Blogger #23 - Marianna Mikheyeva - Period 1 - 12/8/20 - Day A - Freshmen Lit 2021
2 Odyssey: Apple of Discord & The Trojan War
Housekeeping:
As stated in the previous lessons, the synchronous portion of our class will be considerably shorter due to our upcoming Poem Anthology Project. Mrs. Peterson is not physically grading any work on the slides, instead, she will be noting participation during class time. We should all be actively partaking in the conversation at hand as well as contributing our ideas, otherwise, you should expect a deduction of HOS points.
Also, you should be continuing to work on your Poem Anthology Project, due dates are A: 12/21, B: 12/22, and C: 12/23. We are advised to use the strategy of Backwards Design- which, in this case, we would first complete all 4 of the required poems (1-2 poems each week) and then focus on the cover, table of contents, introduction, and reflection. You should be managing your time properly, waiting till the last minute is unacceptable and will be clear with the outcome of your assignment.
Aim: How can a concise understanding of both an epic poem and the Iliad enhance our reading of the Odyssey?
Do Now: THINK/PAIR/SHARE
For the following quotation:
"The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference."
- Henry Miller
1) Interpret it in your own words
2) Then Agree or disagree with the sentiment being expressed and explain why or why not.
My response:
1. A simple person does act upon things, but the hero's actions are considerably different.
2. I believe this is true because there are certain factors of heroes (that we previously discussed) that make a hero a hero. If someone fits in with the crowd, and only follows the stream, they are like the field of flowers, where everyone's the same and has no individuality. Similarly to the poem we visited in a past lesson (L3 Poetic Elements and Identity), a hero needs to be the one who grows out of the concrete, meaning they do have their challenges or weaknesses, but they are different in the sense of their reactions to the situations they are faced with.
Peer responses:
Gregory Fava- when a normal person is in a war they start acting more like a Greek hero and do things that are impossible for a person to do. Agrees- known to improve your abilities, someone gets stabbed by a sword and still keeps fighting because of an adrenaline rush.
Chase Dalcortivo- there's an ordinary man in every hero, when an ordinary man makes a mistake, the hero makes an action and brings out his traits that make him a hero
Jordan Chen- while normal people were caught in the crossfire, the hero runs into the action and actively strives to make a difference. Agrees- normal people don’t strive to make a difference, heroes care for their lives more than their own.
Mrs. Peterson/ main takeaway- The ordinary man is involved, but the hero actually does something to fix or resolve the situation.
The Apple of Discord
Summary:
When the Queen of Troy was pregnant, she had a dream that she had given birth to a flaming torch. Her son, Aesacus, interpreted this as a prophecy that her child would cause the downfall of Troy, and must be killed to save their people. When their son, Paris, was born, Agelaus the chief herdsman was asked to destroy him so he brought it to Mount Ida and left it overnight to die. However, a bear had come across the baby and kept him safe, so when Agelaus came back for the body he saw this as a sign that the child should live. Secretly, he raised this child as his own, where he grew up to be a regal and fair young man, even respected by the gods.
In Olympus, Zeus was planning a wedding feast for the sea nymph Thetis, and the mortal Peleus. All the gods were invited except for Eris, the goddess of discord because everywhere she went she brought chaos and misery. When Hermes told her that she could not attend this party she was furious, and so she stormed into the Grand Hall with a golden apple inscribed “KALLISTI” or “to the fairest”. This brought up a large commotion between three goddesses; Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, and Hera, the goddess of women and marriage. Zeus asked Paris to decide who should receive the apple, Athena offered him wisdom, Hera offered him power, and Aphrodite offered him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta.
Paris could not resist Aphrodite’s offer and he gave her the golden apple. Immediately after he went to Sparta to kidnap Helen, only to find out that she had been recently married to King Menelaus. The King was furious when he found out his queen was missing and sent Helen’s former suitors to return his beloved wife, no matter the cost. Unfortunately, the cost was the long and bloody Trojan War.
1) How do the gods and goddesses in the story display human qualities? The gods and goddesses displayed greed (Shilin), Jealousy (Jason), and Vain (Alice).
2) What is the role of prophecy and fate in “The Golden Apple of Discord” ?
The prophecy described at the beginning of the story was that the Queen of Troy’s son would cause the empire to fall. As the story played out, although the royal family attempted to prevent this, Paris grew up showing that his fate could not be avoided. Because Paris chose to give Aphrodite the Apple of Discord, he craved Helen’s love and decided to kidnap her. The prophecy ultimately came true, Paris stole Helen and the Spartans destroyed Troy in an attempt to reclaim their beautiful queen. Similar to the prophecy of Cronus and his children, fate always plays out no matter the pursuit of averting the future.
3)How does xenia play a role in King Menelaus’ treatment of Paris?
a. How is this ironic?
When Paris sailed to Sparta, King Menelaus welcomed him with great generosity and treated him like an honored guest. This is ironic because the King is completely oblivious to Paris’ true motivations, to take his wife Helen. Once he learned of this intention it was too late, and Menelaus was furious with the prince wishing he did not treat Paris so kindly.
Promise- a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.
Oath- 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?
Joshua John and Agnes- An oath feels more important, when you promise something it's not as emphasized, an oath is something you live by, it lasts for a lifetime (some jobs require an oath) but promises are made to be broken. Even if we have every intention to keep a promise it will eventually be broken.
Xenia: the ancient Greek concept of hospitality, the generosity and courtesy shown to guests. This concept goes both ways, from the host and from the guest.
The Trojan War
Paris, Prince of Troy, had sailed to Sparta to seize Helen, King Menelaus of Sparta treats him as an honored guest (xenia). Aphrodite is true to her word and makes Helen fall in love with Paris. Then Paris takes Helen and they sneak off in a ship together to head back to Troy. All of Helen’s suitors took an oath, so they are now obligated to help Menelaus go to Troy to take her back (they swore to respect and protect her marriage regardless of who was chosen as the husband).
Odysseus (main character in the Odyssey) was one of the heroes of the Trojan War. A prophecy told him that if he went to Troy it would take him a very long time to return home, but as one of Helen’s previous suitors he had sworn an oath to protect her . It was Odysseus’ brilliant plan idea to construct the Trojan horse and try to sneak in Troy unexpectedly.
Greeks constructed a giant wooden statue of a horse (a symbol of Troy) which they present to the city as a “gift”. They pretended that they had given up but there were Greek soldiers hiding inside, waiting to attack once they safely got through city gates. Once inside the city, they wreak havoc by destroying the temples, slaughtering children, and enslaving the women.
Thanks to Odysseus the Greeks are victorious in the war.
Homer’s Epics
The Iliad and the Odyssey were used in schools to teach Greek virtues. They valued honor, bravery, hospitality("xenia"), intelligence, respect for the gods, and loyalty to home and family. They disapproved any disrespect for the gods, lack of hospitality and excessive pride("hubris").
Both were originally recited orally and considered sacred to the Greeks—much like the Bible to many people today.
Slide 12
The first lines of an ancient epic poem typically offer a “capsule summary” (a shortened version of a written work) of the subject of the poem. We find the poet's own statement about the subject of the Iliad in the original Greek poem's very first word: Anger. The song of the Iliad is about the anger, the doomed and ruinous anger, of the hero Achilles. So also in the Odyssey, the first word, Man, tells the subject of the poem.
If we look at the translated examples below, we can see in the paraphrased beginnings of both the Iliad and the Odyssey that the rules of the poet's craft extend beyond the naming of the main subject with the first word. In the original Greek of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, the first word announcing the subject - Anger, Man - is followed by a specially chosen adjective setting the mood - doomed anger, many-sided man - to be followed in turn by a relative clause that frames the story by outlining the plot - the doomed anger that caused countless losses and woes, the many-sided man who wandered countless ways.
We also discussed the fascinating tale of Achilles. Many of us have heard of the “Achilles heel”, but it was quite interesting to discuss the meaning behind it. When Achilles was born, his mother dipped him into the River Styx, knowing that it would always protect him. Although his whole body was now invulnerable, the part where his mother held him, his heel, was not dipped, and so, it became his only weakness.
Enrichment Activities:
Eris: The Goddess of Discord and Strife - Mythology Dictionary #05 - See U in History (Fixed) [2:28]
How and why the Trojan war started [3:22]
Zeus and the Myth of Hospitality (Philemon and Baucis) Greek Mythology Ep. See U in History [3:54]
Reflection:
“What did I learn? Why did I learn it? How will I use what I learned in the future?”
In this lesson, I learned about additional background information that can help me enhance my understanding of The Iliad and The Odyssey. I was also able to clarify the tales of The Apple of Discord and The Trojan war by reading detailed texts and watching several videos. I found the videos and the enrichment activities quite helpful, as I find myself a visual learner, and these were able to help me envision this important concept. This information is critical to our understanding of these epic poems because it allows us to have a better historical grasp of the characters and the setting. If we were unaware of the conflict that sparked the Trojan War, we would be less capable of fully interpreting the past of the characters and where they are coming from. I will be using this knowledge when we dig deeper into the epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey.
My response:
1. A simple person does act upon things, but the hero's actions are considerably different.
2. I believe this is true because there are certain factors of heroes (that we previously discussed) that make a hero a hero. If someone fits in with the crowd, and only follows the stream, they are like the field of flowers, where everyone's the same and has no individuality. Similarly to the poem we visited in a past lesson (L3 Poetic Elements and Identity), a hero needs to be the one who grows out of the concrete, meaning they do have their challenges or weaknesses, but they are different in the sense of their reactions to the situations they are faced with.
Peer responses:
Gregory Fava- when a normal person is in a war they start acting more like a Greek hero and do things that are impossible for a person to do. Agrees- known to improve your abilities, someone gets stabbed by a sword and still keeps fighting because of an adrenaline rush.
Chase Dalcortivo- there's an ordinary man in every hero, when an ordinary man makes a mistake, the hero makes an action and brings out his traits that make him a hero
Jordan Chen- while normal people were caught in the crossfire, the hero runs into the action and actively strives to make a difference. Agrees- normal people don’t strive to make a difference, heroes care for their lives more than their own.
Mrs. Peterson/ main takeaway- The ordinary man is involved, but the hero actually does something to fix or resolve the situation.
The Apple of Discord
Summary:
When the Queen of Troy was pregnant, she had a dream that she had given birth to a flaming torch. Her son, Aesacus, interpreted this as a prophecy that her child would cause the downfall of Troy, and must be killed to save their people. When their son, Paris, was born, Agelaus the chief herdsman was asked to destroy him so he brought it to Mount Ida and left it overnight to die. However, a bear had come across the baby and kept him safe, so when Agelaus came back for the body he saw this as a sign that the child should live. Secretly, he raised this child as his own, where he grew up to be a regal and fair young man, even respected by the gods.
In Olympus, Zeus was planning a wedding feast for the sea nymph Thetis, and the mortal Peleus. All the gods were invited except for Eris, the goddess of discord because everywhere she went she brought chaos and misery. When Hermes told her that she could not attend this party she was furious, and so she stormed into the Grand Hall with a golden apple inscribed “KALLISTI” or “to the fairest”. This brought up a large commotion between three goddesses; Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, and Hera, the goddess of women and marriage. Zeus asked Paris to decide who should receive the apple, Athena offered him wisdom, Hera offered him power, and Aphrodite offered him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta.
Paris could not resist Aphrodite’s offer and he gave her the golden apple. Immediately after he went to Sparta to kidnap Helen, only to find out that she had been recently married to King Menelaus. The King was furious when he found out his queen was missing and sent Helen’s former suitors to return his beloved wife, no matter the cost. Unfortunately, the cost was the long and bloody Trojan War.
1) How do the gods and goddesses in the story display human qualities? The gods and goddesses displayed greed (Shilin), Jealousy (Jason), and Vain (Alice).
2) What is the role of prophecy and fate in “The Golden Apple of Discord” ?
The prophecy described at the beginning of the story was that the Queen of Troy’s son would cause the empire to fall. As the story played out, although the royal family attempted to prevent this, Paris grew up showing that his fate could not be avoided. Because Paris chose to give Aphrodite the Apple of Discord, he craved Helen’s love and decided to kidnap her. The prophecy ultimately came true, Paris stole Helen and the Spartans destroyed Troy in an attempt to reclaim their beautiful queen. Similar to the prophecy of Cronus and his children, fate always plays out no matter the pursuit of averting the future.
3)How does xenia play a role in King Menelaus’ treatment of Paris?
a. How is this ironic?
When Paris sailed to Sparta, King Menelaus welcomed him with great generosity and treated him like an honored guest. This is ironic because the King is completely oblivious to Paris’ true motivations, to take his wife Helen. Once he learned of this intention it was too late, and Menelaus was furious with the prince wishing he did not treat Paris so kindly.
Promise- a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.
Oath- 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?
Joshua John and Agnes- An oath feels more important, when you promise something it's not as emphasized, an oath is something you live by, it lasts for a lifetime (some jobs require an oath) but promises are made to be broken. Even if we have every intention to keep a promise it will eventually be broken.
Xenia: the ancient Greek concept of hospitality, the generosity and courtesy shown to guests. This concept goes both ways, from the host and from the guest.
- Zeus ( Zeus Xenios) is the protector of guests. He thus embodied the religious obligation to be hospital to travelers.
- Mortals were cautioned to act kindly around guests, as they could be disguised god or goddess and this helped to establish the idea of xenia as a fundamental Greek custom.
The Trojan War
Paris, Prince of Troy, had sailed to Sparta to seize Helen, King Menelaus of Sparta treats him as an honored guest (xenia). Aphrodite is true to her word and makes Helen fall in love with Paris. Then Paris takes Helen and they sneak off in a ship together to head back to Troy. All of Helen’s suitors took an oath, so they are now obligated to help Menelaus go to Troy to take her back (they swore to respect and protect her marriage regardless of who was chosen as the husband).
Odysseus (main character in the Odyssey) was one of the heroes of the Trojan War. A prophecy told him that if he went to Troy it would take him a very long time to return home, but as one of Helen’s previous suitors he had sworn an oath to protect her . It was Odysseus’ brilliant plan idea to construct the Trojan horse and try to sneak in Troy unexpectedly.
- Wife: Penelope
- Son: Telemachus
- Great soldier of the war, although he originally tried to get out by pretending he was crazy.
- Came up with the strategy of using the Trojan Horse (successful)
- The Odyssey is the account of Odysseus’ journey home after the war.
Greeks constructed a giant wooden statue of a horse (a symbol of Troy) which they present to the city as a “gift”. They pretended that they had given up but there were Greek soldiers hiding inside, waiting to attack once they safely got through city gates. Once inside the city, they wreak havoc by destroying the temples, slaughtering children, and enslaving the women.
Thanks to Odysseus the Greeks are victorious in the war.
Homer’s Epics
The Iliad and the Odyssey were used in schools to teach Greek virtues. They valued honor, bravery, hospitality("xenia"), intelligence, respect for the gods, and loyalty to home and family. They disapproved any disrespect for the gods, lack of hospitality and excessive pride("hubris").
Both were originally recited orally and considered sacred to the Greeks—much like the Bible to many people today.
Slide 12
Three Major Plot Strands
- Telemachy- Story in Ithaca about Odysseus’ wife and son as they await his return
- Odysseus’ wanderings during the ten years following the Trojan War
- Deals with the adventures he has to overcome as he tries to make his way home
- He leaves Troy with 12 ships and approximately 720 men.
- Encounters monsters and enchanting women who try to keep him from his wife.
- Merging of the strands when Odysseus returns to Ithaca and joins forces with his son, Telemachus, to destroy their enemies
The first lines of an ancient epic poem typically offer a “capsule summary” (a shortened version of a written work) of the subject of the poem. We find the poet's own statement about the subject of the Iliad in the original Greek poem's very first word: Anger. The song of the Iliad is about the anger, the doomed and ruinous anger, of the hero Achilles. So also in the Odyssey, the first word, Man, tells the subject of the poem.
If we look at the translated examples below, we can see in the paraphrased beginnings of both the Iliad and the Odyssey that the rules of the poet's craft extend beyond the naming of the main subject with the first word. In the original Greek of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, the first word announcing the subject - Anger, Man - is followed by a specially chosen adjective setting the mood - doomed anger, many-sided man - to be followed in turn by a relative clause that frames the story by outlining the plot - the doomed anger that caused countless losses and woes, the many-sided man who wandered countless ways.
We also discussed the fascinating tale of Achilles. Many of us have heard of the “Achilles heel”, but it was quite interesting to discuss the meaning behind it. When Achilles was born, his mother dipped him into the River Styx, knowing that it would always protect him. Although his whole body was now invulnerable, the part where his mother held him, his heel, was not dipped, and so, it became his only weakness.
Enrichment Activities:
Eris: The Goddess of Discord and Strife - Mythology Dictionary #05 - See U in History (Fixed) [2:28]
How and why the Trojan war started [3:22]
Zeus and the Myth of Hospitality (Philemon and Baucis) Greek Mythology Ep. See U in History [3:54]
Reflection:
“What did I learn? Why did I learn it? How will I use what I learned in the future?”
In this lesson, I learned about additional background information that can help me enhance my understanding of The Iliad and The Odyssey. I was also able to clarify the tales of The Apple of Discord and The Trojan war by reading detailed texts and watching several videos. I found the videos and the enrichment activities quite helpful, as I find myself a visual learner, and these were able to help me envision this important concept. This information is critical to our understanding of these epic poems because it allows us to have a better historical grasp of the characters and the setting. If we were unaware of the conflict that sparked the Trojan War, we would be less capable of fully interpreting the past of the characters and where they are coming from. I will be using this knowledge when we dig deeper into the epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey.
No comments:
Post a Comment