Status Update on Final Project

 


Overall, I love the topic of my final project. My original topic, castaway tales, was just not very engaging to me. Now, my topic is mental illness as seen throughout history. Starting with 1550 BCE, with the Ebers Papyrus, and finishing up in the 21st century, with Home Fire, it is safe to say I have culminated a range of sources. It is especially difficult, however, to find texts from a while ago and in different languages because of translation barriers. For example, mental illness was a term coined quite recently in the scheme of things. So when doing a google search for mental illness in literature, nothing predating the 18th century comes up. Instead, I had to go backwards, finding compilations of works that had to do with mental illnesses. A wikipedia page I found proved to be extremely helpful. A topic that I read an article on that is very fascinating to me talked about how Greek gods and deities and mythological characters represent different disorders. Narcissus, obviously, represents narcissistic personality disorder. Hercules has PTSD, and Orestes has schizophrenia. There are many many more examples of these parallels. However the most fascinating thing I found was the Ebers Papyrus. This ancient medical document, from 1550 BCE in Egypt, details a multitude of issues, disorders, and ailments, and treatments for them. Though largely based on speculation, it is still a cool thought that so long ago they had a general idea of human anatomy. The library, unfortunately, does not have a translated copy of the Ebers Papyrus, so I can’t actually read it (and I don’t want to buy it myself, although I might!!). 


Comments

  1. I find your research topic to be very fascinating especially because mental health is such an important topic. I am excited too see what sources and information you find!

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  2. Wow! Im so glad you've been able to find good research for your topic, it sounds super interesting. I am currently having a lot of trouble with my own, so hopefully I will soon get to the spot you are at with yours!

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  3. I am so glad that you found a topic that you love! Based on what you wrote in this blog, the topic sounds fascinating and I cannot wait to see the presentation of your final project. As one of Greek mythology's biggest fan, I am so happy to see that you brought up how many gods are can represent different mental health disorders and illnesses.

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