Western literature week3

Topic: Quiz2& the structure of a story&immortals

• Plot conflict the structure(complication) of a story

　　a.For example, the conflict in Homer's Iliad started fromAgamemnon and Achilles’ scramble.

　   b.in media res-A tale beginning in medias res (Classical Latin: [ɪn mɛdiaːs reːs], lit. "into the middle things") opens in the midst of action.Works that employ in medias res often, though not always, subsequently use flashback and nonlinear narrative for exposition of earlier events in order to fill in the backstory.

　　　For example,in Homer's Odyssey, we first learn about Odysseus' journey when he is held captive on Calypso's island. We then find out, in Books IX through XII, that the greater part of Odysseus' journey precedes that moment in the narrative. On the other hand,Homer's Iliad has relatively few flashbacks, although it opens in the thick of the Trojan War.
　   c.foreshadowing(埋伏筆)-a literary device by which an author hints what is to come.It is used to avoid disappointment. It is also sometimes used to arouse the reader.
　   d.flashback(倒敘法)-an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point in the story, which is used to recount events that happened before the story's primary sequence of events to fill in crucial backstory.

• Trojan War

　　#a.Greek名將輩出

　　　1.Atreus- (1)Agamemnon(Mycenae) +Clytemnestra

　　　　　　　(2)Menelaus(king of Sparta)+Helen

　　　2.Peleus(國王)+Thetis(皇后)-Achilles[River Styx, Achilles heel]+Patroclus

　　　3.Leda+Zesus(the swan)-Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor, Pollux

　　     b.Trojan

　　　1.Priam+Hecuba-(1)Hector+Andromache

　　　　　　　　　　(2)Cassandra(prophetess)+Apollo(oracle at Delphi)　　　　　　　(3)Paris+Helen

　　　2.Aeneas(Dido)-After Troy ended up in ruins, he set out on another place to survive. He is an ancestor of Romulus and Remus, the first true hero of Rome.

　

　　#b.origin-the semifinalist

　　　Eris(god of  chaos, strife, and discord)-

She initiated the Trojan War bycausing the Judgement of Paris.The goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite had been invited along with the rest of Olympus to the forced wedding of Peleus and Thetis, who would become the parents of Achilles, but Eris had been snubbed because of her troublemaking inclinations.

She therefore tossed into the party the Apple of Discord, a golden apple inscribed  – "For the most beautiful one", or "To the Fairest One" – provoking the goddesses to begin quarreling about the appropriate recipient.The hapless Paris, Prince of Troy, was appointed to select the fairest by Zeus. 

The goddesses stripped naked to try to win Paris' decision, and also attempted to bribe him. Hera offered political power; Athenapromised infinite wisdom; and Aphrodite tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta.While Greek culture placed a greater emphasis on prowess and power, Paris chose to award the apple to Aphrodite, thereby dooming his city, which was destroyed in the war that ensued.

• Achilles' heel-a weakness in spite of overall strength, which can actually or potentially lead to downfall.
  
  When Achilles was a baby, it was foretold that he would die young. To prevent his death, his mother Thetistook Achilles to the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers ofinvulnerability, and dipped his body into the water. But as Thetis held Achilles by the heel, his heel was not washed over by the water of the magical river. Achilles grew up to be a man of war who survived many great battles. But one day, a poisonous arrow shot at him was lodged in his heel, killing him shortly after.

 Example-Gorbachev has shown a willingness to temper with agriculture, the Achilles' heel of the Soviet economy.

• The 12 Olympians

  Greek name	Roman name	Image	Functions and attributes
  Zeus	Jupiter		King of the gods and ruler of Mount Olympus; god of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, justice. Youngest child of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. Symbols include thethunderbolt, eagle, oak tree, scepter, and scales. Brother and husband of Hera, although he had many lovers, also brother of Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, and Hestia.
  Hera	Juno		Queen of the gods and the goddess of marriage and family. Symbols include the peacock,cuckoo, and cow. Youngest daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Wife and sister of Zeus. Being the goddess of marriage, she frequently tried to get revenge on Zeus' lovers and their children.
  Poseidon	Neptune		God of the seas, earthquakes, and tidal wave. Symbols include thehorse, bull, dolphin, andtrident. Middle son of Cronus and Rhea. Brother of Zeus and Hades. Married to the Nereid Amphitrite, although, like most male Greek Gods, he had many lovers.
  Demeter	Ceres		Goddess of fertility, agriculture, nature, and the seasons. Symbols include the poppy, wheat,torch, cornucopia, and pig. Middle daughter of Cronus and Rhea.
  Athena	Minerva		Goddess of wisdom, reason, intelligent activity, literature, handicrafts and science, defense and strategic warfare. Symbols includethe owl and the olive tree. Daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid Metis, she rose from her father's head fully grown and in full battle armor after he swallowed her mother.
  Apollon[A]	Apollo[A]		God of light, prophecy, inspiration, poetry, music and arts, medicine and healing. Son of Zeus and Leto. Symbols include thesun, lyre, swan, andmouse. Twin brother of Artemis.
  Artemis	Diana		Goddess of the hunt, virginity, archery, the moon, and all animals.Symbols include the moon,deer, hound, she-bear,snake, cypress tree, andbow and arrow. Daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of Apollo.
  Ares	Mars		God of war, violence, and bloodshed. Symbols include the boar, serpent,dog, vulture, spear, andshield. Son of Zeus and Hera, all the other gods (except Aphrodite) despised him. His Latin name, Mars, gave us the word "martial."
  Aphrodite	Venus		Goddess of love, beauty, and desire. Symbols include the dove, bird,apple, bee, swan, myrtle, and rose. Daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid Dione, or perhaps born from the sea foam after Uranus' semen dripped into the sea after being castrated by his youngest son, Cronus, who then threw his father's genitals into the sea. Married to Hephaestus, although she had many adulterous affairs, most notably with Ares. Her name gave us the word "aphrodisiac", while her Latin name, Venus, gave us the word "venereal".[B]
  Hephaestus	Vulcan		Master blacksmith and craftsman of the gods; god of fire and the forge.Symbols include fire,anvil, axe, donkey,hammer, tongs, and quail. Son of Hera, either by Zeus or alone. Married to Aphrodite, though unlike most divine husbands, he was rarely ever licentious. His Latin name, Vulcan, gave us the word "volcano."
  Hermes	Mercury		Messenger of the gods; god of commerce, thieves, eloquence and streets.Symbols include the caduceus (staff entwined with two snakes),winged sandals and cap,stork, and tortoise (whose shell he used to invent the lyre). Son of Zeus and the nymph Maia. The second-youngest Olympian, just older than Dionysus.
  Hestia	Vesta		Goddess of the hearth and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family; she was born into the first Olympian generation and was one of the original twelve Olympians. Some lists of the Twelve Olympians omit her in favor of Dionysus, but the speculation that she gave her throne to him in order to keep the peace seems to be modern invention. She is the first child of Cronus and Rhea, eldest sister of Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and Zeus.
  Dionysus	Bacchus		God of wine, celebrations, and ecstasy. Patron god of the art of theatre. Symbols include the grapevine, ivy, cup,tiger, panther, leopard,dolphin, goat, andpinecone. Son of Zeus and the mortal Theban princess Semele. Married to the Cretan princess Ariadne. The youngest Olympian god, as well as the only one to have a mortal mother.

• Introduction of the contexts in book Viii~IX

　　#metamorphoses (meta-:形而上　morph-:form)
　　a.Jove and Io-
　　Io, daughter of the river Inachus, caught Jove's eye one day as she was returning from her father's stream. When Jove descended to possess her, she ran into the forest. Although he told her who he was, she wouldn't stop running, so he covered the earth in darkness so that she wouldn't be able to run away from him. In the artificial night, he ravished Io. ‧‧‧‧‧‧‧Jove turned Io into a white heifer so that he wouldn't be caught in his infidelity.‧‧‧‧‧‧
　　 b.Jove and Europa-
　　Jove (Jupiter) sent his son Mercury down to earth in the kingdom of Sidon. Mercury had to move the royal herd closer to the shore where the king's daughter, Europa, played. While Mercury was moving the herd, Jove made himself a great, white bull. He gently lured the beautiful girl to him and won her over until she was trusting enough to climb onto his back. Then he carried her out into the waves of the ocean and took her to Crete against her will.
　　 c.nymph-
　　generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing; their amorous freedom sets them apart from the restricted and chaste wives and daughters of the Greek polis.
　　→nymphomaniac:花癡      
　　 d.Ceres and Proserpina- the origin of season

Ceres [Demeter]- god of agriculture(豐收女神)
Hades[Pluto]- god of underworld(冥府之王)
Persephone[Cora] did not love Hades and to punish him, she decided she would not eat or drink. Hades, who was God of the Underworld, fell in love with Persephone and wanted to marry her, but Demeter refused to allow it. Zeus saw how unhappy this made Demeter and Persephone, so he ruled that Persephone should live with Hades in the dark Underworld for three months of the year and nine months above in the sunlight. Demeter was overjoyed to have Persephone back, but her happiness did not last. Zeus found out that Persephone has sucked on some pomegranate seeds (多子多孫的意思)while down in the Underworld. 
This meant that Persephone had to go back. Because the plants had all died, people did not have enough food. Therefore Zeus decided that Persephone should come home. There was one condition- she could not have had anything to eat or drink while she was in the Underworld. 
Ever after, there was a winter for three months each year.

　　#Chryseis- p.193
　　During the Trojan War (prior to the actions described in Homer's Iliad), Agamemnon took Chryses' daughter Chryseis (Astynome) from Moesia as a war prize and when Chryses attempted to ransom her, refused to return her.Chryses prayed to Apollo, and he, in order to defend the honor of his priest, sent a plague sweeping through the Greek armies, and Agamemnon was forced to give Chryseis back in order to end it.

• Homeric epithet-A characteristic of Homer's style

　　ex,   Athena-'goddess grey-eyed Athena' ; 

　　　　Achilles receives epithets based on the swiftness of his feet. ; 

　　　　Odysseus-'much-suffering' and 'of many devices, crafty'; 

　　　　Menelaus-'the red hair king'‧‧‧‧‧‧

• Destiny VS Fate

　　Destiny is something you can control.→Destination

　　　Fate is something beyond control.

　　　→Fatal woman: Helen and Salome

• Extra

 　　#pyre(n.)→pyromaniac(n.)縱火狂
　　　ig-: get started
　　　ignite
　　　ignore
　  #Two main gods in the epics: Apollo in Iliad and Athena in the Odyssey