Topic Research: Flood Myths
Flood myths are found in many variations across the world, from Ancient Rome to Biblical times. Many historians have theorized that these stories are because of geology, as many geological natural disasters can be connected back to some flood myths. For this initial research project, I looked into a few different flood myths, trying to take inspiration from a couple of them, but primarily stick with Deucalion and Pyrrha (or some other version of them) as the main characters. In particular, I think I want to use a lot of inspiration from a Buddhist flood myth, which is a bit unique from others. In my previous readings notes (part A) from week 3, I covered the basics of Ovid's Deucalion and Pyrrha. For the Buddhist flood myth, there are similar overarching elements, but it varies in some significant details from the flood stories of other cultures. In the Buddhist tale, a group of lazy carpenters were banished from their town and came to an island where the only rule was to cover up their excrement when they had to go. Obviously, the carpenters got drunk and completely disregarded this, incurring the wrath of the spirits of the islands. Most of the spirits wished no true harm upon them, but one, in particular, was more vengeful and told the people to ignore the warning of a flood they had received from another spirit. In a way, this is kind of a survival of the fittest story, as the carpenters were split into two groups, one who believed the vengeful ghost and his dismissal, and the other that thought it was good to be prepared just in case.
Duke and Peony
For my first story, I want to stick more closely to the original story of Deucalion and Pyrrha told by Ovid, but maybe with a more modern twist. Apocalyptic stories are pretty popular these days, and they were always my favorite growing up, so that is the direction I plan to go. What I might do is have sets of couples across cultures that all have a similar but somewhat different experience, due to the influences of their culture. Each couple will have survived the flood in some different way, whether it be through a different source of warning or a different mode of transportation. There could be a couple from Brazil, China, Australia, or any other country, not entirely sure on that yet. I want to incorporate the different gods and goddesses across the world, and hopefully incorporate elements from different cultures into the stories of each couple.
Island of Respect (It's easy as ABC! 123!)
For my next story, I want to take more inspiration from the Buddhist flood tale, in which only a small number of people are wiped out by the flood, and they are wiped out from not heading warnings. Instead of doing a sudden flood, I might go with the idea that the island is slowly sinking into the ocean, with a massive wave crashing down at the end. Some of the inhabitants of the island head the warnings of some sort of island god or spirit and prepare to leave the island before it's too late. On the other hand, there will be another group that hesitates to leave, thinking that this is simply the island somehow testing their loyalty.
Teach a Man to Fish
For the last possible story idea, I want to take more inspiration from the Hindu flood story, which describes a large fish that warns the first man of the flood and ultimately takes him to safety. Unlike the apocalyptic idea of my first story, this one would take on more of a fantastical tone, with a magical creature saving the day in the face of danger. I'm not entirely sure if I will stick with the creature being a fish, but I will definitely add a few more characters and add on to the basic plot of the story. I could do some sort of mystical transportation to another world of our main characters, where they must save the people from impending doom by a flood. Heroes from another world/dimension are also a pretty common theme in many YA novels and some movies, so I think it would be fun to try my hand at it.
For most of my initial research, I used one site along with Ovid's story of Deucalion and Pyrrha.
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