Have you always loved mythology or is it a more recent interest? I’ve kind of always loved mythology. I went to PHS and the Latin classes have always done some language, some history, and some myth as well. I was introduced to myth at 14 years old and also the “Odyssey,” of course, in freshman year English class. And it just sort of grew from there and I have always loved it.
What is your favorite branch of mythology personally and to teach? I love Mesopotamian myths. So much of Greek myth is based on, or at least talking to, Mesopotamian myth, and there are some wild stories in it. The Greeks take Mesopotamian and sort of distill it a little bit more. [In Mesopotamian myth, there are] people in the underworld who are covered in feathers. That’s what happens when they go to the underworld: they kind of lose their bodies and they become more like birds. It’s a little crazy. You know, myths can range between the very fantastical to the very realistic. I sort of love the dichotomy of that, but also some of the fantastical ones are just so cool to read.
Why do you think mythology is important to teach? There are so many references, especially to Greek mythology, but [also] lots of mythologies, like Egyptian mythology ... that come up in everyday life, from arts and statues to TV and movies that are not [necessarily even] about mythology. These things pop up in everyday life and everyday culture. It’s good to have that basis and the ability to recognize and talk about it because you never know. Sometimes it’s just things in passing, of course, but sometimes it will give you deeper meaning into what you’re reading, what you’re watching [and] what you’re doing.
Why is teaching Latin and vocabulary in your myth class important? In my mythology class, one of the things we do is they have words or phrases of the day that connect to the myth in some way. It’s not directly the name like Achilles heel. Sometimes it’s things that are influenced by the myth phrases that we still use, like beware of Greeks bearing gifts is [a reference to] the Trojan horse. There is so much [mythology] that comes up that people don’t realize where [the stories] come from. It’s good to have that kind of common vocabulary and kind of common sense of knowledge because these myths have not gone away in the least.
What is your favorite myth to teach? My favorite is the House of Atreus, which is where Agamemnon and Menelaus fit in as the leaders of the Trojan war. There’s so much cannibalism in that family ... There is cannibalism after cannibalism after cannibalism. So my favorite day to teach is like, I ... refer to it as cannibalism day because there’s a message. They’re crazy stories, but the message is: don’t transcend human boundaries because if you eat humans, you’re essentially becoming an animal. You’re transgressing these boundaries that have been put down for you. And if you do, your [humanity is] devolving in some way, that you’re kind of forced to do this.