ENGL 3413: World Literature

John M. Mercer, Professor of English

Northeastern State University, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Study Guide 1: Homer and Sophocles

Revised 8-14-11

 

Background for Homer’s Epics

The Iliad and The Odyssey are the two most ancient extant works of literature in all of European culture.  Looking at the lines for these works near the top of the Chart of Epics (handed out in hard copy at the first class meeting), and using your textbook and college dictionary, try to answer the following questions.

  1. According to your college dictionary, what is the definition of “extant”?
  2. According to your college dictionary, what is the definition of “genre” as it relates to literature?
  3. What is the genre of The Iliad and The Odyssey?
  4. How did The Odyssey get its title?
  5. May require extra-credit research: How did The Iliad get its title?   Hint: What was the name of Troy in the ancient world?
  6. According to what the textbook says about Homer, for what reasons might it be incorrect or misleading to call Homer, as does the Chart of Epics, the “author” of The Iliad and The Odyssey?  May require some extra-credit research: What is a myth?  What is the oral tradition?  What is oral-formulaic poetry?
  7. According to the Chart of Epics, in what century B.C.E. did Homer compose these works?  According to your textbook, in what other century may Homer have lived?  What name is given to the time period in which Homer lived?  Why is it called this? 
  8. Most scholars believe there is probably some historical basis for the events in Homer’s epic, particularly the Trojan War.  According to the Chart of Epics, when would the Trojan War have taken place?  How much time would have separated the events of the Trojan War and Homer’s composition of The Iliad and The Odyssey?  What is the significance of this time gap to our evaluation of the events described in the works?
  9. The main character of an epic is the epic hero.  Who is the epic hero of The Iliad?  of The Odyssey?
  10. In what language were these two works composed?  
  11. The poetic form of Homer’s epics is never used in English, not even in poetic translations of these works.  What is the name of this poetic form?  Extra-credit research: What does each word identifying this form mean?
  12. How long are The Iliad and The Odyssey?  How do these two works compare in length to the other epics on the Chart of Epics?  How do they compare in length to most other poems you have read?

 

Definition of Epic

Epic as a genre or type of literature is defined as having the following seven traits.  How (if at all) does each of the following traits apply to Homer’s Odyssey?

1.      long narrative poem

2.      elevated style, high seriousness

3.      characters of high position

4.      series of valorous or superhuman adventures of the epic hero; episodic plot unified by hero

5.      vast setting

6.      supernatural intervention

7.      importance of story to an entire nation or race 

 

The following characteristics are true of Homeric epics but not necessarily of other epics.  Give one or more examples of each of these traits in The Odyssey.  

8.      poetic meter of dactylic hexameter (You won’t be able to give an example of this characteristic. The Modern English translation in your textbook is in poetry but not in this meter, which does not work well in English.)

9.      opening of epic (see page 97) includes

a.       statement of theme (subject)

b.      invocation of the Muse       

Extra-credit research (or prior knowledge):  Who are the Muses?  What is their function in epic?

c.       in medias res beginning

What is the literal translation of this Latin phrase?  In what sense does it apply to the plot of The Odyssey?

10.  long formal speeches

11.  epic similes (As will be explained in class, the literal term or tenor of a simile is brief, whereas the figurative term or vehicle of a simile is extended.)  One example is on page 147, lines 408-12.

12.  epithets (repeated compound adjectives such as “swift-footed Achilles,” “grey-eyed Athena,” or “rosy-fingered dawn”).  In the Modern English translation in your textbook, the epithets are more difficult to find because they are not in the form of a compound adjective preceding a noun.  How is the epithet for dawn repeatedly phrased in your assigned reading (pages 148b, 151b)?

13.  repetitions of entire lines or situations.  For example, what line is repeated every time when Odysseus and his men return to their ship after an adventure in which some of their colleagues have died?  What is the purpose of deliberate repetitions like this?   

 

Plot of The Odyssey

The ancient Greeks did not refer to themselves as Greeks but rather as Achaeans (pronounced “uh-KEY-uns”) or, as it is spelled in the Modern English translation of The Odyssey in your textbook, Akhaians.

  1. Extra-credit research (or your prior knowledge or textbook introduction):  What is the cause of the Trojan War between Greece and Troy?  Which side wins the war?  How?  Whose idea is this winning stratagem?
  2. Where are Troy and Ithaca on map on page 86 in your textbook?

The Odyssey begins when Odysseus, on his way home from the Troy to his island kingdom of Ithaca off the western coast of Greece, has been held captive by the nymph Calypso for seven years.  Through the intervention of the goddess Athena, Calypso releases Odysseus, and he  resumes his voyage home.  He is shipwrecked naked on the beach of the land of the Phaeaceans (fee-A-shunz), where he is given shelter by King Alcinous (al-SIN-oo-us).  At a banquet the king gives in his honor, Odysseus hears a bard sing about the recently ended Trojan War.  Unwilling to miss an opportunity to spread his own fame, Odysseus stands up at the banquet, reveals his identity, and tells as a flashback the story of his exploits on the way home from the war.  Your assigned reading from The Odyssey is Odysseus’s banquet speech.

  1. What does Odysseus say about his experiences with Kalypso (Calypso)?  Kirkê (Circe)?  the Kikonês?  the Lotos Eaters?
  2.  “Cyclops” (pronounced “SY-klops”) or “Kyklops” (pronounced “KY-klops”) means “wheel-eyed.”  According to Greek mythology, originally the Cyclopes (pronounced “SY-klop-eez”) or Kyklopês (pronounced “KY-klop-eez”)—the plural form of Cyclops or Kyklops—were one-eyed Titans who made thunderbolts for Zeus.  Later, as in this story, they were a race of one-eyed giants.  In his banquet speech, Odysseus, however, barely even mentions the fact that the Kyklopês are one-eyed.  In what line does he briefly allude to their unusual appearance?  Why would he say so little about this? 
  3. How does Odysseus characterize the Kyklopês as a group?
  4. The one Kyklops (Cyclops) whom Odysseus encounters is named Polyphêmos  (Polyphemus).  Why does Odysseus take his men and go into Polyphêmos’s cave?  Why does this visit to the cave turn out to be a bad decision? 
  5. Why does Odysseus intend to kill the Kyklops?  Why does he change his mind?  What does he do instead?
  6. How do Odysseus and his men get out of the cave? 
  7. What does Odysseus initially tell the Kyklops his name is?  How is this lie later beneficial to Odysseus and his men?
  8. What does Odysseus later tell the Kyklops his name is?  How is this truth-telling detrimental to Odysseus and his men?
  9. Who is the father of the Kyklops Polyphêmos?  How is the identity of his father significant to the story?

 

The Character of Odysseus

Our class discussion of the assigned reading from The Odyssey will focus on what it reveals about the character of the epic hero, Odysseus.  Be prepared to discuss your responses to the following questions:

  1. What character traits of Odysseus do you consider to be positive or admirable?  Give specific examples that demonstrate each character trait you identify.
  2. What character traits of Odysseus do you consider to be negative or undesirable?  Give specific examples that demonstrate each character trait you identify.
  3. Many of Odysseus’ character traits can be seen as being both positive or negative at the same time.  For example, his intellectual curiosity (desire to experience and learn new things) is admirable, but it causes him to get into dangerous situations that threaten his life and take the lives of his men.  Give an example of this phenomenon.  What other character traits of Odysseus are both positive and negative at the same time?
  4. An epic, by definition, is a story of great importance to the culture that produces it.  Why would this story about Odysseus have been so important to the ancient Greeks?  What does The Odyssey reveal about the values of the ancient Greeks?

* * *

The Development of Ancient Greek Drama

“Drama” refers to plays of all kinds.  The two most important genres of drama in ancient Greece were tragedy and comedy.  Answer the following questions based on the handout “The Theater of Sophocles” (distributed in hard copy in class), the assigned portion of the textbook’s introduction to Aeschylus, and the textbook’s introduction to Sophocles.  You may be able to answer some of the questions, however, only by doing extra-credit research.

  1. Who is each of the following?  What role did each play in the development of ancient Greek drama in general or tragedy in particular?  What innovation, if any, did each introduce?
    1. Dionysus
    2. Thespis
    3. Aeschylus
    4. Sophocles
    5. Euripides 
  2. What was the name of the theatre of ancient Athens?  How did it get its name?
  3. According to your college dictionary, what is a thespian?  What is the origin of this term?
  4. According to your college dictionary, what is a tragedian?  How is this word pronounced?  Who were the three great tragedians of ancient Athens?
  5. By the 5th century B.C.E., what theatrical contests were held each year in ancient Athens?  In what genres were prizes awarded?  In order to compete, how many plays did a contestant have to write? 
  6. Who was the most frequent winner of the competition for the writing of tragedies?  In how many years did he win first place?   How many tragedies did he write in his lifetime? At what age did he die?

 

Play Production in the Time of Sophocles

Sophocles was active throughout the mid to late 5th century B.C. E., known as the Golden Age of ancient Athens.  The following questions concern how Sophocles’s plays such as Oedipus the King would originally have been produced.  You may be able to answer some of the questions only by doing extra-credit research.   

  1. What was the parados?  What function did it serve?
  2. What was the orchestra?  Who performed in the orchestra?  What did they do in the orchestra?
  3. Who was the choragus (pronounced “core-A-gus”)?
  4. What was the skene (pronounced “SKEE-nee”) or “scene building”?   What functions did it serve in play production?
  5. Did the Theatre of Dionysus have a curtain?  If so, where was it?
  6. Did the Theatre of Dionysus have a stage?  If so, where was it?
  7. Who attended the plays in ancient Athens?
  8. In what shape were the seats for the audience laid out?  Of what material were the seats made?
  9. The outdoor ampitheatres of ancient Greece could seat from 14,000 to 20,000 people at any one time.  Without electronic amplification, today it is virtually impossible for an actor in any theatre, indoor or outdoor, to project his or her voice so as to be heard by this many spectators.  What about the design of the theatre helped make the actors’ voices audible?  
  10. What kinds of masks did the actors wear?  (Extra-credit research: Find pictures of masks used in the ancient Greek theatre.)  What functions did the masks serve? What feature of the masks helped the actors project their voices?
  11. What special feature did the actors’ shoes have?  What function did this special feature serve?
  12. All of the parts (not including the chorus) in a Sophoclean tragedy were played by only three male actors; women did not act in plays in ancient Greece.  How was it possible for one actor to play several parts?  What aspects of play production helped men portray the parts of women?
  13. What kind of machine was used in play production?  When and for what purpose was it used?  What is the literal translation of the Latin phrase deus ex machina?  What does this phrase mean today when applied to the plot of a play?

 

Oedipus the King

As you read the play, look for the answers to the following questions:

  1. Because the audience of the play is supposed to already know the myth (oral story) on which the play is based, the play contains many examples of dramatic irony, which occurs when the audience knows something that the characters in the play don’t know.  Give several specific examples of dramatic irony in the play.
  2. How many men made up the chorus of a Sophoclean tragedy?  In Oedipus the King, whom do these men represent? 
  3. Each choral ode (long passage sung by the chorus) comments in some way on the words and/or actions of the scene immediately preceding it.  Select three different choral odes, and explain how each is related to the preceding scene.
  4. When does Oedipus unwittingly curse himself?  Why does he do this?
  5. When does Oedipus experience his first reversal?  That is, when does he first receive bad news just at a moment when he expects good news?
  6. Who is Tiresias?  In what ways is he different from everyone else in his society?
  7. What prophecies does Tiresias give concerning what will happen to Oedipus?
  8. Why is Oedipus angry at Creon?
  9. At what precise moment does Oedipus realize that he may indeed be the murderer of Laius?  (This is Oedipus’s second reversal.)
  10. What testimony from the sole survivor of the murder of Laius’s party would vindicate Oedipus, proving that he is not the murderer?  Later in the play, who does this sole survivor turn out to be?  Why did he lie about the murder soon after it happened?
  11. How does the chorus respond immediately after the scene in which Jocasta tells Oedipus not to believe the prophecies of the gods?
  12. What news does the messenger from Corinth bring to Oedipus?  Why does Jocasta think this is such good news?
  13. May require extra-credit research: What is an “Oedipus complex”?  What is the Freudian interpretation of this play?
  14. What lines of Jocasta’s support the Freudian interpretation of the play, saying that men often dream of sleeping with their mothers?  At what point does Jocasta realize for the first time that Oedipus is her son?  How does she gain this knowledge?  What does she say and do after coming to this realization?  Extra-credit viewing: If you watch a video of this play, note especially Jocasta’s behavior when she experiences this epiphany.
  15. At what moment does Oedipus learn who his biological parents are? (This is his moment of both “recognition” and “reversal.”)  Why is this knowledge so devastating to him and those around him?
  16. Violent acts (such as murders and physical mutilations) were not depicted on stage in ancient Greece.  Instead, how does the audience of Oedipus the King learn about the violent acts occur inside the palace?  Specifically what has happened? 
  17. What reasons does Oedipus give for blinding himself?  What is irrational about Oedipus’s stated reasons?  Aside from these stated reasons, why is it appropriate that Oedipus blind himself?  What specific lines earlier in the play prepare us for his blinding?
  18. What does Oedipus tell his young daughters?  Why does he say these things?  What seems inappropriate (to us modern readers) about what he tells them?
  19. What is going to happen to Oedipus at the end of the play?  Why is this happening to him?
  20. What does the chorus say about Oedipus in particular and about the human condition in general at the very end of the play?  Do you consider this last speech to be optimistic, pessimistic, or realistic?
  21. What is the riddle of the Sphinx?  What was Oedipus’s original answer to the riddle?  By the end of the play, what other answer is now apparent?

 

Aristotle’s Poetics

The selection from Poetics in your textbook gives Aristotle’s description of tragedy, based on the  tragedies he had seen every year at the festival of Dionysus in Athens.  Some of the following questions can be answered from Oedipus the King rather than from Poetics. 

  1. Is Aristotle’s Poetics written in prose or poetry?  What other genre labels apply to this work?    
  2. To what tragedy does Aristotle refer most frequently, apparently believing it to be the best example of tragedy?
  3. The character of the tragic hero
    1. According to Aristotle, what status (birth, social position) must the tragic hero have? 
    2. According to Aristotle, what kind of moral character must the tragic hero have? 
    3. What is the meaning of the Greek word hamartia?  (See footnote.)
    4. As applied to a tragic hero, the term hamartia can be interpreted in several different ways.

1.      What mistakes or errors in judgment does Oedipus make that contribute to his fall from happiness to misery?

2.      What criminal act committed by Oedipus causes his fall from happiness to misery?

3.      What character flaws or weaknesses contribute to Oedipus’s fall from happiness to misery?

4.      What traits that are usually considered good and commendable contribute to Oedipus’s fall from happiness to misery?

    1. A tragic character (character in a tragedy), as defined by Aristotle, causes his or her own fall from happiness to misery.  A pathetic character (character in a plot that demonstrates pathos) falls because of external circumstances beyond his or her own control.  Which kind of character is Oedipus?  Why?
    2. Despite the tragic hero’s own responsibility, Aristotle believes that he suffers more than he deserves.  In your opinion, does Oedipus suffer more than he deserves?
  1. The plot of a tragedy
    1. In class we will discuss the unities of time and place, not mentioned in Aristotle, and the unity of action, which Aristotle says is a requirement of tragedy.
    2. According to Aristotle, what is reversal in the plot of a tragedy?
    3. What minor reversals does Oedipus experience throughout the plot?
    4. At what moment does Oedipus suffer his final and most catastrophic reversal?
    5. According to Aristotle, what is recognition in the plot of a tragedy?
    6. At what moment does Oedipus finally experience recognition?
    7. What does Aristotle say about the probability (credibility, believability) of the plot of a tragedy?  According to Aristotle, if a tragic plot contains improbable elements, how should they be handled?
    8. What improbable events or coincidences are inherent in the myth of Oedipus?  Does Sophocles handle these in a way that is consistent with Aristotle’s requirement of probability? 
    9. Are Oedipus’s actions on stage linked in a believable chain of cause and effect?
  2. Tragedy’s effect on the audience
    1. Aristotle says that a tragedy brings about catharsis in its audience. What is catharsis?  What specific emotions does Aristotle say are involved in catharsis? 
    2. How does the play Oedipus the King elicit these specific emotions?
    3. Aristotle argues that, because of the tragic catharsis, the audience leaves the theatre uplifted and exhilarated, not depressed and dejected.  What arguments support the idea that the audience leaves the play Oedipus the King uplifted rather than depressed?