Monsters and Trials
Themes
Characters
Epic Vocabulary Part I
Epic Vocabulary Part II
100
"The ox-hides crawled about, raw meat and roast bellowed on the spit, and all around sounded the noise of lowing cattle."
What is Helios's cattle?
100
"Good sir, do not refuse us: respect the gods. We are guests and Zeus protects visitors and guests, Zeus the god of guests, who follows the steps of sacred travelers.”
What is the importance of generosity towards guest?
100
A blind prophet.
Who is Tiresias?
100
The central figure in a long narrative who possess larger -than-life qualities such as bravery, loyalty, and heroism.
What is an epic hero?
100
The body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world. and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices.
What is mythology?
200
"...which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to them."
What is the lotus eaters?
200
"So saying, Athene touched him with her wand. She wrinkled the smooth skin on his supple limbs, and thinned the fine hair on his scalp, and gave him the body of an old man."
What is Appearance vs. Reality?
200
"I am son of Laetres..."
Who is Odysseus?
200
A kind of literary or artistic work
What is genre?
200
The process in which all epic go through?
What is the epic hero cycle?
300
"...its crackling roots blazed and hissed - as a blacksmith plunges a glowing ax or adze in an ice-cold bath and the metal screeches steam and its temper hardens - that's the iron's strength - so the eye of Cyclops sizzled round that stake."
What is Cyclops?
300
“Every form of death is vile to us wretched mortals, but the most wretched way to die is by starvation. So, let us cut out the finest of Helios’ cattle, and sacrifice to the gods of the wide heavens."
What is the pitfalls of temptation?
300
‘Father, I’ll bring you a shield, two spears, and a helmet that fits you, arm myself and return with weapons for the swineherd and cowherd there: we would all be better armed.’
Who is Telemachus?
300
A particular society at a particular time and place; "early Mayan civilization."
What is culture?
300
All heroes have a flaw that often stops them from reaching their goals.
What is a tragic flaw?
400
"Just as an fisherman poised on a jutting rock flings his treacherous bait in the offshore swell, whips his long rod—hook sheathed in an oxhorn lure— and whisks up little fish he flips on the beach-break, writhing, gasping out their lives . . ."
What is Scylla?
400
"Out of the cave came mighty Polyphemus’ voice: “Nobody, my friends, is trying to kill me by violence or treachery.” To this they replied with winged words: “If you are alone, and nobody does you violence, it’s an inescapable sickness that comes from Zeus: pray to the Lord Poseidon, our father.”
What is the power of cunning over strength?
400
"‘Sir, you must have been touched by those same gods. I am not proud and scornful of you, nor am I confused. I know well how you looked when you sailed from Ithaca in your long-oared ship. Come then, Eurycleia, and have the great bed dragged from the fine bridal chamber he built himself, and cover it with rugs and fleeces and brightly coloured blankets.’
Who is Penelope?
400
A long wandering and eventful journey.
What is an odyssey?
400
An extended simile often running to several lines, used typically in epic poetry to intensify the heroic stature of the subject and to serve as decoration.
What is a Homeric Simile?
500
"... dire George of the salt sea tide, By heaven! When she vomited, all the sea was like a cauldron seething over intense fire, when the mixture suddenly heaven and rises."
What is Charybdis?
500
"‘Eurymachus, even if you Suitors handed over your inheritances, everything you own and whatever might come to you after, even then I’d not keep my hands from slaughter until you’ve all paid the price. Now you can choose to stand and fight or run, if you think a single one of you can cheat death and fate. I don’t think you’ll escape death’s finality."
What is the importance of generosity towards guest?
500
"...descended from heaven, and approached him in the form of a mortal woman. She stood by his head and spoke to him, saying: ‘Why are you awake still, most ill-fated of men? This is your house, and here is your wife and child, a son such as any man might pray to have."
Who is Athena?
500
The religious belief in two or more gods.
What is polytheism?
500
A term or phrase used to characterize the nature of a character, an object, or an event
What is an epithet?
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