欧洲文化入门 第二节课 06.10.

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Introduction to European Culture Lesson 2

Ancient Greece.
Here is a map of Greece, divided into regions as it was in the 5th Century B.C.
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Introduction to European Culture Lesson 2

Poetry

Homer (700B.C. approximately)

Homer is the most famous poet in the history of Ancient Greece. He
is most famous for two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
According to legend, Homer was blind and lived on one of the
islands in the Ionian Sea (see map pg.1, western side). Very little is
known about his life.

There is some debate as to whether Homer actually existed, and if

he was responsible for writing these two poems in their entirety or
merely contributing to them. Some scholars find it hard to
believe that the Odyssey and the Iliad were written by the same
author, but other scholars argue that the written style of the two
poems is so similar that the theory of a single, common author is
very plausible. Another argument is that these two poems were
actually composed by a group of poets called the Homeridae,
and that later generations of Greeks confused the names and
mistakenly thought Homer was a single person.
(for more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer)

The Iliad
The Iliad tells of the final days of the Battle of Troy, in which a large Greek army attacked and eventually
destroyed an enemy city. This was a very famous battle thought to have taken place 500 years before Homer’s
time, around 1200 B.C. Troy was a city on the eastern edge of the Aegean Sea in what is now Turkey (see map
pg.1). Until recently, modern historians thought that the Battle of Troy was merely a legend, but recent
excavations in Turkey have revealed some scientific evidence of a battle in the area around the time described by
Homer.

According to the legend, Troy was fortified with a large and virtually unassailable wall, so that the Greeks found
it very difficult to attack. In fact, the battle raged on for 10 years before the Greeks finally emerged victorious.

The main characters of the Iliad are:

Greeks:
Achilles - the strongest Greek warrior. Half
immortal, can only be killed if wounded in the
bottom of his foot (Achilles’ Heel = weak point)

Agamemnon – the Commander of the Greek

forces

Patroclus – Achilles’ cousin and maybe lover

Odysseus – another brave warrior, and the man

who devises the wooden horse.

Trojans:
Hector – the strongest Trojan warrior, Priam’s son

Priam – the King of Troy, commander of the Trojan forces, Hector’s father.
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Introduction to European Culture Lesson 2

One of the central themes of the Iliad is the rage of Achilles. At first, Achilles fights for the Greeks and victory
seems within their grasp. In one of his battles, Achilles wins possession of a slave woman named Briseis.
Agamemnon steals Briseis from Achilles who becomes so enraged that he withdraws from battle and refuses to
fight any more. Without his strength and skill, the Greek attack loses momentum and the Trojans gain the
advantage in battle. Determined to change the direction of the war, Achilles’ cousin Patroclus steps in to fight in
his place. Unfortunately, Patroclus is a weak fighter and is soon killed by Hector. This makes Achilles even more
angry, and he rejoins the battle to avenge Patroclus’ death. He, in turn, kills Hector and drags his body back to
the Greek encampment in triumph. King Priam, Hector’s father is very sad and begs Achilles to return his son’s
body so that the proper funeral rites (rituals) can be performed. Eventually, Achilles anger subsides, and he
accedes (yields) to Priam’s request.

Soon afterwards, Odysseus devises a plan to breach the

walls of Troy and destroy the city from within. He
oversees the building of an enormous wooden horse in
which a number of Greek soldiers then hide. Once the
horse is complete, the Greek army sails away, leading
the Trojans to believe they have given up and gone
home to Greece. The Trojans think the wooden horse is
a parting gift from the Greeks, and so they drag it inside
the city walls and have a big party to celebrate the
victory of the Trojan army. That night, the Greek
soldiers climb out of the horse and open the city gates.
The rest of the Greek army sail back to Troy under cover
of darkness and pour into the city through the gates.
Drunken, sleepy and completely unprepared, the Trojan
army is soon decimated and the city burnt to the ground.
After 10 years of fighting, The Greeks have finally won
victory, thanks to the strength of Achilles and the
intelligence of Odysseus.

Two very common phrases in the English language have arisen from this story. One is the term Trojan Horse.
This refers to the horse built by Odysseus, but nowadays can mean any kind of enemy strategy whereby
something which sneaks into your territory and attacks from within. The term Trojan is also used to describe
some kinds of computer viruses. The other common phrase is Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. This means that
whenever one of your enemies gives you a present, you should be very suspicious, because it may turn out to be
some form of attack.
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Introduction to European Culture Lesson 2

The Odyssey
The Odyssey follows on directly from the Iliad. With the Battle of Troy finally over, many of the Greek soldiers
want to go home to their families, whom they have not seen for 10 years. The story focuses on Odysseus and the
soldiers who sail with him on his journey back to his home island of Ithaca. Unfortunately for Odysseus, his
journey home ends up taking far longer than expected and on the way he has many encounters with Gods,
monsters and other strange creatures. Two of his most significant encounters take place with a Cyclops, and a sea
nymph.

The Cyclops
Soon after sailing from Troy, Odysseus lands on an island
where he is attacked by a Cyclops (a giant monster with only
one eye.) He kills the Cyclops, goes back to his ship, and sails
on towards Ithaca. Unfortunately, the Cyclops killed by
Odysseus was none other than the son of Poseidon, God of the
Sea. Poseidon is angered by the death of his son and so he
conjures up a storm which sweeps Odysseus’ ship far across
the sea. As a result, it will take Odysseus much longer to get
home.

Calypso the Sea Nymph

After several other adventures, Odysseus lands on an island
inhabited by a sea nymph called Calypso. She is a kind of witch, or spirit woman with magical powers. She falls
in love with Odysseus and casts a spell on him so that he forgets all about his home and his family. He ends up
staying with Calypso for 7 years before a goddess called Athena finally helps him by breaking Calypso’s spell,
thereby setting him free. Suddenly remembering his wife, Odysseus sets off at once for Ithaca.

Penelope – Odysseus’ Wife

When Odysseus finally reaches his home, which he has not seen for twenty years, he disguises himself as a poor
traveler so that he can find out what has happened in his absence without revealing himself. He discovers that his
wife has stayed faithful to him despite being asked to marry a number of local men. Not knowing who he is, she
tells him how she deceived her suitors (men who want to marry her) by weaving a cloth for Odysseus’s father.
She told her suitors she would only marry one of them when she had finished weaving the cloth. So, by day she
would weave the cloth, but at night, she would undo what she had done, so that she never made any progress and
would never actually finish weaving. Unfortunately, her suitors have recently discovered her ploy (plan, scheme)
and she is now worried she will have to marry one of them very soon. A translation of this part of the story is
given in the 欧洲文化入门 textbook on page 6. “So every day I wove on the great loom, but every night by
torchlight I unwove it; and so for three years I deceived the Akhaians.”

Soon afterwards, Odysseus removes his disguise, reveals his true identity, and he and his wife live happily ever
after. Hooray!
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Introduction to European Culture Lesson 2

Other Poetry
Sappho (612-580 B.C.) See textbook, pg. 13 for a bit of information about Sappho. Here are two of her poems.

XVI XIX
In the apple boughs the coolness There is a medlar-tree
Murmurs, and the grey leaves flicker Growing in front of my lover's house,
Where sleep wanders. And there all day
The wind makes a pleasant sound.

In this garden all the hot noon

I await thy fluttering footfall And when the evening comes,

Through the twilight. We sit there together in the dusk,

And watch the stars
Appear in the quiet blue.

Topics also mentioned in class 2006.10.27 (read the textbook for more information)

Poetry – Pindar
Drama – Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes
History – Herodotus, Thucydides

Next week (2006.11.3) I will talk a little bit about Greek philosophy, art and science, and will then
begin the Roman Empire.