i think both the hanged women and polyphemus fall into the critical category of "it is important to understand why a very old text believes what it believes, but we should use that understanding to push further against our own biases, and not ever accept the logic that some people are subhuman"
Iâm a traditional storyteller. Iâve mostly worked with the TĂĄin BĂł CĂşailnge, Beowulf, and a few Norse works.
Even if you donât change a word, the job of a storyteller is to be a bridge from the ancient text to the modern audience. You have to examine a text on multiple levels. You have to be aware that youâre translating across vastly different cultures.
Sometimes that looks like making Grendelâs mother more sympathetic, because she is still a mother who lost her child. Sometimes it may be making her more monstrous, as an example of female rage. Sometimes youâll find the text is slyly more progressive than you thought. Other times youâll cut lines because dear gods, I am not standing up and making âbeat your wives moreâ the moral of an otherwise hilarious medieval tale.
The cyclops is monstrous to go beyond defending its home to full slaughter of Odysseusâ men. The cyclops sees the men as monsters. When we all see only monsters, our stories end in tragedy.
