In exchange for the approximately forty-four hours of class instruction that you will miss, you will need to study more and reread more and annotate and notate more fully. Do not be misled into thinking that reading a summary can substitute for reading the work itself. You will be asked to think critically about the material, and you cannot do that successfully if you haven't experienced the work first hand. Consider the difference between experiencing Saving Private Ryan, or Schindler's List, or Philadelphia, or Ghost World as opposed to reading a four sentence or even a two page summary.It is essential that you use Class Notes as you read your assignments.
You need to read carefully and think about what you are reading. Visualize as much as possible. As scenes are described, picture them in your mind. Visualize the characters and their actions. If you do not know the pronunciation of a name, pronounce it some way so that it sticks in your head. Pay attention to who is saying what. If you lose track, back up and reread. It is not enough to pass your eyes over material in order to say you read it. You need to comprehend it and be able to think about what you read. What are the characters feeling? What are their motivations? Does the setting (time and place) influence them? How can you tell that they mean or don't mean what they say? How do their actions reveal their personalities and values? How are they influenced by their cultures?
For some, reading footnotes before context is helpful. Then you can glance down and refresh your memory without losing track of what you are reading. Highlight or underline important points. In the introductory material, pay special attention to topic sentences that will indicate the topic for the coming paragraph.
You may want to glance at the Final Study Guide and Terms List at the end of Class Notes before you begin. All terms are in chronological order according to our reading and defined in Class Notes or in your text, almost always in the introductory material.
Read the introductory material, giving special attention to how the Trojan War began, how oral tradition evolved, why The Odyssey is valued and how Homeric epithet and dactylic hexameter are used. There is an additional example of dactylic hexameter on p. 971. These terms are two of a dozen or more epic conventions, characteristics that we generally find in all Western epics. Two others are in medeas res and invocation to a muse. The first is a Latin term which means in the middle of the action which is where The Odyssey and The Aeneid (which you read later) begin. The second term means to call to a muse for inspiration as we find in the first line of The Odyssey. Utopia is another term you need for The Odyssey as it applies to Nausikaa's home, Skheria.
The Odyssey is a great adventure about a man that we relate to because of his emotions and complexity. It is preferable that you read the work out loud, and stop at the end of a line only if punctuation indicates that you should. The poem begins with a summary of the action, followed by a confrontation between Zeus and Athena, Odysseus's champion. Following Athena's presentation of her plan, the focus switches to Telemachus and later, in Book V, to Odysseus, captive of Kalypso. After Odysseus is rescued in Book 6, he is pampered, as befitted Greek hospitality, and then invited to tell his story. At this point a flashback occurs that begins ten years earlier as Odysseus sets sail from Troy after its collapse. Chapters 9-12 are referred to as The Wanderings. The flashback ends and Odysseus prepares to continue home from Skheria. At home he prepares to settle some old scores. (Do not watch the recent movie Troy as it is blatantly inaccurate.)
Keep straight the main characters and minor characters important to the action. Make notes, family trees, etc. For example, you need to know who Hermes and Nausikaa are. Note the customs of the Greeks, the complexity of feeling in Odysseus, and the reasons why he is known as cunning. Be aware that The Odyssey is also a rite de passage, or coming of age story because of Odysseus's son, Telemachus.
Below are the names of some of the major gods and goddesses in Greek and Roman mythology. Some are important in The Odyssey and The Aeneid. (You do not need to commit them to memory.)
Below are the names of some of the major gods and goddesses in Greek and Roman mythology. Some are important in The Odyssey and The Aeneid. (You do not need to commit them to memory.)
The Greek name is given first, followed by the Roman name.
*from Zimmerman, J.E. Dictionary of Classical Mythology. New York: Harper and Row, 1980.
After you have read the first assignment in The Odyssey, take the following quiz to see how you are doing.
Read the introduction to Sophocles and pay special attention to why Sophocles is so highly esteemed and how his attributes are demonstrated in Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex). Note the importance and function of the chorus which we still see in plays today, such as The Beggar's Opera, Mother Courage and Her Children, or the one man chorus in Our Town and The Glass Menagerie. In the play, pay special attention to the examples of dramatic irony, to motifs, and to hubris (also hybris). Motifs are words, phrases, objects, etc. repeated throughout a work for effect, as in music, art, literature, etc. A motif in music (and literature) might be a repeated phrase that supports the theme; it would be Vermeer's open windows or Chagall's flying horses in art, the girl in red in Schindler's List or the repetition of cupolas in architecture. One example, out of several, in Oedipus is the motif of light and dark which relates to the theme.
Hubris is the excessive pride that one might have that would cause him to feel equal to or above the gods. This attitude was especially heinous to the Greeks and it is the downfall of Oedipus, a great man who had everything we value in life. He is a hero, well-respected in a position of power and capable doing good. He is surrounded by loving, devoted family, friends, and subjects. Lastly, consider the role of fate in this tragedy. Today many people do not believe in fate, but the Greeks did and that belief affected the way they received the play, just as it affects the outcome of the play. Was there any way out for Oedipus?
Aristotle used the term tragic flaw to indicate the protagonist's defect of character that brings about his downfall.
Read this introduction carefully because the historical background is particularly relevant to The Aeneid since it is a tribute to Caesar Augustus. (Virgil supposedly recited it from memory in entirety to him which I can believe considering the amount of work it would be to write all those dactylic hexameters and still say exactly what you wanted to say.)
This epic poem differs in that it focuses on the consequences of war, particularly the consequences of losing a war and being displaced as a result. Virgil patterned his poem after Homer and uses aspects of The Iliad and The Odyssey.
The first book begins with a summary and presents the invocation to a muse in line 11. Venus, Aeneas's mother and champion is opposed by Juno, sister to Neptune (Poseidon) who supported the Greeks in the war. Another summary occurs in lines 208-235, as Aeneas begins in reference to his wanderings as he has landed in Libya (Carthage), the home of Dido who fled her brother, Pygmalion, who tried to kill her and did kill her husband. There are moving accounts of the end of the war at the end of Book I that some of you may want to read. Begin with line 458. Book Two, as the heading indicates, continues with the fall of Troy. Just as in The Odyssey, Aeneas has been afforded all hospitality and settles in to tell his story to Queen Dido and the others assembled in the hall. The flashback begins with the fall of Troy and continues through the wanderings (Book Three). What are Aeneas's feelings as he recounts his tale? With Book Four the retelling is completed, and we are back in the present. Dido is victim to the unlikely alliance of Venus and Juno and so one of the most famous love stories in literature follows. Why do Venus and Juno work together? What role does fate play? What alternative actions are considered by Dido before she comes to a decision. What role does her sister play? Is Aeneas at fault?
Read in the introduction about Ovid's life and how the times differed from Virgil's affecting Ovid's work. Pay special attention to the fifth paragraph beginning "Besides The Art of Love" and the last four paragraphs. See which of your four epic conventions show up in the section that you are assigned.
In the introduction pay special attention to what a Sapphic is. Since Sappho's poems are also lyrics, you want to know that definition. The name came from the lyre (mandolin-type instrument) that singers used to accompany their poetry and came to mean a poem that is brief, melodic, and subjective. Some song lyrics today fit the definition and some don't. Johnny Cash's "Hurt" or, if you know it, Janis Ian's "At Seventeen" are excellent examples of lyrics that fit the classic definition. A Sapphic is a kind of lyric poem. Sappho lived on the isle of Lesbos, from which we get the term, "Lesbian." Originally, anyone living on Lesbos was a Lesbian, just as many of us are Austinites. Sappho taught women and thus made herself a target of derision and she is in fact often a character in the comedies of the time, shown as a caricature and derided. She was married and had a child. Although homosexuality was accepted at the time, denouncing Sappho as a lover of women was a strong condemnation. Regardless of what her sexual preferences were, poets throughout time have adopted different voices in poetry. If I want I can write a poem as if I am an old man or a little boy. Sappho is our first extant Western lyric poet, and she captures feelings exquisitely.
This is one of Sappho's ambiguous poems. Ambiguity is a characteristic of poetry: having more than one meaning. This is where interpretation comes in and it's what keeps literature alive. We still discuss the insanity of Hamlet and the motivation of Iago because the plays are ambiguous, not something you want in referential or technical writing, but something that you do want in literature (and art) because it draws the reader in and keeps the work alive. First you may need to look up lament and maidenhead. Then you can consider the two voices, each presenting a different ending to similes comparing maidenhead. Visualize the two scenes and decide what statements the speaker is making.
Some of Sappho's poems had to be pieced together, but this one and 39 are originals. This poem is a prayer to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. What does the speaker ask for, why, and is this the first time? Which words convey the intensity of pain? What kind of pain is expressed?
Do you hear the intensity of the passion in the poem as the speaker witnesses someone else close to the one she/he wants to be close to? Remember that you won't see the pattern of the Sapphic because these poems are in translation.
Others are caught up in the parade of troops and the idea of patriotism, but the speaker feels that" the finest sight on dark earth" is the person you love. Why does she choose dark as her adjective? What classical allusion does she use as support for her argument?
Read the introduction giving special attention to the discussion of medieval and modern, romance, drama, and courtly love. A definition that I like for courtly love is love as religion which works well because courtly love had rituals, was obsessive to some degree, placed the lovee (an archaic term) on a pedestal, often replaced religion, and borrowed religious terms for its expression. Our contemporary beliefs about falling in love, the pain of love, protestations of not being able to live without (romantic) love, the impractical, romantic view that we hold come directly from Elinor of Aquitane's Court of Love where for the amusement of the royal court, she sat as judge in cases of love.
Chivalry grew out of the courtly love, and religion joined astrology as an important influence on daily life.
Elinor of Aquitane- 1175 Couples began to gather with her sons and daughters for summer games and her court became the meeting place for couples. The concept for courtly love developed and then Copellanis wrote the Book of Courtly Love which included more than thirty rules. Following are a few examples (condensed):
Courtly love was practiced by the upper classes. Courtly love was fine amour, refined love. The definition I prefer is 'love as a religion'.
It may have been derived from the worship of the Virgin Mary. It may also indicate a reaction against the Church and a Moslem influence in that women were made figures of mystery. Women were placed on a pedestal but at the same time were thought to be suspect and vile, particularly among the lower classes.
Courtly love led to the code of chivalry practiced by the knights.
Lovers presented disputes to Elinor and others in her court, and rulings were handed done. (What should a lover do if commanded to stop loving?)
The court lasted two hundred years.
At puberty a young man became a squire. He aided a knight, as his apprentice. At sixteen, he received his first suit of armor. The night before he was dubbed a knight, he fasted and prayed in the chapel. In the morning after confession and communion he would be dubbed Sir ____. Knighthood flourished from the mid-twelfth to the fourteenth centuries. Knights mounted for war in full armor. If they fell off in battle they might starve to death since the weight of the armor kept them from getting up on their own. Armor was put on starting at the feet upward since it all overlapped. They generally attempted to cut off heads since necks were vulnerable. Prisoners were taken for ransom.
The Church didn't try to wipe out courtly love but refocused the quest from the beloved to the Holy Grail (the golden cup from The Last Supper). Ironically, in a time of strict hierarchy, knights pledged to rescue any damsel in distress, regardless of class.
The chart below includes in the following order the name of the sign, its symbol, its mythological origin, and the approximate date the sun enters the sign. This chart is just for enrichment.
| # | Name | Symbol | Origin | Date the Sun Enters the Sign |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Aries | Ram | Golden-fleeced ram | March 21 |
| 2. | Taurus | Bull | Europa's mount | April 20 |
| 3. | Gemini | Twins | Castor and Pollux | May 21 |
| 4. | Cancer | Crab | tormentor | June 21 |
| 5. | Leo | Lion | Nemean Lion | July 23 |
| 6. | Virgo | Virgin | Astraca | August 23 |
| 7. | Libra | Balances | Astraea's scales | September 23 |
| 8. | Scorpio | Scorpion | Orion's torturer | October 24 |
| 9. | Sagittarius | Archer | Chiron | November 22 |
| 10. | Capricornus | Goat | Amalthea | December 22 |
| 11. | Aquarius | Waterbearer | Ganymede | January 20 |
| 12. | Pisces | Fisli | Disguises of Aphrodite and Eros | February 19 |
Read the introduction paying special attention to the explanation of lai and desmesure. Brittany is a peninsula region of Northwest France settled by Romans then Celtic Britons fleeing the Anglo-Saxons. In both tales, consider the use of verisimilitude. This device helps the writer present the work as true which was particularly important in a time when the Church taught that reading fiction was sinful. Authors use actual people, places, and things toward this end, but also realistic character and setting detail and realistic dialogue. Remember how Chaucer, in The Canterbury Tales, uses London and Canterbury, a pilgrimage that actually took place yearly, a real inn in a real place, authentic description of clothing and occupations and realistic dialogue, for a start. What examples of verisimilitude do you find in the two lais? Sometimes writers would also simply assure the reader that what they were reading was true. (We're too sophisticated for that now.) Examine both for desmesure.
In "Bisclavret" consider how the expectations of civilization is a motif in a lai about an animal and humans. Where are the ironies? Where are elements of courtly love? Of the supernatural? Of Christian influence?
In "Yonec" consider irony, courtly love, supernatural, and Christian influence. Also, be aware of the inclusa (the custom of keeping women in forced isolation), as found in "Rapunzel" and "Sleeping Beauty").
Read the introduction taking note of the term nesting and examine how it is used in this famous work set in Persia, Iran today. Examine the values expressed through the tale. Look for irony and verisimilitude. What device holds the stories together as a unified whole, rather than a collection of separate stories? This is the framing device.
Pizan is considered the first professional writer in Europe. She was born in Italy, but is considered French. In the introduction pay special attention to the Debate of "The Romance of the Rose." It may help you to realize that Pizan was a contemporary of Joan of Arc. She is also the first writer of psychological realism, not visited again significantly until Charlotte Bronte writes Jane Eyre. She considers how the mind is affected and how that affects the whole. Examine this aspect of her writing. Note in the introduction that Pizan uses the medieval device of the dream-vision. Her work is also allegorical. Allegory is a kind of symbolism where the author clearly indicates what the symbols represent. In "Book," the three women and what they carry are symbols, but Pizan tells us what they symbolize, thus the allegorical aspect. Focus on this part of the narrative. The "Book" as a whole is a metaphor. Examine that aspect, too. This work also has an inclusa; look for it. Pizan develops her work through the use of example (an exemplum). Pay attention to Sappho as an example. The prayer at the ending was customary and the trials of St. Catherine might seem hyperbolic to us today, but they were immediately accepted by Pizan's audience. This work, in the time of Joan of Arc, shows a need to turn away from writings denigrating women to consider their potential and future.
Read the introduction paying special attention to the discussion of humanism with its emphasis on man as the center of the universe, optimism, reason, and free will.
Read the introduction, particularly noting sonnet sequence, Laura, and Petrarchism: stock images, antithesis, oxymoron, and hyperbole.
Petrarch's poems were wildly popular and also highly influential among poets. They spread the concept of courtly love, and the Petrarchan sonnet became the model for poetry. Later, the term Italian sonnet was used as more inclusive. A Petrarchan sonnet differs from a Shakespearean, or English sonnet in that it is made up of an octave (two quatrains) and a sestet (two tercets) with an abba abba cde cde rhyme scheme. Examine the sonnets for form. additional terms for reading Petrarch
conceit-a figure of speech which establishes a parallel between strikingly dissimilar things or situations
Petrarchan conceit-detailed, ingenious, exaggerated comparisons relating to courtly love
metaphysical conceit-finding commonalities between radically different things to create a startling comparison, such as in Petrarch, Donne, and T.S. Eliot's line,"the evening...like a patient etherized upon a table," and Cole Porter's "You're the cream in my coffee."
Look at the number of the poem and the status of Petrarch's love. Poem I might have been written last. He expresses his dismay at what he lost in pursuing romantic love. Note the religious term in line 13. What is he asking from the world?
In poem III, he tells of the day he meets Laura. What is ironic about the day and place? Note the classical allusion. What "error" has Cupid made?
In XC, we have opening lines that are hyperbole and a poem filled with antithesis. (Literally, "tinder" refers to the little bits and pieces that would be carried to start a fire; gentlemen carried tinder on them in small containers). Such feeling in this poem! Such frustration. Note the allusion to Cupid, again.
In CXXXIV, we have another poem filled with antithesis to underscore the desperation that comes with loving but being unloved in return. (As one of my students noted, "Been there, done that.")
In CCLXV, Laura is compared to the solid stone that water wears down, just as he hopes his tears will wear her down. He clings to hope. Note the stock images, hyperbole, and antithesis.
In CCXCII, he gives up. Note the figurative meaning of the last two lines.
In CCCLXV, Petrarch addresses God, not Laura.
In the introduction, pay special attention to social realism, representing classes other than nobility as was traditional, and the framing device. Examine the framing device as you read "The First Day" and also look for elements of verisimilitude and courtly love, aspects of religion and paganism, and attitudes about women.
Look for examples of verisimilitude, social realism, and fiction elements.
Read the introduction paying special attention to the social classes, realities versus dreams or illusions, and themes. Consider the quest and the chivalric aspects of the novel. Look for verisimilitude and courtly love.
The novel has two books but only the first is excerpted in the text. You may certainly read both, if you wish. Why is this probably the best known novel in the world? Why do people who haven't even read it, respond to the windmill scene? Is Don Quixote the necessary dreamer, idealist, romantic needed to survive in a harsh world? Is he exposing the inequalities of a class system? Is he demonstrating how we are changed by and change those we love? Is he chastising the Church for its role in human suffering? Is he playing out the dilemma of artists or individuals in society? Is he exposing the Spain of the time to the world? Or all of the above? He seems to be a buffoon, but the novel turns out to be complex and ambiguous.
Look at quixotic, a word we gained from this novel. Also, know that this is a picaresque novel, like Tom Jones and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It is held together, unified, by the adventures of the main character, the picaro, or rogue.
Read the introduction to the Renaissance Lyric Poems paying special attention to the discussion of Petrarch and the last three paragraphs. Carpe diem means seize the day in the sense of making the most of your time. However, in the "carpe diem" poems you are reading, seizing the day has more to do with seizing a woman's virtue because that was making the most of time to the men writing the poems. The Garcilaso poem has a gentle, romantic tone as compared to the Pierre de Ronsard poems, but they vary, too. "Verses Against" by Sor Juana is a rebuttal on behalf of women challenging the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" mentality. Look at the forms of the poems, the tone, and the word choices that support the tone.
San Juan de la Cruz's poetry is still in print today, quite a tribute. His poem uses terms from courtly love to express religious fervor. A second reading should reveal to you that he is not meeting a lover, but embracing his faith. See how less formal the poem is in format to earlier ones.
"I Know Full Well" is another religious poem with metaphors that examine the origin of the Holy Spirit. What does the refrain, "Though it be dark" mean? This poem is less formal also.
Luis de Gongora's poem is an English sonnet, very formal. It has complex syntax and contains an important Biblical allusion. It is an ambiguous poem because although we have the rose metaphor throughout, the other half of the metaphor is subject to interpretation. What do you think?
Lope de Vega was a playwright, too, who wanted to put what was modern rather than classical on stage. His poems look modern on the page. In "Ice and Fires" he defines both terms, but contend changes to content, and we have the refrain. Who is the speaker? What is the situation?
Sor Juana was a Renaissance woman: poet, musician, composer, painter. She was a self-educated genius, denied education, who the clergy sought to put away or force to marry. Refusing to marry, she was sent to a convent. "On her Portrait" reveals her artistic background as she comments on reality versus illusion. "This Evening" paints a poignant and universal scene as the speaker tries to prove her innocence when confronted by jealousy.
The Ancient World exam covers the Ancient World and the final covers the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Part of the test is over specifically learned ideas, but part of the test requires that you demonstrate mastery in the content area by responding to questions requiring thought. The test is drawn, primarily, from Class Notes.
The test is predominantly objective, perhaps seventy-five per cent so. Also, this guide sheet may not include every item, but will cover ninety-five per cent or more of the test.
The test is presented in sections, as follows:
Several definitions are called for, and several questions require examples. Do not depend on your memory: study!
You will be asked not only to produce learned responses, but to think about the works and make analytical or evaluative statements.
For example, you might be asked to give an example of desmesure in "One Dismal Night," although you learned about desmesure in relation to the lais. (This specific item is not on the test.)
Know why the works and authors we read are considered important. (Refer to notes and/or introductory materials.)
You will not be tested over biographical information other than time period and nationality/country. (Petrarch's life is revealed through his poetry).
Be able to make some comparisons between The Aeneid and The Odyssey.
Strategy
Run material through your head, not just past your eyes. Studying with someone is very helpful for most students.