In the woods in the rain; Mary Lefkowitz

I went up the headwaters trail again (see May 29th) and further, eventually coming to a large private meadow of wild ox-eye daisies, but I turned back before the trail met with Fox Hollow Road, as it eventually must. After nearly an hour in the light rain I was pretty wet; it's still unclear to me why I deliberately left my umbrella in the car.

Amazon Creek:

I'm now reading Mary Lefkowitz's Greek Gods, Human Lives, which promises to be fascinating. Her intention is to examine mythology for insights into ancient religion, and in the preface she critiques Bulfinch, Hamilton, Graves, and Campbell for their modern romanticizing of the ancient stories, reducing the gods to supernatural humans and inaccurately finding universal themes where learning about particular narratives in specific cultural contexts would be more appropriate. I haven't heard of Dr. Lefkowitz before but am pleased to see that she's also written two books debunking the "Afro-centric" theory that Greek civilization was African in origin. I remember when living in Oakland how appalled I was to learn of the "Cleopatra was black" school of thought, and that children were actually being taught that such "truths" had been "suppressed" in order to oppress them (that is, these children of African ancestry). When I get around to writing up my research on Artemis, the challenge will be to convey what this goddess meant to the ancient Greeks while remaining respectful to the many women who today find comfort and a spiritual home in the not necessarily historically accurate notion of prehistoric matriarchal religion.

Hmm. K. just called and said that when Arnold's other son arrives tomorrow, they're planning to disconnect the feeding tubes and such. May it be here publicly noted -- if I am ever only marginally responsive, I would prefer to keep life support; perhaps when I am aged my feelings will be otherwise.