Thinking prompts #5 & #6: TRAGEDY & MYTH

Hi Everyone,

I’m a huge fan of Canadian poet and classics professor Anne Carson. In a preface to her translation of four plays by Euripedes, she offers us much to think about.

Here are two quotes for our contemplation.

Thinking prompt #5:

“Why does tragedy exist? Because you are full of rage. Why are you full of rage? Because you are full of grief.”

Thinking prompt #6:

“Myths are stories about people who become too big for their lives temporarily, so that they crash into other lives or brush against the gods. In crisis their souls are visible.”

Tragedies and myths often go hand-in-hand—wreaking havoc, derailing lives, leaving legacies (good and bad) that define generations, personally as well as politically. How are tragedy and myth playing out in your work? To paraphrase Carson, how are crises making the souls of your characters visible?

Happy thinking!

Abrazos,

Cristina