1st Trimester 2011 AP Senior Lit.
“Allusion-A-Day”
• Each day as an entry task
– Take notes on the allusion
• Jot down if you think it’s a Biblical allusion, allusion
to Greek mythology, or to Roman mythology
• Jot down a few things you know or think you know
about it
– After the notes, use the allusion properly in a
sentence
• Turn in for a participation grade at the end
of the trimester
Monday 10/31 - HADES
• Is this
– a Biblical allusion?
– Greek mythology?
– Roman mythology?
• What do you think you know about
Hades?
HADES
• Greek god of the underworld
• Eventually term association with the underworld itself
• Tartarus, a deep, gloomy part of hades used as a
dungeon of torment and suffering is the actual Greek
location of what many know as hell
• According to myth, he and his brothers Zeus and
Poseidon defeated the Titans and claimed rulership over
the cosmos, ruling the underworld, air, and sea,
respectively; the solid earth, long the province of Gaia,
was available to all three concurrently. Because of his
association with the underworld, Hades is often
interpreted in modern times as the personification of
death, even though he was not — the actual
embodiment of Death was Thanatos
• Hades is often depicted and associated with the Helm of
Darkness and the three-headed dog Cerberus
Wednesday 11/2 – ABRAHAM AND
ISAAC – FATHER SACRIFICING THE
SON
• Is this
– a Biblical allusion?
– Greek mythology?
– Roman mythology?
• What do you think you know about the
story of Abraham and Isaac?
ABRAHAM AND ISAAC – FATHER
SACRIFICING THE SON
• The Bible – Genesis 22
• Isaac is born when Abraham is 99 and his wife is 90 –
God has already told Abraham he would be the father of
a great nation (eventually the ‘father’ of Israel and
Judaism) – now he has a real son
• God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac – they walk
three days to a mount as commanded – Isaac asks
where the animal is for the sacrifice and Abraham tells
him “God will provide the lamb”
• When Abraham took out the knife to kill Isaac, God
spoke and told Abraham to stop as he had proven his
fear of the Lord by being willing to kill his one and only
son
Tuesday 11/8 – SISYPHUS
• Founder and first king of Corinth
• Ruled with an iron fist and killed travelers and
guests to his kingdom, in violation of hospitality
laws
• Was known for his trickery and trouble-making
for the gods both while alive and after death
• For his trickery and troublemaking, Zeus
condemned Sisyphus to an eternity in Tartarus
rolling an enormous boulder up a hill, yet it
always rolled back down before making it to the
top
– Tartarus was an abyss within the underworld used as
a type of dungeon of torment and suffering
• The word "sisyphean“ therefore means "endless
and unavailing, as labor or a task"
Tuesday 11/8 – ORESTES
• In most myths and stories, Orestes is known for
avenging his father’s murder by his mother and
her lover by killing both of them
• Because of these murders, Orestes is best
known for constantly being plagued by Erinyes
(“the avengers” or the “infernal goddesses”), or
those known as The Furies in Roman mythology
while he goes mad from guilt and the tormenting
of The Furies
• In the play Orestes, his madness is a focus as
he tries to avoid being sentenced to death for
the murder of his mother – he finds redemption
by not killing a slave who argues for the value of
life
Thursday 11/10 – ADONIS
• God of beauty and desire
• Same word used for “Lord” in the Hebrew Old
Testament
• Mortal god of beauty
• Common references to Adonis are used when
referring to strong, handsome young men
• Connected romantically to both Aphrodite and
Persephone – but more strongly linked to
Aphrodite
Tuesday 11/15 – “The Absurd
Hero”
• Idea attributed to existentialist Albert Camus
(1913-1960)
• Camus’ existentialist philosophy on life:
– There is no God and life is meaningless and absurd
because death comes for us all, and in the
intervening years between birth and death individuals
cannot make rational sense of their existence
• Part of Camus’ philosophy included “the absurd
hero”:
– This hero gains victory by focusing on his freedom
– The absurd hero refuses to hope
– The hero acknowledges the absurdity of his situation,
but does not embrace the terms of the absurd
Thursday 11/17 – TRAGEDY +
TRAGIC HERO
• TRAGEDY – A story, typically a drama, featuring
a character of power and status who suffers a
downfall due to both his own errors as well as
circumstances beyond his control – the
audience experiences both pity and fear and the
conclusion provides catharsis
• TRAGIC HERO – A character of power and
status, typically with moral virtue, who has an
frailty or flaw (“hamartia” = tragic flaw), which
when combined with outside circumstances,
leads to a “tragic” downfall