Poetry and

You are not correct But keep trying!

2134Question:5Renaissance 20th CenturyMeet the Greeks

Final Test Picture links: https://www2.bc.edu/~barberke/honors2fall.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droeshout_portrait http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/ezra-pound63. Why are allusions important to understanding literature?

A. They make it easier to understand the context of poetry and plays

B. Allusions are not important

C. They provide emphasis on simile Introduction to the Greeks and their Literature Greek literature is the basis for later western literature that was developed

Some examples can be found in certain plays by Shakespeare, epics by Matteo Maria Boiardo, and even referenced in modern poetry such as Ezra Pound

5. Short Essay: How does history and literature coincide with one another?HomeHomer and Greek LiteratureHomer was a major Greek poet who scholars do not know much about

However, what we do know is that he wrote the two major epic poems, the Illiad and the Odyssey which were really influential in western literature

8What is an epic?

According to Dictionary.com, noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a great series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style.

Dictionary.com 9Homer and epithets

Epithets are names that give the reader an idea of what the gods of Greek mythology do such as:

Zeus, shepherd of the clouds..

So what does this epithet tell us?

ZeusPicture link: http://fineartamerica.com/art/photographs/zeus+sculpture/all

Quote taken from the Odyssey by Homer (Translated by Allen Mandelbaum)10Well..

This epithet tells us that Zeus is in control ofthe sky and clouds which could mean a number of things such as:

Rainmaker, storm maker, presider of MountOlympus

Picture link: http://www.drawingteachers.com/how-to-draw-clouds-step-by-step.html 11Each god and goddess also have more than just one epithet!

Zeuss epithets: Zeus Xenios (protector of guests), Zeus Ktesios (Zeus, guardian of possessions in a household)

Poseidon: Poseidon Hippios (creator of horses), Poseidon Soter (savior of sailors)

And the list goes on and on with multiple gods!

Epithets provided by: https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/epithets.htmlPicture from: http://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/poseidon/stories/poseidon-athena-contest/ 12Now its your turn!

What does the epithet Poseidon, the great earth shaker imply?

A. God of earthquakes

B. God of thunder

C. God of houses

Why were these epithets important to the ancient Greeks?

The ancient Greeks worshipped the gods that writers, like Homer, referred to.

They would throw festivals and ceremonies in honor of them, too! 17What would your epithet be??

For example, mine would be: Greg, master of books because of my skill in literature

You can make it anything you want!18Euripides and Personification

In Euripides play Alcestis, he personifies death as an actual character who comes to take away the Kings wife. Heracles then wrestles with Death to get his wife back for him

Heracles fighting DeathPicture link: https://www.pinterest.com/miraydevelioglu/art-history/ Euripides Volume One, Richard Lattimore translation19What is personification?

Personification is when an author attributes human characteristics to intangible ideas/things or animals

Back to Euripides!Dictionary.com 20Sophocles and Greek Society

Now that you know a little more about Oedipus, lets look at how Sophocles portrayed the relationship between the ancient Greeks and their gods

Picture links: http://questgarden.com/53/89/3/080824095858/task.htmhttp://schools.bvsd.org/p12/broomfieldheights/library/bhms_lmc/greekgods.html23Take a look at these two short passages:Tiresias: I serve Apollo. I dont need Creon to speak for me in public

Oedipus: Drive me out of Thebes, in exile

Creon: Not I. Only the gods can give you that

Think about what this passage means in terms of how Greeks saw their relationship with the gods.

Picture link: http://www.uvm.edu/~jbailly/courses/tragedy/student%20second%20documents/Oedipus%20Complex.htmlThe Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles (Robert Fagles translation) 24What does it mean?

What this portrays is a society that took what their gods said very seriously.

It also means that they took extreme precautions when it came to getting advice and instruction from their gods (the most popular god to get advice from was Apollo!)

Home

Apollo Picture link: https://hermesmythproject.wordpress.com/tag/apollo/ 25Matteo Maria Boiardo Similes

Orlando Innamorato, an epic written by Boiardo, uses many similes, such as:

He rode back- happy, confident- like one whod been released from prison

He hissed as if he were a serpent

Orlando Innamorato By Matteo Maria Boiardo (Charles Ross translation)29Write your own simile! Pssstt Remember to use like or asBoiardo and Imagery

Boiardo wasnt just good at similes, he was also wonderful at imagery especially in the fourth canto (chapter) in Orlando Inammorato

Click to see what I mean!31In canto 4 of Orlando Innamorato, Boiardo describes the images in a fierce battle that include elephants and giraffes that soldiers ride on and heres an idea of how that would have looked:

Picture links: http://www.pierschristian.co.uk/renaissance-period-c81.htmlhttp://greatestbattles.iblogger.org/Italy/Italy16.htmhttp://avaxnews.net/touching/Elephant_Fighting_off_Hyenas.html http://www.justinandcrystal.com/Africa/070921.htmhttp://www.yearinthewild.com/massive-baobabs-and-elephant-charge-in-nyalaland-wilderness-area/

32Harpys

Creatures who have a females head and the body of a bird. They are especially known for giving people a hard time

Picture link: http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Harpyiai.html 39Shakespeare and Scansion

Before we begin, lets learn a little bit about scansion and the iambic pentameter!

Lets practice with scansion!

Click on the syllables that have a stress in these lines.

Line 1: I am arrived for fruitful Lombardy

Line 2: The pleasant garden of great Italy

Applause = correctArrow sound = not correct

Hint!HomeLines taken from: Riverside Shakespeare41Ezra Pound and Comparisons

Ezra Pound was part of the imagist movement in the early 1900s

Although his work is less known than Shakespeares, Ezra Pound used a similar element that Shakespeare used in his plays

So what is the element Shakespeare and Ezra Pound both used?

The element is allusion!

Remember: An allusion is an indirect reference to a historical time, another poem/novel, or just about anything!

Lets take a look at Ezra Pounds allusion:

Here let thy clemency, Persephone, hold firm,Do thou, Pluto, bring her no greater harshness.So many thousand beauties are gone down the AvernusYe might let one remain above with us

Click on the highlighted words to find out the allusion!

Norton Anthology of Poetry, 1st Edition 46Persephone and Pluto

Persephone and Pluto, in Roman Mythology, are husband and wife who control the underworld. They have a complex story:

BackVideo: 47Calypsos Island

I know very well, goddess, she is not beautifulas you are: could not be. She is a woman,mortal, subject to the chances

MacLeish puts himself in the shoes of Odysseus and writes as if he has been seduced by Calypso to stay with her and ignore his homecoming!

Norton Anthology of Poetry, 1st Edition 50So why is allusion in important?

Allusion is important because1. It is a way of understanding a poems metaphors/similes and2. In English Literature, allusions are always made Final Test Home1. How does poetry (or literature in general) seem to connect historically?

A. It doesnt

B. Poetry can reflect how society felt in which the time they lived in

C. Through the use of similes and personification