Free Essays on Similarties Of The Epic Of Gilgamesh And Noah And The Flood

of these stories, which come from opposite origins share evidence that there is truth behind them. â€Å"The uproar of mankind is intolerable†¦Ã¢â‚¬  exclaimed Gods of the Greek, â€Å"†¦how great was the wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time,† agreed God, of the Hebrews. Furious with the mannerism and contempt of the people, the Greek and Hebrew Gods felt a strong need to annihilate life on earth to bring back peace which had gradually became a place of vulgarity and brewed evil implications on earth. The Greek and Hebrew higher powers were angered and in an attempt to save what was good on earth, Ea, God of Wisdom (Greek), and the Hebrew God communicated to the mortals, Gilgamesh and Noah, a plan to restore their righteous ways and escape what was to be a great flood. This plan whether whispered in a Greek dream, or spoken directly to in Hebrew, provided instructions. These instructions given to Gilgamesh and Noah are identical. They were warned of the end of mankind and told, â€Å"†¦make yourself an arc†¦and you shall enter the arc, with your sons, you wife, and your... Free Essays on Similarties Of The Epic Of Gilgamesh And Noah And The Flood Free Essays on Similarties Of The Epic Of Gilgamesh And Noah And The Flood Isn’t it ironic how from two completely different origins The Story of the Flood, from the Epic of Gilgamesh, and Noah and the Flood, from Genesis (Hebrew Bible), are stories that come together resulting in the same over-all characteristics? Through obvious analyzation and comparison, it’s clear that these remarkable stories do not contrast. Rather, they are similar. These stories speak of ultimate forces destroying evil, people, to eliminate the negative world and preserving the few righteous people left on earth. Both these stories flood the earth exterminating devious beings, building massive boats to save good men, women, children, and animals, and consist of large arcs that landed on the summit of a mountain from which men and animals repopulated earth starting again new, with only good inhabitants. The words of these stories, which come from opposite origins share evidence that there is truth behind them. â€Å"The uproar of mankind is intolerable†¦Ã¢â‚¬  exclaimed Gods of the Greek, â€Å"†¦how great was the wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time,† agreed God, of the Hebrews. Furious with the mannerism and contempt of the people, the Greek and Hebrew Gods felt a strong need to annihilate life on earth to bring back peace which had gradually became a place of vulgarity and brewed evil implications on earth. The Greek and Hebrew higher powers were angered and in an attempt to save what was good on earth, Ea, God of Wisdom (Greek), and the Hebrew God communicated to the mortals, Gilgamesh and Noah, a plan to restore their righteous ways and escape what was to be a great flood. This plan whether whispered in a Greek dream, or spoken directly to in Hebrew, provided instructions. These instructions given to Gilgamesh and Noah are identical. They were warned of the end of mankind and told, â€Å"†¦make yourself an arc†¦and you shall enter the arc, with your sons, you wife, and your...

The Murderous Cult of Roman Diana and Her Sword-Wielding Priests

The Murderous Cult of Roman Diana and Her Sword-Wielding Priests In the US, the President has to retire after eight years in office, but at least they get to live after their second terms as President. Some of the ancient Romans werent so lucky. In order to become the new priest of the Italian sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis (Diana of Nemi), the incoming priest had to murder his predecessor to get the job! Although the shrine was  located in a sacred grove and near a gorgeous lake, so applications for the position must have been through the roof... Priestly Problems So whats the deal with this sacerdotal situation? According to Strabo, Artemiss worship at the grove of Nemi - included a barbaric ...  element. The priestly turnover was quite graphic, for, as Strabo recounts, the priest had to be a runaway slave who killed the man previously consecrated to that office. As a result, the reigning priest (dubbed the Rex Nemorensis, or King of the Grove at Nemi) always carried a sword to protect  himself against murderous interlopers. Suetonius concurs in his  Life of Caligula.  Apparently, the ruler of Rome didnt have enough to occupy his twisted mind during his own reign, so he meddled in religious rites...Supposedly, Caligula got fed up with the fact that the current Rex Nemorensis had lived for so long, so the dastardly emperor hired a stronger adversary to attack him. Really, Caligula? Ancient Origins and Mythical Men Where did this odd ritual come from? Pausanias states that when Theseus killed his son, Hippolytus - whom he believed to have seduced Theseuss own wife, Phaedra - the kid  didnt actually die. In fact,  Asclepius, god of medicine, resurrected the prince. Understandably, Hippolytus didnt forgive his father and the last thing he wanted was to stay in his native Athens, so he  traveled to Italy, where he set up a sanctuary to his patron goddess, Artemis/Diana. There, he set up a  contest for runaway slaves to become the temples priest, in which they fought to the death for the honor. But according to  the late  antique author Servius, who wrote commentaries on major  epic texts, the Greek hero Orestes had the honor of founding the ritual at Nemi. He rescued his sister, Iphigenia, from the sanctuary of Diana at Tauris; there, Iphigenia sacrificed all strangers to the goddess, as recounted in Euripidess tragedy  Iphigenia in Tauris.   Servius claims that Orestes saved Iphigenia by killing Thoas, king of the Taurians, and stole the sacred image of Diana from her sanctuary there; he brought the statue and the princess back home with him. He stopped in Italy - at Aricia, near Nemi - and set up a new cult of Diana.   At this new sanctuary, the ruling priest wasnt allowed to kill all strangers, but there was a special tree, from which a branch could not be broken. If someone  did  snap a branch, they had the option to do battle with the runaway slave-turned-priest of Diana. The priest was a fugitive slave because his journey symbolized Orestess flight westwards, says Servius. This ritual, then, was Virgils source of material for the legends about the area where Aeneas stopped off in the  Aeneid  to find a magical plant and enter the Underworld.  Sadly for these entertaining tales, neither probably had anything to do with the ritual at Nemi. Issues of Interpretation Aeneas and the slave-priests came up again in modern studies of religion. Ever heard of anthropologist James Frazers seminal work The  Golden Bough? He theorized that Nemi was the spot where Aeneas went to Hades, as Servius suggested. The sacred sparkly in the title refers to a bough, golden leaf and pliant stem Aeneas had to grab in Book VI of the Aeneid  in order to descend to  the Underworld. But Serviuss own claims were spurious at best! This odd interpretation has a long history -  well-chronicled  by Jonathan Z. Smith and Anthony Ossa-Richardson.  Frazer took these ideas and claimed that used the slaying-of-the-priest as a lens through which he examined world mythology. His  thesis - that the symbolic death and resurrection of a mythical figure was the focus of fertility cults across the world - was an interesting one. This idea didnt hold much water, but that  theory of comparative mythology informed the works many historians and anthropologists, including the famous Robert Graves in his  White Goddess  and  Greek Myths, for decades ... until scholars realized Frazer was wrong.

Can we get along Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Can we get along - Essay Example â€Å"In Australia, Canada and the United States, one of the most important factors determining levels of inequality is race. In western New York state, for instance, nearly 40 percent of the black, Hispanic, and mixed-race households earned less than $15,000 in 1999, compared with 15 percent of non-Hispanic white households.† (UN-Habitat) â€Å"One should bear in mind that larger cities offer very different kinds of opportunities that allow the poor to better their lot. However, there is compelling evidence that these cities have much higher crime rates than small cities. (Glaeser and Sacerdote, 1999). In addition, urban polarization is strengthened by â€Å"spatial segregation† in education and access to the job market, which in turn fosters criminality.† (Delacote, 92) â€Å"... the widening of income and wealth inequality in the United States has placed great financial pressure on lower-income families. This pressure has encouraged legislatures and governing boards to accommodate easier college entry and to subsidize poorer applicants, relying primarily on the tuition revenue of students who have the ability to pay.† (Policano and Fethke, 16) â€Å"While African-Americans and whites at higher income and higher educational levels were more likely to desire fewer hours than their lower-income, less-educated counterparts, African-Americans are still more likely than whites to desire more hours at all income and educational levels. This racial difference most likely is due to greater wage inequality among African-Americans than whites. (Negrey, 94) The disparity between different income groups gives birth to the question: Can we get along? It is imperative for America to be America again, in order to reduce the crime rate, and agonistic feelings that people belonging to lower income groups harbour for the higher-income group. â€Å"The burgeoning inequality threatens the integrity and moral authority of the social order. Those locked out of the

Sampling Questions Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sampling Questions - Research Paper Example Confidence interval with its reliability around the population measures the sampling error and ensures that it provides confidence of the samples by around 95% hence making the samples more reliable. It therefore tries to reduce the sampling error. The relationship between the two is based on inverse square root. This means that as the sample size increases the confidence intervals increases by squares. This relationship is so because an increase in sample size means a reduction in sampling error and a more reliable representation of the population that will be known and hence the reduction in the confidence interval. Probability sampling is a sampling technique where all the elements in the population have an equal chance of being included as samples. This method therefore reduces bias and it is fair. It is effective where large samples are required and time is not of the essence. The disadvantage is that it is a costly process, requires higher level of expertise and resources like time (Cozby, Paul and Bates, 146). Non-probability sampling is a technique where there is no guarantee of an equal chance of the elements in the population being included in the study. This is because the samples are chosen according to their convenience to the researcher and not randomly. The advantage of this technique is that it is time saving, very effective when the samples required are few and it is also more flexible. The lack of randomness introduces the disadvantages of bias, lack of reliability and also generalizability of the results. Response rates in surveys are sometimes lower than expected. In order to reduce this tendency it is important for the researcher to assure the respondents of the confidentiality of their responses, provide them with a bit of background information about the research hence making them informed, keep the

Development of Dendritic Spines :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Development of Dendritic Spines Neurons have the capability of forming spiny outgrowths on dendrites that are associated with neuroplasticity. Stimulation, especially during post-natal development can lead to activation in the brain, referred to as Long Term Potentiation (LTP), associated with the growth of spines. These dendritic spines, which can number thousands to a single neuron, can have synaptic heads. Greater than 90 percent of synapses in the brain occur on them (1) . Through experimentation it has been found that a spine's glutamate receptors, calcium concentrations, and actin can affect its shape, length, and even presence on a dendrite. In general terms, how do dendritic spines develop and what do they affect in the brain? When a neuron is first formed it does not yet have dendrites, and therefore also does not have dendritic spines. Dendritic filopodia are formed from the dendrites first and then convert into spines after being innervated by synaptic fibers. Spines on different types of neurons attain their peak actin density at different times. Fewer spines are present in adults than children and there is a peak growth time during post-natal development. Adult brains show up to 50% fewer spines than developing brains (2) . Brain disorders, such as strokes, epilepsy, and forms of mental retardation like Fragile X, have been connected to deformations of dendritic spines or the total absence of them on certain neurons. Spines are predominantly found at excitatory synapses where inputs from many areas of the brain arrive. Initially during spine formation N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) is the main growth and development regulator. NMDA is a glutamate receptor found at excitatory synapses in most neurons in the mammalian brain. It contains channels permeable to calcium ions. Ions can accumulate and initiate currents at the head of the spine where the calcium channels are located, separate from the shaft of the dendrite. Weak calcium-induced currents affect individual spines whereas stronger currents can summate to affect multiple spines as well as areas of the dendrite's shaft. LTP is a strengthening of the synaptic connections which occurs when spines are formed. There are several steps to achieve a current in a spine. Magnesium ions block the NMDA receptor sites, but are displaced when a stimulus, such as caffeine, depolarizes the receptor. Calcium ions are then able to pass through and collect within the spine. Once the amount of ions reaches a threshold level the LTP is generated.

Plato Defends Rationalism

Plato Defends Rationalism Plato was a highly educated Athenian Philosopher. He lived from 428-348 B. C. Plato spent the early portion of his life as a disciple to Socrates, which undoubtedly helped shape his philosophical theories. One topic that he explored was epistemology. Epistemology is the area of philosophy that deals with questions concerning knowledge, and that considers various theories of knowledge (Lawhead 52). Plato had extremely distinct rationalistic viewpoints. Rationalism is the claim that reason, or intellect, is the primary source of our fundamental knowledge about reality (55).By examining Plato’s philosophical position on the three basic epistemological questions, as well as analyzing his ability to justify the three anchor points of rationalism, it is clear to see that Plato was successful in defending rationalism. There are three basic questions that are the basis for determining the difference between each of the epistemological viewpoints. The first of these is: Is knowledge possible? In order to understand exactly what is being asked here, it is important to consider the agreed definition of knowledge as being a â€Å"true justified belief† (53).Plato believed that yes, it is possible to have knowledge. He claimed that as long as one has the ability to recognize something as false, they are capable of having knowledge. The second question is: Does reason provide us with knowledge of the world independently of experience? Plato would also answer yes to this question as well. Many objected to this, believing that knowledge was a result of sense experience rather than reason. Plato examined this theory (empiricism); he argued that, because the physical world is subject to change, there can be no real truth in knowledge that is based solely on one’s senses.He then used the examples Justice, Goodness, and Equality to justify his argument that there are some things that we cannot come to know through experience alone, th us casting doubt on the empiricist theory. Plato expands on the teachings of Socrates, and acknowledges the concept that we already have ideas or principles that are contained in our mind prior to experience, called innate ideas (73). The third and final question is: Does our knowledge represent reality as it really is? To this question, he would answer yes. Plato’s distinction between innate ideas and sense experience bring us to understand his true sense of reality.Our innate ideas are the foundation from which we are able to possess rational knowledge. Rational knowledge, as Plato explains, gives us the ability to differentiate between invariable â€Å"Forms† (Universals) and the ever changing characteristics that are recognized through sense experiences. Plato believes that knowledge of Universals provide us with knowledge of the fundamental features of reality, which are nonphysical, eternal, and unchanging (81). The three anchor points of Rationalism expand on th e question discussed above, Does reason provide us with knowledge of the world independently of experience?The first anchor point is: Reason is the primary or most superior source of knowledge about reality (72). Plato proves this point to be true by determining that it is through unchanging, Universal knowledge, that we come to find reality. The second anchor point is: Sense experience is an unreliable and inadequate route to knowledge (73). Plato questions the reliability and adequacy of sense experience, due to the fact that there are things that we are simply unable to experience in the physical world. If knowledge comes strictly from experience, and we are unable to experience some things, how is it that we come to find such knowledge?Plato also argues that sense experiences are subject to individual interpretation, and are ever changing. Knowledge cannot be based on inconstant perception. The final anchor point of rationalism is: The fundamental truths about the world can be k nown a priori (independently of, or prior to, experience): They are either innate or self-evident to our minds (73). Plato believed that knowledge was contained in our soul from preexistence, and was independent of human experiences. He came to the conclusion that it is from these innate ideas that we are able to recognize reality.Plato’s view on epistemology is extremely consistent with that of rationalism. He was able to successfully justify his beliefs, not only by proving his theory, but also by disproving alternative theories. Plato recognized the fact that knowledge is possible. He believed that the ability to identify something as false can only come from knowing truth. This was the first step in his philosophical journey. In his quest to determine the source, and explore the characteristics of knowledge, he made several valid arguments.Plato’s strongest argument was that we cannot base our knowledge directly on experience, because there are circumstances in whi ch our senses do not provide us with reliable truths. Not only did this make it apparent that experience is not concrete enough to act as a basis for knowledge, thus disproving the imperialistic theory, but it also helped justify his theory of Universals. Plato was able to prove that reason, by way of innate ideas, leads us to knowledge, as it was defined above, a true justified belief.This rational knowledge, in turn, leads us to the knowledge of reality. Plato spent much of his life studying philosophy, and the concept of knowledge. After finding fault in other epistemological theories, he was led to develop a philosophy of his own. Plato’s approach toward epistemology was considerably different from that of other philosophers in his day. His rationalistic viewpoints were extremely influential. He brought light to the concept of Universals, which had a great impact on the work of philosophers after him.Plato was able to explain knowledge from all aspects, which set him apar t from others. Plato was not only able to conclude that knowledge is possible, he was also able to explain how knowledge is obtained. By examining Plato’s philosophical position on the three basic epistemological questions, as well as analyzing his ability to justify the three anchor points of rationalism, it is clear to see that Plato was successful in defending rationalism.Works Cited Lawhead, William F. The Philosophical Journey: An Interactive Approach. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 52-81. Print

Love Upon First Sight By Cults - 800 Words

Farouk Shousha Prof. Webb ENG 101 08 October 2015 Love Upon First Sight The music video â€Å"Abducted† by Cults features a woman being abducted by a man, and then the man driving down a very long and winding road while constantly looking out the window the entire time. The whole time, the woman is tied and trapped in the trunk of the car. Remembering parts of the past. At the end of the video, the guy parked the car near a cliff, gets out the car, lets the woman out of the trunk, and allows himself to be tied up by her and eventually locked in the trunk. Most of what has happened is in the past, and the video is showing her looking back at the past. The director leaves her still bound by her memories with only chalk to make marks. However, she is still alive. The end shows where the director currently saw her â€Å"lying alone,† in contemplation, trying to remember and make sense of the cruel experience. However, she is free and while unbinding herself will take her own effort, her future is now under her own control . Cults’s video â€Å"Abducted† shows us that love is winding like a road that can take you to places that you do not want to go. The lyrics to this song focus upon a relationship where the woman is completely infatuated with the man upon first sight. She realizes that this man is the best man she has ever been in a relationship with â€Å"I knew right then no one was above him†. she s saying that she knew this guy had her in his grips instantly. 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