Western Literature Week Six－The Odyssey

A. Suggestion Page Numbers for Self-reading
a. xix-xxiv   b. 3-25   c. 181-188(Homer), 189-290(Iliad), 290-381(Odyssey)
* Special mark- 189, 193, 200, 208, 215, 217, 232, 235, 238, 239, 241, 242, 245, 247, 258, 
   267, 268, 269, 272-279, 283-286, 290

 Text book of this course

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B. Book Discussion
On page xix-xx
a. Several features to define Epic Poetry-- It always associate with god, immortals, hero, and war. It is lengthy narrative poems. These were used to perform (sing) for royal family and nobles, so the topics above were their favourites. 
b. The Divine Comedy is one of the Epic Poetry.
c. Ulysses-- It is derived from Ulixes, the Latin name for Odysseus, a character in ancient Greek literature. It is a modernist novel which was used the motif of Odyssey to write by Irish writer James Joyce. 
* This kind of novels called stream of consciousness. The authors usually let an grownup man look back to his previous life. They would obey the unity of time, place, and plot (which means all the events in the book would happen in one day) to write this kind of novels.
c. Aeneid is an epic poetry which was created for the Roman Empire to show how this country thrive on. The main character is Aeneas who was a prince from Troy.

On page xxi
a. Three crucial topic of this course includes Greek, Roman, and Christianity. 
b. "Christ" is a title that Jesus gave himself.--Jesus Christ
c. Judaism doesn't regard Jesus as a Savior so they are still awaiting their Savior.
d. Christian can be separated into two systems. One is Catholic (old one) and Protestant (new one). However, in Taiwan, there are several names for Christian and all of them sounds like individual systems such as 基督教 and 天主教. In fact, they all belongs to Christian.

On page xxii
a. Classical Greece includes ancient Greek and ancient Roman.
b. The Divine Comedy  by Dante
(a) After Dante went back to Florence, he wrote Divine Comedy.
(b) There are 100 cantos in the book which includes one canto about Prologue and ninety-
      nine cantos about Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradiso (33 each). 

(c) Virgil took the main character to visit the Inferno. 

* Satan and Lucifer are fallen angels.-- Hubris

* Paradise Lost --main characters are Adam, Eva, and Satan.

On page xxiii

a. Goethe is the man who brought up the concept of World literature.

 Goethe

b. There are two kinds of Poetry. One is narrative poetry and the other one is lyric poetry.

On page xxiv

a. Hypothesis of this book is the western literature includes classical Greek, Roman, Christianity, and Hebrew Bible.

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C. Keywords in Pages

a. cuneiform + hieroglyphic => Phoenicians -- on page 5

b. Alexander is the student of Aristotle.-- on page 15

 Aristotle was teaching Alexander

c. Nazareth-- where Jesus from

d. secular <=> religious

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D. Vocabulary
a. hierarchies-- a system in which people or things are arranged according to their importance
* "Hier" stands for level and "arch" stands for order.
b.  Protestant-- "Protest" means rebel.
c. Purgatorial-- "Purga" is awaiting for saving.

 Purgatory

Western Literature Week Five－The Odyssey

A. Term Explanation
a. Epic Poetry-- It is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. It always has interaction with god and mythology. This kind of works form the basis of the epic genre in Western literature. For example, Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid
b. In medias res-- It is the literary and artistic narrative technique of relating a story from the midpoint, rather than the beginning. In an in medias res narrative, the story opens with dramatic action rather than exposition setting up the characters and situation. For example, Odysseus's journey when he was held captive on Calypso's island.
c. Flashback-- It is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point in the story. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story's primary sequence of events to fill in crucial backstory. 
d. Nonlinear narrative-- It is a narrative technique, sometimes used in literature, film, hypertext websites and other narratives, where events are portrayed. It is often used to mimic the structure and recall of human memory, but has been applied for other reasons as well. 
e. Foreshadowing-- It is a literary device by which an author hints what is to come. It is used to avoid disappointment, and sometimes used to arouse readers. A hint that is designed to mislead the audience is referred to as a red herring.
f. Invocation-- It is to call on god or goddess. When a person calls upon God, a god, or goddess to ask for something or simply for worship, this can be done in a pre-established form or with the invoker's own words or actions. An example is the Lord's Prayer.

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B. Book Discussion
Topic one- Sappho
a. Sappho's poems are all talking about love and she used to wrote lyrical poems. She lived in island of Lesbos. Because she was an homosexual, "Lesbos" transformed into lesbian which means women homosexuals.  b. Sappho's poems were produced almost two hundred years after Homeric epics. In Homer epics, people used to call on Apollo; however, in Sappho's poetry, they used to call on Aphrodite, goddess of love and sex. -- on page 595-596
c. Key sentences on Poem 1:
(a) I am calling out.  (b) back into her love  (c) You be my ally. -- on page 597
d. Key sentences on Poem 16:
(a) the most beautiful thing is what you love.  (b) for she (refers to Helen)-- on page 597

 

Topic two- overview

a. John the Baptist and the blood moon-- King Herod II arrested all the Christians but his step daughter Salome fell in love to John the Baptist due to his beautiful face. In that day, there was blood moon outside and blood moon was regarded as a bad omen (ominion). Because John the Baptist refused to love Salome, she told the King that if she couldn't get his love, she wanted to off his head and do "the Dance of Seven Veils". Therefore, John died and from then on, Salome was called "the fatal woman" (femme fatale) -- on page ix

 Salome and John

b. Motifs-- It is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition, a motif can help produce other narrative (or literary) aspects such as theme or mood. A narrative motif can be created through the use of imagery, structural components, language, and other narrative elements. -- on page xx
c. Samuel Beckett-- He was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet, who lived in Paris for most of his adult life and wrote in both English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.
-- on page xxi

 Samuel Beckett

d. Virginia Woolf-- She was an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals.

 Virginia Woolf

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C. Stories of the Day
a. Zeus and Io (Jupiter and Io)-- There is one time, Zeus was stunned by Io's beauty, so he turned Io to a heifer. Zeus's wife,Hera, was mad and sent Argus to watch the heifer (Io) all day and night. Therefore, Zeus told Hermes to kill Argus. After Argus died, Hera felt upset and put his a hundred eyes on a bird. This kind of bird turned out to be peacocks. However, the heifer wasn't good at the moment because of stung by the gadfly all the time so she came to Caucasus Mountains then she met Prometheus, one of the Titan gods. He saved the heifer by blew her once. But it is not the ending yet, because the Io's offspring saved Prometheus in the future.

 Zeus and Io

b. Zeus and Europa-- Europa was Helen's mother. She was violated by a goose which was transformed by Zeus. After that, the goose carried her to a new place and dropped her. That is the reason why Europe was so called.

 Zeus and Europa

c. Uranus and Zeus-- Uranus, one of Titan gods, was Zeus's father. Because he took his father's crown by force, he was afraid that his sons would take his crown away in the same way. Therefore, he ate all his sons and daughters, right after they were born. One day, Uranus's wife gave birth a new baby again, but this time, she decided to let Uranus swallowed a big rock and save her son. She sent her son to the mortal world and used percussion instruments to covered his noises of crying. (That is also why the Zeus is the god of thunder and lightening.) Many years later, Zeus wrested the crown form his father, then cut open Uranus's belly. At the moment, all his brothers and sisters were all jumping out. Zeus married his sister, Hera and sent his brother, Hades, who he hates to the Hades. 

d. Prometheus Bound-- Prometheus, one of the Titan gods, who played an important role in ancient Greece just like Suiren and Fu Xi in ancient China taught ancient Greeks how to plant trees and light a fire. However, Zeus was angry about this, so he gave Pandora to Prometheus and his brother, Epimetheus, as a bait. One day, when Prometheus and Epimetheus went out, Pandora opened a box which they told her not to open. After that, the plague went out from that box and the box was called "Pandora's Box". Zeus caught this opportunity to lock Prometheus in the Caucasus Mountains and sent a vulture, a bird which is similar with eagle, to eat his liver. (Prometheus could produce a new liver every day.) 

 Prometheus Bound

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D. Vocabulary and Other Information

a. Metamorphoses (v)-- "Meta" is to transform and "morph" stands for form.

b. Human races include Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, and African American (Black).

Western Literature Week Four－Iliad

A. Book Discussion
On page iv
a. Library of Congress is the largest library in the US. Through the backdoor of this library, there is a James Madison statue which represent the forth president of the US and his well-known saying: "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who  mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."

 

On page v
a. Mediterranean-- The history of the Mediterranean region is the history of the interaction of the cultures and people of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea—the central superhighway of transport, trade and cultural exchange between diverse peoples.

b.  Epic of Gilgamesh-- The first epic poetry shows on wedge clay. And there are some topics which is the same as other literature such as the Bible and Classic of Mountains and Seas from China. eg. the flood and snake

On page vi
a. "Job" which means the books written in Hebrew language.
b.  The Bible-- The New Testament Bible is written in Greek language but the Old Testament Bible is written in Hebrew language. Until the Roman Empire, Augustus regarded Christianity as their country religion, so Romans used Latin language to write the Bible.
* The stories in the Bible are talking about Ancient history, mythology, and how those people was rescued by the God.

 Augustus

c. Psalm 23 ( go to page 178)

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

* This is the remaining of ancient language.(第三人稱動詞)

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

* "Thou" means you and "thy" means your. Those are the remaining of German language due to the Martin Luther's Reformation.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

* "Dwell" means to live.

 Martin Luther

* When George W. Bush made his speech for 911 attacks, he put some content from Psalm 23.

Quotation: 

" I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who have joined me in strongly condemning these attacks. And on behalf of the American people, I thank the many world leaders who have called to offer their condolences and assistance.

  America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world, and we stand together to win the war against terrorism. Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me."

-- "You" here means God.

On page xix

a. Preface: A preface or proem, is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. The preface often closes with acknowledgments of those who assisted in the literary work. A preface generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or how the idea for the book was developed; this is often followed by thanks and acknowledgments to people who were helpful to the author during the time of writing.
b. "Students learned passages from these epics by heart, politicians quoted them, comedians riffed off of them, tragedians borrowed from them, lyrics poets transformed them, and novelists and historians as well as epic poets reworked them into their own narratives of wandering and conflicts."
* "Wandering" refers to Odyssey and "conflicts" refers to Iliad.

On page 283
a. "Cut them down at their knees" means to destroy them.
b. "And the only one who could save this city" refers to Hector.
c. "Think of your father..." which is that Priam want Achilles to think of his father, Peleus.

 Priam and Achilles

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B. Orientation of Some Concepts
a. Aeneid copied the from and the ways which Odyssey used.
* It is s a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans.
b. The four Gospels includes Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, and Gospel of John.
c. Old Testament was divided into 39 books and New Testament include 27 books.

* tips for memorizing-3 times 9 is 27

Virgil  New Testament

d. Odyssey-- Odysseus saw many ghost (people) in the Hades such as Achilles and Tiresias and he also roamed on the sea for ten years because he offended the son of the god of Sea. He had no intention, no ability to change who he is and how the reality heads to.  

* Tiresias was a male human but he turned to blind prophet. The story is that when he was taking a walk some day, he was shocked by a double-head snakes (or two snakes), so he transformed to a female. After seven years, she saw the snake(s) again, then changed back to male. One day, when Zeus and Hera were having sex, they argued which gender can get the most pleasure during the sex. Suddenly, they saw Tiresias, so they decided to ask him. Tiresias blushed and answered that female could get the most pleasure. Hera was mad and turned him into a blind guy. However, Zeus felt bad at the moment, therefore, he gave him the capability of precognition.

* There is a rule in the immortal world that is the god can't retrieve the gift they gave to human.

e. Oresteia-- It is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus which concerns the end of the curse on the House of Atreus. The term "Oresteia" originally probably referred to all four plays, but today is generally used to designate only the surviving trilogy. The only surviving example of a trilogy of ancient Greek plays, the Oresteia was originally performed at the Dionysia festival in Athens. The name derives from the character Orestes, who sets out to avenge his father's murder.
f. myth-- It's something you can't figure out and mythology can refer either to the collected myths of a group of people—their body of stories which they tell to explain nature, history, and customs—or to the study of such myths.

g. Electra-- She was the daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus princess of Argos. She and her brother Orestes plotted revenge against their mother Clytemnestra and stepfather Aegisthus for the murder of their father, Agamemnon. 

* Electra complex and Oedipus complex

ElectraOedipus

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C. Vocabulary

a. acknowledge-- "Ac" stands for taking. eg. accept, acquisition, and acquire

b. bibliographical-- a list of the books and articles that have been used by someone when writing a particular book or article

c. PBK-- paper back book <==> hard back book
d. condolence-- sympathy and sadness for the family or close friends of a person who has recently died
e. Mediterranean ans terrorism-- "Ter" stnads for territory and land.
f. siege-- the surrounding of a place by an armed force in order to defeat those defending it
g. fairest-- Mirror mirror on the wall. Who's the fairest of them all?
h. entreaty-- It is the same as agreement. "En" stands for putting into. eg. enlarge and enhence
i. oracle-- An ancient character in China called 甲骨文.

Western Literature Week Three－Iliad

A. Before Formal Class

a. There are some references that foreigners would use them to choose their name.

   (1) mythology (2) the Bible (3) all the kings and queens

b. The pages that we will discuss in class:
   (1) xix-xxiv (2) 3-5 (3) 181-188 (4) 189-290-- Iliad (5) 290-581-- Odyssey
c. There are many owners of city-states. For example:
   (1) Agamemnon- Mycenae (2) Menelaus- Sparta (3) Odysseus-- Ithaca

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B. Discussing the Movie- Helen of Troy (v)(v)(film)

a. Cassandra said in the movie: "If he lives, Troy will burn."

* Why would Cassandra own the capability of precognition?

-- Because Apollo, the god of precognition, loved her. Apollo regards himself as a perfect bachelor who knows everything. He loved many women but the truth is he loves him self the most.

*Why would Apollo love Cassandra?

-- Apollo used to offend Cupid, the primal god of love, so Cupid shot him with his golden arrow and let him fall in love with Cassandra. Cassandra always wanted the capability of precognition, therefore, Apollo gave her. However, they broke up at last, she told him that he is too perfect, so she must leave him to fulfill him. Due to this failed relationship, Apollo was so angry that he placed the curse on her by kissing her once. The content of the curse is that no one would believe in Cassandra's prophetic words.

Apollo  Cassandra

Cupid (He has three arrows, golden one, silver one, and an antidote.)

b. Helen and the Trojan War (v)

* There were many suitors gathering in front of Helen's gate. However, no matter who got Helen, it would put Helen's father into dilemma. He was afraid of facing war, especially the war was risen due to her daughter. Therefore, he let all the suitors make a promise that is "if Helen encountered any problem in the future, they have to help her." That is the reason why Helen launched a thousand ship and all the Greek city-states fought for her together after she was taken by Paris. 

c. Achilles and the Trojan War(v)

* The rage of Achilles-- After Greek won a war, they got lots of women as trophies. Briseis was Achilles' award but Agamemnon took away, so Achilles refused to attend the war and stayed in his camp all the time.

* Achilles' armor-- Achilles has a really strong and undefeated armor. It is a gift from Hephaestus, the god of the smith, when Achilles' parents, Peleus and Thetis, got married. This armor includes helmet, shield, and armor.

* The death of Patroclus, Achilles' boyfriend-- One day, Patroclus wore the armor and went out the camp when Achilles was sleeping. Hector saw the armor and he thought that was Achilles instinctively so he shot Patroclus to death. Achilles was really grieved.

 Achilles and Patroclus

* Hector's death-- After Patroclus died and his armor was broken, Achilles told her mom, Thetis, the whole thing and asked her to get a pair of new armor with tears. Therefore, Thetis ordered a new one from Hephaestus. Then, Achilles wore the new armor to challenge Hector and kill him. He totally ignored that his mom warned him not to kill Hector and he dragged Hector's dead body around the city behind a chariot.

* Reconcile with Achilles-- Hermes and Iris, the messangers of immortals, told Hector's father, Priam, that he can lead few army to reconcile with Achilles and get Hector's body back. Due to the death of their beloved men, they hugged and shed tears together in Achilles' camp in the end.  

 Achilles and Priam

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C. Other Stories

a. Apollo sent the plague to Greek army because of Chryseis.

* Agamemnon, commander-in-chief of the Achaean army, takes Chryseis as his prize. Achilles, one of the Achaeans’ most valuable warriors, claims Briseis. Chryseis’s father, a man named Chryses who serves as a priest of the god Apollo, begs Agamemnon to return his daughter and offers to pay an enormous ransom. When Agamemnon refuses, Chryses prays to Apollo for help. Apollo sends a plague upon the Greek camp, causing the death of many soldiers. (excerpted from Sparknotes)

 Chryseis was captured

b. Agamemnon's ambition-- Artemis, the god of child the birth, is Apollo's twins. She asked Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter for the wind. Agamemnon ends up doing this.

c. Hephaestus, the god of smith, married Aphrodite, the golden goddess of love, because he tricked his father who was stuck on an iron chair. However, their marriage wasn't that good as he imagined- Aphrodite had an affair with Ares, the god of war.

* Why would roosters crow everyday?

One night, when Aphrodite and Ares slept together, she ordered a retinue to tell her the time if the dawn comes. Unfortunately, the retinue forgot all this, so the dawn came and the couple was seen by Apollo. Because they felt very awkward and embarrassed, Aphrodite punished the retinue and made him crow every morning.

 Hephaestus caught Aphrodite and Ares

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D. Other Issues to discuss
a. Is homosexual nature or nurture? -- Achilles and Patroclus
 As a rule, the post-classical tradition shows Achilles as heterosexual and having an exemplary asexual friendship with Patroclus. Medieval Christian writers deliberately suppressed the homoerotic nuances of the figure.
b. We are not sure about the existence of Homer. -- Oral Epic Poetry
c. Without literature, without humanity, there is nothing to write about or read about of English.
d. Conflict(s)

e. Nine Planets-- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

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E. Vocabulary
a. myth-- something you can't figure out
    mythology-- study of the myth
b. crisis-- It comes from the name Chryseis.
c. Denouement-- "De" contains the meaning of down or "far away". eg. decline, depreciate, departure