Greek Mythology

In the myth of Achilles (specifically gotten from the Iliad of Homer by Richmond Lattimore) Achilles is a war hero who has to decide between kleos, the Greek version of ultimate glory, and leading a normal life. The problem is, is that if Achilles goes out into battle he will cause his side a great victory but will in return be killed. Achilles at one point runs away from the fighting in fear for his life. By running away his side of the battle started losing and would continue to be defeated until Achilles would re-enter the war. Many readers and critics despise Achilles for his choice to leave the battle but I on the other hand empathize with him fully. One can learn two morals from this myth; 1) Running away is the never the answer when many lives are at stake 2) Even someone who is powerful has fears and weaknesses. I believe that the second is the moral I recognize more in my daily life. We all want to please people and make life as comfortable for others (at least I do). But what Achilles expresses when he turned his back on his country was a human emotion most of us feel time and time again, submission. Giving up was the only way he could have re-evaluated his wants and his own needs. I learn that backing away isn't always the worst strategy and can ever help one keep out of a bad situation. At the end of the story Achilles does re-enter the war fulfilling the prophecy that he all along had to conform to.  This can also show that Achilles had re-evaluated his choices and with a clear head he decided that his country needed him at this time and his sacrifice was his choice. 

The Woman Worrier by Maxine Hong

In the Maxine article, The Woman Worrier woman are described to be overall useless to society. One girl who had searched the mountains found two elders to help her on her journey to defend and protect her village. After completing many tough and tedious tasks this now young woman goes back to her home town on a mission to get rid of the bandits of the land. She dresses as a man and recruits many soldiers to fight with her against the towns enemies. Throughout the article the protagonist is all powerful when she in in-feminine but at the end when she admit so to speak to her femininity she loses that powerful touch. The end of the article explains that this one Chinese woman felt like she and this protagonist had a lot in common. Although I did not see any such similarities the author explains that the common bound between her and the hero is that fact that both of them have revenge of their backs. To me personally this article was a bit challenging to understand because of the many foreign concepts involved. I actually didn't understand the meaning of the writing until the very end when the author explains her circumstance as a Chinese immigrant. I have a lot of questions concerning this piece; Why does the hero of the story leave her family in the first place? Whats her inspiration? And do Chinese woman (of that time) look up to characters who literally strip away their femininity in order to gain power? In that society can a woman not be a powerful figure in society? I know such stories usually have a moral and I feel as thought the moral is some what confusing because of the ending.  The moral to me is that, woman in any society have to change there sexuality almost to be able to do extraordinary things, although I don't agree I do feel that this is the moral.