Indiraputra and Sulayman

By BARTOLOME DEL VALLE

The Iliad and Odyssey

By Homer

First, Homer, the Greek poet is said to have

written both. The Iliad is about the Trojan
War, which started because the Trojan
prince, Paris took Helen of Sparta from
Menelaus. So, as revenge Menelaus got the
leaders of Greece to fight the Trojan.
However, things got complicated due to
the conflict between Agamemnon and the
greatest hero among the Greek, Achilles.
Achilles, therefore, withdrew from battle,
which caused the Trojan to gain the upper-
hand. Achilles only went back into battle,
because his good friend Patroclus was
killed. Achilles then defeats many of the
Trojans, and more importantly the great
hero of the Trojans, Hector. This turns the
tide. From this perspective, the Iliad is about
the wrath of Achilles.

The Odyssey is about what happened after

the Trojan war. Odysseus, one of the Greek
heroes is on his way home back to Ithaca.
However, his journey is fraught with twists
and turns. In a word, things get very
complicated. For instance, he has to face
many dangers - the sirens, Polyphemus,
Circe, Calypso, and many more. When he away their time on the road. The best
finally gets back, he realizes that there are storyteller is to be rewarded with a free
many suitors that have taken over his home. supper on their return.
So, he needs to fight them and he does. In
short, this work is about his journey and
homecoming. This literary device gives Chaucer the
opportunity to paint a series of vivid word
Purgatorio and Paradiso
portraits of a cross-section of his society,
By Dante Alighieri from a knight and prioress, to a carpenter
and cook; a much-married wife of Bath, to
In this epic poem, Dante's alter ego, the
a bawdy miller – an occupation regarded
Pilgrim, travels through Hell and Purgatory
in Chaucer's day as shifty and dishonest.
to reach Heaven. His journey is meant to
impress upon readers the consequences of Chaucer mixes satire and realism in lively
sin and the glories of Heaven. characterisations of his pilgrims. The tone of
their tales ranges from pious to comic, with
In the first section, commonly known as
humour veering between erudite wit and
Dante's Inferno, the spirit of Roman poet
good honest vulgarity. Taken together, the
Virgil leads Dante's alter ego, the "Pilgrim,"
tales offer a fascinating insight into English
through the circles of Hell, where they
life during the late 14th century.
witness the horrible punishments that
sinners have brought upon themselves. Chaucer's original plan was for over 100
stories, but only 24 were completed, some
In the second section, Purgatory, Pilgrim
of which had already been written for
meets the souls of those waiting to ascend
earlier works. Their order varies in different
into Heaven. There, the souls of the saved
surviving copies, the Hengwrt manuscript
make penance for their sins, of which they
being valued most for its accuracy.
must be cleansed before they can go to
Heaven. Its popularity may be due to the fact that
the tales were written in Middle English, a
In the third section, Pilgrim reaches
language that developed after the
Heaven. On the way there, he sails through
Norman invasion, after which those in
space and sees the planets, which are
power would have spoken French.
inhabited by saints. Upon witnessing the
Continuous publication of The Canterbury
majesty of God in his true glory, Pilgrim
Tales since Chaucer's death, and the
returns to Earth to write this very poem.
inspiration it has provided for other writers
Canterbury Tales and artists, are testimony to the enduring
appeal of his characters and their stories:
By Geoffrey Chaucer
proof that people's hopes and fears – and
Chaucer's long poem follows the journey of the English sense of humour – are little
a group of pilgrims, 31 including Chaucer changed by six centuries of history.
himself, from the Tabard Inn in Southwark to
Mahabranata
St Thomas à Becket's shrine at Canterbury
Cathedral. The host at the inn suggests By Vyasa
each pilgrim tell two tales on the way out
The innermost narrative kernel of the
and two on the way home to help while
Mahābhārata tells the story of two sets of
paternal first cousins—the five sons of the
deceased king Pāṇḍu [pronounced PAAN-
doo] (the five Pāṇḍavas [said as PAAN-da-
va-s]) and the one hundred sons of blind
King Dhṛtarāṣṭra [Dhri-ta-RAASH-tra] (the
100 hundred Dhārtarāṣṭras [Dhaar-ta-
RAASH-tras])—who became bitter rivals,
and opposed each other in war for
possession of the ancestral Bharata [BHAR-
a-ta] kingdom with its capital in the "City of
the Elephant," Hāstinapura [HAAS-ti-na-pu-
ra], on the Gaṅgā river in north central India.
What is dramatically interesting within this
simple opposition is the large number of
individual agendas the many characters
pursue, and the numerous personal
conflicts, ethical puzzles, subplots, and plot
twists that give the story a strikingly powerful
development.
Tatarin
By Nick Joaquin
“Summer Solstice” is a short story that has
received recognition both critical and
praising. Written by Nick Joaquin, the story
takes place in 1850s Philippines during the
festival days of St. John. There is a pro-
woman feel to the story, which has
garnered a lot of debate and attention
considering the setting is in a time where
women must be submissive. In this analysis,
learn about the setting, the themes and
symbolism that this short and interesting
story incarnates.
Summary
The Tatarin, or otherwise known as the
Tadtarin, was a three day festival that
celebrated a ritual of fertility. This was done
only by women. Many men frowned upon
the extravagant dances and plays
surrounding the ritual. “Summer Solstice” is
set during the three days of the St. John’s
festival. Lupeng, a Filipino woman who feels
closed to her womanhood, is married to
Paeng, who is no doubt loyal to her. They
have three small boys and live a somewhat
wealthy life as they have a carriage driver
named Entoy and a maid and cook named
Amada.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
By Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom is an elderly slave. He lives in a
little cabin near his master's house and has
repeatedly proven himself to be meek and
obedient. His master, Mr. Shelby, feels no
qualms about selling Tom down the river to
pay a debt.
On the boat, Tom meets an innocent young
girl named Eva St. Clare, whose father is
rich. St. Clare decides to buy Tom from his
new master. St. Clare, buys Tom. Eva makes
her father agree to free all his slaves when
he dies.
St. Clare dies before he can free Tom and
the other slaves. Tom is then sold to a
Southern plantation owner who beats Tom
to death when Tom refuses to reveal the
location of some runaway slaves.
The character Uncle Tom has inspired the
stereotype of the "Uncle Tom" character, a
kind of passive, obedient African American
who bends to the will of white characters.
God Stealer
By Francisco. Sionil José
SUMMARY:
The god stealer, F. Sionil Jose is a story of a
friendship. An American and a Filipino go to
the Cordilleras to look at the rice terraces
which were built by the Filipino's ancestors.
There they find the meaning of their
friendship, how it defines the relationship
between the colonizer and the colonized.
The story begins with two officemates Philip
Latak (an Ifugao from the Mountain
Province now working in Manila) and Sam
Cristie, an American on the bus to
Baguio.Philip (Ip-pig) now lives in Manila
against the wishes of his immediate family,
particularly his grandfather who intended to
bequeth to Philip his share of the famous
rice terraces. They are on their way to
Baguio for one purpose: Sam wants to buy
a genuine Ifugao god as souvenir and Philip
was to help him find an authentic one
through his local connections.
Philip is a Christian who no longer has any
respect or affection for the Ifugao customs
and religion.He considers himself a city boy
and has no inclination to return to mountain
life. Despite this attitude, his grandfather is
pleased to see him and decides to throw a
big party in his honor. On the day of the
party, Sam and Philip discover that no
Ifugao is willing to sell his god. And as a last
resort, Philip offers to steal the god of his
grandfather because he feels it would be
his way of showing his gratitude to Sam for
giving him a rise at work. The consequences
of this act are severe.The next day, his
grandfather died because he discovered
that his god was stolen. He also informs Sam
that Philip will no longer be going back to
Manila. Curious, Sam looks for Philip and find
him working in his grandfather's house. Philip
poignantly explains his reasons for choosing
to stay in the mountains:
"I could forgive myself for having stolen it.
But the old man- he had always been wise,
Sam. He knew that it was I who did it from
the very start. He wanted so much to
believe that it wasn't I. But he couldn't
pretend - and neither can I. I killed him, Sam.
I killed him because I wanted to be free
from these. These cursed terraces. Because
I wanted to be grateful. I killed him who
loved me most.." a faltering and stifled
sob.In the dark hut, Sam noticed that Philip
is now attired in G-string, the traditional
costume of the Ifugao. Furthermore, Philip is
busy carving another idol, a new god to
replace the old one which Sam will take to
America as a souvenir.
May Day Eve
By Nick Joaquin
The ball had ended, the girls were sent
upstairs to sleep, while the guest from
Europe who were feeling bad for they want
to party some more went out to finish their
drink and have some more fun in that
tropical country.
At the girls room Anastasia was telling that it
is the night of lovers, One girl is very eager
and much interested on Anastasia’s story
and want Anastasia to tell her everything, so
Anastasia for tell to the girls what to
do. Agueda walked to the hall down to the
sala bravely.
Then she heared her little child talk
that she almost forgets was in her lap. The
child asks if what did she saw, if she saw the
devil. Then she told her child that yes she
saw the devil, it was smiling at her. The devil
has a scar in its face. Agueda continued
that the devil has mustache too.
“Charms Like Yours have no need for a
candle, faire one” Badoy Monitiya told
Agueda then mockingly told her how vain
she is that even in the middle of the night
she is looking at her face. Agueda got mad
and was about to walk away, but Badoy
stop her and told her that she cannot go
upstairs until she will dance with him. After a
while Agueda piteously cried and Badoy
felt sorry for it and ask forgiveness. He told
Agueda that he would let her go upstairs if
she will forgive him, but instead of forgiving
Badoy, she bit his knuckles and fled upstairs.
One May Night Don Badoy Monitiya walks
home not even caring to remember what
happened years ago. He walks to the hall
and as he glanced at the mirror, he
suddenly felt something. A familiar sense,
then he called the ghostly figure in front the
mirror then saw that it was his grandson.
Voltaire told his grandpa what the boys in
school told him of how he could see his
future wife.

Don Badoy led his grandson into a seat, and

then they talked. He told him about the
witch he saw when he was about his age
and was so vain that he wants to see himself
dying because of drunkenness. Voltaire ask
how awful the witch look like, then he told
his grandson that the witch he saw was a
hell so very beautiful lad and how that witch
ate his heart and drank his blood.

Voltaire told his grandpa what his mother

told him, about the story of his grandma
who as well is eager to see her lover but
then saw the devil. At the very moment Don
Badoy realized, that was so long ago. Now
she was dead, perished, that she were at
last at peace and that her body was free
from the brutal pranks of the earth from the
trap of a May Night, from a snare of
summer.

Don Badoy went up to the window

and with tears, reminisce that old love.