This semester I visited the MET museum with the intent of seeing one of my favorite pieces in the gallery, the Death of Socrates by French painter Jacques Louis David, and conducting a closer analysis of the piece. The scene shows Socrates accepting his sentence to death after being convicted of “denying the gods and corrupting the youth” in court. The painting is very dark, however we see Socrates standing out in the crowded cell draped in a white robe. As he reaches for the poison hemlock he points to the sky, possibly suggesting there is a higher power. The man at the foot of the bed is Socrates teacher, Plato, another well known philosopher also draped in white. These “enlightened” individuals are pure of mind and soul, as symbolized by the color. Off in the distance is a group of people exiting the jails after breaking in to free Socrates. It is said that he declined the easy escape, insisting he follow the rule of law and accept his fate. On the floor there lies a shackle, no longer attached to Socrates as he will soon be free of all humanly ties.

Socrates would have been an influencing figure during the time Medea and Antigone was written, in the time around 430 BCE. Socrate’s philosophical teachings about doing the “right” thing or pursuing ideals of justice are not necessarily well taught in the readings form this semester. Although, Socrates like Gawain and Othello believed their final moments to be honorable, a commonality in our readings of leading male figures. When faced with death, best not to show fear, rather accepting your circumstance and preserving your reputation.

(cannot upload my photo due to data capacity? Will email it to professor)

During spring break, I went to Washington DC with my sister and mother. We were just walking on the street without certain destination but suddenly found the place where a lot of people, especially children with parents were waiting. It was Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. We were able to enter without any fee so there was no ticket or receipt received from the museum. The museum has several exhibitions but I enjoyed hope diamond, gems and minerals room and human origins room the most. The museum overall has very realistic sculptures and models that seem so real. I argued that even though they seem that real, they are all made so therefore they are fake. However,my sister and mother stood against me and maintained they are taxidermied or stuffed animal. We were passing through mammals hall and all the mammals looked so real with skin texture, color, wrinkles and beard. Even some parts of clams were broken especially the upper parts and colored old like grey that were enough to make us confused. My mother was very surprised and impressed by the quality of the animals. I have never really seen her enjoying the museum so I feel very satisfied by seeing her happy. My mother especially enjoyed the hope diamond and gems and minerals room. We were able to see various types and colors of gems and jewels. We could also learn where they have come from and the time era they were found by human beings. I was impressed by each natural color each gem has. I feel like the room was lightened by the colors the jewels blow out. They all have different color but they were very shiny in common. There were also actual jewelry displayed that were made with the jewels explained. There were so many people, especially female adults enjoying the room by taking pictures of the jewels. Another room I enjoyed was the human origins. I could see things where I saw in my history textbook such as australopithecus. There were sculpture and models for each human origin based on specific time era. We could see how human being evolved with specific characteristic. There was estimated height for each human origin and we could actually compare with us. When I first looked at the sculptures of human origins, they were really like animals. I learned from textbooks that human beings were at the first resemble monkeys. However, by looking with my real eyes, I was surprised like how could evolved until this form from that form. Overall I had really good experience. My mother and sister said they would like to visit once more. I don’t really enjoy going museums but this experience changed my mind. Therefore, I am willing to visit natural history museum in upper side.

Art is something that I am interested in and a few weeks ago I made my way over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the first time. I am so interested in the many different types of artwork and how through time, we have evolved and it is represented through art. I noticed there was a section that contained sculptures of Greek art from around the same time as when Antigone was written. This drew my attention quickly because we read the play and sculptures can help illustrate what these characters wore, and looked like, giving me that visual. I have attached a picture of one of the sculptures I found most interesting out of the entire exhibit and that the true connection between this piece of art and the piece of literature would be the time period it was made. This is a Marble Head of an Athlete and is actually a replica of a Greek statue from 450-425 B.C. (where Antigone was written around 441 B.C.) Now there were many sculptures depicting this time period and I was able to get a feel for their characteristics, how they looked, wore, as well as how their body language interacted with one another in some larger pieces as well as Greek paintings. Although this is an athlete and Antigone was not an athlete, nor were any of the characters athletes in the play, I am able to still feel that connection between both pieces because since they are from the same time period, the minds creating them believed in similar things and ways of life and the depiction of this artwork can relate to others around its era.

Now I see why Les Miserables got such great reviews. It touched me, to my core. By the second half I was inconsolable, struggling to see the play behind my waterfall of tears. Why does it have such an impact on me? Perhaps that’s a silly question for someone who drove all the way to Philadelphia, to see the Rodin Museum and cried for the sculptures. But, that’s neither here nor there. I need to understand why this story makes me so emotional. After all I have nothing in common with the male protagonist Jean Valjean, who was convicted of stealing bread. So why do I care? Why am I crying like an idiot while simultaneously being thankful for waterproof mascara? But I digress. I was hooked from the very beginning; he stole the bread for his sister’s starving child. He’s selfless and brave, but not perfect.

It’s like the Sumerian proverb all over again, a mule isn’t just a mule. Everyone’s mule is different. For Jean Valjean the mule is his past. Inspector Javert is relentless in pursuing him, he believes him dangerous and a criminal. Valjean causes Javert to struggle with his own morality. He swore to uphold the law but finds himself being sympathetic to Valjean. In every close call Valgean is putting another before himself. Even when Valjean is given the chance to end Javert’s life, he sets him free. Javert is so conflicted, he takes his life by jumping into the river. This brought to mind the Norse proverbs and how distrusting we can be of each other.   In both Les miserable and the epic of Gilgamesh the instrument of change was love. But do we really believe people change? Do they always remain a version of their former selves?