I found it interesting that the whole Ottoman Empire was seen as an extension of the Sultan's household. That philosophy lends itself to the idea that every one in the empire was cared for by the state, and also disciplined by the state. It is an agreement that the state takes care of it's people and in return they must defend and serve the greater good of the empire. There were very sophisticated ways of making sure the agreement was upheld, like schooling that prepared children for military and political service, taxes based on many factors, and organizations to help the needy (i.e. soup kitchens). 

The reading mentioned that women held power in the Ottoman empire. They could own their own not-for-profit organization, and they were involved with the business of the running of the empire. Unlike many other types of rulers from the same time period, sultans were faithful to one woman and she acted as a kind of "fist lady" within the empire. The mother of the sultan was the most powerful figure in the nation. This is one of the only times throughout our study of the Mediterranean when women are powerful and respected. 

I find it interesting that when Islam first emerged it was seen as a force that would divide Christianity. It was viewed more as a military threat to the Christian nations than a religious threat. Most Christians believed that Islam would not last as a religion. When christians started to convert though, it became more of a threat in the eyes of the church, and so the writings about Muslims go more violent and hateful.

Dante's depiction of Muhammed is interesting. He definitely does not present Muhammed as a positive figure, he is n Hell, but he is not with the heretics in hell. He is with another figure Arius, who was seen as a divider of the church and was excommunicated both during his life and after his death. So, while Dante does think that Muhammed and Islam would divide Christians he does not place him with heretics.

In the story of Masetto and the nuns, as well as the story of Pietro di Vinciolo, the characters deceive each other in order to get what they want.

Masetto pretends to be deaf and dumb in order to get the nuns to sleep with him. The nuns deceive the abbess  by hiding their affairs with Masetto and then once the abbess starts sleeping with Masetto, every one in the convent is hiding something. Not to mention the fact that all of the nuns are defying the virginal image that they display to the public. They are also being unfaithful to their promise to God, but one nun justifies that by saying that everyone makes promises that they can't keep.

Pietro di Vinciolo will not have sex with his wife, instead he goes off with other men. So, she has many lovers to keep her satisfied. One night when she has a man in the house, her husband comes home and is upset because the wife of one of his friends was caught cheating. His wife quickly hides the man under a chicken coup and then goes to her husband. She speaks against the woman who was caught cheating, all the while hiding her own affair. A donkey wanders by the chicken coup and steps on her lover's hand, he yells and immediately Pietro's wife is caught. She starts yelling about how Pietro will not sleep with her, and instead of being angry Pietro makes a deal with his wife, they will both sleep with this young man.


These two stories emphasize the importance of speech and communication. Masetto feigns an inability to speak in order to get what he wants, and because he can't say anything the nuns are willing to sleep with him. In the Pietro story, his wife must speak negatively about what his friend's wife did in order to protect herself. However, when she does this she is condemning her own behavior. Also, if Pietro and his wife had communicated their desires earlier, they both would have had what they wanted.

Throughout the semester we have discussed the idea that, when in the presence of a beautiful woman men cannot control themselves and they must sleep with her despite their better judgement. In the story about the young monk and the Abbott, the young monk sees a beautiful girl and although he is supposed to abstain from sex, he invites her to his room and they sleep together. He gets caught by the Abbott and he is about to be punished, but then the monk sees the Abbott sleep with her as well. So, they hide each others' sins and continue to invite the girl to the monastery to sleep with both of them. This story not only mocks the seriousness of the church, but reinforces the idea that men cannot control themselves around beautiful women.
The ultimate example of men's lack of control in love, is the story of Alatiel. Alatiel is shipwrecked and then passed from one man to the next as they literally kill each other in order to have sex with her. At first, she rejects the first man, but after he convinces her to sleep with him, she doesn't refuse any of the next 8 men who come her way. And what's funniest is that when she gets back home, she claims to be a virgin and gets married based on that pretense.

I think that the mountain girls represent repeated mistakes. After meeting the first mountain girl and sleeping with her, the arch priest has to avoid her, because he made promises that he could keep. But, it seems like he keeps running into the same "problem" over and over, he gets kind of lost and cold and hungry, and then he finds another mountain girl and expects food, shelter and sex from her because that's what he got from the other mountain girls. After the first girl, the others don't react so well to his expectation that they bring him home with them, however, they all do it. When he meets the girl who is hideously ugly he still flatters her to get what he wants, but she refuses him unless he actually has what she asks for. So, what the reader and the arch priest must learn from this, is that one cannot make assumptions about the reactions one person based on the reactions of another to the same situation.

The battle between Carnal and Lent symbolizes the fight against temptation. When people are asked to give up things they enjoy (food) for a greater purpose, like religion and Lent they struggle. The literal "food fight" in the text, comically,  represents the internal struggle that people have during Lent.

The Arch Priest sees love as a deceitful, lying force, with the potential to drive men crazy. The Arch Priest goes on for  a long time, insulting and yelling at Love for all his perceived mean-spirited ways.
Finally, Love answers back that the reason that the Arch Priest has been so unsuccessful is that he never came to Love for help. Love then goes on to give the Arch Priest detailed instructions for how to behave around women and how to choose a good woman. So, in many regards Love acts as a mentor or a teacher to the Arch Priest.   
The instructions that Love gives to the Arch Priest are very similar, in many regards, to the "code of love" that many people live by today. Love describes the right woman to court as having a "good figure and a small head, blonde hair, but not died with henna"(113). Love also says to find a  "woman you can see without her shirt on, to tell if her figure suits you"(113) I'm not sure if that is meant to be mean a woman who the man can "mentally undress" or actually see without her shirt. But, if it's the second, that doesn't say much for her moral character, considering that they are still talking about choosing woman.  But it does seem that men still judge with their eyes before anything else, as Love instructs.
The advise Love gives about how to behave around the "chosen woman"still seems applicable today. He says "Don't speak of other women to her, just praise her" because it will make her jealous to see her man is interested in other women. He also says not to gossip about her. He gives a lot more advise that seems applicable to the modern rules of socially acceptable dating behavior.

Both Bernart De Ventadorn and the Countess of Dia write about love and betrayal. Both start their poems with description of how wonderful love is. The countess writes, "I'm very happy, for the man/ whose love I seek's so fine." While Bernart De Ventadorn writes, " Of course it's no wonder I sing/ better than any troubadour: my heart draws me more towards love, and I am made better for his command."
Then both poets go on to write about the depression and betrayal they felt after love lost. Bernart De Ventadorn writes, "And when she took herself away from me, she left me/ nothing/ but desire and a heart still wanting." The countess describes her betrayal, "...so bitter I do feel toward him/ whom I love more than anything. With him my mercy and fine manners are in vain, my beauty, virtue and intelligence. For I've been tricked and cheated/ as if I were completely lothesome."

In each poem, the gender of the poet is clear to me as a reader. However, the emotions that both the men and the women expressed were the same. The difference is in the way the men and women respond to the love and loss. The poems written by the women tended to be shorter, more florid, and I would say more reserved. Whereas, the poems written by men went into much greater emotional detail. I found that to be interesting because in modern stereotypes, being overly emotional about love and loss is a feminine trait. I would say that these poems display the men's emotions at least as thoroughly, if not more thoroughly than the women's.

Hazam describes the "symptoms" of love in The Dove's Necklace as being almost spell-like. He says that when one listens to his love speak, no matter what she says he will agree with even if he knows it to be wrong. His description of love depicts a state in which both lovers are almost magnetically drawn to together in all senses. Similar statements are made in the poetry, for example "if my soul were filled with anything but you, I would pluck it out, while any membrane [covering it] would be torn away from it by [my] hands"(A3). The speaker wants to rid himself of anything but love for the other person, even if that means removing some of himself.
The type of love that Hazam talks about in these texts seems to boarder on obsession. There is a section in The Dove's Necklace in which Hazam describes a person not being able to eat or speak because the thought of his lover renders him without words. In the poetry the speaker says, "If he should speak, among those who sit in my company, I listen only to the words of that marvelous charmer" (D2). So, while one lover is wordless because of the thought of his love the other can only listen to his/her love. Either way, it seems that the intensity of love that Hazam and the other poets describes is all--consuming for both parties.

Through the early Islamic, Early Medieval and Late Medieval periods, the leadership of the Mediterranean region changed rapidly. Due to the constant political/religious change, many cultural and artistic ideas traveled around North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and parts of Europe. For example, Islamic people took the idea of white Chinese porcelain and painted theirs vibrant colors and luster painted pottery making traveled from Egypt to Iran. As artistic ideas traveled from place to place they developed and become more sophisticated. Another example of cultural exchange is textiles, the English words "cotton" and "mohair" are derived from Arabic.
When the Mongols invaded the Islamic regions they brought Chinese design and influences with them, including illustrated manuscripts. Traditionally Chinese figures, such as dragons and phoenix's appear on Islamic art work produced during the Mongol rule.
Overall, with each invasion and take over of parts of the Islamic world came new artist influences and techniques, which together created the Islamic art form.  

The myths in books 4 and 6 of Metamorphoses explore the role of women in myth. Arachne, Pallas and Philomela all use the art of weaving to communicate in some way. Arachne and Pallas use it to compete, however each weaves a tapestry that tells a story. When Philomela's tounge is cut out and she can no longer speak she weaves the story of her rape so that she can tell her sister what happened. We have discussed the use of "feminine arts" as means of communication and manipulation/power for women and that is true in Metamorphoses as well.
Overall, I would not say that women are portrayed in a positive light in these myths. Salmacis cannot control her lust for Hermaphroditus and she attacks him. Pallas cannot control her anger toward Arachne when she claims that Pallas did not teach her to weave and so she turns her into a spider. Niobe is jealous that people worship Latona and not her and she is punished with the death of her children and husband. Instead of taking revenge against her husband after he raped Philomela, Pronce kills her own son and feeds him to her husband. The women who are portrayed in these myths display a lack of control in love and in anger.

Book 1 of Metamorphoses is very similar to the Genesis stories of creation. In Metamorphoses, matter is described as chaotic before a "god and a greater order of nature" separates the elements and creates the organized world that is familiar to us today. Metamorphoses is more specific than Genesis was, it specifies the different regions of the earth and their climates as well as the winds. Another similarity between the two stories is the cleansing flood. The gods in Metamorphoses and God in Genesis feel that human kind  is a mistake and flood the earth to kill all of the evil that human kind has created. In both stories there are two human survivors who are virtuous in the eyes of the Gods.

Narcissus falls in love with the reflected image of himself. He can never have this other "person" because he is a reflection in the water. Every time Narcissus tries to touch "him" he puts his hand in the water and disturbs the image. This could be the basis for love in all human relationships because in order to love and accept another person one must love them self first. People, generally, look to have relationships with others who share some interests or personality traits and perhaps the story of Narcissus is that idea taken to the extreme. 

The violence that Odysseus displays in Book 22 allows Odysseus to re-live his past and display his strength in battle one final time. Odysseus possesses the skill and cunning of a fighter, so it seems important from a character development standpoint, for the reader to see Odysseus in his element. Also, in this battle, unlike the battles of the Iliad, Odysseus is fighting for a peaceful home for himself and his family, not just for glory. Odysseus could not restore peace to his house and remove the suitor without killing them. Based on the end of the text, only the Gods can do that. The contrast between the power that the Gods have to solve problems without violence, and Odysseus' need spill blood, illustrates the superiority of the Gods over humans.

Odysseus and Penelope's bed serves to symbolize the steadfastness of their marriage. The bed is built out of a tree that grows through their house and it is immobile. Both the bed and their marriage have deep roots which can stand the test of time. The way that Penelope tests Odysseus by asking her servant to move the bed, is another example of her using her "feminine knowledge" to take control of the situation, very much like the way that she knitted and un-knitted the funeral shroud and the beginning of the text. After Odysseus says that the bed cannot be moved, she knows it is him and that she can trust him.

In Book 11 Odysseus tells the story of his journey to Hades and his conversations with the dead. He sees his mother in Hades. She gives him an update on what has happened in Ithaca. She also tells him the story of her death. She died of grief waiting for Odysseus to return. It is important for Odysseus to receive this information, now he knows that there are suitors at his home, but that his wife has remained faithful. This knowledge gives him more motivation to return home. Knowing that his mother died of grief shows Odysseus how much he has been missed and gives him yet another reason to return home.
Odysseus talks to many warriors who died in the battles in Troy. Most notably he speaks to Achilles. Achilles is angry to be dead, he says that he would rather live a miserable, boring life that be a ruler in the underworld. He asks about his son and is very happy to hear that his son is a great warrior.
I think that all of these conversations with the dead are very important in Odysseus' journey because he sees the heartache and death that war causes. He feels bad about everyone who was lost in his journey and his desire to return home and make peace is renewed.

The sirens represent Odysseus's lack of faithfulness to his wife. Odysseus has be "distracted" by Calypso and Circe on his journey home. He hears the beautiful song of the sirens and even though he wants to go to them he must resist and continue his journey home. Odysseus is successful in resisting the temptation but only through forethought. He prepares for the temptation by plugging his crew's ears so that even if he is tempted they will be able to guide the ship past the sirens and keep Odysseus from going to them. Odysseus learns to trust his men to help him get home by giving them control of the ship while he is bound to the mast.

The characters in Book 6 Naucisaa, Arete, and King Alcinous represent peaceful hospitality. Naucisaa gives Odysseus clothing, even though she doesn't know him. She brings him to her home and her parents give him food and arrange for him to have a ship to bring him home. Odysseus is used to life at war, at King Alcinous' palace is a place of luxury and leisure. It is Odysseus' first peaceful encounter since he left for war. At first he worries that the Phaeacians will fight him, because that is what he is used to. This is Odysseus' first step to adjust to peaceful life.

Demodocus, the blind singer incorporates both the importance of song in the Odyssey, but also he reinforces Odysseus' journey back towards a civilized life. The song that retold stories from the war brought Odysseus to tears. He is softening his warlike traits and feeling sadness for those who were lost and for the time he spent away from home. He must undergo this transformation from warrior to civilian in order to live peacefully at home with his family.

Telemachus is the son of Odysseus and Penelope. He is a young man at the beginning of The Odyssey. Telemachus is trying to fill the role of his father as leader of the household. He dismisses the suitors who seek his mother's hand in marriage. When Penelope is upset by the song about the sufferings of the Greeks, Telemachus is not sympathetic. He tells her that Odysseus is not the only one who is gone and that she should go to her room. This is an example of Telemachus assuming a fatherly or husband-like position of power. Telemachus is willing to journey to find news of his father, he does not show signs of fear, he has a sense of duty, which is encouraged by Athena.
It is important to hear Telemachus' story first, because it sets up all of the information about Odysseus. It let's the reader know what has happened to the family before the story begins. Also, Telemachus' journey to find his father, mirrors Odysseus' journey home. Both men are journeying and growing simultaneously.

Throughout Genesis we see brothers competing for the favor in the eyes of their father or God. Starting with Cane and Abel, and then Joseph and Esau, and Joseph and his brothers. The recurrence of brotherly discord in the Genesis implicates that the feelings of jealously and anger between siblings are normal and to be expected. In the Joseph story there are more feelings at play. First the brothers want to kill Joseph, but then Ruben tells them not to shed blood and instead to abandon him. It is hard to tell why Ruben "saves" his brother, but it seems as if he wants to give Joseph a chance at survival, or he just doesn't want to be his brother's killer. However, he agrees to Judah's idea to sell him to the Ishmaelites. The relationship between the brothers is also a struggle for power. By winning their father's favor they assure themselves a better inheritance. Joseph is one of the younger brothers, but his father favors him. This upsets the older brothers, and then when Joseph has dreams that symbolize his rise to power over his brothers, they are furious. These problems exist, to some extent, in every modern family, the characters in Genesis, however, do not lend a very good example of how to handle family disputes.

Potiphar's wife is another example, along with Sarah and Rebeka of a powerful, cunning woman in Genesis. She tries to persuade Joseph to sleep with her, but he refuses. One day he is alone with Potiphar's wife and she grabs him and tries to bring him to bed with her, but he runs away. His robe falls off into her hands. As soon as she realizes that she could get in trouble for having his clothes, she calls to the men of the house and essentially says that Joseph tried to rape her. She remains in control of the situation through the whole story. She manipulates her husband and by doing so sends Joseph to jail. Although, the women of Genesis are powerful, they are not kind. They are usually manipulating men to get their way, Rebeka tricks her husband, Sarah forces Abraham to send his son away, and Potiphar's wife sends Joseph to jail.

Abram's assumption that the people of Egypt will kill him because of his wife's beauty, seems like Abram thinks that the Egyptians are barbarians. He has no reason, other than his assumption, to believe that they would behave in that way. This feels like an example of racism in Genesis. Abram believes that people who are from a different place will behave in a less sophisticated manner, but he has no documented experience with them to back up his thought process.
Also, the idea that Abram would let the Pharaoh sleep with his wife in order to protect himself from his false ideas about the Egyptians is very strange. Sarai doesn't object to the idea either. This is a very different message from the one of monogamy and sanctity of marriage that is generally associated with religious texts.
The Pharaoh is completely unaware of Abram and Sarai's trick, but based on his reaction, he never would have been involved with Sarai had he known that she was Abram's wife. Then he is punished by God, which seems unjust, considering he did not know he was doing anything wrong. I feel that Abram and Sarai should have felt some of that punishment too, because they judged the Pharaoh unfairly and led him to his demise.

In the story of Abram, Sarai and Hagar, Sarai cannot have children, so she tells Abram to impregnate her servant, Hagar. Once Hagar is pregnant, she feels very bitter towards Sarai. Hagar was essentially ordered to carry Abram's child for Sarai, so it's natural that she should be angry because she believes Sarai will take her child. Hagar runs away because of Sarai's anger, but God tells her to return to her angry mistress.
Once Sarah has her own child, Isaac, she sends Hagar her young son Ishmael away again. Abraham is upset because he loves his son, but God comforts him. He is stuck in the middle of the "love triangle" he has to show loyalty to his wife and her son, Isaac, but Ishmael is his son as well. However, Ishmael and Hagar, upset Abraham's wife, so he is forced to send them away.

Cain and Abel

In the story of Cain and Abel, both brothers look for approval from God. God favors Abel over Cain and the jealously that Cain feels leads him to kill Abel. Cain's feelings of jealously towards his brother are common throughout humanity. Children look for approval from their superiors, usually their parents, and when they do not get it they may lash out. God is put in the role of the parent in this story, he gives both favor and punishment to his "children" Cain and Abel.

This story explores the nastier side of humanity. Cain feels jealously and anger towards his brother and also towards God. It is Cain's role to tend to the earth and Abel's role to tend to livestock. When Cain and Abel bring their offerings to God, He prefers Abel's offering of animals to Cain's offering of fruit. Thus, Cain is set up to be jealous of his brother and angry at God. Abel did nothing to Cain, yet Cain feels that, when compared to his brother, he is not good enough. Therefore, in his eyes, he must kill Abel to be recognized for his accomplishments. God does not protect Abel, and if we understand God to be all-powerful in these stories, then he allows Cain to kill Abel.

The mark that God puts on Cain is interesting. Cain feels his punishment, and his guilt after killing his brother is too much to bare and he says that anyone who sees him will kill him. God marks him, so that he will not be killed. God wants Cain to live with his guilt and suffer it no matter where he goes. Although it is not clear what the mark is, it seems as if it would be obvious to anyone who came in contact with Cain what he had done.

This story explores the unpleasant emotions and actions of the human race; jealously murder, anger, vengeance, ect. It serves a purpose, to educate us that crime will be met with punishment and thus, justice is served.

Genesis Chapters 1-3

The god that is depicted in the opening chapter of Genesis has human senses. He sees and speaks. He can sense that things are "good". "He" is also assigned a male gender. But then God says "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." The use of the plural "us" and "our" is not consistent with rest of the story of creation. It implies multiple deities who make multiple people, males and females. It also implies that the deities have the form of humans. The way that God orders the creation is logical, like the way a person would plan a project. This story creates an image of God a an all-powerful person.

The second story of creation gives a less detailed account of the creation of the earth and a more detailed account of the creation of man. However, there are direct conflicts between the two stories. In the first creation myth, men and women are created at the same time, but in the second myth one woman is created from the rib of one man. Also, in the second myth God lets Adam name all of the plants and animals, but in the first myth God names them. In the Eden story, God makes woman to be man's helper, that is not the case in the first story. The two stories, when read together, feel like two different accounts of the same story. This could be a result of the bible as an oral tradition, where the story changed as it was retold and then both versions were recorded. For me, the best way to look at these two stories is as two versions of the same thing.

Adam and Eve's punishment and expulsion from the Garden of Eden is a metaphor and explanation  for the human experience. Before the text of the bible was written down, women felt pain during childbirth and men had to work for their food. The story of Adam and Eve is a way of justifying the various types of pain that are part of being human. The interesting part of the the story is why God punished Adam and Eve. He punished them because they went seeking knowledge that only God should have. This seems almost like a metaphor for growing up. When children are young, their parents care for them and try to spare them from pain and suffering. One way that they shelter their children is by withholding knowledge of the pains that come with life. But, when they grow up and seek adult knowledge pain and responsibility comes with it. Specifically, children don't bare children and, under good circumstances, they don't have to carry the full responsibility of feeding themselves. This is the same as God sheltering Adam and Eve from the knowledge of good an evil until they went and found it themselves. Then they had to "grow up" and learn to fend for themselves.