Reading Notes: Myth-Folklore Anthology

"The Indian who wrestled with a ghost" by Katharine Berry Judson was quite interesting to me.  It is about a Lakota warrior traveling alone on the warpath.  Each night he stops in a woods and builds a fire to sleep.  Each night he is approached by a ghost.  There are three ghosts, similar to "A Christmas Carol" and they are each after something different.  The final ghost he has to wrestle with to live and the ghost promises him that if he wins he will kill his enemy and steal many horses.  He beat the ghost, killed his enemy, & stole many horses so this is why people always believe what ghosts say.

(Owl from the above story in our reading assignments)

The story of Pygmalion, by Ovid & translated by Tony Kline was beautiful.  It was set on Paphos, a city on the island of Cyprus.  Pygmalion wanted a wife or bed partner desperately but couldn't find one.  So instead he carved one out of snow-white ivory, beautiful and life-like.  He falls in love with his creation because he is so lonely.  He touches her, kisses her, dresses her and gives her jewelry, and even goes so far as to put her in his bed and snuggle with her.  On the day of the celebration of Venus, he makes a prayer to the gods for a wife.  He says like his ivory girl because he is ashamed to say out of his ivory girl.  But Venus heard his prayer & knew what he truly meant.  She felt favor for Pygmalion and did turn his ivory girl to life.  He came home and when he kissed her, her lips were warm and her flesh was soft, not ivory.  Venus herself attended the marriage she helped to create and nine months later they had a son named Paphos, who the city is now named for.