Chester Mystery Plays
Publication Date: September 3, 2010
Chapter: English Literature During The Middle Ages
And now it's time for the mystery plays. Seriously, when did this comic become the 700 Club? Anyway, if you aren't aware, mystery plays were a form of theater in medieval England that usually adapted Biblical stories (as opposed to locked room murders, which would've been far more interesting).
The practical upshot of this is that, for all intents and purposes, I'm current making fun not of Christian prose or poetry, but of the Bible itself. Talk about big fun! Anyway, Noah's Flood: strictly speaking, Noah's flood is just one of many "a god sends a flood to kill everyone" myths out there in ancient history, the best of which features Donald Duck. As it stands, the Hebrews probably cribbed it from the Epic of Gilgamesh, but that's neither here nor there.
The thing about Noah's Ark that I never understood (alright, one of the things that I never understood) is why humanity was somehow incapable of discovering that wood can float. Had these people never invented the boat? When those flood waters showed up and started tearing down houses, you're telling me there wasn't at least one guy who noticed his kitchen table floating away? Of course, that's probably splitting hairs - without any food to eat for forty days, anyone floating on a raft would've died anyway. Unless they turned to cannibalism, which is a distinct possibility in that situation.
Sidenote: do you think Noah shoved dinosaurs onto the ark? A leviathan does show up later in the Book of Job. Consider that your discussion question for the day.
Year: 1422 • Info: Wikipedia
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Lit Brick is a comic started by Jodie Troutman in an effort to read the entire Norton Anthology of English Literature. Having eventually succeeded in that goal, it now features comics about all manner of random literature. For more of Jodie's work, visit longtalljodie.com!
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