Unit 2

English 201:    Masterpieces of Western Literature

Questions:

Chat:  Consider these questions before you log-on to the chat session.  You do not have to write essay answers, but you should look at relevant passages of the text & jot down several points before the chat session so that you can easily contribute to the discussion.

• AK says he can choose one of two destinies:

9.500    2 possible destinies . . .
            if . . . I remain to fight
            around Troy town, I lose all hope of home
            but gain unfading glory; on the other,
            if I sail back to my own land my glory
            fails--but a long life lies ahead for me.
Which of these lives or life choices is better?  Why?  Identify a contemporary who resembles AK in this choice.  Does AK's choice cause you to respect/honor him?
• Homer implies that folly is inescapable:

9.613    Folly is strong & swift
            . . . everywhere
            arriving first to injure mortal men
Is this true?  Why?  Your answer should illustrate what you know about Homer.  I am not asking for the judgment of a contemporary American university student.  I want you to explain why an ancient Greek would have thought that Folly is inescapable.  Because human beings pursue . . . what?
• Was AK irresponsible in allowing PAT to assume his role as leader of the troops & to wear his armor into battle?
• What do you think of Sarpedon's theory of political power?  It is not democratic.  The political state that it suggests might be characterized as a meritocracy in which those who accomplish the most also have more power to decide social policies than the rest of us.  Does America exhibit this in spite of our declaration to democratic theory?  How is it evident?

1. How many troops (Myrmidons) did PAT lead?
2. When Diomedes says "we came here [to Troy] under god" (9.58), exactly what does he mean?
3. We know that AG sacrificed Iphigeneia.  How many daughters does he say that still has at home?
4. In a sentence or two, explain why this speech by AK is ironic:

9.489    Now  I think
            no riches can compare with being alive
5. When PAT dons AK's armor, there is one thing he does not take into battle.  What?