Thursday, December 10th, 2020
Blogger #22 - Brittany Rakhmonova - Period 9 - 12/10/20 - Day C - Freshman Lit 2021
2 Odyssey: Apple of Discord & The Trojan War
Aim: How can a concise understanding of both an epic poem and the Iliad enhance our reading of the Odyssey?
Our Do Now was the following question:
For the following quotation:
"The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference."
- Henry Miller
Interpret it in your own words
Then Agree or disagree with the sentiment being expressed and explain why or why not.
After a few minutes of brainstorming, our class shared our ideas on this quote. I believe that this quote tries to define the main difference between the role of a hero and an ordinary man in a situation. A man is referred to as being a somewhat “bystander”, while a hero takes action and makes a difference. I also said that I disagree with the sentiment because an ordinary man can also attempt to help someone and make a change. Others who shared in class had the same notion, and we all agreed on the meaning. Overall, the entire class mainly believed that this quote was about the difference between man and heroes because one watches while the other takes action.
After the do now, we discussed our responsibilities regarding other class projects and assignments. We were told by Mrs.Peterson to continue working on our Poem Anthology Project that is due on December 23rd. As a result of our grand project, we had no work to be submitted today. However, we were widely encouraged to take notes on a separate document about our class discussions. In addition, since there is no graded assignment for the day, we must participate to earn points! Point Masters, one of them being me, continued recording the immense amount of points being given due to the great participation. At the end of the day, the team “The Thieves” was still in the lead with an astonishing 445 points.
After reviewing everything and completing the Do-Now, we were going to spirit read the story “Apple of Discord”.
[Find the link here: Apple of Discord (Myth).pdfPDF]
Before we began reading, we were encouraged to consider the following questions:
How do the gods and goddesses in the story display human qualities?
What is the role of prophecy and fate in “The Golden Apple of Discord” ?
How does xenia play a role in King Menelaus’ treatment of Paris?
How is this ironic?
As we were spirit reading, we paused at times to discuss important details and understand the main points being made.
******For instance, Mrs.Peterson mentions the line in the story that says ““It happened this way.” She asked us what literary device was used in this line and the person who answered it would receive points for their team. Reiko responded with “foreshadowing” which was indeed correct and her team received 30 points!
After we finished reading, we had a class discussion about the three questions that we were asked to consider about the reading.
SUMMARY OF “Apple Of Discord”:
The Apple of Discord starts with Zeus and Poseidon having a crush on a sea nymph but they don't want to marry her to repeat history where the children overthrow the gods. So they got Peleus to marry the sea nymph, Thetis and had a marriage. Eris wasn't invited and got enraged and threw the apple of discord. Apple of discord was "for the fairest'' and Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite wanted it. Zeus had Paris decide and he chose Aphrodite's bribe for the most beautiful woman in the world. He took Helen away from Troy and the Trojan War started.
CLASS DISCUSSION:
First Question: How do the gods and goddesses in the story display human qualities?
A: Some responses that people made in regards to this were the fact that the gods and goddesses were all greedy and manipulative. These human qualities were used when the three gods tried bribing Paris to receive the apple. Them offering different things for the apple shows their neediness, which is a human quality. In addition, they also portray jealousy and somewhat “negative” emotions, which proves that even gods and goddesses can not receive everything they desire.
Second Question: What is the role of prophecy and fate in “The Golden Apple of Discord” ?
A: Our class discussed the meanings of prophecy and fate to distinguish the difference. We all concluded that prophecy is more of a prediction about the future while fate is something that is destined to happen no matter what. To connect our learnings in class to other pieces of literature, we related the meaning of fate to Shakespeare because it is found throughout Shakespeare commonly. The role of prophecy and fate plays along in “The Golden Apple of Discord” because of the reasoning for the desired killing of baby Paris. They wanted to prevent fate from happening due to their prophecy of him ruining the kingdom, thus them sending him to die.
[The third question was not answered at this time because of our lack of knowledge about Xenia. We learned more about that in the next few slides.]
TEAM DISCUSSION:
As a class, we were also set to discuss the following:
Promise Definition: a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.
Oath Definition: a solemn promise, often invoking a divine witness, regarding one's future action or behavior.
Consider the different denotative and connotative emphasis of these two words. How do they differ?
As a class, we all shared similar thoughts about the denotative and connotative emphasis of these two words. The word oath sounded more serious than promise. When you make an oath, it is as if you are “making a deal with the devil”, as one classmate mentioned. Hence, a promise is more of something that you can break while an oath is not something to break easily.
XENIA:
We learned about the ancient Greek concept of Xenia, which is about the generosity and courtesy shown to those who are far from home and/or associates of the person bestowing guest-friendship. The rituals of hospitality created and expressed a reciprocal relationship between guest hosts.
In addition, we watched a video to further explain what Xenia is.
The link is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
[We only watched until 1:32]
Fun Fact: The God Zeus is sometimes referred to as Zeus Xenios in his role as a protector of guests.
[Afterwards, we spirit read many different texts about the Trojan War and Odysseus.
We made many significant points about the readings and even watched another video!]
The Trojan War/Odysseus SUMMARY Based on Spirit Reading:
The Trojan War was a war between the Greeks and the people of Troy. Since Paris was promised to gain the love of Helena, he stole King Menelaus’ wife(Helena). This was after the King kindly welcomed Paris into his home, without knowing the actions that would follow. He then abducted Helena and they ran away on a ship back to Troy. Since all of Helen’s suitors took an oath, they were required to help Menelaus help get her back from Troy. However, it was not so simple. When the King demanded her return, the Trojans refused. Hence, the war began. In order to assure victory, the idea of a Trojan Horse was made by the Greeks. The horses were filled with soldiers who would surprise the opposing side and attack. A very important hero of the Trojan War is known as Odysseus. He was very strong and had good tricks. With his idea of the Trojan Horse, he helped lead the Greeks to victory. Troy was then attacked, and utterly destroyed. They lost the war to the Greeks.
Connections: Today, the term Trojan Horse is known as a computer virus. Ethan said this and earned team 6 an astonishing 20 points!
[After reading about the Trojan War/Odysseus, we continued to expand our knowledge by reading more about the importance of Homer’s Epics, the story of the Odyssey, and three major plot strands.]
Major Points About Homer’s Epics:
They teach students about Greek Virtue
Values include honor, bravery, intelligence, respect, hospitality(xenia), etc
Major faults include lack of hospitality, excessive pride(hubris), disrespect for gods, etc
The Iliad is the primary model for the epic of war, while the Odyssey is the primary model for the epic of the long journey.
The Odyssey was a story that was a sequel to the Iliad.
The Iliad focused on the remaining days of the Trojan War, while the Odyssey focuses on the soldier, Odysseus, who fought in the war.
Both of these epics were sacred to Greeks, almost like the bible.
Both books were originally recited orally, but then written down later in time.
Here are a few videos that summarize the main points in case if you are lost:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Reflection:
In this lesson, I learned about the story of the Apple of Discord, the Trojan War, Both of Homer’s Epics: The Odyssey and The Iliad, and more. These stories are very sacred to Greeks and represent their values of respect and hospitality(Xenia). I learned about these topics to enhance my knowledge about Greek Virtue and what they hold close to heart. The meanings behind all of these stories are positive and teach a lesson. For one, the Iliad and Odyssey taught us about the importance of bravery, honor, pride, respect for gods, and more. The second concept was the history and beliefs of the Greeks. I learned about what they valued and the terms they often used, such as Xenia. I will use what I learned by applying these values to my decisions and actions in the future. I will not display the terrible morals of some gods, but will instead embrace the good messages and themes behind these stories.
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