Symbol, satire, and caricature

A symbol of knowledge is light as we discussed in Swedish. Others are an apple and seed, and of course fire or flame as in the ancient Greek story about Prometheus

The apple is not only used in the story of Adam and Eve, but also famously about how Isaac Newton came up with his theory of gravity. What’s the myth? (What’s Newtons visual explanation of gravity, what is Einstein’s?)

Satire and caricature

The Enlightenment saw the first newspapers, like The Tatler. Political satire, as in A Modest Proposal, where Swift suggests the eating of Irish children as a solution to poverty, became popular. But also caricature like in the famous work of Hogarth, an Enlightenment artist (Google his name and have a look at his art if you like, example below)


This, next one, by James Gilray, from the 1800s,  shows what?


Who are the guys in the caricature? What are they up to?

Task 

Summarize the basic story of Prometheus and post a link to an example of use of symbols or satire in modern culture (language or image). Explain your choice.

Post as a comment.

14 reaktioner till “Symbol, satire, and caricature”

  1. Summarize:
    The story is about a titan named Prometheus, who always was thinking about the future. Prometheus was a great hearted man who wanted to help the mankind by stealing the fire from Zeus, king of the gods. Zeus of course, gets mad and he decided to chain Prometheus up for his bad duties. Zeus in the other hand claims Pandora to become Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother, his wife. He gives Pandora a box and tells her to not open it. Guess what she does? She opens and all plagues was released into the mankind, that’s how it ended.

    Satire:
    This song called ”Gangnam style” is making fun of high culture of South Korea, for instance ”Seoul neighborhood Gangnam”. Psy made a parody of the materialist and money-obsessed culture of his home country. The song however has succeded by making fun of the Korean culture. Why I chose to talk about this song was because it’s a parody song and you probably didn’t know it.

    https://www.google.se/search?q=gangnam+style&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwj13_npyMXTAhXFfiwKHZUfBlIQ_AUIBygC&biw=1536&bih=759#imgrc=BVniA2gmKrSkyM:

    Gilla

  2. It all began when Prometheus stole fire from the the king of the gods, Zeus. Prometheus stole the fire to gift it to the mankind. And tada! Zeus gets triggered. Zeus was so enraged that he chains Prometheus up and wreaks havoc on earth. Oh and he also had birds eating the liver of Prometheus every day which is quite disturbing and to make it more disturbing, the liver grew back every day.

    The King of the gods Zeus creates Pandora, from the sole ground and makes her Epimetheus bride. A bit later Zeus wants to have some more fun and gives Pandora a jar full of horrible things, there’s old cookies, there’s bread with raisins and a lot worse.. Well Zeus tells her not to unleash the raisin breads but of course she just has to open the damn jar. So mankind is doomed and all that is left in the jar is hope. End of story.

    Gilla

  3. Summarize:

    Prometheus was the son of a titan, who felt pity for the humans cause they were not happy because of the lack of warmth. Prometheus asked Jupiter to give mankind fire and warmth, but he denied Prometheus. Prometheus feeling rejected went to the sun took fire and gave it to mankind.

    Jupiter found out that Prometheus had given the humans access to fire and he was furious. Jupiter ordered the blacksmith Vulkan to create a woman with a ball of clay, that woman became Pandora. All the gods gave Pandora a gift each. Pandora recieved a box from Jupiter, and she got a gift of curiosity aswell so she wanted to open the box. Athena told Pandora not to open the box, but Pandora took a peek and open it just a little bit because of her curiosity and released things such as dispair and disease. Once they realized they closed the box, and there was something bigger in there that did not escape the box.

    Jupiter punished Prometheus by chaining him to a mountain, and birds came and picked at him while he was chained there, there was a beautiful woman called Io and Jupiter got jelly and made her into a cow, Prometheus told Io to drink from a river and then she would become a human again more beautiful than ever, and that she would marry a king and they would give birth to Hercules who would free Prometheus from his chains atop the mountain.

    Satire:

    An example of recent satire is after U.S election when Donald Trump was made president there were some people from The Netherlands who made a joke video where they imitate how Trump talks and acts and tries to convince him that The Netherlands is the second best country in the world. It started a trend and now a lot of european countries did it including Sweden and Finland.

    Gilla

  4. Summarize:
    Prometheus is a titan, he is also called Forethought cause he is always thinking of the future. Prometheus was a kind titan and were helping mankind by stealing the fire from Zeus. Zeus decide to punish Prometheus by chaining him up at the mountain. Meanwhile Zues claim the Pandora box and gives it to Prometheus´s brothers wife and tells her to not open it. She later decide to open it and released all the plagues to mankind.

    Satire:
    The thick of it is an serial comedy show about how the inner workings of the British government, only the main character, the Minister of Social affairs spends about 99% of his time at the department looking like hes doing something worthwhile while 1% of the time hes not working at all. If the west wing is about how we wish the government is run, The thick of it is about how we fear is it run. I choose it cause I searched popular satire´s online and found this one.

    http://peterandrobmakelistsofthings.blogspot.se/2008/08/top-xx-best-examples-of-modern-satire.html

    Gilla

  5. Prometheus was the elder brother of the sons of a Titan who once had fought against Jupiter and Prometheus was always cautious and thinking ahead. The younger sons name was Epimetheus and he was always thinking of the past. Prometheus decided to make the world a better place and doing so by bringing fire to the poor so they could warm themselves up during winter times. He does so and time does not run far before Jupiter finds out about his deeds. Jupiter thought of punishing Prometheus and the mankind for daring to steal something that only god had the privilege to own. He ordered his blacksmith to create a mold in the shape of a woman and later on Jupiter gave the woman the gift of life. The woman name became Pandora, which means all-gifted. Pandora was sent as a gift to Epimetheus among with a golden casket that she was told not to open. Pandora decided to take a peep at what could be inside the casket and at the very moment she opened it strange creatures with death-like faces came out flying from the insides. She closed the casket just in time so the rest of the evil creatures wouldn’t escape.

    Gilla

  6. Summarize:
    Prometheus (Forethought) and his brother Epimetheus (afterthought) are sons of a titan who in a recent war fought against the god Jupiter. Instead of getting sent to jail they got sent down to the low-people (on earth). After having lived with the men for a while Prometheus felt that they deserved to warm themselves and cook their food, so Prometheus asked Jupiter to give mankind fire and warmth but Jupiter denied him. Prometheus was somewhat furious and took the matters in his own hands and went on his daily journey to the sky and stuck a long reed in to the sun and it caught on fire. He gives the fire to the man and they learn to live in a more civilised society where fire is a huge part.

    Jupiter looks down on earth and sees fires burning and people and living in houses, so he becomes furious. When he realized it was Prometheus, he ordered his blacksmith Vulcan to create a image of a woman who becomes Pandora. All gods gave the woman one gift each ”for the marvellous woman.” Pandora was so beautiful that no one could not love her. Pandora is sent down to earth to marry Epimetheus, which he of course accepts. Pandora was sent down with a box who was given by Jupiter. Athena reminded Pandora that you should never accept a gift from Jupiter. Pandora dismissed the words of Athena because she wasn’t as beautiful as she were and peeked in to the box. From the box a couple of thousands creatures with ”death-like faces” flew out. The creatures flew in to the houses and spread plauges, diseases and curses on the people.

    Jupiter sent Vulcan to bind Prometheus in to a mountain where he couldn’t move a hand or a foot. Vulcan listened even though he was a friend of Prometheus and didn’t like the idea but he did it anyway so he hung there. Once a white cow passed Prometheus, he recognized who it was, it was the fair maiden Io. One day the hero Hercules came and rescued him from his chain.

    Satire:
    Satire is meant to ridicule, and shame on individuals and groups with a humorous tone, but with a big part of social criticism.
    Charlie Hebdo is a french humour magazine based in France. They have often criticize terrorism with a pictures of terrorists kissing each other or other. I found this picture one of the most funny and true.

    Gilla

  7. The story is about Prometheus son to a titan who was also called Forethought. He was a kind hearted man who always loved humans and wanted to live with them but one day he noticed that no one was happy, people was dying in starvation and was hunted by beasts. One day Prometheus asked Jupiter about giving the fire to the humans so the could live without freezing to death but Jupiter denied his request, but Prometheus didn’t give up he took the fire from the sun and gave the knowledge to the humans how to make fire.
    Jupiter asked the blacksmith Vulcan to make a statue and make it a form of a woman whose name was Pandora and later all the gods gave the ”Pandora” gifts, Beautiful, kind heart, curiosity and good manners. Jupiter sent the woman to Epimetheus and made them both marry together. She also had a box with her and the goddess Athena told her not to open the box but one day because of the curiosity she open the box and sickness and diseases flew to every man and children and put them in misery they have never been in before.
    The last thing Jupiter did was he told his two servants to take him to the peak of Caucasus Mountains and sent Vulcan to bind him with iron chains and fetter him to the rocks so he couldn’t move. Years later a white cow that almost looked like a human saw Prometheus and he told her to go to the great river of Nile to become maiden again but fairer and more beautiful more than before. You will give marry with the king and you will give birth to a son who will set me free. After ages has passed Hercules came and saved Prometheus from his chains.

    Satire:

    Why I took this image was because right now in USA, the government is taking money from the people who had worked really had for the money but the government wants it for themselves and thats why i think this image is so good because it shows how the government nowadays treats its own people.

    Gilla

  8. It all starts when Prometheus steals fire from Zeus, king of the gods, to give to mankind. Apparently this isn’t cool, and Zeus is so mad that he chains Prometheus up and inflicts on Man the worst thing he can think of: Woman. (Yeah, this was pre-feminism.)

    The vengeful king of the gods makes Pandora (the lady) from the earth, and he gives her to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother, as a bride. Doesn’t sound too terrible, but just wait. Next up, Zeus gives Pandora a jar full of everything terrible that you can possibly imagine and tells her not to open it. So guess what she does?

    Yep, she opens it. And voilà, all kinds of terrible plagues are released onto mankind. The only thing that remains in the jar is—wait for it—Hope.

    So wait, is that a happy ending?

    Gilla

    1. The story revolves around Prometheus that stole fire from Zeus. He gets mad and locks him up and marries away a lady namned Pandora to his brother Epimetheus. Pandora recieves a jar from Zeus containing horrible things and telling her not to open it. As expected she refuses to listen and releases every plague possible on mankind.

      Gilla

  9. Summarise:
    det va en titan vid namnet prometheus som vill hjälpa människorna på grund av att dom har det så dåligt och ge dom eld som kan hjälpa dom. men jupiter(Zues) vill inte ge dom elden till dom så prometheus går emot jupiter och tar eld från solen och ger den till människorna att använda, växa och leva sina liv.
    jupiter kommer på vad prometheus har gjort och blir arg.

    there was once a titan with the name prometheus who wanted to help the humans living in despair and give them fire so they can live better and flourish than just living worse than beast, but jupiter(Zues) doesn’t want to give the humans fire and says to to prometheus. Prometheus then goes against jupiters words and take some fire from the sun and gives it to the humans to use.
    Jupiter then sees the humans have fire and is flourishing and jupiter becomes enraged and ask who did this and someone says prometheus. jupiter then makes an evil plan against the humans and wants vulkan the blacksmith to make a beautiful statue in the shape of an woman. vulkan then comes to jupiter and shows him the statue and then all the gods give the statue a gift like curiosity, knowledge and etc… and then the statue became a beautiful woman in the name pandora. jupiter then sends pandora to epimetheus to become his wife and she also got a basket from jupiter and in the basket is a box full of despair. pandora slightly opens it to see whats inside the box and then ghost/demons comes outside the box to give despair, disease and other things to the humans.
    jupiter then catches prometheus to prison him on top of an mountain for all eternity. vulkan is the one making the chains to prison him and making him not being able to move his hands and feet. prometheus is there for generations until a white beautiful cow whose identity is io a beautiful maiden cursed be jupiter and his wife to wander the earth as a cow. prometheus tells io to go to a river to drink from and then becoming humans once again but more beautiful more than ever and marry a man to give birth to hercules who will then free him from this mountain. She does what he told her and it happened. THE END

    Gilla

  10. PROMETHEUS was the Titan god of forethought and crafty counsel who was given the task of moulding mankind out of clay. His attempts to better the lives of his creation brought him into conflict with Zeus. Firstly he tricked the gods out of the best portion of the sacrificial feast, acquiring the meat for the feasting of man. Then, when Zeus withheld fire, he stole it from heaven and delivered it to mortal kind hidden inside a fennel-stalk. As punishment for these rebellious acts, Zeus ordered the creation of Pandora (the first woman) as a means to deliver misfortune into the house of man, or as a way to cheat mankind of the company of the good spirits. Prometheus meanwhile, was arrested and bound to a stake on Mount Kaukasos (Caucasus) where an eagle was set to feed upon his ever-regenerating liver (or, some say, heart). Generations later the great hero Herakles (Heracles) came along and released the old Titan from his torture.

    Prometheus was loosely identified in cult and myth with the fire-god Hephaistos (Hephaestus) and the giant Tityos (Tityus).

    Satire: https://imgs.aftonbladet-cdn.se/v2/images/816f2644-8429-43b5-9fed-28fba76286e5?fit=crop&h=874&w=962&s=a5c2aeb300c64f7d03a8645438d9ba51ab6a705a

    Gilla

  11. Summarize:

    Prometheus was the son of a titan. Prometheus’ name means forethought, meaning he always thinks about the future.
    He wanted to make the world a wiser and better place. He lived with and helped the humans because he felt pity. They were not happy. They lived in caves, shivering from the cold. He begged Jupiter to give them fire, and the wisdom necessary in order to use it, but he was denied. Jupiter feared that with fire the humans would one day become as wise and strong as the gods are, and later dethrone them.
    Prometheus did not like this, and brought fire to humanity in spite of Jupiter’s disapproval.

    Jupiter wanted to punish Prometheus for his betrayal. Jupiter did not like that humanity had fire, but let them keep it. He was instead going to make them even more miserable than before they had it.
    He was in no rush to punish Prometheus, so he decided to distress humanity first. And he wanted to do it in as roundabout a way as possible.
    He had his blacksmith Vulcan make a woman, a woman more beautiful than any statue. He gave her life, and many talents and gifts. One of those being curiosity. Her name was Pandora. When the gods had finished their admiration of her, they gave her to Epimetheus (Whose name means afterthought, meaning he always thinks about the past and not the future). Epimetheus is the brother of Prometheus, and Pandora was to become Epimetheus wife.
    One of the gifts Pandora was given was a golden box. Athena warned her never to open the box, but after some time, he curiosity gave in and she opened it. From the box sprung diseases and cares, which inflicted humanity and made them miserable. Pandora closed the box before it emptied fully, but the damage was already done.

    Now came Jupiter’s time to punish Prometheus. He made two of his servants, named Strength and Force, carry Prometheus to the topmost peak of Caucasus Mountains. He had Vulcan make chains for Prometheus which he used in order to chain him up. There Prometheus hung for years, until one day a beautiful cow named Io passed by the mountain. Prometheus knew that the cow had once been a beautiful woman, but was cursed by Jupiter. He told her to walk to the Nile where she would once again become a beautiful woman. She would then marry the king and give birth to a son, who would rise up to free Prometheus.
    Ages passed but finally a hero named Hercules arrived in order to free Prometheus from his chains.

    Satire:

    It’s funny. In the game you are followed by the respective ghosts. And it makes fun of social media. End of explanation.

    Gilla

  12. Summary:
    The story describes Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus, who are both mightier than men. Prometheus thinks and worries about the future were as Epimetheus thinks about the past. Prometheus wasn’t like the other mighty folk. He wanted to make the world wiser and better, instead of living like a god doing mostly nothing. Prometheus wanted to help men since they lived in poor conditions, shivering in the cold. He got the idea to give mankind fire, which would give them food and warmth. Prometheus went to Jupiter and asked him to fire to men. Jupiter said no since he feared men becoming more powerful and wiser than the mighty ones with the help of fire. He preferred mankind living in ignorance. Prometheus accepted the answer, but he wasn’t giving up just yet. When walking by the sea he found a reed with great fire-creating capabilities. “Mankind shall have fire in spite of the tyrant who sits on the mountain top” he proclaimed. Prometheus used the reed to create a fire for the men while also teaching them how to do it themselves. Mankind was grateful and Prometheus taught them new things like building houses and farming. After seeing how happy mankind became, Prometheus claimed that “A new Golden Age shall come.” Not long after, Jupiter noticed this and became furious. When he found out who was behind all of this he set out to punish Prometheus and mankind. When it came to punishing mankind, he created a women’s body out of clay and instructed each of the gods to give this statue a gift. Jupiter began by giving her life. When they were finished she was beautiful, had good manners and a kind heart, amongst many other things. They called her Pandora, the all-gifted. She was led to Prometheus and his brother’s house. Epimetheus was told she was to become his wife, which he gladly accepted even though his brother had warned him of gifts from Jupiter. Pandora had a golden casket, which she was warned to never open. It didn’t take long before her curiosity won and she opened it. Out flew thousands of evil spirits who went on to spread sorrow and diseases on mankind.

    To punish Prometheus Jupiter had him chained to a rock on the peak of Caucasus Mountains. After many, many years a cow walked by Prometheus and instantly recognised the cow as Io, a former maiden who had been turned in to a cow by Jupiter and his jealous wife. Prometheus instructed her to walk to the river Nile, where she could once again become a fair maiden. There she would also give birth to son who would later break his chains, Prometheus claimed. After many years a hero, by the name of Hercules, did indeed break his chains and set him free.

    Satire:
    http://www.theonion.com/article/man-whos-only-halfway-through-life-can-already-gue-55886

    The Onion is a newspaper without real news. They only write satire. In the linked article they write about a man who’s halfway through life and can already guess how it’s going to end. The article is ridiculing people who for example stop reading a book because ”they already know how it will end” and see no point in finishing it.

    Gilla

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