Great Works Of Literature

YouTube audio of the Odyssey (Book One, lines 1-34) read in ancient Greek.

Some definitions of literary terms we will be using in this class:

Taken from M. H. Abrams and Geoffrey Galt Harpham, A Glossary of Literary Terms, 9^th ed.

Fiction and truth: In an inclusive sense, fiction is any literary narrative, whether in prose or verse, which is invented instead of being an account of events that actually happened. In a narrower sense, however, fiction denotes only narratives that are written in prose (the novel and short story), and sometimes is used simply as a synonym for the novel.

Myth: In classical Greek, “mythos” signified any story or plot, whether true or invented. In its central modern significance, however, a myth is one story in a mythology—a system of hereditary stories of ancient origin which were once believed to be true by a particular cultural group, and which served to explain (in terms of the intentions and actions of deities and other supernatural beings) why the world is as it is and things happen as they do, to provide a rationale for social customs and observances, and to establish the sanctions for the rules by which people conduct their lives. Most myths are related to social rituals—set forms and procedures in sacred ceremonies—but anthropologists disagree as to whether rituals generated myths or myths generated rituals.

Epic: In its strict sense the term epic or heroic poem is applied to a work that meets at least the following criteria: it is a long verse narrative on a serious subject, told in a formal and elevated style, and centered on a heroic or quasi-divine figure on whose actions depends the fate of a tribe, a nation, or the human race.

A cosmogony is a story about how the world began.

Where does the world come from, what is it made of? Does it have an order, a pattern, a purpose? Was it created by some god, or gods, or entity? How did human beings come into existence?

The Greek word cosmos implies order and beauty, as well as universe. To compose a cosmogony therefore is to describe how the world came to be a beautiful and well-ordered place.

Some key features of cosmogonies:

• they help people define their place in the universe; specifics of a culture in a broader cosmic pattern
• they provide mythical stories rather than scientific answers
• ancient cosmogonies do not usually begin with creation out of nothing, but with some primeval matter from which the world took shape, i.e.: water, sun, air, etc.
• they often have a political dimension, some great ruler who is connected to the creator god or gods, and is praised by them
• they show the struggles between different generations
• they tend to classify the world in a hierarchical structure: upper world, lower world, middle earth.

Great Hymn to the Aten was inscribed on the entrance to the tomb of an important official, the Vizier, in the capital city of el-Amarna in ancient Egypt. Amarna is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that holds the remains of the capital city newly established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1353 BCE), and abandoned shortly afterwards. The name for the city used by the ancient Egyptians is written as Akhetaten (or Akhetaton—transliterations vary) in English transliteration. Akhetaten means “Horizon of the Aten (or Sun).”

The hymn, spoken by the Vizier, reveals that the king is the only one who knows Aten. The Egyptian king, Amenhotep IV, intitiated a religious and political revolution when he promoted Aten exclusively. Some critics see it as an early type of monotheism. For a decade, while that king ruled, the old pantheon of gods was neglected in favor of a singular creator. Shortly after his death, the Egyptians returned to worshipping their pantheon.

Hesiod’s five races of men from Works and Days (line numbers are from the Norton).

The Golden race of mortal men — see lines 63-73

This race thrived under the reign of Kronos and was made by the Olympian gods (Zeus, et al.). They lived like the immortals, without strife or toil.

The Silver race of mortal men — see lines 80-90

This race is inferior to the golden one, even though they too were created by the Olympian gods. They remained children for 100 years, and then became petulant and violent adults. They committed crimes against each other and refused to honor the gods.

The Bronze race of mortal men — see lines 96-108

This race was made by Zeus and fashioned from the Ash tree. They were a warring race who lived off of meat and used bronze tools and weapons. They were the first race to go to Hades upon their death.

The Divine race of heroes — see lines 111-125

This is the semi-divine race, the demi-gods and heroes we see in the Odyssey and the Iliad. This race warred as well, but when they died Zeus let them dwell in the Isles of the Blessed Ones.

The Iron race of mortal men — see lines 126-153

This is Hesiod’s race. There is no end to their daily toil and strife because the gods bring about many troubles for them.

“The Dance of the Muses at Mount Helicon” by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1807)

This will be the place where I post information about our class, essentially continuing our literary discussion in the virtual sphere. Our syllabus, assignments, handouts, additional readings, literature guides and helpful links are also available here.

Feel free to leave comments or send me things you think would be great to post.