It is the day before school resumes and I realised that I may need to record what I have been researching during the holidays for my special study.
I have done a little research, and I have decided that I would like to study mythology, because I find this the most interesting about the classical world and it is the reason why I enjoy Classical Studies so much. What first came to mind was the stories of the ancient Greeks, as they have a wide range of stories and I am familiar with a few of them. Due to my interest with these stories, I researched a few on a number of occasions, such as the creation of my research project last year where I almost picked it as a topic, or reading a book series called Percy Jackson which is based around Greek mythology. Certainly, I became more knowledgeable during the study of The Odyssey by Homer and translated by E.V. Rieu in the first term.
During my research, I have found a few sources that I found particularly interesting and could be used for later reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEVR-chjNxU
This video I found on youtube was a good introduction to the topic. It gives a summary of the stories and where they come from and their possible influence over other religions. Of course, this video is a rather old account, so I took what it stated with a pinch of salt, meaning I would need another source of information to back up their findings. What I did find interesting in this video is that it suggested that the Greeks may have influenced the stories in other religions, such as the Romans and even Christianity. I thought that this may be a good topic for my special study. A particular quote that I took to heart was, "Most of what we know about the Greek gods came from literary texts from that time period such as Homer's writings", therefore to get a primary source of information would be to look at The Illiad, which I am pleased to say that I have my own copy, and The Odyssey, which I also have in my possession from Term 1, but I may have to re-borrow it from the library for this new term.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQN1vGmHxs4
This video is the first episode of a series called Clash of the Gods, and it focuses on Zeus. The other episodes are about other famous Greek figures, such as Medusa and Hades. I even found one on Odysseus, who was the main character of The Odyssey. These videos are newer than the first one I saw, and It focuses on one topic, therefore I can use it to look at particular topic if I need too, which could become handy. I really like this show, because it provides some fact and evidence to the stories, such as large volcanic eruption that caused the earth to shake violently was caused by a large battle between the Titans and the Olympians. Therefore, this may be another direction that I could take my special study: providing some fact to the fiction.
I would like some more guidance before I get too engrossed and realise that I am going off track. For the mean time, I'm happy with just watching these videos. Youtube is my saviour!
