Reading and Censorship in the Middle Ages vs Today

Reading these days is very much taken for granted. We use reading for everything—direction, entertainment, education, religion and communication. In the middle ages reading was not taken for granted. Many people were illiterate and those who could read tended to be the rich and privileged. Books were very expensive and somewhat hard to come by—they didn’t have any Barnes and Nobles like we have today—their books were commissioned and hand written until the printing press was finally invented.

            Most of the reading people did was for religious purposes. The Bible was the most popular book. If you had any book it was probably the Bible. If you were reading any other things such as Roman or Greek literature you read it allegorically—everything was symbolism for religious things. Reading those kinds of things just for fun and just for the story was frowned upon.

            People also read for communication as we do now. They didn’t have all the technology that we have today, so letters were the mode of communication. Of course in order to communicate via letter you need to be able to read which means most of the common people wouldn’t have been able to communicate over longer distances. This means that only the rich would have been able to communicate without being face to face with the person they wanted to communicate with. This, in a way, is a type of censorship.

            Since the common people couldn’t read or write, they would have had to rely on others—the church—to tell them what was said in the Bible. The church would have had a lot of control over the morals of the people in this way. They simply had to tell them their interpretation of the Bible, what they thought was good or bad, and the people had to listen. They didn’t have any way of checking whether the information they were receiving was correct. Today censorship is still around. It isn’t as blatant as it once may have been but it is still here. In middle school there were books we weren’t allowed to read because they were not appropriate for our age group. There are also books that have been altogether banned from schools because of their content. Generally the books that are banned have very controversial subject matter in them. However as I have grown and gotten older I’ve noticed that things are much more available then once they were. I think our society and our morals are changing, we think it’s better that people are able to choose what they read rather than be told what is suitable to read. I don’t think that censorship today really maintains the morals of our society, I think it more reflects the morals of our society. People today have so much more access to information that it is not only harder to censor things but people are also more ready to fight censorship. People today don’t like to be told what is ok for them to read and what isn’t. 

Why I Read

Reading has always been a huge part of my life. I've been reading since I was very young thanks to my mom who has always loved books, which is a good thing because she is a librarian. Thanks to her being a librarian all I have to do is mention a good book and usually I'll get it pretty quickly. So here are the top 5 reasons why I read.

1. Entertainment. Reading is fun. There are so many stories to read about, so many characters to get to know. It's like watching a movie but it requires more imagination. It's actually better then watching a movie in--my opinion--because there is so much more detail in books and the author always has their own personal writing style that movies can never quite capture.
2. Relaxation. Reading has always relaxed me. It's soothing. It's a time I can forget about what's going on in my life and instead read about someone else's life. But not someone that is close to me whose problems are real and need to be dealt with just like mine. Someone fictional whose problems usually work out some way in the end which gives me hope that my problems will work out in the end as well.
3. Now that I'm in college a lot of my reading is for educational purposes. I have read many things in college that I would never read on my own such as scholarly papers about injury prevention and biology text books.
4. Another reason I read is to understand different things. This is similar I suppose to reading for educational purposes but to me they are different. When I read to understand things it's usually because I really want to understand something whereas when I read for education it's usually because it's on the reading list.
5. One last reason I read is for communication. A lot of our communication these days is based around reading. We read text messages and emails. On social media we read all our friends' status updates and picture captions. It's a pretty important part of communicating within our social circles.

Rome's Imperial Period and the US Today

Looking through Rome's Imperial period and especially reading through Juvenal's Satire III it is very interesting to see many parallels to the US today. Many of the problems they were faced with then are still problems today. We like to think that our society has changed a lot however in reality we haven't solved many of our problems.

• Sexism--"...seeing that the praetor is bidding the lictor to go full speed lest his colleague should be the first to salute the childless ladies Albina and Modia, who have long ago been awake?" Although this was an issue during the Roman time and is also a problem now I think that it has changed in nature. Before women didn't do a lot, they cooked and took care of the house and took care of the children. They didn't really leave the house. They didn't have a whole lot of say in things--they couldn't vote, etc. This is sexism but it's different from what sexism is today. Today women are working and voting and doing everything men do. I think that sexism today is more in the attitudes of people. In Roman time all this was accepted by everyone, that's just how it was. People didn't recognize that it was a problem. Nowadays people are aware of the problem and people are trying to change it.
• Discrimination based on race/age--"And now let me speak at once of the race which is most dear to our rich men, and which I avoid above all others; no shyness shall stand in my way. I cannot abide, Quirites, a Rome of Greeks; and yet what fraction of our dregs comes from Greece?" It's interesting to see the hatred toward the Greeks throughout Satire III. Juvenal paints them to be these conniving people who try to worm their way into the high class through flattery and buttering people up. He paints them as this awful race who really don't belong in Rome. Today we still see people who think that other races shouldn't be in America or are less then Americans and are trying to worm their way in. It is very interesting to see that this perspective is still around and like I mentioned before, we think we have changed so much but have we really?  
• Homelessness/poverty--"Poor Codrus had nothing, it is true: but he lost that nothing, which was his all; and the last straw in his heap of misery is this, that though he is destitute and begging for a bite, no one will help him with a meal, no one offer him lodging or shelter." After reading Satire III it is very apparent that poverty was a big issue in Rome just like it is today and people felt that not enough was being done to help it just like today. Juvenal very pointedly tells us that there was a large difference between the rich and the poor and we're seeing that again in our society--the rich are very rich and the poor are very poor and the middle class is shrinking.
• Discrimination based on sexual orientation--"Besides all this, there is nothing sacred to his lusts: not the matron of the family, nor the maiden daughter, not the as yet unbearded son-in-law to be, not even the as yet unpolluted son; if none of these be there, he will debauch his friend's grandmother." This is an issue that I think has changed quite a bit since Roman times. I'm sure it was frowned upon then but I don't really think it was something that was discussed a lot or brought out in the open. Today this is a huge controversial area. There are so many debates about it and I think in a lot of ways it has taken the spotlight. Everybody is aware of this discussion on sexual orientation whereas then I don't think it was largely discussed.
• Immigration--"Is a man to sign his name before me, and recline upon a couch better than mine, who has been wafted to Rome by the wind which brings us our damsons and our figs? Is it to go so utterly for nothing that as a babe I drank in the air of the Aventine, and was nurtured on the Sabine berry?" In this part of Satire III we can see that Juvenal really feels like all these non-Romans are worming their way into things and places that should belong to those who are true Romans. He feels that they're taking what is rightfully his. This parallels a lot of people's thoughts today on people coming from other countries. People feel that their jobs are being taken from them and that as Americans they should get first dibs so to speak. Very interesting to see that this mentality really hasn't changed a lot since ancient times.

Social Problems in the US today

• Sexism--sexism has been a problem for a long time. It is a problem just about everywhere in the world and definitely still a problem in the US. Although things have changed with this issue and seem to have gotten much better, it is still around. Now it is more subtle, not as blatant. I don't think that sexism is something that will really ever go away. It may tip more one way or another--more toward men or women--but it's very difficult to achieve an exact balance in this sort of area.
• Discrimination in the work place based on race/age--This is something that people have been making a conscious effort to change but just like sexism it is definitely still around. As somebody younger I see this against youth all the time. People think we are inexperienced or don't take things seriously because of our age. 
• Homelessness--Homelessness is a large issue in society as well. It affects more people then I think we realize. It's something that a lot of the time I find I don't think about because I'm not in a place where I see it a lot. It's an issue I find I forget about sometimes but it is still big.
• Discrimination based on sexual orientation--this is a huge problem in our society at the moment. It has become a very sensitive topic for most and also a topic of heated discussion. 
• Immigration--This is another big issue in the US that I have heard mentioned many times. Immigrants often come here to start a better life, to get in a better situation. The US is the land of opportunities for many people however we aren't always as welcoming as we should or could be to these people. People here feel as though their jobs are being taken from them when in reality the economy can support this and especially new jobs that come about as these new people come.

Hecuba vs Oedipus: Who is the more tragic character?

Hecuba and Oedipus are both tragic characters. They are relatively good people who have very bad stories. Hecuba lost everything—she was one queen of the Trojans, a mighty woman. She once had sons and daughters who were great and brought her honur. But she lost everything after the Trojan War. Her children were killed, she had to bury them herself. Her nation was no more, she became a slave to the Greeks.

            Oedipus also lost everything, though in a very different way. He started out as the king of Thebes, wealthy and loved by his subjects. He tried to do good and do right by his people as he tried to solve the problem of the plague. However in his quest to help his people and find the murderer of King Laius he uncovered a truth that wrecked him. He found out that he was the murderer of the king, his father, he married his own mother and his children were half siblings. Not only this but previously he had decreed the outlaw of the killer of the King, so once he had uncovered the truth, that he was the murderer, he became outlawed.

            Both Hecuba and Oedipus have tragic, heartbreaking stories. However in my opinion Oedipus is the more tragic of the two. Hecuba does suffer many awful trials, losing her whole family as well as her nation. However in the end she gets her revenge. She also didn’t have a lot of control over her circumstances. There wasn’t a whole lot she could have done to change things. However all of Oedipus’ problems were his own fault even though he didn’t know it. He had a choice of what to do, he could have changed things. Even though he didn’t know his choices would end how they did, he had control of his situation. That is what makes him a more tragic character—his guilt and the “what ifs” that would plague him long after he blinded himself and left his country. He would always know deep down that everything that happened was all his fault—that he brought everything upon himself even though it was unknowingly. That makes him, in my opinion, much more tragic then Hecuba.

Hamartia

Hamartia is the Greek word for “error”, also translated in the New Testament as “sin”. In Greek tragedies there is always some sort of hamartia, usually the catalyst for all the character's problems.

            In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’ hamartia was killing the strangers he encountered on his way back from the oracle. That is where his troubles really begin and that is the mistake that began the fulfillment of his prophecy. If he had not killed the men on the road, one of which we know was his father, the king would have still been alive in Thebes. Once he had solved the riddle of the Sphinx and freed the people there would not have been a crown for Oedipus to take. If he hadn't become king, he wouldn't have married his mother and born children who were really half siblings. Killing the king was the start of the fulfillment of the prophecy and that is where all Oedipus’ troubles stem from.

            It is possible to argue that Oedipus was fully justified in killing these men—they had run him off the road by force and when the old man passed Oedipus he “struck [Oedipus] on the head with the two-pronged goad” (line 837). The driver provoked him and so did the others. Of course Oedipus was angry about this, especially after the prophecy he had just been told. He of course did not consider killing those men a mistake, it seems he didn’t think much about it at all until he realises one of those men could have been Laius. However this is still in some ways the turning point of the story, the error that starts everything else going. This is Oedipus’ great error even though he doesn’t realise it at the time.

Emily's Epithets

Cold Canadian

I am from Canada--Winnipeg, Manitoba. I absolutely love it there. It is very cold there in the winter and I can't say that I love the cold or the snow but I do definitely prefer a cold winter to a super hot summer. So going to BYU I get the best of both worlds--I'm home for the summer when it's not too hot but here in Utah for the winter when it's not very cold.

Lover of dance

I absolutely love dance. I have been dancing my whole life and I am a dance major. My focus in contemporary but I have done a lot of ballet and jazz as well and I am doing my second semester of tap right now. My dream is to become a really good hip hop dancer as well but I'm still working on that. When people ask me what I do for fun or what my hobbies are I always say dance.

Reader of books

I really enjoy reading books. My favourite books are probably the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu and the Graceling series by Kristin Cashore, although now that I'm thinking about it there are a lot of other books that are right up there with these ones. My mom is a librarian at a high school so her love of books fuels mine and I never have a very difficult time convincing her to buy me books.

Middle child

I am the middle child out of three. I have an older sister who is a fine arts major back home and a little brother who is in his second year of high school. Me and my younger brother are pretty close, we're both dancers and he absolutely loves to bug me and knows exactly how. Me and my sister are close as well, especially when we were younger and it would be us girls against the one boy, my little brother.