Blogger # 7 - Ian Cheung - Period 5 - 4/22/21 - Day B

 Aim: How can a concise understanding of both an epic poem and the Iliad enhance our reading of the Odyssey?

Do Now: WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION

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.

In today’s lesson our “Do Now” was to read the quote "The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference." -Henry Miller and give our own interpretation of it.  We think for a little before someone gives an answer.  Mariah says that she agrees with the quote and her own interpretation of the quote is  “An ordinary man is impacted by the world while the hero impacts the world.” Daniel V. agrees with Mariah and says that “A hero goes out of their way to change something while the ordinary man gets involved in something that’s out of their control.”  The next person to speak is Alexander and he says that he agrees with them and his interpretation of the quote is “Every man is a follower while the hero is a person that leads them."  We then end off the discussion with Adelia.  She agrees with the others and “thinks of the ordinary people as bystanders and watch what’s going on while the hero is the person that puts themselves into the situation and deals with it proactively.”  After that we read the "Apple of Discord".  Once we finish reading the myth we proceed to answer the questions below:

1. How do the gods and goddesses in the story display human qualities?

2. What is the role of prophecy and fate in “The Golden Apple of Discord” ?

3. How does xenia play a role in King Menelaus’ treatment of Paris? 

1. How is this ironic?

Question 1)How do the gods and goddesses in the story display human qualities?

Alexander answers by saying that “Athena, Aphrodite and Hera were fighting and trying to bribe Paris which displays the human emotion of greed.”  Adelia says that “they display jealousy towards each other and they want the attention for themselves.”  Mrs. Peterson then asks the question “What characters other than the gods display human qualities?” Gabriel says that “the bear displays pity as it takes care of the abandoned Paris.”  This example displays motherly care/affection as the bear is taking care of a child.  Sonia mentions that Paris “gave in to Helen’s beauty and choses Aphrodite's' bribe.”  Edwin gives another example and it’s that “Zeus didn’t want to bear the burden of announcing who was the fairest goddess and he gave the job to someone else.”  This displays cowardice as he doesn’t want to anger his wife and the other goddesses and get reprimanded for his choice so he decides to let someone else do it.  Kelly C. says that “Eris represents the gods and goddesses as she wasn’t invited to the wedding.”

Question 2)What is the role of prophecy and fate in “The Golden Apple of Discord” ?

Lowell clarifies the role of prophecy and fate and tells us that in the beginning of the story the queen of Troy Hecuba dreamed that she gave birth to a torch and her son prophesied that her child would be the downfall of Troy which is a prophecy while the role of fate is that the people that threw him away and those that took pity on him and took him like the bear and Ida.  Hecuba’s dream is a prophecy as she predicts the downfall of Troy and the people that threw him away and took him in display of fate because even though they threw Paris away and tried to prevent the destruction of Troy, in the end they weren’t able to and Troy was destroyed.

We skip the 3rd question and leave it for later but we watch The Trojan War : Part One to get a brief understanding of it.  After watching that video we move onto the next slide.

Promise	Oath
a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.	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?

Instead of doing it in groups we discussed it in class.  Gabriel says that “At first glance ‘Oath’ seems more profound than ‘Promise’.”  Daniel P. agrees with Gabriel and supports his claim that ‘Oath’ is more profound than ‘Promise’ when in the definition of ‘Oath’ it says “often invoking a diving witness.”  The question is answered and we move on to read the definition of Xenia (the ancient Greek concept of hospitality, 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 host) and we watch another video going into more detail on What is Xenia?  Once we learn about Xenia we go back to answer the 3rd question.

Question 3)How does xenia play a role in King Menelaus’ treatment of Paris? 

2. How is this ironic?

Lowell gives the answer and he tells us his thoughts, “Menelaus treats Paris warmly as xenia is important, ironically this allows him to take Helen away.”  This is ironic because Menelaus gives Paris gifts and welcomes him into his home but in return for all his hospitality Paris goes in and takes his wife.  Once answered we continue to read the rest of the slides 5-14.  After reading all of them we finish the lesson and submit our work.

Reflection: In today’s lesson, I learned about the importance of Xenia and how it is important to treat specific guests and not just allow anybody in as a pretext of a “guest.”  In the lesson we read about how Menelaus brought Paris into his home and treated Paris his “guest” extremely well in the name of xenia but Paris doesn’t return his actions and instead of receiving Paris’ gratitude Menelaus instead finds that his wife was stolen.  With this lesson I could apply it to myself and let people I trust into my house as guests instead of strangers and random people who I don’t know as such I don’t know the intent of such individuals.