i>clicker poll (anonymous)

A. Yes, it is fair to impose a moratorium.

B. No, it is not fair to impose such a moratorium at all.

C. If a moratorium is imposed it should be late, like two hours before deadline.

D. The instructor and TAs should try to answer all emails that come until deadline.

E. An early moratorium encourages students to finish on their own.

Your identity is safe. Please answer honestly:

Is it fair for the instructor to impose a moratorium, a time-threshold after which no further questions pertaining to the paper will be answered? E.g. after, say 3 p.m. Thursday, no emails related to the paper will be guaranteed a response. Is this fair?

Odysseus: son of Pain 19.410Odysseus’ name may be connected to the Greek verb ὀδύσσομαι (‘to rage, to hate’).

Fagles observes that the Greek middle voice — both active and passive at the same time — allows this verb to imply that Odysseus “is not only an agent of rage or hatred but its target, too.”

Thus: Odysseus “suffers for making others suffer ... as the rigors by which the hero brings his identity to life.” So...

“Odysseus” may be translated as ‘man of pain’ — “active and passive, doing and done to, agent and victim both, inflicting and bearing pain yet somehow born himself in the process.”

Fagles, trans. p. 514 note on 19.463-64, with reference to Dimmock

i>clicker quiz

A. Ten yearsB. Twenty yearsC. Three yearsD. Thirteen years

How long have the suitors been ravaging Odysseus’ estate?

i>clicker quiz

A. Ten yearsB. Twenty yearsC. Three yearsD. Thirteen years

Penelope wove the shroud of Laertes for three years, starting the fourth…. But NOW they’re on to her.

How long have the suitors been ravaging Odysseus’ estate?

i>clicker quiz

A. The ignoble goatherd, Melanthius

B. The noble swineherd, Eumaeus

C. The prophet Theoclymenus

D. The bard Demodocus

Homer himself addresses only one character directly in the poem. It’s a remarkable feature of the poem. Which of these is it?

i>clicker quiz

A. The ignoble goatherd, Melanthius

B. The noble swineherd, Eumaeus

C. The prophet Theoclymenus

D. The bard DemodocusThis is a hard question, unless you have read the poem in Greek … or somebody tipped you off to it. … or you guessed.

Homer himself addresses only one character directly in the poem. It’s a remarkable feature of the poem. Which of these is it?

i>clicker quiz

A. A golden drinking cup of special ancestry

B. A hint on how to imitate the voices of Greek heroes

C. A lovely robe she wove herself

D. A key to the city of Sparta

Departing Sparta, Telemachus receives lovely parting gifts from Menelaus and Helen and their son. What does Helen give him?

i>clicker quiz

A. DuckB. BobbinC. ShroudD. Trickery

Penelope’s name in Greek is related to the noun ΠΗΝΗ, which refers to her principle role a virtuous wife. ΠΗΝΗ means which of the following?

i>clicker quiz

A. DuckB. BobbinC. ShroudD. Trickery

Penelope’s name has reference to the bobbin or the thread by which she busily weaves.

Penelope’s name in Greek is related to the noun ΠΗΝΗ, which refers to her principle role a virtuous wife. ΠΗΝΗ means which of the following?

Pinturicchio, “Scenes from the Odyssey” 1509, National Gallery, London, inv. 911Mastery Image

Penlope weaves at her loom, anchoring the female side of this composition, as Telemachus strides into her space. Over Telemachus’ left shoulder, three suitors and the disguised Odysseus (in the doorway) strike various poses. Penelope’s ultimate weapon, the test of the bow, hangs on the wall behind her.The vignettes over Telemachus’ right shoulder depict Odysseus and the Sirens, Odysseus and Circe, and the swine of Circe (men whose fidelity to home and family was not as resolute at was Odysseus’).

Pinturicchio’s work was painted as a fresco on a wall in the Petrucci Palace in Siena, Italy. Other frescoes in the same room celebrate “the triumph of chastity” and other family values. This fresco was detached and how hangs in the British National Gallery. The NatGal’s excellent website allows close-up views of the entire surface.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pinturicchio,_Return_of_Odysseus.jpg

OGCMA0850Penelope_Pinturicchio

Where does the Odyssey end?

According to two famous ancient critics, the Odyssey ‘ended’ at 23.296 and the rest was written by later poets with less skill than Homer exhibited. The notion has convinced many modern scholars as well, and they find passages in the later material that have ‘unhomeric’ language and narrative that doesn’t fit with the rest. Of course, others disagree and think that the narrative requires the details offered in the remainder to bring the whole around fully.

What do you think?

Penelope’s attitude What does she know…. and when? Theoclymenos’ prophecy: 17.150ff. Penelope’s response to the “beggar’s” surly treatment at Antinous’ hand: 17.490ff. Cf. Irus/Arnaeus’s treatment of the beggar, before his own being Un-Irused: 18.201ff. Her injunction to Eumaeus Telemachus’ sneeze: 17.542 Her own interview with Odysseus: 19.105 Is she pressing him at 19.140ff.? She does reveal the stratagem of the shroud. It is an especially pressing moment: “my parents are pressing me to marry…” cf. the dream of the geese 19.540ff. and lead in to it. Her test of Odysseus: 19.215, the brooch on Crete “the infallible signs that he had disclosed” [Eurycleia and the increased dramatic tension… 19.475ff.] The challenge of the axes: proposed 19.570ff. Her internal deliberation as she descends to the hall in 23.85ff. “Should she remain aloof as she questioned her husband…? Odysseus: “Telemachus, leave your mother to put me to the proof here in our home.” 23.112