Week 7

Tuesday, October 24

Read: Sophocles, Philoctetes

Background assumed by play that we have not yet learned: 1) Philoctetes' father, King Poeas of Meliboea in Thessaly, was given the bow of Heracles because he alone lit that hero's funeral pyre--Heracles was attempting committing suicide to escape the agony of Deianira's poisoned cloak [Painting of Heracles' death by Francisco de Zurbarán]; 2) according to the version in Sophocles' play, Philoctetes was bitten on the island of Chryse, when he unknowingly trespassed into the shrine of the island's eponymous nymph (not that this is never fully described in play); 3) The "two sons of Theseus" mentioned on p. 216 are Demophon and Acamas--interestingly Acamas' son, Munitus, was killed by a snake bite while hunting at Olynthus in Thrace; 4) In one version, Odysseus was not the legitimate son of Laertes; rather Sisyphus seduced Autolycus' daughter Anticleia to repay Autholycus for stealing his cattle; Anticleia was soon after marriaged to Laertes and Odysseus was raised as his legitimate son.

General comments/questions to consider as you read this play [Full Study Guide]

1. Does Philoctetes merit the suffering to which he is subjected? Many other versions of Philoctetes wounding exist [summarized here]; why did Sophocles chose the Chryse-version?
2. This is one of the few Greek plays set in nature. How does Sophocles characterize it? Is it just a setting, or something more in this play?
3. How is the characterization of Odysseus alike/different from those in the IliadConsider his motives and his methods. Do you find them admirable? Justifiable? Do you think the poet wants us to view him with sympathy?
4. What role to women play in this tragedy?
5. Be watchful for references to character and events from the Iliad and particularly the Odyssey (esp. bow, rags, beggar, lying traders)

Selected post-Classical versions of Philoctetes: Chateaubrun’s Philoctète (17th cent.): adds daughter of Philoctetes (Sophie) with whom Neoptolemus falls in love (~ Romeo & Juiliet); Wordsworth sonnet (1827); André Gide’s play Philoctète (1899); John Jay Chapman, Homeric Scenes (verse, 1914); Derek Walcott's modern Caribbean epic, Omeros, includes a character named Philoctete; Seamus Heaney's play The Cure at Troy, a "version" of Sophocles' Philoctetes; partial inspiration for Robert Silverberg's science fiction novel The Man in the Maze; Donna Jo Napoli's teen novel Sirena features a love affair between a siren and Philoctetes, interrupted when the Greeks come to retrieve him. [Also chapter in Fenelon’s Telemaque and discussion in Lessing’s Laocoon]

Thursday, October 26

Read: Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis

Selected post-Classical versions of the story of Iphigeneia at Aulis: Iphigénie en Aulide, play by Jean Racine and an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck; The Songs of the Kings, novel by Barry Unsworth; Iphigenia at Aulis, play by Ellen McLaughlin (Part of Iphigenia and Other Daughters); Michael Cacoyannis based his 1977 film Iphigenia (starring Irene Papas as Clytemnestra) on Euripides' script.

Week 8

Tuesday, October 31

Read: Euripides, Trojan Women

General comments/questions to consider as you read this work [Full Study Guide]

1. Note the order in which characters are introduced. How does Euripides build the drama and then strip away characters leaving only Hecuba and the Chorus? What effect does this have?
2. Euripides's audience would have known Homer well; what characters has Euripides chosen to elevate, and which seem "smaller" in comparison to their stature in Homer?
3. Why do you think Euripides focuses on the women? Reflect on Hecuba’s and Andromache’s speeches in the Iliad; how does this play engage themes that were prominent in those speeches>
4. What does Euripides reveal through his portrayal of the following: Hecuba, Talthybius, Cassandra, Menelaus, Helen, Andromache? What about Odysseus and Agamemnon, who never appear on stage but dominate the action from afar?
5. Trojan Women was likely produced in 415 BC at a time when the Athenians were preparing for their disastrous expedition against Sicily, the expedition that re-kindled the Peloponnesian war and led ultimately to the defeat of Athens by her enemies. How is Trojan Women an anti-war play?

Thursday, November 2

Read: Vergil, Aeneid 1-3 and Introduction (page 1 only).

Recommended: Life of Vergil and Introduction to the Aeneid

Resource: Map of Aeneas' Wandering

General comments/questions to consider as you read this work [Full Study Guide]

1. Unlike the Iliad and Odyssey, whose book divisions were the result of the activity of later scholars, those in the Aeneid come from the hand of Vergil himself. Carefully note were the situation at the opening and close of each book. How do the divisions serve to highlight or suspend scenes?
2. Also unlike the Iliad and Odyssey, here we can speak of a known author who is both dependent on and striving to be independent of his sources.  How does Vergil appropriate and/or alter the visions of the Trojan War seen in Homer and Attic Drama?
3. Prophecies are a major structuring element of Vergil’s narrative. Keep careful track of who tells Aeneas what and how he interprets each revelation.
4. Along with prophecies, dreams are particularly important. Pay special attention to their function in Book 6.
5. Consider the role of rumor and memory.

Friday, November 3

Due: Second Essay

 

 

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