Greek Reading Study Guide PDF

Study Guide The 6 Parts of a Tragedy: (Sam Sproule Dances Through Christmas Parties) 1) Spectacle 2) Song 3) Diction 4) Thought 5) Character 6) Plot Know the twelve adventures of Odysseus in order (including the voyage to the Underworld and his going to Skheria—the island of the Phaiakians). I drew...

Study Guide The 6 Parts of a Tragedy: (Sam Sproule Dances Through Christmas Parties) 1) Spectacle 2) Song 3) Diction 4) Thought 5) Character 6) Plot Know the twelve adventures of Odysseus in order (including the voyage to the Underworld and his going to Skheria—the island of the Phaiakians). I drew twelve of these up on the board, in four sets of three. The 14 Stations of Odysseus (I’m not sure what the difference is between the 14 stations and 12 adventures...) Marcellina: the journey to the underworld and the final stage of reaching Skheria don’t count in the 12 adventures; Mr. Spiotta said Hades counts as like an “interlude”, and I guess Skheria is like the finale, rather than an adventure in itself. 1. Kikones They sack the city Eat the pigs Temperance: Odysseus approves of the raiding, but not when they indulge in all the spoils 2. Lotus Eaters The lotus = drug, gives satisfaction, makes you forget home Odysseus tried to keep men away 3. Polyphemus (Cyclops) Odysseus himself is the one who leads the men to indulge Odysseus says his name is “no one,” but eventually gives into hubris (?) and tells his name Says he is “Zeus’ avenger” him Polyphemus knows who he is and is able to curse him 4. Wind King (Aiolus) Gives bags of winds, perfect natural conditions for his homecoming Odysseus feels it must be kept a secret His men give into greed and open the bag 5. Laistrigonians (Giant cannibals) They are betrayed by a girl who brings them to the cannibals (opposite from Nausikaa on Skheria later) 6. Circe Turns men into pig (personifies their gluttony) The men’s attitude towards Circe vs. Odysseus’ attitude towards Arete on Skheria He is met by Hermes, given moly (plant, hard for mortals to uproot)  Moly makes Odysseus immune to Circe’s bewitchment Given divine help to help with his self-control 7. Underworld Sees Teiresias -- tells him how to get home Guaranteed homecoming if men can be restrained Told what to do when he gets back How to placate Poseidon 8. Sirens Odysseus shows restraint, while still indulging curiosity 9. Skylla/Charybdis Hears men call out as they are swallowed Says it’s the most poignant moment of his life 10. Thrinakia (Helios’ Island) Sun god Told not to eat cattle, men do anyway Test of endurance Sacrificial – temperance -- > piety 11. Zeus destroys ship Odysseus adrift after this 12. Hangs from fig tree Above Charybdis Waiting for him to ungorge the mast of the ship 13. Ogygia (Calypso) Island of Calypso 14. Skheria Phaiakians Alkinoos is the king and Nausicaa is the princess his daughter whom he offers to Odysseus in marriage by the end. Reflect on how Odysseus reveals his identity to various people. To: The Phaiakians He starts crying at the songs, and then he tells the story Polyphemus Tells him his name as he is leaving, calls himself “Zeus’ avenger” Circe He threatens her, and she realizes its him bc Hermes foretold Odysseus would come in a black ship from Troy The suitors Tests them, confronts them, contest with the bow, kills Antinoos and others Penelope  First says he is a friend of Odysseus, then kills the suitors, then reveals himself to Penelope by proving his knowledge of the bed he built into the tree His father Moved by his father’s tears, tells his father that he has returned Eurycleia and the good herdsmen Eurycleia is washing his feet and sees and old hunting scar, realizing its him. He makes her promise not to tell anyone He takes him outside in the courtyard to get him on his side Telemachus Athena transforms him from his disguise into strong youthful Odysseus, and he walks into Eumaios’s house and tells Telemachus who he is Recall who are the main suitors for Penelope Antinoos – big, bragging, brash, proud, warlike, ringleader, son of Eupeithes Eurymachus – smart, wise, son of Polybus, throws stool at Odysseus Amphinomus – most sympathetic, kind of good, kind of bad, Odysseus tries to get him on his side but he refuses - Theme: smart people who are clever tend to be proud (he refuses to see gods omens, but stays in house and disobeys gods) Odysseus brings together the strengths of these two different men into one greater man Know the stuff from Aristotle that I sent in the email:  All art is a “mode of imitation” (1|1)  Tragedy: “Tragedy then is an imitation / of an action / that is serious, /complete, / and of a certain magnitude; / in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; / in the form of action, not of narrative; / through pity and fear / effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.” (6|10)  You should know this definition verbatim, or at least know all of its parts. If there is a part which you may paraphrase it is the clause about embellished language.  Verbatim → word for word  The Six Parts of Tragedy (6|11)  Spectacle  Song  Diction--arrangement of words  Thought→ articulating thought (argumentation/general truths)  Character  Plot→ most important arrangement of incidents and imitations  This is the order in which Aristotle presents the parts; he presents them in order of ascending importance  Action: Completeness (7|14)  Beginning  Middle  End  Action: Certain Magnitude (7|15)  [What can be comprehended in one sitting and retained in the memory as a whole]  A proper magnitude is achieved when the action’s “sequence of events, according to the law of probability or necessity, will admit of a change from bad fortune to good, or from good fortune to bad”  Three parts of a Complex Action (11|20-21)  Reversal of Situation (peripeteia)  Recognition (anagnorisis)  Scene of Suffering (pathos) Reflect on the actions of each of the plays; concentrate especially on the moments/processes of recognition and on the manner in which the situation is reversed. Aim for insight here, rather than just stating a narrative fact. Oedipus’ reversal comes when he is made to realize whose child he is, and in consequence he comes to realize the natures of his father and his mother, and the catastrophic dimensions of his own hubris [a panorama of human degradation, pusillanimity, and folly]. Furthermore, this revelation allows him to realize, through suffering, the dimensions of the cosmic order, etc. etc. Major Themes that we’ve talked about this semester. Tensions within sorts of laws (blood, civic, divine; tyranny v. just rule) Libation Bearers: o Law of mother vs. Law of father The Furies: o Law of blood vs law of Olympians Antigone: o Opposition of divine judges and corpses to buried vs Creon civil law Agamemnon: o Clytemnestra is motivated by Agamemnon killing her daughter vs. justice Oedipus o Divine authority vs. Human authority Temperance-The Odyssey Odysseus shows temperance with Calypso Also practices temperance when in confronted with the Sirens When his men stuff themselves on the cows Odysseus shows temperance The centrality of marriage to the Cosmic order -The Oresteia centers on this theme. Marriage is a legal bond, parenting a blood-bond. -governing the lower passions (unfit to be human otherwise) -Penelope is compared to the thing that holds the house together The centrality of suffering to the sustaining the human experience of the Cosmic order How does X or Y suffer, and how is that suffering related to achieving peace, growing in wisdom, securing the polis? - Suffering either strengthens or breaks your faith What is the plan of Zeus? Consider the difficulty of winning and establish Cosmos. How have Achilleus’s and Odysseus’ actions, as well as those of Oedipus, Creon, and the choruses of the Oresteia manifested the outworking of this plan? -Does chaos rule, or can we live in a world with lots of heroism/courage/virtue and create a cosmos - How ought men to relate to the gods? What are the grounds of piety? Are we merely to fear them, or are we to love them? What stands in the way of such love and respect, both from the human perspective and internally to the divine family of Olympos? Are the gods on our side? What are the effects of impiety upon the heart and mind? What are the effects of piety (consider both Odysseus and Antigone (and those for whom these stand as types))? Is it possible to be a hero without a fundamental reverence for the divine order and the gods who rule it? - QUOTE ID (there will be 25 on test) (put pg. Numbers of big quotes for each) Oedipus Rex: Oedipus Tiresias Jocasta Creon Antigone Antigone Creon Haemon Tiresias Chorus (old Thebans citizens) Agamemnon Clytemnestra Agamemnon Cassandra Chorus (Old men of Argos) Libation Bearers Clytemnestra Orestes Electra Chorus (Asian Slave Women) The Furies Athena Furies(chorus) Apollo Orestes (not as much tho) RECOGNITION SCENES Oedipus Rex o Who? ▪ Oedipus realizes whose son he is o How? ▪ Talking to sheep herders o Effects? ▪ Jocasta = loses hope and despairs ▪ Oedipus = realizes he is an abomination but heroically continues forward, recognizes he has to accept the mystery of the universe, he has a spiritual shift Antigone o Who? ▪ Creon must recognize divine law  ▪ His kingly power is below the divine law o How? ▪ Tiresias shows him how the fire would not burn and the sacrificial offering rotted ▪ Must be divine power o Effects? ▪ He tries to repent, but it’s not enough/too late(?) ▪ He submits himself to divine law Agamemnon o Who? ▪ Chorus realizes the extent of Clytemnestra’s evil ▪ Realizes it’s not just but her actual state of mind/life ▪ Reality is tainted by evil o How? ▪ They hear the screams from Agamemnon and Cassandra dying o Effects? ▪ They realize they are under tyranny (Clytemnestra) Libation Bearers o Who? ▪ Chorus recognizes killing won’t solve all problems o How? ▪ When they see Orestes is haunted by furies o Effects? ▪ Actions have consequences ▪ Cycle of sin (generational sin) The furies o Who? ▪ Chorus realize they have a place in the cosmic order ▪ Recognize Athena is also on their side o How? ▪ Athena offers them a place in the divine order o Effects? ▪ Clear Olympian offering of the olive branch