The Purpose Of Medieval Monsters In The Middle Ages

A common concept used throughout literature is monsters that are based solely off of the differences characters are able to identify between themselves and another character. This relates to the fourth thesis in Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s essay titled Monster Culture, where he states that monsters are based on differences. These differences can include “cultural, political, racial, economic, and sexual” (Cohen 7) differences, just to name a few. This thesis is exemplified in many medieval poems, including Bisclavret, by Marie de France, and Beowulf. Bisclavret and Beowulf both exemplify Cohen’s idea of monsters lying at the point of difference by showing that people discriminate and create stereotypes based on these differences.

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What defines a monster? Is it their grotesque, unnatural appearance that separates them from the rest of mankind, or is it their lack of remorse and compassion that makes them different? The word monster conjures up figures from gothic horror of exotic peoples with horrifyingly exaggerated features, and the kinds of impossible delusive beasts inhabiting the pages of medieval bestiaries. Well at first I thought exactly that. When I used to hear the word “monster”, my mind immediately pictured the petrifying beast that took residence under my bed for a substantial portion of my childhood. It had demonic beating red eyes, razor sharp teeth that glistened with fresh blood and amphibian like scales covering every inch of its enormous body. However, as I got older, I started to realize that there was no such thing as monsters and that it was all just a figment of my imagination. Accordingly, the fear of the monster under my bed slowly dissipated. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until after reading a quote by my favorite author, Steven King, that I was finally able to fully comprehend what the true definition of the word “monster” really was. “Monsters are real, ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win”. It had taken me awhile to truly grasp what King had meant, but then it clicked. Everyone has a monster inside them, dormant or not. That monster is the voice we hear in the back of our heads, urging us to cheat or to steal, and in some instances, worse. That monster

Some people have one inanimate object in their lives that they find so enticing that they are incapable of withstanding. One object that lures them into a deep trap not giving them any chance to resist. In Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song” as well as Homer’s The Odyssey the one inanimate object all men cannot seem to resist is a Siren calling them in. In “Siren Song” we see a portrayal of this irresistible lure by one Siren’s song as merely a taunting boredom, while in The Odyssey the Siren is seen as a toxic desire. Both these poems portray these characteristics of the Siren through point of view, tone, and imagery.

To start off, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen who wrote Monster Culture is Professor of English and Director of the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Institute at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. He is known for researching strange mysterious things that connect to an imaginative mind. He finds interested in monsters, foreigners, queers, inhuman forces. In Jeffrey Cohen’s essay Monster Culture Cohen discusses and effectively covers important reasons on how monsters connect with the cultures from which they rise from. I believe that Cohen’s theories are valid and that monsters are a good window into a certain culture.

The Sirens in the Odyssey represent more than just a maritime danger to the passing ship. They are the desires of man that he cannot have. The Sirens can also be construed as forbidden knowledge or some other taboo object. Whatever these singing women actually are, the sailors are wise to avoid them. As usual, the wily Odysseus cheats at the rules of the game by listening to their song under the restraints constructed by his crew.

Sirens are known to be creatures that caused many deaths of sailors. In Homer's "The Odyssey" sirens are relentless beings who sing to capture sailors to destroy their ships and murder them. In Atwood's "Siren Song" the sirens are portrayed as beings trying to escape this curse they were born with. In the "Siren Song", the narrator of this poem despises the life she has.

The interior walls of wealthy Roman houses were often covered with painted decoration. This painted panel shows the moment when Ulysses (Greek: Odysseus) and his crew have to steer their ship past the coastline where the sirens lived. The sirens were creatures, half-woman and half-bird, who used their skills in music and singing to draw ships and their crews onto the rocks. The sailors who survived the shipwreck would be devoured. The painting shows one siren playing the twin pipes, another the lyre, and the third presumably singing.

The poem The Sirens and the episode containing sirens in The Odyssey contain similarities that expose the theme of temptation. For instance, the sirens claim that their “green isle” is a place where one could “rest forevermore” in the poem, and they call to Odysseus as well, telling him how no one had passed the sirens without listening to them, and how they always received “a great treat.” Both of these examples show the sirens deception, how they are trying to fool men into thinking of a beautiful island with flowers and green grass when reality presents a manifest of death and evil, with each siren sitting atop a mound of bones.

Sirens in mythology are defined as beautiful, destructive creatures -either half woman, half bird or half woman, half fish- that obtain power by luring sailors to their deaths, causing their ships to crash on the reefs near

❖ To what extent was naval rivalry the main cause of the first World War?

William Shakespeare was born more than four hundred years ago, in April fifteen sixty-four. At a young age, Shakespeare married his wife and together they raised two daughters. Over time he became both prosperous and well-known for his acting, poetry, and playwriting (“Shakespeare's Life”). Shakespeare wrote more than thirty plays in his lifetime. His plays can be categorized as histories, comedies, tragedies, and romances. In the beginning, most of his plays were comedies and histories but over time he expanded his horizons writing the plays he is best known for today, such as Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth (‘Poet William Shakespeare’). In Shakespeare's well-known play Macbeth, Macbeth

A monster can be hard to define. Describing a monster can be easier than defining one. The term ’monster’ is broad and vague and as a result, it is easier to describe a monster rather than to define one. Tina Boyer says: “A monster is a cultural construct. By definition, it is a thing that shows or reflects cultural fears and forbidden obsessions, social and moral problems that express themselves in the body and behavior of the monstrous creature (Boyer 240).” What makes a monster scary differs among cultures, however, there are general trends of monsters and villains among cultures. Monsters are ugly in many European-based cultures, depicted with asymmetrical limbs and features. Hollywood has used these traits to make better movies for

Greek Mythology has influenced many “monsters” we reference in various works of current literature. Anywhere from 3 headed dogs to women with snakes for locks of hair, all of these deformed common things originated from Mythology. Not only do we still reference the monsters themselves in all forms of art today but also we implement the qualities the monsters posses unto characters in our stories.

Once the men are drawn to the Sirens, they are stuck and there is no way for them to escape. Additionally, Homer explains Odysseus’ encounter with the Sirens from Odysseus’ point of view. The Sirens try to attract Odysseus by singing compliments to “famous Odysseus,” so he will assume he is the object of their desire (14). The Sirens are intelligent, and therefore determine what Odysseus’ true weaknesses: flattery and the desire for recognition. His faults are similar to other men; however no other men share Odysseus’ unique wish. When Odysseus sails by, they attack his weaknesses, just as they do to the other ships, but Odysseus already is prepared. The Sirens sing to him and promise he will be able to “[sail] on a wiser man” if Odysseus listens to their song (18). His plan almost fails because the song captivates Odysseus and, thus, attempts to join the Sirens, risking his life to gain the knowledge that the Sirens guarantee. Odysseus navigates himself through the sea with hopes of becoming more intelligent. Homer describes the Sirens as beautiful yet cunning because of their ability to identify men’s weaknesses easily. Their beauty attracts men and thus draws them toward their death. Homer’s view of the relationship between Odysseus and the Sirens prove that the Sirens are extremely tempting and the men cannot help but fall for them.