Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Odyssey’

women&drugs

There are two points in the Odyssey when the intoxicating, bewitching power of women is symbolically transformed or represented by drugs: Helen slips something into the wine to ensure happiness and pleasure amongst Menelaus and the visitors, and Circe changes Odyssey’s men into swine through food and drink. Then Zeus’s daughter Helen thought of something [...]

Read Full Post »

Thursday we will wrap up our discussion of the Odyssey with debate about the climax of the plot–the slaying of the suitors. As for additional readings for Thursday, please read at least pages 335-41 of the article by Lygia Sigaud “The vicissitudes of The Gift,”  Social Anthropology 10.3 (2002), 335-358. This is a summary of  [...]

Read Full Post »

On Thursday, we will continue our discussion the Odyssey. We will be discussing the complexity of the character of Odysseus and Homeric ideas about foreigners and Greeks. In addition, I’ll introduce some Homeric terminology of retribution. Finally, we’ll bring in the Hesiod passage I posted for Tuesday, which employs the same epic diction of revenge [...]

Read Full Post »

On Tuesday we will wrap up discussion about the North and Jaeger readings, especially North. Look for problems or gaps in her analysis. Can you think of any viable alternatives to her model for forgiveness? Secondly, we will continue with the Odyssey. Please read books 9-12, which tell the story of Odysseus’ wanderings. This is [...]

Read Full Post »

For Thursday please read: Odyssey, books 5-8. The emailed selections from Exploring Forgiveness (Madison, 1998): Chapter 2: Marietta Jaeger, “The Power and Reality of Forgiveness: Forgiving the Murderer of One’s Child,” 9-14. Chapter 3: Joanna North, “The ‘Ideal’ of Forgiveness: A Philosopher’s Exploration,” 15-34. Read pages 15-20, 24-29 (from “Reframing” through the first paragraph on [...]

Read Full Post »

On Tuesday we will discuss the essay by Jeffrie Murphy that was assigned for last Thursday. Secondly, we will begin our work on Homer. Please read: Books 1-4 of the Odyssey, (optionally, you can read also the very good introduction by Bernard Knox). From the Iliad 18.478-508. This passage is the beginning of a description [...]

Read Full Post »

This blog will be an important forum for the course classical studies (CLST) 180 on the theme of revenge in literature. We will use it for discussion of the subject matter of the course, both the assigned texts and any other relevant items of interest that are useful for our project. More will soon follow [...]

Read Full Post »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.