Week 4 reading

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Focusing on poem verse 6 on page 11 of “Odysseus and the Sirens”, the carefully cultivated song (with a rhyming scheme of ABAB) to catch Odysseus attention with his greatest desires and fluffed up ego had worked to the point where his crew mates had to tighten Odysseus binds before he escaped and went towards the sirens. Not a sexually charged lure was used in this scene, instead the offer was about having rich knowledge and becoming a more powerful being.

Odysseus is an arrogant warrior and how did the sirens manage to catch his attention? “O pride of Greece!” (line 1) and “Blest is the man ordain’d our voice to hear,”(line 3) are great hooks that captured Odysseus ear. Who wouldn’t want to play a closer ear to someone complimenting them? The sirens praising him for being the extraordinary warrior he is and acknowledging how lucky he is to be hearing their “lay”(line 2). Odysseus knows that the sirens have bad intentions, hence why he’s bounded to his ship and his crew mates have wax stuffed in their ears. The supernatural beings that sirens are and have access to infinite knowledge helped gain their case for how to lure Odysseus their way.

The “Celestial music warbles from their tongue”(pg.11, verse 5, line 3) has me associating sirens as the harbingers of death. These supernatural creatures have sweet songs that convince humans to end their lives for whatever deep desire they have in their souls that isn’t for safe keeping while you’re around them. They know your vulnerabilities and use them against you.

This scene showcases how often humans are tempted to go the wrong route in life that will bring a heavy hand of pain. Or, fight through those intrusive and compelling thoughts and stay true to oneself. The choice is ours.

Taking The Conversations Off Land: Normalizing Ocean-speak

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Steve Mentz’s “Deterritorializing Preface” is a short excerpt that makes a striking argument for the switching of codes from terra-centric vocabularies to ocean-centric vocabularies. At the very beginning of the preface, Mentz states, “our bodies and imaginations register the shift from familiar Terra to alien Oceanus” (1). As he refers to the ocean as “alien,” an idea of the ocean being mysterious, intriguing, and universally unknown is placed and confirmed inside the reader’s mind. So, with the terrestrial language including words such as field, ground, and landscape, which are such strict terms, it is almost essential for us to explore the unknown and expand our vocabulary to become more dynamic, just as the ocean is.

Mentz’s suggestion to change the universal term of the field to “current” is a highly intriguing point, especially as this topic was briefly discussed in class. The term’ field’ seems so stationary and flat, so to use the term “current” as one to suggest flow and change is a positive step in the right direction. To understand the ocean, we must first accept that our minds and ideas need to flow like a current instead of remaining in a constant pasture. Next, we must recognize that the Earth is mostly blue to fully understand and appreciate “Blue Humanities”. To relate to the Earth being mostly water, we must allow our minds and metaphors to float up to the surface and recycle rather than remain on the ground floor and never take off. Lastly, to build on the idea of our language changing as well as our ideas, we must be able to also let go of linear visual thinking related with the term landscape. Instead, we should resort to the term seascape, as nothing is ever so clear in the ocean for us humans, and is always left up to interpretation, such as is most of our lives. Adopting more dynamic language related to blue humanities may prove beneficial to society as it creates open, ever-changing, and therefore constantly learning minds.

This brief reading from Steve Mentz was thoroughly enjoyable and allowed me to open my own mind to re-interpret what blue humanities might be. This type of constant flow-state of thinking, especially relating to everyday language, is one that I have never truly thought about, and I am appreciative of Mentz’s writing.

The seas and horizons are one in the same, forever forcing us to question our known world.

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In Steve Mentz’s passage, “Deterritorializing Preface,” he introduces his audience to a new vocabulary, not only to acquaint his readers with the language of the ocean, but to integrate it into the “land language” (of sorts) that we use every day.

What caught my attention the most out of these seven vocabulary words was Horizon. Every other word introduced had been changed. Water from ground, flow from progress, seascape from landscape, except for horizon “(formerly horizon).”

We have always associated the word horizon with the unknown, and in the case of humans, the unknown has always been and still is the ocean. For much of human history, all we had to tell us of where we were and where we were going were our senses, most importantly, vision. The horizon is the farthest distance our eyes can behold, and we have constantly chased that place. The horizon calls to us even more because it is often associated with the ocean. That stark flat line of blue waters that merges with the sky is enticing because it seems to span forever, and we are just as curious as to what lies beyond it as we are to what lies beneath it. We use phrases like “broaden our horizons” when we refer to bettering ourselves or gaining knowledge, because when we chase horizons, we leave behind the world we know in the hope of discovery. Mentz states, “Can horizon be a metaphor for futurity that spans green pastures and blue seas? I imagine horizons as sites of transition…” (Deterritorializing Preface XVI) Of course, there is no true “place” where the sky meets the sea, but it is attainable through progress, or as Mentz would call it, flow. This transitional space, upon which we chase the sun to the edge of the water, is where we expand our comprehension of the planet we call home.

We look to horizons also for markers or points of new beginnings or of memories. “Early modern
European sailors heading into the Atlantic spent days looking out for the unmistakable silhouette of Tenerife’s volcano, which signaled impending arrival at the Canary Islands” (Deterritorializing Preface XVI.) The landmarks that jet out in contrast to the vast sea are signs of hope and life. On a canvas of mysterious waters that make up most of this earth, land on the horizon not only gives us bearing, but the promise of a habitable place.

A Modern day Reflection of the Ocean

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In the passage “Mermaids among us today” the quote “The reimagined figure of the mermaid resonates for many today as fluid feminine self possession or playful queerness”. What it implies is that how I see views on people who have that questioning their identity. We do have that question in the back of our mind but where I see it as a interpretation of modern day feminism and it has an impact on our culture. I also see it as a ignorance and it is not society fault for not understanding of the negative side of mermaid culture and Ariel is the face of what Mermaids are that is just a cover of what is hidden.

From pages xxi to xxii the quote ” In the late twentieth century, riding the second wave of Western Feminism, Andersen’s Little Mermaid became Disney Ariel, and her voice and songs memorably asserted her double betweenness as an adolescent mermaid”. It tells me that their way of telling that identity is more than just one image that is a famous Icon such as Ariel. Another series that took off as mermaid is that the latest Disney movie Luca where it is about how mermaids are not accepted and not viewed positively by having a look of disgusted. It is being done by showing how representation is not just a musical about feminine ideal that people look up to and wanting to become a mermaid even though it has been showed to be a ideal creature.

This is relevant because in our modern culture our identities have lately been shifting around and people aren’t really sure what is real and what is not. The meaning of this is that it has been a growing trend to defy the norm of being normal to some degree. Mermaids controversy has added quite a lot of layers of knowing how they are depicted. Illusions has been quite taken as a form of dreaming to be a fictional character who may or may not have existed. There has been stories been told about mermaids show people have grown to only known or never known about the truth behind mermaids themselves.

Week 4: Interpreting Bodies of Water and Everything in Between

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After reading Steve Mentz, “A Poetics of Planetary Water: The Blue Humanities after John Gillis”, I was lead to believe that nearly any body of water from, “…oceans to include rivers, lakes, glaciers, and many other forms of water”, as well as other planetary features, are open to interpretations of any kind. While the text was heavy with neologisms, one takeaway was the way in which the sea is a deep void where stories can brew and be created as Salman Rushdie was quoted the ocean being a, “Sea of stories”. When you think about it there was not only an infinite amount of stories that are also left untold. When the text went on to include glaciers as a different form of body of water, I began to think of the story unfolding relating to that. Glaciers melting, possible new bodies of water forming, what other forms of literature will stem from that into oceanic, or blue scholarship. One question sparking my interest, why new genre will stem from the stories revolving around the melting ice caps? This seems like more of an unfortunate reality, than fiction.

The duality between the ocean being a place of mystery and endeavoring literary journeys, “A poetics that emerges from an encounter with alienating water always relates itself to the awkward relationship of humans and water; we depend upon it and love it, but it cannot be our home”. Similar to what we have been reading lately relating to Merpeople, humanity sees the ocean as a riveting place, yet fears it as much as we do mythical sea creatures. The best we can do at times is simply write about it. Reading between the lines, almost like you’re reading between waves of the sea, like attempting to make sense the the shapes of the clouds. Worth nothing, clouds are an extension of the bodies of water as noted within the text, “[…] take my cue from a famous exchange in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The prince, in mockery and in jest, attempts to interpret clouds”, giving us insight on how bodies of water have been a peak of interest for centuries.

Rethinking water and the lessons of distortion

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In both “A Poetics of Planetary Water” and ”Deterritorializing Preface”, Steve Mentz mentions that water is not just a background detail. Instead, it is something active that shapes human life and the way we think.

About “planetary water”, he says we should include not only the ocean but also rivers, lakes, glaciers, and even vapor in the air. He explains, “Human bodies and cultures form themselves in encounters with water in all three physical phases, liquid, solid, and gas.” This made me realize how often I do not realize or think about water in my daily life. I drink water and walk in the rain, but I don’t usually think about how those small moments connect to bigger systems like glaciers or oceans. Dickinson’s poem about the sea as “Everywhere of Silver” shows how water can be beautiful and scary at the same time, and Whitman’s poem about swimming in the surf reminded me of my own summers at the beach. Reading Mentz made me see those memories as part of something larger, not just small personal experiences.

In the “Deterritorializing Preface”, Mentz suggests “seven new words” to help us think differently. The one I found most interesting was “distortion” instead of “clarity.” Since water bends light, what we see through it is never fully clear. When I read this, I connected it to my own experience in school. I often feel pressure to give clear and correct answers, as if learning always has to be perfect. But the truth is, learning is rarely that simple. Sometimes it is confusing, and sometimes I don’t fully understand things right away. Mentz’s idea of distortion reminded me that confusion is not always failure, it can be part of the process. Like water, knowledge changes depending on where you stand and how you look at it. I thought that if we accept distortion, we can see value in shifting perspectives. It means knowledge is not fixed, but flexible and moving like water. This makes me think differently about learning, and it also makes me less afraid of uncertainty.

Changing one word, clarity to distortion, might not sound like much, but it really does change my thinking about knowledge. It suggests that instead of chasing perfect answers, we should pay more attention to movement, change, and growth. And that feels much more realistic, and also more human.

Humans: The Truest Aquatic Mammalian Species

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Steve Mentz takes a really interesting perspective on establishing a clear relationship between the ocean beyond its existence just being something we enjoy; he recognizes it is embedded in our nature in more ways than one. He references the popular oceanic centric book we often discuss, Moby Dick: “One of the most widely quoted phrases from the novel holds that ‘meditation and water are wedded for ever.’4” (Mentz, 139). The word meditation is what truly defines this, considering how it’s perceived and utilized within modern society. Meditation’s connotation of peace and relaxation begin to flesh out how water belongs to “nature”, in the sense of relaxation’s connection to being stationary, to being at rest.

Without trying, water finds itself resting within us, our genetic makeups, and connecting to it allows almost this greater connection and grounding to ourselves. Minor habits like needing to drink water when we want to stop tears from coming, or splashing cold water when we become so consumed by anger, we need a snap back to reality. It is literally married to our ideals of breaking calamity, our need for stability because of its connection to the natural world around us. The life it takes on, the movement of its own, to run and crash the way we could, to dance and shine the way fire can, draws us to spiritually connect with it as something of solitude, as it juxtaposes flame’s intensity.

His insight on this intertwined reality ties back to our focus on mermaids specifically when he addresses the ocean’s connection to us: “A poetics that emerges from an encounter with alienating water always relates itself to the awkward relationship of humans and water; we depend upon it and love it, but it cannot be our home” (140). This peace found within it, combined with an inability to ever truly be immersed in it totally seems to have almost driven the need to create mermaids. Desire to be and feel human cognition, but be able to survive as aquatic beings describes them so exactly, and reflects how their existence forces us to recognize how the peace can be disrupted. So long as the world deteriorates at the rate it does, our creatures that depend on it for sustenance, and not just a moment of grounding, suffer and thereby push attention on its decline. It gives us a way to holistically appreciate it, and in trying times, a way to recognize faults.

Odysseus and the Deadly Temptation of the Sirens

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In this week’s reading of “Odysseus and the Sirens” in The Penguin Book of Mermaids, it recounts Odysseus’ encounter with the Sirens, which, if I remember correctly, is one of the most symbolically charged episodes in his journey home. The Sirens, like mermaids, embody the trope of dangerous femininity: they are creatures who enchant men with beauty and song only to lead them to their dooms. What distinguishes this episode is not only the deadly temptation Odysseus faces but also the preparation he brings, having been warned by Circe. Unlike other moments of erotic or sensual temptation in his other travels, the Sirens’ lure is on a different level of danger. It is an intellectual and spiritual seduction that can be tied to the desire for knowledge.

This story carefully shows the tension between control and surrender. Odysseus asserts his authority from the beginning, instructing his men to bind him fast, “Me, me alone, with fetters firmly bound, / The gods allow to hear the dangerous sound” (10). His insistence that chains be “added band to band” reveals an awareness of his own vulnerability. He desires to hear the Sirens but also knows the peril of indulging in their song unrestrained. The physical imagery of bondage that is seen only dramatizes the paradox: Odysseus gains access to the Sirens’ knowledge only through restriction. In this way, the passage uses wisdom as something that can be achieved only by resisting desire, even when that resistance comes through force.

The Sirens’ song itself highlights the danger. They promise Odysseus not sensual pleasure but “new wisdom from the wise” (11), appealing to his heroic identity as a seeker of knowledge. Their words use knowledge as a form of transcendence: “thy soul shall into raptures rise!” Yet the framing of this knowledge is also destructive. By offering the totality of human experience–“Whate’er beneath the sun’s bright journey lies”– the Sirens promise an omniscience that no mortal should claim. Their music is a portal, one that tempts him toward a dimension beyond human limits, where the cost of knowledge is death.

Odysseus’s struggle to break free during the Sirens’ song, despite having planned for this exact moment, shows the seductive power of their mystical, ethereal promise. His men, immune with wax-stopped ears, remain safe because they are locked out of this ‘knowledge.’ The tension between Odysseus and his men shows the danger of intellectual temptation. Odysseus, the seeker, is drawn to the perilous edge, while his men embody the wisdom of ignorance.

Overall, the passages’ reading dramatizes the precarious balance that lies between curiosity and survival. By escaping, Odysseus affirms his self-control, but the scene that is depicted reminds us of that fine line between knowledge that empowers and the knowledge that destroys.

Siren’s Song between Knowledge and Temptation

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The most impressive part of reading “Odysseus and the Sirens” in The Penguin Book of Mermaids was the lyrics of the Sirens’ song. The Sirens tried to tempt humans by using intellectual power and pulling them toward the sea. At this point, I wondered why they used “knowledge” instead of something else as the reason for temptation. In modern society, honor or money might be seen as more powerful temptations. However, after thinking more, I realized that both honor and money usually come from knowledge. Human beings also tend to admire those who have greater wisdom than themselves. For this reason, I think knowledge could be the strongest and most universal form of temptation.

Still, I felt a contradictory emotion because this knowledge was offered not by a holy or noble figure but by the Sirens, who are monstrous beings. Normally, people imagine knowledge as a sacred gift from wise or divine figures, such as gods, prophets, or respected teachers. But here, the Sirens lead humans to death while giving that knowledge. This mismatch makes us feel stronger fear and uneasiness. Their song is both a promise of enlightenment and a trap that ensures destruction. This duality creates a sense of confusion asking ourselves should knowledge always be trusted, or can it sometimes be dangerous? At the same time, the Sirens’ beautiful voices produce desires to hear them, while their dangerous nature causes fear. This combination results in powerful ambivalent feelings. Odysseus’s action of trying to listen to the music while being tied shows that human beings often try to experience temptation while at the same time creating limits to protect themselves. In this way, the scene reflects the human struggle between curiosity and survival.

In particular, the fact that the Sirens have a half-human shape makes the boundary between humans and monsters unclear. This blurring of boundaries projects suppressed human desires onto the Sirens and makes the emotions of the readers even more complex. It suggests that the dangers we fear most may not come from the outside but from within ourselves, from desires we cannot control. The Sirens’ song is memorable not only because of its beauty but also because it reveals the paradox of knowledge, temptation, and human weakness. It teaches us that even the most valuable gifts, such as wisdom, can also carry danger.

Sirens Temptation of Divine Knowlegde

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In this week’s reading of “Odysseus and the Sirens” in The Penguin Book of Mermaids, the mermaids are painted to be tempting creatures because they promise wisdom and knowledge, which lures men to crash their boats and lead to their unfortunate death. During the Odyssey, Circe helps Odysseus plan against being tempted and warns him against the Sirens. Now this begs the question, why? What were they warning? The sirens in the Odyssey were symbols of knowledge of the truth, and the fear mongered around them was the fear of knowing too much and becoming too powerful.

If I recall the Odyssey accurately, his city was destroyed after a war, which often raises questions about power afterward. The warning against mermaids was used to maintain people’s trust in the ruler and served as propaganda to keep them fearful of knowledge. Specifically, the line “we know whate’er the kings of mighty name, Achieved at Ilion in the field of fame” demonstrates that the mermaids were superior to the mighty; their knowledge was stronger than that of the current ruler (11). So, this effort to prevent people from gaining knowledge is a strategy to keep them uneducated and easy to control. There is also a claim to “fame” with knowledge. 

This raises questions about the misuse of knowledge. Those who use their knowledge maliciously to exploit people. Which would reveal the truth of power held towards the top of the hierarchy. The warning against the mermaids is also a warning against greed. To be greedy of knowledge that destroys the people around you and eventually yourself, almost like an ‘evil crazy scientist’. The never-ending cycle of always having a desire for more will be one’s ultimate demise. So, the sailor’s unfortunate death caused by the mermaid would be just the cause of their death, which would just be a consequence of their own personal sin. 

Overall, the depiction of Sirens is very interesting, as they are monsters of temptation through their promise of otherworldly wisdom. The more knowledge someone has, the harder they are to control, and the desire for more only grows.