Author: Peter Wolkofsky

I just read the article Risk, Reward, Steroids Inside a Tempting World of Easy Steroids by Michael S. Schmidt on NewYorkTimes.com it explained that over the past decade the use of performance enhancing drugs has become known to the public.  This illegal practice has been going on inside major league baseball for longer than any fan or writer can speculate.  Steroids had been banned since 1991 but there was nothing the league could do to enforce these rules until 2003.  Even after punishments had been set and implemented on some, players like all-star third baseman Troy Glaus and pitcher Scott Schoeneweis still proceeded to inject the banned substances

“Even after Major League Baseball and its players union bowed to pressure and started a testing program in 2003, the All-Star third baseman — Troy Glaus of the Anaheim Angels — and the worn-down pitcher — his teammate Scott Schoeneweis — said they continued using steroids…Glaus said he was “willing to take the risk” because he needed to play, according to a report written by the federal agent who interviewed him.”

These players began taking steroids not to become the best player to ever play the game but, instead to heal quicker to make a living for their families.  Major league baseball has been a complete victim of financialization, with these new billion dollar stadiums that have advertisements in every corner of the stadium.  Players started taking steroids because many players numbers were being inflated by players who were using steroids.  Therefore to keep up, many more began to follow so they could produce numbers which in actuality turned into a big contract.

The scariest part of this whole entire ordeal is that most of these cheaters were not to sure what they were actually putting into their bodies

“Frustrated with his rehabilitation, Glaus contacted Scruggs, whose only request was for a blood sample to see whether Glaus’s testosterone levels were low enough to warrant a prescription for steroids. Medical files seized from Scruggs’s office show the steroids were sent before Scruggs reviewed Glaus’s blood test.

Asked by the investigators whether he was concerned that Scruggs did not ask to see him, Glaus was quoted in the report as saying: “I just wanted to get better, it didn’t alarm me. I just wanted to get better and play.”

To play at the level that he needed to Glaus risked everything but all Glaus cared about was getting better to play the game he loved.  This should never be the case for America’s past time, these are men who love the game cheating and tainting the game that so many other’s truly love.  From my perspective I don’t ever seeing Major League baseball ever becoming definancialized.  There is way to much money to be made in the industry.  I do see the use of illegally band substances being used at a much lower rate in the upcoming decade from its predecessor.
The URL is http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/sports/baseball/12steroids.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=reason%20players%20took%20steroids&st=cse

The question of whether ignorance is bliss is a very interesting idea and question. The idea behind it is as follows: would you rather live a life of luxury and glory not knowing what you have done to others to get their? Or would you rather know how you got all of your luxuries in life and who you had to roll over to get their?

After going through this English class I have come to realize that to be a truly humble person you must know how you got to the situation where you are, to simple appreciate what you have. For example a king such as Gilgamesh was so full of himself and did not care about anyone but himself until he met Inkidu. Since they had such a strong relationship Gilgamesh thought that they were indestructible. Until Gilgameshes worst nightmares came to life, Inkidu was cursed and died a painful death. After this occurrence I believe this humbled Gilgamesh, without this experience he would have never gone on hid long and epic journey to become a good leader. Without that experience he would have never gotten an everlasting legacy that he dreamed about his whole life.

After reading many of these stories this semester I came to realize how unbelievable and brilliant the authors were of their time. How theses people understood what they wrote hundreds of years ago would really be relevant today, that is what ignorance is bliss is about. How these people wrote their ideas down on paper not knowing what kind of impact it would have on the world hundreds of years later. It just amazes me that this is the case today with these stories.

Finally coming to end I have realized that their are certain times where you want to be in the “know” and other times when you just want to ride out the glory not knowing how you got there. That is the beauty of life and the beauty of free will. A person cannot appreciate their luxuries if they do not know how fortunate they are compared to other people living in much worse conditions. A friend of mine is going to Uganda over vacation to help sick children in a village . He does not need to do this, he is doing it because he wants to learn and possibly appreciate what kind of life he lives compared to less fortunate people. Being the good person he is , wanting to help any which way he can, paying out of pocket to experience this. Their are good people in this world even though ignorance is truly bliss.

The question, wheather or no Don Quixote is a noble hero or a fool is a very intresting question.  He happens to be both in the same.  To himself he wants to be a hero living out a dream from his past.  To the reader he is absolutely ridiculous.  A person cannot just become a hero because they want too, it is sometimes out of their control.  Its like falling in love, you are not suppose to look for it because if you do you are hopeless and it will never come to you.  Love catches you when you least expect it, in Don Quixote’s case he is doing it all wrong.  The quote ” O lady of beauty, he said, strength and vigor of this fainting heart of mine!  Now is the time to turn the eyes of your greatness upon this captive knight of yours who must face so formidable an adventure.”(Cervantes, 2690) explains my point very well.  He is telling this women that he is must leave and go on an adventure, but not mentioning any reason to go on this so called adventure.  So, as one of the readers of this story I find Don Quixote a total fool.  

At this point in the story we come to realize that Satan is given up on himself and has accepted the fact that he will never be able to go to heaven.  From this knowledge he begins to be in fact a “villain” instead of waiting in hell.  Adam and Eve are living in the Garden Of Eden, just doing enough work and labor to truly appreciate the gifts that God has allowed them to receive.  Satan realizing that he now has come to admire the earth more so than heave, is now jealous of the fact that he cannot stay there.  Satan is out to corrupt mankind, with his temptation for what he cannot have.

From his negativity Satan finds an animal that he can use to cause some havoc in the Garden.  Meanwhile Adam and Eve are arguing about the process in which they should be doing their work in the morning.  Usually they stay together so that nothing happens to one another.  On this particular morning since they have so much work to do Eve suggests to separate and work individually.  Adam explains that we cannot do this because Satan is somewhere in the Garden looking for them.  Eve replies if we live in fear how can this be paradise, how can we ever be happy “If tis be our condition, thus to dwell/In narrow circuit straitened by a foe,/Subtle or violent, we not endued/Single with like defense wherever met,/How are we happy, still in fear of harm?”(9,321-326).  I picked this quote because was true when Milton wrote it and it is true right this second.  The first thing that comes to mind when Eve says this is all my friends who live in Israel.  How everyday there could be a terrorist attack at any part of the country, how they are taught to live their lives as normal as anybody anywhere in the world.  If they do not have this kind of mindset the enemy has one the battle and the war.

Satan picks the snake and it is the perfect type of creature to pick for someone who is not a good person.  The serpent is a very persuasive and hypnotizing creature that has a negative connotation on its back.  Since Eve is all-alone without Adam she has no other voice of reasoning other than the snake.  With the snake flattering her and impressing her with the power to speak she is tempted to try the fruit.  Milton without even knowing it is portraying any women in present day who has feelings for a man who is not a good influence and will only do harm to ones future.  With persistence in persuading Eve, the snake finally convinces her to taste from the tree.

Once this occurs Eve runs to Adam to share the knowledge that she has just obtained.  Realizing that she is doomed and that Adam wants to be with Eve forever he eats from the fruit as well.  Satan has now succeeded in ruining the lives of other creatures that God has created.  The turn of events I believe were not a coincidence.  The fact that Eve was alone made it ever so possible for the snake to sneak in and persuade her to eat the forbidden fruit.  With this in place Satan had been the victor, no matter what else happened these beings failed to abide by Gods rules.  I truly admire the actions of Adam, he supported and loved his women so much that knowing the repercussion of eating the fruit would be bad, he did disregarded it to be with her forever.

Even though the story did not end in a positive manner, we as humans learnt about temptation and how it can be the root of all-evil.  In this case Satan was temptation and through the story we are taught that he is evil.  Therefore temptation is evil all in itself.

In “The Epic of Gilgamesh” love, death and sexuality are the three things Gilgamesh must embrace before becoming a good king with an everlasting legacy.

If I were to right a research paper for english class it would revolve around Gilgamesh.  When I read it the first time I do not think that I truly grasped the true meaning behind the words.  I am curious to go more in depth into the context that the author uses in his writings.  A big curiosity for me was the placement of sexuality in the epic.  I truly did not grasp why he tried to make his male counterpart a “lover” of his.  The epic is a good read that I would love to read again and become more familiar with.  I look forward to diving right into this timeless epic.

Peter Wolkofsky and Tony Chen

The character of the Pardoner in “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer is quite a scary person when you read about it. The Pardoner is a man who collects money from people who want to get rid of their sins. This money is supposed to go to the hospital, in this case St. Mary of Rouncivalle. This man is supposed to be an honest man who collects charity to give to the hospital so that it can run more efficiently.

In Chaucer’s case in “The Canterbury Tales” the Pardoner is a phony “He made dupes of the Parson and his flock. Although his conscience was little plastic he was in church a noble ecclesiastic” (Chaucer, 688-690). The appearance portrayed by the Pardoner is of a sleazy kind human being “This Pardoner had hair as yellow as wax, but it hung as smoothly as a hank of flax” (Chaucer, 657-658). This pardoner knew once he started to do his shtick, he had to be on his game so he would get his money. This Pardoner prided himself on being very good at being a con-artist “For he understood that when this song was sung, Then he must preach, and sharpen up his tongue To rake in cash, as well he knew the art, And so he sang out gaily with full heart”(Chaucer, 693-697).

In today’s society the Pardoner would remind me of a con-artist. Someone who pretends to be someone they are not to take advantage of innocent people.

One would not thin that both the Old Testament and the New Testament are quite similar but, to my surprise they really are. In the Old Testament Moses goes up onto Mount Sinai to receive the ten commandments, while Jesus in the Old Testament goes up to a mountain to receive directions from God. In the Old Testament Moses is afraid that his people do not believe in the power of God and will try and come up the mountain. God proclaims that if anyone touches the mountain than they will die. In the New Testament God says if his people do anything of that sorts they will not be allowed in the kingdom of heaven. In both versions the people are hungry and tired and need a sign from God do that they can worship him.

Both the Old and New Testament are timeless pieces of literature that can be compared, or contrasted. Over the years many worshipers have done so. As you can see, there are most definetly more ways to compare the two.

While on one hand you can understand why Medea kills her husband Jason and their two children, the other hand says that you are crazy to even try and relate to this occurrence.  It is never justifiable that any women kill her husband and children.  In today’s world Medea would have been locked up for life.  I can understand why Euripides tries to make the reader sympathies with Medea but taking revenge by killing your children is too much for me.  Medea looses all of her sympathetic credibility at this point and is totally blinded by her hurtful actions.  Therefore almost justifying her anger and rage towards Jason.  I find Medea to be mentally unstable, so she does not believe that what she is doing is truly wrong.  All she cares about is revenge against her husband.  She even goes as far to pretend to admit to overreacting to what Jason has done to her.

Rage is a blinding emotion that for most of the time is not justifiable.  The odd thing is Euripides tries to justify this emotion. Medea is a woman whose husband and soul mate has been cheating on with another women.  Any person who has a soul would understand that this is the most embarrassing and heartbreaking thing a man can do to a women.  Therefore Euripides is justifying the fact that Medea is Keene on taking revenge upon Jason “And poor Medea is slighted, and cries aloud on the/Vows they made to each other, the right hands clasped/Internal promise…/She lies without food and gives herself up to suffering,/Wasting away every moment of the day in tears”(Euripides, 20-25).  The other thing that Jason did to Medea was to use her.  After a while she realized this and hates Jason for it.  When Jason was with his men and found Medea in her hometown she betrayed her country and its king to be with Jason.  She gave up so much for him and now he has betrayed her and left her for another women.  After killing everybody Jason tries to curse Medea but she says that there is no God that would listen to him because he is a liar and a cheater “What heavenly power lends an ear/ To a breaker of oaths, a deceiver?”(Euripides,1366-1367).

These examples I used in my opinion do not truly mitigate the actions that Medea did to her family.  She wanted to kill everyone that Jason loved to as a form of torture.  Not realizing that killing her own children is a form of torture for herself as well.  The only way I can justify any killing would be if Medea killed Jason alone.  Which in my heart still feels terribly wrong.  Medea was hurt from Jason’s unforgivable actions of cheating but, he did not love her anymore and essentially broke up with her prior to marrying his new wife.  Euripides tries to give valid examples but in retrospect nothing justifies murder.

My personal understanding of a tragic hero is somebody that has everything and looses it in a very short period of time.  The first person that comes to mind is Julius Ceasar, who was king and within a very short period of time was dead because of it.  The issue with Medea is that she is quite bitter over the fact that her husband has left her.  This ultimately leads to her downfall, through pain and hate.  Euripides is speaking through Medea on behalf of all women.  Medea is portrayed as a very strong willed women who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.  Throughout the dialogue you learn more of the story why Medea is so angry.  She abandoned her family to be him; she helped her husband Jason really to become a man among other things.  She even had part in helping killing a man, this is sacrifice in ones life no matter which way you look at it “Where am I to go?  To my father’s?  Him I betrayed and his land when I came with you”(line 490-491)

Because she cursed the children and her husband Jason the king of Corinth Kreon has banished her from his land.  We can already see how the chain of events are leading towards a very harsh downfall even a death in someone’s life at this point.  Medea’s plan is to kill her two children and Jason’s new wife so that he will suffer more than she has.  This is just a terrible and wrong thing to do as a human being.  People have feelings that can be hurt but you must be able to move on.  The only way to move on is time, not to kill your children because their father did something terrible to you.  During this time the chorus foreshadows that her motherly instincts will kick in and she will not be able to kill her only two children.  While she is fake reconciling with Jason the tutor comes in to give the good news of the children not going to be banished.  Instead of Medea being happy she now is sad because she knows she has doomed Jason’s wife and her children to death.

This is why Medea is a tragic hero; soon after this another messenger comes into the chambers and tells Medea to flee the city because she is being blamed for the death of Jason’s wife and her father Kreon the king of Corinth as well as the death of her two sons.  She then has one last encounter with Jason showing no remorse as to the fact that she killed everything that Jason loved.  This was good enough for her to be happy with the outcome.  She also believed that killing her two sons were worth Jason’s pain and suffering.

To me at the beginning of this play Medea seems to be the victim of the chain of events.  At the end Medea is still the victim of the events without realizing it at this specific time.  While ruining Jason’s life she also ruined her own.  Is the price of revenge truly worth it?  Do you really become satisfied and happy seeing other people suffer because you were a victim yourself?  These thoughts always bring me to the idea of the dark side in “Star Wars” “anger leads to hate, hate leads to pain, pain leads to suffering” this is all true and that is how you become a bad and evil human being.  For Medea at the end of the play is lower than a normal human being.