Aeneas, Pericles, Oedipus Rex - Essay Example

September 26 Foreshadowing is used for all of the following purposes in the Iliad EXCEPT to * buildsuspense. hint at Achilles' final battle with Agamemnon. explain the god's actions. reinforce the readers' sympathy for Achilles.   2. The long flashback early in Book 1 of the Iliad explains why * the Greek soldiers are dying of a plague. Achilles turned his back on the Greek army. the Greeks had stopped sacrificing to Apollo. Agamemnon chose Chryseis as his war prize.   3. Given his actions in Book 1 of the Iliad, Agamemnon is best described as being very brave. * selfish. wise. fearful.   4. In the Iliad, Homer uses contrasting words, synonyms and antonyms, to describe different characters. Which of the following pairs of words from the Iliad is the best example of antonyms? formidable and awesome revere and removed destitute and pleased * loath and willing   5. In Sappho's poem Sleep, Darling, the speaker compares her daughter to an evening star. * a golden flower. an innocent lamb. a wealthy queen.   Question 6   Which of the following from Sappho's poetry is an example of hyperbole? * "Don't ask me what to wear" "He is a god in my eyes- / the man who is allowed / to sit beside you-he" "Let me tell you / this: someone in / some future time will think of us" "The night is now / half-gone; youth goes;"   Question 7   Dramatic irony occurs when the speaker uses sarcastic language. a plot twist catches readers off guard. * the reader knows something important that a character does not know. a major character has a sudden moment of insight or revelation.   Question 8   In Oedipus Rex, what is ironic about Oedipus' declaration of the curse against Laius' murderer? The true murderer is already dead. * Oedipus is pronouncing his own doom. Oedipus has no power to punish a foreign criminal. The Theban elders already know who the murderer is.   Question 9   In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is prevented from making decisions that could have allowed him to escape his fate by his lack of * courage. authority. knowledge. intelligence.   Question 10   Which of the following is an archetype found in Virgil's Aeneid? * epic hero fallen angel rescued princess faithful friend   Question 11   In Virgil's Aeneid, what motivates Aeneas' father to change his mind about leaving the city? * He receives signs or omens from the gods. He knows that Aeneas will not leave without him. He fears the brutality of the Greek soldiers. He discovers that he is strong enough to make the journey.   Question 12   Which of the following is an example of an external conflict from the Aeneid? Aeneas' decision to return to the city * Trojans' battle with the Greeks Aeneas' mother giving him advice Greeks hiding in the wooden horse   Question 13   How would the speaker of Carpe Diem describe the future? * uncertain and unreliable full of hope and opportunity holding many hidden dangers bleak and frightening   Question 14   What is the purpose of Catullus' use of hyperbole in If Ever Anyone Anywhere? * to explain his depth of love for Lesbia to describe Lesbia's extraordinary beauty to convey his joy in Lesbia's return to express his surprise at Lesbia's return   Question 15   How does a writer convey tone? by using first-person point of view by using rhyme and rhythm * through word choice and details through sound imagery   Question 16   The phrase in medias res means that a story or play begins at the end and works backwards. with a conflict between the main characters. * in the middle of the action. with foreshadowing of events to come.   Question 17   All of the following are kinds of archetypes EXCEPT settings. * specific poetic forms. characters. plots.   Question 18   Homer, Virgil, and Ovid all used the same characters in their tales. wrote down what were originally oral tales. * wrote in the same poetic verse form. described the origins of the creation of the world.   Question 19   Understanding the role of war prizes in Greek life tells you that by taking Briseis in Book 1 of the Iliad, Agamemnon is * gravely insulting his ally Achilles. simply replacing his own lost war prize. obediently following Apollo's command. reluctantly acknowledging Achilles' courage.   Question 20   Which of the following is NOT an archetype found in the excerpt from Metamorphoses? a formerly perfect existence a god battling a devil a world created in stages a chaotic universe   Question 21   In the Funeral Speech of Pericles, Pericles praises the ancestors of the Athenians. This device is known as imagery. appeal to reason. appeal to emotion. dramatic irony.   Question 22   Homer refers to the Greeks as Achaeans, Danaans, and Argives. When he does this, he is using flashback. antonyms. * synonyms. foreshadowing.   Question 23   In the Apology, when Socrates compares his situation to a man in battle, he is using flashback. characterization. imagery. analogy.   Question 24   Evaluate the character of Aeneas, from the Aeneid. List three of his major character traits and explain how these traits are revealed as Aeneas deals with conflict. Cite at least two specific examples in your answer. Your answer should be two to three well-developed paragraphs in length and be free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.   Question 25   Compare and contrast the persuasive speeches of Socrates and Pericles. Explain the purpose each author had and provide two specific examples of different techniques used by each. In one paragraph, explain which author you believe to be more persuasive and why. Your answer should be at least three well-developed paragraphs in length and be free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.   Question 26   Let every man in mankind's frailty Consider his last day; and let none Presume on his good fortune until he find Life, at his death, a memory without pain. These are the last lines from Oedipus Rex, a play full of dramatic irony. Very little in this play turns out the way the characters intend. State two major themes of the play. Then, choose one of the themes and explain how Oedipus' life demonstrates that theme. Use three specific examples from the play to support your explanation. Your answer should be at least two well-developed paragraphs in length and be free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.   Question 27   Catullus' lyric poems illustrate the extreme emotions that people often feel in close relationships. Give two emotions the speaker seems to experience and explain the cause of his feelings. Support your position by citing three specific lines from the poems as examples. Your examples from the poem should include at least one line containing hyperbole. Your answer should be at least two well-developed paragraphs in length and be free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.   Question 28   Despite having been written about 2,000 years ago, Ovid's Metamorphoses is still read today. Use at least two specific examples from the work and explain why you think this work has endured. Discuss three primary ideas that the work tells readers about God, the universe, or the nature of humanity. Include an explanation of at least one archetype found in the work. Your answer should be at least three well-developed paragraphs in length and be free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. 24) Aeneas, the son of Anchises and Venus, was a Trojan leader. The story gives a clear picture of Aeneas. As can be seen, he was supposed to take the Trojans to Italy and lay foundations there for the Roman Empire. He was an exceptional hero and had all the good qualities a hero should possess. One of his character traits are compassion and sympathy for his fellow people. While on the terrible journey to Italy, many of the people feel exhausted and some of them are injured. So Aeneas allows them to stay back. But he also encourages others to keep on moving forward by delivering inspirational speeches. When he goes to the underworld, he sees the dead who were unburied. He decides then and there to ensure the proper burial of both his foes and companions after wars. Aeneas is also a very devoted and committed person. He puts his duty first, that is to do what he was destined to. Despite the fact that he loves Dido, and she loves him back, he takes to his responsibility of fulfilling the gods’ wishes, which has him keep on moving and leave Carthage where Dido was the queen. If he wanted, he could have chosen to discard his duties and live a good life with his love and without any hardships of war, but he does not do so. Though he was off-balance in his duty due to his love for the queen, he receives an appeal from Jupiter, which puts him back on track. Thus, he compromises his own interests to accomplish his duties and obligations. Another trait Aeneas possess is honoring every god and Virgil refers to him as ‘pious Aeneas.’ It is this quality that helps him during his battle with Achilles. Though Poseidon was in Achilles’ side, he decides to assist Aeneas as he has always honored every god including him. So he diverts Achilles attention with mist and makes Aeneas disappear from the scene. When the mist is lifted Achilles becomes unable to find Aeneas, whereas the latter is saved and he escapes. 25) Pericles was a great Greek orator who lived during the era of the Golden age of Athens. Pericles’ technique of speech was refined and it was free from all profane slangs. Pericles enjoyed a glorified position, as an orator, compared to his fellow orators. Pericles was not an over excited orator. His mode of speech was in a serene and tranquil manner. According to certain critics of Pericles, his mode of speech was in an arrogant manner filled with contempt for other people. However, Pericles was always praised for his powerful oratory style which distinguished him from other orators of his era. Socrates is considered to be prominent among the greatest orators that world has ever seen. Dialectic syllogism was the method of speech used by Socrates. In this method, the orator asked a series of questions to the audience. According to the philosophy of Socrates, if at least one exactly right question was asked, it will bring us a step near the ultimate truth. Later, the dialectic syllogism of Socrates came to be known as Socratic Method. Socrates gave more importance to persuasion rather than unveiling the truth. Through his speeches, Socrates won an argument by persuasive method. Socrates didn’t have any great notion regarding the speech of Pericles. He once commented ironically that as Pericles was the disciple of Aspasia, it is no wonder that he is superior to others who was educated by Antiphon. Rhetoric mode of speech employed by Socrates was superior to that of Pericles. Through the rhetoric method of speech Socrates was able to influence the government. Thus Socrates was more powerful in his rhetoric than Pericles. 26) The first major theme in the story ‘Oedipus Rex’ is the power of fate. The ancient Greeks believed in fate, various supernatural elements and even divine laws. So, Sophocles wants to display this with the help of Oedipus’ life. Another theme that can be found is ignorance of the obvious truth. ‘Oedipus Rex’ portrays the fate of Oedipus in a prophecy alone, as when he was a child. The prophecy foretells that he would kill his own father Laius and marry Jocasta, his mother. So Laius orders a shepherd to abandon baby Oedipus in the woods with a pin put through his feet to stop him from crawling. But he is saved by the king and queen of Corinth who could not have any children of their own. Oedipus starts growing and he goes to the oracle to know about his fate. The oracle tells him that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus thinks that his foster parents are his real parents, so he leaves Corinth at once. Fate brings him back to Thebes, where his real parents are. There as the prophecy said, he kills Laius at the crossroads, and answers the riddle of sphinx which no one could ever answer. So the people of Thebes become very happy and decide to make him the ruler, so this means he has to marry Jocasta, the queen of Thebes. Thus the prophecy is fulfilled. But if Oedipus thought of the age difference between himself and the queen he could have understood that the prophecy was going to become true keeping in mind the fact that he had already killed a man. But this does not happen and he marries Jocasta, and becomes the brother and father of Jocasta’s children. Though Oedipus thinks that he can conquer his fate by going as far away as possible from Corinth, he comes right back to Thebes, where his real parents are. Though Laius thinks he can escape his fate, he is eventually killed as Oedipus returns to Thebes. So, Sophocles points out that no one can control fate no matter how much they try. Fate is out of control of the people and they always do what is already written in their destiny. Every thing goes in a pre-planned chronological order in the universe and no one can make a difference in it. The efforts put to run away from the predetermined fate should be put in facing the fate as they already know what is in store for them. 27) Catullus has written several poems with respect to his feelings towards a woman named Lesbia. Though he is ten years younger than her, he still loves her a lot, and this age gap maybe the reason that Lesbia did not take him seriously along with the fact that she was married to Metellus Celer. The two main emotions he expresses through his poems are love and grief. Catullus’ poems depict him being madly in love with Lesbia. His first poems expressed his overflowing love for her as he asks “Lesbia, you ask how many kisses of yours would be enough and more to satisfy me,” and answers “as many as the grains of Libyan sand or as many as the stars.” His poems also reflect his great happiness as well as joy, he wants to believe that Lesbia is his alone “Let us live, my Lesbia, let us love.” He takes everything seriously and expects her to love him back the same way. He tells that no woman would have ever been loved as much as he loves Lesbia. His poems, however, do not give a much clear idea with how much intensity she loved him. But, as Lesbia ended the affair later, he feels deserted and thus, he is filled with grief. He was tormented by Lesbia’s deed in ending their relationship, which he honored so much. He writes a poem where he advises himself to end that love and stay firm. But still, the person he loved so much, whom he always cherished so lovingly in his heart left him alone, he felt very sad and disappointed as any person would feel when abandoned by their lover. He feels devastated and destroyed as in “My mind’s reduced to this, by your faults, Lesbia, and has ruined itself so in your service” (Kline). 28) Ovid’s Metamorphoses is a masterpiece which is appreciated by literary people all around the world. It inspired great writers across the centuries. It is still one of the main inspirations for budding talents. Universality is the major feature of Metamorphoses that makes it stand apart from other works of the period. Even though Metamorphoses mainly concentrates on the revenge theme and the transformation process, it deals mainly with emotions and feelings. This can be assumed to be one of the reasons for the absolute popularity and influence of Metamorphoses in World Literature. It can be considered as the single most work in World Literature (with Old Testament as the exception), that is a treasury of infinite fascinating stories. This has made it the favorite resource of the many celebrated writers. Shakespeare, the great Bard took inspiration from the story of ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’ to compose the legendary ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The archetype of birth can be very transparently drawn from Metamorphoses. Ovid has described the archetype of creation and birth in Metamorphoses. Ovid in his Metamorphoses consider human as equal to God. Ovid states that human beings were created by God from mud that contained the heavenly seeds. This brings out an unexplainable relationship between human beings and the natural world. The perfect harmony between man and nature is described vividly in Metamorphoses. Work Cited Kline, A. S. Catullus: The Poems. Poetry in Translation.com. 2001. Web. 26 Sep. Read More