V The Genesis

V The Koran

V Selected creation stories

V Bhagavad Gita
V The Iliadg Homer
V The Odysseyg Homer

V Oedipus Rexg Sophocles

V 6ivine Comedyg Dante

V 6on Quixote de la Manchag

Miguel Cervantes
V Similarities/differences between the Holy
Bible and the Koran

V Context and its impact on the depiction of

the different creation stories

V Hindu notions (i.e. reincarnationg yogic wayg

detachment)
V Greece
 Saw the universe as an ordered
one
 Gods and goddesses are vivid
creationsg mytho-poetic symbols
of the forces of nature and life
V chilles and ~ector
V ariam and  amemnon
V ~elen and aaris

V Odysseus
V aenelope
V Telemachus
V thena
. Sing to me of the mang Museg the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off courseg once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
Many cities of men he saw and learned their mindsg
many pains he sufferedg heartsick on the open seag
fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.
But he could not save them from disasterg hard as he
stroveȄ
the recklessness of their own ways destroyed them allg
the blind foolsg they devoured the cattle of the Sun
and the Sungod blotted out the day of their return.
Launch out on his storyg Museg daughter of Zeusg
start from where you willȄsing for our time too.
. So theng royal son of Laertesg Odysseusg man of
exploitsg
still eager to leave at once and hurry back
to your own homeg your beloved native land?
Good luck to youg even so. Farewell!
But if you only knewg down deepg what pains
are fated to fill your cup before you reach that shoreg
you'd stay right hereg preside in our house with me
and be immortal. Much as you long to see your wifeg
the one you pine for all your days . . .
u. DzBut youg Achillesg
there's not a man in the world more blest than youȄ
there never has beeng never will be one.
Time wasg when you were aliveg we Argives
honored you as a godg and now down hereg I seeg
you lord it over the dead in all your power.
So grieve no more at dyingg great Achilles.dz

I reassured the ghostg but he broke outg protestingg

DzNo winning words about death to meg shining Odysseus!
By godg I'd rather slave on earth for another manȄ
some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep aliveȄ
than rule down here over all the breathless dead.dz
Ñ. Of all that breathes and crawls across the earthg
our mother earth breeds nothing feebler than a man.
So long as the gods grant him powerg spring in his
kneesg
he thinks he will never suffer affliction down the years.
But theng when the happy gods bring on the long hard
timesg
bear them he mustg against his willg and steel his heart.
Our livesg our mood and mind as we pass across the
earthg turn as the days turn . . .
è. Just as I
have come from afarg creating pain for
manyȄ
men and women across the good green
earthȄ
so let his name be Odysseus . . .
the Son of Paing a name he'll earn in full.
V ºo man can with impunity break the moral
lawx the mill of the gods does indeed grind
small.

V The dominance of the mind of man over

circumstance

V The universe is bound by inescapable moral

lawg the law of m
 (justice) and of 

(necessity).
V Asserts that every moral event has inevitable
consequences just as have physical events

V Evil act Ȃ followed by disaster; it must be

worked out in sacrificeg expiationg or blind
catastrophe

V Because of itg all is kept in balance.

V Primal sin to the Greeks

V One of self-conceitg inordinate prideg over-

masterin ambition

V ‰hen a man gives in to itg the whole creation

is darkened and the harmony of nature is
jangled.
V Second flaming forth of Greek genius
V Considered golden age of culture in world
history
V Twice a year the city held festivals in honor of
Dionysusg the god of fertility and
regeneration and the patron of the theatre
V st day Ȃ procession
V nd day Ȃ Athenean theatre ( g 000 people
sat as audience)
V Actors (thespis) wore masks which suggested
their general roles and whichg incidentallyg
had the additional value of acting as
megaphones

V Dithyramb Ȃ a choral performance which

involved dancing; later actors were added
V Drama

 Dramatic re-presentation of universals

 An imitation of an action that is seriousg

completeg and of a certain magnitude

 Should result in a catharsis or Dzproper purgingdz of

pityg fearg and like emotions
V Had to be of sufficient proportion to
dominate an action of Dzmagnitudedz

V A man whose tragedy followed from some

fault of character or some error of judgment
or frailty rather than from vice

V Happiness to misery
V Fall of the Roman empire (я0 A.D.)

V Literature nearly died

V {
 - carried with it a connotation of

darknessg obscurantismg or ignorance

V Did not accept everything on authority;

reason was appealed to time and again
V gallant or distinguished gentlemen

V the systemg spiritg or customs of medieval

knighthood

V the qualities of the ideal knight x chivalrous

conduct

V The truly dedicated knight is he who loves God

and fellow-mang and of course his lady.
V Courtly Love flourished in Provence

V ‰ritten in a Dzsweet new styledz (Dolce Stil

Nuova)

V Danteǯs conception of Courtly Love

 Has a religious and intellectuallized emphasis
V More than flesh and blood

V A glorious agent or symbol of the divineg real

in body but ideal in soul.

V Her service is peremptoryg itǯs trueg but the

end and aim of that service is not carnal
satisfaction only but aesthetic and spiritual
joy as well.
V The text asserts the infinite wisdom of
divine justicex sinners receive punishment in
perfect proportion to their sin; to pity their
suffering is to demonstrate a lack of
understanding.

V In the endg it declares that evil is evil simply

because it contradicts Godǯs willg and Godǯs
will does not need further justification.
 DzTaken literallyg the subject is the
state of the soul after death
considered simply. But allegoricallyg
its subject is mang according as by
his good or ill deserts he m

  
 


 m


 

 
.dz
. Midway on our lifeǯs journeyg I found myself
In dark woodsg the right road lost.

 ×
   
 

 
 

 

   
 

 

   

 
 
×
...
 
      
   ×
u. . . . One dayg for pleasureg
‰e read of Lancelotg by love constrainedx
Aloneg suspecting nothingg at our leisure.
...
And so was he who wrote it; that day we read
...
No further. . . .
Ñ. I did not open themȄfor to be rude
To such a one as him was courtesy.

è. To get back up to the shining world from

there
My guide and I went into that hidden tunnel;
...
‰here we came forthg and once more saw
the stars.
V Means Dzre-birthdz

V Men of the Renaissance did not abruptly

sever themselves from the Middle Ages

V èth-
th century
 Discoveries and explorations
 Use of movable type of printing
 Age of individual expansion
V Had medieval origins in the folk tale and the
fabliau

V Picaro Ȃ a rogueg usually a servant or at least

a member of the lower classes
V Endowed with a nimble wit and
unencumbered with a delicate sense of moral
valuesg he invariably turns the tables on his
master or on society.
V Seems to be partly-mad

V An arch-idealist

V A gentleman filled with courage but

prey to self-deception

V Represents the { m
and   

V Realisticg practicalg earthy

V Represents Y  and

practicality
V Both must be reconciled if life is to be lived at
its best; converselyg if they are dividedg
personal disaster ensues.

V The masterǯs error is our error when we

disregard the evidence of sense; but the
servantǯs failure is always our failure when we
undervalue spirit.
Thanks for listening!