Introduction to Classical Mythology

Dr. Michael Broder

University of South Carolina

February 21, 2012

Please write your Daily Write on a complete

sheet of paper, not a half sheet, and not a sheet with other Daily Writes

already on it.Violators will be docked 1 point no matter how good

their answer is.Starting TODAY

If you leave the room early, I will ask for your

name and deduct 1 point from your Daily Write.

If it’s an emergency we can discuss it at another time.

But I know it is usually NOT an emergency. And I will not tolerate it without a penalty.

Daily Write #11: Review

At Odyssey 19.463-464, Autolycus, father of Anticleia, tells Anticleia and Laertes to name their newborn son

Odysseus…the Son of Pain, a name he’ll earn in full.

•Some students suggested that Autolycus meant the name to indicate the pain that Odysseus will give others, but that in the end it refers more to the pain Odysseus suffers at the hands of others

Daily Write #12

At Odyssey 23.198, Penelope orders Eurycleia to “Move the sturdy bedstead out of our bridal chamber.” How does Odysseus react when he hears this request, and why? How does this episode relate to Homer’s earlier descriptions of beds and sleeping arrangements? How does Homer relate the poetic theme of beds to the cultural values of marriage and family? Be sure to support your answer with examples that show familiarity with the text (what is special about the construction of this particular bed?).

Daily Write #12: Review

• How does Odysseus react when he hears this request, and why?– He gets angry because he knows the bed cannot be moved

without destroying it; it is constructed around an olive tree that remains rooted in the ground

• How does this episode relate to Homer’s earlier descriptions of beds and sleeping arrangements?

– Unmarried people like Telemachus and Nausicaa sleep alone (or with same-sex friends); married couples like Nestor and his wife, Menelaus and Helen, Alcinous and Arete, sleep together. Odysseus and Penelope have slept apart for 20 years

• How does Homer relate the poetic theme of beds to the cultural values of marriage and family?

– Beds symbolize the centrality of marriage and family to Homeric society and ancient Greek society

– Single people generally sleep in the outer part of the house; married couples sleep in an inner room; Odysseus says he built his entire house around the olive tree rooted in the ground

Daily Write #13

• What is the major message you take away from the Odyssey? By message I do not mean “moral of the story.” Instead, I mean what do you learn from having read the Odyssey about the human condition? Of course this question is wide open, but to get full credit, you must provide examples from the text to support your response.

Lyric PoetsToday’s Readings in

ACM• Archilochus, page 58• Pindar, pages 356-360• Sappho, pages 385-386• Semonides, pages 387-390• Simonides, page 391• Xenophanes, pages 433-434

Lyric Poetry

• Personal speaking voice– Sometimes viewed as “the poet”– Better viewed as “the speaker”

• Speaker:– Speaking voice of the poem– Often a fictional version of the poet

who differ from the real-life poet in some ways

– Can sometimes be completely different from the poet

Sappho’s Prayer to Aphrodite

• In Sappho’s prayer to Aphrodite, Sappho asks Aphrodite to make the person Sappho loves, love her back

The Epic View of the World

• Factual, not conceptual• Narrative, not logical• Concerned with remembering,

recognizing, recalling• Not concerned with

understanding or explaining*– *With some exceptions…

Lyric vs Epic?

• How do the lyric poems you have read compare with the epic poems you have read?– Who speaks?– What do they speak about?– How do they represent gods, heroes,

and other mythological figures?– How do they represent the real-life

human world?

The Lyric View of the World

• Personal perspective• Can be factual, but can also be more

conceptual• Can be narrative, but can also be more

logical• More concerned with understanding and

explaining than with simply recalling– Why should a god answer my prayer?– Why should we praise an athletic victor?– How do the gods interact with the human world?– How do humans interact with the divine world?

For Next Time

• Herodotus, Histories 1.1-1.5, in ACM, pp. 123-5• Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War,

1.1-1.12, in ACM, pp. 404-9Remember your assigned readings in ACM for TODAY (in case you did not get to it all)

• Archilochus, page 58• Pindar, pages 356-360• Sappho, pages 385-386• Semonides, pages 387-390• Simonides, page 391• Xenophanes, pages 433-434

Introduction to Classical Mythology

Dr. Michael Broder

University of South Carolina

February 21, 2012