WORLD LITERATURE (MIDTERM)
LESSON 1
GREEK MYTHOLOGY
What is Mythology?
It is an allegorical narrative that deals with gods,
demigods and legendary heroes of a particular group
of people.
In Ancient Greek
Mythology, the 12
Olympian gods and
goddess ruled over
human affairs—
enjoyed parties,
fights, and love
affairs, from their
place on Mount
Olympus.
THE TWELVE OLYMPIANS
1. ZEUS - The King of Gods
- After leading the battle against Cronus,
Zeus became the chief god, and ruled over the other
divinities living on Mount Olympus.
- He held dominion over the earth and sky
and was the ultimate arbitrator of law and justice. He
controlled the weather, using his ability to hurl thunder
and lightning to enforce his reign.
2. HERA - The Queen of the Gods
- The Hera, a Roman copy of a Hellenistic
original, from the Louvre.
- Hera ruled as queen of the gods. As the
goddess of marriage and fidelity, she was one of the
only Olympians to remain steadfastly faithful to
her spouse.
- Though faithful, she was also vengeful,
and tormented many of Zeus’s extramarital partners.
3. POSEIDON - The God of the Sea
- Neptune Poseidon Calming
the Waves, courtesy The Louvre, Paris.
- When Zeus became king, he divided the
universe amongst himself and his two brothers.
Poseidon received dominion over the seas and waters
of the world.
- He also held the power to produce
storms, floods, and earthquakes. He was also the
protector of seamen and the god of horses.
4. DEMETER – Goddess of the Harvest
- Demeter, statue, mid-4th century BCE;
in the British Museum, London.
- Known as the “good goddess” to
the people of the earth, Demeter oversaw farming,
agriculture, and the fertility of the earth.
- Not surprisingly, as she controlled
the production of food, she was very highly
worshipped in the ancient world.
5. ATHENA - Goddess of War and Wisdom
- Roman Statue of Athena The Ince
Athena, from a Greek 5th Century BC original,
courtesy National Museums Liverpool
- Athena was the daughter of Zeus
and his first wife, Metis. Fearing that a son would
usurp him as he had his father, Zeus swallowed Metis
to prevent this.
- She took her place on Mount Olympus
as the goddess of justice, strategic warfare, wisdom,
rational thought, and arts and crafts.
- The owl was one of her most important
symbols, and she planted the first olive tree as a gift to
her favorite namesake city, Athens.
6. ARTEMIS - Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt
- Greek Statue of Artemis with a Doe,
courtesy The Louvre, Paris.
- Artemis was quiet, dark and
solemn, the goddess of the moon, forests, archery,
and the hunt. Like Athena, Artemis had no desire to
marry.
- She was the patron goddess of
feminine fertility, chastity, and childbirth, and
was also heavily associated with wild animals. The
bear was sacred.
7. APOLLO - God of the Sun, Light and Music
- Apollo statue on Pavillon de Trémoille at
Musée du.
- Artemis’s twin brother Apollo was her
exact opposite, the god of the sun, light, music,
prophecy, medicine, and knowledge.
- His oracle at Delphi was the most
famous of the ancient world. He was cheerful and
bright, enjoyed singing, dancing, and drinking, and
was immensely popular.
8. HEPHAESTUS - God of the Sun, Light and Music
- God of the Fire
- Amphora depicting Hephaestus
presenting the shield of Achilles to Thetis, courtesy
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
- Accounts differ as to the birth of
Hephaestus. Some name him the son of Zeus and
Hera, others say he was conceived by Hera alone in
order to get back at Zeus for the birth of Athena.
- He learned the blacksmith’s trade,
built himself a workshop, and became the god of
fire, metallurgy, sculpture, and crafts, though to a
lesser extent than his sister Athena. His forges
produce the fire.
9. APHRODITE – Goddess of Love, Beauty and
Sexuality
- Mars and Venus Surprised by
Vulcan by Alexandre Charles Guillemot, courtesy
Indianapolis Museum of Art
- Aphrodite’s marriage to Hephaestus
was not to her liking, although he crafted intricate
jewelry for her as an attempt to woo her affections.
She preferred the wild and rough Ares.
- Aphrodite’s marriage to Hephaestus
was not to her liking, although he crafted intricate
jewelry for her as an attempt to woo her affections.
She preferred the wild and rough Ares.
10. ARES - God of Violent War
- Roman bust of Ares, courtesy Hermitage
Museum, Russia.
- Ares was the god of war, but in direct
contrast to his sister, Athena. Where Athena oversaw
strategy, tactics, and defensive warfare, Ares reveled
in the violence and bloodshed that war produced.
- Despite his association with war, he is
often described as a coward, running back to Olympus
in a sullen fury every time he received the slightest
wound.
THE TWELVE OLYMPIANS AND “TWO EXTRA”
1. HESTIA - Goddess of the Earth
- Hestia Giustiniani, Roman copy of an
early Classical Greek bronze original, courtesy Museo
Torlonia
- Hestia was the final sister of Zeus. She
was the most gentle of all the goddesses, and
protected the home and the hearth. According to the
myths, she was originally one of the twelve.
- However, when Dionysus was born, she
graciously gave him her throne, insisting that she
was happier sitting near and tending to the fire that
warmed Olympus.
2. HADES - King of the Underworld
- Proserpina - The Rape of Persephone
Sculpture by Bernini, courtesy Galleria Borghese,
Rome
- The other brother of Zeus, Hades, is also
not considered an Olympian, as he did not live in the
divine palace. Hades was the god of the dead,
overseeing the underworld and the souls that came
there.
- Despite this, he caused less trouble
than his brother Poseidon, who on one occasion
attempted a revolt against Zeus. Hades also had a soft
spot for his wife, Persephone.
END
LESSON 2
THE TITANS
11. HERMES – Messenger of the Gods
- Souls of Acheron by Adolf HirémyHirschl, 1898, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere,
Vienna
- Hermes had a very diverse collection
of skills, as the god of trade, eloquence, wealth, luck,
sleep, thieves, travel, and animal-raising. He is also
always characterized as mischievous.
- As the messenger of the gods, Hermes
ran many errands, including killing the monster Argos
to release Io, rescuing Ares from his imprisonment by
giants, and talking Calypso into freeing Odysseus and
his men from her clutches. It was also his duty to
escort souls into the underworld.
12. DIONYSUS – God of Wine
- Roman Statue of Dionysus with Pan,
courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- As the god of wine, wine-making,
merriment, theater, and ritual madness, Dionysus was
an easy favorite among Olympians and mortals alike.
- He was the only Olympian to be born
of a mortal mother, and perhaps that was part of the
reason why he spent so much time among mortal
men, travelling widely and gifting them with wine.
THE TWELVE TITANS
1. Oceanus - Titan God of the Sea and Water
- The eldest of the Titans, Oceanus was
married to his sister Tethys. Together the two
produced over 6000 spirits of the oceans and streams,
known as the Oceanids.
- He gave over his realm to Poseidon
after the rise of the Olympians, but Zeus allowed him
to continue to live as a simple god of the ocean.
2. Tethy - Titan Goddess of Fresh Water
- When Cronus became paranoid and his
wife, Rhea, wished to protect her children, she brought
Hera to her sister Tethys who raised her as her
daughter.
- Later, as a favor to Hera, Tethys punished
Calisto and Arcas, a lover and child of Zeus, by
forbidding their constellations from touching the sea.
They were forced to continuously circle the sky without
rest. We know those constellations as Ursa Major and
Ursa Minor, or the big and little.
3. Hyperion - Titan God of Light and Observation
- Hyperion was the Titan god of light,
wisdom, and vigilance. He married his sister Thea,
and they gave birth to Helios, the sun, Selene, the
moon, and Eos, the dawn.
- Hyperion and three of his other
brothers, Coeus, Crius, and Iapetus, formed the four
pillars that separated and held the heavens above one
another.
4. Thea - Titan Goddess of Sun and Light
- Thea, the goddess of light, was also a
ravishing beauty, perhaps the loveliest of the six Titan
daughters. She was the goddess of light, and
therefore the perfect match for her brother.
- She also imbued gold, silver, and precious
gems with their radiant shine, and spoke through an
oracle at Phthiotis in Thessaly.
5. Coeus - Titan God of the Oracles, Wisdom and
Foresight
- Coeus was the keeper of the pillar of the
north. He was the Titan god of intellect, and married
his sister Phoebe. Their children, Asteria and Leto,
were foundational figures in later mythology.
- Asteria turned into a quail and drowned
herself in the Aegean Sea, but Leto bore Zeus two
children, the twins Apollo and Artemis who became
powerful Olympians.
6. Phoebe - Titan Goddess of Prophecy and Intellect
- Since Phoebe was the grandmother of
Apollo and Artemis, the twins’ were sometimes called
Phoebus and Phoebe as alternative.
- Since Phoebe was the grandmother of
Apollo and Artemis, the twins’ were sometimes
called Phoebus and Phoebe as alternative.
7. Crius - Titan God of Constellations
- Crius (or Krios) married his half- sister,
Eurybia, who was not one of the original twelve Titans
but the daughter of Gaea from her second husband,
Pontus.
- Crius fought with the Olympians during the
Titans’ overthrow, and as a result, he was imprisoned
in Tartarus.
8. Mnemosyne - Titan Goddess of Memory
- The goddess of memory and the
voice of the underground Oracle of Trophonios in
Boetia, Mnemosyne did not marry one of her brothers
but still helped mother the next generation of deities.
- She slept with Zeus for nine
consecutive days, and as a result, gave birth to the
nine muses; Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe,
Melpomeni, Polymnia, Ourania, Terpsichore and
Thalia whose roles were to give artists and
philosophers inspiration for creation.
9. Lapetus - Titan God of Mortal Life and/or God of
Death
- The Titan Iapetus was the god of
craftsmanship or mortality, varying between sources.
He married one of his Oceanid nieces, Clymene, and
they produced four sons, Atlas, Prometheus,
Epimetheus, and Menoetius.
- These four sons were the ancestors of
the first humans, and each passed a certain
detrimental quality onto humanity; brash courage,
scheming, stupidity, and violence, respectively.
10. Themis - Titan Goddess of Law, Order and Justice
- The Titan goddess Themis represented
natural and moral order and law. She became the
second wife of Zeus, helped him hold power over the
other gods and all the earth.
- Themis was the main Titan goddess of
the oracle at Delphi, but she was so fond of Apollo that
she eventually offered the Oracle to him.
11. Cronus - Titan ruler of the Universe
- Although he was the youngest son of
Gaea and Uranus, Cronus was also the strongest of
the Greek Titans. For a brief time, earth enjoyed a
Golden Age under his rule.
- Cronus learned of a prophecy which
stated that, as Cronus had dethroned his father, so
one of his children would dethrone him. He therefore
took all of his children from his sister and wife, Rhea
as soon as.
12. Rhea - Titan Goddess of Fertility
- As the goddess responsible for the flow of
Cronus’s kingdom, she was well-placed to interrupt
that flow. When she learned she was expecting again,
she asked her mother for advice.
- Gaea helped Rhea conceal her newborn
baby, and Rhea swaddled a stone in baby clothes and
gave the stone to Cronus to swallow. Cronus was
fooled, but Gaea and Rhea carefully concealed little
Zeus in a small cave on the island of Crete.
LESSON 3
GREEK LITERATURE (ILIAD AND ODYSSEY)
END
ODYSSEY – SUMMARY
Ten years have passed since the fall of Troy, and the
Greek hero Odysseus still has not returned to his
kingdom in Ithaca. A large and rowdy mob of suitors
who have overrun Odysseus’s palace and pillaged his
land continue to court his wife, Penelope. She has
remained faithful to Odysseus. Prince Telemachus,
Odysseus’s son, wants desperately to throw them out
but does not have the confidence or experience to
fight them. One of the suitors, Antinous, plans to
assassinate the young prince, eliminating the only
opposition to their dominion over the palace.
Unknown to the suitors, Odysseus is still alive. The
beautiful nymph Calypso, possessed by love for him,
has imprisoned him on her island, Ogygia. He longs
to return to his wife and son, but he has no ship or
crew to help him escape. While the gods and
goddesses of Mount Olympus debate Odysseus’s
future, Athena, Odysseus’s strongest supporter
among the gods, resolves to help Telemachus.
Disguised as a friend of the prince’s grandfather,
Laertes, she convinces the prince to call a meeting of
the assembly at which he reproaches the suitors.
Athena also prepares him for a great journey to Pylos
and Sparta, where the kings Nestor and Menelaus,
Odysseus’s companions during the war, inform him
that Odysseus is alive and trapped on Calypso’s
island. Telemachus makes plans to return home,
while, back in Ithaca, Antinous and the other suitors
prepare an ambush to kill him when he reaches port.
On Mount Olympus, Zeus sends Hermes to rescue
Odysseus from Calypso. Hermes persuades Calypso
to let Odysseus build a ship and leave. The homesick
hero sets sail, but when Poseidon, god of the sea,
finds him sailing home, he sends a storm to wreck
Odysseus’s ship. Poseidon has harbored a bitter
grudge against Odysseus since the hero blinded his
son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, earlier in his travels.
Athena intervenes to save Odysseus from Poseidon’s
wrath, and the beleaguered king lands at Scheria,
home of the Phaeacians. Nausicaa, the Phaeacian
princess, shows him to the royal palace, and
Odysseus receives a warm welcome from the king
and queen. When he identifies himself as Odysseus,
his hosts, who have heard of his exploits at Troy, are
stunned. They promise to give him safe passage to
Ithaca, but first they beg to hear the story of his
adventures.
THE OLYMPIANS
GREEK NAME
Zeus
Hera
Poseidon
Hades
Pallas Athena
Phoebus Apollo/Apollo
Artemis
Aphrodite
Hermes
Ares
ROMAN NAME
Jupiter
Juno
Neptune
Pluto
Minerva
Apollo
Diana
Venus
Mercury
Mars
Zeus
Though Zeus (Jupiter or Jove) is the closest figure in
mythology to an omnipotent ruler, he is far from all
powerful. He also lacks the perfection we might expect
in a divine ruler.
As a ruler of the gods, Zeus is destined to
overthrow his father, Cronus, who himself became
the lord of the universe after overthrowing his own
father, Heaven.
Zeus himself is fated to be overthrown by one who is
yet unborn.


Zeus attempts to learn the identity of his
future over thrower from Prometheus but
continues his daily habit of revelry,
sometimes at the expense of innocent
mortals and other gods.
Always conscious of what he sees as an
insurmountable difference between gods and
humans, he has no pity for mortals. It is
perhaps this essential lack of sympathy that
enables Zeus to toy with humans heartlessly,
raping and ruining lives of many women, who
seem to exist only for his pleasure. Yet this
behavior only represents one side of Zeus’
character; the other, more evolved side is his
role as the divine upholder of justice for both
gods and humans.
ILIAD AND ODYSSEY BY HOMER
Homer was an ancient Greek poet. Traditions
says that Homer was blind. In Greek, his name is
“Homeros” which is Greek for “hostage”. Some
say that his name was derived from the name of
the society of poets called “Homeridan” which
literally means “sons of hostages”, or
descendants of prisoners of war. The two
important works of Homer are Iliad (The Wrath of
Achilles and the Trojan War) and the Odyssey
(Travel of Odysseus). Both have very strong
religious and supernatural elements. Its heroes
descended from divine beings. They constantly
offer sacrifices to the gods and consult priest and
prophets to decide on their actions. Iliad covers
only few weeks of the tenth and final year of the
Trojan War.
Iliad is one of the most celebrated and well known
epics of the world. It is believed to be written by in
9th century BC by Homer. This poem is based on
the legend of Trojan War. Iliad means the tale of
Ilios or the Tale of Troy. It narrates the story of the
Greek struggle to rescue Helen, from Trojans, the
wrath of Achilles and subsequent destruction of
Troy. Iliad covers only a few weeks of the tenth
and final year of the Trojan War.
THE GOLDEN APPLE
The story begins with the pairing of the mortal
Peleus and the immortal Thetis- the parents of
Achilles. All the gods and the goddess of Discord.
During the ceremony, Eris appears but she is
turned away and in her anger throws out a golden
apple inscribed with the three words: “ To the
Fairest”. The three goddesses Athena – the
goddess of wisdom; Hera – the queen of the
gods; and Aphrodite – the goddess of love, claim
the title. Zeus is asked to mediate but all the
goddesses are important to him.
Hera is the wife of Zeus, Aphrodite is the daughter
of Zeus to a sea nymph, while Athena is the
daughter of Zeus which is Metis. Zeus was told
that his son would take his throne from him, just
as he had taken power from his father Cronus.
Accordingly, when Metis was pregnant, he
swallowed her and Athena was born from Zeus’
head, wearing armor and fully grown. Each
goddesses offers Paris a bribe. Athena offers him
an infinite wisdom and an equal amount of
influence among men; Hera promises a great
kingdom and lordship over men; Aphrodite offers
him the love of the most beautiful woman in the
world. Paris accepts the bribe of Aphrodite.
Incidentally, Helen, the daughter of Zeus, is
considered the most beautiful woman in the world
and who has a squadron of suitors ready to
avenge and protect her. Aphrodite also helps
Paris to steal Helen from her husband, Menelaus,
who is the brother of the most powerful king in
Greece, Agamemnon. The suitors of Helen, who
are true to their pledge of protecting Helen, sail to
retrieve her. They besiege Greece for nine years.
END
ODYSSEY – THEMES
THE PITFALLS OF TEMPTATION
The initial act that frustrated so many Achaeans’
homecoming was the work of an Achaean
himself: Ajax (the “Lesser” Ajax, a relatively
unimportant figure not to be confused with the
“Greater” Ajax, whom Odysseus meets in Hades)
raped the Trojan priestess Cassandra in a temple
while the Greeks were plundering the fallen city.
That act of impulse, impiety, and stupidity brought
the wrath of Athena upon the Achaean fleet and
set in motion the chain of events that turned
Odysseus’s homecoming into a long nightmare. It
is fit that The Odyssey is motivated by such an
event, for many of the pitfalls that Odysseus and
his men face are likewise obstacles that arise out
of mortal weakness and the inability to control it.
The submission to temptation or recklessness
either angers the gods or distracts Odysseus and
the members of his crew from their journey: they
yield to hunger and slaughter the Sun’s flocks,
and they eat the fruit of the lotus and forget about
their homes.
Even Odysseus’s hunger for kleos is a kind of
temptation. He submits to it when he reveals his
name to Polyphemus, bringing Poseidon’s wrath
upon him and his men. In the case of the Sirens,
the theme is revisited simply for its own interest.
With their ears plugged, the crew members sail
safely by the Sirens’ island, while Odysseus,
longing to hear the Sirens’ sweet song, is saved
from folly only by his foresighted command to his
crew to keep him bound to the ship’s mast. Homer
is fascinated with depicting his protagonist
tormented by temptation: in general, Odysseus
and his men want very desperately to complete
their nostos, or homecoming, but this desire is
constantly at odds with the other pleasures that
the world offers.
DIVINE JUSTICE
Early in The Odyssey, Zeus explains his vision of
justice. The gods mete out suffering fairly, he
says, but some mortals suffer more as a result of
their unwise or wicked actions: “From us alone,
they say, come all their miseries, yes,/But they
themselves, with their own reckless
ways,/Compound their pains beyond their proper
share.” In some cases, The Odyssey shows its
characters suffering as a result of their own
actions. Polyphemus is blinded after he kills
several of Odysseus’s men. Odysseus’s men die
when they ignore the commands of Odysseus and
the gods not to kill the Cattle of the Sun. The
poem’s most dramatic comeuppance befalls the
suitors, who are killed for insulting Odysseus and
consuming his wealth. It’s debatable, however,
whether the murder of the suitors is just.
Odysseus believes one of the suitors,
Amphinomus, is blameless. Odysseus even risks
blowing his cover to warn Amphinomus about the
danger to his life: “I say he’s right at hand —and
may some power save you.” Nevertheless,
“Athena had bound him fast to death,” so
Amphinomous is murdered along with the rest of
the suitors.
In other cases, The Odyssey shows
unambiguously that the gods place their personal
pride ahead of justice. The Odyssey is deeply
concerned with the moral code binding hosts to
treat strangers and travelers kindly. Throughout
the poem, Zeus punishes anyone who violates
this code. When Poseidon complains to Zeus that
the Phaeacians have offended him by extending
hospitality toward Odysseus, however, Zeus does
nothing to protect these excellent hosts. The
Phaeacians not only give their guest Odysseus
shelter, they restore all his lost wealth and give
him direct passage home to Ithaca. The
Phaecians help Odysseus because they are good
hosts, not because they have any desire to thwart
Poseidon. There is no way for them to know that
by doing their duty and helping a guest they are
offending Poseidon. Nevertheless, Zeus endorses
Poseidon’s plan to prevent the Phaecians from
ever helping travelers again. Zeus says that
Poseidon may “Do what you like” to punish the
Phaeacians. In assuring justice to his fellow god,
Zeus denies justice to the innocent Phaecians.
HOMECOMING
The Odyssey is the ultimate endorsement of
nostos, or homecoming, the idea that a heroic
warrior’s greatest triumph comes when he returns
from war to his own home and family. Odysseus’s
trials end with the offer of not one but two
alternative wives, and two alternative places to
live. As Calypso’s husband, Odysseus could live
forever in divine luxury. As Nausicaa’s husband,
Odysseus would be a prince in the richest, most
untroubled country he has visited. Without
hesitation he rejects both these offers. He prefers
Penelope and Ithaca, not necessarily because
they are better, but because they are his: “Mine is
a rugged land but good for raising sons— and I
myself, I know no sweeter sight on earth than a
man’s own native country.” At the same time,
nostos is not an uncomplicated idea in The
Odyssey. When Agamemnon returns home, he is
murdered by his wife. Menelaus and Helen have
an unhappy marriage which is destined to last for
all eternity. Even Odysseus’s own home is
troubled. Telemachus speaks harshly to Penelope
and criticizes her to other people, even after
Odysseus has returned and revealed his identity.
Nostos is only possible if a warrior’s home is still
there when he returns, unchanged from when he
left. Accordingly, what makes a home valuable in
The Odyssey is not its happiness as much as its
stability and continuity. Odysseus and Penelope
are reunited when Odysseus is able to describe
their marriage bed, which is literally unshakeable
because it is (again literally) rooted in the soil of
Ithaca. Nestor suggests that Agamemnon is
fortunate, even though he has been murdered by
his wife, because his son has avenged him. What
matters is the continuance of Agamemnon’s
family and reputation: “Ah how fine it is, when a
man is brought down,/to leave a son behind!”
Odysseus’s own homecoming is not complete
until he has revealed himself to Laertes, so that
Laertes can relish the continuity of his own family
and reputation: “What a day for me, dear gods!
What joy—/my son and my grandson vying over
courage!”
CUNNING
Although The Odyssey begins with the Trojan
Wars that separate Odysseus from Ithaca and
touches on themes of warfare throughout, mental
agility is as crucial as physical prowess to
Odysseus’s homecoming. Athena praises
Odysseus for being cunning, a trait she considers
herself to have as well, and may be especially
inclined to help him because she admires his
mental ability. Even Odysseus’s epithet, the man
“of twists and turns,” suggests a mind that works
cleverly and not always in a straightforward,
honest manner. Odysseus’s cunning is most
clearly displayed in the episode with Polyphemus
the Cyclops. Odysseus tricks Polyphemus twice.
First, Odysseus tells the Cyclops his name is
“Nobody,” so that the Cyclops is forced to say that
“nobody” is hurting him. Second, Odysseus
instructs his men to hide under the Cyclops’
sheep as they leave the cave, so that the now
blind Cyclops will only feel his sheep’s wool as
they go out the cave door. Odysseus also uses
cunning at the end of the poem when he
disguises himself as a beggar, to discover who on
Ithaca remains loyal to him after his long absence.
DISGUISES
The gods of Greek literature often assume
alternate forms to commune with humans. In The
Odyssey, Athena appears on earth disguised as
everything from a little girl to Odysseus’s friend
Mentor to Telemachus. Proteus, the Old Man of
the Sea whom Menelaus describes in Book 4, can
assume any form, even water and fire, to escape
capture. Circe, on the other hand, uses her
powers to change others, turning an entire
contingent of Odysseus’s crew into pigs with a tap
of her wand. From the first line of the epic, Homer
explains that his story is about a “man of twists
and turns” (1.1). Quick, clever, and calculating,
Odysseus is a natural master of disguise, and the
plot of the epic often turns on his deception. By
withholding his true identity from the Cyclops and
using the alias “Nobody,” for example, Odysseus
is able to save himself and his crew. But by
revealing his name at the end of this episode,
Odysseus ends up being dogged by the god
Poseidon. His beggar disguise allows him to
infiltrate his palace and set up the final
confrontation with the suitors. It also allows
Homer to distinguish those who truly love
Odysseus—characters like Eurycleia, Penelope,
and even his dog, Argos, begin to recognize their
beloved king even before he sheds his disguise.
ODYSSEY – SYMBOLISM
FOOD
Although throwing a feast for a guest is a common
part of hospitality, hunger and the consumption of
food often have negative associations in The
Odyssey. They represent lack of discipline or
submission to temptation, as when Odysseus
tarries in the cave of the Cyclops, when his men
slaughter the Sun’s flocks, or when they eat the
fruit of the lotus. The suitors, moreover, are
constantly eating. Whenever Telemachus and
Penelope complain about their uninvited guests,
they mention how the suitors slaughter the
palace’s livestock. Odysseus kills the suitors just
as they are starting their dinner, and Homer
graphically describes them falling over tables and
spilling their food.
In almost all cases, the monsters of The Odyssey
owe their monstrosity at least in part to their diets
or the way that they eat. Scylla swallows six of
Odysseus’s men, one for each head. The Cyclops
eats humans, but not sheep apparently, and is
gluttonous nonetheless: when he gets drunk, he
vomits up wine mixed with pieces of human flesh.
The Laestrygonians seem like nice people—until
their queen, who is described as “huge as a
mountain crag,” tries to eat Odysseus and his
men (10.124). In these cases, excessive eating
represents not just lack of self-control, but also
the total absence of humanity and civility.
THE WEDDING BED
The wedding bed symbolizes the constancy of
Penelope and Odysseus’s marriage. Only a single
maidservant has ever seen the bed, and it is
where the happy couple spends its first night in
each other’s arms since Odysseus’s departure for
Troy twenty years earlier. The symbolism is
heightened by the trick that Penelope uses to test
Odysseus, which revolves around the
immovability of their bed— a metaphor for the
unshakable foundation of their love.
END
LESSON 4
ROMAN GODS

The three main Roman gods, known as the
Capitoline Triad, are Jupiter, Juno and
Minerva.
Jupiter
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Diana
Greek Mythology: Zeus
Supreme King of the gods. God of the sky
and thunder, and patron god of Rome.
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Juno
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Greek Mythology: Hera
Queen of the gods. Saturn’s daughter. Juno
was the wife and sister of Jupiter, and sister
of Neptune and Pluto. She was the mother of
Juventas, Mars and Vulcan.
Minerva
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Greek Mythology: Athena
Goddess of wisdom, arts, trade and strategy.
Minerva was born of the head of Jupiter after
he swallowed her mother Metis, having been
told that the child he had impregnated her
with could be more.
Neptune
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
Greek Mythology: Poseidon
Brother of Jupiter, Pluto and Juno, Neptune
was god of freshwater and the sea, along
with earthquakes, hurricanes and horses.
Neptune is often depicted as an older man
with a trident, sometimes being pulled across
the sea in a horse drawn chariot.
Venus


Greek Mythology: Aphrodite
Mother of the Roman people, Venus was the
goddess of love, beauty, fertility, sex, desire
and prosperity, equal to her Greek
counterpart Aphrodite. She was also,
however, goddess of victory and even
prostitution, and patron of wine.
Mars
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Greek Mythology: Ares
According to Ovid, Mars was son of Juno
alone, as his mother sought to restore
balance after Jupiter usurped her role as
mother by giving birth to Minerva from his
head. Famously god of war, Mars was also
guardian of agriculture and the embodiment
of virility and aggression.
Apollo
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
Apollo is one of only a few Roman gods who
kept the same name as his Greek
counterpart.
Greek Mythology: Apollo
The Archer. Son of Jupiter and Latona, twin
of Diana. Apollo was god of music, healing,
light and truth.
Greek Mythology: Artemis
Daughter of Jupiter and Latona and twin of
Apollo. Diana was goddess of the hunt, the
moon and birth. To some Diana was also
considered to be goddess of lower classes,
especially slaves, for whom her festival on
the Ides of August in Rome.
Vulcan
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Greek Mythology: Hephaestus
God of fire, volcanoes, metal work and the
forge; maker of the weapons of the gods. In
some mythology Vulcan is said to have been
banished from the heavens as a child
because of a physical defect. Hidden in the
base of a volcano he learnt his trade.
Vesta
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Greek Mythology: Hestia
Goddess of hearth, home and domestic life.
Vesta was a daughter of Saturn and Ops and
sister to Jupiter, Juno, Neptune and Pluto.
She was enshrined in the sacred and
perpetually burning fire of the Vestal Virgins
(all female and Rome’s only full-time
priesthood).
Mercury
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Greek Mythology: Hermes
Son of Maia and Jupiter; god of profit, trade,
eloquence, communication, travel, trickery
and thieves. Mercury was a roman
psychopomp, tasked with guiding the souls of
the dead to the underworld.
Ceres
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Greek Mythology: Demeter
The Eternal Mother. Ceres is the daughter of
Saturn and Ops. She was goddess of
agriculture, grain, women, motherhood and
marriage.
END
AENIED BY VIRGIL
On the Mediterranean Sea, Aeneas and his fellow
Trojans flee from their home city of Troy, which has
been destroyed by the Greeks. They sail for Italy,
where Aeneas is destined to found Rome. As they
near their destination, a fierce storm throws them off
course and lands them in Carthage. Dido, Carthage’s
founder and queen, welcomes them. Aeneas relates to
Dido the long and painful story of his group’s travels
thus far.
Aeneas tells of the sack of Troy that ended the Trojan
War after ten years of Greek siege. In the final
campaign, the Trojans were tricked when they
accepted into their city walls a wooden horse that,
unbeknownst to them, harbored several Greek
soldiers in its hollow belly. He tells how he escaped
the burning city with his father, Anchises; his son,
Ascanius; and the hearth gods that represent their
fallen city. Assured by the gods that a glorious future
awaited him in Italy, he set sail with a fleet containing
the surviving citizens of Troy. Aeneas relates the
ordeals they faced on their journey. Twice they
attempted to build a new city, only to be driven away
by bad omens and plagues. Harpies, creatures that
are part woman and part bird, cursed them, but they
also encountered friendly countrymen unexpectedly.
Finally, after the loss of Anchises and a bout of terrible
weather, they made their way to Carthage.
Impressed by Aeneas’s exploits and sympathetic to
his suffering, Dido, a Phoenician princess who fled her
home and founded Carthage after her brother
murdered her husband, falls in love with Aeneas. They
live together as lovers for a period, until the gods
remind Aeneas of his duty to found a new city. He
determines to set sail once again. Dido is devastated
by his departure, and kills herself by ordering a huge
pyre to be built with Aeneas’s castaway possessions,
climbing upon it, and stabbing herself with the sword
Aeneas leaves behind.
As the Trojans make for Italy, bad weather blows them
to Sicily, where they hold funeral games for the dead
Anchises. The women, tired of the voyage, begin to
burn the ships, but a downpour puts the fires out.
Some of the travel-weary stay behind, while Aeneas,
reinvigorated after his father visits him in a dream,
takes the rest on toward Italy. Once there, Aeneas
descends into the underworld, guided by the Sibyl of
Cumae, to visit his father. He is shown a pageant of
the future history and heroes of Rome, which helps
him to understand the importance of his mission.
Aeneas returns from the underworld, and the Trojans
continue up the coast to the region of Latium.
The arrival of the Trojans in Italy begins peacefully.
King Latinus, the Italian ruler, extends his hospitality,
hoping that Aeneas will prove to be the foreigner
whom, according to a prophecy, his daughter Lavinia
is supposed to marry. But Latinus’s wife, Amata, has
other ideas. She means for Lavinia to marry Turnus, a
local suitor. Amata and Turnus cultivate enmity toward
the newly arrived Trojans. Meanwhile, Ascanius hunts
a stag that was a pet of the local herdsmen. A fight
breaks out, and several people are killed. Turnus,
riding this current of anger, begins a war.
Aeneas, at the suggestion of the river god Tiberinus,
sails north up the Tiber to seek military support among
the neighboring tribes. During this voyage, his mother,
Venus, descends to give him a new set of weapons,
wrought by Vulcan. While the Trojan leader is away,
Turnus attacks. Aeneas returns to find his countrymen
embroiled in battle. Pallas, the son of Aeneas’s new
ally Evander, is killed by Turnus. Aeneas flies into a
violent fury, and many more are slain by the day’s end.
The two sides agree to a truce so that they can bury
the dead, and the Latin leaders discuss whether to
continue the battle. They decide to spare any further
unnecessary carnage by proposing a hand-to-hand
duel between Aeneas and Turnus. When the two
leaders face off, however, the other men begin to
quarrel, and full-scale battle resumes. Aeneas is
wounded in the thigh, but eventually the Trojans
threaten the enemy city. Turnus rushes out to meet
Aeneas, who wounds Turnus badly. Aeneas nearly
spares Turnus but, remembering the slain Pallas,
slays him instead.
AENIED BY VIRGIN – CHARACTERIZATION
AENEAS
As the son of the Trojan mortal Anchises and Venus,
the goddess of beauty and erotic love, Aeneas enjoys
a special divine protection. He is chosen to survive the
siege of Troy and to lay the foundations in Italy for the
glory of the Roman Empire. In the Aeneid, Aeneas’s
fate as Rome’s founder drives all the action, and the
narrative constantly points out that Aeneas’s heroism
owes as much to his legacy as to his own actions.
Aeneas serves as the vehicle through which fate
carries out its historical design.
As a Trojan leader, Aeneas respects prophecy and
attempts to incorporate the idea of his own destiny into
his actions, in spite of emotional impulses that conflict
with his fated duties. His ability to accept his destined
path despite his unhappiness in doing so makes him a
graceful hero and a worthy recipient of the honor and
favor the gods bestow upon him. His compassion for
the sufferings of others, even in conjunction with a
single- minded devotion to his duty, is another aspect
of his heroism. Sympathetic to the weariness of others
on the journey, he delivers speeches to his fleet to
keep the men’s spirits high.
Aeneas’s personal investment in the future of Rome
increases as the story progresses. The events of Book
V, in which the Trojans sail away from Carthage
toward Italy, and Book VI, in which Aeneas visits his
father in the realm of the dead, depict Aeneas’s growth
as a leader. In Book V, he shows his sympathy for the
woes of others by allowing the crippled and unwilling
to stay behind. He also grows in compassion in the
underworld when he observes the lot of the unburied
dead. He carries these lessons into the war that
follows, taking care to ensure the proper burial of both
ally and enemy.
When, in the underworld, Aeneas’s father, Anchises,
presents a tableau of the events that will lead to
Rome’s pinnacle, Aeneas comes to understand his
historical role with greater clarity and immediacy. The
scenes depicted later in the epic on the shield made
by Vulcan further focus Aeneas’s sentiments and
actions toward his destined future. There are
moments, of course, when Aeneas seems to lose
track of his destiny— particularly during his dalliance
with Dido in Carthage. Aeneas is recalled to his duty in
this case not by a long historical vision, but by an
appeal from Jupiter to his obligation to his son,
Ascanius, to whom Aeneas is devoted.
Even prior to Virgil’s treatment of the Trojan War,
Aeneas held a place in the classical tradition as a
figure of great piety, just as Ulysses was known for his
cunning and Achilles for his rage in battle. The value
Aeneas places on family is particularly evident in the
scene in which he escorts his father and son out of
Troy, bearing his elderly father on his back. He
behaves no less honorably toward the gods, earnestly
seeking to find out their wishes and conform to them
as fully as possible. His words to Dido in Books IV and
VI express his commitment to obey fate rather than
indulge his feelings of genuine romantic love. This
subordination of personal desire to duty defines
Aeneas’s character and earns him the repeated
moniker “pious Aeneas.” His behavior contrasts with
Juno’s and Turnus’s in this regard, as those
characters both fight fate every step of the way.

THE TROJAN HEARTH GODS
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
FLAMES
Fire symbolizes both destruction and erotic
desire or love. With images of flames, Virgil
connects the two. Paris’s desire for Helen
eventually leads to the fires of the siege of
Troy. When Dido confesses her love for
Aeneas to Anna, her sister, she begins, “I
recognize / the signs of the old flame, of old
desire” (IV.31–32). Dido also recalls her
previous marriage in “the thought of the torch
and the bridal bed” (IV.25). Torches limit the
power of flames by controlling them, but the
new love ignited in Dido’s heart is never
regulated by the institution of marriage, “the
bridal bed.” The flames she feels do not keep
her warm but rather consume her mind. Virgil
describes the way she dies in the
synonymous terms “enflamed and driven
mad” (IV.965).
THE GOLDEN BOUGH

According to the Sibyl, the priestess of
Apollo, the golden bough is the symbol
Aeneas must carry in order to gain access to
the underworld. It is unusual for mortals to be
allowed to visit the realm of the dead and
then return to life. The golden bough is
therefore the sign of Aeneas’s special
privilege.
THE GATES OF WAR
The hearth gods of Troy, or penates as they
are called in Latin, are mentioned repeatedly
throughout the epic. They are symbols of
locality and ancestry, tribal gods associated
specifically with the city of Troy, who reside in
the household hearth. Aeneas gathers them
up along with his family when he departs
from his devastated home, and they
symbolize the continuity of Troy as it is
transplanted to a new physical location.
WEATHER
AENIED BY VIRGIL – SYMBOLISMS

The opening of these gates indicates a
declaration of war in a tradition that was still
recognized even in Virgil’s own day. That it is
Juno rather than a king or even Turnus who
opens the gates emphasizes the way
immortal beings use mortals to settle scores.
The Gates of War thus symbolize the chaos
of a world in which divine force, often
antagonistic to the health and welfare of
mortals, overpowers human will and desire.
The gods use weather as a force to express
their will. The storm that Juno sends at the
beginning of the epic symbolizes her rage.
Venus, on the other hand, shows her
affection for the Trojans by bidding the sea
god, Neptune, to protect them. In Book IV,
Venus and Juno conspire to isolate Dido and
Aeneas in a cave by sending a storm to
disrupt their hunting trip, symbolizing the
rupture of normal social codes as well. Greek
and Roman mythology has a tendency to
make its symbols literal in this way—to
connect the seen (a storm, for example) with
the unseen (divine will) causally and
dramatically.
END
SUMMARY OF BEAWULF – ENGLAND
King Hrothgar of Denmark, a descendant of the great
king Shield Sheafson, enjoys a prosperous and
successful reign. He builds a great mead-hall, called
Heorot, where his warriors can gather to drink, receive
gifts from their lord, and listen to stories sung by the
scops, or bards. But the jubilant noise from Heorot
angers Grendel, a horrible demon who lives in the
swamplands of Hrothgar’s kingdom. Grendel terrorizes
the Danes every night, killing them and defeating their
efforts to fight back. The Danes suffer many years of
fear, danger, and death at the hands of Grendel.
Eventually, however, a young Geatish warrior named
Beowulf hears of Hrothgar’s plight. Inspired by the
challenge, Beowulf sails to Denmark with a small
company of men, determined to defeat Grendel.
Hrothgar, who had once done a great favor for
Beowulf’s father Ecgtheow, accepts Beowulf’s offer to
fight Grendel and holds a feast in the hero’s honor.
During the feast, an envious Dane named Unferth
taunts Beowulf and accuses him of being unworthy of
his reputation. Beowulf responds with a boastful
description of some of his past accomplishments. His
confidence cheers the Danish warriors, and the feast
lasts merrily into the night. At last, however, Grendel
arrives. Beowulf fights him unarmed, proving himself
stronger than the demon, who is terrified. As Grendel
struggles to escape, Beowulf tears the monster’s arm
off. Mortally wounded, Grendel slinks back into the
swamp to die. The severed arm is hung high in the
mead-hall as a trophy of victory.
Overjoyed, Hrothgar showers Beowulf with gifts and
treasure at a feast in his honor. Songs are sung in
praise of Beowulf, and the celebration lasts late into
the night. But another threat is approaching. Grendel’s
mother, a swamp-hag who lives in a desolate lake,
comes to Heorot seeking revenge for her son’s death.
She murders Aeschere, one of Hrothgar’s most trusted
advisers, before slinking away. To avenge Aeschere’s
death, the company travels to the murky swamp,
where Beowulf dives into the water and fights
Grendel’s mother in her underwater lair. He kills her
with a sword forged for a giant, then, finding Grendel’s
corpse, decapitates it and brings the head as a prize
to Hrothgar. The Danish countryside is now purged of
its treacherous monsters.
The Danes are again overjoyed, and Beowulf’s fame
spreads across the kingdom. Beowulf departs after a
sorrowful goodbye to Hrothgar, who has treated him
like a son. He returns to Geatland, where he and his
men are reunited with their king and queen, Hygelac
and Hygd, to whom Beowulf recounts his adventures
in Denmark. Beowulf then hands over most of his
treasure to Hygelac, who, in turn, rewards him.
In time, Hygelac is killed in a war against the
Shyflings, and, after Hygelac’s son dies, Beowulf
ascends to the throne of the Geats. He rules wisely for
fifty years, bringing prosperity to Geatland. When
Beowulf is an old man, however, a thief disturbs a
barrow, or mound, where a great dragon lies guarding
a horde of treasure. Enraged, the dragon emerges
from the barrow and begins unleashing fiery
destruction upon the Geats. Sensing his own death
approaching, Beowulf goes to fight the dragon. With
the aid of Wiglaf, he succeeds in killing the beast, but
at a heavy cost. The dragon bites Beowulf in the neck,
and its fiery venom kills him moments after their
encounter. The Geats fear that their enemies will
attack them now that Beowulf is dead. According to
Beowulf’s wishes, they burn their departed king’s body
on a huge funeral pyre and then bury him with a
massive treasure in a barrow overlooking the sea.
BEAWULF – THEMES
THE IMPORTANCE OF ESTABLISHING IDENTITY
As Beowulf is essentially a record of heroic deeds, the
concept of identity—of which the two principal
components are ancestral heritage and individual
reputation—is clearly central to the poem. The
opening passages introduce the reader to a world in
which every male figure is known as his father’s son.
Characters in the poem are unable to talk about their
identity or even introduce themselves without referring
to family lineage. This concern with family history is so
prominent because of the poem’s emphasis on kinship
bonds. Characters take pride in ancestors who have
acted valiantly, and they attempt to live up to the same
standards as those ancestors.
While heritage may provide models for behavior and
help to establish identity—as with the line of Danish
kings discussed early on—a good reputation is the key
to solidifying and augmenting one’s identity. For
example, Shield Sheafson, the legendary originator of
the Danish royal line, was orphaned; because he was
in a sense fatherless, valiant deeds were the only
means by which he could construct an identity for
himself. While Beowulf’s pagan warrior culture seems
not to have a concept of the afterlife, it sees fame as a
way of ensuring that an individual’s memory will
continue on after death—an understandable
preoccupation in a world where death seems always
to be knocking at the door.
TENSIONS BETWEEN THE HEROIC CODE AND
OTHER VALUE SYSTEMS
Much of Beowulf is devoted to articulating and
illustrating the Germanic heroic code, which values
strength, courage, and loyalty in warriors; hospitality,
generosity, and political skill in kings;
ceremoniousness in women; and good reputation in all
people. Traditional and much respected, this code is
vital to warrior societies as a means of understanding
their relationships to the world and the menaces
lurking beyond their boundaries. All of the characters’
moral judgments stem from the code’s mandates.
Thus individual actions can be seen only as either
conforming to or violating the code.
The poem highlights the code’s points of tension by
recounting situations that expose its internal
contradictions in values. The poem contains several
stories that concern divided loyalties, situations for
which the code offers no practical guidance about how
to act. For example, the poet relates that the Danish
Hildeburh marries the Frisian king. When, in the war
between the Danes and the Frisians, both her Danish
brother and her Frisian son are killed, Hildeburh is left
doubly grieved. The code is also often in tension with
the values of medieval Christianity. While the code
maintains that honor is gained during life through
deeds, Christianity asserts that glory lies in the
afterlife. Similarly, while the warrior culture dictates
that it is always better to retaliate than to mourn,
Christian doctrine advocates a peaceful, forgiving
attitude toward one’s enemies. Throughout the poem,
the poet strains to accommodate these two sets of
values. Though he is Christian, he cannot (and does
not seem to want to) deny the fundamental pagan
values of the story.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GOOD WARRIOR
AND A GOOD KING
Over the course of the poem, Beowulf matures from a
valiant combatant into a wise leader. His transition
demonstrates that a differing set of values
accompanies each of his two roles. The difference
between these two sets of values manifests itself early
on in the outlooks of Beowulf and King Hrothgar.
Whereas the youthful Beowulf, having nothing to lose,
desires personal glory, the aged Hrothgar, having
much to lose, seeks protection for his people. Though
these two outlooks are somewhat oppositional, each
character acts as society dictates he should given his
particular role in society.
While the values of the warrior become clear through
Beowulf’s example throughout the poem, only in the
poem’s more didactic moments are the responsibilities
of a king to his people discussed. The heroic code
requires that a king reward the loyal service of his
warriors with gifts and praise. It also holds that he
must provide them with protection and the sanctuary
of a lavish mead-hall. Hrothgar’s speeches, in
particular, emphasize the value of creating stability in
a precarious and chaotic world. He also speaks at
length about the king’s role in diplomacy, both with his
own warriors and with other tribes.
Beowulf’s own tenure as king elaborates on many of
the same points. His transition from warrior to king,
and, in particular, his final battle with the dragon,
rehash the dichotomy between the duties of a heroic
warrior and those of a heroic king. In the eyes of
several of the Geats, Beowulf’s bold encounter with
the dragon is morally ambiguous because it dooms
them to a kingless state in which they remain
vulnerable to attack by their enemies. Yet Beowulf
also demonstrates the sort of restraint proper to kings
when, earlier in his life, he refrains from usurping
Hygelac’s throne, choosing instead to uphold the line
of succession by supporting the appointment of
Hygelac’s son. But since all of these pagan kings were
great warriors in their youth, the tension between
these two important roles seems inevitable and
ultimately irreconcilable.
EVIL
Many readers have seen Beowulf’s monsters as
embodiments of evil, representing the idea that evil is
a mysterious, inhuman force. All three monsters
emerge from darkness, inflicting fear and suffering on
the poem’s human characters. Grendel, in particular,
is closely allied with the forces of evil. He is a “fiend
out of hell” (l.100) and a descendant of the cursed
sinner Cain. However, none of the monsters acts out
of sheer evil alone.
Grendel’s mother is legitimately seeking vengeance
for her son’s death. Even Grendel nurses “a hard
grievance” (l.87), and we understand that even if his
deeds are evil, Grendel acts out of isolation, envy, and
fear. By giving the monsters comprehensible, human
motives and at moments even showing us their points
of view, Beowulf humanizes evil, suggesting that evil is
both an unspeakable threat from the darkness and at
the same time an ordinary part of human life. When
we hear the poem’s stories of war between humans, of
Beowulf and Hygelac emerging from the sea to
slaughter their enemies, we might begin to wonder if
there’s anything inhuman at all about Grendel or his
mother.
TREASURE
Although “glory” (l.1388), is what motivates Beowulf
and the other heroic warriors of the poem, they
measure their glory in treasure. The gloriousness of
Beowulf’s achievement in killing Grendel is measured
by the amount of treasure Hrothgar gives him as a
reward. At the same time, Hrothgar’s gloriousness as
a king can be measured by his generosity with his
treasure. When Beowulf gives the lion’s share of his
reward to Hygelac, it shows us in quantifiable terms
how loyal Beowulf is to his king, and therefore how
well he upholds the warrior code, while also indicating
how excellent a king Hygelac is. However, Beowulf is
deeply skeptical about the value of treasure. The
poem’s biggest hoard of treasure belongs to the
monstrous dragon, and it does him no good. When
Wiglaf enters the barrow to examine the hoard, he
finds it already “tarnished and corroding” (ll.2761-2).
Many readers have found Beowulf’s dying wish to see
the treasure he has won disquieting. To the poem’s
original Christian audience, it may have been even
more disquieting: it’s a reminder that, in his final
moments, Beowulf’s mind is on temporary, worldly
things instead of God and eternal life.
MORTALITY
On one level, Beowulf is from beginning to end a
poem about confronting death. It begins with a funeral,
and proceeds to the story of a murderous monster.
Beowulf enters the story as a hero who has chosen to
risk death in order to achieve fame. As Beowulf fights
Grendel’s mother at the bottom of the mere, even his
close friends believe he has died. Some readers have
seen his journey to the bottom of the mere as a
symbolic death, drawing on the Christian story of the
“Harrowing of Hell,” in which Jesus, after dying on the
Cross, descends to Hell in order to divide the saved
from the damned. The final third of the poem is
devoted to Beowulf’s death and funeral. Some readers
have argued that the poem presents pagan mortality
as tragic: Beowulf and the other heroes lead
frightening, death-filled lives, and die without any hope
of salvation. However, other readers have found
Beowulf all the more heroic because he accomplishes
his deeds in the shadow of certain death, without hope
of resurrection. For these readers, Beowulf suggests
that a good, brave life is worth living at any cost.
LESSON 5
ENGLISH LITERATURE
THE CANTERBURY TALES
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)
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The author
He was born in London in the early 1340s
He came from a merchant family, but due to
his father’s wealth he became a page in the
household of Prince Lionel.
He served in the Hundred Years’ War both as
a soldier and a diplomat.
He was sent several times on important
diplomatic missions to France and Italy.
He held many important positions as a
government official such as Controller of
Customs, Justice of Peace, Clerk of the
Works, etc. which mean that he could learn a
lot about how things worked in their country
at that time.
He died on October 25, 1400 and was buried
at the Westminster Abbey.
It is where Queen Elizabeth I of England,
Isaac Newton, King Henry V, Charles
Dickens and other notable people are also
buried.
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24 tales completed. The supposed total tales
should be 120.
It shows the cross section of Medieval
society.
It has a frame story of the pilgrimage to
Canterbury (80 miles from London) to visit
the tomb of the martyr Thomas Beckett (killed
in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170).
Pilgrimages to shrines were mass activities in
the Middle Ages, partly because they were as
likely to be vacations as religious
observance.
The Canterbury Tales is actually a story
about stories, twenty- four different tales set
within the overarching tale of the pilgrimage.
Frame Story—a story within a story.
The Outer Frame Story is about the pilgrims
meeting at the Tabard Inn preparing for the
journey to Canterbury.
The Inner Frame Story would be all the
stories told by the assembled pilgrims along
their journey to and from Canterbury.
THE TALES BEGIN
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It begins with a prologue. The narrator,
presumable Chaucer himself, meet 29 other
pilgrims at the Tabard Inn located in the
suburbs of London.
The host of the Inn, Harry Bailey, set a
challenge. Each pilgrim will tell two stories on
the way to Canterbury and two stories on the
return trip. The person who tells the best tale
will be treated to a feast hosted by other
pilgrims. Harry is the judge.
MEDIEVAL
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
THE CANTERBURY
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The Canterbury Tales documents the various
social tensions in the manner of popular
genre of states satire. However, the narrator
refrains from making overt political
statements, and what he does say is in no
way thought to represent Chaucer’s own
sentiments.
Estate Satire is a genre of writing from 14th
Century, Medieval literary works. The three
Medieval estates were the Church (those
who prayed), the Nobility (those who fought)
and the Peasantry (those who labored).
These were the major social classes of the
time and were gender specific to men.
Chaucer presents the world as he sees it.
The Canterbury Tales is incomplete. Chaucer
died in 1400, the “General Prologue” has only
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In the Prologue, Chaucer sketches a brief but
vivid portrait of each pilgrim, creating a lively
sense of medieval life during that time.
The description may literally describe an
article of clothing, but figuratively symbolical
that implies something about the character.
Chaucer used a lot of satiric statements.
Satire is a literary composition in verse or
prose, in which human folly and vice are held
up to scorn, derision, or ridicule. Used to
evoke change.
In the Prologue, Chaucer examines the three
segments of Medieval England :
1. Old Feudal Order
2. The Merchant Class
3. The Ecclesiastical (Church) Class
The Feudal Class - These are all of the
pilgrims associated with the feudal class
system like Knights, Squire, Yeoman, and
Plowman.
The Merchant Class - This was the rising
middle class of the time; towns and cities
were emerging and therefore necessitated
the need for skilled services like Merchants,
Man of Law, Guildsmen and Cook.
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The Ecclesiastical (Church) Class – These
were all the members of the church. Chaucer
is most critical of this segment of society.
This includes Prioress, Monks, Friars and
Pardoners.
LITERARY ANALYSIS
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Direct Characterization
It presents direct statements about a character,
such as Chaucer’s statement that the Knight “followed
chivalry, Truth and Honor.”
2. Indirect Characterization
It uses actions, thoughts and dialogue to reveal a
character’s personality. By saying “he was not gaily
dressed” for instance, Chaucer suggests that the
Knight is not vain and perhaps takes the pilgrimage
seriously enough to rush to join it straight from battle.
3. Irony
Irony is a meaningful contrast between what is said
and what it actually meant.
Example: Saying, “The best Monk” when really the
monk does not really adhere to the ideals of a
monastic life.
4. Physiognomy
It is the use of physical appearance to suggest
attributes of a person’s character or personality.
Example: Think of evil stepmother figures in Disney
movies. Their harsh, angular appearance always hint
at their malevolent motives.
THE TYPES OF TALES
The Canterbury Tales showcase the different views of
the world portraying different truths.
1. Allegory - a story with purpose of teaching a moral
lesson.
- Characters and events represents
abstract qualities and ideas. The writer intends a
secondary meaning. Characters are often
personifications of abstractions like greed, envy, etc.
2. Romance - It is a story focusing on the episodic
adventures of knights and the challenges they face.
3. Fabliau - It deals with the basic human needs of
sex, food and money.
CHARACTERS
DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION (EXPLICIT DETAILS)
1. What the character looks like.
2. How the character acts or behaves.
3. Personality or character traits (e.g. charming,
confident, dependable, arrogant, greedy, etc.)
4. How other characters react to the character.
5. Things the character likes.
DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION (INFERENCES)
1.What the character values.
2. What the character believes in.
3.Character’s personality traits or character flaws.
4. Determining if the author likes a character and
considers them positive or normal.
5. Determining if the author dislikes a character and
considers them.
The Knight (Lines 43-80)
Military (good guy)
He is an ideal, tried and true, proven in battle,
adherent to chivalry, dress in modest and far from
overdone, A Man of Action and does what is expected
of him.
The Squire (Lines 81-102)
Military (good guy in training)
He appears conscious, having the qualities of an
artist, seems to have a passionate quality associated
with the youth. His father is a fighter but he is in a
romantic figure.
The Yeoman (Lines 102-121)
Middle Class (good guy)
He is the attendant of the esquire. Dressed
in green; carries peacock arrows and a bow and wears
a bracelet to protect his arm; a sword, a shield and a
dagger. He is a hunter, outdoorsman, a wood worker.
The Prioress (Lines 122-168)
Clergy (Greed and Pride)
She is the “appearance of culture” in masked
sarcasm. Cares about animals, not people. Loves
worldly possessions of God. Perfect table manners ae
a vehicle to demonstrate the gluttony.
The Monk (Lines 169-211)
Clergy (Greed)
Nearly all about the monks contradicts
moral values of his position. He defies the single task
of his job— to serve St. Augustine. He breaks
monastic rules having no guilt. Pervert and selfish.
The Friar (Lines 212-279)
Clergy (Lust and Greed)
Possesses corruption in the clergy (bribery),
having such charm does not make one a good person.
He have manipulative and selfish attitude, a drinker
and womanizer and opportunistic.
The Merchant (Lines 280-294)
Middle Class (Misguided Good Guy)
A well-dressed person (appearance vs. reality).
He tries to come off as prosperous, but really owes
money (fraud). He is Cleverish. They are known for
ingenuity and work.
The Clerk (Lines 295-311)
Middle Class (Idealized Good Guy)
A student-nod to the writer; keeper of books; pure
intellectuality. He is formal and extremely respectful
glad to learn and teach. He is a “starving artist”
spending all his money to books.”
The Lawyer (Lines 319-341)
Middle Class (Envy)
He is fond to falsity and posturing. Pretending is
part of human nature— believes himself to be much
more important than he is. He is also discreet and
cautious.
The Franklin (Lines 341-379)
Middle Class (Envy and Pride)
He always have food and drink ready at his house
(hospitality, expert in “living well”). A Parliamentary
representative for the country. A Social climber styles
himself as important; projects himself as an image of
success.
The Craftsmen (Lines 371-388)
Working Class (Envy)
A carpenter, haberdasher, dyer, weaver and
tapestry maker. A dressed more mightily than their
rank suggests wealth and success.
The Cook (Lines 389-397)
Working Class (Gluttony)
Described as perhaps the most qualified of
all the characters. Chaucer’s pursuit to elevate the
states of the common man. Every man’s work is
equally important for society to function.
The Shipman (Lines 398-520)
Middle Class (Greed)
Sarcasm—”And certainly he was a good fellow”
followed by perfect example of his dishonesty
(thieving). This man was hardened by the world, a
cynic. He is experienced, but made cruel by it.
The Doctor (Lines 421-454)
Middle Class (Greed)
Physically healthy but not spiritual, rarely reads the
Bible; loves money. He manipulates the facts about
profit.
The Wife of Bath (Lines 455-486)
Middle Class (Pride and Lust)
The “Professional Wife”. Wears fancy clothes that
are bit ridiculous. She had been all over (worldly and
promiscuous). She “knew the remedies of love”.
The Parson (Lines 487-538)
Clergy (Ideal and Good Guy)
An unselfish, charitable, a good example. “If gold
rusts, what shall you do?” He gives money to the poor,
lives in poverty but is rich in holy thought and deeds.
The Plowman (Lines 539-555)
Working Class (Good Guy)
The parson’s brother and ideal worker; known for
being industrious. He lives in peace and helps out
neighbors. He loves God and pays his tithes.
The Miller (Lines 561-584)
Working Class (Greed, Lust, Wrath)
A strong, big- mouthed person. Warts are evident
all around his face. He is uncivilized and interrupts
civilized behaviors, disrupts order and eventually tells
his tale out.
The Manciple (Lines 585-604)
Working Class (Greed)
He is smart though uneducated, gets provisions for
college or court. Know for being illiterate but was able
to cheat even the smartest of lawyers.
The Reeve (Lines 605-640)
Working Class (Lust and Greed)
A steward of manor. He steals from his master.
Though shrewd, he knows all his master’s secrets
plots and rules whom to fear. The foil to Miller, a
Reeve is small.
The Summoner (Lines 641-688)
Middle Class (Greed and Sloth)
He brings those accused of breaking the law to
court. He has a scarred face that children fear of,
which reflects his soul. He is always drunk, irritable
and eats smelly food.
The Pardoner (Lines 689-734)
Clergy (Greed and Sloth)
A personification of evil; he sells fake
holy relics. He extorts money by preaching about sin
of greed. A clean - shaved man but have a unmanly
attitude.
CHAUCER’S PROLOGUE
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Chaucer believes that falsity can be found in
most people.
Chaucer has no problem with religion himself,
but has contempt for hypocrisy that is found
in religious figures.
Chaucer has an admiration for anyone who
does a good job.
END
BEAWULF – ENGLAND
Type of Work: Poem
Genre: Alliterative verse, Elegy
Date of First Publication: Around 1000 AD
Narrator: A Christian narrator is present in order to
spread throughout Anglo-Saxon culture.
Language: Anglo-Saxon
Time and Place written: Estimates of the date of
composition range between 700 and 1000 AD;
written in England.
Point of View: Third Person
Tone: The poet is generally enthusiastic about
Beowulf’s feats, which is often surrounded by
doom.
Setting (Time): The main action of the story is set
around 500 AD. Some narratives recounts
historical events that happened much earlier.
Setting (Place): Denmark and Greatland (now is
Southern Sweden)
Protagonist: Beowulf
WHAT ARE THE LITERARY DEVICES USED IN
BEOWULF?
Anglo-Saxon scops relied on certain poetic devices to
aid their memory and give their poems structure and
impact. Three of these devices can be found in
Beowulf.
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Alliteration - The occurrence of the same
letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or
closely connected words.
Examples:
“Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall.”
“miserable, mighty men tormented”
Kenning - A concise compound or figurative
phrase replacing a common noun, especially
in Old Germanic, Old Norse and Old English
poetry.
Compound Words
- “hell-forged”
- “banquet-rich”
- “ring-giver”
- mead-cup”
Prepositional Phrases
- “shelter of warriors”
- “shapes of darkness”
- “shepherd of evil”
- “ tormentor of their days”
Possessives
- “ocean’s furrows”
- “God’s bright beacon”
- “Heaven’s high arch”
-“Geats’ brave prince”
- “hell’s captives”
Caesura - In Old English poetry, it is a pause
in a line that exists where a person would
naturally pause while speaking. It can be at
the beginning of a line (initial), in the middle
of the line (medial) or at the end of the line
(terminal).
So. II The Spear-Danes in days
gone by II And the kings who
ruled them had courage and
greatness. II We have heard of
those princes’ heroic campaigns.
II
There was Shield Sheafson, II
scourge of many tribes. II
A wrecker of mead-benches, II
rampaging among foes. II
This terror of the hall-troops had
come far. II
WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS IN BEOWULF?
Beowulf
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Geatish Hero
Strongest and ablest warrior
Wise and effective ruler
“Perfect Hero”
King Hrothgar
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King of Danes
Static Character
Wise and Aged Ruler
A Father Figure
Grendel
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Demon
Ruthless and Miserable
Full with resentment and malice
Dragon
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The guard of treasures
Ancient and powerful
Grendel’s Mother
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Unnamed swamp-hag
Full of vengeance in her heart
THE DANES
DANES - The Danes were a North Germanic tribe
inhabiting southern Scandinavia, including the area
now of comprising Denmark proper, and the Scanian
provinces of modern-day southern Sweden, during the
Nordic Iron Age and the Viking.
Shield Sheafson
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Legendary Danish King
Mythical founder who inaugurates a long line
of Danish Tribe’s highest value of heroism.
Beow
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The Second King
Son of Shield Sheafson
Father of Halfdane
A gift from God to people
Wealtheow
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Hrothgar’s wife
Gracious Queen of Danes
Unfearth
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Hrethric
Jealous of Beowulf
Unwilling to fight Grendel
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Hrothgar’s eldest son
Stands to inherit the Danish throne, but
Hrethric’s eldest cousin Hrothulf will prevent
him from doing so.
Hrothulf
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Hrothgar’s nephew
Hrothulf betrays and usurps his cousin,
Hrethic, the rightful heir of the Danish throne.
talking about Beowulf’s tales of victory from previous
journeys. The celebration continues until Grendel has
awakened.
PART 4
Grendel came to Beowulf to face him. Beowulf
accepted the challenge. They both displayed great
strength as Beowulf fought Grendel with bare hands.
Grendel carries within him the fear of Beowulf. This
caused Grendel to be weak before Beowulf.
THE GEATS
PART 5
GEATS - In the epic poem Beowulf there are several
groups of people mentioned, but the Geats stand
above the rest as the most beautiful, the bravest, the
boldest, and the most loyal. The land of the Geats is in
southern Sweden.
Hygelac
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Beowulf’s uncle
King of the Geats
Husband of Hygd. Hygelac heartily welcomes
Beowulf back from Denmark.
Hygd
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Hygelac’s wife
A young, intelligent and beautiful queen of
the Geats. Hygd is contrasted with Queen
Modthryth.
Beowulf became victorious in his battle against
Grendel. Although Grendel was not yet dead and
Beowulf is not yet finished. He rips Grendel’s arms,
held it up high for all to see. Grendel manages to
escape mortally wounded and returns to his swamp
and spends his last moments in the comfort of his
mother.
PART 6
Few knew that Grendel had a mother and those that
did were most likely dead. The story shifts from
Beowulf’s heroic victory to the great revenge of
Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother killed Aeschere,
one of the King’s best men/personal aid out of revenge
and returns to her swamp soon after. Beowulf and his
men grouped for revenge.
PART 7
Wiglaf
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A young kinsman and retainer of Beowulf
who helps him in the fight against the dragon
while other soldier ran away.
Sigemund
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A figure from Norse Mythology, famous for
slaying a dragon. It foreshadows Beowulf
encounter with the dragon.
PLOT SUMMARY
PART 1
The story begins in the kingdom of the Danes on a
land called Denmark. It was full of peace and
prosperity until the Grendel, the great demon arose.
This caused great fear, death and despair to the
Danish people.
PART 2
Then a man came from a far away land. A man
depicted as a warrior. He was tall, muscular, confident
and handsome. It was Beowulf. He accepted the plea
of the Dane king to defeat the demon, Grendel, to
prove he is an unbeatable warrior.
PART 3
The Danish king decided to celebrate with Beowulf
before facing Grendel for they foreshadows victory,
Beowulf found the swamp where Grendel’s mother lies
waiting for them. He dives down to the swamp to look
for the angry mother of Grendel. After seducing
Beowulf, Grendel’s mother charges to Beowulf which
started their battle. Beowulf stands victorious by
cutting down Grendel’s mother by a sword forged by
giants.
PART 8
The battle is now over. Beowulf cuts off the head of
Grendel’s mother as a trophy to the Danish King. The
people of Dane celebrated with great joy as peace
was restored in their lands all thanks to the heroic acts
of Beowulf. He sails back to the land.
PART 9
Upon returning to Geats, Beowulf was appointed as
King and ruled for fifty years. One day, a thief disturb a
tomb of treasure guarded by a ferocious dragon. It
launched series of killings to the people of Geats. This
was a chance to once again prove Beowulf’s skills.
PART 10
Beowulf is no longer have the young blood and skills
he possessed fifty years ago in Danes. Still, his
courage was flaming within his heart to defeat the
ferocious dragon. Wiglaf companioned him to begin
the journey and bring back peace to their lands.
PART 11
Beowulf and Wiglaf confronted the dragon in what is
considered to be the most difficult and rigorous battle
of their lifetime. Beowulf manages to cut deep in the
skin of the dragon but he was beaten by the dragon.
The venom begins to spread in his body.
PART 12
Beowulf begun to feel the poison crawling to his body.
He sits down by the river with Wiglaf with his dying
words—”You are the last of our family, Wiglaf. All the
others fell when fate decided they must. Now I must
follow them”. He ask to remember him as a great
warrior.
MAJOR CONFLICT
The poem’s overarching conflict is between close-knit
warrior societies and the various menaces that
threaten their lands and boundaries.
THEMES
1.The importance of establishing identity.
2.Tensions between the heroic code and other value
systems.
3.The difference between a good warrior and a good
SYMBOLS
The Golden Torque
The story of Sigemund told by the scop, or bard,
foreshadows Beowulf’s fight with the dragon.
The story of King Heremod foreshadows Beowulf’s
eventual ascendancy to kingship.
And a young prince must be prudent like that, giving
freely while his father lives so that afterwards in age
when fighting starts steadfast companions will stand
by him and hold the line. Behavior that’s admired is
the path to power among people everywhere.
END
KNIGHT’S TALE, PART ONE (SUMMARY)
Long ago in Ancient Greece, a great conqueror and
duke named Theseus ruled the city of Athens. One
day, four women kneel in front of Theseus’s horse and
weep, halting his passage into the city. The eldest
woman informs him that they are grieving the loss of
their husbands, who were killed at the siege of the city
of Thebes. Creon, the lord of Thebes, has dishonored
them by refusing to bury or cremate their bodies.
Enraged at the ladies’ plight, Theseus marches on
Thebes, which he easily conquers. After returning the
bones of their husbands to the four women for the
funeral rites, Theseus discovers two wounded enemy
soldiers lying on the battlefield, nearing death. Rather
than kill them, he mercifully heals the Theban soldiers’
injuries, but condemns them to a life of imprisonment
in an Athenian tower. The prisoners, named Palamon
and Arcite, are cousins and sworn brothers. Both live
in the prison tower for several years.
One spring morning, Palamon awakes early, looks out
the window, and sees fair-haired Emelye, Theseus’s
sister- in-law. She is making flower garlands, “To doon
honour to May” (1047). He falls in love and moans with
heartache. His cry awakens Arcite, who comes to
investigate the matter. As Arcite peers out the window,
he too falls in love with the beautiful flower- clad
maiden. They argue over her, but eventually realize
the futility of such a struggle when neither can ever
leave the prison.
The Banquet
One day, a duke named Perotheus, friend both to
Theseus and Arcite, petitions for Arcite’s freedom.
Theseus agrees, on the condition that Arcite be
banished permanently from Athens on pain of death.
Arcite returns to Thebes, miserable and jealous of
Palamon, who can still see Emelye every day from the
tower. But Palamon, too, grows more sorrowful than
ever; he believes that Arcite will lay siege to Athens
and take Emelye by force. The knight poses the
question to the listeners, rhetorically: who is worse off,
Arcite or Palamon?
FORESHADOWING
The funeral of Shield Sheafson, with which the poem
opens, foreshadows Beowulf’s funeral at the end of
the poem.
END
LESSON 6
SPANISH LITERATURE

SPANISH – DON QUIJOTE
KNOWING THE AUTHOR

Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra (1547- 1616)
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Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes created
one of the world's greatest literary
masterpieces, Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes was born near Madrid in
1547. He became a soldier in 1570 and was
badly wounded in the Battle of Lepanto.
Captured by the Turks in 1575, Cervantes
spent five years in prison. before he was
ransomed and returned home.
After less successful earlier efforts,
Cervantes finally achieved literary success in
his later years, publishing the first part of Don
Quixote in 1605. He died in April 22, 1616.
His father, Rodrigo, deaf from birth, worked
as a surgeon, a lowly trade at the time, and
the family moved around often in Cervantes
youth as his father searched for better
prospects.
Whatever his family's financial conditions,
Cervantes was an avid reader as a child—a
skill he was reportedly taught by a relative.
There is still much debate if he undergone
formal education.
HIS LIFE AS A POET AND A SOLDIER
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Cervantes's first known published writing
dates to 1569, when he contributed some
poetry to a memorial collection after the
death of Elizabeth of Valois, the wife of
Spain's King Philip II.
But by the following year, Cervantes had put
his pen aside and, instead, picked up a
weapon, joining a Spanish military unit in
Italy.
Known for his bravery, Cervantes took part in
the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Stationed on
the ship La Marquesa, he fought against the
Ottoman Empire and sustained serious
injuries in the conflict, suffering two chest
wounds and the complete maiming of his left
hand.
In 1575, Cervantes and his brother Rodrigo
tried to return to Spain, but they were
captured during their voyage by a group of
Turkish ships. Cervantes subsequently spent
five years as a prisoner and an enslaved
person, and made several failed attempts to
escape.
In 1605, Cervantes published the first part of
Don Quixote, a novel that tells the story of an
elderly man who becomes so enamored by
the old stories of brave knights that he seeks
out his own adventures.

The title character soon gets lost in his own
fantasy world, believing he is one of these
knights, and convinces a poor peasant,
Sancho Panza, to serve as his squire.
In one scene, the deluded Don Quixote even
fights a windmill, mistaking it for a giant.
Quixote finally regains his senses before the
novel ends.
In 1612, the first translation of Don Quixote
into a foreign language appears four years
after the death of Cervantes and seven years
after it was first published. Thomas Shelton
entitled the translation, The History of the
Valorous and Wittie Knight Errant, Don
Quixote of the Mancha.
MAIN CHARACTERS
1. Don Quixote
A fifty-year-old hidalgo, the lowest level of gentry, of
La Mancha in rural Spain, he has long since given up
running his modest estate and has begun selling off
some of his property.
These books all relate to chivalry, a subject that is
about to drive Quixano over the edge of reason, where
he will take on the name of Don Quixote de la
Mancha. A spavined dray and hack horse, Rosinante,
becomes his steed.
2. Sancho Panza
A local laborer who is enlisted to serve the newly
dubbed knight, lured principally by the promise of his
own island to govern. His primary means of
transportation is an ornery mule, Dapple.
3. Teresa
Sancho Panza's wife, who runs the household and
cares for the couple's two children while Sancho is off
in his chivalric pursuits with Quixote.
4. Dulcinea El Taboso
A young country girl who barely knows Don
Quixote, she nevertheless becomes the newly dubbed
knight's womanly ideal.
5. John Haldudo, the Rich
The rich man who, in Quixote's first knightly
adventure, is castigated by Quixote for beating his
servant-boy.
6. Andrew
A young apprentice whom Quixote attempts to help,
in the process causing more trouble.
7. Antonia
Quixote's loving niece, who is conflicted by her
desire to keep her uncle safely at home and her wish
for the old gentleman to enjoy himself at his new
preoccupation.
8. Muñaton
A scholar whom Antonia accuses of stealing
Quixote's library.
9. Samson Carrasco
A young student from Quixote's village. He believes
that by providing Quixote with adventures, he will
make the "knight" tire of chivalric pursuits. Carrasco is
a key character; he appears in many guises,
especially as knights-at-arms, and finally is the cause
of Quixote's return home.
10. The Duke and Duchess
A pair of decadent, high-ranking nobles who
become amused by Quixote and Panza, orchestrating
lavish and complex pranks as a source of amusement.
They are frequent causes of pain and humiliation for
the pair from La Mancha.
11. Cid Hamet Benegali
The Arab translator of Don Quixote. Appearing as
a satiric character, he is constantly being accused of
dishonesty by Cervantes in authorial asides.
12. Cardenio ("The Ragged Knight of the Sorry
Countenance")
A young man whose heart is broken when his
lover, Lucinda, marries Don Fernando. He and
Dorothea apprehend Don Fernando at the inn, late in
Book I. Cardenio ends up with Lucinda in the end.
13. The priest
A scholar whom Antonia accuses of stealing
Quixote's library.
PLOT
Alonzo Quijano (Don Quixote) goes crazy from
reading too many chivalry books. This madness
makes him to try imitate the adventures which he has
read. He leaves his hometown and embark himself in
a series of adventures and returns.
FIRST PART (1605 )

opening the doors to dialogues which is
important for their journey.
Besides, Sancho Panza and Don Quixote are
two opposite characters well-matched by
their differences. On this journey, we can
read about a lot of different adventures on
how Don Quixote was tricked into going
home.
SECOND PART (1615)


It covers the third and last journey. New
adventures on the way to Barcelona. Most of
them take place in the court of some Dukes
that have read the first part of the book. They
know Don Quixote and for a bit of
entertainment they pretend that they live in a
chivalrous court.
At the end of the second part, another
character from Don Quixote’s village, dressed
also as a knight-errant, challenges Don
Quixote and wins. This forces Don Quixote to
go back home. There he regains his sanity
and dies at peace.
ANALYSIS
Don Quixote is the model of the ideal aesthetic and
ethical life. He becomes a knight- errant so that he can
defend justice in the world, do good and live the life as
if it was a work of art.
Don Quixote is a synthesis of life and literature, a
life that has been lived and a life that has been
dreamed. It is a fabulous integration of.
Miguel de Cervantes displayed an extraordinary
example of the difficulties of writing about complex
human relationships.
THEMES
Idealism VS Realism
Don Quixote’s First Journey


Don Quixote prepares his old, rusty
weapons which belongs to his greatgrandfathers. He puts them on and sets out
through La Mancha with the hope of doing
justice, just as it happened in the stories he
read.
He arrives in an Inn in which he believes is a
castle, where he is knighted in a ridiculous
ceremony. He then seeks adventures and
returns home wounded and in failure.
Don Quixote’s Second Journey


The second journey makes up the rest of the
book. Don Quixote escapes from his house
again, but this time he is accompanied by a
humble neighbor who acted as his squire.
The appearance of Sancho Panza enriches
the possibilities of the novel since Sancho
Panza is going to be Don Quixote’s confidant,
Don Quixote is the ultimate idealist. He constructs a
moral code built around unrealistic expectations and
outdated beliefs, then he fully immerses himself in a
fantasy world that soon becomes his reality.
Honor VS Virtue
The ideas of honor and virtue go hand in hand in Don
Quixote. The best men are honorable; the most
desirable women are virtuous. Chivalric romance
stories are the ultimate example of honor and virtue,
which is why Don Quixote has dedicated himself to the
protection of both.
Love
Love is a common thread in Don Quixote, particularly
in how it relates to marriage. In the various stories told
throughout Part 1, love is presented as immediate and
all- encompassing and as an excuse for bad behavior.
Cervantes blames this perversion of what it means to
be in love on the idea that chivalric romances were
accepted as fact.
Insanity
Is Don Quixote actually insane? Cervantes explores
this question throughout Don Quixote without ever
coming to a formal conclusion. Insanity, it seems, is in
the eye of the beholder. While most people find Don
Quixote's dedication to knight- errantry a symptom of
madness, Sancho Panza initially takes it as a matter of
fact.
Social Class
Don Quixote is, among other things, a commentary on
class in 17th-century Spain. The upper class is
depicted as idle, lazy, and not altogether nice, as
evidenced by the Duke and the Duchess. They view
those socially beneath them as nothing more than
playthings for their amusement.
END
LESSON 7
ITALIAN LITERATURE
Italian literature, the body of written works produced
in the Italian language that had its beginnings in the
13th century. Until that time nearly all literary work
composed in Europe during the Middle Ages was
written in Latin.
Literature in Italian developed later than literature in
French and Provençal, the languages of the north and
south of France. Only small fragments of Italian
vernacular verse before the end of the 12th century
have been found and surviving 12th- and 13th-century
verse reflects French and Provencal influence.
THE INFLUENCE OF FRANCE TO ITALIAN
LITERATURE
French prose and verse romances were popular in
Italy from the 12th to the 14th century. By the 13th
century a “Franco- Venetian” literature, for the most
part anonymous, had developed. Italians copied
French stories, often adapting and extending various
episodes and sometimes creating new romances
featuring characters from the French works.
In the cultured environment of the Sicilian court of the
Italian-born Holy Roman emperor Frederick II
Hohenstaufen, who ruled the Sicilian kingdom from
1208 to 1250, lyrics modeled on Provençal forms and
themes were written in a refined version of the local
Sicilian vernacular.
Sicilian poetry continued to be written after the death
of Frederick II, but the center of literary activity moved
to Tuscany, where interest in the Provençal and
Sicilian lyric had led to several imitations by Guittone
d’Arezzo and his followers.
Guittone experimented with elaborate verse forms,
according to Dante in the De vulgari eloquentia,
Guittone’s language mingled dialect elements with
Latinisms and Provençalisms and had none of the
beauty of the southern school.
While Guittone and his followers were still writing, a
new development appeared in love poetry, marked
by a concern for precise and sincere expression and a
new serious treatment of love.
It has become customary to speak of this new school
of poets as the dolce stil novo (or nuovo; “sweet new
style”), an expression used by Dante in his Commedia
(Purgatorio, Canto XXIV, line 27), in a passage where
he emphasized delicacy of expression suited to the
subject of love.
Poesia giocoso (a realistic, or comic, verse) was a
complete contrast to serious love poetry. The
language was often deliberately unrefined,
colloquial, and sometimes scurrilous, in keeping
with the themes dealt with in the poetry.
The famous Laudes creaturarum o Cantico di Frate
Sole (c. 1225; “Canticle of Brother Sun”), of St.
Francis of Assisi was one of the earliest Italian poems.
It was written in rhythmical prose that recalls the
verses of the Bible and uses assonance in place of
rhyme.
Literary vernacular prose began in the 13th century,
though Latin continued to be used for writings on
theology, philosophy, law, politics, and science.
The literature of 14th-century Italy dominated all of
Europe for centuries to come and may be regarded as
the starting point of the Renaissance. Three names
stand out: Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio.
Dante Alighieri ( 1265 – 1321 )
Dante Alighieri is one of the most
important and influential names in all of European
literature, but it was only after his exile from his native
Florence at age 37 (1302) that he set out to write his
more ambitious works.
Dante’s genius found its fullest development in
his Commedia (written c. 1308–21; The Divine
Comedy), an allegorical poem—though after the first
canto the allegory is only occasionally obtrusive— in
terza rima, mini- stanzas of three lines each, called
terzine, rhyming aba, bcb, cdc, and so on.
Francesco Petrarca (1304 – 1374 )
Petrarch’s influence on literature was
enormous and lasting —stretching through the Italian
humanists of the following century to poets and
scholars throughout western Europe at least until
the 18th century.
The literary phenomenon known as Petrarchism
developed rapidly within the poet’s lifetime and
continued to grow during the following three centuries,
deeply influencing the literatures of Italy, Spain,
France, and England.

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 – 1375 )
The early writings of Boccaccio, almost all of which
are available in English translation, are purely literary,
without any didactic implications.
force that they created a giant hole in the
Earth.
Satan was cast all the way to the very center
of the Earth, has remained there since, and
will remain there through all of eternity.
The Decameron, a prose collection of 100 stories
recounted by 10 narrators—3 men and 7 women—
over 10 days, is Boccaccio’s most mature and
important work.
END
THE DIVINE COMEDY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Durante Degli Alighieri
Born
Died
Occupation
Nationality
Period
Literary movement
Mid-May to mid-June,
c. 1265 Florence,
Republic of Florence
September 13/14, 1321
(aged about 56)
Ravenna, Papal States
Statesman, poet,
language
Theorist, political
theorist
Italian
Late Middle Ages
Dolce Stil Novo
INFERNO
- this is a place where the souls of sinners would go
after they die.
CANTO I
The Dark Worlds of
Error
STRUCTURE OF THE HISTORY
The Divine Comedy is composed of 14,233 lines that
are divided into three canticas (Italian plural cantiche)
Inferno
(Hell)




Purgatori
Paradiso
(Purgatory)
(Paradise)
Each consisting of 33 cantos (Italian plural
canti). An initial canto, serving as an
introduction to the poem and generally
considered to be part of the first cantica,
brings the total number of cantos to 100.
Additionally, the verse scheme used, terza
rima, is hendecasyllabic (lines of eleven
syllables), with the lines composing tercets
according to the rhyme scheme aba, bcb,
cdc, ded, …
The physical aspect of Hell is a gigantic
funnel that leads to the very center of the
Earth.
According to the legend used by Dante, this
huge, gigantic hole in the Earth was made
when God threw Satan (Lucifer) and his
band of rebels out of Heaven with such
The Inferno follows the
wanderings of the poet
Dante as he strays off
the rightful and straight
path of moral truth and
gets lost in a dark wood.
And that, folks, is just
the beginning.
At the age of thirty-five,
on the night of Good
Friday in the year 1300,
Dante finds himself lost
in a dark wood and full
of fear.
Just as three wild
animals threaten to
attack him, Dante is
rescued by the ghost of
Virgil, a celebrated
Roman poet and also
Dante’s idol.
CANTO II
The Descent
When asked why he
came, Virgil answers
that the head honchos
of Heaven – the Virgin
Mary and Santa Lucia –
felt sorry for Dante.
Virgil asked the
deceased love-ofDante’s-life, Beatrice, to
send someone down to
help him. Virgil to the
rescue! He’s an
appropriate guide
because he’s very much
like Dante, a fellow
writer and famous poet.
CANTO III
The Opportunists
(Gate)
Dante speaks to the
soul of Francesca da
Rimini, a woman who
was stuck in a loveless,
arranged marriage and
committed adultery
when she fell in love
with a dashing youth
named Paolo.
CANTO VI
The Gluttonous
Circle 3
The first circle of Hell
(Limbo) :
Virgil resides here,
along with a bunch of
other Greek and Roman
poets.
Dante encounters the
poets Homer, Horace,
Ovid, and Lucan, who
include him in their
number and make him
“sixth in that high
company”.
CANTO V
The Lustful
Circle 2
In the second circle,
lustful sinners are
tossed around by
endless storms.
After passing through
the vestibule, Dante and
Virgil reach the ferry that
will take them across
the river Acheron and to
Hell proper. The ferry is
piloted by Charon, who
does not want to let
Dante enter, for he is a
living being.
Virgil forces Charon to
take him however, the
passage across the
Acheron is undescribed,
since Dante faints and
does not awaken until
he is on the other side.
CANTO IV
The Virtuous Pagan
Circle 1 - Limbo
He sentences each soul
to its torment by
wrapping his tail around
himself a corresponding
number of times.
Dante and Virgil leave
Limbo and enter the
Second Circle – the first
of the circles
Incontinence – where
the punishments of Hell
proper begin. It is
described as “ a part
where no thing
gleams”. They find their
way hindered by the
serpentine Minos.
Minos
- who judges all of those
condemned for active,
deliberately willed sin to
one of the lower circles.
Cerberus – the
monstrous three-headed
beast of Hell,
ravenously guards the
gluttons lying in the
freezing mire, mauling
and flaying them with
his claws as they howl
like dogs.
Dante then awakes in
the third circle, where
the Gluttonous
sinners suffer under a
cold and filthy rain.
CANTO VII
The Avaricious and
Prodigal
Circle 4
Virgil leads Dante on
the fourth circle,
where the Avaricious
(greedy people) and
Prodigal (reckless
spenders) roll heavy
weights in endless
circles.
Circle 4 – Guarded by
Plutus.
CANTO VIII
The Wrathful and
Sullen
Circle 5 – The River
Styx
The next stop on the
tour is the fifth circle,
where the Wrathful
and Sullen are
immersed in the
muddy river Styx.
While they are crossing
the Styx, a sinner
named Filippo Argenti
reaches out to Dante
(presumably for help),
but Dante angrily rejects
him.
commensurate with their
sins.
CANTO IX-XI
The Wrathful and
Sullen
Circle 5 – The Gate of
Dis
Now at the gates of a
city called Dis, Virgil
takes it upon himself to
persuade the demon
guards to let them pass.
Unexpectedly, he fails.
CANTO XIII
The Violent against
themselves
Circle 7 – Middle Ring
The walls of Dis are
guarded by fallen
angels.
This means that instead
of continuing on with the
journey, Dante and
Virgil must wait for an
angel to come down and
force open the gates for
them.
CANTO IX-XI
The Heretics
Circle 6
After passing the city
of Dis, our dynamic
duo, enters the sixth
circle, where the
Heretics lay in fiery
tombs.
Dante talks to Farinata
degli Uberti, who
predicts that Dante will
have difficulty returning
to Florence from exile.
CANTO XII
The Violent against
Neighbors
Circle 7
This circle houses the
violent. Its entry is
guarded by Minotaur.
Divided into 3 rings:
Outer ring
- violent against their
neighbors.
Middle ring
- violent against
themselves.
Inner ring
- violent against
GOD.
As they cross from the
sixth to the seventh
circle, where the Violent
are punished, Virgil
finally begins explaining
the layout of Hell.
CANTO XII
The Violent against
their neighbors
Circle 7 – The Outer
Ring
Outer ring – housing
the violent against
people and property,
who are immersed in
Phlegethon – a river of
boiling blood, to a level
Middle ring – in this
ring are the suicides,
who are transformed
into gnarled thorny
bushes and trees.
* The trees are a
metaphor; In life the
only way of the relief of
suffering was through
pain (suicide)
CANTO XIV-XVII
The Violent against
GOD, Nature and Art
Circle 7 – Inner Ring
Inner ring – all reside in
a desert of flaming sand
with fiery flakes raining
from the sky.
Violent against:
GOD – blasphemers
Nature – Sodomites
Art - Usurers
CANTO XVIII
The Fraudulent
Circle 8
Finally, Dante and Virgil
ready themselves to
cross the eighth circle.
Dante, at Virgil’s
command, summons
the beast Geryon from
the depths with a cord
wrapped around his
waist.
- Geryon, symbol of
deceit.
Virgil stays to talk with
the beast while urging
Dante to look at the last
of the Violent sinners.
When Dante comes
back, they mount
Geryon and ride the
beast during the
descent into the eighth
circle.
The eighth circle
contains ten pouches,
each containing different
types of sinners.
CANTO XVIII
The Fraudulent
Circle 8
Trench I: Panderers &
Seducers
Trench II: Flatterers
Panderers and
Seducers walk in
separate line in opposite
direction, whipped by
demons.
immobilized around
them in punishment.
Nimrod-who was
responsible for building
the Tower of Babe l- has
lost the ability to speak
coherently. His words
are gibberish.
Flatterers are steeped
in human excrement.
CANTO XIX - XX
The Fraudulent
Circle 8
Trench III: Simoniacs
Trench IV: Sorcerers
Simoniacs – those who
committed simony are
place head first in holes
in the rock, with flames
burning on the soles of
their feet.
Sorcerers and false
prophets – they have
their heads twisted
around on their bodies
backward, so they can
only see what is behind
them and not in the
future.
CANTO XXI - XXIII
The Fraudulent
Circle 8
Trench V: Barrators
Trench VI: Hypocrites
Virgil requests that one
of the unbound giants,
Antaneus, transport
them in the palm of his
hand down to the last
circle of Hell. He
complies.
CANTO XXXIII
The Traitors
Circle 9
Region 1: Kindred
Region 2: Country
Region 3: Guests
Region 4: Lords
Corrupt politicians
(barrators) are
immersed in a lake of
boiling pitch, guarded by
devils, the Malebranche
Traitors, distinguished
from the “merely”
fraudulent in that their
acts involve betraying
one in a special
relationship to the
betrayer, are frozen in a
lake of ice known as
Cocytus.
Hypocrites listlessly
walking along wearing
gold-gilded lead cloaks.
CANTO XXIV-XXVII
The Fraudulent
Circle 8
Trench VII: Thieves
Trench VIII: Evil
Counselors
Thieves are bitten by
snakes. Snakes bites
make them undergo
various transformations
and some resurrected
after being turned to
ashes.
The ninth circle of Hell,
where traitors are
punished, contains four
different zones.
CANTO XXXIII
The Traitors
Circle 9 – The Four
Concentric Zones of
9th Circle
Traitors to their Kindred
Evil Counselors are
encased in individual
flames.
Traitors to their Country
CANTO XXVII-XXXI
The Fraudulent
Circle 8
Trench IX: Sowers of
Discord
Trench X: Falsifiers
A sword-wielded devil
hacks at the sowers of
discord. As their
wounds heal, the devil
will tear their bodies
again.
Groups of various sort
of falsifiers are afflicted
with different types of
diseases.
As they leave, Virgil
points out the sinning
giants who are
Traitors to their Guests
THE DIVINE COMEDY
PURGATORY
Traitors to their Lords
PURGATORY – this is the place where the souls of
sinners, who still have the chance to redeem
themselves, would go after they die.
Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil
ascend out of the undergloom, to the Mountain of
Purgatory on the far side of the world.
CANTO XXXIII
The Traitors
Circle 9
REGION 1:Caina
Beatrice, Dante’s ideal woman, guides him through
PURGATORY. Beatrice was a Florentine woman
whom he had met in childhood and admired from afar
in the mode of the then - fashionable courtly love
tradition which is highlighted in Dante’s earlier work La
Vita Nuova.
THE TERRACES OF PURGATORIO
CANTO XXXIII
The Traitors
Circle 9
REGION 2:
Antenora
ANTE-PURGATORY (LATE-REPENTANT)

CANTO XXXIII
The Traitors
Circle 9
REGION 3:
Ptolomaea

This is the level where the late – repentants
stay.
These sinners stay in purgatory until the
prayers of their loved ones shorten their stay
there.
FIRST TERRACE (PROUD)


CANTO XXXIII
The Traitors
Circle 9
REGION 4 :
Judecca
Those who are proud are being punished in
this level.
The proud are purged by carrying giant
stones on their backs, unable to stand up
straight.
SECOND TERRACE (ENVIOUS)


Those who are envious are being punished in
this level.
The envious are purged by having their eyes
sewn shut and wearing clothing that makes
the soul indistinguishable from the ground.
THIRD TERRACE (WRATHFUL)


Those who are wrathful are being punished in
this level.
The wrathful are purged by walking around in
acrid smoke.
FOURTH TERRACE (SLOTHFUL)


Those who are slothful are being punished in
this level.
The slothful are purged by continually
running.
FIFTH TERRACE (AVARICIOUS)



Those who sinned on the fifth through
seventh terraces are those who loved good
things but loving them in a disordered way.
Those who are avaricious and prodigal are
being punished in this level.
The avaricious and prodigal are purged by
lying face-down on the ground, unable to
move.
THE DIVINE COMEDY
PARADISO
PARADISO – is the third and final Journey of Dante,
following the Inferno and the Purgatorio. It is an
allegory telling of Dante’s journey through Heaven,
guided by Beatrice, who symbolizes theology.


SIXTH TERRACE (GLUTTONOUS)


Those who are gluttonous are being
punished in this level.
The gluttonous are purged by abstaining from
any food or drink.
Dante, under the guidance of Beatrice,
completes his journey to the afterlife by
leaving the earth and rising through the ten
celestial heavens of the ancient cosmos.
Paradiso narrates how Dante and Beatrice
encounter blessed spirits in the seven
planetary spheres.
In describing the heavens, Dante is going
beyond previous poets, driven by intellect
(Minerva), steered by divine creativity
(Apollo), and guided by poetic inspiration
(The Muses).
The System of Dante’s Paradise
SEVENTH TERRACE (LUSTFUL)


Those who are lustful are being punished in
this level.
The lustful are purged by burning in an
immense wall of flame.
AN ILLUSTRATION OF PURGATORIO
Moon



The sphere is that of faith, the content of
faith, taken on the trust that will be revealed,
realized, self-evidently as “truth”.
The spirits in the moon is all associated in our
culture with woman, with the virginity and
chastity of Diana.
Spirits are those who failed in the aspect of
faith by breaking their vows.
Mercury




Justinian and the hope of the Roman Empire
Refers to the justice of the sin of the Fall of
Man.
Mercury is filled with spirits who hoped for
earthly fame and honor, so they impaired the
force of their spiritual hope.
The spirits are satisfied because reward is
matched with merit and they are free of envy.
Venus

Fixed Stars
Still in the heaven of Venus, Dante speaks
first with Cunizza, the mistress of the
troubadour poet, Sordello, and sister of the
tyrant, Ezzelino da Romano, and secondly
with Foulquet of Marseilles, a troubadour
poet, renowned as much for his amours as
for his poetry. The discourse of both souls is
concerned with affairs on earth, Cunizza
foretelling the disasters which will befall the
inhabitants of the Trevisan territory, and
Foulquet deploring the avarice of the Church
and her neglect of true religion. Both spirits
rejoice in the degree of bliss to which God
has destined them; the love in which they
erred in their first life is now discerned by
them as the power by which the universe is
governed.

Love, in all its forms, reads to him, is Divine
Love, The good God, Himself. Love is one
continuum, from the divine to the earthly. All
love is one.
Dante will be examined by the Apostles who stand at
the threshold to the Primum Mobile, concerning his
understanding of the theological virtues.
The Primum Mobile/ Crystalline
Sun

The spirits are manifested who reconciled
spiritual and earthly wisdom; pagan and
Christian learning and history, and directed
the virtuous Christian life on Earth.
The Empyrean

Mars
Signifies the virtue of Fortitude.


The red planet carries traditional associations
of blood and war in myth and astrology; but in
here, it represents the associations of the
Church Militant and of the Crucifixion.
The Spirits are those of the warriors of God;
those who fought for the Chosen People of
the old law (Old Testament), and of Christ’s
Church in the new (New Testament).
Jupiter





It is associated with Justice and Wisdom, with
Jupiter the Roman God, and therefore with
the Roman Emperors, and with the Christian
God.
The head and neck of an Eagle
1. The emblem of Rome
2. The divine sign of Empire and justice
The mind of God inspires the earthly forms,
the nests where intellect builds and creates
justice.
Saturn


The contemplative spiritual life of an
individual and the fourth cardinal virtue of
Temperance.
Is also a reminder of the Golden Age when in
myth, Saturn ruled the Earth; a time of
simplicity, moderation and primal innocence.


Here, Dante had seen the redeemed spirits
and the angles in their form of the Last
Judgment.
The Empyrean is the full Light of Truth which
is filled with Divine Love. That love is full of
transcendent joy coming from the Supreme
God, the essence of Love.
The Angel fly among the redeemed, in the
form of a white rose, and God. Angel’s faces
are flame, their wings golden and the rest,
white: the three colors that symbolizes Love,
Knowledge and Purity.