Talk to me about Mythology!

Hello! This seems to be a post from a while ago but yes I love mythology too

Reply 2

I have to do an essay on Aeneid 2 and whether Aeneas' actions should be considered heroic or foolish. I haven't read the Aeneid 2 in a while so I'll have to read over it (just bought the Robert Fagles translation off amazon- super excited because when I read it I read the prose translation by David West and verse seems more fun!).

I don't quite remember which episodes take place in book 2 that may make Aeneas seem foolish though.

I suppose the Helen episode and him attempting to dress up as a Greek but that backfiring?
I'm rereading book 2 tonight though so hopefully I'll pick stuff up.

I'm also going to have to look into secondary sources to use. Planning on using the Cambridge Companion to Homer and Companion to Virgil and I have a few JSTOR articles up my sleeve, but some other recommendations that would aid with research would be great.
Cheers!

Reply 3

One word: OVID :biggrin:

Also @spqr101I've just finished studying Aeneid 2 for my Pre U - have a look into the definition of hero and the Homeric hero (we had an essay on 'Is Aeneas a Hero' and we all got slaughtered for 'misunderstanding the concept of heroism in Classics' - there's a good discussion about if heroism is even possible for Aeneas, as there's no enemy he can kill and despoil, no glory to be won. His only choice is to flee and he's lost regardless of what he does, it's written in the stars. And yet he tells his own story, he is his own bard - maybe he's a metatextual hero!) When I think of Aeneas as foolish in Book 2, I think of him abandoning his family, mindless and unthinking ('arma amens capio'), or him ignoring fate and the paradigm shift, watching powerlessly as Priam is slaughtered; but he's also heroic in a modern sense in his ultimate acceptance of fate (the last line of book 2, 'cessi et sublato montes genitore petivi' has a quiet strength to it) and desire to protect his culture, people and family. He's trying so hard, and he's always doomed. But yes he's kind of an idiot but we love him anyway :wink:

Sorry I have feelings about Aeneid 2!

Reply 4

Original post by becausethenight

One word: OVID :biggrin:

Also @spqr101I've just finished studying Aeneid 2 for my Pre U - have a look into the definition of hero and the Homeric hero (we had an essay on 'Is Aeneas a Hero' and we all got slaughtered for 'misunderstanding the concept of heroism in Classics' - there's a good discussion about if heroism is even possible for Aeneas, as there's no enemy he can kill and despoil, no glory to be won. His only choice is to flee and he's lost regardless of what he does, it's written in the stars. And yet he tells his own story, he is his own bard - maybe he's a metatextual hero!) When I think of Aeneas as foolish in Book 2, I think of him abandoning his family, mindless and unthinking ('arma amens capio'), or him ignoring fate and the paradigm shift, watching powerlessly as Priam is slaughtered; but he's also heroic in a modern sense in his ultimate acceptance of fate (the last line of book 2, 'cessi et sublato montes genitore petivi' has a quiet strength to it) and desire to protect his culture, people and family. He's trying so hard, and he's always doomed. But yes he's kind of an idiot but we love him anyway :wink:

Sorry I have feelings about Aeneid 2!

Thanks this is a really helpful starting point- last year I worked on an essay on whether Penelope is more heroic than odysseus and so I had to do some pretty extensive research on the differences between the Homeric and modern hero. I'm definitely saving this message into a word document to help me later :smile:

Reply 5

Original post by spqr101

Thanks this is a really helpful starting point- last year I worked on an essay on whether Penelope is more heroic than odysseus and so I had to do some pretty extensive research on the differences between the Homeric and modern hero. I'm definitely saving this message into a word document to help me later :smile:

I'm glad it was helpful - I'd always be happy to talk more about this later (just for fun really lol). Your essay on Penelope sounds fascinating - can I read it? :biggrin:

Reply 6

Original post by becausethenight

I'm glad it was helpful - I'd always be happy to talk more about this later (just for fun really lol). Your essay on Penelope sounds fascinating - can I read it? :biggrin:

Haha sure- just to put it out there I'm in Y10 now and I wrote that essay in the summer holiday of Y9 (I didn't take Greek then so my analysis is all based on the english translation). I always cringe when I read over it...

I'm not quite sure how to post it- should I just copy and paste it?

Reply 7

i just finished an essay about Antigone - I love that play :smile:

Reply 8

Original post by spqr101

Haha sure- just to put it out there I'm in Y10 now and I wrote that essay in the summer holiday of Y9 (I didn't take Greek then so my analysis is all based on the english translation). I always cringe when I read over it...

I'm not quite sure how to post it- should I just copy and paste it?

Hahaha I cringe at the thought of pretty much every classics essay I've ever written, and I'm a Y13! These are pretty meaty essay they're giving you!

Copy and paste, or click on the paperclip icon at the top of the text box and you can attach word documents :smile:

Reply 9

Original post by rxyaltyx

i just finished an essay about Antigone - I love that play :smile:

I need to reread Antigone :biggrin:

Reply 10

Original post by becausethenight

I need to reread Antigone :biggrin:

i think i read it 10 times
it's my favourite play :biggrin:

Reply 11

Classics Essay Competition- Summer 2019.odt15.9KB

Original post by becausethenight

Hahaha I cringe at the thought of pretty much every classics essay I've ever written, and I'm a Y13! These are pretty meaty essay they're giving you!

Copy and paste, or click on the paperclip icon at the top of the text box and you can attach word documents :smile:

Ah thank you! Also these essays are extra curricular competitions that I've been taking part in; the ones we do in lessons are far from as interesting as these ones...

Reply 12

Original post by rxyaltyx

i think i read it 10 times
it's my favourite play :biggrin:

But Oedipus Rex though :biggrin:

Original post by spqr101

Ah thank you! Also these essays are extra curricular competitions that I've been taking part in; the ones we do in lessons are far from as interesting as these ones...

Ah yeah essay competitions - have you looked into translation prizes too? I did Sam Hood in Y12, it was very fun :smile:

I really like the ideas in your essay and the use of scholarship! It would be stronger if you wove the comparison through the essay (lol I'm nitpicking) and I'm not convinced you back up your (very interesting) conclusion - isn't Odysseus also an ordinary person doing extraordinary things (using wit to go up against a god, going into the underworld, surviving and coming home)

Reply 13

Original post by becausethenight

But Oedipus Rex though :biggrin:

i jsut read that one
i read it after antigone lmaooo

Reply 14

Original post by rxyaltyx

i jsut read that one
i read it after antigone lmaooo

Hahaha I saw it in person so I like it more now :tongue:

Reply 15

Original post by becausethenight

Hahaha I saw it in person so I like it more now :tongue:

my teacher is making me read Herodotus rn and i'm not loving it

Reply 16

itscourtchicks

14

Do you have any recommendations for books? I’m interested in learning more, so something for “beginners”, if you get me.

Reply 17

Original post by becausethenight

But Oedipus Rex though :biggrin:

Ah yeah essay competitions - have you looked into translation prizes too? I did Sam Hood in Y12, it was very fun :smile:

I really like the ideas in your essay and the use of scholarship! It would be stronger if you wove the comparison through the essay (lol I'm nitpicking) and I'm not convinced you back up your (very interesting) conclusion - isn't Odysseus also an ordinary person doing extraordinary things (using wit to go up against a god, going into the underworld, surviving and coming home)

Yh the structure does seem a little clunky now that I think about it- I'll definitely have that more ping-pong structure to the one I'm doing this summer. And yes I suppose I didn't really realise that Odysseus, at the end of the day, is an 'ordinary person' (not the offspring of a god similar to Achilles etc.), but then again I suppose he had been gifted with his wits and maybe could be considered somewhat extraordinary, so I suppose it would be necessary to look a little further into what the meaning of an 'ordinary person' is (and which feats would be considered 'extraordinary'). Thanks for the feedback though (definitely a lot more thought provoking than the feedback my teacher gave)- really helpful for this year's essay!

Reply 18

Original post by itscourtchicks

Do you have any recommendations for books? I’m interested in learning more, so something for “beginners”, if you get me.

I do actually have quite a few that I enjoyed:

To do with the Iliad/Odyssey:
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason
Circe by Madeline Miller
Translations of the Odyssey by E. V. Rieu is the one I read and people tell me is translation of the Iliad is good too.

To do with the Aeneid:
Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin
The translation of the Aeneid by Robert Fagles (David West is also decent)

Other tales from classical mythology:
Heroes by Stephen Fry
Mythos by Stephen Fry

Greek tragedy:
House of Names by Colm Toibin is a retelling of the Oresteia

Planning on reading the translation of the Oresteia by Robert Fagles of the summer

I'm currently reading 'Fire from Heaven' by Mary Renault. The first book of a trilogy on Alexander the Great (80 pages in and loving it!)

Reply 19