Book Reviews X: Greek Literature
The Rise of the Roman Empire, Polybius
History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides
Heroides, Ovid
The Iliad, Homer
The Odyssey, Homer
The Rise of the Roman Empire
Polybius
1. The rulers had to rule over a country that was a large territory with a large population.
2. The study of history is good because it enables us to look at the past.
3. The element of the unexpected plays an important part in Polybius' approach to history...Aristotle defines its function as the arousing of fear and pity.
4. The Persians for a certain period exercised their rule and supremacy over a vast territory, but every time that they ventured to pass beyond the limits of Asia they endangered the security not only of their empire but of their own existence.
5. Later, by overthrowing the Persian Empire, they also became the rulers of Asia; but although they then obtained a larger number of states and territories than any other people before them, they left the greater part of the world in the hands of others. They did not even once attempt to dispute the possession of Sicily, Sardinia or Africa, and the most warlike tribes of Western Europe were, to speak the plain truth, unknown to them.
6. The Romans, on the other hand, have brought not just mere portions but almost the whole of the world under their rule, and have left an empire which far surpasses any that exists today.
7. Some events in history are unrelated to other events, and some events are closely related to each other.
8. Fortune has steered almost all the affairs of the world in one direction and forced them to converge upon one and the same goal.
9. As it is I notice that while various historians deal with isolated wars and certain of the subjects connected with them, nobody, so far as I'm aware, has made any effort to examine the general and comprehensive scheme of events, when it began, whence it originated, and how it produced the final result.
10. Polybius' conception of Fortune is of a force in the universe which takes note of change for its own sake...
11. The image of a man is worth more than the man himself. A sportsman's aura and mystique are more impressive than the sportsman in real life.
12. The same is true for a country. A country is greater in image than it is in real life.
13. In studying history, focus less on the dates, locations and events themselves, and focus more on the principles and themes behind the events.
14. Still however, the facts can be important.
15. In one event, the Romans were able to negotiate a peace on terms which were acceptable to the Gauls.
16. They insinuate themselves into the city under the guise of friendship, and then at once took possession of it. Once they had so quickly and so easily appropriated such a fine city and its adjoining territory, others were quick to imitate them.
17. During one event, the Syracusans lost the support of their allies and were quickly compelled to take refuge within their city.
18. When one ruler came into power, because he was young, he was watched closely so as to not abuse his power.
1. He therefore made a family alliance with Leptines by marrying his daughter, so that whenever he had to go away on active service he could count on leaving Leptines behind as the guardian of his interests at home.
2. His battle order was so arranged that the infantry and cavalry which consisted of Mamertine citizens were grouped under his personal command and held in reserve, as if he intended them to attack from another quarter.
3. Conflicts existed between the army and the domestic police.
4. Thus the Mamertines after losing the support they had enjoyed, next suffered a crushing defeat on their own territory for the reasons that I have described.
5. Only a little while before, the Romans had inflicted the death penalty on a number of their fellow citizens because they had broken faith with the people ofRhegium.
6. The object of the Romans was to capture and acquire as much territory as possible -- world domination.
1. Then, when he had effectively achieved his purpose and rid the army of its unruly and seditious elements, he proceeded to enrol a considerable body of mercenaries whom he picked himself, and thereafter continued in secure control of affairs.
2. Even after long consideration, the Senate did not approve the proposal to send help to Messana; they took the view that any advantage which could result from relieving the place would be counterbalanced by the inconsistency of such an action.
3. However, ultimately a resolution in favour of sending help was carried out.
4. The army marched onto enemy territory.
5. He ordered his troops to stand to at an early hour and at first light led them out to battle. He engaged the enemy, killed large numbers of their troops, and forced the rest to retreat in disorder to the towns in the vicinity. These successes enabled him to raise the seige of Messana and then to move over to the offensive, ravging the territory of the Syracusans and their allies and scouring the country without meeting any resistance.
6. This then, was the first occasion on which the Romans crossed the sea with an army, and it was for these reasons and in the context which I have described that they did so.
7. In other wors, they must acquaint themselves with the period and with the process whereby the Romans began to advance towards better fortunes after the defeat they had suffered on their own soil, and with the details of how and when, after becoming the masters of Italy, they applied themselves to the conquest of countries further afield.
8. There is no need for me to relate all these developments in detail, nor would this be useful to my readers; my plan does not require me to record them in full, but merely to refer to them in passing by way of introduction to those events which form my principal theme.
9. I shall, however, try to give a rather fuller account of the first war which was fought between Rome and Carthage for the possession of Sicily. This is because it would be difficult to find any contest which was longer in its duration, more intensively prepared for on both sides, or more unremittingly pursued once begun, or one which involved more battles or more decisive changes of Fortune.
10. I have already mentioned the fact that the historians who are reputed to be the most expert authorities on the subject, have failed, in my opinion, to report the truth as they should have done.
11. So if history is deprived of the truth, we are left with nothing but an idle, unprofitable tale.
12. At the beginning of his second book Philinus tells us that the Carthaginians and Syracusans made war against Messana and laid siege to the city; that the Romans then arrived by sea, entered the town, and promptly made a sortie to attack the Syracusans, but that after suffering heavy losses in the fighting, they fell back upon Messana.
13. But he then goes on to say that after the battle Hiero, the ruler of Syracuse, completely lost his head, that he not only set fire to his camp and his tents and hurried back to Syracuse the same night, but also abandoned all the forts which had been built to threaten the territory of Messana.
14. The senators had to assess how powerful their country's army was.
15. They concluded that their own numbers must be reinforced if they were to be strong enough to confront their opponentsand maintain control over affairs.
16. The army is a masculine field.
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17. But so long as the Carthaginians held unchallenged control of the sea, the issue of the war still hung in the balance.
18. The Romans repeatedly raided and devastated the Italian coasts.
19. The Carthaginians had for generations enjoyed an unchallenged supremacy at sea.
20. When they first ventured to transport their forces to Messana, not only had they no decked ships, but no warships at all, not so much as a single galley.
21. For skill at sea, one army built simple boats and constructed gun turrets on them.
22. They steered and then attacked in formation.
23. Instead they relied on their speed and circled round the enemy, hoping that they could safely ram them either broadside or astern.
24. In all they lost fifty ships.
25. His squadron included beaked vessels which could ram the enemy and also had the speed required for an outflanking manoeuvre.
26. The senator said, “Most of the decisions that I have to make are based on personal experience and judgment.”
27. The generals accepted his criticisms and decided to follow his advice
28. The army was stationed in the country to display its military might.
1. One army was not friendly to reporters trying to get information and report the news about the war.
2. One army rode elephants for transportation. The elephants, however, were prone to stampede and trample people, and turn on their masters.
3. The enemy's soldiers had orders to shoot the army's elephants in an engagement.
4. One army attacked the enemy's boats while they were still in the harbor.
5. The people greeted the army with loud cheers and clapping of hands.
6. The general promised generous bounties to soldiers who performed individual acts of bravery, and he assured them that the whole army would be treated with favour and handsomely rewarded by the government.
7. All army's are essentially equal, with minor differences.
8. Since the army's ships were so fast, they could use their superior speed to retreat safely.
9. One army attacked the enemies corn supply, to lessen the amount of food they had.
10. The army attacked the towers with battering rams.
11. The general had knowledge of how the enemy's army was entering the country: from the ports or from the land.
1. At about the same time one of the consuls, Gnarlus Fulvius sailed from Rome with a fleet of 200 ships, while the other, Aulius Postuminius, set out with the land forces.
2. There is a difference between a war with the army of a country and a war with the people of a country.
3. To describe their situation I must go back to the period when they first took possession of these regions.
4. The summits of the Alps are completely uninhabited on account both of their rugged character and of the depth of the snow which covers them all the year round.
5. The inhabitants wore black clothes to signify mourning for the leader Phaeton.
6. To learn something about the history of the region, examine inhabitants of the region to the north.
7. As they slept on straw and leaves, ate meat and practised no other pursuits but war and agriculture, their lives were very simple and they were completely unacquainted with any art or science.
8. The people and animals slept on hay and leaves.
9. The army made raids on their territory when they saw what prosperity the enemy had achieved.
10. The Celts made another attempt to invade in force, and this time the Romans had intelligence of their attack.
11. This was the first place in Gaul where they planted a colony, and they named it Sena after the Gallic tribe which had previously inhabited it.
12. When they had to meet a second time, they came to the contest like trained and seasoned athletes in military operations.
13. They took count, and made lists of men military age who were capable of bearing arms.
14. Their goal in one sequence of attacks was to disrupt the peace and comfort of the enemy.
1. One country refused to make an open declaration of war.
2. After some reflection, he understood why the course of events unfolded as they did.
3. Along with senator Antigonus, Acornorinth was a great leader. Related to the Corinthians and Macedonians.
4. The King took personal command of the operations, and ranked Acrocorinth beneath him.
5. Military life in general is difficult.
6. The signal for action for the army and the cavalry was to be a red flag which would be raised by the general.
7. His action created a diversion. He blew up a truck, and then the guards went to deal with the truck, and then he entered the gates of the palace.
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The Rise of the Roman Empire, Polybius
1. The soldiers dressed in the uniform of the enemy, and then went to the enemy base and attacked.
2. He then ordered Hasdrubal to supervise the passage of the army, whilst he himself crossed the river at once and proceeded to give audience to the envoys who had arrived from neighbouring districts.
3. All ranks within the entrenched camp had taken their evening meal and retired to rest; the Celts then waited for the greater part of the night to pass, siezed their arms about the time of the morning watch, and fell upon the Romans who were quartered near them.
4. Generally speaking, so long as their infantry forces were still intact, the people's confidence in the ultimate success of the Roman arms remained unaffected.
5. Longus' men then assembled at Ariminium in fulfilment of the oath they had taken, and their general led them out with all speed to join forces with Scipio.
6. In a war, there have to be a moderate amount of soldiers, too many soldiers is just unrealistic.
7. After this he discovered that some of the Celtic tribes who lived between the valleys of the Trebbia and the Po had made a treaty of friendship with him, but were at the same time negotiating with the Romans, believing that in this way they would make themselves safe from both Romans and Carthaginians alike; and so he sent a force of 2,000 infantry and about 1,000 Celtic and Numidian horsemen with orders to raid the district.
8. And so, since the time he chose for the engagement was dictated not by the facts of the situation but by his personal motives, his judgement was bound to be at fault.
9. He was anxious to draw the enemy into battle, first to exploit the warlike spirit of the Celts while they were still active, secondly to engage the Roman legions while they were still raw recruits and had little battle experience, and thirdly to come to grips before Scipio had recovered.
10. "The Sicely Sicilians."
11. When they saw this, they abandoned hope of restoring the situation or of returning to their camp; they were deterred from this partly through their fear of the enemy's cavalry, and partly by the storms of rain which continued to pour down and increased the difficulties of recrossing the Trebbia.
12. Meanwhile Hannibal, who was passing the winter in Cisalpine Gaul, kept the Romans he had captured in the battle under guard and gave them only just sufficient rations to keep them alive; the prisoners taken from the allies, on the other hand, he treated with great kindness, and later summoned them to an assembly and made a speech to them.
13. Their cities and harbours had suffered decline as a result of Roman rule.
14. He therefore had a number of wigs made, each of which created the impression of a man of a different age, and these he constantly changed, while at the same time dressing in a style which matched the wig.
15. The soldiers took familiar paths to their base.
16. The whole army was affected above all by lack of sleep, since they were obliged to keep moving for four days and three nights, during which time they were continuously marching through water, but the Celts suffered far more from fatigue than the rest and lost many more men. Most of the pack animals fell and perished in the mud.
17. Hannibal's first action was to pitch his own camp at the edge of the swamps, his object being to rest his troops while they reconnoitred the region in front of him and collected intelligence about the enemy.
18. In the same way the commander must train his eye upon the weak spots of his opponent's defence, not in his body but in his mind.
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1.The general thought that they could carry off their plunder without a battle, without suffering any casualties of war.
2. He constantly disparaged Fabius for his feeble and dilatory conduct of the campaign.
3. The Roman general had several character flaws, which influenced his actions in the war.
4. According to one source, a vulnerability in a long wall divided by tall posts is to put a tool to screw and stretch or widen the space between the two posts, thus allowing people to fit through and access the protected territory.
History of the Peloponnesian War
Thucydides
1. After the victory, some of the soldiers who were captured, were sold back to their home country for money, food, or supplies.
2. The Athenians, on their way to attack at Samos, camped in forests along the way.
3. The soldiers therefore got together in groups, as they had done before, and brought in with them other influential people, not only from the army.
4. Some of the soldiers surrendered peacefully to the enemy.
5. He did say that he was entirely in favour of any measures of economy which would result in better pay for the armed forces; and, in general, he urged them to hold fast and make no concessions to the enemy, saying that, so long as the city was preserved, there were good hopes of some kind of agreement being reached between the two parties among the citizens, but that if either party, whether the men in Samos or the men in Athens, were defeated, there would be no one left with whom any settlement could no longer be made.
6. The army found a peaceful way to exchange captured soldiers for food and other supplies.
7. The head general gave the other army's lead general his word that things would be carried out peacefully.
8. After the two general's had agreed, they set a timeframe and carried out their plans.
9. He said that he would leave behind his deputy with instructions for the plans during his absence.
10. Certainly his intervention, could have put an end to the war.
11. The general put his ideas down onto a paper peace agreement, and then sent this document to the other general.
12. He liked shouting, to make people afraid.
1. As a New Yorker, we are known for having a city attitude and a city state of mind.
13. Refers to the Spanish emperor Alejandros.
14. Refers to Roman emperors Philipus and Cybernius.
15. Peace in the region was achieved through a series of treaties and agreements, documents signed by each country.
17. Some court proceedings and legal documents are more abstract than concrete.
19. Instead of going to war and causing harm, if one army can overcome the other army, and gain control of the territory, then the two armies can negotiate through talks and reach an agreement, instead of senseless fighting.
1. Since many countries, such as islands, lack natural resources, such as food, help from allied countries is crucial.
2. Consider permanently relocating or moving, people from areas that have few natural resources, to countries that have a large supply of natural resources.
3. The government siezed land, but then after some years, returned the land to the original tribe who owned it.
1. Citizens are entitled to freedom from ill treatment by their government.
2. In this case, if any man has skill or courage greater than another, now if ever, when he can help himself and save us all, is the time for him to show it.
3. There is nothing cowardly in retreating to save yourself.
4. The Syracusans and Gylippus would not accept these proposals. They attacked and surrounded his army, raining missiles on them from all sides until evening.
5. But some of the Syracusans who had been in contact with him were afraid, and this was not good for the character of their army.
6. The army unit took the credit for the victory in war.
7. It was because of his family connection that he was such good friends with the senators.
8. When the soldiers stopped fighting, the war was over.
9. On the same day, late in the evening, the Athenians sailed to Lesbos to give what help they could.
10. When the army siezed the town, they pulled down the statues and paintings of the former regime.
11. And if, incalculable as is the life of man, they made a mistake, there were many others who thought, like them, that Athens was on the point of collapse, and who came also to realize their error.
1. The soldiers carried all their supplies with them. Still however, this was not enough for some of them.
2. Instead of spoken encouragement, there was a feeling of encouragement among the troops.
3. The big naval battleships were powerful, but could not manoeuvre quickly in open waters.
1. Omitted.
1. When the army found that the enemy had setup a camp and had went to sleep at night, the army setup a base of its own nearby to monitor the enemy’s camp.
2. They had the courage already and the discipline would come as a result of training. As for choosing the generals, they should be few in number and they should have unrestricted power. This would allow the whole defense program to be carried out smoothly without the need for giving continual explanations for what was being done.
3. In order to be someone’s friend, you have to have an understanding of their cultural background.
4. I can be of considerable service to you: with regard to Sparta I had to proceed by guesswork, but of Athens I have certain knowledge.
5. The speed with which they carried out this operation dismayed the Syracusans.
6. In the small boats they towed up to the stakes, fastened ropes round them, and dragged them up, or broke them off, or dived under the water and sawed through them. Finally the Athenians pulled up the stakes.
7. The army rode out every day to make attacks on the enemy or to patrol the country.
8. The army also had to get supplies trucked in daily, to operate the base.
9. The enemy knew the ground route that the army’s trucks took, and ambushed them and attacked.
10. The general began to put into operation his original plan for making the attack on the enemy.
11. During the attack, the army was making loud shouts in their language, and the enemy was also making loud shouts in their language.
1. The treaty, or peace agreement was a flexible document that could be revised and updated anytime, based on the decisions of the representatives.
2. They wrote down in the treaty their thoughts about peace for the countries.
3. The Peace Treaty: “In the event of an invasion by a foreign country, then our allies, the Maniteans, the Eleans, and the Argives will come to give us aid. They will do this according to their resources.”
4. If a country invades us, then they will be considered our enemy, and we and our allies will treat them as our enemy.
5. “My father went on a mission for cigarettes at 3 o’clock in the morning.” —Frank McCourt
6. Our oath, or our word, will bind us to this agreement.
7. As your allies, we will also give your country humanitarian aid, food and medicine as often as we can.
8. The army was to oversee distribution of food, but through unarmed yet uniformed soldiers so as not to create a hostile presence.
9. As your allies, we will also make various arrangements to connect our countries, such as immigration concessions.
10. We will also help you build farms, so that you can grow food on the land as we do.
11. This and the thought that they were being treated unjustly infuriated them
12. An alliance between our countries means that we apply peaceful, diplomatic ways of governing our countries.
13. This treaty shall be submitted to the allies for their agreement. If the allies have any objections to raise, they shall refer the treaty to their home governments.
14. Disputes between private individuals shall be settled in accordance with the laws of the states concerned.
15. The Spartans and Argives now made a combined expedition with 1,000 men each. First the Spartan force went by itself to Sicyon and reorganized the government there on more democratic lines.
16. During the work of rebuilding the country of Argos, carpenters and masons came to help them from Athens.
17. The Melenians are a colony from Sparta. They had refused to join the Athenian empire like the other islanders, and at first had remained neutral without helping either side; but afterwards, when the war began, they became open allies of Argos.
18. No one can objet to each of us putting forward our own views in a calm atmosphere. That is perfectly reasonable. What is scarcely consistent is the present threat of your making war on us.
19. We are met here to discuss the safety of our countries.
20. As allies, each country will state its needs and how it can help other countries.
21. Historically, people have designated as holy or sacred, certain sites and locations, based on traditions and beliefs.
22. Zancle was originally founded by pirates who came from the city of Opicia.
23. When one country began pressing the other country by land and sea, the country reminded the other of the alliance they made and of the peace treaty.
24. It would be a wise thing for Athens to make use of the allies, especially as Egesta would supply sufficient money to finance the operation. The people then voted in favour of first sending delgates to Egesta in order to see whether the money they needed was in the treasury.
25. Five days later another assembly was held to discuss the quickest means of getting the ships ready to sail and to vote for any for additional supplies that the generals might need for the expedition.
26. The human capacity for hope is a powerful force.
27. Our countries are now on the verge of the greatest success we have ever enjoyed.
28. Our goal is to make as many allies as possible.
29. We should settle as many issues as we possibly can in our treaty.
30. It is better to be united than divided.
1. There is no reason to fear death. Death is a natural process in the cycle of life. God intended man and his creatures to die. God intended the seasons to change from warm to cold also. When man grows old, he dies, this is what God intended.
31. The army attacked the enemy to frighten them and tire them out.
32. The general sent scouts to examine the enemy base and count enemy numbers.
33. The media exaggerated the numbers of soldiers in the army, to make it appear more formidable.
34. During one campaign, the enemy’s goal was to frighten the people.
35. Some of the senators lacked the experience necessary to rule.
36. It is at the beginning, he said, that every army inspires the most fear; but if time is allowed to pass, then they seem less formidable.
37. Military life lacks the luxuries of civilian life.
38. The man was sentenced to time in jail, but because he was so old, the judge reduced his sentence.
1. After attacking the base, the enemy made a disciplined and organized retreat.
2. As the army got to the most difficult part of the road, the enemy attacked them from all sides.
3. One of the soldiers created a diversion and ran in front, drawing out some enemy troops, and then the rest of the army attacked.
4. The enemy had confused the soldiers.
5. The enemy attacked the army at night.
6. If a dispute shall arise between our countries, then we shall deal with it by law and in a peaceful manner.
7. Each soldier in the army shall know these terms of this agreement between us.
8. Each country shall appoint representatives to hold meetings about this treaty between us.
9. Razor wire (barbed wire) is vulnerable in that people can just throw rugs or thick fabric over the razor wire and gain access to the restricted area.
1. According to natural law, whoever is in control of a country, has the responsibility of caring for its citizens.
2. We shall determine the reason and purpose for this war in our country.
3. In examining the navy, suggests that it is difficult to live on the water.
4. The Senator made a speech to the citizens of Torone.
5. In one war, the army used trip-wires and explosives.
6. The friendly country kept lines of communication open with each side, and tried to arrange a peace treaty.
7. The army had built a wall around the camp, and the enemy destroyed the wall and then attacked the soldiers.
1. Because of their ignorance, they were repelled by the formality and traditions of the king and his court.
2. The doctor said, “It’s just a common cold, it probably won’t lead to a lethal plague.”
1. One person said, “Commit suicide,” and the other person said, “No, I don’t want to.”
2. They took some people out on a boat and when questioned by the navy, said, “We were just going on a boating/sightseeing trip.”
1. The government was unable to produce a united force to oppose the enemy.
2. The enemy created a state of disturbance in the city and then attacked at the same time.
3. During one war, many people were killed, and no one knew exactly how each one of them died.
4. The Chalcydians were eager to have him, a man who had a great reputation for energy in every direction and who on his foereign service had shown himself to be valuable to his country.
5. During one battle, a general had to make a difficult decision, and decided that the risk was worth taking.
6. The army declared that they had done no wrong with regard to the temple, nor would they do any harm to it in the future.
7. Many practices were based on long-standing traditions.
8. The bridge was only lightly guarded, and Brasidias easily outwitted the guards and crossed the bridge.
9. His crossing of the bridge had been a complete surprise to the people of the city; some people were taken prisoner, others had fled, and all this created an overall sense of disturbance inside the city.
10. The people of the town let the enemy gain access to the city and then surrendered peacefully.
1. The army was heavily armed, and the enemy was lightly armed. The enemy ambushed the heavily armed army and then fled into the jungle.
2. The senator stuck to the precise wording of the agreement and was unwilling to compromise.
3. The enemy ambushed the army, and then drew some of the soldiers into the forest, which had been protected by enemy soldiers.
4. The army was surrounded on all sides and had no single point upon which to counterattack; they faced great numbers in every direction; if they attacked the front they would be shot at from the rear; if they attacked those on one flank, they would be shot at by those on the other.
1. The rebels possessed a small but formidable army.
2. The government sold the unused military equipment for food and medical supplies.
3. The Eurytanians, who are the largest tribe in Aetolia, speak a language which is almost unintelligible and eat their meat raw.
1. Under Senator Flamingus, the army hid in the jungle, and then ambushed the enemy on the road with an attack.
2. The army also set up several road-blocks.
1. People who have been to jail have endured considerable suffering, and other people should have compassion and sympathy for them.
2. One race of Greek people had a disease which made their skin feel like it was burning, and made them want to jump into a pool of cool water.
1. Human nature can sometimes conflict with government's laws.
2. Omitted.
3. Love of power, operating through greed and through personal ambition, was the cause of all these evils.
4. As the result of these revolutions, there was a general deterioration of character throughout the Greek world. The simple way of looking at things, which is so much the mark of a noble nature, was regarded as a ridiculous quality and soon ceased to exist.
5. On the way to the mainland, they knew that the route would be extremely difficult and hazardous.
6. The territory was inaccessible to people.
1. In Greek literature there are many instances of people of a city having grand feasts or dinners which include food, song, and dance.
1. The military was very arrogant, and didn't think that they could be defeated.
2. The army was bent on destroying the enemy navy's ships, and sinking them if possible.
3. Due to the skill of the generals, the events of the war were coordinated and occurred nearly simultaneously.
4. The navy’s ships were sometimes in shallow water, and sometimes they were in deep water.
5. It is normal for people to oppose tyrannical governments.
1. The different countries formed a council, and set up an international court, where people who violated international laws could be tried, and if convicted were to serve time in an internationally controlled prison.
2. The army set up a fort in a town of one country, and stationed a small number of troops in it.
3. In order to limit its power, the council broke up the large country into three smaller countries.
4. “An education gives you information to think about.”
5. It is noble, for men to die in defense of their country.
6. After her husband died, she was a widow, and never married again.
1. The tyrannical government restricted freedom of speech and other basic rights.
2. We make friends by doing good to others, not by receiving good from them.
3. During a plague, those with naturally strong constitutions were no better able than the weak to resist the disease, which carried away all alike.
4. For when people were afraid to look after the sick, then they died with no one to look after them.
5. In the navy, old vessels were converted into transports, for military use.
6. During the war, they neither captured the city nor accomplished anything else that might have been expected from such a force.
7. In thinking of the greatness of your empire, there are many advantages that you have.
8. Of all Hellenic powers we stood firm in the greatest wars against their combined forces and against individual states.
9. Since the country contained so much land, naturally the government sometimes made mistakes in policy.
10. One army was known for adapting to changing conditions.
11. The army had a wall built around its camp, and the enemy tried to get over the wall with ladders, or dig under the wall in order to access the camp.
12. During one battle, the enemy attacked the base, in order to draw the soldiers out in the open.
1. If you’re cold, then keep moving your arms and hands around to increase the circulation of blood and make yourself warmer.
2. In one war, the army used mines against the tanks.
3. Don’t let their army intimidate you. Their navy, for example, does not have that many experienced swimmers, and their army isn’t that skilled when it comes to strategy and tactics.
4. Because he died in a foreign country, and because he was a hero, his family arranged for his remains to be returned to his home country.
5. During one war, the soldiers blocked the road with wagons so as to prevent access by the enemy.
6. One country maintained friendly relations with both sides of the war.
7. The generals had instructions to understand the nature of the war they were fighting.
8. The general called for a meeting of all the most important and influential people in all the states.
9. One race of Greeks were known for exercising while naked.
1. The tyrannical government restricted freedom of speech and other basic rights.
2. We make friends by doing good to others, not by receiving good from them.
3. During a plague, those with naturally strong constitutions were no better able than the weak to resist the disease, which carried away all alike.
4. For when people were afraid to look after the sick, then they died with no one to look after them.
5. In the navy, old vessels were converted into transports, for military use.
6. During the war, they neither captured the city nor accomplished anything else that might have been expected from such a force.
7. In thinking of the greatness of your empire, there are many advantages that you have.
8. Of all Hellenic powers we stood firm in the greatest wars against their combined forces and against individual states.
9. Since the country contained so much land, naturally the government sometimes made mistakes in policy.
11. The army had a wall built around its camp, and the enemy tried to get over the wall with ladders, or dig under the wall in order to access the camp.
1. The military was very arrogant, and didn't think that they could be defeated.
2. The army was bent on destroying the enemy navy's ships, and sinking them if possible.
1. Human nature can sometimes conflict with government's laws.
2. War is a stern teacher; it brings most people's minds down to the level of their actual circumstances.
3. Love of power, operating through greed and through personal ambition, was the cause of all these evils.
4. As the result of these revolutions, there was a general deterioration of character throughout the Greek world. The simple way of looking at things, which is so much the mark of a noble nature, was regarded as a ridiculous quality and soon ceased to exist.
5. Omitted.
1. Under Senator Flamingus, the army hid in the jungle, and then ambushed the enemy on the road with an attack.
2. The army also set up several road-blocks.
1. The government was unable to produce a united force to oppose the enemy.
2. The enemy created a state of disturbance in the city and then attacked at the same time.
3. During one war, many people were killed, and no one knew exactly how each one of them died.
4. The Chalcydians were eager to have him, a man who had a great reputation for energy in every direction and who on his foereign service had shown himself to be valuable to his country.
5. During one battle, a general had to make a difficult decision, and decided that the risk was worth taking.
6. The army declared that they had done no wrong with regard to the temple, nor would they do any harm to it in the future.
7. Many practices were based on long-standing traditions.
8. The bridge was only lightly guarded, and Brasidias easily outwitted the guards and crossed the bridge.
9. His crossing of the bridge had been a complete surprise to the people of the city; some people were taken prisoner, others had fled, and all this created an overall sense of disturbance inside the city.
10. The people of the town let the enemy gain access to the city and then surrendered peacefully.
Heroides
Ovid
1. Even though he wasn't the man's father, the man loved him as though he was his father.
2. Get rid of these men who look like girls; men who are truly men are more than handsome.
3. Almost every critic of the Heroides has noted the rhetorical qualities of the work. Here, especially, we see the play of rhetoric as almost a definition of the term: the fourth of the Heroides is an elaborately persuasive document.
4. This delegation was deliberately chosen to include some of the most respected and eminent men in Greece.
5. With me in your tent you can take up arms and make your father in his old age proud.
6. You are reading my words too closely.
7. He tried to hug her, and then she said, ‘I don’t want to be hugged.’ She set the boundary.
8. Her name is derived from the place of her birth, the island of Delos.
9. The ponytail is a nice look, it is meant to imitate a horse.
9-A. One beautiful race of mythological women was represented with some combination of horses' tails, upright ears, small horns and goats' legs and hooves.
10. For the Romans, the era of Saturn was generally thought to have been a golden age.
11. When he was young, Zeus was hidden away by Rhea and her mother. In time, Zeus grew to manhood and rescued his siblings from the body of their father.
12. Jove - one of his many titles was Thunderer, and it was well known that he commonly punished transgressions by striking the miscreant with a lighting bolt.
13. You were a nobody when you married me; I was the daughter of a great family.
14. Minerva, though she is more beautiful armed, came to ask that you judge her beauty.
15. Her boyfriend was known for performing courageous deeds.
16. The male was dominant in the relationship.
17. You and he alike are trusting fools.
18. Even though she is beautiful, she is in a twisted relationship.
19. Omitted.
20. But yours I am, as yours when we were young; let me be yours again.
21. Because she was so beautiful, many men wanted to marry her, so she had to choose one out of several to marry.
22. The character possessed the potential for deep conflict.
23. Determine what is crucial to an understanding of his character.
24. Omitted.
26. Tiphys the helmsman, why could you care at all for anything of my native land.
27. The summer is certain.
28. Hypsipyle is repeating the argument that Medea is a woman of barbarian origins and should therefore find herself a man who is also a barbarian.
29. The Roman god Bacchus corresponds to the Greek god Dionysus.
30. Lucina was the Roman goddess of childbirth.
1. Cycnus was a musician who faced many problems. Apollo took pity on him and gave him a gift.
2. ...with time and courage I acquire strength.
3. The suggestion by Dido that Creusa was in fact abandoned, as she herself is abandoned by Aeneas is her addition to the story.
4. Hermoine as a child was heartlessly abandoned by her mother. Still Hermoine had a positive childhood and adulthood.
5. One race of Greeks were gods who ensured the productivity of the earth.
6. Aeneas was facing problems which caused him to leave his homeland and embark on a painful journey.
7. The marriage of Hermione and Orestes united the two kingdoms.
8. ...and many long years gave me to you, this grandfather determined the grandchild's fate.
9. Let him brag about his father's mighty deeds, your sire, too, is worthy of your boasts.
10. The one man was only a soldier, while the other man was commander of all.
11. Omitted.
12. But I can weep, my cheeks are always wet and ugly from their unending flow.
13. I hardly remember, but I remember.
14. When you returned I went to meet you, You were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
15. Because of her actions, it is difficult for Hermione to argue that the law is on her side. While Hermione might insist that she has rights, only those of Orestes are directly at issue.
16. The prisoners of war were taken as slaves, and used as workers in the country.
17. He didn't want to go into the details of his ancestry and lineage.
18. Hermoine searched for the strictest possible understanding of a marriage contract.
19. Hippa was the mother of Atreus, Thyestes and Pittheus. All her potential husbands were killed in a test devised by her father, Oenomaus.
20. Titan, or Helios, was commonly described as driving in a chariot across the night sky.
21. Parents sometimes have to make difficult decisions about their children.
22. People sometimes have to make difficult decisions.
23. There is a dichotomy that can exist between one's deeds and one's reputation.
24. Deianira reminds Hercules that only equals should marry.
25. Worthy of Jove, your beginning was better by far than your end, man and boy are not the same, your most recent deeds are such...
26. The arrows have finally conquered that one who survived a thousand wild beasts and Juno's enmity of Sthenelus.
27. An ox, yoked to one not his equal, suffers like the wife who is less than her lord.
28. They say you are changed, that your mistress often frightens you with her threats; that the same hands that performed a thousand labours carry baskets of wool for Ionian girls.
29. You have lain at her feet and told deeds of which you should say nothing: of serpents coiled about your infant hand while you crushed their life; of the great Tegaean boar that prowls in the cypress groves of Mount Erymanthus shaking the earth with his body's weight.
30. The daughter of Iardanus...Puff up your courage, recite each one of your brave deeds, it is she who is the better man.
31. Give up everything. You conquered the lion, but it is she who conquered you.
32. But now my eyes can see the rival and I cannot deny the truth that I see. You will not let me turn away: a captive, she is led through the city and I can no longer deny the pain that I feel.
33. I won't let you forget your sins.
1. By subduing Nereus, Hercules also managed to bring a degree of calm to the city.
2. There was a myth that the conception of Hercules was so momentous that even Zeus required more than one night to accomplish the task.
3. It is good when you meet a person who has a recognizable face.
1. You would have died in the twisting halls without the string that I gave you to be your guide.
2. My mind churns with a thousand thoughts.
3. My mother: there is no memory more dear to me.
4. It was autumn, when hidden birds would sing from the trees.
5. All wild beasts are gentler than you and I.
6. I strained my eyes to see by moonlight.
7. She played the role of a pitiable little victim.
8. As a result of a curse, the sisters were turned in chickens and left to run on the farm.
9. Thrace had four mares of great ferocity who were fed on human flesh.
1. In the twenty-one poems of the Heroides, Ovid gave voice to the heroines and heroes of epic and myth. These deeply moving literary epistles reveal the happiness and torment of love, as the writers tell of their pain at separation, forgiveness of infidelity or anger at betrayal.
2. In the poetic letters between Paris and Helen the lovers seem oblivious to the disaster prophesied for them, while in another exchange the youthful Leander asserts his foolhardy eagerness to risk his life to be with his beloved hero.
3. People in a relationship should learn to forgive and understand each other.
4. The Penelope of the Heroides asserts that she is primarily and most properly worthy of sympathy and compassion.
5. In a relationship sometimes, when we ask questions, our partner may not give us the exact answer that we're looking for.
6. Imagine if the buildings of a city were not there, and only grass and earth existed.
7. You're so skilled at fighting, you should take on a whole army all by yourself.
8. Be sure that I know how fickle men can be.
9. "Look at how they grow fat on the wealth won by your blood."
10. "Men should do men's work, women should do women's work."
11. Objections to romantic relationships in the workplace/military as the couple won't be able to get any work done.
12. The man was simply too old to work, he was a very old man.
13. He was widely regarded in the Greek world as a man of great wisdom whose advice was actively and often sought on many different matters.
14. Zacynthus is an island in the Ionian Sea, just of the coast of Thraces.
15. "She regretted her decision, because she failed to realize the possible consequences."
16. Yet as she here presents herself as a simple woman swept off her feet by an experienced man of the world, the reader cannot help but remembering that love is blind.
17. "Tell me what have I done? I loved unwisely."
18. Lovemaking can be different each time.
1. There were several men, who had to compete for the love of one woman.
2. “I dress nicely to please you.”
3. “Why do you stress me and make me wait so long?”
4. Refers to the Sicani, a tribe of whites who practice nudity and other strange practices.
5. Sometimes in relationships, we do not achieve the exact union which we desire.
6. Pegasus was a winged horse who lived on Mount Helicon, Pegasus is said to have started the spring by stamping his hoof.
7. Conceptions of the Middle East carry with it the notion of the fabulous and the unbelievable.
8. The woman searched for a man who had money, and when she found him, she seduced him.
9. The editor invented the wisdom after reading relevant information from the passage.
10. The god possessed an evil rod, made of gold.
1. By subduing Nereus, Hercules also managed to bring a degree of calm to the city.
2. There was a myth that the conception of Hercules was so momentous that even Zeus required more than one night to accomplish the task.
3. It is good when you meet a person who has a recognizable face.
4. She depicts Hercules as being enslaved by feminine charm.
5. The woman was being possessive, and didn’t want to share her husband with her friends.
6. Hercules was told that he had to slay the Nemean lion. This beast was of a great size and its hide could easily repel any weapon. At first he attempted to shoot it with an arrow but the arrow simply fell away from the animal.
7. You can say “I love you,” and mean it, even though you express it differently than someone else.
8. In death, we may lose certain desires that we had in life.
9. “Even though I disagree with you, I still care about you as a human being.”
10. When the man made the woman mad, she didn’t pay him any attention, and instead gave her attention to everyone else around her.
11. Even though she was going out with him, she had an affair with three men from his workplace.
12. She only dated muscular men.
13. Andromeda was an Ethiopian princess and figure in Greek mythology.
The Iliad
By Homer
1. O Atreus’ son! canst thou indulge thy rest?
Suggests that sometimes, you indulge others’ ideas.
2. Suggests that you have different names for things: the eyes, eyeballs; sight, vision...
3. Suggests that women have a power about them.
4. The vision spoke, and pass’d in air away.
5. What grieves the monarch? Is it thirst of gold?
Questions the goal of the monarch.
6. Suggests that there is a difference between a person at rest, and a person in motion.
7. And all who live to breathe this Phrygian air.
8. From Jove himself the dreadful sign was sent.
9. The Phocians next in forty barks repair;
10. Fierce in the fight their nostrils breathed a flame,
11. Speeds on the wings of winds through liquid air;
1. Book II
Now the other gods and the armed warriors on the plain slept soundly, but Zeus was wakeful, for he was thinking how to do honor to Achilles and destroy much people at the ships of the Achaeans
2. With this he led the way from the assembly, and the other sceptered kings rose with him in obedience to the word of Agamemnon;...
3. The king rose, and the other kings rose with him. Then, the king makes an inspirational speech to the assembly.
4. “Sir,” said he, “this flight is cowardly and unworthy.
5. Achilles is a much better man than he is, and see how he has treated him...
6. Lead the Argives on to battle, and leave this handful of men to rot, who scheme, and scheme in vain, to get back to Argos ere they have learned whether Zeus be true or a liar.
7. The men go on a series of adventures. They meet different people and do different things as the story progresses.
8. Hector knew that it was the goddess, and at once broke up the assembly. The men flew to arms; all the gates were opened, and the people thronged through them, horse and foot, with the tramp as of a great multitude.
9. Book III
10. “Paris,” said he, “evil-hearted Paris, fair to see, but woman-mad and false of tongue, would that you had never been born, or that you had died unwed.
11. Suggests that you do not speak in a way that betrays your tongue.
12. Young men’s minds are light as air, but when an old man comes he looks before and after, deeming that which shall be fairest upon both sides.
13. Book IV
14. Athene and Hera muttered their discontent as they sat side by side hatching mischief for the Trojans.
15. Do as you will, but we other gods shall not all of us approve your counsel.
1. Introduction - The poem, in other words, is some 2,700 years old.
2. Briefly discusses Milton and Shakespeare.
3. Suggests that we can create our own crude script handwriting, containing complicated shapes.
4. Omitted.
5. "The most likely date for the composition of the Iliad is the fifty years running from 725 to 675 b.c."
6. "The Iliad is a poem that lives and moves and has its being in war..."
7. "The gods are immortal; they are not subject to time. They have all the time in the world. And so they are not subject to change, to the change brought by age, to the change brought by learning and suffering and a realization of limitations."
8. "And shattered with anger, the old man withdrew
but Apollo heard his prayer--he loved him, deeply--"
9. "How can you sleep all night, a man weighed down with duties?"
10. "No, don't give up now. Range the Achaean ranks,
with your winning words hold back each man you find--
don't let them haul their rolling ships to sea!"
11. "Their morale was low but the men laughed now,
good hearty laughter breaking over Thersites' head--"
1. "...words, endless words--that is your passion, always,
...true, but they speak a thousand different tongues,"
2. "...miles east where the mother lode of silver came to birth."
3. "The minds of the younger men are always flighty,
but let an old man stand his ground among them,
one who can see the days behind, the days ahead--"
4. "That's Laertes' son, the great tactician Odysseus...
the man of twists and turns."
1. One of the soldiers in the story was a man who "had fought to exhaustion."
2. A son of Iphiclus, son of Phylacus, was “rich in flocks.”
3. “But their captain lay on an island…where the armies had marooned him.”
4. “Both men armed at opposing sides of the forces
into the no man’s land between the lines they strode…"
5. “Hurl your challenge at Menelaus dear to Ares
fight it out together, man-to-man again.”
6. To be continued.
1. "The elderly should teach, and give spoken orders, and let the younger generation use their strength."
2. "Leaders should keep their word, and not break agreements. This displays courage and honesty."
3. Omitted.
4. "Fools. Their own bravado killed them."
5. "...and not one cry, no common voice to bind them."
6. "So now if a god comes up to test your mettle
you must not fight the immortal powers head-on."
1. "Athena! If you ever stood by father...
Bring that man into range and let me spear him!
He's wounded me off guard and now he triumphs --
he boasts I won't look long on the light of day."
2. "Now take heart, Diomedes, fight it out with the Trojans!
Deep in your chest I've put your father's strength."
3. "So now if a god comes up to test your mettle,
you must not fight the immortal powers head-on."
3. Suggests that different people are built differently and thus can succeed different sports.
4. To be continued.
5. "He passed them on to Deipylus, a friend-in-arms
he prized beyond all comrades his own age--"
6. Suggests that you do not fight an opponent who is mismatched, but rather, you fight an opponent who is your equal.
1. Diomedes says,
"Fighting is not for you, my child, the works of war.
See to the works of marriage, the slow fires."
2. During a war, ask ourselves, "Why are they fighting again?"
Reminds us that wars are sometimes fought over money or territory.
3. The captain of the army as a charismatic leader.
4. "Aeneas replied in kind and killed two Argive captains."
5. "So here the twins were laid low at Aeneas' hands,
down they crashed like lofty pine trees axed."
6. "Once they'd dragged the bodies back to their lines
they dropped the luckless twins in companions' open arms
and round they swung again to fight in the first ranks."
7. "For all your power, soldier,
crushed at my hands you'll breach the gates of Death!"
8. "Heroic Sarpedon--
his loyal comrades bore him out of the fighting quickly,
weighed down by the heavy spearshaft dragging on..."
9. “They loosed this manic Ares — he has no sense of justice.”
10. "And again she lashed her team
and again the stallions flew, holding nothing back,
careering between the earth and starry skies as far
as a man's glance can pierce the horizon's misting haze..."
11. "poured a dense shrouding mist and before their hoofs
the Simois sprang ambrosial grass for them to graze."
12. "So Hera trumpeted,
lashing the nerve and fighting-fury in each man"
13. When Diomedes killed Ares,
"A shudder swept through all ranks, Trojans and Argives both,
terror-struck by the shriek the god let loose,"
14. "And we all must battle you--
you brought that senseless daughter into the world,
that murderous curse -- forever bent on crimes!
But that girl --
you never block her way with a word or action, never,
you spur her on, since you, you gave her birth"
15. "But I, I'm so fast on my feet I saved my life.
Else for a good long while I'd have felt the pain...
beaten down by bronze."
16. Briefly discusses fig-juice and fig spread.
17. To be continued.
18. "Take me alive, Atrides, take a ransom worth my life!
Treasures are piled up in my rich father's house,
bronze and gold and plenty of well-wrought iron--
father would give you anything, gladly, priceless ransom
if only he learns I'm still alive in Argive ships!"
19. Helenus, son of Priam says,
"My captains! You are our bravest men, whatever the enterprise,
pitched in battle itself or planning our campaigns,
so stand your ground right here!"
20. "And the Lycians carved him out a grand estate,
the choicest land in the realm, rich in vineyards
and good tilled fields for him to rule over."
21. "when Hector reached the Scaean Gates and the great oak,
the wives and daughters of Troy came rushing up around him,
asking about their sons, brothers, friends and husbands.
But Hector told them only, 'Pray to the gods'--"
22. "I've learned it all too well. To stand up bravely,
always to fight in the front ranks of Trojan soldiers,
winning my father great glory, glory for myself."
23. "Nor did Paris linger long in his vaulted halls.
As a stallion full-fed at the manger, stalled too long,
breaking free of his tether gallops down the plain,
out for his favorite plunge in a river's cool currents,
thundering in his pride--his head flung back, his mane
streaming over his shoulders, sure and sleek in his glory,
knees racing him on to the fields and stallion-haunts he loves."
24. "We'll set all this to rights,
someday, if Zeus will ever let us raise
the bowl of freedom high in our halls,
high to the gods of cloud and sky who live forever."
25. Ajax Duels with Hector
26. "No doubt you'll hand your Argives victory soon,
you'll turn the tide of battle."
27. "'But tell me,
how do you hope to stop the men from fighting?'
'We'll spur his nerve and strength, that breaker of horses,
see if he'll challenge one of the Argives man-to-man
and they will duel in combat to the death.'"
28. "And Apollo lord of the silver bow and Queen Athena,
like carrion birds, like vultures
slowly settled atop the broad towering oak"
29. "Our oaths, our sworn truce has brought them all to nothing
and all the Father decrees is death for both sides at once."
30. "'Here are the terms that I set forth --
let Zeus look down, my witness!'
'If that man takes my life....
he will give my body to friends to carry home again,
so Trojan men and Trojan women can do me honor once I am dead...'"
31. "Once more the fine old horseman gave commands:
'Now shake the lots for all,
the first to the last man--we'll see who wins.'
And each soldier scratched his mark on a stone
and threw it into Atrides Agamemnon's helmet."
32. "Pray to yourselves in silence, so Trojans cannot hear
no, pray out loud!"
33. "The men of Argos exulted at the sight of him there
Hector himself, his heart pounding against his ribs."
34. For protection, Ajax wore heavy bronze over seven layers of oxhide.
35. "Don't toy with me. War--I know it well."
36. The characters begin to do battle. Then the herald Idaeus comes, and breaks it up.
37. "No more, my sons--don't kill yourselves in combat!"
Zeus who marshals the storm cloud loves you both.
You're great fighters--we know that full well.
The night comes on at last. Best to yield to night."
38. "Nestor was the first to speak--from the early days
his plans and tactics always seemed the best."
39. "So at dawn you must call a halt to fighting by Achaeans,
form your units, bring on wagons, gather up the dead"
40. To be continued.
1. "True, and what profit for us in the long run?"
2. "No more of your hot insistence--it repels me.
You must have something better than this to say."
3."Now take your evening meal throughout the city,
just as you always have, and stand your watches,
each man wide awake."
4. "And home Idaeus came,
delivered his message standing in their midst,
and they fell to making hurried preparations,
dividing the labors quickly--two detachments,
one to gather the bodies, one the timber."
5. "Father Zeus, is there a man on the whole wide earth
who still informs the gods of all his plans, his schemes?"
6. To be continued.
7. "Yes, but all night long the Master Strategist Zeus
plotted fresh disaster for both opposing armies--"
8. "Then they lay down at last and took the gift of sleep."
9. "and the thunder of struggle roared and rocked the earth.
Screams of men and cries of triumph breaking in one breath,"
10. "Now there would have been havoc, irreversible chaos,
but the father of men and gods was quick to the mark."
11. "He hands the glory to Hector, today at least--
tomorrow it's ours, if he wants to give us glory."
12. "I'll never yield, you'll never mount our towers,
never drag our people back to your ships of war--
I'll pack you off to the god of darkness first!"
13. "corpse on corpse he dropped to the earth that rears us all."
14. "But Father rages now, that hard black heart,
Not a thought for the many times I saved his son"
15. "Those two alone, Athena and Hera, sat apart from Zeus--
not a word would they send his way, not a question."
But Zeus knew what they were trying to say.
16. "as Athena and Queen Hera muttered between themselves,
huddled together, plotting Troy's destruction."
1. "Yes, we'll keep clear of the war as you command.
We'll simply offer the Argives tactics that may save them
so they won't all fall beneath your blazing wrath."
2. "Their morale had not been broken. The spirits of the troops soared."
3. "Few can match your power in battle, Diomedes,
and in council you excel all men your age.
So no one could make light of your proposals,
not the whole army--who could contradict you?"
4. "The troops focused on his words and took his orders.
Seven chiefs of the guard, a hundred under each,"
5. "I will even honor him on a par with my Orestes,
full-grown by now, reared in the lap of luxury."
6. "Songs are supposed to lift our spirits."
7. Many of the characters have a feast, of sheep, goat, and pig.
8. As a gift, the god gives one of the soldiers seven small cities, filled with people, rich in sheep and cattle.
9. Even though the cities are separate, they cooperate with each other on some levels.
10. Briefly discusses the limitations of old age.
11. "How can you ask me to poison myself, and take medication?”
12. "No, what lasting thanks in the long run
for warring with our enemies, on and on, no end?"
13. "I say no wealth is worth my life!"
14. "Even the gods themselves can bend and change,
and theirs is the greater power, honor, strength."
15. "Still you could bring them round with gifts and winning words."
16. "There's no achieving our mission here, I see,
not with this approach. Best to return at once."
17. "The more you battle him, the stronger he fights."
18. "Not a man in sight will take
that mission on, I fear, and go against our enemies."
19. To be continued.
1. "Up with you, Diomedes! What, sleep all night?"
2. "Take us alive, Atrides, take a ransom worth our lives!
Vast treasures are piled up in Antimachus' house,
bronze and gold and plenty of iron--
father would give you anything, gladly, priceless ransom
if only he learns we're still alive in Argive ships!"
3. "Now pay for your father's outrage, blood for blood!"
4. Omitted.
5. Suggests that war is just one result of an enmity between nations.
6. "So then and there under royal Agamemnon's hands
the two sons of Antenor filled out their fates
and down they plunged to the strong House of Death."
7. "Trojans! Lycians! Dardan fighters hand-to-hand--
Their best man goes and runs--
Zeus is handing me glory, awesome glory."
8. In a previous passage, mentions that many of the people in the town were skilled in crafts.
9. "Hector rejoined his men
with a strong hand planted against the earth
and the world went black as night across his eyes."
10. "The spear stuck fast in the ground.
And loosing a heady laugh of triumph Paris leapt
from his hiding-place and shouted out in glory,
'Now you're hit--no wasted shot, my winging arrow!'"
11. "Ajax, royal son of Telamon, captain of armies,
He sounds like a man cut off and overpowered,
by Trojan ranks in the rough assault.
I'm afraid he may be hurt, alone with the Trojans,"
12. "A man who can cut out shafts and dress our wounds--
a good healer is worth a troop of other men."
13. "Hector kept on raging, battling ranks on ranks,
but he stayed clear of attacking Ajax man-to-man."
14. Ajax's spirits were dashed.
15. To be continued.
16. "And then through camp we took our evening meal
by rank and file, and slept when we could."
17. "And to his eldest daughter, Agamede,
skilled with as many drugs as the wide world grows."
18. "We'd come to the strong and storied house of Peleus,
out for recruits across Athena's good green land."
19. "So in the years to come Poseidon and god Apollo
would set all things to rights once more.
But now,
the war, the deafening crash of battle blazed,"
20. “Not without fame, the men who rule in Lycia,
these kings of ours who eat fat cuts of lamb,”
1. "And the two Aeantes ranged all points of the rampart,
calling out commands to spur their comrades' fury."
2. "Glaucus
why do they hold us both in honor, first by far,
with pride of place, choice meats and brimming cups,
in Lycia where all our people look on us like gods?"
3. "A brisk command, and the runner snapped to it--
he dashed along the wall of the Argive men-at-arms"
4. "Soon as he noticed Glaucus slipping clear,
the pain overcame Sarpedon
but even so he never forgot his lust for battle."
5. "Ajax lunged at the man, he struck his shield but the point...
Not that Sarpedon yielded all the way, never,
his heart still raced with hopes of winning glory,"
6. Of the great warrior Hector, writes,
"No one could fight him, stop him,
none but the gods as Hector hurtled through the gates
and his eyes flashed fire."
7. "Victory is sweet, defeat is bitter."
8. "So they roused each other, exulting in the fire,
the joy of battle the god excited in their hearts."
9. "How on earth can we hang back from combat now?
Heal our feuds at once! Surely they can be healed,
the hearts of the brave. How can you hold back
your combat fury any longer? Not with honor--
you, the finest men in all our ranks..."
10. "immense floods breaking the bank's grip, and the reckless boulder
bounding high, flying with timber rumbling under it,
nothing can stop it now, hurtling on undaunted"
11. "...and down he went like a tall ash
on a landmark mountain ridge that glistens far and wide--
chopped down by an ax, its leaves running with sap,
strewn across the earth...So Imbrius fell,"
12. "A fight of equals, that's a fight."
13. To be continued.
14. "and out for blood he charged Idomeneus now.
But nothing could make him panic.
he stood his ground like a wild mountain boar,"
15. "'The worst wounds are wounds near the navel, near the stomach,'
the worst the god of battles deals to wretched men."
16. "One can achieve his fill of all good things...
But not these Trojans--
no one can glut their lust for battle."
17. "Impossible man! Won't you listen to reason?
Just because some god exalts you in battle
you think you can beat the rest at tactics too."
18. "Now all towering Troy is ruined top to bottom.
Now one thing's certain--your own headlong death!"
19. "If you have the daring to stand against my heavy spear
its point will rip your soft warm skin to shreds!"
20. "Think, noble Machaon, what shall we do now?
The cries are fiercer--fighters beside the ships!"
21. "Why come back here to shore? I'm filled with fear
that breakneck Hector will bring his word to pass--"
22. "And they have no stomach left
to fight to the end against the warship's sterns."
23. "Then, commander of armies, your plan will kill us all!
So now, whoever can find a better plan, let him speak up,
young soldier or old. I would be pleased to hear him."
24. "That man has got no heart in him, not a pulsebeat.
So let him die, outirght--let a god wipe him out!"
25. "A shattering cry--so huge that voice the god of the earthquake
let loose from his lungs."
26. "Sleep, master of all gods and mortal men...
And then I put the brain of thundering Zeus to sleep,"
27. "And filled with guile the noble Hera answered,
'I am off to the ends of the fruitful, teeming earth
I go to visit them and dissolve their fendless feud--'"
28. Hera sleeps with Zeus, to make him forget about the war. Then Hera becomes powerful.
29. To be continued.
1. One of the characters leaps and springs, in one action scene.
2. "Don't think struggle and pain will be ours alone--
your day will come to die in blood like him."
3. One of the characters has wealth, but no way to spend it.
4. "I speed this word to you from storming Zeus.
He commands you to quit the war and slaughter now,
go back to the tribes of gods or down to your bright sea."
1. "Down from Ida's peaks he swooped like a hawk,
...the fastest thing on wings."
2. "So up now, Hector--
command your drivers here in all their hundreds
to lash their plunging teams at the hollow ships."
3. "Tense as a chalk-line marks the cut of a ship timber,
drawn taut and true in a skilled shipwright's hands--
some master craftsman trained in Athena's school--"
4. "Quick, better to live or die, once and for all,
than die by inches, slowly crushed to death--"
5. "And Hector lunged again
like a murderous lion mad for kills, charging cattle
grazing across the flats of a broad marshy pasture,"
6. To be continued.
1. Both sides fought valiantly in the war.
2. "There his brothers and countrymen will bury the prince
with full royal rites, with mounded tomb and pillar.
These are the solemn honors owed the dead."
3. "Then send him on his way wih the wind-swift escorts
twin brothers Sleep and Death, who with all good speed
will set him down in the broad green land of Lycia."
4. "then the Argives mounted a fiercer new attack.
fighting beyond their fates..."
5. To be continued.
6. "If he hadn't fought one of the soldiers, he would have fought twenty."
7. The courageous act of the low-ranking soldier humbled the 'high and mighty Atrides, captain of armies.'
8. One of the soldiers was a fresh, brand new soldier, compared to the military veteran.
9. "When you fight a man against the will of the gods,
a man they have sworn to honor--then look out,
a heavy wave of ruins about to overwhelm you."
10. "But you--you lacked the nerves to go up against Great Ajax,
and fight the man head-on--he's a better man than you."
11. The war raging is the Trojan war, with the Trojans against the Argives.
12. "He dispelled the mist at once,
and the whole war swung into view, clear, that instant--"
13. "The eagle has the sharpest eyes of all birds that fly the heavens."
14. "They swept in like hounds that fling themselves
at a wounded boar before young hunters reach him,
and the hounds cringe and bolt and scatter left and right."
15. "If only strife could die from the lives of gods and men
bitter gall--sweeter than dripping streams of honey,
that swarms in people's chests and blinds like smoke--"
16. "Not that he will glory in it long, I tell you:
his own destruction hovers near him now."
17. "Three times illustrious Hector shouted for support,
three times the Aeantes, armored in battle-fury
fought him off the corpse."
18. "And show yourself to the Trojans. Struck with fear
at the sight of you, they might hold off from attack."
19. "So wild the man's fury he will never rest content,
holding out on the plain where Trojans and Argives
met halfway..."
20. To be continued.
1. "So follow my advice, hard as it may seem...
Tonight conserve our strength in the meeting place,"
2. "By his own possessions, let him collect the lot,
pass them round to the people--a grand public feast."
3. "The god of war is impartial:
he hands out death to the man who hands out death."
4. "Troy is a world away."
5. "Nor from mother, Thetis--this alien earth I stride
will keep me secure at last."
6. "Tell me what's on your mind. I am eager to do it--
whatever I can do...whatever can be done."
7. "I go to his side--nothing I do can help him. Nothing."
1. "And across its vast expanse with all his craft and cunning
the god creates a world of gorgeous immortal work."
2. "Treachery never crossed their minds."
3. "He laid it all at the feet of Achilles' mother Thetis--
and down she flashed like a hawk from snowy Mount Olympus"
4. "As the sun rose, bringing light to immortal gods and mortal men,"
5. "Enough. Let bygones be bygones. Done is done."
6. "When a man stands up to speak, it's well to listen.
Not to interrupt him, the only courteous thing."
7. "And rushed in person to give the word to Zeus:
'Zeus, Father, lord of the lightning bolt--'"
8. "But since I was blinded and Zeus stole my wits,
I am intent on setting things to rights, at once:
I'll give that priceless ransom paid for friendship."
9. "And the famous cripples Smith replied, 'Courage!
Anguish for all that armor--sweep it from your mind.'"
10. "It's no quick skirmish shaping,
once the massed formations of men begin to clash
with a god breathing fury in both sides at once."
11. "Yet I might surpass you in seasoned judgement
by quite a lot, since I have years on you."
12. "You want the men to grieve for the dead by starving?
Impossible. Too many falling, day after day--battalions!"
13. "And there with the Myrmidons hold my marriage feast.
So now I mourn your death--I will never stop--
you were always kind."
14. "That, or else one of us might stant beside Achilles
and lend him winning force--his courage must not flag."
15. "Let him know he's loved by the greatest gods on high
while the gods who up till now have shielded Troy
from war and death are worthless as the wind!"
16. "Come, Achilles...
A man's tongue is a glib and twisty thing...
plenty of words there are, all kinds at its command--
with all the room in the world for talk to range and stray."
1. "But Hector, his helmet flashing, never flinched:
'Don't think for a moment, Achilles, son of Peleus,
you can frighten me with words like a child, a fool--
I'm an old hand myself at trading taunts and insults.'"
2. "Then on the twelfth day
some god cast him into Achilles's hands again
and now he would send him off on a new journey."
3. Achilles “killed in a blur of kills,” eight men. He would have killed more, had not it been for the river rising.
4. Refers to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
5. Held a ceremony commemorating the dead soldiers.
6. “What if I put down my sword and my shield, to meet Achilles, noble Prince Achilles.”
7. "Past these they raced, one escaping, one in pursuit
and the one who fled was great but the one pursuing
greater, even greater--their pace mounting in speed."
8. The group decides whether to make peace or to continue fighting.
9. Achilles was known for his speed while running.
10. Achilles and Hector fight, and Achilles kills Hector. The war ends.
11. A competition similar to the Olympics begins.
1. In one scene, one of the characters says that he does not want to leave his friend who is injured.
2. "For all your grief—what sorrow
siezes on your heart. I know it well myself.”
3. "Take care of yourself; how can you help our family if you are hurt?"
4. The end.
Notes
1. Ocean River: in the Homeric imagination, Ocean is a river that, encircles the whole world. All the rivers of the world flow from it, connected often by subterranean channels.
2. Heracles is the greatest of the Greek heroes, he eventually, after his death, became an immortal god.
3. The afterlife in Greek mythology, is filled with gods and goddesses.
4. “As in many tribal societies, compensation for a killing might be offered to and accepted by the victim’s relatives. If it were not offered, the relatives would pursue the killer to exact blood for blood."
5. Refers to the mythical figure Linus, a great musician.
6. "Or share the riches with its people, ie, they would cease hostilities if offered half the cities wealth."
7. The end.
The Odyssey
By Homer
1. Discusses the interaction between past and present.
2. Poseidon is obsessed with persecuting Odysseus.
3. "Men blame the gods for things that are the responsibility of men."
4. "Poseidon will relent. For he will not be able to struggle on alone against the unified will of the immortal gods."
5. "But tell me honestly who are you and where you come from. What is your native town? Who are your parents? What brought you here? And what do you hope to do?"
6. "His death would have made him less stressful to us."
7. "People party 'with never a thought for all the wealth that is being wasted.'"
8. "We are not able to defend it ourselves...Yet I would willingly fight if I had the strength. For I tell you, the things I do are past all bearing."
9. "...For three years she took us in by this trick. A fourth began, and the seasons were slipping by, when one of the women who knew all about it gave it away."
10. Zeus urged two eagles into flight from the mountain-top. "For a while they sailed down the wind, wing to wing." Then, with their talons, the two birds had a fight in the air. Then, one of the men below took this opportunity to make a speech.
1. "The sun brought light to the land."
2. "In the ceremony of libation the first few drops of wine were poured on to the ground or on to the fire as an offering to the gods."
3. "Indeed, I cannot help looking at you in awe: you talk exactly as he did, and I should have sworn no young man could so resemble him in speech."
4. "Don't let a day pass where you learn nothing. Try to learn something new every day."
5. "Tell me, do you tamely submit to this, or have the people of Ithaca been listening to some rumour inspired by a god that has turned their hearts against you?"
6. To be continued.
7. "Eteoneus, son of Boethus, you have not always been a fool; but at the moment you are talking nonsense like a child...and we could expect that Zeus might grant us a life without suffering in time to come."
8. "Meanwhile a carver served them with plates of various meats he had selected from his board, and put gold cups beside them."
9. "When they had satisfied their appetite and thirst, Telemachus spoke to Nestor's son, leaning close so that the rest might not hear him."
10. "How happy I could be...so far from Argos where the horses graze."
11. To be continued.
12. One of the characters gives another a drug, "that had the power of robbing grief and anger of their sting and banishing all painful memories...It was one of the many drugs which had been given to the daughter of Zeus by an Egyptian woman, Polydanna, the wife of Thon. The soil of Egypt is very rich in herbs, many of which are beneficial in solution, though many are poisonous. And in medical knowledge Egyptians are supreme among men."
13. "I had no further use for life, no wish to see the sunshine anymore. But then the Sea Prophet spoke to me and said, 'Menelaus, you have wept too long. Enough of this grief, which gains us nothing. Better make every effort to get back to your own land as quickly as you can. For either you will find Aegisthus still alive or Orestes will have forestalled you...'"
14. Discusses the importance of each person not worrying too much, and getting some enjoyment out of life.
1. "The decorations in the rooms of Egyptian Thebes, are more luxurious than anywhere in the world."
2. "...it only makes things worse to think that such qualities as these could not shield Odysseus from disaster. Even a heart of iron could not have saved him."
3. "With this wand in his hand, the mighty giant-killer made his flight. From the upper air he dropped to the range, and from there swooped down on the sea, and skimmed the waves like a sea-gull drenching the feathers of its wings with spray as it pursues the fish down fearsome troughs of the unharvested deep."
4. Calypso asks, "Hermes of the golden wand, what brings you here? You are an honored and welcome guest, though in the past your visits have been few."
5. "But I will not help him on his way. I have no ship fitted with oars, no crew to carry him so far across the seas. Yet I do promise with a good grace and unreservedly to give him such directions as will bring him safe and sound to his native land."
6. "So I shall not entrust myself to a raft unless...you give me your solemn oath that you will not plot some other mischief against me."
7. "There was a time when sailors could sail based on the stars."
1. In his analysis of sportsmen, reminds us that as we age, we lose our strength.
2. "That would be to spite himself. But the rest of you, there is no one I'll back away from and no one I'll consider beneath me. I'm ready to meet and match myself against anyone."
3. There were wolves and lions. "They did not attack my men, but rose on their hind legs to fawn on them, with much wagging of their long tails, like dogs fawning on their master as he comes from table for the tasty bits he always brings."
4. "Why are you looking for trouble? It was this man's reckless folly that cost them their lives."
5. "Go round this trench and pour offerings, first with a mixture of honey and milk..."
6. "As for your own end, Death will come to you far away from the sea, a gentle Death. When he takes you, you will die peacefully of old age, surrounded by a prosperous people."
7. "My eyes fell next on Iphimedeia, wife of Aloeus. She told me that she was the mother of the godlike Otus and Ephialtes famed in story, the largest men Earth ever nourished."
8. Relates the story of a warrior who was haunted by the ghosts of the men he'd slain.
9. "He took his share of the spoils and his special prize, and embarked safe and sound on his ship without a single wound either from a flying spear or from a sword at close quarters. Such wounds are common in battle: the War-god in his fury is no respecter of persons."
10. "Terrible too was the golden belt he wore, depicting miraculous scenes -- bears, wild boars and glaring lions, conflict and battle, bloodshed and massacre." This represented the mindset of the wearer.
11. "So you too are working out some such miserable doom as I endured when I lived in the light of the sun."
1. "With unfaltering speed she forged ahead, and not even the wheeling falcon, the fastest creature that flies, could have kept her company."
2. "There was a pitch-black sky that night covering the heavens and not a soul was nearby..."
3. "Any other man on returning from his travels would have rushed home in high spirits to see his children and his wife. You, on the contrary, are in no hurry even to ask questions and to learn the news."
4. "Oh no! Whose country have I come to this time? Are they some brutal tribe of uncivilized savages, or a kindly and god-fearing people?"
5. "He was busy shaping a pair of sandals to his feet, cutting them out of a piece of good brown leather."
6. "Yet the blessed gods don't like wicked acts. Justice and fair play are what they respect in men."
7. "But now, old friend, you must tell me about your own troubles. Tell me the truth; I want to know everything."
8. To be continued.
9. "There should be moderation in all things."
10. "Oh no, my friend! What on earth put such a scheme into your head?"
11. "I will tell you all, Laertes is alive, but every day he prays to Zeus that death may visit his house and release his spirit from his flesh."
12. Discusses a place where there are lots of pigs, lots of pig stys and lots of pigs.
1. "But it is difficult for a man to do anything single-handed against a crowd, however strong he may be. They have an overwhelming advantage."
2. "I wish I were as young as you, or as young as I feel."
3. "...and those villains gorging themselves, just for the sport of the thing, on and on, and not likely to get anywhere."
4. "So father and son discussed the situation, and the good ships that had brought Telemachus and his men from Pylos began to approach the harbor at Ithaca."
5. "As it happened, this messenger and the worthy swineherd, conveying the same news to the lady, met on the way."
1. Odysseus Goes to the Town
2. Odysseus puts on a pair of "elegant sandals," and prepares for a journey.
3. "...I have too many troubles on my mind. And if he is annoyed by this, so much the worse for him. I believe in plain speaking."
4. Emphasizes the importance of bathing and wearing clean clothes.
5. Indicates that bathing is a ritual for some people.
6. "But as to your appeal and the questions you asked me -- I have no wish to deceive you or put you off with evasive answers. On the contrary I shall pass on to you without concealment or reserve every word that I heard myself from the infallible lips of the Old Man of the Sea."
7. "This accomplished I left him. The immortal gods sent me a favourable wind and brought me quickly back to my beloved Ithaca."
8. "Sir, may what you say prove true! If it does, you will soon receive from me such friendship and generosity that anyone who meets you will call you a fortunate man."
9. "So now let us be on our way. The best part of the day is gone and you may well find it chilly towards evening."
10. "He'd much rather fill his belly by grovelling and begging round the town. You mark my words, and time will prove me right. If he goes to noble Odysseus' palace..."
11. "Close on his heels Odysseus entered the buildings. He looked like some wretched old beggar leaning on a stick, his body covered with filthy rags."
12. "He who was dressed like a beggar spoke like a beggar, while he who was dressed like a gentleman spoke like a gentleman."
13. "For plenty of these Achaeans harbour evil thoughts. May Zeus destroy them before they destroy us!"
14. To be continued.
15. The Beggar in the Palace
16. "There now appeared a common vagrant who used to beg in the town of Ithaca...He was a big fellow, yet in spite of appearances he had no stamina or muscle."
17. "'Friends,' he said, 'there's no way in which an old fellow taken on by hardships can take on a younger man...So now I ask you all to take an oath. No one must side with Irus: I don't want to lose him through an unfair blow from one of you.'"
18. "At this they all took the oath he asked of them, and when they had sworn the full oath, the great Telemachus put in his word: 'Stranger, if you have the heart and pluck to match yourself against this man, you need not be afraid of any of these gentlemen.'"
19. "I'll tell you this, and it will happen. If this fellow beats you and shows himself the better man, I'll throw you into a ship and send you over to the mainland to King Echetus the Destroyer..."
20. "The patient, good Odysseus considered carefull whether he should fell him with a mortal blow or knock him to the ground with a gentler punch. In the end he decided on the lighter blow, so that the Achaeans would not suspect him."
21. "Your health, my ancient friend! You are having a hard time now; but here's to your future happiness!"
22. To be continued.
1. Eurycleia Recognizes Odysseus
2. “So noble Odysseus was left in the hall plotting the destruction of the Suitor’s with Athens’s aid."
3. "'My lady,’ answered the resourceful Odysseus, ‘there is not a man in the wide world who could find fault with you.’”
4. Suggests that some people can find fault with anyone, no matter how good, or normal they are.
5. Prelude to the Crisis
6. “As he lay there wide awake brewing trouble for his rivals, a group of people came out of the house.”
7. "But though Odysseus' heart was wrung by his wife's distress, his eyes, as if made of horn or iron, remained steady between their lids."
8. It is important to have a sense of right and wrong.
9. To be continued.
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