Mark+French



I found that the story of the Aeneid is similar to the story in the Lord of the Rings series. I do not think that the Aeneid applies to just one of the movies in the trilogy, but all three. After all, the multiple books of the Aeneid cover a long adventure the same way that the three Lord of the Rings movies do. Because the time of the Trojans and the Aeneid's story line is so long past, it almost seems like the events take place in another world to the modern reader. The Lord of the Rings takes place in middle earth which is supposed to be a separate world. The characters in both stories also exhibit a respect that is uncommon in many places today. In the Aeneid, the gods are all powerful and respected by the people. Noone questions their authority. In the Lord of the Rings, the kings and leaders of the different factions hold the same sort of power and are respected in a similar manner. But the most strong and probably most important connection is the mission of the characters on behalf of their countries. In the Aeneid Aeneas leaves Troy and looks to settle in a new place, keeping his family and the Trojan race alive. He has to overcome many obstacles and has no guarantee that he will be safe. Frodo also goes on a quest/mission. He wants to destroy the one ring. Frodo knows that destroying the ring is the only way to keep the hobbits in the shire safe and thus continue their race. If he or Aeneas fail in their quests, their people will die out and they will lose their country which proves to have a special place in their hearts. They are willing to face danger and persevere because they believe that their own safety and well being is not as important as the continuation of the people they love. They both had many opportunities to give up or abandon their missions and chose not to do so. The nationalism is strong in both of these stories and easy to pick up on so that it can send a clear message to the reader and set an example. Frodo and Aeneas are similar to eachother as characters. Both of them grew up with connections to important people. Aeneas was the cousin of the king of Troy and Frodo is friends with Bilbo and Gandalf who are well known in the Shire. But neither of these characters thought that they would grow up to become the most important people in their respective races. Instead they take up the burden when there are few others who are able or capable. This is one of the more important details of the stories. The will to simply help their people and make sure they are safe and not the longing to be a hero or glorify themselves is what motivates Frodo and Aeneas. They don't try to attract attention for their bravery but instead feel it is expected of them. These two stories are similar in many of the details. But they also have a strong nationalism theme that leaves the readers with a message of how they should serve their countries. Both stories can be inspiring as is their purpose.



Ovids story about the escape of Daedalus and Icarus from the island of Crete and the following death of Icarus is similar to part of the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The part I am referring to is when Charlie and his Grandpa Joe drink the fizzy lifting drinks during their tour of the factory and rise to the top of the room they are in. This scene is similar to Ovid's story because Daedalus spends time warning Icarus about the dangers of flying too high or too low with the wings. Similarly, Willy Wonka tells the people who are taking a tour of his factory not to drink the things in the rooms or touch anything in his factory for that matter. But in both cases the people who are told to not do something do it anyway causing problems. The short term results are the same in both cases but not the final product. In Ovid's story, Icarus sadly is not able to continue flying because his wings are ruined and so he falls to the sea and danger that the water represents. Charlie and his grandpa also move towards danger as they are unable to stop themselves from moving towards the ceiling and the deadly fans that are there. But unlike Icarus, Charlie and his grandpa are able to save themselves at the last minute and avoid any real danger. Icarus dies and leaves his father to bury his body and live in grief. Both cases transform the characters that are involved. In Ovid's story, Icarus is obviously affected and probably would have listened to his father if he were given a second chance at life. Daedalus is also greatly affected by the events that occur. He is left to live the rest of his life without his beloved son and knows that his inventions, along with Icarus' decision to not listen were the cause of his death. This is similar to the changes of the characters in Willy Wonka. Charlie learns his lesson and shows that he is not really a bad kid and will listen to people's advice later when he recieves the factory from Willy. In fact he proves himself to be the best person with the strongest morals on the tour. Willy is also changed by this event. Like Daedalus, he is angered by the result of his orders not being obeyed. He tells Charlie later on that the room has to be cleaned because of them. But he moves on just like Daedalus did because both characters realize that the present is more important that worrying about the past and they have other things that occupy their attention. The last connection I made was that in both instances, humas gain the ability to fly temporarily. But this unnatural ability proves to be too much for them and causes more harm than good. It is possible that this is representative that humans are not meant to have supernatural powers such as the ability to fly.



The movie Evan Almighty is similar to stories 12 through 14 in book one of Ovid’s metamorphoses. In his stories, Ovid tells of how Jupiter floods the earth out of anger at man. He calls on his brother Poseidon to help and between the two of them the world is covered in water. Though it is based on the biblical flood and not Ovid’s story, Evan Almighty is also about a deity flooding the earth to cleanse it. Instead of Jupiter, God played by Morgan Freeman is behind the destruction. In Ovid’s stories, one man escapes to a hill top and another survives because he is in a rowboat. This is similar to Evan Almighty because God tells Evan to create an ark that will save him and his family from the flood. In both stories men are saved because they use boats to avoid drowning. Another connection is how the flood actually occurs. In Ovid’s stories, the rivers overflow and rush across the land (similar to what happened at the High School this week). In Evan Almighty, a dam breaks that causes the flood. Jupiter even orders that the dams be drained in Ovid’s story. The main difference between the two is the magnitude of the floods. In Ovid’s story, the flood is big and covers the land causing lots of destruction. But in Evan Almighty, when the dam breaks only a minor portion of D.C. the main setting is affected. Although there is a flood in both stories, the one in Evan is not nearly as awful. But even though the flood in Evan Almighty was not nearly as bad as the one in Ovid’s story, it did target some of the same types of buildings. In his story, Ovid describes the temples being destroyed. The temples were very important places to the Romans. They were sort of the center of their lives because they felt the gods had complete control and could cause anything to happen. In the same sense, the buildings that are almost destroyed in Evan Almighty are the government buildings in Washington D.C. These buildings are the centers for Americans because the government is sort of the rulers of the country in a similar way to the Romans’ gods. Both stories focus on transformations. In Eva Almighty, Evan becomes a different person after the flood. At the beginning he has no time for family as he works hard to gain fame and material things such as a big house and fancy car. But by the end, he realizes that things like family are more important and he gets his priorities straight. In Ovid, the transformation is more of the human race as a whole. Jupiter wipes out most of the people on the planet and allows them to start fresh. This new beginning for humans allows for the evil and corruption to be washed away and be replaced by innocence and good. In both stories a transformation occurs for the better due to a flood.

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I found that the poem Horace 2.3 had many things in common with the song Rubberneckin' by the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley. I am pretty sure most people have heard the song at some point and although there aren't many lyrics I did find some connections. The most basic connection comes in the first lyrics of the song, when Elvis states his life motto singing "Stop, look and listen baby that's my philosophy." Horace's poem is similar because he is trying to give his friend Dellius advice on how to live his life telling him to keep a "level head" and "a restrained mind" "Aequam mentem" and "[mentem] temperatam" in lines 1-3. Both authors try to spread what they feel is their superior knowledge on the way to achieve the most in life. Elvis throughout the song tells the audience to stop, look, and listen. Whether or not he ever meant for it to apply to the chaotic society we live in today, I think it does. These days people find it hard to take the time to enjoy life. We are living in a society where most things have been turned into a competition or assesment and everything is restricted to a set time interval. In class we had that long discussion about the race to nowhere and how the way the human race lives is changing. But both Elvis and Horace I believe want people to slow down and notice the positive things in life hence the stop look and listen. Horace says "Quid obliquo laborat lympha fugax trepidare rivo?" lines 11-12 meaning "Why does hurrying clear water struggle to ripple in a winding course." Horace means that if you take your time and enjoy life with the winding course, you will not only have less problems or "ripples" but that it will also be harder to notice them. Later in the poem Horace suggests that Dellius "order a boy to bring to this place wine and perfume and too short lived flowers of the pleasant rose while circumstance and time and black threads of the three sisters permit" "huc vina et unguenta et nimium brevis flores amoenae ferre iube rosae, dum res et aestas et sororum fila trium patiuntur atra." lines 13-16. Horace notes earlier that Dellius is destined to die and with the reference to the fates again states that everyone must die at some point and we need to enjoy life while we are alive. The part about bringing the wine and perfume is in my opinion surrounding yourself with things that you enjoy or are important to you so that you make your life meaningful. Elvis says this when he sings "I like what I see I see what I like it gives me such a glow." Horace also talked about relaxing "in a secluded grass" or "in remoto gramine" line 6. This is similar to the part in Elvis' song where he talks about "sittin on the back porch all by myself". In both cases the author mention a time when they can be alone and have nothing to do but think and relax. It is important to have time for yourself and is incorporated in the philosophies of both men. In general, the two works highlight what their respective authors think is important in life and how you can apply them to your life. These philosophies can be applied to current day society and help us to better our own lives.

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I found that the poem Catullus 84 was very similar to the 2007 film Hot Rod. During one scene in the movie (about 40 seconds into the trailer) the main character Rod Kimble played by Andy Samberg begins to say different words with an added H. This is exactly what Arrius, the subject of Catullus’ attack in poem 84 does. Rod’s friend Kevin Powell played by Jorma Taccone tries to tell Rod that he is saying things weird and doesn’t sound right doing it. This is what Catullus aims to explain to Arrius in his poem, that there is no reason for him to talk with the added h’s and he sounds stupid when he does. The fact that both Arrius and Rod need to be told by others that they are talking in ways that don’t sound right shows something about their personalities. They are oblivious to how they come off to others. While Arrius adds h’s to words like “Commoda” and “Insidias” to make “Chommoda” and “Hinsidias” in lines 1 and 2, Rod says hwhiskey, hwhat, and hwill instead of whiskey, what, and will. Both characters in their ignorance create words that don’t actually exist. Instead of saying advantages and ambushes Arrius says hadvantages and hambushes. In Rod’s case hwhiskey, hwhat, and hwill are not words in the English language. Also at the end of the trailer you see part of a scene where Rod is wearing a fake mustache. He says that all great men have mustaches. His step dad Frank calls him out and tells him that real men actually grow them. The fact that Rod is wearing a fake mustache and wants to be like a real man is similar to the reason why Arrius aspirates. Arrius wants to act educated and Rod wants to act like a real man. Neither one achieves the desired effect and ends up looking worse because of their failure. Finally I found that the way the speech impediments of the two characters was exhibited was similar. Catullus writes a poem to publically show Arrius’ ignorance so people can see and make fun of him. Instead of talking to him privately and keeping the situation between the two of them Catullus makes it public knowledge that Arrius cannot speak properly. Likewise, Hot Rod is a comedy and the scene where Rod is adding h’s is supposed to be funny. Rod sounds ridiculous aspirating every word he says in the scene, even as he goes flying down the hill. Both Catullus and the writers of the movie want to get a laugh out of the audience at the expense of the aspirator.

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This song "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen has a distinct connection to poem 8 by Catullus. In the above song, the singer Freddie Mercury is singing about how love is crazy. In poem 8 Catullus tells himself to stop playing the fool "desinas ineptire". Both men have been put into a daze by their lover and realize it is not a good thing. They admit their relationships have failed and that they must move on. Freddie says that "This thing called love I just can't handle it...I aint ready." Catullus tells himself to consider lost that which you see to have perished. Also both authors have mixed and contradicting feelings for their lovers. In Poem 8 line 7 Catullus says that he desired Lesbia "quae tu volebas" but then just two lines later he tells himself not to want her saying "tu quoque noli (vult)". He goes back and frth between wanting her and trying to resist. In the song Freddie says that his lover gives him a hot and cold fever then leaves him in a cool cool sweat. These contrasting temperatures show that Freddie also swiches feelings for his lover in the blink of an eye. Like Catullus Freddie wants his lover one minute saying he is hot with a fever or passionate for her, but then is left in a cool cool sweat and realizes that his love for her makes him crazy and is not what he truly wants. His hot passion eventually cools and he realizes his true feelings. Finally, both authors try to convince themselves that they can go on and recover from their bad experiences with these women. Catullus tells himself to be firm, using the word "obdura" on three separate occasions throughout the poem. He is trying to tell himself that his bad relationship with Lesbia has not weakened him and that he can move on. In his song, Freddie says "I gotta be cool relax, be hip get on my tracks...until im ready." This shows that Freddie wants to recover from this relationship and knows he can, he just needs some time. Th two are similar in what they are experiencing and how they deal with it. Though the relationships are in two completely different time periods, they share many characteristics.

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This song is related greatly to Catullus 5 and 7 because the writers for both are madly in love and have difficulty expressing their feelings accurately to their lovers. In Catullus' poems, he is in love with Lesbia and tells her that he wants her to " Give me a thousand kisses, then another hundred, and then a thousand more" and later on in 7 he says "As great a number of the Lybian sands". Catullus does not actually want Lesbia to kiss him a thousand times but he uses these hyperboles to express his strong emotions. The author of the above song is suffering from a similar problem, his strong feelings for his woman cause him to exagerate his actual intentions. Noone would actually walk a thousand miles to go see someone, they would simply take a plane or drive. But his strong emotions create a willingness in him to do whatever it takes to get to his lover, even if that means doing the impossible. Both authors show that they are completely devoted to their lovers and let them know the lengths that they will go to to be with them and love them.