The Aeneid (III)

Book 3 of the Aeneid, deals mainly with Aeneas continuing his story, recounting the aftermath of the fall of Troy. They (Aeneas's group) hold a funeral for their Polydorus, and continue on their journey. They meet the god of the sun Apollo, who instructs him to go to the land of his ancestors. Aeneas and his group sail to Crete and began to build a new city, but a terrible plague soon strikes. Aeneas meets Andromache, and following her instructions, Aeneas pilots his fleet along the southern coast of Italy to Sicily. On the shore they see a stanger who begs to be taken onboard. He tells them about how his crew (under Ulysses) was captured by a Cyclops. As soon as he finishes telling his story, the cyclops stumbles upon Aeneas's crew. Below is a very vivid description of the cyclops, of which we can see clear imagery of what is happening.

Scarce had he spoken when on the mountaintop we saw the giant himself, the shepherd Polyphemus, moving his mighty bulk among his flocks and seeking the well-known shore – a monster awful, hideous, huge, and eyeless. In his hand a lopped pine guides and steadies his steps. His fleecy sheep attend him – his sole joy they, sole solace of his woe! . . . As soon as he touched the deep waves and reached the sea, he washed therein the oozing blood from his eye’s socket, gnashing his teeth and groaning, then strides through the open sea; nor has the wave yet wetted his towering sides. (655)

Virgil does an amazing job describing the giant cyclops, Polyphemus. He depicts the huge hulking giant with "towering sides" and has sheep that attend him. It is almost almost ironic how Virgil calls Polyphemus a shepherd, as the cruel giant, is hardly human. Also interesting, through the historical lens is how Virgil links his story to other mythology, and other stories as he links his story to that of Ulysses, and his epic journey. As we see the cyclops with the gauged out eye, and even the warrior recounting the story of Ulysses in Virgil's epic poem.

Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 2006. Print. .

The Aeneid (75-133)

I have just finished reading the second book of the Aeneid in which Aeneas begins his tale. He tells that it would be hard for a warrior from either side of the battle to tell the story without crying. He begins when the Greeks were pushed back by the tide of the war after the death of Achilles. He says that Minerva inspired them to build a great wooden horse and fill it with armed men. They then left it in front of the gates of Troy and sailed to the island Tendos. The Trojans flooded out of the city rejoicing and raided the empty camps. Some of them wanted to lead the wooden horse into the city; others wanted to destroy it. Laocoon a priest, addressed the assembled men and women, warning them not to lead the horse into the city:

Do you

believe the enemy have sailed away?
Or think that any Grecian gifts are free
of craft? Is this the way Ulysses acts?
Either Achaeans hide, shut in this wood,
or else this is an engine built against
our walls...
I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts. (Book 2 lines 60-70)

He then throws a spear at the horse saying that they should not accept this gift, as something bad will come from it. No one pays attention to him, which then becomes to the death of the Trojans. Then after that 2 serpents come up from the depths and eat him. I find it very interesting as to how Virgil says the very famous words "I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts." This single quote is an excellent use of foreshadowing as we can tell that something bad is going to happen later. (the Trojan horse has Greeks inside of it which were let out to ransack the city). I find when Laocoon says "shut in this wood" you get a clear discription of what may be inside of this Trojan horse. Once again prompting us of what may happen in the future. Still I find the language of Virgil to be difficult as I read through this book, having to reread certain sections multiple times to understand what is happening, but however is a very interesting read.

Virgil, Robert Fagles, and Bernard MacGregor Walker. Knox. The Aeneid. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print.

The Aeneid (1-74)

I have just started the Aeneid, a very interesting epic poem, written by the incredible author Virgil. The book that I have is a red covered book translated by Robert Fagles. One interesting thing about the physical appearance of the book is the "ruffled" edges, giving the book a sort of olden look.

The opening lines of the Aeneid (shown below), Virgil enters the epic showing Homer, author of the Iliad (a Trojan war epic), and the Odyssey, (an epic of the Greek hero Ulysses), by naming his subjects as “warfare and a man,” Virgil says that he is the author to both of the Homeric epics. The main charactor, Aeneas, spends the first half of the book wandering in search of a new home and the second half at war fighting to set up this homeland. Aeneas's first mission is summarized in lines 2-4 (to move from Troy to Italy). Virgil uses the past tense when he presents his side of the book, showing to us that that there for certain is an end to the book.

Wars and man I sing - an exile driven on by Fate,
he was the first to flee the coast of Troy,
destined to reach Lavinian shores and Italian soil,
yet many blows he took on land and the sea from the gods above-
thanks to cruel Juno's relentless rage - and many losses
he bore in battle too, before he could found a city,
bring his gods to Latium, source of the Latin race,
the Alban lords and the high walls of Rome.
Tell me,
Muse, how it all began. Why was Juno outraged?
What could wound the Queen of the Gods with all her power?
Why did she force a man, so famous for his devotion,
to brave such rounds of hardship, bear such trials?
Can such rage inflame the immortals' hearts?

This book seems to have many allusions to other references in literature from that time period (the Iliad and the Odyssey). Virgil also seems to love to connect to his audience of readers. One such example is in the phrase “our Lavinian . . . shore,” Virgil connects right to his audience, the Roman contemporaries, to Aeneas, the hero of “early days.”

Virgil, Robert Fagles, and Bernard MacGregor Walker. Knox. The Aeneid. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print.

The Slippery Slope (1-337)

I have just finished the book The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket, a very interesting book in a 13 part series, as this is the 10th book in that series. The general summary of this story is about these kids who were separated from their family (the Baudelaries), as their parents terribly died in a fire. There is a very evil guy, Olaf who is wanting to steal the Baudelaries forutune, as they are incredibly rich.

These Baudelaries go on incredible adventures all over the world. This one particular book takes them to the mountains in which there are very interesting creatures. There are lions trained as detectives, called volunteer feline detectives. There are Snow Scouts who are the soldiers of the mountains who care for the mountain protecting it. This one section below is about some of the interesting creatures living on the mountain.

The Snow Scout who was wearing a sweater instead of a uniform turned his head quickly to the Baudelaries, as if he was going to speak, but Bruce answered first. He said "Years ago, apparently these mountains were crawling with bears. The bears were so intelligent that they were trained as soldiers. But they disappeared and no one knows why." (79)

This section is about when the Baudelaries go on top of the alledged mountain. They are talking to the Snow Scout who is trying to help the Baudelaries achieve their mission of finding information in the wrecked ruins of the VFD headquarters where there is important infomation that they can use to get rid of Olaf, and find out about their past.

The Time Paradox (1-391)

I have just finished reading the book Artemis Fowl The Time Paradox, a very interesting science fiction book written by Eoin Colfer, and is the sixth book in the Artemis Fowl series. It is a book about a young genius who has to travel back in time to extract the brain fluid of a silky lemur in Africa that is extinct in the time that they are in. He needs this brain fluid because if he will not do so his mother will die, as she has contracted a rare illness. Artemis has an elf named Holly to help him out, who has magical powers.

Here is a short section that clearly describes a lot about the character Holly, who is also know by her full name Holly Short. Holly is part of a race of elves who are a very advanced species, as they have nuclear batteries, and extremely powerful weapons. These elves also are so advanced that they have evolved to have "magical powers." Now these powers are not the magic that you think when you see Harry Potter, its more like magic as an energy that can be use do many things such as healing.

Even though Holly was ten pounds lighter than Artemis, she came to her senses before him. She was glad to be awake, as her dream had been terrible. While she was asleep, her knees and elbows struck the metal walls of the Bentley trunk, and she imagined herself in an LEP submarine. Holly lay huddled in the dark, swallowing and blinking to conquer the phobia. Her mother had been mortally injured in a metal box, and now she was inside one. And it was thoughts of her mother that finally calmed Holly. She opened her eyes and explored the confined space with her vision and fingertips ... they were inside a vehicle.

This section is about the time when Holly and Artemis had been deeply drugged, because they had been captured. They are in the back of a van by the people who had captured them going to try to interrogate them an hold them back from doing anything. This passage also tells us much about Artemis and Holly. As we can see holly is very light, but however recovers from drugs much more quickly than Artemis does showing to us her very strong immune system. We also see a reason for why Holly should be scarred, as her mom had been injured before in a metal box, just like the one that she is in now. Finally, it tells us that Holly seems to be very attached to her mother as there are many references to Holly s mother.

Colfer, Eoin. The Time Paradox (Artemis Fowl, Book 6). New York: Hyperion, 2008. Print.

Do Penguins Have Knees? (52-265)

I have finished reading the book, Do Penguins Have Knees?, and have completely enjoyed this really interesting book, from cover to cover. The 265 page book is very interesting with little excerpts, about some questions that people have come across that they do not know the answer to. For an example of one of these questions is, "Why do hospital gowns tie at the back?" (132). Then after this question has been stated, they will provide a short answer to the question ranging from a short paragraph to a long 2 page explanation.

Below I have included an excerpt, about one of the question's answers that have really intrigued me to learn about. The question is about "Why you are never supposed to touch a halogen light bulb with your fingers?"(164).

Conventional light bulbs use soda-lime glass, which is perfectly functional. But tungsten-halogen bulbs are made of much more durable quartz glass because they must withstand much higher temperatures, a minimum of 250 degrees Centigrade.
Rubin Rivera, of Philips Lighting, told... that quartz halogen lamps must not be touched with fingers because the natural oils from the skin, in combination with the high temperatures reached by the bulbs when illuminated, will cause the crystalline structure of the bulb glass to change. Contact with human oils can cause the glass to crack and leak. Air can then get into the filament and , in extreme conditions, can cause the bulb not only to leak but to explode.

I think that this section is very interesting because, one would only know the answer to this question if they were to work with quartz light bulbs, and have a basic knowledge with glass, and human oils exposed to a high temperature. So much information is given to us, very quickly and easily, so that it makes us want to read more in depth about this specific topic. This book has hundreds and hundreds of questions like these, making the book really interesting to read.

Feldman, David. Do Penguins Have Knees? New York: Collins, 1992. Print.

Do Penguins Have Knees? (1-51)

I have just started a new book titled Do Penguins Have Knees, and have really enjoyed reading it so far. Its about a 260 page book filled with little excerpts about questions that we come across in our everyday lives and don't know the answer to. For an example of one of these questions, the title Do Penguins Have Knees? is one of the questions that is answered in the book. I think that it is very interesting as you can learn a lot from just reading this book.

Below is a short one that I really liked, about the question of "Why do florescent lights make a plinking noise when you turn them on"(47)? The short chapter gives us a detailed yet quick answer to the question that they have researched for us, and put in an easy way for anyone to understand.

We went to Peter Wulff again for our answer. Older fluorescent fixtures used a "preheat system," which featured a bimetallic starter (the small, round, sliver piece). Wulff told us that inside the started is a bimetallic swetch which "pings" when energized. newer flourescent systems, such as the "preheat" or "rapid start," are rendering the "ping" a relic of our nostalgic past. (33)

I think that this section is very interesting because one would rarely know that answer unless they have worked very much with fluorescent fixtures, and light bulbs. This gives us so much information, yet so quick and easy to understand, that it makes us want to read on and on about it and just find more information about that specific topic. This book has hundreds, and hundreds of these little interesting sections, on hugely varying topics. From Why are our fingers different lengths? to anything as What does "YKK" on a zipper mean?

Feldman, David. Do Penguins Have Knees? New York: Collins, 1992. Print.