Lessons 6 and 7: Of Passion, War, and Warriors I & II
Lesson Objectives:
 Combine previously taught critical reading methodologies for reading Ovid’s tales by
having cadets identify setting, characters, themes, and apply a modified Freytag
pyramidal plot structure to the assigned myths from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
 Lead class discussion (on day 2) identifying similarities/differences between Ovid’s tales
about war and warriors and Stephen Crane’s “War is Kind” and Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce
et Decorum Est.”
Handouts: Identify handouts sent to cadet email accounts/posted on course website:
 Ovid, Metamorphoses – Supplemental Handouts
 Pyramidal Plot Structure Handout
Pedagogical Intent: This lesson combines previously addressed approaches to examining and/or
appreciating Ovidian myths. The lesson identifies character, setting, and themes and applies a
modified Freytag pyramidal plot structure to a number of Ovid’s myths. Day 2 of the lesson then
examines other poet’s interpretations/appropriations of similar themes.
Scheme of Maneuver:
o Address any questions about Myth project due Lesson 7.
o Cadets take boards individually and present a thorough critical reading framework for an
assigned reading.
o 7 tales – assign each tale to two cadets (or three as required), opposite sides of the
room.
 Assign specific tale in Lesson 5.
o Cadets must identify:
 Setting
 Characters
 Theme(s)
o Cadets must also present a modified Freytag pyramidal plot structure for his/her
assigned myth.
o After completion, have cadets compare/contrast critical reading frameworks of shared
tales.
o Let cadet work guide group discussion.
o Briefly identify setting, characters, themes, and plot-points of assigned tales:
o “Iphigenia on Aulis”:
 Setting: Troy, Port of Aulis in Boetia (region in Greece)
 Characters:
 Iphigenia: Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.
 Priam: King of Troy, father of, among many others, Hector, Paris, and
Aesacus.
 Aesacus: Illegitimate son of Priam (King of Troy) and a nymph,
Alexirhoe. In the tale immediately before this one (the final tale in
Book XI), Aesacus sees and falls in love with a nymph, Hesperia. As
he pursues her, however, she is bitten by a venomous snake and dies.
Overwhelmed by sorrow and passion, he jumps off a cliff, hoping to
commit suicide but is transformed into a bird by Tethys.
 Hector: Priam’s eldest son. His mother is Hecuba. Priam’s heir.
 Paris: Priam’s son; starts the Trojan War by abducting Helen.
 Thestorides: an augur, seer, prophet. Also known as Calchas in
Homer’s Iliad.
 Diana: Goddess of the moon, the hunt, and chastity. Twin sister of
Phoebus Apollo. Daughter of Jove and Latona.
 Ocean: god of the ocean/Oceanus.
 Themes: sacrifice, appeasement of the gods.
 Plot Points: Tale begins with the funeral for Aesacus. Paris is not at the
funeral, as he is returning with Helen, the wife of the Greek king, Menelaus,
whom he has abducted. The Greek fleet is stuck in port due to fierce winds
brought about by Diana to punish Agamemnon, who had killed a deer sacred
to the goddess. Thestorides, an augur (seer/prophet) interprets a serpent’s
killing of nine birds to mean that the war would last nine years – but that the
Greeks would ultimately be victorious. Thestorides further insisted that a
virgin must be sacrificed to appease Diana. Agamemnon prepared to sacrifice
his daughter, Iphigenia. Diana relents at the last second, causing a fog/cloud to
form over the altar and substituting a deer for Iphigenia. Appeased by the
sacrifice, the winds subside and the Greeks set sail for Troy.
o “The House of Rumor”:
 Setting:”At the world’s center” (XII.58)
 Characters:
 Rumor
 Jupiter/Jove
 Credulity
 Heedless Error
 Empty Joy
 Fearful Consternation
 Unexpected Treachery
 Whispers of Uncertain Origin
 Themes: Omnipresence of rumors, fabrications mixed with fact, tales, and
fictions throughout the world.
 Plot Points: Purpose of this tale, it would seem, is to establish a “vital
presence” or “vitality” to rumors, which play a critical role throughout the
Trojan War and the tales that follow. Rumor, as a character, impacts the
Trojan War, as we see in the tale of Cycnus.
o “Cycnus”:
 Setting: Troy
 Characters:
 Cycnus – King of Kolonai (Greek city in contemporary Turkey).
Trojan soldier invulnerable to attack by spear or sword. Son of
Neptune.
 Rumor
 Protesilaus
 Hector
 Achilles
 Neptune
 Menoetes – a Trojan soldier.
 Themes:
 Bravery/courage.
 Move beyond self-doubt.
 Hubris.
 No one is invincible.
 Plot Points: Cycnus is killed on the first day of the Trojan War by an enraged
Achilles – who tries to kill him w/ a spear a number of times. Finally, Achilles
strangles Cycnus with his helmet straps. Prior to his death, Neptune
transforms Cycnus into a swan.
 Notable passages:
 “‘Young man, whoever you might be, / take consolation, dead, from
knowing that / your slayer is Thessalian Achilles’” (XII.120-122).
 “Breeding matters: it is good to be the son – / not of a Nereid – but of
the one / who rules Nereus, his daughters – and the sea!” (XII.139141).
 “…you will have seen a bull in the arena, / who, with his terrifying
horns, pursues / the provocation of a scarlet cape, / only to discover
that he’s missed it: Achilles, raging, was not otherwise” (XII.151-155).
o “Caeneus”:
 Setting: Troy, Thessaly
 Characters:
 Caenis/Caeneus – Born Caenis, daughter of Elatus and Hippea. Raped
by Neptune and transformed by him into a man at her request – so as
never to be raped again.
 Achilles
 Nestor – Legendary King of Pylos. Argonaut. Noted for his bravery
and oratory. Revered as a warrior and a king by the Greeks engaged in
the Trojan War.
 Themes:
 Mutability of gender
 Reverence for legendary warriors/elders
 Plot Points: Achilles and the Greek warriors are relaxing after the first day of
battle. They pass the time by “telling stories of heroic deeds; / they reenact
old wars, their own and others, / and are delighted to remember all / the
dangers they’ve endured and gotten through” (XII.236-239). The Greeks
marvel about Cycnus and how he could not be injured by a spear or sword.
Nestor then tells the group the tale of “Thessalian Caeneus… who could
endure / a thousand blows without a single wound” and, more astounding,
“what was most amazing about him, / what that he had been born…a her”
(XII.252-259). Nestor tells how Caenis was the most beautiful of the
Thessalian women. Many men wooed her; she refused all. She had no desire
to marry. Neptune raped her.
 Prominent passages:
 “Do tell! For this entire company, / O fluent elder, source of sagacity, /
is equal in its eagerness to learn / who Caeneus was…” (XII.263-265).
 “And after he had taken his delight / by ravishing the maiden, he
announced, / ‘Whatever you desire will be granted! / Fear no refusal;
ask and it is given.’” (XII.292-295).
 “Caenis replied: ‘The injury you’ve done me / requires a great wish to
be set right; / that I might never suffer this again, / allow that I may be
no more a woman, / and you will have fulfilled me utterly” (XII.297301).
 “And so it was: for Neptune had already / assented, and now gave
much greater gifts: that she should be impervious to wounds, / and
never fall victim to the sword. / Caeneus went off happily with these, /
and spent his days in masculine pursuits, / wandering in the fields of
Peneus, / delighting in his new phallicity” (XII.305-312).
o “The Lapiths and the Centaurs”:
 Setting: Troy, Thessaly
 Characters:
 Caeneus – finally killed by the centaurs who crush him to death with
trees.
 Pirithous – Son of Ixion the Bold. King of the Lapiths in Thessaly.
Groom of Hippodame. Slays Lycus, Chromis, Dictys, Helops
 Hippodame – Bride of Pirithous. Raped by Eurytus.
 Centaurs:
o Eurytus – begins the battle between the Lapiths and the
centaurs by raping Hippodame.
o Amycus
o Gryneus
o Chraxus
o Cometus – killed when Chraxus drops a stone on his head.
o Euagrus
o Dryas – kills Rhoetus, Eurynomus, Lycidas, Areos, Crineus
and Imbreus.
o Corythus
o Petraeus
o Phorbas
o Lycus, Chromis, Dictys, Helops – all killed by Pirithous.
o Aphareus, Bienor, Nedymnus, Lycopes, Hippasos – all killed
by Theseus.
o Demoleon
o Dorylas – killed by Nestor and Peleus.
o Cyllarus – killed by a spear.
o Hylonome – female Centaur lover of Cyllarus. Kills herself
with the spear that killed Cyllarus.


o Phaeocomes – killed Tectaphos. Nestor then kills Phaeocomes.
o Chthonius – killed by Nestor.
o Latreus – killed by Caenus.
o Monychus
 Lapiths and Allies:
o Caeneus – kills Styphelus, Bromus, Antimachus, Elymus,
Pyracmos. The centaur, Latreus, mocks Caeneus, calling him
by his original female name, Caenis.
o Theseus – Founding king and hero of Athens. Pirithous’s best
friend. Kills Eurytus.
o Celadon – killed by Amycus
o Pellaeus – who kills Amycus
o Borteos and Orios – killed by Gryneus.
o Exadius – kills Gryneus
o Rhoetus – kills Chraxus, Corythus, and Euagrus; gravely
wounded by Dryas.
o Orneus, Lycabas, Medon, Thaumas, Mermeros, Phobus,
Melaneius, Abas, Asbolus, Nessus – flee with Rhoetus.
o Eurynomus, Lycidas, Areos, Imbreus, and Crineus – all killed
by Dryas
o Aphidas – killed by Phorbas
o Crantor – injured by Demoleon
o Peleus – kills Demoleon, Hyles, Phlegraeos, Ipiphinous and
Clanis.
o Periphas –kills Pyraethus.
o Ampyx – killed Echeclus.
o Macareus – killed Erigdupus
o Nessus – kills Cymelus
o Mopsus – an auger/seer who kills Hodites
Themes:
 Mutability of gender
 Reverence for legendary warriors/elders
 The power of oratory
 “Fair” fights
Plot Points: This is as much a tale of Nestor’s storytelling abilities as it is
about death and mayhem – though there is plenty of both here. Nestor tells the
tale of the vicious (and legendary) battle between the Lapith and the Centaurs
at the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodame. Eurytus sees Hippodame appear
at the wedding and, intoxicated, he rapes her. Also inebriated, his fellow
centaurs begin raping women and boys. The Lapith men fight back – with
help from Theseus and the gods, if Nestor’s story is to be believed. Nestor
regales his fellow Greek warriors with a long litany of vicious deaths,
detailing who killed whom and how…Towards the middle, he stops the tale to
ensure his fellow warriors know just how tough he used to be. Nestor is, at the
time of the Trojan War, very old – over 100. Thus, he cannot fight against the
Trojans. Caeneus enters the tale after a long litany of Lapith and Centaur
deaths (each named by Nestor). Latreus mocks Caeneus, calling him by his
original female name, Caenis. Latreus strikes at Caeneus multiple times –
including his testicles – which, Nestor notes, were like marble. Caeneus then
kills Latreus. The centaurs are enraged by the fact that their spears and
weapons do not harm Caenus. They hurl all of their weapons at him – to no
avail. They cannot believe “we are conquered by / an enemy who used to be a
mare!” (XII.741-742). The centaurs, under the direction of Monychus, take all
the boulders and trees of Mount Othrys and buried Caeneus, crushing him to
death. Nestor notes that some dispute Caeneus’s death, saying Mopsus saw a
golden winged bird fly out of the pile of trees and boulders. Nestor tells his
comrades that the Lapith warriors were so disgusted by the site of all the
centaurs ganging up on Caeneus that rage mingled with grief and, by the end
of the fight, “half of our enemies were dead, / and those still left alive had
taken flight” (XII.785-786).
 Prominent passages:
 “Those were the days when I should have been sent / to take Troy by
myself! Those were the days / when I could have – not overwhelmed
great Hector, / but fought him to a draw by force of arms. / But Hector,
in those days, was not yet born / or was a boy, and now it is too late:
old age has taken much away from me” (XII.655-661).
 “Are you supposed to be my match, Caenis? / In my eyes, you will
always be a woman, you’ll always be Caenis to me,’ and such:/
‘Consider well what you are by your birth / and by what you have
gone through: go, take up / the colander and milk pail, twist the
threads / across your thumb – leave war to men!” (XI.693-699).
o “Periclymenus”:
 Setting: Troy, Pylos
 Characters:
 Tlepolemus – Son of Hercules. Legend has it that he killed his uncle
and was forced to flee Athens to Rhodes where he eventually became
king. He married Polyxo after she lured her father to sleep and killed
him. Later Tlepolemus was one of the suitors of Helen. He led 9 ships
of warriors from Rhodes to Troy. Killed by Sarpedon after taunting
him. Polyxo killed Helen for revenge.
 Hercules
 Nestor
 Periclymenus – Son of Neleus, King of Pylos. Hercules asked Neleus
to cleanse him of a blood-debt, but Neleus refused. Hercules then
killed Neleus and all of his sons – except Nestor. Neptune had given
Periclymenus the ability to shapeshift. Periclymenus tried to escape
Hercules by turning into an eagle.
 Neptune
 Themes:
 Honoring ancestors.
 Vengeance/revenge.
 Hospitality and storytelling as a virtue.

Plot Points: Tlepolemus is angry that Nestor has not told how his father,
Hercules, also battled and killed a number of centaurs. Nestor, who has a long
history with Hercules and considers him an enemy, dismisses Tlepolemus’s
complaints and lists Hercules’s crimes, instead. Nestor tells how Hercules
came to Pylos and “destroyed my home by fire and by sword” and how he
killed all eleven of Nestor’s brothers, including Periclymenus. Nestor notes
Periclymenus had been granted the ability to change forms and that he turned
into an eagle and struck at Hercules a number of times with his wings and
beak and talons. Hercules then shot Periclymenus out of the sky with an
arrow. Nestor then turns to Tlepolemus and says “Now then, most admirable
admiral / of the fleet from Rhodes, what reason do I have / to sing your
father’s praises? Nonetheless, / I seek no further vengeance for my brothers /
than to ignore the deeds of Hercules” (XII.836-840). Ovid concludes the tale
by noting the virtue of hospitality: “When Nestor had brought his story to an
end / so courteously, the wine was sent around / once more, and then they rose
up from their couches; / the remainder of the night belonged to sleep”
(XII.842-845).
o “The Death of Achilles”:
 Setting: Troy
 Characters:
 Achilles
 Cycnus
 Phaethon
 Neptune
 Phoebus Apollo
 Paris
 Hector
 Priam
 Ajax
 Diomedes – one of the suitors of Helen, considered a great hero, just
behind Achilles. King of Argos.
 Menelaus
 Ulysses
 Agamemnon
 Themes:
 Efficacy of the heroic ethos – That the mighty Achilles would be killed
by the morally corrupt, weak, and effeminate Paris calls into question
the viability of the heroic ethos.
 Plot Points:
 Neptune, still angered by the death of Cycnus and lamenting the loss
of Phaethon, finally decides to act on his hatred for Achilles. After ten
years, the Trojan War was drawing towards its conclusion. As patron
gods of Troy, Neptune asks Phoebus Apollo to help avenge all of the
Trojan losses and the impending fall of the citadel to the Greeks.
Phoebus Apollo appears to Paris and directs him to shoot Achilles with
an arrow. Paris does so. The Greeks honor Achilles with a funeral pyre
and then Agamemnon decides to host a contest between Ajax and
Ulysses, both of whom desire Achilles’ armor.
 Prominent passages:
 Apollo to Paris – “Why do you waste your barbs / on nobodies? If you
have any care / for your own people, take aim at Achilles, / and so
avenge his slaughter of your brothers” (XII.878-881).
 On the death of Achilles – “Not since the death of Hector had old
Priam / a cause for celebration; now he had: / that you, Achilles,
conqueror of many, / are overcome by an unheroic / adulterer who
snatched a Grecian wife! / Better that you were slain in battle by / an
Amazon, wielding her double axe” (XII.887-893).
 “Now he who was the terror of the Trojans, / the glory and protector of
the Greeks, / invincible Achilles, had been burned / upon the pyre; one
god and the same / armed this great hero and consumed him quite; /
now he is ashes: and the little left / of great Achilles scarcely fills an
urn, / although his living glory fills the world. / That glory is the
measure of the man, / and it is the measure of the man, and it is this
that is Achilles’ essence…” (XII.894-903).
o For Lesson 7 (no assigned homework), examine through class discussion Stephen Crane’s
and Wilfred Owen’s thematic assessment of the warrior / heroic ethos in:
o Crane, “War is Kind”:
 Note the martial language, how does this language support / contrast with
Crane’s theme?
 1st stanza: Steed.
 2nd stanza:
o Booming drums of the regiment,
o Thirst for fight
o Glory
o Great is the battle god
th
 4 stanza:
o Swift, blazing flag of the regiment
o Eagle with crest of red and gold
o These men were born to drill
o Excellence of killing.
 Conversely, note also the impact of negative / dark imagery and diction:
 Weep
 Affrighted
 Alone
 Little souls
 Die
 A field where a thousand corpses lie.
 Tumbled in the yellow trenches.
 Raged, gulped, died.
 Virtue of slaughter
 Shroud

Note how Crane describes the “glory” as “unexplained.” What do we make of
this?
 Side note – what is the double meaning behind “unexplained glory”?
Hint – the glory flies above them – Old Glory – US flag – symbol of
the nation. Note also the eagle with crest of red and gold in the fourth
stanza. Is Crane’s a solidly “positive” take on the nation and its
symbols?
 Does Crane really think war is “kind”?
 How does Crane’s poem mirror the theme in Ovid’s “Death of Achilles”?
 How does the “plot” or “action” of Crane’s poem mirror Ovid’s tale?
 Mourning the death of soldiers.
o Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est”:
 Contrast the imagery of Owen’s poem with Crane’s and Ovid’s tale.
 Contrast the diction of Owen’s poem with Crane’s and Ovid’s.
 Contrast the theme of Owen’s poem with Crane’s and Ovid’s tale.
Looking Ahead:
 Lesson 7 – Of Passion, War, and Warriors II
o Due: Myth
 Lesson 8 – Of Anger, Wandering, and Sorrow
o Ovid, Metamorphoses: “Ajax versus Ulysses,” “The Sorrows of Hecuba,”
“Memnon.”
o Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle Into the Good Night” (NAP 968).
o Shakespeare, “When to the sessions of sweet, silent thought” (NAP 172).