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