Week 1: Exploring the Un-Textbook.

1. I took an intro level mythology course at OCCC, and out of all the stories I read in the textbook I used for that class, the King Arthur story I read was my favorite. I loved the drama and dynamic character relationships in the story, such that I later took an Arthurian mythology class at OU. I loved the class, and would like to read some of the stories that I was not able to in previous courses.  By the looks of the table of contents, I don’t believe I’ve read much of the Arthurian tales that are available for this course, so I’m looking forward to delving into new material.

2. The idea of a man exploring the depths of hell is a pretty intriguing premise, and I’ve always kind of been kind of curious about Dante’s Divine Comedy, but I never got around to reading it. I look forward to getting the chance to read about Dante’s circles of hell and familiarizing myself with his vivid vision of Inferno.

3. I've read a bit of the Grimm fairy tales, but I think it would interesting to explore the fairy tales of other regions, and Italy seems as good a place as any. The Italian fairy tales intrigue me since there seems to be a good blend of semi-familiar tales alongside some stuff that will be very new to me.

4. I love a good adventure story, and so Sindbad’s voyages seems like they would be right up my alley. I don’t know much about Sindbad’s character and adventures short of what I got from watching an old Sinbad movie in which the titular protagonist is played by Douglas Fairbanks Jr, so I don’t know what to expect. I didn’t realize that Sindbad’s stories took their cue from Homer’s Odyssey either. That only makes me look forward to reading the stories more.