The Beginning

Of bodies changed to other forms I tell;
You Gods, who have yourselves wrought every change,
Inspire my enterprise and lead my lay
In one continuous song from nature's first
Remote beginnings to our modern times.

Ovid, Metamorphosis Book I

IN THE BEGINNING...

We as a species are so concerned with figuring out our beginnings. It has been debated countless times and served to ignite more than one war. We ask the question over and over, "Why?" Why are we here? Why was I born under these circumstances? Why do I feel this way, when I should be feeling that way? Why, why, why? There needs to be an explanation. And that is where myth and belief take center stage. 

We think of myths as stories, but all of them started out as a belief, an explanation for a seemingly unexplainable situation, a claim of reality. As Nietzsche would say, they are a "moveable host of metaphors, metonymies, and anthropomorphisms: in short, a sum of human relations which have been poetically and rhetorically intensified, transferred, and embellished, and which, after long usage, seem to a people to be fixed, canonical, and binding" (On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense). We see this "host" move through the ages, popping up in the modern day under new names and guises, but the same core remains. Even in the fantastical accounts of the ancients, we still seek for that understanding of the beginning.

It's this quest, this evolution of myths over the centuries, that has always fascinated me and drawn me to mythology. So when it came time to choose a senior project as part of the Honors program at Utah Valley University, my thoughts turned quickly to this subject. And that is how Purfle & Gyve was born. 

Actually, my vision for this website was not always in this current form. It's always amazing to me to see how ideas and plans change so much from the time they germinate in the brain, to the time that they are brought to fruition. This project has been no different. What started out as a serialized journal dealing with one myth per issue, has now become an all-encompassing website which seeks to collect a plethora of works of original literature and art on all Greco-Roman myths. One day, I would love to branch out and look for pieces dealing with Norse mythology, the Hindu pantheon, etc., but we must walk before we can run. 

With each re-telling of these stories, more and more strings are added to the tapestry.

If there's one thing that I've learned from beginning this experience, is that it is extremely hard to put all of your expectations on the will of others. I think that's one of the reasons the gods had so little trust in each other; it's hard to get others to follow your vision. All of my success with this journal lies on other people being inspired enough by my vision to create art, and I certainly don't have the physique of a Greek god or a threat of a lightning bolt to the face to "inspire" others to help me. And so we come back to belief, belief that there are those out there as fascinated by this "sum of human relations" as I am, fascinated enough to contribute and help me build a one-of-a-kind website, where myths of the past can intermingle with their future selves, where people get a chance to connect the dots of the past with those of the present. So I'll keep begging, cajoling, discussing, wishing, and hopefully inspiring. 

Purfle & Gyve is on it's way.

And it needs you.