EppsNet Archive: Mythology

Though Much is Taken, Much Abides

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Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are, One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. — Alfred Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses” Read more →

New Activities for Sisyphus

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Remove second space after period from each sentence in thousand page document, close without saving, repeat. More … Read more →

What Would Heracles Have Been?

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What would Heracles have been if he had said, “How am I to prevent a big lion from appearing, or a big boar, or brutal men?” What care you, I say? If a big boar appears, you will have a greater struggle to engage in; if evil men appear, you will free the world from evil men. “But if I die thus?” You will die a good man, fulfilling a noble action. — Epictetus, Discourses, Book IV, Ch. 10 Read more →

Do Not Withhold the Truth

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Did Laius obey Apollo? Did he not go away in his drunken stupor and dismiss the oracle from his mind? What then? Did Apollo withhold the truth from him for that reason? Indeed I do not know whether you will obey me or not, but Apollo knew most certainly that Laius would not obey, and yet he spoke. Why did he speak? Nay, why is he Apollo, why does he give oracles, why has he set himself in this position, to be a Prophet and a Fountain of truth, so that men from all the world come to him? Why is “Know thyself” written up over his shrine, though no one understands it? — Epictetus, Discourses, Book III, Ch. 1 Read more →

Monkeys on Typewriters

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If one puts an infinite number of monkeys in front of (strongly built) typewriters, and lets them clap away, there is a certainty that one of them would come out with an exact version of the Iliad. Upon examination, this may be less interesting a concept than it appears at first: Such probability is ridiculously low. But let us carry the reasoning one step beyond. Now that we have found that hero among monkeys, would any reader invest his life’s savings on a bet that the monkey would write the Odyssey next? — Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Fooled by Randomness Read more →

A Story from the Aztec People of Mexico

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It is said by our Grandparents that a long time ago there was a great fire in the forests that covered our Earth. People and animals started to run, trying to escape from the fire. Our brother owl, Tecolotl, was running away when he noticed a small bird hurrying back and forth between the nearest river and the fire. He headed toward this small bird. He noticed it was our brother the Quetzal bird, Quetzaltototl, running to the river, picking up small drops of water in his beak, then returning to the fire to throw that tiny bit of water on the flame. Owl approached Quetzal bird and yelled at him: “What are you doing brother? You are not going to achieve anything by doing this. You must run for your life!” Quetzal bird stopped for a moment and looked at owl, and then answered: “I am doing the best… Read more →

EppsNet Book Reviews: The Odyssey by Homer

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The author displays a lively imagination. The cast of characters includes both gods and mortals, and the story builds to a thrilling climax. I can’t wait to see what this promising young writer comes up with next. Read more →

Daily Twitter for 2009-03-16

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RT @presentationzen: So what is the good life anyway? http://snipurl.com/dx3od [Mark Albion’s animated movie – worth your 3 minutes] # John Wooden on failures and mistakes: http://tinyurl.com/d2keaf # Haiku on The Myth of Sisyphus: Master of his days / Could Sisyphus be happy? / Camus says he is. # Read more →

Haiku on The Myth of Sisyphus

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Master of his days, Could Sisyphus be happy? Camus says he is. Read more →