midterm 2 passages

Question 1

“Said Uta-napishti [= boat maker
and flood survivor] to him, to Gilgamesh: ‘Let me disclose, O
Gilgamesh, a matter most secret, to you I will tell a mystery of
gods. The town of Shuruppak, a city well known to you, which
stands on the banks of the river Euphrates: this city was old—the
gods once were in it—when the great gods decided to send down
the Deluge. Their father Anu swore on oath, and their counsellor,
the hero Enlil, their chamberlain, the god Ninurta, and their
sheriff, the god Ennugi. Princely Ea swore with them also,
repeating their words to a fence made of reed: “O fence of reed!
O wall of brick! Hear this, O fence! Pay heed, O wall! O man of
Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu, demolish the house, and build a
boat! Abandon wealth, and seek survival! Spurn property, save
life! Take on board the boat all living things’ seed!”

Answer 1

This is the beginning of the Tablet XI of The Epic of Gilgamesh and it talks about the flood. Gilgamesh lived in Uruk and Shuruppak was the city that was flooded.

Question 2

‘I understood, and spoke to Ea, my master: “I obey, O master, what thus you told me. I understood, and I shall do it, but how do I answer my city, the crowd and the elders?” ‘Ea opened his mouth to speak, saying to me, his servant: “Also you will say to them this: ‘For sure the god Enlil feels for me hatred. In your city I can live no longer, I can treat no more [on] Enlil’s ground. [I must] go to the Ocean Below, to live with Ea, my master, and he will send you a rain of plenty: [an abundance] of birds, a profusion of fishes, [he will provide] a harvest of riches. In the morning he will send you a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat.’”

Answer 2

This is the Tablet XI of The Epic of Gilgamesh and it’s Uta-napishti recounting the harrowing lie to Gilgamesh.

Question 3

“How could I speak evil in the gods’ assembly, and declare a war to destroy my people? It is I who give birth, these people are mine! And now, like fish, they fill the ocean!”

Answer 3

This is from the Tablet XI of The Epic of Gilgamesh and it talks about the six-day-seven-night storm that stands behind the lie that even terrified the gods, leading the one goddess to question her role in events.

Question 4

“And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch…For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.” (6.13-21, RSV)

Answer 4

The Flood compares to the one in the Bible with Noah’s Ark and the flood that lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. This is from Genesis and was written in Biblical Hebrew.

Question 5

“I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

Answer 5

This is from the Bible, Genesis and this is when God wipes out all humans except Noah and his family because of their violence.

Question 6

“but how do I answer my city, the crowd and the elders?” ‘Ea opened his mouth to speak, saying to me, his servant: “Also you will say to them this: … In the morning he will send you a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat.’”

Answer 6

This is from the Epic of Gilgamesh and this passage describes how Gilgamesh deals explicitly with the lie Uta-napishti tells his people (following the god instructions)

Question 7

“The goddess Aruru, she washed her hands, took a pinch of clay, threw it down in the wild. In the wild she created Enkidu, the hero, offspring of silence, knit strong by Ninurta. All his body is matted with hair, he bears long tresses like those of a woman: the hair of his head grows thickly as barley, he knows not a people, nor even a country. Coated in hair like the god of the animals, with the gazelles he grazes on grasses, joining the throng with the game at the water-hole, his heart delighting with the beasts in the water.”

Answer 7

This is from Tablet I of The Epic of Gilgamesh and this is Enkidu before.

Question 8

“[Take the road,] set your face [toward Uruk,] [do not rely on] the strength of a man! [Go, my son, and] fetch [Shamhat the harlot=a temple prostitute,] [her allure is a match] for even the mighty.”

Answer 8

This is from Tablet I from the Epic of Gilgamesh and this is the advice of the Hunter’s father when Enkidu disturbs his hunt.

Question 9

“She did for the man the work of a woman, his passion caressed and embraced her. For six days and seven nights Enkidu was erect, as he coupled with Shamhat. When with her delights he was fully sated, he turned his gaze to his herd. The gazelles saw Enkidu, they started to run, the beasts of the field shied away from his presence. Enkidu had defiled his body so pure, his legs stood still, though his herd was in motion. Enkidu was weakened, could not run as before, but now he had reason, and wide understanding. He came back and sat at the feet of the harlot, watching the harlot, observing her features. Then to the harlot’s words he listened intently, [as Shamhat] talked to him, to Enkidu: ‘You are handsome, Enkidu, you are just like a god! Why with the beasts do you wander the wild? Come, I will take you to Uruk-the Sheepfold, to the sacred temple, home of Anu and Ishtar, where Gilgamesh is perfect in strength…”

Answer 9

This is from Tablet I of the Epic of Gilgamesh and this is Enkidu and Shamhat. 6 days and 7 nights in Tablet I is the length of sex act, compared to Tablet XI which was the failed sleep and the flood.

Question 10

“The stars of heaven [appeared] above you, [like a] rock from the sky one fell down before you. You lifted it up, but it weighed too much for you, you tried to roll it, but you could not dislodge it. You lifted it up, set it down at my feet, and I, Ninsun, I made it your equal. Like a wife you loved it, caressed it and embraced it: a mighty comrade will come to you, and be his friend’s savior. Mightiest in the land, strength he possesses, his strength is as mighty as a rock from the sky. Like a wife you’ll love him, caress and embrace him, he will be mighty, and often will save you.”

Answer 10

This is Tablet I from the Epic of Gilgamesh and this is Ninsun describing her first dream that repeats into a second dream. These dreams are of her Son Gilgamesh’s dreams of Enkidu.

Question 11

“I drew my sword and sat on guard, preventing the spirits of the dead from coming hear the blood, till I had met Tiresias.”

Answer 11

This is from Odyssey Book 11 and It’s Odysseus speaking about his journey to the underworld and speaking to the dead.

Question 12

“When you arrive in your own land, do not / anchor your ship in full view; move in secret. / There is no trusting women any longer.”

Answer 12

This is Odyssey Book 11 by Homer and this is Agamemnon speaking

Question 13

“When you meet somebody, a traveler, / who calls the thing you carry on your back / a winnowing fan, then fix that oar in earth / and make fine sacrifices to Poseidon— / a bull and a stud-boar. Then you will go home…”

Answer 13

This is from Odyssey book 11 by Homerand this is the prophecy of Teiresias.

Question 14

“By the men you left, the absent ones! And by your wife! And father, who brought you up from babyhood! And by your son Telemachus, whom you abandoned alone at home, I beg you! When you sail from Hades and you dock your ship again at Aeaea, please, my lord, remember me. Do not go on and leave me unburied, abandoned, without tears or lamentation—or you will make the gods enraged at you. Burn me with all my arms, and heap a mound beside the gray salt sea, so in the future people will know of me and my misfortune.”

Answer 14

This is the Odyssey Book 11 by Homer and this is Elenor’s request to Odysseus

Question 15

“My child! How did you come here through the darkness while you were still alive? This place is hard for living men to see. There are great rivers and dreadful gulfs, including the great Ocean which none can cross on foot; one needs a ship. Have you come wandering here, so far from Troy, with ship and crew? Have you not yet arrived in Ithaca, nor seen your wife at home?”

Answer 15

Odyssey Book 11 by Homer and this is Antikleia offering a view of the underworld and it’s geography

Question 16

“Oh my child! You are the most unlucky man alive. Persephone is not deceiving you. This is the rule for mortals when we die. Our muscles cease to hold the flesh and skeleton together; as soon as life departs from our white bones, the force of blazing fire destroys the corpse. The spirit flies away and soon is gone, just like a dream. Now hurry to the light; remember all these things, so you may tell your wife in times to come.”

Answer 16

Odyssey Book 11 by Homer and this is Antikleia offering a view of Ancient Greek beliefs about death

Question 17

“Alcinous replied, “Odysseus, the earth sustains all different kinds of people. Many are cheats and thieves, who fashion lies out of thin air. But when I look at you, I know you are not in that category. Your story has both grace and wisdom in it. You sounded like a skillful poet, telling the sufferings of all the Greeks, including what you endured yourself. But come now, tell me if you saw any spirits of your friends, who went with you to Troy and undertook the grief and pain of war. The night is long; it is not time to sleep yet.”

Answer 17

Odyssey Book 11 by Homer and this is In the Palace of Alkinous and Crete on Phaeakia 7-8 years later

Question 18

“I cried out, “Curse her! Zeus has always brought disaster to the house of Atreus through women. Many men were lost for Helen, and Clytemnestra formed this plot against you when you were far away.”

Answer 18

Odyssey Book 11 by Homer and this is Odysseus on the Women in the House of Atreus (The family of Agamemnon and Menelaus, Atreus’ sons)

Question 19

“Odysseus, you must not comfort me for death. I would prefer to be a workman, hired by a poor man on a peasant farm, than rule as king of all the dead.”

Answer 19

Odyssey Book 11 by Homer and this is Achilles speaking to Odysseus in the underworld

Question 20

“Please, Ajax, son of mighty Telamon, can you not set aside your rage at me about those cursed arms? Not even now, in death? The gods made them to ruin us. You were our tower; what a loss you were! We Greeks were struck by grief when you were gone; we mourned for you as long as for Achilles. Blame nobody by Zeus.”

Answer 20

Odyssey Book 11 by Homer and this Odysseus speaking to Ajax

Question 21

“so you are also tortured by the weight of fortune as I was while I lived beneath the sun? I was a son of Zeus, and yet my pain was infinite. I was enslaved to someone far less heroic than myself, who laid harsh labors on me. Once he sent me here to bring back Cerberus, since he could think of no worse task for me.”

Answer 21

Odyssey Book 11by Homer and this is Heracles speaking to Odysseus on katabasis

Question 22

“This is the rule / for mortals when we die. Our muscles cease / to hold the flesh and skeleton together; / as soon as life departs from our white bones, / the force of blazing fire destroys the corpse. / The spirit flies away and soon is gone.”

Answer 22

Odyssey Book 11 by Homer and this is Antikleia describing the underworld and how your soul/shadow is all that goes and that warriors keep their armor.

Question 23

“Do not go on and leave me there
unburied, / abandoned, without tears or lamentation— / or you will make the gods enraged at you.”

Answer 23

Odyssey Book 11 by Homer and Elpenor describes the importance of burial and other rites of the dead.

Question 24

“It’s said that Daedalus, fleeing Minos’ kingdom, trusted himself to the sky on sweeping wings, taking this unusual passage to to the frosty North. At last he floated down on Chalcis’ peak. Back on land, he pledged Phoebus [=Apollo] his wings—his oars for flight—and built a lofty shrine.”

Answer 24

This is the Aeneid 6 by Vergil and this is describing the temple of Apollo at Cumae founded by Daedalus

Question 25

“I’ll raise a shrine of solid marble to Phoebus and Diana, and choose feast days for
Apollo. Once I rule, I’ll build a great shrine for you too, kind Sibyl.”

Answer 25

Aeneid book 6 by Vergil and this is Aeneas vowing another temple to Apollo

Question 26

“Trojans: you’ve left behind the sea’s great risks at last, but graver ones remain on land. The Dardans [Trojans] will attain Lavinian [Italian] land (let go this worry), but they’ll wish they hadn’t. I see brutal wars and bloody torrents frothing in the Tiber. There too you’ll find a Simoïs [Trojan river #1], a Xanthus [Trojan river #2], and Greek camps. In Latium you’ll find a new Achilles, he too a goddess’s son. And worse, there’s Juno everywhere…The cause of so much trouble for the Trojans? Again a foreign bride, a foreign wedding.”

Answer 26

Aeneid book 6 by Vergil and this is the Sybil’s Prophecy

Question 27

“On the shore, the Trojans mourned Misenus, offering last rites for his thankless embers. They raised a massive pyre, fragrant with pine and planks of oak, then wove dark foliage along its sides and set up gloomy cypresses in front. His gleaming armor crowned the top. Some prepared hot water, boiling it in cauldrons. They washed and anointed the cold corpse and set the man they wept for on a bier, groaning, giving him the purple robes owed to the dead. Others raised the massive litter, an unhappy duty, and set a torch below, eyes averted for the rite. A pile of gifts went up in flames…”

Answer 27

Aeneid Book 6 by Vergil and this is describing funeral rites for Misenus

Question 28

“I beg you by the lovely light of sky, the air, by your father, and your hopes for young Iülus [Aeneas’ son], save me from this hell, since you’ve overcome it, and throw soil on my corpse if you reach Velia. Or if you have a way, if your goddess mother shows you one (you couldn’t ford this stream and Styx’s swamp without divine assistance), take my poor hand, take me on board with you, so that at least in death I’ll find a place of rest.”

Answer 28

Aeneid book6 by Vergil and this is Palinurus speaking to Aeneas and this shows the intertextual relationship of Aeneid 6 and Odyssey 11

Question 29

“Unhappy Dido, so the news I heard was true? You’re dead, a suicide by the sword? But—did I cause your death? I call the stars and gods to witness: if the Underworld allows the truth, I left your shores against my will, O Queen. The orders of the gods, which force me now to walk through shades and squalor in deep night, forced me those days too. How could I think I’d cause you so much pain by my departure? Stop, don’t rush from my sight. Who is it you run from? Fate gives us a final chance to speak…” But Dido turned away, her eyes fixed on the ground…”

Answer 29

Aeneid book 6 by Vergil and this is Aeneas addressing Dido (the Carthaginian queen he left)

Question 30

“When he saw Aeneas coming to him through the meadow, he stretched out both arms eagerly. Tears ran down his face and he exclaimed: “You’ve come at last? I know your piety would overcome the dangers of the trip. Do I see your face, my child, and hear that voice I know?”

Answer 30

Aeneid book 6 by Vergil and this is Anchises seeing and speaking to his son

Question 31

“Under his rule, shining Rome will spread her empire through the world, her spirit to Olympus, and set a single wall around her seven hills…”

Answer 31

Aeneid book 6 by Vergil and this is Anchises describing Romulus later in the same exchange with his son, that turned into a prophecy

Question 32

Anchises’ Trojan son, born of divine blood, it’s easy to descend into Avernus [a Roman name for the underworld]. Night and day the door of dusky Dis [another Roman name for the underworld] lies open. To trace your steps and see the light again: here’s the toil and effort. A few, justly loved by Jove, whom blazing courage carried to the sky, succeeded—sons of gods.”

Answer 32

Aeneid book 6 by Vergil and this is The Sibyl speaking

Question 33

“However, she was seduced, as some say, by Proetus, whence arose the quarrel between them; but some say that Zeus had intercourse with her in the shape of a stream of gold which poured through the roof into Danae’s lap. When Acrisius afterwards learned that she had got a child Perseus, he would not believe that she had been seduced by Zeus, and putting his daughter with the child in a chest, he cast it into the sea. The chest was washed ashore on Seriphus, and Dictys took up the boy and reared him.”

Answer 33

This Apollodorus Library book 2 by Apollodorus and this is describing the early life of Perseus

Question 34

“When the Phorcides had shown him the way, he gave them back the tooth and the eye, and coming to the nymphs got what he wanted. So he slung the wallet (kibisis) about him, fitted the sandals to his ankles, and put the cap on his head. Wearing it, he saw whom he pleased, but was not seen by others. And having received also from Hermes an adamantine sickle he flew to the ocean and caught the Gorgons asleep. They were Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. Now Medusa alone was mortal; for that reason Perseus was sent to fetch her head. But the Gorgons had heads twined about with the scales of dragons, and great tusks like swine’s, and brazen hands, and golden wings, by which they flew; and they turned to stone such as beheld them.”

Answer 34

Apollodorus Library Book 2 and this is describing Perseus on his first quest and outfit

Question 35

“There will be long time for weeping by and by; but time for helping is very short. If I sought this maid as Perseus, son of Jove and that imprisoned one whom Jove filled with his life- giving shower; if as Perseus, victor over Gorgon of the snaky locks, and as he who has dared to ride the winds of the air on fluttering wings, surely I should be preferred to all suitors as your son-in-law. But now I shall try to add to these great gifts the gift of service, too, if only the gods will favour me. That she be mine if saved by my valour is my bargain.” The parents accept the condition—for who would refuse?—and beg him to save her, promising him a kingdom as dowry in addition.”

Answer 35

This is Metamorphoses book 4 by Ovid and this is the ‘stranger’ speaking to Andromeda’s desperate parents

Question 36

“However, Phineus, who was a brother of Cepheus, and to whom Andromeda had been first betrothed, plotted against him; but Perseus discovered the plot, and by showing the Gorgon turned him and his fellow conspirators at once into stone. And having come to Seriphus he found that his mother and Dictys had taken refuge at the altars on account of the violence of Polydectes; so he entered the palace, where Polydectes had gathered his friends, and with averted face he showed the Gorgon’s head; and all who beheld it were turned to stone, each in the attitude which he happened to have struck. Having appointed Dictys king of Seriphus, he gave back the sandals and the wallet (kibisis) and the cap to Hermes, but the Gorgon’s head he gave to Athena.”

Answer 36

Apollodorus Library book 2 on Perseus and his second quest and the aftermath of this quest

Question 37

“Aethra bore to Aegeus a son Theseus, and when he was grown up, he pushed away the rock and took up the sandals and the sword, and hastened on foot to Athens. And he cleared the road, which had been beset by evildoers. For first in Epidaurus he slew Periphetes, son of Hephaestus and Anticlia, who was surnamed the Clubman from the club which he carried. For being crazy on his legs he carried an iron club, with which he despatched the passers-by. That club Theseus wrested from him and continued to carry about. Second, he killed Sinis, son of Polypemon and Sylea, daughter of Corinthus. This Sinis was surnamed the Pine-bender; for inhabiting the Isthmus of Corinth he used to force, the passers-by to keep bending pine-trees; but they were too weak to do so, and being tossed up by the trees they perished miserably. In that way also Theseus killed Sinis.”

Answer 37

Apollodorus Book 2 on Theseus’s early life and quests

Question 38

“In this labyrinth Minos shut up the monster of the bull-man form and twice he fed him on Athenian blood; but the third tribute, demanded after each nine years, brought the creature’s overthrow. And when, by the virgin Ariadne’s help, the difficult entrance, which no former adventurer had ever reached again, was found by winding up the thread, straightway the son of Aegeus, taking Minos’ daughter, spread his sails for Dia; and on that shore he cruelly abandoned his companion. To her, deserted and bewailing bitterly, Bacchus brought love and help.”

Answer 38

metamorphoses book 8 on Theseus’ Later exploits

Question 39

“Of Heracles the son of Zeus I will sing, far the finest of men on earth, born in Thebes of the beautiful dances to Alcmena in union with the dark-cloud son of Kronos. Formerly he roamed the vastness of land and sea at the behest of King Eurystheus, causing much suffering himself and enduring much; but now in the fair abode of snowy Olympus he lives in pleasure and has fair-ankled Hebe as his wife. I salute you, lord, son of Zeus: grant me status and fortune.”

Answer 39

Homeric Hymn 15 by Homer to Heracles and this is basically the entire hymn describing Heracles and who he was born to.

Question 40

“It said that at the time that is now alive and present my release from the labors that stood over me should be accomplished; and I thought I should be happy. But it meant no more than that I should die; for the dead do not have to labour.”

Answer 40

Women of Trachis by Sophocles and this is Heracles on Prophecy

Question 41

“Lift him, companions, showing great sympathy with me in what has happened, and knowing of the great unkindness of the gods displayed in these events, gods who beget us and are called our fathers but who look on such sufferings as these! The future none can see, and the present is pitiful for us and shameful for them, and harder than on any other man upon him who is enduring this calamity.”

Answer 41

Women of Trachis by Sophocles and this is describing his son Hyllus following the instructions of his mother Deianira and bringing his father to pyre, to be burned alive from the poisoned cloak that was given to her as a trick.

Question 42

There is an ancient saying among men, once revealed to them, that you cannot understand a man’s life before he is dead, so as to know whether he has a good or bad one. But I know well, even before going to Hades, that the one I have is unfortunate and sorrowful.”

Answer 42

Women of Trachis by Sophocles and this is Deineira speaking about her husband Heracles

Question 43

But in the end Zeus the god of contests decided well, if it was well; for I clove to Heracles as the bride he had won, and always nourish one fear after another, in my anxiety for him; night brings trouble, and the succeeding night pushes it away. We had, indeed, children, whom he, like a farmer who has taken over a remote piece of ploughland, regards only when he sows and when he reaps. Such is the life that was always sending my husband home or away from home in servitude to a certain man [=Eurystheus].”

Answer 43

Women of Trachis by Sophocles and this is Deianira speaking about how to feel and what it’s like to be married to a hero of the stature of Heracles

Question 44

I heard this man saying, before many witnesses, that it was on account of this girl that Herakles brought down Eurytus and the high towers of Oechalia, and that it was Eros alone among the gods that bewitched him into this deed of arms… And now he pushes this story aside and tells a different one! No, when he failed to persuade her father to give him his daughter, to have as his secret love, he trumped up a petty accusation and a pretext, and marched against her country [in which he said this Eurytus was king, killed the king her father,] and sacked the city. And now, as you see, he has come back, sending her not without forethought, lady, or as a slave; do not expect that, nor is it likely, if indeed he is inflamed with desire.”

Answer 44

Women of Trachis by Sophocles and this is the messenger telling Deianira that Lichas lied to her about Heracles’ love of Iole, the young woman he met. The messenger ends up revealing the truth to Deianeira.

Question 45

…such is the reward that Heracles, he who is called true and noble, has sent me for having kept the house so long. I do not know how to be angry with my husband now that he is suffering severely from this malady; yet what woman could live together with this girl, sharing a marriage with the same man? For I see her youth advancing, and mine perishing; and the desiring eye turns away from those whose bloom it snatches. This is why I am afraid that Heracles may be called my husband, but the younger woman’s man. But as I said it is not honourable for a woman of sense to be angry; and I shall tell you what means I have of remedying pain.

Answer 45

Women of Trachis by Sophocles, Deianeira’s reaction to finding out about her husband’s affair.

Question 46

What are your origins, Greeks, most unrighteous of all men, for whom I destroyed myself, ridding you of pests, many in the sea and in all the forests, and now in my agony will no one bring fire or a weapon that can help me?”

Answer 46

Women of Trachis by Sophocles and this is Heracles speaking.

Question 47

It was predicted to me by my father long ago that I should never die at the hand of any of the living, but at that of one who was dead and lived in Hades. So this monster the Centaur, as the divine prophecy had foretold, has killed me, I being alive and he dead.”

Answer 47

Women of Trachis by Sophocles and this is Heracles talking about his prophecy coming true, where the Centaur ends up killing him, even though he killed him.

Question 48

“Take me alive, son of Atreus and take appropriate ransom. In my rich father’s house the treasures lie piled in abundance; bronze is there, and gold, and difficulty wrought iron, and my father would make you glad with abundant repayment were he to hear that I am alive by the ships of the Achaians.”

Answer 48

Iliad book 6 by Homer and this is Adrestos’ supplication of Menelaos

Question 49

“So he spoke, and moved the spirit inside Menelaos. And now he was on the point of handing him to a henchman to lead back the fast Achaian ships; but Agamemnon came on the run to join him and spoke his word of agreement: “Dear brother, O Menelaos, are you concerned so tenderly with these people? Did you in your house get the best of treatment from the Trojans? No, let not one of them go free of sudden death and our hands; not the young child that the mother
carries still in her body, not even he, but let all of Ilion’s people perish, utterly
blotted out and unmourned for.””

Answer 49

Iliad book 6 by Homer and this is Agamemnon’s reaction, which visualizes genocide

Question 50

“High- hearted son of Tydeus, why ask of my generation? As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies.”

Answer 50

Iliad Book 6 by Homer and this is Glaukos (a Trojan) and Diomedes (a Greek) talk in the midst of battle; Diomedes begins by asking Glaukos who he is and whether he is a god. Glaukos answers with a marvelous, elaborate, and super-famous simile

Question 51

“See now, you are my guest friend from far in the time of our fathers. Brilliant Oineus once was host to Bellerophontes the blameless, in his halls, and twenty days he detained him, and those two gave to each other fine gifts in token of friendship. Oineus gave his guest a war belt bright with red dye, Bellerophontes a golden and double-handled drinking cup, a thing I left behind in my house when I came on my journey…But let us exchange our armor, so that these others may know how we claim to be guests and friends from the days of our fathers.”

Answer 51

Iliad Book 6 by Homer and this is Glaukos rehearsing his family tree anyways and then Diomedes realizes they are descended from guest friends

Question 52

“but Zeus the son of Kronos stole away the wits of Glaukos who exchanged with Diomedes the son of Tydeus armor of gold for bronze, for nine oxen’s worth the worth of a hundred.”

Answer 52

Iliad book 6 by Homer and this is a comment that Homer himself makes

Question 53

“Hector smiled in silence as he looked on his son, but she, Andromachē, stood close beside him, letting her tears fall, and clung to his hand and called him by name and spoke to him: “Dearest, your own great strength will be your death, and you have no pity on your little son, nor on me, ill-starred, who must soon be your widow; for presently the Achaians, gathering together, will set upon you and kill you; and for me it would be far better to sink into the earth when I have lost you, for there is no other consolation for me after you have gone to your destiny— only grief; since I have no father, no honored mother. It was brilliant Achilleus who slew my father, Eëtion, when he stormed the strong-founded citadel of the Kilikians…””

Answer 53

Iliad Book 6 by Homer and this is the reunion of Hector and Andromache. and a perspective on the emotional toll of this long war for the survivors

Question 54

“…yet I would feel deep shame before the Trojans, and the Trojan women with trailing garments, if like a coward I were to shrink aside from the fighting; and the spirit will not let me, since I have learned to be valiant and to fight always among the foremost ranks of the Trojans, winning for my own self great glory, and for my father.”

Answer 54

Iliad book 6 by Homer and this shows how Hector balances his concerns for the public perception with Andromache’s concerns and this also shows honor/shame culture: not much personal guilt; overarching concern with honor and public perception; shaming used to keep people in line

Question 55

Tall Priam came in unseen by the other men and stood close beside him and caught the knees of Achilleus in his arms, and kissed the hands that were dangerous and manslaughtering and had killed so many of his sons. As when dense disaster comes on one who has murdered a man in his own land, and he comes to the country of others, to a man of substance, and wonder seizes on those who behold him, so Achilleus wondered as he looked on Priam, a godlike man, and the rest of them wondered also, and looked at each other.

Answer 55

Iliad Book 24 by Homer and this is Priam supplicating Achilles in his own tent

Question 56

So he spoke, and stirred in the other a passion for grieving for his own father. He took the old man’s hand and pushed him gently away, and the two remembered, as Priam sat huddled at the feet of Achilleus and wept close for manslaughtering Hektor and Achilleus wept now for his own father, now again for Patroklos. The sound of their mourning moved in the house.

Answer 56

Iliad Book 24 by Homer and this is where Priam and Achille remember and mourn together

Question 57

Then Achilleus called out to his serving-maids to wash the body and anoint it all over; but take it first aside, since otherwise Priam might see his son and in the heart’s sorrow not hold in his anger at the sight, and the deep heart of Achilleus be shaken to anger; that he might not kill Priam and be guilty before the god’s orders. Then when the serving-maids had washed the corpse and anointed it with olive oil, they threw a great fair cloak and a tunic about him, and Achilleus himself lifted him and laid him on a litter, and his friends helped him lift it to the smooth-polished mule wagon.”

Answer 57

Iliad Book 24 by Homer and this is describing Hector’s body being prepared for return

Question 58

If you are willing that we accomplish a complete funeral for great Hector, this, Achilleus, is what you could do and give me pleasure. For you know surely how we are penned in our city, and wood is far to bring in from the hills, and the Trojans are frightened badly. Nine days we would keep him in our palace and mourn him, and bury him on the tenth day, and the people feast for him, and on the eleventh day we would make the grave-barrow for him, and on the twelfth fight again; if so we must do.

Answer 58

Iliad Book 24 and this is Priam asking for 11 days without fighting to mourn and bury Hector

Question 59

“I mourn for you in sorrow of heart and mourn myself also and my ill luck. There was no other in all the wide Troad who was so kind to me, and my friend; all others shrank when they saw me.

Answer 59

Iliad 24 by Homer and this is Helen mourning deceased Hector

Question 59

“Hector, thus you are father to me, and my honored mother you are my brother, and you it is who are my young husband. Please take pity upon me then, stay here on the rampart, that you may not leave your child an orphan, your wife a widow.”

Answer 59

Iliad 6 by Homer and this is Andromache speaking to hector

Question 60

“Her pleading, her shrieking for her father, the girl’s short life — these were worth nothing to the lovers of battle, her judges. Her father prayed first, then he told the attendants to lift her high up, over the altar, like a goat — though, frantic, she clung to his legs in their robes — to keep her facing the ground, and to guard her exquisite mouth, keeping in sounds of a curse for his house, With a bit forced in, a power that silenced her.”

Answer 60

Agamemnon by Aeschylus and this is the Chorus of Argive Elders speaking

Question 61

“So now you sentence me to banishment, allot me hatred, rumbling civic curses. Back then you offered him no opposition when he, as casual as at one death among the crowding and luxuriant flocks, sacrificed his own child, my dearest birth-pangs, to conjure up some blasts of air from Thrace.”

Answer 61

Agamemnon by Aeschylus and this is Clytemnestra speaking to the argive elders

Question 62

“Now, after enduring all this, with a heart no longer grieving, I shall speak of this man as the watchdog of his homestead, the forestay that saves the ship, the firmly-footed pillar that supports a lofty roof, a father’s only son; as land appearing to sailors in despair, as the daylight that is such a fair thing to behold after a storm, as a flowing spring to a thirsty traveller. Such, I say, are the appellations I hold him worthy of—but let us not court jealousy, for we have endured many sufferings already. Now then, please, dear heart, step out of this carriage—but do not set your foot on the earth, my lord, the foot that sacked Troy! Servants, why are you waiting, when you have been assigned the duty of spreading fine fabrics over the ground in his path? Let his way forthwith be spread with crimson, so that Justice may lead him into a home he never hoped to see.”

Answer 62

Agamemnon by Aeschylus and this is Clytemnestra speaking and ‘welcoming’ home Agamemnon

Question 63

Desperately with both hands he hurled it from him, and shouted to the Cyclopes who lived in caves high up on windy cliffs around. They heard and came from every side, and stood near to the cave, and called out, ‘Polyphemus! What is the matter? Are you badly hurt?…Strong Polyphemus from inside replied, ‘My friends! Noman is killing me by tricks not force.’ Their words flew back to him: ‘If no one hurts you, you are all alone…’”

Answer 63

Odyssey 9 by Homer and this is where the Cyclopes Polyphemus is screaming for help from his neighbors that “Noman” is attacking him and so his neighbors ignore him because they think no man is attacking him

Question 64

“One ram was best of all the flock; I grabbed his back and curled myself up underneath his furry belly, clinging to his fleece”

Answer 64

Odyssey 9 by Homer and this is Odysseus speaking

Question 65

We got twice as far across the sea and then I called out to him again. My crew begged me to stop, and pleaded with me. ‘Please! Calm down! Why are you being so insistent and taunting this wild man? He hurled that stone and drove our ship right back to land. We thought that we were going to die…But my tough heart was not convinced; I was still furious and shouted back again, ‘Cyclops! If any mortal asks you how your eye was mutilated and made blind, say that Odysseus, the city-sacker, Laertes’ son, who lives in Ithaca, destroyed your sight.’”

Answer 65

Odyssey 9 by Homer and this is Odyssey speaking to the Cyclops that he just blinded, Polyphemus, telling him who he really is now that he can’t see him.

Question 66

“Quite right, the Greeks have done outrageous things to your estate and home. But now the one responsible is dead—Antinous! It was all his idea. He did not really want your wife, but had another plan, which Zeus had foiled: to lie in ambush for your son, and kill him, then seize the throne and rule Ithaca. Now he is slain—quite rightly. Please, my lord, have mercy on your people! We will pay…”

Answer 66

Odyssey 22 by Homer and this is Eurymachus begging for mercy, because Eurymachus would be one of 40 people in Odysseus home that would be brutally killed.

Question 67

“Odysseus scanned all around his home for any man who might be still alive, who might be hiding to escape destruction. He saw them fallen, all of them, so many, lying in blood and dust, like fish hauled up out of the dark-gray sea in fine-mesh nets; tipped out upon the curving beach’s sand, they gasp for water from the salty sea.”

Answer 67

Odyssey book 22 by Homer and this is Odysseus looking around to make sure all the men he massacred are dead and the simile between this and when he was at sea is an important connection to be made

Question 68

“Now we must start to clear the corpses out. The girls must help. Then clean my stately chairs and handsome tables with sponges fine as honeycomb, and water. When the whole house is set in proper order, restore my halls to health; take out the girls between the courtyard wall and the rotunda. Hack at them with long swords, eradicate all life from them. They will forget the things the suitors made them do with them in secret, through Aphrodite.”

Answer 68

Odyssey book 22 by Homer and this is Odysseus describing the plan he has for his female slave who had sexual relationships with the suitors

Question 69

“As
doves or thrushes spread their wings to fly home to their nests,
but someone sets a trap—they crash into a net, a bitter bedtime;
just so the girls, their heads all in a row, were strung up with the
noose around their necks to make their death an agony.”

Answer 69

Odysseus book 22 by Homer and this is Telemachus’ execution

Question 70

“Some god has killed the suitors out of anger at their abuse of power and their pride. They failed to show respect to visitors, both good and bad. Their foolishness has killed them.”

Answer 70

Odysseus book 23 by Homer and this is Penelope’s re-casting of Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ extreme violence towards the suitors

Question 71

This made him want to cry. He held his love, his faithful wife, and wept. As welcome as the land to swimmers, when Poseidon wrecks their ship at sea and breaks it with great waves and driving winds; a few escape the sea and reach the shore, their skin all caked with brine. Grateful to be alive, they crawl to land. So glad was she to see her own dear husband, and her white arms would not let go his neck.

Answer 71

Odyssey book 23 by Homer and this is Odysseus greeting Penelope after not seeing her for a long time since being out at sea.

Question 71

“Some god has killed the suitors out of anger at their abuse of power and their pride. They failed to show respect to visitors, both good and bad. Their foolishness has killed them.”

Answer 71

Odyssey book 23 Odysseus freely admits their quandary to Telemachus

Question 72

“Now you have told the story of our bed, the secret that no other mortal knows, except yourself and me, and just one slave, Actoris, whom my father gave to me when I came here, who used to guard our room. You made my stubborn heart believe in you.”

Answer 72

Odyssey book 23 by Homer and this is Penelope testing Odysseus

Question 73

“And I will tell, in every gruesome detail, the manner of our death. Odysseus was gone for many years. We came to court his wife, who had no wish to marry us, but would not tell us no or make an end. She planned black death for us, and tricked us too…Our bodies still lie unburied in our killer’s house. Our families do not yet know.”

Answer 73

Odyssey book 24 by Homer and this is where the ghost of the one of the suitors massacred by Odysseus, Amphimedon, speaks about his death and how he and the other suitors were tricked into death and their bodies lie without any proper burial.

Question 74

“seeing his father worn by age and burdened by desperate, heartfelt sorrow, stopped beneath a towering pear tree, weeping. Then we wondered whether to kiss his father, twine around him, and tell him that he had come home again, any everything that happened on the way—or question him.”

Answer 74

Odyssey book 22 by Homer and this is when Odysseus goes to see his father, Laertes

Question 75

“Odysseus could not have done such things without the help of gods.”

Answer 75

Odyssey book 24 by Homer and this is Medon, a suitor who was spared, speaking saying that the gods helped Odysseus kill the suitors

Question 76

“My friends, it was because of your own cowardice this happened…We must not go and fight, or we will bring more ruin on our heads.”

Answer 76

Odyssey book 24 by Homer and this is Halitherses, an aged warrior and prophet blaming the community for their victimization and urges them to seek revenge

Question 77

“Let them all be friends, just as before, and let them live in peace and in prosperity.”

Answer 77

Odyssey 24 by Homer and this Zeus offering unrealistic advice but remains distant

Question 78

“you are adaptable; and always find solutions. Stop this war, or Zeus will be enraged at you.”

Answer 78

Odyssey 24 by Homer and this is Athena commanding Odysseus, with the threat of Zeus’ rage to figure it out or else.

Question 79

“It is not pious, gloating over men who have been killed. Divine fate took them down, and their own wicked deeds. They disrespected all people that they met, both bad and good. Through their own crimes they came to this bad end.”

Answer 79

Odyssey 24 by Homer and this is Odysseus speaking to Eurycleia about the massacre

Question 80

Well, I pray to the Earth beneath us and to my father’s tomb that this dream may be fulfilled in me. See, I shall interpret it so that it fits exactly. If the snake came out of the same place as I did, and found a welcoming home in my swaddling-clothes, and opened its mouth around the breast that nurtured me, and made a clot of blood mingle with the loving milk, and she screamed out in fear at the experience—then, you can see, as she nursed this monstrous portent, so she is destined to die by violence. I become the serpent and kill her: so this dream declares.

Answer 80

Libation Bearers by Aeschylus and this is Orestes speaking and trying to decide whether or not to kill his mother, Clytemnestra.

Question 80

O wretched me! For I found the old griefs that have happened in this house of Atreus hard enough to bear, all mixed together as they were, and they pained my heart within my breast; but I have never yet had to endure a sorrow like this. Under the other troubles I patiently bore up. But dear Orestes, who wore away my life with toil, whom I reared after receiving him straight from his mother’s womb! <Over> his shrill, imperative cries, which forced me to wander around at night <and> many disagreeable tasks which I had to endure and which did me no good.</and></Over>

Answer 80

Libation Bearers by Aeschylus and this Orestes’ nurse on the news of Orestes Death.

Question 81

Ah me, this is the snake I bore and nourished! The dream that terrified me was truly prophetic indeed!”

Answer 81

Libation Bearers by Aeschylus and this is Clytemnestra speaking

Question 82

Behold the twin tyrants of this land, the murderers of my father and the ravagers of my house! They were august in the old days, sitting on their thrones, and they are still a loving pair—or so one may guess their fate to be—and their oath has been faithful to its pledges: they joined in an oath to do my wretched father to death and to die together, and that oath has been duly kept. Behold also, you who are hearing of these crimes, the contrivance that imprisoned my wretched father, that fettered his arms and bound his feet together. Spread it out, standing beside it in a circle, and display the device that made him helpless, the garment to cover a man which he could not strip off, in order that the Father may see it—I don’t mean my father, but him who has been watching over all these events—so that he may one day appear for me in a trial, to testify that I was justified in pursuing this killing of my mother.

Answer 82

Libation Bearers by Aeschylus and this is Orestes speaking.

Question 83

I would not tell you to do it, and even if you were willing to act after all I would not be content for you to act with me! Do you be the kind of person you have decided to be, but I shall bury him! It is honourable for me to do this and die. I am his own and I shall lie with him who is my own, having committed a crime that is holy, for there will be a longer span of time for me to please those below than there will be to please those here; for there I shall lie forever.

Answer 83

Antigone by Sophocles and this is Antigone telling her sister, Ismene about giving her brother, Polynices, a proper burial.

Question 84

King, I will not say that I come breathless with running, having plied a nimble foot! I had many worries that held me up, turning this way and that in my journey as I thought of going back. Yes, my mind spoke many words to me: “Wretch, why are you going to a place where you will pay the penalty? Poor fellow, are you staying behind, then? And if Creon learns this from another man, how shall you escape affliction?” As I pondered on such thoughts I made my way slowly, with delays, and so a short journey became a long one. But in the end the thought that prevailed was that of coming here to you; and even if what I say amounts to nothing, still I will tell you; for I come clutching at the hope that I cannot suffer anything but what is fated.

Answer 84

Antigone by Sophocles and this is the Guard about to tell King Creon about someone trying to bury Polynices

Question 85

Lead me out of the way, useless man that I am, who killed you, my son, not by my own will, and you here too, ah, miserable one; I do not know which to look on, which way to lean; for all that is in my hands has gone awry, and fate hard to deal with has leapt upon my head.”

Answer 85

Antigone by Sophocles and this is King Freon grieving his son, Harmon, who committed suicide after finding out Antigone hung herself in her prison cell.

Question 86

“I rescued you, as the Greeks know who were your shipmates long ago aboard the Argo, when you were sent to master the monstrous bulls with yokes and sow the furrow with seeds of death. The serpent who never slept, his twisted coils protecting the golden fleece, I was the one who killed it and held out to you a beacon of safety. I betrayed both my father and my house and went with you to Pelias’ land, Iolkos, showing in that more eagerness than sense.”

Answer 86

Medea by Euripides and this is Medea talking to Jason telling him everything she has sacrificed for him.

Question 87

You sailed from your father’s home, with maddened heart, and passed the twin rocks of the sea. A foreign land you live in. Your husband’s bed you’ve lost, poor woman.

Answer 87

Medea by Euripides and this is the Chorus talking to Medea.

Question 88

“I murdered Pelias by the most painful of deaths, at the hands of his own daughters, and I destroyed his whole house.”

Answer 88

Medea by Euripides and this is Medea telling Jason that she murdered Pelias and his daughters by tricking them.

Question 89

“I know this lady and am terrified that she might thrust a sharpened sword through her heart or even kill the royal family and the bridegroom and then take upon herself some greater disaster. She’s a frightening woman: not easily will someone engage with her in hatred and sing a victory song.”

Answer 89

Medea by Euripides and this is the Nurse speaking about her fear that Medea might lose her mind and kill her whole family after finding out that Jason cheated on her. Nurse has this overshadowing mentality because Medea is a Barbarian and they are thought to aggressive in nature.

Question 90

But I groan at the kind of task that I must proceed to accomplish. For I shall put the children to death—my children. No one will save them from me. When I have utterly ruined Jason’s whole house, I shall leave the country, accused of my dear children’s murder, and having dared the unholiest of deeds. For to be laughed at by enemies is intolerable, friends.

Answer 90

Medea by Euripides and this is Medea telling the chorus that she will murder their two children just to ruin Jason’s house and upset him to teach him a lesson about what he’s done.

Question 91

Why should I harm them, to hurt their father, when I would harm myself twice as much?
Do I want to be laughed at for letting my enemies off scot-free? The deed must be done! Ugh! The weakness of even letting soft thoughts into my mind.

Answer 91

Medea by Euripides and this is Medea hesitating to murder her own children to get revenge on Jason

Question 92

Now another crisis, still more terrifying, struck our suffering people, panicked our blind hearts. Laocoön, chosen by lot as Neptune’s priest, was slaughtering a huge bull at the altar. Suddenly, twin snakes from Tenedos—I shudder at the telling—headed for the shore, their giant coils cutting through calm waters, their chests and blood-red crests raised high over the surface. Behind, their tails skimmed the sea, giant slinky corkscrews leaving a huge wake…They made a beeline for Laocoön. First they twisted round his two sons’ tiny bodies…

Answer 92

Aeneid 2 by Vergil and this is describing the fate of Laocoon (who threw the spear at the Trojan Horse, eliciting a groan).

Question 92

”Better yet: tell us from the start, my guest,
the story of Greek treachery, your people’s ruin, and your travels: it’s the seventh summer now
that you’ve roamed through all the lands and seas”

Answer 92

Aeneid 1 by Vergil and this is Aeneas telling a gracious host the story of his travails and travails going all the way back to the Trojan war. This relates to what Odysseus does when he is hosted by the Phaeacians, the mythical people who eventually bring him home to Ithaca on one of their swift ships after he’s told his story.

Question 93

My friends so brave for a lost cause: if you’re set on joining me in certain death, you see the way things stand. All the gods whose strength supported Troy have left their shrines and altars. The city you defend already burns. Let’s die by plunging into war. Our only refuge is to have no hope of refuge…

Answer 93

Aeneid 2 by Vergil and this is Aeneas speaking to his companions

Question 94

Why should she go safely back to Sparta and her home, Mycenae, a triumphant queen? Why should she see her husband and her family, tended by a throng of captive Trojan boys and girls? Priam perished by the sword, Troy burned, the Dardan shore so often oozed with blood—for this? No! Punishing a woman brings no glory, but this would win me praise—rubbing out this foulness with the punishment that she deserves…

Answer 94

Aeneid 2 by Vergil and this is Aeneas contemplating whether or not to kill Helen

Question 95

Don’t blame Paris, or Helen’s hateful beauty. It’s the cruelty of the gods that’s overturned our wealth and hurls Troy from her heights. Look: I’ll tear away the swirling mist that dulls your human vision with its damp embrace…Here where you see a heap of ruins, boulders torn apart, and dusty smoke that billows high, Neptune’s prying up the walls and bedrock with his giant trident…Here, savage Juno’s first to seize the Scaean Gates…There, Tritonian Pallas holds the heights… Jupiter himself infuses them with strength and spirit, himself goads on the gods against Troy’s army. Escape my son, and give up on your efforts.

Answer 95

Aeneid 2 by Vergil and this is Venus telling the Truth.

Question 96

‘Come then, dear father, hold my neck,’ I said. ‘I’ll take you on my back, you won’t weigh me down. Come what may, we’ll share one danger, or one escape. Let small Iülus stay with me. My wife will trail our passage at a distance.

Answer 96

Aeneid 2 by Vergil and this is Aeneas speaking to Anchises telling him how they are all going to flee Troy together

Question 97

Soon—in case you think this dream’s a lie—you’ll find a giant sow by my bank’s oaks, lying there with thirty newborn in her litter: a white sow resting, with white piglets suckling. By this sign, you’ll know Ascanius will found famed Alba after thirty years roll by. I foretell the truth. Now (take note) here’s how to bring about what’s needed for your victory. Pallas’ Arcadians, who followed King Evander in his war, chose to settle hear…Bring them to your camp and make a treaty.”

Answer 97

Aeneid 8 by Vergil and this is Tiberius showing up to Aeneas in a dream