Test 2 Prep

I was looking over everyone's blogs this last weekend while I was lying indisposed on my couch, and saw that many people had clarified some of the answers to the test questions given in class (Thanks by the way). Zach had even created his own review, and I thought "wow, that's a realy good idea." I generally make my own study guides before tests as well becuase the act of writing everything down helps me retain the information better. So, here is my electronic study guide.


1. Flyting: The exchange of insults; verbal argument

2. Tally: 2 halves of a coin that 2 friends keep so that when they see eachother years later they
will be able to recognise one another as their old friend (Aristophane spoke about it in his
speach in the Symposium).

3. Sumary of the story of Echo and Narcissu
Narcissus was born with "a beauty that broke hearts. Tiresias gave prophesy that Narcissus could live long, but only if he doesn't "learn to know himself." While hunting Narcissus comes upon echo, a beautiful nymph. Jupiter had made it so she always repeated the last word or two of what she heard over and over again because she had helped Juno ecape her probing eyes too many times. She fell immediately in love w/Narcissus. Tries to get his embrace, but he denies her. She fell into dispair, her bones turned into stone, and her voiced wandered off to be heard forever (echo into an echo). Narcissus sees his reflection, although doesn't understand it his reflection at first, in a clear pool and falls in love. His beauty and body shriveled like Echo's, and he died. All that stood where his body fell was a beautiful white flower (Narcissus into a narcissus flower.

4. The two characters that were models for Romeo and Juliet
1. Pyramos
2. Thisbe

5. Summary/Overview of the Symposium:
1. Apollodorus/Aristodemus: the one who tells the account of what took place at the meeting
2. Phaedrus: the one who suggests that each person make a speach on love, says it is older than the gods and has no parents, promotes virtue in people, army made of lovers and loved ones would be untouchable, talks about lovers and the honorable acts they have done (ex. Alcestis and Admetus)
3. Pausanias: talks about 2 kinds of love (both associated with godesss): common love (simple and mindless desire, directed towards bodies rather than minds --> bad) and heavenly love (between a man and a boy --> lover sexually gratifes loved in exchange for education in wisdom and virtue).
4. Eryximachus: good love promotes "moderation and orderliness," it can be found in many things outside of human relations (such as music and medicine), relates love to medicine and curing the body, talks about heavenly love and common love as well (compares to food), talks about seasons
5. Aristophanes: is a myth, 3 genders -->1. female (from earth), 2. male (from sun), 3. androgenous (from moon), we used to be one with our lovers (although had body parts of both) but Zues cut us in half and now we wander searching for our soul mates (includes the idea of the tally in his speach)
6. Agathon: has the hiccups, characterizes love as "young, beautiful, sensitive, and wise," says it is what gives us virtues, his speach is very eloborate, characterizes it as a young god, settles in our minds and characters, talks about virtues of love
7. Socrates: asks questions to Agathon about his love, recounts a speach made by Diotoma, she says that love is not a god but a spirit between a person and that which they desire, desire for wisdom and beauty (but not wise or beautiful), esxpresses itself sexually or through pregnancy, greates knowledge is knowledge of the Form of Beauty, claims love was concieved at a feast to honor Aphrodite, latter of love (start simple and move foward, like with the rock and tree)
8. Alcibiades: directs speach to Socrates and tries (but fails) to get him to sleep with him, very drunk when gives his eulogy, not a speach but a story

6. Tragedy means goat song and comedy means revel song

7. Metempsychosis: transmigration of souls

8. Catharsis: the purging of the emotions pity and fear (should occur while watching tragedy)

9. According to The Trojan Women, what is the worst thing one can be forced to chose?
The sacrifice of a child

10. ob-scene: off stage (Lysistrata)

11. What is the difference between New Comedy and Old Comedy?
1. Old Comedy: doesn't involve love, but abuse. Can be political or social satire. Generally is
very crude.
2. New Comedy: focuses more on the humour in love and familt matters. Generally has to
do with boy wants gurl, boy cannot have gurl becuase of obstacles (often his father wants
the same gurl), obstacles are removed and he gets gurl. It generally ends in vulgar/physical love

12. anamnesis: Plato's theory that humans were born knowing everything, but they have
forgotten it all

13. Dr. Sexon says to think of reincarnation as poetic thought or metaphor

14. What did Paris chose when offered gifts by Aphrodite?
The most beautiful woman in the world (Helen)

15. 3 symbols of comedy
1. weddings
2. feasts
3. dancing

16. Which character from Lysistrata is symbloic of reconciliation?
A naked woman (on the cover as well)

17. What is the difference between Sophoclean tragedy and Euripedian tragedy
1. Sophoclean: formal truth, experience of catharsis, person of high stature falls to low
2. Euripedian: emotional truth

18. According to Freud, what do we do to keep from crying?
We laugh

19. tragedy = individuals while comdey = society

20. Parabasis:a part in old comedy in which people on stage abuse the audience

21. In which of Ovid's tales of metamorphosis did 2 bears turn into constellations? Callisto

22. Women taken as spoils of war tak on what roles in The Trojan Women?
1. slaves
2. concubines

23. Phallocentrism:the domination of a culture by the male point of view (represented by
the phallus)

24. What did Aristotle say was the perfect form of literature?
Tragedy

25. According to Plato, what happens when you see something beautiful?
Your shoulder blades begin to itch because your "wings want to grow"

26. nostos: "homecomming"

27. Ovidean Characters and their transformations
1. Naobi --> weeping rock
2. Acteon -->Stag
3. Narcissus --> narcissus flower
4. Atalanta --> lion
5. Pentheus -->boar
6. 4 Ages: gold, silver, bronze, iron
7. Adonis --> wind flower
8. Arachni --> spider
9. Myrrah --> tree (from which Adonis is born)
10. Tieresius --> man --> woman --> man
11. Midas --> asses ears

28. When a god promises something to a human, they cannot take it back, but can...
add to it (ex. Tiersesius: Jupiter gave Tierisius the ability to prophosizes after Jupiter took
away his sight for saying that women enjoy sex more than men)

29. Summary of "The Athenian Women" from Lysistrata
Opens with a story about a man being stoned to death by the men and his wife having the same thing done by the women (complete dependence on men, but very different social spheres). Athenians thought that women were more likely to threaten civilization wit violence and promiscuity. They were characterised as out of control and subject to lawless passion. It was thought that women had to be "locked up and watched" to keep them from having indescriminte sex and ruining the family. Marriage was a woman's ultimate goal and destiny. Until death women were identified as "the wife of so-and-so," and they were expected to stay in a separated part of the house with the children. Poverty was one of the view things that could bring women out of the house, along with religion, but it was considered shameful. Women were considered to be a financial burden, but necesary. They were not considered to be fully human, but an infirior creature. In Athens, only children born of two Athenian citizens were given citizenshitp (kept down outside competition for Athenian women). Women were not allowed to own anything, and her inheritance went to her husband. Women had exclusive ritual duties, for example it was they that prepared a body for burial.

30. Summary of "Greek Comedy" from Lysistrata
The City Dionysia was known for it's dramatic productions. Drama sponsors commissioned a playwright, had the actors and chorus outfitted, and sometimes hired extra actors/singers/ dancers/musicians. Less comedies than tragedies survive today. Aristophones got away with so much abuse and crudness becuase he emphasized the public good. Comdedy and tragedy are similar, but comedy "turns the genre of tragedy upside down and shakes it." Drama was technically supposed to entertain the god Dionysus, not the audience. There was very few prop used, simple backdrops, no lighting besides from the sun, and no sound system. All of the actors were men, and plays occurred back to back. Comedy favored "circus-like actions" from the chorus. Poetry played a huge role in drama, including comedy, and the script itself was written in poetry rather than prose. Comedy is funny because "it is not distressing" and does not cause pain, pity, or fear. Old comedy likes starizing tragedy. The chorus adds to the strangeness of the plot in comedy.

31. The opening line of Tales from Ovid:
"My soul would sing of metamorphosis"

32. The closing line of Tales from Ovid:
"I shall have life"