due Monday 11/2

1. Read Lavinia 23-30.

2. Be prepared to physically hand in your analysis, including your chart, your summary, your claim, and your discussion. Don't forget to proof-read.

due Friday 10/30

Read Lavinia 5-23: change of plan; no blog comment necessary.

Bring to class your notes on the qualities of Julius Caesar based on the anecdote we read.

Due Monday: analysis, including chart (to be graded) concerning Aeneas Flees Burning Troy.

due Thursday 10/29

1. Write a summary and claim of Aeneas Fleeing Burning Troy.

Read Lavinia, pp. (TBA in class)

due Tuesday 10/27

1. Read Lavinia, pp. 1-5.

2. Finish your chart about the painting Aeneas Flees Burning Troy. Remember to analyze at least four pieces of evidence; remember that the guiding question is "Is Aeneas presented positively in the picture?" but that it's okay if your thought process leads you to a different question; remember that this chart will be graded so do a good job.

due Friday 9/18

1. Read Oedipus lines 1603-1814 (to the end)

2. Memorize your lines. (Note to Alana and Chelsea: you're partners. Decide which lines you're doing as best you can in person or by email over the weekend.)

3. Bring your Aeneas painting chart with you to class if you didn't hand it in already.

due Thursday 10/22

1. Copy and paste the scene from Oedipus the King that you will work on with a partner (including memorizing it). Choose an amount of lines you can commit to.

2. Read Oedipus the King, lines 1423-1602.

3. Do one row of your chart about the Aeneas painting.

due Wednesday 10/21

Read Oedipus the King lines 1289-1422. Then write a comment on this blog in response to one of the following prompts. Don't repeat something that someone has already said. Thank you.

1. Find a passage that you don't understand and quote it, asking a classmate for help with it. If a classmate tries to answer it, that counts as their contribution to this assignment.

2. Find a brief passage that bears on the idea of "character is fate," and explain.

3. In lines 1379-1387, Oedipus has one or more of his people use force against the old shepherd to get him to talk. Comment.

4. "Then let it break, whatever it is." (1292-3) Can you find the dramatic irony (that is, the way in which Oedipus says something he'll want to take back later)?

5. I see myself as a child of fortune—

and she is generous, that mother of mine 1300
from whom I spring, (1299-1301)

Can you find the dramatic irony (that is, the way in which Oedipus says something he'll want to take back later)?

due Tuesday 10/20

1. 230-240 in Mythology

2. Look over the dialogue parts of Oedipus the King so far (1252) and find a dramatic moment (involving two people) and choose a number of lines from a speech (or speeches) connected to that dramatic moment that you can commit to memorizing. Tomorrow you'll get your partner.

due Monday 10/19

1. Your myth short story. Criteria:

a. Does your story reflect the myth in a satisfying way, so that we feel the metaphorical power of the myth at work? In other words, does the myth seem plausible in the modern setting, and at the same time are crucial parts of the myth not left out?

b. Is there a satisfying sense of a beginning, middle, and end?

c. Are your sentences well-formed? Does the story show some artistic energy and still remain disciplined and clear?

2. Memorize the new plot points about the fall of Troy, and review the old ones.

Due Friday 10/16

1. read Mythology, pp. 201-210.

2. memorize the "plot points" of the Iliad that we came up with in class.

due Thursday 10/15

1. Read in Oedipus the King lines 1032-1291.

2. Acquire the book Lavinia if you haven't already.

3. Work on your myth adaptation.

due Wednesday 10/14

1. Mythology 185-200

2. idea for adaptation of a Greek myth to the present day

a. setting (where and when)

b. main character's problem

c. what's happening when the story begins

due Tuesday October 13

1. Be ready to hand in your Bible-image analysis (images list, chart, summary, claim, discussion). In your discussion, discuss specific pieces of evidence.

2. Read 179-184 in Mythology.

3. If you had to say which of these figures from Greek mythology you identify with, who would you choose, and why? In a relaxed way, write a few sentences of explanation. It need not be typed. See our Mythology book for more information if you need to.

Artemis

Atalanta

Apollo

Dionysus

Echo (from the Narcissus story)

Eurydice (from the Orpheus story)

Hercules

Icarus

Jason

Medea

Narcissus

Orpheus

Persephone

Perseus

Phaethon

Psyche

Theseus

Due Friday 10/9

1. Construct your claim for your Bible-images analysis.

2. Write a comment on this post about lines 770-1031. Some possible prompts:

A. What kind of person does Jocasta, Oedipus's wife, seem to be? Can you comme up with three adjectives to describe her? Explain.

B. Can you notice a connection between this story and the story of Perseus, a connection regarding prophecy? (Once someone gets this one, don't use this prompt.)

C. In the encounter with the stranger whom Oedipus kills (962-976), what evidence is therethat Oedipus' character determines his fate?

D. (by the time you get to line 1031) Why does Jocasta think that Oedipus can't be the killer of Laius? what piece of evidence gives hope that he was not the killer of Laius?

Due Thursday 10/8

1. read pp. 155-165 in Mythology.

2. Write a summary for your Biblical images.

3. Write a comment on this post in which you answer one of the following (about lines 562-769 of Oedipus the King):

A. At ll. 670 and following, Oedipus asks, "How long is it since Laius . . . [pauses]." Then he goes on to ask, if Tiresias is a good prophet, and thinks I did the murder, why didn't Tiresias speak up then? (Creon answers, in effect, "I don't know.") What does this question say about Oedipus's state of mind during this speech?

B. Creon makes an argument in lines 701-724 that goes something like this: why should I want to get rid of you, Oedipus? I have all the privileges of royalty right now (being your brother-in-law) without any of the burdens of kingship." What do you think of this argument, especially at this place and time (in the play)? He then says something like, "Go and ask the oracle if I'm guilty." Which argument seems to you better? Why?

C. In lines 748-750, Oedipus says, "If some conspirator moves against me, in secret and with speed, I must be quick to make my counter-plans." What does this speech say about his mental state at this point?

D. At 764-765, Oedipus says, "Oh Thebes, my city!" Why might he say this at this point?

E. The Greeks believed that "character is fate"--we don't get to choose our character, and our character causes certain things to happen to us. How might this apply to Oedipus?

due Tuesday October 6

1. Please read in Mythology pp. 136-138, 144-145, and 146-154.

2. Do at least one row of an analysis-chart of your Biblical images. Your guiding question: what was on the mind of the culture that came up with these images?

due Monday 10/5

1. Please read pp. 107-134.

2. Write your "psalm" (see previous post, and the email about the assignment).

Have a good weekend!

due Friday 10/2

1. Read lines 249-561 in Oedipus the King. Preferably you will read this aloud with a friend or a family member.

2. Comment on this blog about Job (see below).

3. Don't forget your "psalm," due Monday. See your email for a re-statement of that assignment.

4. Keep bringing your list of images from the Bible.

Prompts for comment on this blog:

A. What might God be saying indirectly about himself in chapters 40 and 41? Note that a "behemoth" (40.15) probably refers to an elephant, and "Leviathan" probably refers to a whale.

B. A rhetorical question is a question the asker doesn't really want an answer to--he asks the question just to make a point or have an effect. Comment on God's use of rhetorical questions. What point might be be trying to make, or what effect might he be trying to make?

C. In your own words, how does Job respond to God's speech?

D. Why do you suppose God rewards Job at the end? DO you think it is possible that Job originally ended at 42.6, and that 42.7-17 were added on by someone who wanted a happy ending?

E. Any other thought you have about the Book of Job is welcome.