• What elements of the Epic genre (as you are so far familiar with them) are present in Beowulf? How does this English Epic differ from the Homeric or other epic forms you’ve read?
• What elements of oral performance survive in the printed text? Give specific examples.
• There are several embedded narratives in Beowulf (e.g. Sigemund and the dragon, ll. 883-914; and the Fight at Finnsburg, ll. 1070-1157). What is their function in the narrative and, considering their placement, in the action of the story?
• Who and what are Grendel and his mother? What does the text tell us about their origin? What is the source of their animosity toward the Danes?
• While the events of Beowulf take place in a pre-Christian Europe, the narrator has a distinct Christian perspective. Find some examples of both “pagan” and Christian elements in the poem and analyze how they compliment or contradict each other. (Hint: Look at Grendel’s attack on Heorot in lines 86-188.)

• The Muslim faith prescribes 5 articles of faith, or “pillars” of Islam: 1) daily prayer, 2) charity, 3) fasting, 4) pilgrimage, and 5) profession of faith. Where do you find examples of or injunctions to these acts in the selections you read?
• Who is the speaker? What is the speaker’s purpose? Who is his audience?a
• The Qur’an retells several episodes from both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Gospels. What facts differ in the Islamic telling and how do this differences change the emphasis?
• It what ways does the Qur’an proclaim a new “covenant” with the “People of the Book”?
• Why do you think the Qur’an emphasizes both the singular (unitarian) nature of God and the humanity of Jesus?
• Come up with one additional questions from your reading to pose to the class.

• In the Norton headnote, xing is translated ‘evocative image’: “Xing brings natural images into suggestive resonance with human situations.” How does xing function both in the form and the meaning of the first 4 selections?
• These poems are clearly different in form and scope from the epic verse we’ve read so far. But are there similarities as well: In religious and moral instruction? Literary elements? Traces of oral performance? Find some examples of these.
• How do repetition and variation function in the poems? Think in terms of the analogies the poems draw between natural and human cycles.
• Why do you suppose these poems are so central to Confucianism? What values in the teachings of Confucius are celebrated in these poems?
• In the Analects, Confucius writes “The three hundred Poems are summed up in one single phrase: ‘Think no evil’.” Is this evident in the poems you read? Where?

• Although the Trojan War is prosecuted by men, it has particular and wide-ranging effects on the women of Troy and the surrounding area. Describe women’s role as both agents and casualties of war.
• What reasons does Achilles give for refusing Agamemnon’s enticements to return to battle? Do you agree with his decision? (See Book IX, line 311-441)
• In several places in Book XVI the gods intervene directly in the fates of men in battle (e.g. Zeus and Sarpedon, Apollo and Patroclus). What is the gods’ relationship to fate? Can they overrule fate? What are the consequences of the gods’ interfering too much?
• What mistakes does Patroclus make that bring about his fate?
• In several places, Patroclus is addressed directly, in the 2nd person, by the speaker of the epic (XVI.615; XVI.721; XVI.826). What effect does this have on the narrative?

• Compare and contrast the Homeric gods, as they are depicted in the Iliad, with the Biblical God and the gods in Gilgamesh.
• Discuss the nature of conflict as it occurs between men and men, gods and men, and gods and gods. How do the sources of their conflict differ? How do they resolve conflict?
• We know from the opening lines that Iliad is going to be largely about μῆνιν Ἀχιλῆος––“the rage of Achilles.” What are the sources of his rage and how is it characterized in the epic? Can you predict how Achilles’s rage will effect the outcome of the war?
• What is the purpose of the episode in Book VI between Glaucus and Diomedes? What do we learn not only about the ethics of war, but also about the function of epic narrative from this scene?
• Although the Trojan War is prosecuted by men, it has particular and wide-ranging effects on the women of Troy and the surrounding area. Describe women’s role as both agents and casualties of war.
• Stanley Lombardo’s popular translation renders the dialogue in a refreshingly colloquial manner. Find some examples and describe how his translation choices effect characterization.

• How would you characterize Ishtar? What does she want from Gilgamesh and what tactics does she use to get what she wants?
• What is the purpose of Enkidu’s string of curses in Tablet VII? Why, especially, does he curse Shamhat? For what does he blame her? (VII. 58-86 [pp129-30])
• Is Enkidu’s death ordained by the gods? Why him and not Gilgamesh?
• How, specifically, does Enkidu’s death affect Gilgamesh? What are the physical and emotional markers of Gilgamesh’s grief for the death of his companion?
• In what ways are water and bodies of water significant in the narrative? What do they symbolize? Give specific examples.
• As always, come up with 1 or 2 questions of your own, or passages you’d like to read aloud and discuss.

• How does the Prologue characterize Gilgamesh as a king and as a man? What features does the text emphasize?
• In what ways does the harlot Shamhat “civilize” Enkidu (beside the obvious)? What are the signs of his “civilization”? What do these changes say about the nature of “civilization in ancient Mesopotamia?
• What is the nature of the relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu? How does each compliment the other?
• What about the women in the story: Ninsun, Shamhat, and the goddess Aruru? How do they move the narrative forward?
• Why do Gilgamesh and Enkidu pursue their first adventure? What do they hope to gain?
• As always, come up with one or two questions of your own, or passages you’d like to discuss.

Please take a moment to explore our course blog and make sure you can find and access resources you will need for the upcoming semester. Some recently added items are:

• discussion topics (on the home page)
• course syllabus
• readings for week 1 (for anyone who hasn’t yet purchased the Norton Anthology)
• detailed assignment sheets

If you missed the first day of class, or just added the class, make sure you print out the reading (if you don’t yet have the text book) and bring it to the next class. Check the syllabus and course schedule to see what pages are due and email me if you have any difficulty downloading the PDF files from the “Readings” page of the site.

You’ve all been designated authors on the site so feel free to add your own comments and input at any time. Check the site at least once per class period so you don’t miss any important announcements or information. I’ll be posting a schedule for your own blog posts on our readings by the end of the week, so stayed tuned!