Heroic
Myths:
- The
Trojan War: The House of Atreus; The Anger of Achilles: Powell,
Chapter
19:
- Key Names & Terms:
Atreus, Pelops, Oenomaus, Hippodamia, Thyestes, Aegisthus, Menelaus,
Agamemnon, Tyndareus, Leda, Polydeuces, Castor, Helen, Clytemnestra,
Peleus, Ajax, Hecabe, Aulis, Telemachus, Palamedes, Calchas,
Philoctetes, Chryseis, Briseis, Andromache
- sample questions at
his web site: click
here
- The
Trojan War: The fall of Troy; The Return of Agamemnon:
Powell,
Chapter 20:
- New Key Names & Terms:
Penthesilea, Neoptomenus, Laocoon, Polyxena, Orestes, Electra, Furies,
Eumenides
- sample questions at
his web site: click
here
- The
Return of Odysseus:
Powell,
Chapter 21:
- Key Names & Terms:
Odysseus, Lotus Eaters, Cyclopes, Polyphemus, Aeolus, Laestrygonians,
Sirens, Charybdis, Scylla, Calypso, Phaeacians, Nausicaa, Eumaeus,
Euryclea, Telemachus
- sample questions at
his web site: click
here
- Oh, Brother, Where art
thou?, the movie:
- key names
& terms: Everett (Ulysses), Pete, Delmar, Big Dan T, Pappy O'Daniel
(Menelaus), Homer Stokes, Tommy, "Baby Face" George Nelson, Penny,
Sirens, the sheriff
- the script of the
movie (click
here)
Possible
Essay Questions:
1. What
scene/scenes in the epic are most like the
conversion scene in
the movie and why? What is the significance of the connection, if any?
Use class discussion and Powell for the Odyssey.
2. In both the movie
and the epic, song plays a pivotal role. Compare
and contrast the contents and role of the following songs in both the
movie and the epic:
a. the song "I am a man of
constant
sorrow" by the Soggy Bottom Boys in the movie (lyrics
click
here) (youtube video with clips from movie: click here)
b. Odysseus' "song" , i.e.
Odysseus' recounting of his travels to the Phaeacians (Powell, 564-579,
6th edition)
3. The Coen brothers have a blind
"prophet" appear early in the movie and proclaim a prophecy. How is the
prophecy (and its effect) similar yet different from the prophecies
that we have seen in Greek legends (e.g. Jason, Perseus, Oedipus)?
4. Certain female roles are significantly different
in the movie in
comparison to the epic, e.g. the Sirens in the movie are a combination
of Circe and the Sirens in the epic. Discuss why, in the movie, Calypso
has been left out and why Penny doesn't want Odysseus back (till much
later) whereas Calypso is in the epic and Penelope always wants
Odysseus back. Use class discussion and Powell for the Odyssey.
.