mythology-Greece and Rome

DUE 12/16/2020

make sure you can get an A

Part I. Exercise A. Fill in the blanks with the

 

Roman names of the appropriate deity.  (10 questions, 1 point each)

Troy had long since been leveled when, one day, ______1_____, the goddess of love, approached ______2_____ and said, “As king of the gods, you have the duty to protect my son Aeneas from your nasty wife ______3_____.  He’s always sacrificed and done everything right.  He doesn’t deserve this treatment.”  The father of gods and men said, “Daughter, please tell me what you’re talking about.”  She replied, “Your wife got Aeolus to release the winds and raise a storm to scatter the Trojan fleet.  Luckily, your brother ______4_____ used his trident to save the ships.”  The ruler of the gods ordered his messenger ______5_____ to find his wife and bring her to the council along with the other Olympians.  When the messenger found her, she was talking with ______6_____ about how much they had both hated the Trojans since they lost the beauty contest judged by Paris.  Then ______7_____, the shining, youthful god, walked in wearing his sacred laurel and playing his lyre.  He looked at the goddesses and said, “The war’s over.  Can’t you just drop it?” The messenger interrupted to summon all three of them and told them that also needed to find ______8_____, who was probably off hunting with her nymphs, and ______9_____, who was undoubtedly at his forge.  Everyone said okay, but they begged him not to go to the underworld to invite ______10_____, the grim-faced ruler of the dead, because he skeeved them out.  They all then went their way and met up soon at the council.

Exercise B.  These are questions on Greek texts.  Where a name is called for, use the Greek version. (10 questions, 1 point each)

1. The Iliad is about the wrath of _______________.

2. __________________ is the leader of the Greek army.

3. __________________ is the noblest and best Trojan fighter.

4. ________________ abducted Helen.

5. Helen was the wife of ____________________ before her abduction.

6. Near the end of the Iliad, Achilles feeds the Trojan king named _____________ as a guest in his tent.

7. Euripides’ play that we read is called the Bacchae (or Bakkhai).  Another term for bacchae/bakkhai is _____________.

8. In the Bacchae, Pentheus dies in a sparagmos, or ritual tearing apart, performed by women, the leader of whom is his  _____________.

9. The Odyssey is a ________________, a word that means “homeward journey.”

10. Odysseus’s wife is named _________________.

 

Part II.  Analysis of a passage.  Analyze this poem by the Roman author Catullus as thoroughly as possible, being sure to explain the functions, powers, and titles that he attributes to the goddess Diana.  Draw on the analytical tools we have studied and developed this semester: interpretive models, terminology, etc. Be sure to consider why Catullus might give Diana so many other names. (35 points)

 

                                    Catullus, Hymn to Diana

We are untouched boys and girls, entrusted to Diana.

We untouched boys and girls—let us sing about Diana.

O daughter of Latona, 1 great offspring of greatest Jove,

Whom your mother set down near the Delian2 olive tree

So that you might be the mistress of the mountains

And of verdant forests and hidden meadows and sounding rivers.

You are called Juno Lucina by women in the pangs of childbirth,

 You are called powerful Trivia3 and Luna with your false light.

You, goddess, by your monthly course measuring the path of the year,

Fill the farmer’s rustic roofs with good crops,

May you be holy by whatever name you like,

And, as you have done from old, keep safe

The race of Romulus4 with your good aid.

 

1  The Roman equivalent of Leto, whom you will remember from the Hymn to Apollo.

2  i.e., on Delos, the Greek island where Diana was born.

3  The Roman equivalent of Hecate.

4  The mythical founder of Rome.

Part III.

In a fully developed essay, with proper paragraphing and a thesis, explain how Virgil and romanizes aspects of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey to suit his own thematic, literary, and/or ideological purposes.  Be sure to include specific references to both the Roman and Greek texts that you discuss and to distinguish Virgil’s goals and perspectives from Homer’s. (45points)