CLAS220 - Lecture Notes for January 26, 2012
-
Upload
michael-broder -
Category
Education
-
view
1.142 -
download
1
description
Transcript of CLAS220 - Lecture Notes for January 26, 2012
Introduction to Classical Mythology
Dr. Michael Broder
University of South Carolina
January 26, 2012
Daily Write
Let’s take a step back…
Your Daily Write is…
• A check on attendance• An assessment tool
– Did you do the reading at all?– Did you do the reading with attention and
understanding?
Unfortunately, I have been receiving answers suggesting that some students are not doing the reading, not reading with understanding, or not taking the Daily Write itself seriously.
Your Daily Write: Evaluation
• Starting today, your Daily Write is worth not 1 point, but 4 points
• Grading rubric– Did you hand in anything at all = 1 point– Did you answer the question at all = 1 point– Did you answer the question completely =
1 point– Did you demonstrate knowledge of the text
= 1 point
Daily Write
What is Dr. Broder looking
for?
Daily Write: Model Response #1
• How do you think Aphrodite feels about her relationship with Anchises, and why?At first Aphrodite seems happy about their relationship, as she dresses for him in her temple, but later she seems ashamed of him and their relationship, as she insists that he must tell no one of their affair or who the real mother of his child is.
Daily Write: Model Response #2
• How do you think Aphrodite feels about her relationship with Anchises, and why?Aphrodite seemed upset and ashamed about it, especially when she went to bed with him with downcast eyes. She took pride in making other gods and goddesses fall in love with mortals, and when Zeus forced her to fall in love, she could not boast anymore.
Daily Write: Review
• How do you think Aphrodite feels about her relationship with Anchises, and why?– “Dread sorrow held me when I came into the bed of
a mortal man.” (5d)– “Among the immortal gods shall great blame be
mine forever, and all for love of you.” (5d)– “Deep and sore has been my folly, wretched and not
to be named.” (5d)– “Distraught have a been to carry a child beneath my
girdle, the child of a mortal.” (5d)– “If in your folly you speak out and boast to have
been the lover of fair-garlanded Cytherea, then Zeus in his wrath will smite you with the smoldering thunderbolt.” (5d)
You do not have to limit yourself to one sentence, but try to be
concise.
Daily Write
In Homer’s Odyssey, Book 1, lines 104-108, Athena says that she will “go down to Ithaca” to urge Telemachus to call an assembly and “speak his mind to all those suitors, slaughtering on and on / his droves of sheep and shambling longhorn cattle.” Who are the suitors, what are they doing in Telemachus’ home, and what affect do their actions and their behavior have on Telemachus?
Text Identification
• Author = Homer – Greek– c. 750 BCE
• Text = Odyssey• Genre = Epic poem
Marble bust of Homer in the British Museum, London. Roman copy of a lost Greek original of the 2nd c. BCE
Trojan War: Fact or Fiction?
• Is it a historical event that really took place, or is it an imaginary event made up by Homer and other ancient Greek poets?
Trojan War: Fact or Fiction?
• Ancient Greeks believed the war was real and took place about 1200 BCE
• By modern times, most historians believed there had never been a Trojan War or even a city of Troy
Trojan War: Fact or Fiction?
• However, in 1870, German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann excavated a site in Turkey that he identified as and Troy
• Most scholars now accept that Schliemann’s Troy is in fact the Troy that we read about Homer
• Many scholars now also believe there is a historical basis to the story of the Trojan War
Troad
Odyssey Book 1 Overview
• Homer invokes the Muse• Assembly of the gods• Athena visits Telemachus• Penelope comes down to the great
hall• Telemachus confronts the suitors• Telemachus goes to bed alone in
his bedroom
Ithaca
But once again, archaeology may change
our view of Homer’s world.
Where is the real Ithaca?
IthacaKafalonia
Odyssey Book 2 Overview
• Telemachus summons the men of Ithaca to an assembly
• Zeus sends an omen• Telemachus prays to Athena• Athena answers his prayer• Telemachus return to the palace
and prepares for his journey• Telemachus takes command and
sets sail
Odyssey Book 3 Overview
• Telemachus and his crew arrive at Pylos• Nestor recounts the fate of Agamemnon• Athena reveals herself• Nestor prays• Going to bed
– Telemachus + Pisistratus– Nestor + his wife
• Nestor leads a feast in honor of Athena• Nestor sends Telemachus and Pisistratus
off to Sparta
Assembly of the gods (1.12-112)
• What do we learn about how mortals view gods and gods view mortals?
• Why do you think Homer tells us about Aegisthus, Agamemnon, and Orestes here?
Athena visits Telemachus (1.112-376)
• What do we learn about the situation in Odysseus’ household?
• Who are the suitors?• Why can’t Telemachus get rid of
them?• Why does Penelope refuse to
choose a new husband?
What do we learn about the treatment of
strangers?• xenia = Reciprocal relationship of
hospitality between guests and hosts– Enforced by respect for Zeus, who is the
protector of stranger (Zeus Xenios)
• The word xenos (pl. xenoi) can mean• Guest• Host• Stranger• Friend• Foreigner
Epic Abuses of Xenia
• The Trojan War was caused by a violation of xenia– Paris ran off with the wife of Menelaus
while he was a guest in his home
• The suitors are abusing xenia– Overstaying their welcome– Continuing to eat Odysseus’ food and drink
his wine– No reciprocation toward Telemachus and
Penelope
Penelope comes downto the great hall (1.376-
419)• What do we learn about cultural
expectations for women?
Telemachus summons the men of Ithaca to an
assembly (2.1-14)• What do we learn about the way
government works?• What do we learn about the role of
public speaking in male society?
Zeus sends an omen (2.164-179)
• What do we learn about religious beliefs and practices?– Halitherses interprets the omen
(2.180-198)– Eurymachus scorns his prophecy
(2.199-230)– So we see Homer representing
conflicting opinions about prophecy
For Next Time
• Homer, Odyssey, Books 4-7, pp. 124-190
Introduction to Classical Mythology
Dr. Michael Broder
University of South Carolina
January 26, 2012