusing his trusted friend Rufus of cheating with his lover Lesbia. The singer in "Simple Plan" starts his song by saying in the first line "I thought i could always count on you". Using "thought" and "could" in this line indicates that it was in the past. Also, later in the song he says "best friends cannot be trusted". This shows the bretrayal the singer feels because his betrayer was a close friend. Overall, he's saying how he once trusted his friend, but now he doesn't because of the betrayal. In the first line of 77, Catullus says "mihi frustra ac nequiquam credite amice" which translates as "trusted friend to me, in vain and to no effect". He indicated here that Rufus was a trusted friend, but by saying "in vain and to no effect" he implies that that trust ended in failure and in a disrespectful manner. Furthermore, there is a sense of suffering emotionally shared by "Thank You" and 77. The singer says, "and you broke me down". Here he is saying how his betrayer has torn him apart, deeply hurting his feelings. In line 3 of 77, Catullus says, "intestine perurens" which translates as "consuming my guts". Catullus is stating here that Rufus has torn him apart and that he is deeply hurt emotionally. The singer also says "I'll never be the same again" implying that he was hurt so badly by the betrayal that he will be deeply affected (in a bad way) by it from now on. In line 4 of 77, Catullus says "ei misero" which translates as "miserable me". After Rufus "snatched" all of Lesbia and Catullus' good things, Catullus will now be affected by it in a way that will make him miserable because all of the love him and Lesbia shared has been destroyed by the betrayal. Aside from the themes of betrayal and emotional suffering, the two pieces of work also share a sense of a friendship ending. In the song the singer says, "Your friendship and good times we had you can have them back". He indicates here that the betrayer can forget about the times they had together, and that their friendship has come to an end. Also, the singer says,"But you'll only find my ghost". Here, he implies that when the betrayer comes back to try to apologize to him, he won't be there to listen. The singer doesn't want to ever see him again. Similarly, in 77, Catullus says "nostrae pestis amicitiae" which translates as "death of our friendship". Catullus implies here that the friendship he and Rufus shared is now over since he thinks Rufus cheated with Lesbia.

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11/2/10: The song "Every Breath You Take" by The Police relates to Catullus poems 72 and 70. In the beginning of the song, the singer says,

"Every breath you take and every move you make Every bond you break  Every step you take, I'll be watching you  Every single day and every word you say  Every game you play  Every night you stay, I'll be watching you"

The singer is saying how he is always watching over her every move, feeling a sense of responsibility to what she does. There is also a line "Oh can't you see you belong to me?".This relates to Catullus 72 because in this poem, Catullus says in lines 3-4,"**dilexi tum te non tantum ut vulgus amicam, sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos**", which translates into, "I loved you then not only as a common person loves his girlfriend, but as much as a father loves his sons and sons-in-law". Catullus implies here that he loved Lesbia, not only in a romantic way as a common man would love his girlfriend, but also in a fatherly way. This implies that Catullus feels a sense of ownership towards Lesbia as if she was his child. This relates to "Every Breath You Take" because the both the authors feel a sense of ownership or responsibility towards their woman.

"Every Breath You Take" also relates to Catullus 70. Throughout the song, the singer frequently tells the audience that his woman is unfaithful and often lies. For example. the singer says,

"Every bond you break " and " Every move you make and every vow you break Every smile you fake  Every claim you stake"

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">﻿ <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">These lines are clearly showing signs of unfaithfulness because the singer says that the woman breaks bonds, breaks vows, fakes smiles, and stakes claims, claims which are not true. This ties to all of the lines in Catullus 70,

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">"**Nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malla, quam mihi, non si se Iuppiter ipse petat, dicit; sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti, in vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua**" <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">which translates into: <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">"My woman says that she prefers to marry no one than myself, not even if herself was seeked by Juppiter himself. She says, but that which the wife says to the diserious lover, she ought to write on the wind and rapid water"

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">In line 2, Catullus uses Lesbia's exaggerated statement about Juppiter to show that she is lieing and untruthful. She says things that she doesn't really mean. This idea shows even more in lines 3-4. Catullus says that the wife is unfaithful to her desirous man, and her words might as well be written on rapid water and wind. Having said rapid water and wind, Catullus therefore implies that what wives say are not true because it impossible to write on rapid water and wind. Catullus 70 and "Every Breath You Take" relate because they both include a woman being dishonest and un-trustworthy.

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media type="youtube" key="XLWPg3SCYH4?fs=1" height="385" width="480"LOVE this scene.

The story of Romeo and Juliet is similar to Catullus poem 5. In Romeo and Juliet, two lovers have unconditional love for one another and cannot get enough of each other. However, their families are enemies and these two lovers face opposition from both their friends and families. This relates to Catullus and Lesbia because they are in love too, dealing with the "rumors of strict old men". Their relationships are looked badly upon by the people. Catullus and Lesbia have to learn to live with these rumors because Lesbia is married, having an affair with three men, one of which is Catullus. Romeo and Juliet also had to deal with the rumors when they were criticized and forbidden to see each other. Furthermore, l<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">ove is naturally Romeo and Juliet's dominant and most important theme as Catullus's poems mainly focus on the love Lesbia and he share. Also, in Catullus poem 5, Catullus tells Lesbia to not listen to all the people against them being together and to "value them at a penny." This compares similarly to when i<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">n //Romeo and Juliet,// love is a overpowering force that is more significant than all other values, loyalties, and emotions. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> Lastly, both of these couples also abandon all of their friends and families for each other. These two stories relate in this matter because Romeo and Juliet and Catullus and Julia ignore everything else and love each other to no boundaries.