Thursday, March 18, 2010

Ancient Greek Monsters Coming Alive in Modern France ...

Well, yes, it sounds like the Percy Jackson books and film, which have so captivated Son 1 recently... But actually this post is about what Son 2 and some classmates did with their parents' recycling, in their Art Classes.
They looked at the shared contents of their bags, and decided to create a monster. Having read and studied the Odyssey that month (yes, French education is very classical!) they decided to make Polyphème!
Don't recognise the name? I didn't either. Try it in the original Greek, so much easier...
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Πολύφημος.
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lol
There you go, so now you know that this junk model is none other than Polyphemus, and if like me you still don't quite get the reference, just think of him as The Cyclops! Phew - I DO remember that bit of the Odyssey. The boys love the story of Odysseus calling himself 'Nobody' and attacking the cyclops so that he and his men can escape. "Who is attacking you?" call his cyclops brothers. "Nobody!" he replies, "Nobody is attacking me!" Ah, the cunning Odysseus.
Love the 'P' on the back of his jacket.
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Here's a more traditional interpretation of Mr P. Ew.To celebrate the boys' love of all things Ancient Greek, we had a family film night (with curry - essential), to watch O Brother, Where Art Thou? If you don't know it, it's a typically quirky but atypically 'very-nearly-polite and almost-violence-free' Cohen Brothers movie. Rated 12, so not totally polite and violence-free, please beware!Ben and I love it, and it's based, very loosely, on the Odyssey! The boys really enjoyed the bizarre story of three oddball criminals on the run in Depression-hit southern USA, meeting up with a variety of opponents who could be compared, loosely, to the monsters that Odysseus met on his travels. So there you have it. Ancient Greece come to life chez nous.

9 comments:

Nearly there Claire said...

Sounds like a whole load of brill fun to me!!!

I must say, I think your french 'junk' appears more apealing than our junk. xxx

Josie-Mary said...

How clever are those boys? :) x

The Curious Cat said...

Love this post - polythemus looks most excellent! I studied classics so anything up this street totally rocks my boat! :) xxx

The Curious Cat said...

Hey, I think it varies depending on the greek or the latin - so many classical names are spelt slightly differently and often in classics characters will have two or three different names. Odysseus is also Ulysses in Roman tales...I should have probably spelt it Polyphemus actually...my spelling is never good, even for an English/Classic scholar!! xxx

Jeannette said...

Those boys of you are lucky to have such cool parents who show them a Coen Brothers movie as a learning tool. I have great parents, but they would never have done something like that.
And compliments to son no. 2......he made a great mr. P.
big hug and I missed your blog, Jeannette

Sherri B. said...

Who needs to buy new toys when the young ones are so crafty...Very impressive !!!!!

Angela said...

Great model - and O Brother Where Art Thou is Utterly Brilliant [We thought you was a toad...]

Elderberry-Rob said...

What a lot you and your family get up to in one week!

BadPenny said...

Brilliant ! their creation is superb.
Of course I am Penelope - silently weaving and waiting for the return of her beloved Odysseus from al these advenures he had !