Week 4 & 5 Ancient Literature Assignment
NOTE: If you have trouble with this, you can wait until after class on Wednesday to start this.
We will discuss no further than through story 2 on Sept. 21 and then finish this assignment on Sept. 28. Theogony isn't easy, but don't get discouraged. We'll conquer it together!!! Some questions are easier than others--you might want to initially skip the hard ones and then go back to them after our Sept. 14 class.
Part 2--Theogony
1. I want you to read the entire Theogony and write down which lines go with each division listed in last week’s #8. To get you started lines 1-115 are the “prologue” and lines 881-885 are “Zeus established as King”. Don’t spend a lot of time or get bogged down in the genealogies. We are going to concentrate on the stories.
2. Who are the Muses?
3. In lines 29-35 what do the Muses ask Hesiod to sing about?
4. In lines 36-52 what does Hesiod say the Muses sing of?
5. Leithart says that originally there were 4 “gods”. He finds this in the first sentence of lines 116-138. Can you name them? Do you agree that this says that they were all there at the beginning. (Compare the Trinity—were they all present from eternity? Did the son proceed from the Father?)
QUESTIONS from STORY 1 (note: starred questions come from in between sections, not from the stories.)
6. Why did Earth want Heaven punished?
7. How did Cronos hurt his father? What weapon did he use?
8. Discuss the origin of Aphrodite.
QUESTIONS from STORY 2
9. Why did Zeus overthrow Cronos?
10. What is the stone the Cronos vomited up in about line 496? (see lines 453-491)
11. Why did Zeus set the Titans free?
*12. Who were the 4 sons of Iapetus and Clymene (FIRST SENTENCE OF LINES 507-
543)?
*13. Briefly tell me something about each of these sons.
QUESTIONS from STORY 3
14. What two things did Prometheus do to anger Zeus? What was the punishment for each? Tricked him into taking the lesser sacrifice & leaving the best for men (would not let mortal men have fire); gave fire to mortal man (gave a beautiful maiden to men from which the race of women came; in other literature we are told this first woman was Pandora & she was given to Epimetheus).
15. In lines 590-612 to what is woman compared?
QUESTIONS from STORY 4
16. Who are Obriareus, Cottus, and Gyes (don’t need to memorize these)? See lines 147-
163.
17. Who is fighting whom in lines 617-643?
18. Why did the Titan gods help their brother Cronos who had earlier bound them (lines
492-506)?
*19. Describe Tartarus.
QUESTIONS from STORY 5
20. Describe Zeus’ foe in this section.
*21. Was Zeus monogamous?
*22. Is the Theogony a romance, a comedy, or a tragedy?
We will discuss no further than through story 2 on Sept. 21 and then finish this assignment on Sept. 28. Theogony isn't easy, but don't get discouraged. We'll conquer it together!!! Some questions are easier than others--you might want to initially skip the hard ones and then go back to them after our Sept. 14 class.
Part 2--Theogony
1. I want you to read the entire Theogony and write down which lines go with each division listed in last week’s #8. To get you started lines 1-115 are the “prologue” and lines 881-885 are “Zeus established as King”. Don’t spend a lot of time or get bogged down in the genealogies. We are going to concentrate on the stories.
2. Who are the Muses?
3. In lines 29-35 what do the Muses ask Hesiod to sing about?
4. In lines 36-52 what does Hesiod say the Muses sing of?
5. Leithart says that originally there were 4 “gods”. He finds this in the first sentence of lines 116-138. Can you name them? Do you agree that this says that they were all there at the beginning. (Compare the Trinity—were they all present from eternity? Did the son proceed from the Father?)
QUESTIONS from STORY 1 (note: starred questions come from in between sections, not from the stories.)
6. Why did Earth want Heaven punished?
7. How did Cronos hurt his father? What weapon did he use?
8. Discuss the origin of Aphrodite.
QUESTIONS from STORY 2
9. Why did Zeus overthrow Cronos?
10. What is the stone the Cronos vomited up in about line 496? (see lines 453-491)
11. Why did Zeus set the Titans free?
*12. Who were the 4 sons of Iapetus and Clymene (FIRST SENTENCE OF LINES 507-
543)?
*13. Briefly tell me something about each of these sons.
QUESTIONS from STORY 3
14. What two things did Prometheus do to anger Zeus? What was the punishment for each? Tricked him into taking the lesser sacrifice & leaving the best for men (would not let mortal men have fire); gave fire to mortal man (gave a beautiful maiden to men from which the race of women came; in other literature we are told this first woman was Pandora & she was given to Epimetheus).
15. In lines 590-612 to what is woman compared?
QUESTIONS from STORY 4
16. Who are Obriareus, Cottus, and Gyes (don’t need to memorize these)? See lines 147-
163.
17. Who is fighting whom in lines 617-643?
18. Why did the Titan gods help their brother Cronos who had earlier bound them (lines
492-506)?
*19. Describe Tartarus.
QUESTIONS from STORY 5
20. Describe Zeus’ foe in this section.
*21. Was Zeus monogamous?
*22. Is the Theogony a romance, a comedy, or a tragedy?
posted by Ancient Literature & History at 6:28 PM
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