Ancient Literature of History--week of 1/23/06 to 1/27/06
1. Who is the author of the Eumenides? Write a short (50-100 word) biography of him and place him on your time line.
2. Some of the Eumenides is very difficult to understand, and some is quite simple. We are not going to analyze all the difficult parts in detail, but we are going to analyze one difficult section because I want each of you to understand that you can do it! Read the first 30 lines of the play (the speech by Pythia until she turns to the audience)—if you are like me you won’t get much out of this the first time you read it. Next I want you to read it one line at a time looking up every word whose meaning you don’t know and write down the definition. This includes proper names of places & people whom you don’t know. For example on line 3, I didn’t know who “Tradition” was or the meaning of “mantic.” (The words will vary from translation to translation.) Then read it through a third time referring to the meanings you have written down. Does it make more sense to you? With enough time and the proper reference books, each of you could understand the entire play, line by line.
3. Leithart says has the following “roughly chiastic arrangement”:
Scene 1: Apollo’s temple at Delphi: Orestes departs, Furies driven out (1-232)
Scene 2: Athena’s temple in Athens: Orestes contends with Furies (232-570)
Scene 3: Areopagus: Court decides between Orestes and Furies (571-791)
Scene 4: Areopagus: Athena welcomes Furies to Athens (792-1057)
When you read the play through the 2nd time write down a favorite line, a question, a comment, or something else from each section.
2. Some of the Eumenides is very difficult to understand, and some is quite simple. We are not going to analyze all the difficult parts in detail, but we are going to analyze one difficult section because I want each of you to understand that you can do it! Read the first 30 lines of the play (the speech by Pythia until she turns to the audience)—if you are like me you won’t get much out of this the first time you read it. Next I want you to read it one line at a time looking up every word whose meaning you don’t know and write down the definition. This includes proper names of places & people whom you don’t know. For example on line 3, I didn’t know who “Tradition” was or the meaning of “mantic.” (The words will vary from translation to translation.) Then read it through a third time referring to the meanings you have written down. Does it make more sense to you? With enough time and the proper reference books, each of you could understand the entire play, line by line.
3. Leithart says has the following “roughly chiastic arrangement”:
Scene 1: Apollo’s temple at Delphi: Orestes departs, Furies driven out (1-232)
Scene 2: Athena’s temple in Athens: Orestes contends with Furies (232-570)
Scene 3: Areopagus: Court decides between Orestes and Furies (571-791)
Scene 4: Areopagus: Athena welcomes Furies to Athens (792-1057)
When you read the play through the 2nd time write down a favorite line, a question, a comment, or something else from each section.
posted by Ancient Literature & History at 3:34 AM
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