Definition of an Epic - 1/27
Definition: long, narrative poem that recounts the deeds of a legendary hero and is usually grand in scope

Characteristics:

• [dactylic hexameter]
• [epic similes]
• [invoking muse]
• Mnemonic device - repetition
• poetic devices
• epithets

Examples: Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Paradise Lost, Beowulf, Lord of the Rings, Yuan, Song of Roland

Non-Examples: Harry Potter, Magic Tree house, Superman

How did the Trojan War start? - after the 1/27
wedding of Peleus and Thetis
Eris not invited so she throws a golden apple
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite
Zeus tells them to ask Paris (cowardly womanizer, son of Priam)
Cassandra foresees Paris causing the downfall of Troy
Hera - power, Athena - wisdom, Aphrodite - most beautiful woman/love
Paris chooses Aphrodite and abducts (questionable) Helen of Troy
Helen is the wife of King Menelaus and has many suitors
pact of Tyndareus: Odysseus suggests Helen can choose a suitor to marry and the others have to respect her decision
Odysseus gets Penelope’s hand in marriage for coming up with that idea
Odysseus pretends to be crazy and Achilles dresses as a woman to avoid battle for Helen
Achilles is fated to die at Troy
rally troops and wait for wind to change, sacrifice Iphigenia (Agamemnon’s daughter)
Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra not happy and kills him when he comes back

Ilium = Troy
Iliad = book about Troy
Greeks = Argives = Achaeans

Danaans are a subgroup

Atrides = Agamemnon and Menelaus

Similarities and Differences between the Iliad and other scriptures - 1/28
Similarities

• importance of apples
• broken into verses
• lists of lineage
• settlement of a battle between two individual champions
• heroes have direct contact with gods (and following of people ?)

Differences

• God - omnipotent vs gods - human-like
• gods interact with humans
• gods change favorites

Prometheus & Io Presentation (Scout) - 1/31
Discrepancies between versions:

• gift river nymph
• Hermes bored Argus to sleep with many little stories in some myths or just the story about the creation of the pipe in others
• gadfly
• travel to the head of the Nile

2 children
13th generation - Hercules who freed Prometheus
Themes: betrayal, hope, imprisonment, standing up to power (Prometheus)

Important Characters from Books 1-3
Greeks:

Achilles

Agamemnon

Odysseys

Nestor

Patroclus

Calchas - seer who doesn’t want to anger Agamemnon

Thersites

Trojans:

Chryses - priest of Apollo

Chryseis - daughter of Chryses, Agamemnon’s booty

Bryseis - Achilles’ geras

Gods:

Apollo

Athena

Thetis - Achilles’ mother

Hera

In Media Res = In the middle of things, when action has already begun at the beginning of book

Invocation of the Muse:
find in beginning

Flower Myths (Meryl)
Adonis => red anemone
Aphrodite and Persephone are fighting over him
killed by boar
Hyacinth
Apollo throws discus or in another version Zephyr is jealous and blows the discus towards him
Narcissus
fell in pool or was pushed by Echo
Hera cursed Echo
cover up for pagan sacrifices
Discus fatalities common...
the flowers grew where they died

Themes: revival, jealousy

Cupid & Psyche (Lottie)
psyche admired for beauty
2 oldest sister marry
no one wants to marry psyche
Cupid falls in love with her
to help Cupid, Apollo told her father she would marry a serpent
lives in palace
cupid tells her not to look at her
sisters visit and convince her to try to look at him
she cries when she sees him and he runs away
psyche follows
Venus gives her tasks:

sort seeds - ants help her

sleep on cold floor w/ little food

golden fleece (a reed tells her to collect the fleece that got caught on briers)
fill flask w/ water from Styx (an eagle helps her)
go to underworld and ask Persephone to fill box (Venus tells her w/ beauty)
opens box on way up and falls asleep
Cupid takes her to Zeus
Psyche becomes a goddess and marries Cupid

Themes:
jealousy, mistrust/betrayal, love, don’t look into the box