WEEK 03 西概筆記(Western Literature)

1. extension of quiz and orientation

a. Achille' s heel 

 

 In Greek mythology, when Achilles was a baby, it was foretold that he would die young. To prevent his death, his mother Thetis took Achilles to the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers of invulnerability, and dipped his body into the water. But as Thetis held Achilles by the heel, his heel was not washed over by the water of the magical river. Achilles grew up to be a man of war who survived many great battles. But one day, a poisonous arrow shot at him was lodged in his heel, killing him shortly after.

 b.The wedding of Peleus and Thetis

After Antigone's death, Peleus married the sea-nymph Thetis. He was able to win her with the aid of Proteus, who told Peleus how to overcome Thetis' ability to change her form. Their wedding feast was attended by many of the Olympian gods. As a wedding present, Poseidon gave Peleus two immortal horses: Balius and Xanthus. During the feast, Eris produced the Apple of Discord, which started the quarrel that led to the Judgement of Paris and eventually to the Trojan War. The marriage of Peleus and Thetis produced seven sons, six of whom died in infancy. The only surviving son was Achilles.

c. Judgement of Paris

The judgement of Paris was a contest between the three most beautiful goddesses of Olympos--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena--for the prize of a golden apple addressed to "the fairest".

d. heifer  母牛  bull  公牛→ Zeus

In Greek mythology Europa was the mother of King Minos of Crete, a woman with Phoenician origin of high lineage, and for whom the continent Europe was named. The story of her abduction by Zeus in the form of a white bull was a Cretan story. Zeus took her to Crete island, and that' s why the name "Europe" came from.
Europa→ Europe

2.Conflict

3.Other stories

a. Ceres and Proserpina

→ pomegranate
  Jupiter sent Mercury to order Pluto (Jupiter's brother) to free Proserpina. Pluto obeyed, but before letting her go he made her eat six pomegranate seeds, because those who have eaten the food of the dead could not return to the world of the living. This meant that she would have to live six months of each year with Hades, and stay the rest with her mother.

 b. the rage of Achilles

In the first book of the Iliad, she has been enslaved, as a war prize, by Agamemnon who admits she is finer than his own wife Clytemnestra and refuses to allow her father, a priest of Apollo, to ransom her. Apollo then sends a plague sweeping through the Greek armies, and Agamemnon is forced to give Chryseis back in order to end it, so Agamemnon sends Odysseus to return Chryseis to her father. Agamemnon compensates himself for this loss by taking Briseis from Achilles, an act that offends Achilles, who refuses to take further part in the Trojan War.

c.Homer and story order
(1) Homeric epithet 荷馬稱號
"rosy-fingered", "swift-footed"
(2) flashback
(3) in medias res 倒敘
A tale beginning in medias res opens in the midst of action.Often, exposition is bypassed and filled in gradually, either through dialogue, flashbacks or description of past events.
 Works that employ in medias res often, though not always, subsequently use flashback and nonlinear narrative for exposition of earlier events in order to fill in the backstory.