CLAS1000: DR.Norman





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		Study Questions Epic & Didactic Homer's Iliad Hesiod's Theogony Solon's poetry Tragedy Aeschylus' Oresteia Sophokles' plays: Oidipous Tyrannos and Oidipous at Kolonos Sophokles' Philoctetes Euripides' Bakkhai Comedy Aristophanes' Frogs The Iliad General Questions What do the Homeric poems tell us about life in the Dark Ages in Greece? How is this reconciled with the fact that scholars date the appearance of these works to the period around 750 BCE? Why do you think some scholars use the term "Homeric poems" rather than "Homer's poems"? What are the traditions surrounding Homer? What definite information did the Greeks have about him? What definite information do we have about him? Be specific and detailed and do not forget to discuss the contributions of Parry and Lord to our understanding of Homer and his process of composition. What is the "epic cycle"? What is the importance of reciprocity in the society described in the Homeric poems? What is xenia? What social functions did it play in the society portrayed in the Iliad? What function does it play in the plot of the Iliad? What is the significance of the meeting of Glaukus and Diomedes in book 6? What are the characteristics of the epic simile? Consider, in particular, the similes in book 4; what, for example, is the significance of the two similes that describe the wounding of Menelaus? Also consider the epithets used in the opening books of the Iliad. What are the implications of the formulaic nature of the epithets? The Proem What does the poet say about the rest of the epic in the first seven lines? To what extent are his predictions fulfilled? What is the "Will of Zeus"? (Book 1, line 5) What is the significance of the appeal to the Muse at the beginning? Parallels? What is the significance of the first word of the poem? How is this reflected in other epics? Books 1-6: How many major characters have been introduced at the end of Book 1? What do we know about them? How does Homer go about introducing them and describing them? Consider especially Agamemnon, Odysseus, Nestor, Menelaus and Achilles. What issues does each introduce? Also consider how the different responses to Agamemnon's harangues in book 4 help to characterize the various heroes? Is the portrayal of Apollo in Book I characteristic or eccentric? How is his role as a god of prophecy important to the story? How are his prophets treated? What is Apollo associated with besides prophecy? What issues are at stake in the quarrel? How important is timê? Is the situation salvagable or does it reflect a structure that is essentially problematic? How would you characterize the relationship between Achilles and Thetis? between Thetis and Zeus? between Zeus and the rest the gods? How do Achilles and Thetis understand the significance of his fate to die young? Are their visions compatible? Who is Thersites? What does he represent? What is the significance of his speech? Are we meant to agree with him or not? What non-Iliadic stories are mentioned in the Catalogue of Ships? What is strange about the passage describing Athens? What signs of revision can be seen in the catalogue? Why does the poet include it? What is Homer's attitude toward Helen, Paris, Aphrodite and the origin of the war? Does Homer take sides in the conflict? How does Homer characterize the major figures of Troy-Hektor, Paris, Priam, Andromache, Helen and Hekuba in books 3 and 6? What ramifications for the story as a whole do you get from Paris' advice to Hektor not to make light of the gifts of the gods, even unwarlike gifts like those of Aphrodite? How does Homer make the Trojans sympathetic? What is the significance of Helen's tapestry? of Hektor's visit with her, his mother and his wife in book 6? Remember that this is his final visit to Troy and that these same three women will mourn his corpse in Book 24? How is the decision-making at the beginning of the book characteristic of the way the gods interact elsewhere in the poem? How do the different responses to Agamemnon's harangues help to characterize the various heroes? What are the significant features of an aristeia? Who else has them? What aspects of Diomedes' in book 5 are significant? How is it that Diomedes is able to battle against the gods? What is significant about the identities of the gods against whom he fights? How does his aristeia help us understand the role of Achilles among the Greeks? Books 7-12: Note the humanity of Hector's proposal before the duel with Ajax. What changes does this attitude undergo in the course of the poem? Zeus's threat to the other gods obviously reveals a contentious dimension to the picture of divine harmony seen elsewhere. What is the relationship between these two portrayals? Are they two more or less incompatible aspects of the oral tradition, or two essentially compatible ones? Why is Patroklos' death foretold in Book 8, lines 470ff? What effect does this knowledge have on the events of Book 9? How is Agamemnon's behavior at the beginning of book 9 in keeping with the way Homer represents him in the poem as a whole? What is the substance of Agamemnon's offer to Achilles? What does he ask for in exchange? Who is Phoenix? What is his role in the embassy to Achilleus? What is the significance of the Meleager story that Phoenix tells? What is Achilles' response? Compare the Achilles we met in Book1 with the Achilleus of Book 9. What is Achilles doing when the embassy arrives and what is its significance? Has Achilles changed between the events in Book 1 and those in Book 9? Is it only his anger at Agamemnon that troubles him? What is the progression of threats Achilles makes to Odysseus, Phoenix and Ajax? It has been objected that Book 10 has nothing to do with the plot of the Iliad and it does not belong to the original poem. Do you agree? In the light of oral-formulaic theory, terms like "original Iliad" have been recognized as extremely problematic, if not meaningless. In what way is the book nevertheless unusual in the context of the Iliad? How does the episode with Dolon fit in with the heroic idealogy of the Iliad? What does it say about Odysseus? How does the aristeia of Agamemnon in Book 11 affect our estimation of his character? What is the significance of the appeal to the Muses at its beginning? What is significant about Achilles' conversation with Patroclus in Book 11? What are its consequences? What advice does Nestor have for Patroclus. Books 13-18: By this time we have seen almost as much of the gods as of the mortals. To what uses does Homer put the gods in this poem? Is the control of gods over men absolute? How do the gods deal with one another? To what extent is Zeus' control absolute? The dull-witted reader may suppose that the tedious, repeated battle scenes in these books have little point. The acute and talented reader will be able to show that none of these battles is wasted and that each has a function in the movement of the epic. Which are you? What is a simile? How are they used in the context of the narrative by Homer? How are they used stylistically? Are they different from the narrative? If so, how? When does the idea of the exchange of armor between Achilleus and Patroklos first come up? How does it develop? Compare it with other exchanges of armor in the Iliad. Books 19-24: Achilles fights Asteropaios and Hephaistos fights Scamander. What is the relationship between the two battles? How are they anticipated? How long a period of time does the Iliad embrace? How long was the war? How are the two related to each other? What happens in Book 23? What is Achilleus' role? Compare it to his earlier roles. Is is consistent with what we have seen before? Why does Hektor stand and face Achilleus? In what ways is Hektor like Patroklos? Has Hektor changed? Did Patroklos change? What does Achilleus say to Priam in Book 24? Can you find anything to parallel it in the earlier books? What are the bases of the bond between Achilleus and Priam? Has Achilles' character or attitude changed in the course of the epic? How? Hesiod's Theogony How does power change hands in the Theogony (from whom to whom)? How many stages are there, or reigns? List the rules in sequence Toward what end do all the births and marriages in the Theogony seem directed? i.e. what is present at the final stage of the evolution which was not present before? What are the essential differences between the cosmos before and the cosmos after the birth of all the gods? How do male/female relations evolve in the Theogony? Which gender has more power at each stage or during each reign? When was mankind created according to the Theogony? Solon's Poetry Aeschylus' Oresteia Why does Clytemaistra kill Agamemnon? What are all of her reasons? Examine the image of the purple carpet. What is its significance? What does it resemble and why is it so dangerous for Agamemnon to walk across it? Who is Cassandra? What is her function in the first play of the trilogy? How does Aeschylus manipulate the ideas of suffering and wisdom in the trilogy? Suggestions for extra reading on the Oresteia: Sophokles' plays: Oidipous Tyrannos and Oidipous at Kolonos Why is Oidipous punished? What are the prominent images in the plays? Examine how these images are manipulated in the play. What does the play tell us about the relationship between men and the gods? How do the oracles function in the plays? What happens to Oidipous between the events depicted at the end of the OT and those depicted at the beginning of the OK? Why does Oidipous chose not to go back to Thebes when Creon comes to fetch him? Where do the events of the OK take place? Why there? Suggestions for extra reading: Sophokles' Philoctetes What "play within a play" appears in the Philoctetes? Who wears a "mask"? Why? What role does Herakles play at the end of the tragedy? Why him? What are some of the key differences between Neoptolemos and Odysseus in the play? Think about the interplay between the individual and the group in this play. How does this relate to Athenian views of the polis and society? Who is the protagonist of the play? Suggestions for extra reading: Euripides' Bakkhai Examine the character of Kadmos in the play? What is his function? What happens to him at the end of the play? Why? Does he truly believe in Dionysos? What actions in the play appear to refect contemporary cult practice? Should we read the play as a description of Dionysias cult? Why? Why not? Why does Pentheus object so violently to Dionysos and his worshippers? Who is the protagonist of the play? How does Euripides manipulate the images of the net/hunting and the snake in this play? What characteristics do Pentheus and Dionysos share? How do these similarities color your interpretation of the play? Does the play provoke moral criticisms of Dionysos? Is he a cruel and vengeful god? Does he transcend standards of human judgment? Explain. Suggestions for extra reading: Aristophanes' Frogs Why does Dionysos go to Hades? What happens to him there? Does the Dionysos of the Frogs compare at all to the Dionysos of the Bacchai? Cite some examples of visual humor in the play. What does the agon reveal about contemporary ideas about the great tragedians? Why does Dionysos return with Aeschylos? Suggestions for extra reading:

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