English 111 Final Passage Id's (all attribution for these analyses goes to those who contributed to the Google Doc "English 111 Passage ID's")
"Rumor, swiftest of all evils in the world. She thrives on speed,stronger for every stride, slight with fear at first,soon soaring into the air, she treads the ground and hides her head in the clouds. She is the last, they say, our Mother Earth produced. Bursting in rage against the gods,she bore a sister for Coeus and Enceladus: Rumor, quicksilver afoot and swift on the wing, a monster, horrific, huge and under every feather on her body—what a marvel!— an eye that never sleeps and as many tongues as eyes and as many raucous mouths and ears pricked up for news. (Aeneid 4.220-230)
"Description of Rumor—Example of an allegory in the Aeneid (MT's interpretation). The spread of a rumor is likened to a personified goddess corrupting people. If anything, this also perpetuates the concept of good and evil intrinsic in a romance narrative that is not found in pre-ethical works like the Iliad. Rumor is able to turn good people evil, and this illustrates the binary between good and bad.
"Now— come, let's go to bed, let's lose ourselves in love! Never has such a lust for goddess or mortal woman flooded my pounding heart and overwhelmed me so. Not even then, when I made love to Ixion's wife who bore me Pirithous, rival to all the gods in wisdom . . . not when I loved Acrisius' daughter Danae—marvelous ankles— and Perseus sprang to life and excelled all men alive . . . not when I stormed Europa, far-famed Phoenix' daughter who bore me Minos and Rhadamanthys grand as gods . . . not even Semele, not even Alcmena queen of Thebes who bore me a son, that lionheart, that Heracles, and Semele bore Dionysus, ecstasy, joy to mankind— not when I loved Demeter, queen of the lustrous braids— not when I bedded Leto ripe for glory— Not even you! That was nothing to how I hunger for you now— irresistible longing lays me low!"
(14.377-394): Zeus to Hera—This is an example of woman-as-helper-danger-distraction. Here Hera is distracting Zeus from his goal of supporting the Trojans. It also exemplifies how involved the gods are in the affairs of mortals. Hera is SO invested in making sure the Greeks succeed. It is also an example of the gods' being a source of comedic relief because Zeus is so over the top here and mentioning ALL his previous affairs in front of his wife.
And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure, Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark Illumin, what is low raise and support(;) That to the highth of this great Argument I may assert Eternal Providence, And justifie the wayes of God to men."
(Paradise Lost 1.17-26) The bard's invocation to the inspiring spirit--The "invocation of the Muse" in Milton's Paradise Lost. A good example of translation of culture, as the Holy Spirit of God is used in the place of the Muse. -This passage also calls upon the idea of the internal paradise or salvation: that the poet begs the Holy Spirit to "illumin" the darkness within himself...as if the poet begins himself where the poem ends with Adam and Eve searching for internal paradise (perhaps then also an example of ring composition)
"A black cloud of grief came shrouding over Achilles. Both hands clawing the ground for soot and filth, he poured it over his head, fouled his handsome face and black ashes settled onto his fresh clean war-shirt. Overpowered in all his power, sprawled in the dust, Achilles lay there, fallen . . . tearing his hair, defiling it with his own hands." (18.654-655)
Achilles reacts to the news of Patroclus' death—This is an example of Achilles' sub-human nature. He acts like an animal in his grief "clawing the ground" and "sprawled in the dust." This is an important theme along with supra-human (he is godlike in his rage upon reentering the battle after Patroclus' death)
My honors never equal yours, whenever we sack some wealthy Trojan stronghold— my arms bear the brunt of the raw, savage fighting, true, but when it comes to dividing up the plunder the lion's share is yours, and back I go to my ships, clutching some scrap, some pittance that I love, when I have fought to exhaustion. (Iliad 1.192-198)
Achilles to Agamemnon before the seizure of Briseis—This is the monologue that results in Achilles' desertion and reveals a sort of jealousy in Achilles for all of the time that Agamemnon "undeservedly" seems to get for the labors of his warriors. Because honor (time) is valued in this society, Achilles becomes jealous after some of his own in the form of Briseis is seized from him by one Achilles deems unworthy of it. It is a slight to Achilles' honor that makes him leave.
"But even for me, I tell you, death and the strong force of fate are waiting. There will come a dawn or sunset or high noon when a man will take my life in battle too— flinging a spear perhaps or whipping a deadly arrow off his bow." At that Lycaon's knees gave way on the spot, his heart too. He let go of the spear, he sank back down . . . spreading both arms wide." (21.123-131)
Achilles to Lycaon—This is specifically a matter of fate. Achilles' KNOWS his life will be short. Throughout the poem, he has been debating whether to fulfill his heroic duty or to flee and live a longer life. Here he has accepted the path of gaining as much kleos as he can before his death instead of shunning his heroic nature. More generally, the scene with Lycaon shows Achilles' non-humanity. Lycaon goes through all the societal gestures (becomes a suppliant) but Achilles doesn't care. He kills him anyway.
"Like a girl, a baby running after her mother, begging to be picked up, and she tugs her skirts, holding her back as she tries to hurry off—all tears, fawning up at her, till she takes her in her arms . . . That's how you look, Patroclus, streaming live tears." (16.8-12)
Achilles to Patroclus, who has come to beg Achilles to return to help the Achaeans—A notable anti-simile. Achilles places himself above Patroclus by comparing Patroclus to a crying infant and himself to a parent. Interestingly, however, both of these vehicles are female. Achilles asserts his protective role over Patroclus before he is sent into battle.
"So the immortals spun our lives that we, we wretched men live on to bear such torments—the gods live free of sorrows. There are two great jars that stand on the floor of Zeus's halls and hold his gifts, our miseries one, the other blessings. When Zeus who loves the lightning mixes gifts for a man, now he meets with misfortune, now good times in turn. When Zeus dispenses gifts from the jar of sorrows only, he makes a man an outcast—brutal, ravenous hunger drives him down the face of the shining earth, stalking far and wide, cursed by gods and men." (24.613-622)
Achilles to Priam on the jars of Zeus—Achilles here generalizes human tragedy. It shows how grief is his commonality with Priam. Both he and Priam (and all humans) are dealt their fate, no one knows this better than Achilles.
"Mother! You gave me life, short as that life will be, so at least Olympian Zeus, thundering up on high, should give me honor‑but now he gives me nothing. Atreus' son Agamemnon, for all his far‑flung kingdoms— the man disgraces me, seizes and keeps my prize, he tears her away himself!" (Iliad 1.416-422)
Achilles to Thetis after Agamemnon has taken Briseis—This is a nice example of Achilles' exceptionalism--because he is the son of a female deity, he gets special access to her power. This exceptionalism is one way in which he is demonstrated to be the hero of the story. Additionally, this is a form of mimesis by which Homer tells the story of Achilles' begging for divine aid.
"Beg no more, you fawning dog—begging me by my parents! Would to god my rage, my fury would drive me now to hack your flesh away and eat you raw— such agonies you have caused me! Ransom? No man alive could keep the dog-packs off you, not if they haul in ten, twenty times that ransom and pile it here before me and promise fortunes more— no, not even if Dardan Priam should offer to weigh out your bulk in gold! Not even then will your noble mother lay you on your deathbed, mourn the son she bore . . . The dogs and birds will rend you—blood and bone!" (22.407-414)
Achilles to dying Hector—This is an example of Achilles' departure from humanity. He is beyond good and evil--all he knows is rage and grief. He will not allow Hector even the small gift of returning his body to his homeland. He no longer abides by the heroic code.
"Are they the only men alive who love their wives, those sons of Atreus? Never! Any decent man, a man with sense, loves his own, cares for his own as deeply as I, I loved that woman with all my heart, though I won her like a trophy with my spear ... But now that he's torn my honor. from my hands, robbed me, lied to me—don't let him try me now. I know him too well—he'll never win me over! (9.413-420)
Achilles to the embassy of Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix—This is during Achilles' isolation, and he is angry because Agamemnon has stolen away a symbol of his time. He disguises this fact by attempting to make the issue about his love for Briseis, but underlying this argument is the main issue: Achilles doesn't appreciate having his trophy taken away.
"I say no wealth is worth my life! Not all they claim was stored in the depths of Troy, that city built on riches, in the old days of peace before the sons of Achaea came— not all the gold held fast in the Archer's rocky vaults, in Phoebus Apollo's house on Pytho's sheer cliffs! Cattle and fat sheep can all be had for the raiding, tripods all for the trading, and tawny-headed stallions. But a man's life breath cannot come back again— no raiders in force, no trading brings it back, once it slips through a man's clenched teeth." (9.488-496)
Achilles to the embassy, refusing to return to battle—This is important because it's a good example of Achilles' disillusionment with the Homeric warrior ideal, preferring a long life of peace to a short life of honor and glory. Additionally, we see elements of Achilles' self-sufficiency since he can simply choose to abstain from the expectations of a warrior and live his life according to how he chooses. This is also an example of a scene which represents deferral/delay from what all the listeners are waiting for: Achilles' reentrance into the story.
"... so lovely fair, That what seemed fair in all the world, seemed now Mean, or in her summed up, in her contained And in her looks, which from that time infused Sweetness into my heart, unfelt before, And into all things from her air inspired The spirit of love and amorous delight. She disappeared, and left me dark. I waked To find her, or forever to deplore Her loss, and other pleasures all abjure ..."
Adam to Raphael--Adam is essentially saying that Eve is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in the entire world. This sets up Adam's fatal flaw: his loneliness and his dedication to be with Eve. It is this very flaw that prompts Adam to eat from the Tree of Knowledge after the fall just so that he could be with Eve, even if it is in a damned state.
"Ah but then, when the son of Anchises saw his dying look, his face—that face so ashed, awesome in death— he groaned from his depths in pity, reached out his hand as this picture of love for a father pierced his heart, and said: "Forlorn young soldier, what can Aeneas, in all honor, give you to match your glory now? What gifts are worthy of such a spirit? Keep your armor that gave you so much joy, I give you back to your fathers' ash and shades if it offers any solace. And this, at least, may comfort you for a death so cruel, unlucky boy: you went down under the hand of great Aeneas."
Aeneas laments the death of Lausus--When his father is wounded by Aeneas, Lausus steps in to replace him, and Aeneas strikes him down. In doing so, Lausus embodies the idea of pietas that Virgil praises throughout, exemplified in the relationships of Anchises and Aeneas and of Pallas and Evander. Aeneas immediately feels remorse for having killed the boy, and reproaches Lausus' men for keeping a distance rather than caring for the body
There's Priam, look! Even here, merit will have its true reward ... even here, the world is a world of tears and the burdens of morality touch the heart. Dismiss your fears. Trust me, this fame of ours will offer us some haven. (Aeneid 1.557-562):
Aeneas to Achates seeing the Trojan temple murals at Carthage—This is a very important scene in which Aeneas expresses his profound grief at seeing scenes of the bloodshed of the Trojan war: (1) it shows that in order for Aeneas to achieve full pietas and found Rome, he must give up this emotional attitude and become a servant of fate instead, and (2) we finally see an active narrator when the narrator calls these scenes "lifeless", contradicting Aeneas' emotional response
"Priam's warrior son, Helenus, comes from the walls with full cortege. Recognizing his kin, he gladly leads us home, each word of welcome breaking through his tears. And as I walk,I recognize a little Troy, a miniature, mimicking our great Trojan towers, and a dried-up brook they call the river Xanthus, and I put my arms around a cutdown Scaean Gate. And all my Trojans join me, drinking deep of a Trojan city's welcome. (Aeneid 3.410-419)"
Aeneas to Dido on his visit—Idea of deferral and delay of the founding of Rome. Sure, this is a "little Troy", but it is not the great city that Aeneas is looking for. Aeneas will have to go to many different locations before the gods confirm that it is the right one (remember, Aeneas must "eat his tables" when he has reached his new home").
"Your mother gave us a gold two-handled urn, a gift from Dionysus, she said, a masterwork of the famous Smith, the god of fire. Your white bones rest in that, my brilliant Achilles, mixed with the bones of dead Patroclus, Menoetius' son, apart from those of Antilochus, whom you treasured more than all other comrades once Patroclus died. Over your bones we reared a grand, noble tomb — devoted veterans all, Achaea's combat forces — high on its jutting headland over the Hellespont 's broad reach, a landmark glimpsed from far out at sea by men of our own day and men of days to come." (24.373-384)
Agamemnon to Achilles in the Underworld—Continues from the Iliad the idea of time and kleos. Notice how preoccupied Achilles is with how he is remembered after his death... this is almost the opposite of how he ended up in the Iliad! He is back thinking about "gold urns" and dying in style, worrying about whether his own son will achieve greatness on the battlefield.
"But if he's one of the deathless powers, out of the blue, the gods are working now in strange, new ways. Always, up to now, they came to us face-to-face whenever we'd give them grand, glorious sacrifices — they always sat beside us here and shared our feasts. Even when some lonely traveler meets them on the roads, they never disguise themselves. We're too close kin for that" (7.234-241)
Alcinous to Odysseus and the Phaeacians at court—Once again, perseverates the concept of liminality. Odysseus might even be a god and a lowly traveler, but the point is that his identity during his travels is somewhere in the void, and it will take the end of the book to understand what his true identity is.
"And 1 with the same grief, 1 died and met my fate. No sharp-eyed Huntress showering arrows through the halls approached and brought me down with painless shafts. nor did some hateful illness strike me, that so often devastates the body, drains our limbs of power. No, it was my longing for you, my shining Odysseus — you and your quickness, you and your gentle ways — that tore away my life that had been sweet." (11.173-180)
Anticleia to Odysseus—(Book 11) This is Odysseus' mother, who had died of grief after she died. This is the consequences of Odysseus' absence. This is related to the first part of the book where we hear about Odysseus via his absence. Odysseus is "shining," a motif.
"This was her latest masterpiece of guile[—] she set up a great loom in the royal halls and she began to weave, and the weaving finespun, the yarns endless, and she would lead us on[—] Young men, my suitors, now that King Odysseus is no more, go slowly, keen as you are to marry me, until I can finish off this web ... so my weaving won't all fray and come to nothing. This is a shroud for old lord Laertes, for that day when the deadly fate that lays us out at last will take him down. I dread the shame my countrywomen would heap upon me, yes, if a man of such wealth should lie in state without a shroud for cover.' Her very words, and despite our pride and passion we believed her. So by day she'd weave at her great and growing web — by night, by the light of torches set beside her, she would unravel all she'd done. Three whole years she deceived us blind, seduced us with this scheme." (2.101-118)
Antinous to Telemachus about Penelope—This scene represents Penelope's cunning nature and her loyalty to Odysseus. Penelope is not like the women who Odysseus encounters on his journey. She holds her own while he is gone, and never forgets him. In a way, this is also an example of disguise and deceit because Penelope is disguising her true intentions and deceiving the suitors.
"Just look at this reckless Diomedes now— Athena spurred him on to rave against the gods. First he lunges at Aphrodite, stabs her hand at the wrist then charges me—even me—like something superhuman! But I, I'm so fast on my feet I saved my life. Else for a good long while I'd have felt the pain, writhing among the corpses there, or soldiered on, weak as a breathless ghost, beaten down by bronze." (5.1020-1026)
Ares to Zeus about Diomedes' rage—Double determination is at play here as Ares describes his wound from Diomedes. He acknowledges that, in addition to his own rage and strength, he was 'superhuman' in the sense that Athena aided his strength and 'spurred him on to rave against the gods'. The power of Diomedes is influenced by both himself and the deity assisting him, which is a theme that pops up many times in Homeric epic.
"Odysseus and his gallant son charged straight at the front lines, slashing away with swords, with two-edged spears and now they would have killed them all, cut them off from home if Athena, daughter of storming Zeus, had not cried out in a piercing voice that stopped all fighters cold, "Hold back, you men of Ithaca, back from brutal war! Break off — shed no more blood — make peace at once!" (24.579-585)
Athena prevents the outbreak of civil war—(Book 24, the book named "peace") Deals with the epic convention of the deus ex machina and the intervention of the gods in human daily life. Homer's concept of fate and how humans have limited agency in sealing their fates, but the gods can still intervene at any time to prevent human decisions from radically altering their fates.
""It is an uncommonly cramping thing, as I've often told Susan, to sit on horseback and look over the hedges at the wrong thing, and not be able to put your hand to it to make it right. What people do who go into politics I can't think(:) it drives me almost mad to see mismanagement over only a few hundred acres."
Caleb Garth to Mr. Farebrother—Shows frustration over not being able to effect immediate change. Unlike the Homeric heroes of the past, the modern hero must be willing to make small concessions and compromise for small, incremental changes in one's life and society.
""Really it was a mercy," said Celia, "and I think it very nice for Dodo to be a widow. She can be just as fond of our baby as if it were her own, and she can have as many notions of her own as she likes."
Celia to Sir James Chettam—Highlighting Dorothea's exceptionalism by showing Celia's misunderstanding of Dorothea. Also highlights lack of fellow feeling.
"She, as a veil, down to the slender waist Her unadornèd golden tresses wore Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved As the vine curls her tendrils, which implied Subjection, but required with gentle sway, And by her yielded, by him best received, Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, And sweet reluctant amorous delay."
Description of Eve, as first seen by Satan—This is the first time we hear the idea of inequality applied to the humans in Paradise, and it's no coincidence that it comes from Satan's perspective. The words Satan uses to describe Eve: submission, coy, etc. make it seem like she's been made to be lesser than Adam, when in reality, we know God made Eve to be Adam's equal.
"But she, her eyes fixed on the ground, turned away, her features no more moved by his pleas as he talked on, than if she were set in stony flint or Parian marble rock. And at last she tears herself away, his enemy forever, fleeing back to the shadowed forests where Sychaeus, her husband long ago, answers all her anguish, meets her love with love. (Aeneid 6.545-551)"
Dido in the Underworld—Idea of a romance narrative and good vs. evil (Dido is "his enemy forever"). More importantly, though, this is a necessary development in Aeneas' pietas toward the founding of Rome. The underworld is where Aeneas must let go of his earthly attachments and passions, including his regret that he left Dido alone. Thus, Dido ignoring Aeneas and leaving him on his own is an extremely important step in fulfilling the prophecy.
"Whatever you choose, great Hesperia—Saturn's fields— or the shores of Eryx with Acestes as your king, I will provide safe passage, escorts and support to speed you on your way. Or would you rather settle here in my realm on equal terms with me? This city I build—it's yours. (Aeneid 1.683-688)":
Dido to Ilioneus, Aeneas watches—This comes as a direct result of Venus asking Jupiter to send Mercury to make sure that Dido treats the Trojans with hospitality. In other words, Aeneid's journey to found Rome is divinely ordained, and the gods must enforce face by making sure he is well-received by the Carthaginians.
"How very beautiful these gems are!" said Dorothea, under a new current of feeling, as sudden as the gleam. "It is strange how deeply colours seem to penetrate one, like scent. I suppose that is the reason why gems are used as spiritual emblems in the Revelation of St. John. They look like fragments of heaven."
Dorothea Brooke to Celia--She wants to interpret the gems in high minded ways because she doesn't want to admit that there is value in aesthetics. This emphasizes the contrast between Dodo and Celia, who see's common beauty. Dodo links the gems to morality, and she wants to be a martyr. Add to this.
""That is one reason why I did not like the pictures here, dear uncle - which you think me stupid about. I used to come from the village with all that dirt and coarse ugliness like a pain within me, and the simpering pictures in the drawing room seemed to me like a wicked attempt to find delight in what is false, while we don't mind how hard the truth is for the neighbours outside our walls. I think we have no right to come forward and urge wider changes for good, until we have tried to alter the evils which lie under our own hands."
Dorothea to Mr. Brooke—Shows the distinction between Eliot's views on immediate versus incremental change. Dorothea is a believer that change comes about through small, incremental changes at a time rather than reform all at once. Hence, removing the pictures of wealthy provincial life from the room is one small step that can be taken in order to effect change for the tenants.
"I should learn everything then," she said to herself, still walking quickly along the bridle road through the wood. "It would be my duty to study that I might help him the better in his great works. Every-day things with us would mean the greatest things. It would be like marrying Pascal. I should learn to see the truth by the same light as great men have seen it by. And then I should know what to do, when I got older(:) I should see how it was possible to lead a grand life here - now - in England."
Dorothea to herself before marrying Mr. Casaubon--Marriage is the new scope of heroism. It is her ticket to great intellect work and growth in wisdom. This is her only way to lead a life as a scholar.
The old men of the realm held seats above the gates. Long years had brought their fighting days to a halt but they were eloquent speakers still, clear as cicadas settled on treetops, lifting their voices through the forest, rising softly, falling, dying away ... So they waited, the old chiefs of Troy, as they sat aloft the tower. And catching sight of Helen moving along the ramparts, they murmured one to another, gentle, winged words[—] "Who on earth could blame them? Ah, no wonder the men of Troy and Argives under arms have suffered years of agony all for her, for such a woman. Beauty, terrible beauty! (Iliad 3.196-207)
Elders of Troy discuss Helen—Here we see the elders of Troy discuss Helen as exemplifying the epic convention of woman as danger/distraction/helper. Helen obviously helped Paris when she went away with him to satisfy his earthly desires, but at the same time the elders go "who could blame them" because the distraction of Helen is so strong to Paris and Menelaus. Finally, the obvious danger of Helen is that their combined desire for her has resulted in this gigantic war.
"Let the high Muse chant loves Olympian(:) We are but mortals, and must sing of man."
Epigraph—Literary allusion/intertextuality that harkens back to the proems of Homeric, Vergilian, and Miltonic literature. However, this is a modern revision of these proems because it explains that we are not recalling the story of an exceptional person (such as Achilles and Odysseus) but rather of an ordinary person and humanity in general (just "man").
"Old friend, no wanderer landing here with news of him is likely to win his wife and dear son over. Random drifters, hungry for bed and board, lie through their teeth and swallow back the truth. Why, any tramp washed up on Ithaca's shores scurries right to my mistress, babbling lies, and she ushers him in, kindly, pressing for details, and the warm tears of grief come trickling down her cheeks" (14.143-150)
Eumaeus to Odysseus disguised as a beggar—(book 13) The importance of proof, identity, and recognition are described here by Eumaeus. Penelope has been waiting years and has constantly received people trying to deceive her into think they are Odysseus. But there are specific things she is looking for that only Odysseus can provide. Highlights how the Odyssey is set in a world with increasing expectations of morality (vs. illiad)
"Next he displays the grand grove that heroic Romulus restored as a refuge—the Asylum—then shows him, under its chilly rock, the grotto called the Lupercal, in the old Arcadian way, Pan of Mount Lycaeus. And he shows him the grove of hallowed Argiletum too, he swears by the spot, retells the Death of Argus, once his guest. From there he leads Aeneas on to Tarpeia's house and the Capitol, all gold now but once in the old days, thorny, dense with thickets. Even then the awesome dread of the place struck fear in the hearts of rustics, even then they trembled before the woodland and the rock."
Evander's tour of Pallanteum, the future site of Rome—The narrator speaks anachronistically, citing events from Roman history that have not happened yet as though they had already occurred in Aeneas' time. Emphasizes that Pallanteum is the true future cte of Rome; Aeneas has made it.
"As I bent down to look, just opposite, A shape within the wat'ry gleam appeared Bending to look on me, I started back, It started back, but pleased I soon returned, Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks Of sympathy and love; there I had fixed Mine eyes til now, and pined with vain desire, Had not a voice thus warned me, 'What thou seest, What there thou seest fair creature is thyself"
Eve to Adam about her creation--This scene reminds us of the story of Narcissus. Eve is first enamored with herself and has to be taken away from her reflection to join Adam. So Eve has a sense of self-sufficiency whereas Adam feels a loss of self and dependency on Eve when she is created. This is a basis for inequality.
"methought Close at mine ear one called me forth to walk With gentle voice, I thought it thine; it said, "Why sleep'st thou Eve? Now is the pleasant time, The cool, the silent, save where the silence yields To the night-warbling bird, that now awake Tunes sweetest his love-labored song(;) now reigns Full orbed the moon, and with more pleasing light Shadowy sets off the face of things; in vain If none regard."
Eve to Adam about her dream--Here Eve relays to Adam the strange voice and unsettling vision she had in her dream. Showing how easily tempted and manipulated Eve is in her dream, Milton contrasts this with the moral debate and questioning Eve has upon waking. She is clearly worried about her actions, and recognizes her vulnerability/desire for knowledge. Demonstrates the questioning of faith in their promise as well as faith in each other, as Adam later worries about Eve's ethics. This passage grapples with the lust for knowledge as well as the absence of knowledge (Eve doesn't know what death is even though she knows of Heaven).
"But Hippolochus fathered me, I'm proud to say. He sent me off to Troy . . . and I hear his urgings ringing in my ears— 'Always be the best, my boy, the bravest, and hold your head up high above the others. Never disgrace the generation of your fathers. They were the bravest champions born in Corinth, in Lycia far and wide.' There you have my lineage. That is the blood I claim, my royal birth." (6.244-251)
Glaucus to Diomedes about his lineage—This is an example of the heroic code by which the Iliad operates. Hippolochus' father urges him to be the best because that is what's important in this society. It has an amoral code, and skill is what makes one superior to another.
"What think'st thou then of me, and this my state, Seem I to thee sufficiently possessed Of happiness, or not? Who am alone From all eternity, for none I know Second to me or like, equal much less. How have I then with whom to hold converse Save with the creatures which I made, and those To me inferior, infinite descents Beneath what other creatures are to thee?"
God to Adam (reported in Adam's speech to Raphael)--God is asking Adam to look at things from his perspective(;) if Adam is so lonely, imagine what it is like to be God... as God, everything is below him, just like how Adam believed that every animal is below humans. This elaborates the theme of hierarchy as a shaky concept in the universe(;) even when Adam believes himself to be superior the animals in Paradise, Adam is still ruled by God, a higher being.
"For man will hearken to his glozing lies, / And easily transgress the sole command, / Sole pledge of his obedience: so will fall / He and his faithless progeny: whose fault? / Whose but his own? Ingrate, he had of me / All he could have(;) I made him just and right, / Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall" (PL 3.93-99).
God to the Son--God did his part by making humans in the image of God, allowing them to be well-equipped to take on the world. So it's just up to man to decide if he will obey and honor the "sole command" not to eat the fruit. If man does decide to sin, then the blame is placed purely on humans for their wrongdoings. Here God grants mankind free-will and Milton departs from the pre-determined fate and lack of agency that previous epic heroes experienced.
Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe that there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything. 'Cause no mystical energy field controls my destiny.
Han Solo to Luke, on the Millennium Falcon, as they travel to Alderaan--Similarly to the presence of gods who influence the actions of characters in Milton, Homer and Vergil, Lucas introduces the force. This supernatural element that aids heros during fighting. The presence of the force leaves the viewer wondering to what extent characters have free will. Han Solo believes there is no force but we have seen how Vader uses the force for anger and Luke for calm. Characters who believe in the force are successful since they get power from their environment. This gives Star Wars characters more control over supernatural force than humans do in the face of gods. I.e. The force is divine machinery. The mythical-
Look, I ain't in this for your revolution, and I'm not in it for you, Princess. I expect to be well paid. I'm in it for the money.
Han to Leia, on the Millennium Falcon when are taking for Alderaan.--This is about TIME! He's in it for the money, just like the Iliadic heroes! Han's incentives and heroic code will change.
"Escape, son of the goddess, tear yourself from the flames! The enemy holds our walls. Troy is toppling from her heights. You have paid your debt to our king and native land. If one strong arm could have saved Troy, my arm would have saved the city. Now, into your hands she entrusts her holy things, her household gods. Take them with you as comrades in your fortunes. Seek a city for them, once you have roved the seas, erect great walls at last to house the gods of Troy! (Aeneid 2.362-372)"
Hector to Aeneas—Establishes the concepts of fate and the Aeneid as an etiology; Hector explains that the future of the Trojan peoples rests in Aeneas' ability to found Rome ("seek a city for them"), and this is also divinely ordained ("to house the gods of Troy"). It also establishes Aeneas as a character of much pietas ("you have paid your debt to our king and native land").
"All this weighs on my mind too, dear woman. would die of shame to face the men of Troy and the Trojan women trailing their long robes if I would shrink from battle now, a coward. Nor does the spirit urge me on that way. I've learned it all too well. To stand up bravely, always to fight in the front ranks of Trojan soldiers, winning my father great glory, glory for myself. For in my heart and soul I also know this well—ƒ the day will come when sacred Troy must die, Priam must die and all his people with him, Priam who hurls the strong ash spear . . ." (6.568-579)
Hector to Andromache before returning to combat—This is a perfect example of aidos, a feeling of shame for honoring the heroic code that motivates men who might otherwise shrink from battle to fight for their home/family/people. It's sort of like the opposite of time, in that it is negative reinforcement for not fighting as opposed to positive reinforcement for fighting.
"Here are the terms that I set forth—let Zeus look down, my witness! If that man takes my life with his sharp bronze blade, he will strip my gear and haul it back to his ships. But give my body to friends to carry home again, so Trojan men and Trojan women can do me honor with fitting rites of fire once I am dead. But if I kill him and Apollo grants me glory, I'll strip his gear and haul it back to sacred Troy and hang it high on the deadly Archer's temple walls. But not his body[—]I'll hand it back to the decked ships, so the long-haired Achaeans can give him full rites and heap his barrow high by the broad Hellespont. And someday one will say, one of the men to come, steering his oar-swept ship across the wine-dark sea, 'There's the mound of a man who died in the old days, one of the brave whom glorious Hector killed.' So they will say, someday, and my fame will never die." (7.88-105)
Hector to the assembled armies before his duel with Ajax—Hector, before his duel with Ajax, sets up terms that 1) allow for proper respect for each other's dead bodies, which is an important value in Homeric culture, and 2) allows him to, should he defeat Ajax, gain kleos after he himself has passed away. Hector wants his legacy as a "brave" and "glorious" warrior to endure beyond his death, and in Homeric culture warriors do that by accumulating time (in this case, Ajax's armor) while they are alive that they might have kleos (glory) after their death.
"No way out. If I slip inside the gates and walls, Polydamas will be first to heap disgrace on me— he was the one who urged me to lead our Trojans back to Ilium just last night, the disastrous night Achilles rose in arms like a god. But did I give way? Not at all. And how much better it would have been! Now my army's ruined, thanks to my own reckless pride," (22.188-124)
Hector's soliloquy before battle with Achilles—Hector cannot bear the aidos of not facing Achilles even though he knows he'll be defeated. This is similar to his explanation to Andromache in Book 6, but the stakes are much higher.
"Maddening one, my Goddess, oh what now? Lusting to lure me to my ruin yet again? Where will you drive me next? Off and away to other grand, luxurious cities, out to Phrygia, out to Maeonia's tempting country? Have you a favorite mortal man there too?
Helen to Aphrodite—Helen is blaming Aphrodite for her running away with Paris, which seems to be doubly determined as her lust and Aphrodite's favor both contributed to the event. Helen is ashamed of Paris' cowardice and failure against Menelaus, and shame (aidos) plays a big role in a man's worth (see Hector's rationale to Andromache at end of story).
"Into the mixing-bowl from which they drank their wine she slipped a drug, heart's-ease, dissolving anger, magic to make us all forget our pains ... No one who drank it deeply, mulled in wine, could let a tear roll down his cheeks that day, not even if his mother should die, his father die, not even if right before his eyes some enemy brought down a brother or darling son with a sharp bronze blade." (4.247-234)
Helen's heart's-ease—Helen's drug makes it clear that this place is all built on superficial splendor. This digression (?) shows us an alternative for how Odysseus' story could end up. Helen and Menelaus have an unhappy, superficially happy marriage. Will Odysseus go home to Penelope and live a life like this?
"Oh how I wish I'd died before that day! But this, now, is the twentieth year for me since I sailed here and forsook my own native land, yet never once did I hear from you a taunt, an insult." (24.898-901)
Helen's lament for Hector This echoes Andromache's earlier statement for Hector that she wish she could have died rather than see him sent off for battle. Interestingly, she seems to channel a sort of sympathy for Hector even though they are on opposite sides of the conflict, noting Hector's more valiant qualities such as his kindness.
This is our most desperate hour.
Help me, Obi-Wan-Kenobi. You're my only hope.--Leia to Obi-Wan, through the recorded message in R2D2 In Star War's we are presented with two plots that start apart and eventually connect (Luke and Leia). This is called simultaneous action. This scene marks the moment when Luke and Leia's plots begin their journey toward connection. The difference is that Leia is like Eve, composed and ready to go (responsible), while Luke is still a work in progress. R2D2 is also present in this passage, a droid rather like Aeneas in that he has a mission and will complete it whatever the cost.
"Now as we held our son between our hands and both our grieving faces, a tongue of fire, watch, flares up from the crown of Iulus' head, a subtle flame lickinghisdownyhair, feeding around the boy's brow, and though it never harmed him, panicked, we rush to shake his flame from his curls and smother the holy fire, damp it down with water. But Father Anchises lifts his eyes to the stars in joy and stretching his hands toward the sky, sings out: 'Almighty Jove!If any prayer can persuade you now, look down on us—that's all I ask—if our devotion has earned it, grant us another omen, Father, seal this first clear sign. (Aeneid 2.849-861)"
Iulus' omen—One example in which there is distortion/cosmos/imperium in the Aeneid. It appears that Iulus' identity as an ancestor of the Roman people is ordained by the universe (notice the words "stars" and "sky"). We see these contrasts between naturalism and fantasy all over the place in the Aeneid.
"Do me this service, virgin daughter of Night, a labor just for me! Don't let my honor, my fame be torn from its high place, or the sons of Aeneas bring Latinus round with their lures of marriage, besieging Italian soil. You can make brothers bound by love gear up for mutual slaughter, demolish a house with hatred, fill it to the roofs with scourges, funeral torches."
Juno to Allecto—Shows that Juno is the side of "evil" in this romantic binary... she wishes to delay the founding of Rome by using Allecto to instill hatred in the Latins' hearts. Also an example of women as danger-distractions: notice that Allecto and Juno are both women.
"So now I yield, Juno yields, and I leave this war I loathe. But this—and there is no law of Fate to stop it now— this I beg for Latium, for the glory of your people. When, soon, they join in their happy wedding-bonds— And wedded let them be—in pacts of peace at last, never command the Latins here on native soil, to exchange their age-old name, to become Trojans, called the kin of Teucer, alter their language, change their style of dress. Let Latium endure. Let Alban kings hold sway for all time. Let Roman stock grow strong with Italian strength. Troy has fallen—and fallen let her stay— with the very name of Troy!
Juno to Jupiter--Part of founding Rome is continuing the legacy of the Trojan people, but it is also necessary for Aeneas and the rest of the gods not to remake Troy in its entirety. To achieve full dedication to the future state of Rome, Aeneas must let go of his previous attachments to Troy. For this reason, Jupiter ordains that the Romans should take up the language (Latin) and clothing of the Latins.
"They say there are twin Curses called the Furies... Night had born them once in the dead of darkness, one and the same spawn, and birthed infernal Megaera, wreathing all their heads with coiled serpents, fitting them out with wings that race the wind. They hover at Jove's throne, crouch at his gates to serve that savage king and whet the fears of afflicted men whenever the king of the gods lets loose horrific deaths and plagues or panics towns that deserve the scourge of war. Jove sped one of them down the sky, commanding "Cross Juturna's path as a wicked omen!""
Jupiter sends a fury against Juturna--Another example of women as danger-distractors (the fury and Juno). Even though Jupiter wants Aeneas and Turnus to have agency in the battle and for the gods to withdraw, Juno nonetheless incites the war to resume by instilling rage in Juturna using the Fury. Very similar to how Juno earlier told Allecto to instill anger into the Latin's hearts to make them start the battle.
"So then, take what I say to heart and stamp it in your minds. Since it is not allowed that Latins and Trojans join in pacts of peace, and there is no end to your eternal clashes—now, whatever the luck of each man today, and whatever hope he follows, Trojan or Italian, I make no choice between them. Whether Italy's happy fate lays siege to the camp or the Trojans' folly, the deadly prophecies they follow. Nor do I exempt the Italians. How each man weaves his web will bring him to glory or to grief. King Jupiter is the king to all alike. The Fates will find the way."
Jupiter to Juno and the other gods on Olympus—Introduces the concept that double-determination does not mean that gods control fate. Fate is a separate entity. Therefore, Jupiter and the Gods withdraw and allow the Trojans and Latins to decide their own destinies. This is known as agency; Aeneas and Turnus have agency over their own actions. Perhaps the withdrawal of the gods from the fight shows Aeneas' internal dedication to the founding of Rome (pietas) even without divine assistance.
But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!
Luke Skywalker to Uncle Owen--Luke as a whiny hero essentially is the point of this one--he is an anti-hero, someone who lacks the quality of a traditional hero that you might find in traditional Homeric literature. Luke isn't epic - he clearly does not have anything grand on his mind. He wanted to go to flight school, but he's resigned himself to a simple, uneventful life. He isn't finding some injustice or some greater enemy. He fixates on power converters...Luke will be thrust into his role of a hero quite unexpectedly, as he isn't searching for heroism at the time. There's room for Luke to improve - right now he isn't the man he will become.
"You and I cannot have opposite interests. I cannot part my happiness from yours. If I am angry with you, it is that you seem not to see how any concealment divides us. How could I wish to make anything hard to you either by my words or conduct? When I hurt you, I hurt part of my own life. I should never be angry with you if you would be quite open with me."
Lydgate to Rosamond—Lydgate is responding to Rosamond's confession that he has made her life unpleasant. This is a climax in their troubled marriage. In his state of debt, Lydgate now wants a companion rather than someone to show off and take care of. Rosamond is not used to financial issues as her father is rich and assumed she would one day be supported financially by her husband. She manages to flip the blame for their marriage onto Lydgate, showing her manipulative nature.
""This young creature has a heart large enough for the Virgin Mary. She evidently thinks nothing of her own future, and would pledge away half her income at once, as if she wanted nothing for herself but a chair to sit in from which she can look down with those clear eyes at the poor mortals who pray to her. She seems to have what I never saw in any woman before -- a fountain of friendship towards men— a man can make a friend of her. Casaubon must have raised some heroic hallucination in her. I wonder if she could have any other sort of passion for a man? Ladislaw? -- there was certainly an unusual feeling between them. And Casaubon must have had a notion of it. Well— her love might help a man more than her money."
Lydgate to himself about Dorothea—Again, the epic hero in modern times is more than just time and kleos (money). Instead, internal qualities such as love and devotion to marriage (the new journey of epic literature) are the more desirable traits. Think of Aeneas and pietas.
"Three times you sauntered round our hollow ambush, feeling, stroking its flanks, challenging all our fighters, calling each by name — yours was the voice of all our long-lost wives! And Diomedes and I, crouched tight in the midst with great Odysseus, hearing you singing out, were both keen to spring up and sally forth or give you a sudden answer from inside, but Odysseus damped our ardor, reined us back." (4.310-318)
Menelaus to Telemachus about Helen—The story Menelaus chooses to tell highlights his unhappy reunion with his wife. He chooses a story in which Helen tries to trick the Greeks to come out of the Trojan horse (woman-as-danger). He clearly doesn't respect her.
"You, so now you lay foundation stones for the soaring walls of Carthage! Building her gorgeous city,doting on your wife. Blind to your own realm, oblivious to your fate! The King of the Gods, whose powers ways earth and sky— he is the one who sends me down from brilliant Olympus, bearing commands for you through the racing winds. (Aeneid 4.330-336)"
Mercury to Aeneas —Mercury condemns Aeneas for settling down in Carthage and getting too comfortable with Dido (destructive passion). Mercury knows that Aeneas founding Rome is divinely ordained by fate, and he knows that the only way for Aeneas to fulfill the prophecy is to let go of his individual feelings for Dido in favor of the collective legacy of the future Roman people.
"Should God create another Eve, and I Another rib afford, yet loss of thee Would never from my heart: no, no, I feel The link of nature draw me: flesh of flesh, Bone of my bone thou art, and from thy state Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe.": Adam to himself before his fall-- "on me exercise not Thy hatred for this misery befall'n, On me already lost, me than thyself More miserable; both have sinned, but thou Against God only, I against God and thee, And to the place of judgement will return, There with my cries importune Heaven, that all The sentence from thy head removed may light On me, sole cause to thee of all this woe, Me me only just object of his ire!": Eve to Adam-- "Death thou hast seen In his first shape on man; but many shapes Of Death, and many are the ways that lead To his grim cave, all dismal; yet to sense More terrible at th' entrance than within."
Michael to Adam, after witnessing Abel's murder--Adam is initially horrified by the concept of death as introduced in the story of Cain and Abel. However, Michael explains that death can come about in multiple ways, not just murder. This exemplifies the concept of free will(;) it is up to each human being to decide whether and not he will follow the will of God and be a righteous person. The descendants of Cain, as Michael explains later, are corrupt, revelrous people, for example. This entire episode is also an example of exegesis, in which Milton attempts to explain the content of the bible.
"So all shall turn degenerate, all depraved, Justice and temperance, truth and faith forgot(;) One man except, the only son of light In a dark age, against example good, Against allurement, custom, and a world Offended(;) fearless of reproach and scorn, Or violence, he of their wicked ways Shall them admonish ..."
Michael to Adam, on Noah--Once again, Milton's exegesis of the story of Noah's Ark describes humanity's capacity to follow the will of God based on their free will. Noah chooses not to follow in the revelrous activities of the rest of society, and for this reason, he is saved and goes to heaven. This is very similar to Satan in the beginning of Paradise Lost, because even though Satan is in a very bad environment such as Hell, he can still achieve a positive outlook and exhibit good leadership skills.
"only add Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add faith, Add virtue, patience, temperance, add love, By name to come called charity, the soul Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess A paradise within thee, happier far."
Michael to Adam--Adam must leave a physical paradise, but his faith in God is a spiritual paradise from which he can always draw a sense of hope. Paradise Lost ends on a hopeful tone that humans can achieve spirituality through their own efforts as an extension of their free will. This is also very similiar to free will. This is also very similar to Satan, who earlier says that "Hell is me"(;) Paradise and Hell are within each human, and it is up to each individual human to decide which path of life(--)righteous and corrupt(--)to lead.
"Heav'n's high behest no preface needs: Sufficient that thy prayers are heard, and death, Then due by sentence when thou didst transgress, Defeated of his seizure many days Giv'n thee of grace(;) wherein thou may'st repent, And one bad act with many deeds well done May'st cover: well may then thy Lord appeased Redeem thee quite from death's rapacious claim(;) But longer in this Paradise to dwell Permits not(;) to remove thee I am come, And send thee from the garden forth to till The ground, whence thou wast tak'n, fitter soil."
Michael to Adam--Michael says that even if Adam makes a few sins, it will be possible for him to go to heaven if he does enough good deeds and prays enough. This is again an example of free will as a means by which people can get closer to God(--)choosing to do the right thing. However, Michael also says that it is impossible for Adam to reach Paradise again. This is illustrative of Milton's philosophy of monism which states that humans are, at least temporarily, lacking in spiritual essence. One day, Milton contends, everything will achieve spiritual purity again and everything will be equal. Michael is therefore saying that, after the fall of man, this is a hierarchy in which humans are less spiritually pure than angels and God, but Milton believes that this is only temporary.
""To think of the part one little woman can play in the life of a man, so that to renounce her may be a very good imitation of heroism, and to win her may be a discipline."
Mr. Farebrother on Fred Vincy and Mary Garth—Mr. Farebrother says it directly that renunciation is a value of the modern frontier of epic heroism. This is the same renunciation that Dorothea exhibits when she refuses to follow Casaubon's will. Contrast this with Agamemnon and Menelaus literally starting wars over losing a woman. Heroism has changed immensely since Homeric times.
"The clear heights where she expected to walk in full communion had become difficult to see even in her imagination(;) the delicious repose of the soul on a complete superior had been shaken into uneasy effort and alarmed with dim presentiment. When would the days begin of that active wifely devotion which was to strengthen her husband's life and exalt her own? Never perhaps, as she had preconceived them(;) but somehow - still somehow. In this solemnly pledged union of her life, duty would present itself in some new form of inspiration and give a new meaning to wifely love."
Narrator about Dorothea's marriage—Dorothea is thinking about how her marriage did not end up as she expected. This is an example of an "epic of the imagination", in which people can think of their own lives as epic and idealized even when their external circumstances do not match the ideal. Dorothea wants to live a life of intense academic and wifely devotion to Casaubon, and she truly believed that it would end out that way, but for the time being, her marriage has been rather stagnant (also speaks to the themes of compromise and accommodation of epic values in a realistic, modern world).
"Curiously enough, his pain in the affair beforehand had consisted almost entirely in the sense that he must seem dishonourable, and sink in the opinion of the Garths(:) he had not occupied himself with the inconvenience and possible injury that his breach might occasion them, for this exercise of the imagination on other people's needs is not common with hopeful young gentlemen. Indeed we are most of us brought up in the notion that the highest motive for not doing a wrong is something irrespective of the beings who would suffer the wrong. But at this moment he suddenly saw himself as a pitiful rascal who was robbing to women of their savings."
Narrator about Fred Vincy—Sets Fred up as a possible epic hero in the sense that it describes him as someone who, unlike other people of his age, think about the negative ramifications about not being able to pay back the Garths. This is also an example of the highly intrusive narrator and the narrator's use of gnomic wisdom to describe the moral complexities of Fred's thoughts; we would not find this level of analysis in Homeric works.
"How delightful to make captives from the throne of marriage with a husband as crown- prince by your side -- himself in fact a subject -- while the captives look up for ever hopeless, losing their rest probably, and if their appetite too, so much the better!"
Narrator conveying Rosamond Vincy's thoughts—Marriage is enslavement for Rosamond. Juxtaposition between Dorothea's desires and hers. Dorothea wants to help and support husband.
"But once the best of the Trojan captains fell, and many Achaeans died as well while some survived, and Priam's high walls were stormed in the tenth year and the Argives set sail for the native land they loved— then, at last, Poseidon and Lord Apollo launched their plan to smash the rampart, flinging into it all the rivers' fury." (12.16-21)
Narrator describes the future destruction of the Achaean wall—Double-determination The Achaeans did not give the sacrifice to the gods and just built the walls, the gods are not doing anything about it now but they will in the future.
"To ask her to be less simple and direct would be like breathing on the crystal that you want to see the light through. And there was always the other great dread— of himself becoming dimmed and for ever ray-shorn in her eyes."
Narrator describing Will Ladislaw's thoughts on Dorothea—Once again shows compromise. Unlike the characters in earlier epic literature, Will must withhold his feelings as much as possible (almost like Aeneas, a difference between the public and the private). If Will tells Dorothea that he doesn't want Casaubon to interfere with their relationship, he fears that (1) Dorothea would never be receptive to that comment, and (2) Dorothea would think less of him.
"How fortunate, both at once! If my songs have any power, the day will never dawn that wipes you from the memory of the ages, not while the house of Aeneas stands by the Capitol's rock unshaken, not while the Roman Father rules the world."
Narrator eulogizes Nisus and Euryalus—An example of destructive passion. Nisus and Euryalus attempt to gain time and kleos during their night raid of the Latin camp by stealing loot, and Nisus attempts to save Euryalus from death out of blind emotion. This inability to put individual emotions behind the collective mission to found rome leads to both of their deaths. This also represents the purpose of Roman epic and epic literature in general: to immortalize the lives of those in the past and keep culture alive through the ages using the oral tradition.
"Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning, as it was to Adam and Eve, who kept their honeymoon in Eden, but had their first little one among the thorns and thistles of the wilderness. It is still the beginning of the home epic - the gradual conquest or irremediable loss of that complete union which makes the advancing years a climax, and age the harvest of sweet memories in common."
Narrator--In this passage, George Eliot makes the case for marriage as an epic subject. She suggests there is a paradoxical significance of the seemingly insignificant actions of everyday life because they lead to incremental social change. The comparison of marriage as "a great beginning" and "the beginning of the home epic" emphasizes the idea that this genre is epic because it aims to inspire gradual change.
Here and there a cygnet is reared uneasily among the ducklings in the brown pond, and never finds the living stream in fellowship with its own oary-footed kind. Here and there is born a Saint Theresa, foundress of nothing, whose loving heart-beats and sobs after an unattained goodness tremble off and are dispersed among hindrances, instead of centring in some long recognizable Deed. (Middlemarch Prelude)
Narrator--This is the prelude. This is an extraordinary person - an unmarked hero - born in real life, which resets the scope for the epic in everyday life. Saint Theresa is the muse of middlemarch?
"Does it seem incongruous to you that a Middlemarch surgeon should dream of himself as a discoverer? Most of us, indeed, know little of the great originators until they have been lifted up among the constellations and already ruled our fates. But that Herschel, for example, who "broke the barriers of the heavens" - did he not once play a provincial church-organ, and give music lessons to stumbling pianists? Each of those Shining Ones had to walk the earth among neighbors who perhaps thought much more of his gait and his garments than of anything which was to give him a title to everlasting fame."
Narrator—
"The element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency, has not yet wrought itself into the course emotion of mankind(;) and perhaps our frames could hardly bear much of it. If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity."
Narrator—
"One morning, some weeks after her arrival at Lowick, Dorothea - but why always Dorothea? Was her point of view the only possible one with regard to this marriage? I protest against all our interest, all our effort at understanding being given to the young skins that look blooming in spite of trouble(;) for these two will get faded and will know the older and more eating griefs which we are helping to neglect. In spite of the blinking eyes and white moles objectionable to Celia, and the want of muscular curve which was morally painful to Sir James, Mr Casaubon had an intense consciousness within him, and was spiritually a-hungered like the rest of us."
Narrator—Eliot is condemning the use of a stock figure/character in literature. Rather than invest all of our time in Dorothea, we should spend some time analyzing Casaubon because, in order to gain the most holistic view of everyday life, we have to consider multiple perspectives. This furthers Eliot's role as an extremely intrusive narrator and calls attention to the parallel/dualistic plotlines of the novel.
"Nay, are there many situations more sublimely tragic than the struggle of the soul with the demand to renounce a work which has been all the significance of its life— a significance which is to vanish as the waters which come and go where no man has need of them? But there was nothing to strike others as sublime about Mr Casaubon, and Lydgate, who had some contempt at hand for futile scholarship, felt a little amusement mingling with his pity. He was at present too ill acquainted with disaster to enter into the pathos of a lot where everything is below the level of tragedy except the passionate egoism of the sufferer."
Narrator—Talks about the theme of an epic private life; the imaginary epic. Casaubon has grand aspirations to publish his book, and to renounce this work would be the biggest tragedy of his entire life. However, to the onlooker, this is only a modest problem of everyday people; it compares to nothing that the subjects of Homeric poems had to endure, such as intense warfare.
"Lydgate foresaw that science and his profession were the objects he should alone pursue enthusiastically(;) but he could not imagine himself pursuing them in such a home as Wrench had - the doors all open, the oil-cloth worn, the children in soiled pinafores, and lunch lingering in the form of bones, black-handled knives, and willow-pattern. But Wrench had a wretched lymphatic wife who made a mummy of herself indoors in a large shawl; and he must have altogether begun with an ill-chosen domestic apparatus."
Narrator—gain furthers the theme of compromise and accommodation in everyday life. Lydgate, like Dorothea, has rather imaginative epic aspirations to become the best doctor in Middlemarch and disseminate scientific knowledge, but this view is misguided. Also like Dorothea, Lydgate has little interest in material goods, an example of renunciation of physical wealth that shows immense dedication to his goals, however unrealistic and grand they are.
"But he won't forget Euryalus, his great love, never up from the slime he struggles, flings himself in Salius' path to send him spinning, reeling backward, splayed out on the beaten track as Euryalus flashes past, thanks to his friend he takes the lead—the victor flying along... (Aeneid 5.368-373)"
Nisus at the funeral games—This directly foreshadows the night raid of the Latin camp that Nisus and Euryalus have later. During the funeral games, Nisus gives Euryalus a helping hand. Later, Nisus also attempts to save Euryalus from the Latins when his armor flashes and wakes up the enemy troops. This shows that a desire for time and kleos (Latin loot) and destructive passion (love for Euryalus) is incompatible with the foundation of a Roman state. Nisus shows a lack of pietas as a result.
"As firm as a sturdy oak grown tough with age when the Northwinds blasting off the Alps compete, fighting left and right, to wrench it from the earth, and the winds scream, the trunk shudders, its leafy crest showers across the ground but it clings firm to its rock, its roots stretching as deep into the dark world below as its crown goes towering toward the gales of heaven— so firm the hero stands: buffeted left and right by storms of appeals, he takes the full force of love and suffering deep in his great heart. His will stands unmoved. The falling tears are futile. (Aeneid 4.555-465)"
Oak simile describing Aeneas as he leaves Dido alone on Carthage—Idea of public vs. private emotions. On the outside, Aeneas is a strong leader, unshakable (vehicle: strong oak tree that cannot be uprooted) though his love for Dido is internally compromised, and he feels emotional pain on the inside.
You can't win but there are alternatives to fighting
Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker on the Force--In Star Wars the Force serves as a guiding ideology for the Jedi, as well as a universal cosmic power. The Force is fundamentally peaceful, which is necessary in epics following the Christian-centric Paradise Lost. The Force borrows aspects of Eastern religious traditions and preaches non-violence, unless confrontation is the only viable option.
"He set out for the woods and not far from the water found a grove with a clearing all around and crawled beneath two bushy olives sprung from the same root, one olive wild, the other well-bred stock. No sodden gusty winds could ever pierce them, nor could the sun's sharp rays invade their depths, nor could a downpour drench them through and through, so dense they grew together, tangling side-by-side." (5.525-532)
Odysseus arrives on Scheria—Elaborates the use of olives/olive trees as a symbol (the rooted bed is another example of this). An example of liminality since he is now a stranger in Scheria, he is somewhere in between his old identity and his new one.
"No more than a month 1 stayed at home, taking joy in my children, loyal wife and lovely plunder. But a spirit in me urged, 'Set sail for Egypt — fit out ships, take crews of seasoned heroes!' Nine 1 fitted out, the men joined up at once and then six days my shipmates feasted well, while 1 provided a flock of sheep to offer up to the gods and keep the feasters' table groaning. On the seventh we launched out from the plains of Crete with a stiff North Wind fair astern — smooth sailing, aye, like coasting on downstream" (14.277-287)
Odysseus disguised as a beggar to Eumaeus—Odysseus is using elements from his real life to skillfully deceive Eumaeus and cover up his identity. He is creating a story of origin. Guest's in the Homeric poems show up and are received but expected to tell their story as a form of entertainment and payment for their hosts' hospitality.
"That was the song the famous harper sang but great Odysseus melted into tears, running down from his eyes to wet his cheeks ... as a woman weeps, her arms flung round her darling husband, a man who fell in battle, fighting for town and townsmen, trying to beat the day of doom from home and children. Seeing the man go down, dying, gasping for breath, she clings for dear life, screams and shrills — but the victors, just behind her, digging spear-butts into her back and shoulders, drag her off in bondage, yoked to hard labor, pain, and the most heartbreaking torment wastes her cheeks. So from Odysseus' eyes ran tears of heartbreak now." (8.588-600)
Odysseus listens to Demodocus' song: captive woman simile—Here is a reverse simile because Odysseus is described as a woman even though he is a man. It reminds us that Odysseus inflicted what is described on the women in Troy. Odysseus is a victim of the war he won, and his identity needs to change completely before he goes home. Upon seeing Odysseus cry, Alcinuous realizes he's not who he seems to be. Odysseus is likened to a women and feminine traits to show the depth of emotion and grief is is experiencing and perhaps to make the grief more of a communal experience by implying the women of troy are also grieving.
"Ah goddess," the cool tactician countered, "you're so hard for a mortal man to know on sight, however shrewd he is — ^the shapes you take are endless! But I do know this[—] you were kind to me in the war years, so long as we men of Achaea soldiered on at Troy. But once we'd sacked King Priam's craggy city, boarded ship, and a god dispersed the fleet, from then on, daughter of Zeus, I never saw you, never glimpsed you striding along my decks to ward off some disaster." (13.355-363)
Odysseus to Athena upon arriving at Ithaca—(Book 13) Sort of about double determination, as Odysseus counted on Athena during the events at Troy, but on his journey home she was nowhere to be found. Perhaps highlights the changes between the Iliad and the Odyssey, as in the first epic the gods were more directly involved with the heroes, while in this one they did not offer Odysseus very much assistance on his journey home.
"Strange, Eumaeus, look, a dog like this, lying here on a dung-hill ... what handsome lines! But 1 can't say for sure if he had the running speed to match his looks or he was only the sort that gentry spoil at table, show-dogs masters pamper for their points." (17.336-341)
Odysseus to Eumaeus on Argos—(Book 17) The dog, Argos, is the only creature in Ithaca to recognize his master Odysseus immediately upon his arrival. This is a parallel to the nurse who will come later. This is a part of his deceit.
"Or these, these trees — let me tell you the trees you gave me years ago, here on this well-worked plot ... I begged you for everything I saw, a little boy trailing you through the orchard, picking our way among these trees, and you named them one by one. You gave me thirteen pear, ten apple trees and forty figs — and promised to give me, look, fifty vinerows, bearing hard on each other's heels, clusters of grapes year-round at every grade of ripeness, mellowed as Zeus's seasons weigh them down. " (24.373-383)
Odysseus to Laertes—Recognition scene, this is proof that his is in fact Laertes son. The fact that he knows the details is impressive. The orchard is a motif of domesticity and peace
"Here I am at your mercy, princess — are you a goddess or a mortal? If one of the gods who rule the skies up there, you're Artemis to the life, the daughter of mighty Zeus — 1 see her now— just look at your build, your bearing, your lithe flowing grace ... But if you're one of the mortals living here on earth, three times blest are your father, your queenly mother, three times over your brothers too. How often their hearts must warm with joy to see you striding into the dances — such a bloom of beauty. True, but lie is the one more blest than all other men alive, that man who sways you with gifts and leads you home, his bride!" (6.163-174)
Odysseus to Nausicaa—This is an example of Odysseus' rhetoric (a mental rather than physical skill). He speaks to Nausicaa in a way that puts her at ease and puts her in a state to want to help him. He plays on her desires to get married and references her family to give her assurance that he won't harm/rape her.
"Men of Achaea we are and bound now from Troy! Driven far off course by the warring winds, over the vast gulf of the sea — battling home on a strange tack, a route that's off the map, and so we've come to you ... so it must please King Zeus's plotting heart. We're glad to say we're men of Atrides Agamemnon, whose fame is the proudest thing on earth these days, so great a city he sacked, such multitudes he killed! But since we've chanced on you, we're at your knees in hopes of a warm welcome, even a guest-gift. the sort that hosts give strangers. That's the custom. Respect the gods, my friend. We're suppliants — at your mercy! Zeus of the Strangers guards all guests and suppliants[—] strangers are sacred — Zeus will avenge their rights!" (9.291-305)
Odysseus to the Cyclops—(Book 9) In this inset narrative, Odysseus demonstrates his arrogance and Iliadic mentality. He believes he is entitled to everything and that the guest/host relationship of the Iliad still stands. He will learn that social norms are very different in this society. The vast difference in society is represented by Polyphemus' cannibalism which is considered a monstrosity that perverts humanity. There is a lack of civilization here. It reminds us that Odysseus is telling this story and we get his biases. Could Polyphemus be the victim here? What is the true version of the story, and can we know it at all? I.e. question of reliable of narrator
"You dogs! you never imagined I'd return from Troy — so cocksure that you bled my house to death, ravished my serving-women — ^wooed my wife behind my back while 1 was still alive! No fear of the gods who rule the skies up there, no fear that men's revenge might arrive someday — now all your necks are in the noose — your doom is sealed!" (22.36-42):
Odysseus to the suitors—(book 22) Direct commentary on proper social behaviors. This is significant because Homer did not comment on what is right/wrong in the Iliad, but in the Odyssey he does. Also, this can be understood in the context of the opening lines where humans can also control their own fate through their actions. Essentially, if people behave within the ethical norms of society, they will be supported by the Gods but if not they should expect retribution by humankind on behalf of the divine.
"There, in no time, Autolycus and the sons of Autolycus healed him well and, showering him with splendid gifts, sped Odysseus back to his native land, to Ithaca, a young man filled with joy . His happy parents, his father and noble mother, welcomed him home and asked him of all his exploits, blow-by-blow: how did he get that wound? He told his tale with style, how the white tusk of a wild boar had gashed his leg, hunting on Parnassus with Autolycus and his sons ... That scar — as the old nurse cradled his leg and her hands passed down she felt it, knew it, suddenly let his foot fall" (19.520-530)"
Odysseus' scar—(Book 19) In this scene, Homer recounts the story behind Odysseus's scar and demonstrates how it enables the nurse to recognize Odysseus. This passage represents a "recognition scene" in which various signs are used to identify a character (another example would be the bed that enables Penelope to recognize Odysseus). The scene also demonstrates Odysseus's desire for success in "battle," where the interaction with the wild boar represents an interaction with a foe. The scene is described blow-by-blow, potentially representing the "slow motion" technique discussed in class. His successes are depicted as violent "exploits." Auerbach says this passage is not intended to create suspense but instead to provide a uniformly illuminated story to the reader. Demonstrates the iliadic heroic code of beating foes and having a trophy or scare to show for it.;
"But please, read this dream for me, won't you? Listen closely ... keep twenty geese in the house, from the water trough they come and peck their wheat — 1 love to watch them all. But down from a mountain swooped this great hook-beaked eagle, yes, and he snapped their necks and killed them one and all and they lay in heaps throughout the halls while he, back to the clear blue sky he soared at once. But /wept and wailed — only a dream, of course — and our well-groomed ladies came and clustered round me, sobbing, stricken: the eagle killed my geese." (19.602-612):
Penelope to Odysseus disguised as a beggar—(Book 19) This is an example of double determination. The gods have inspired this dream which exactly foreshadows the future events of the household (i.e. Odysseus slaying the suitors). This shows that the Gods have a large role to play in future events. This is the passage critics point to when they say Penelope already suspects the beggar is Odysseus and she is just testing him. This exact language - eagles swooping down from a mountain is in book 22
"I'm stunned with wonder, powerless. Cannot speak to him, ask him questions, look him in the eyes ... But if he is truly Odysseus, home at last, make no mistake: we two will know each other, even better — we two have secret signs, known to us both but hidden from the world. " (23.119-125)
Penelope to Telemachus and Penelope to Telemachus about Odysseus—(book 23) This scene demonstrates the importance of various "signs" as markers of identity. Penelope expresses confidence that some particular marker will enable her to truly know Odysseus for himself. This markers ends up being the knowledge about their shared bed which made for her (from an olive tree). This knowledge is "proof" that fights off the epistemological uncertainty of his identity.
"And then, finally, Meleager's bride, beautiful Cleopatra begged him, streaming tears, recounting all the griefs that fall to people whose city's seized and plundered— the men slaughtered, citadel burned to rubble, enemies dragging the children, raping the sashed and lovely women. How his spirit leapt when he heard those horrors— and buckling his gleaming armor round his body, out he rushed to war." (9.718-724)
Phoenix to Achilles, telling the story of Meleager—Meleager was a warrior who out of rage refused to fight. This story acts in a similar way to the various possible outcomes presented in the Odyssey for Odysseus' marriage.
Rage finds them arms but then, if they chance to see a man among them, one whose devotion and public service lend him weight, they stand there, stock-still with their ears alert as he rules their furor with his words and calms their passion. (Aeneid 1.177-181)
Poet about how Neptune calms the storm—This takes the standard Homeric simile and essentially flips it on its head- It uses people as the vehicle to describe nature rather than nature to describe people. Shows evolution and continuation of epic conventions. Also, we know that Virgil comments on Rome's leaders in this poem, so this can possibly be seen as praise for Rome's leadership.
"Armies gathering now as the huge flocks on flocks of winging birds, geese or cranes or swans with their long lancing necks-circling Asian marshes round the Cayster outflow, wheeling in all directions, glorying in their wings-keep on landing, advancing, wave on shrieking wave and the tidal flats resound. So tribe on tribe, pouring out of the ships and shelters, marched across the Scamander plain and the earth shook, tremendous thunder from under trampling men and horses drawing into position down the Scamander meadow flats breaking into flower-men by the thousands, numberless as the leaves and spears that flower forth in spring." (Iliad 2.543-552)
Poet on the mustering of armies—Epic simile!!! The armies are the tenor while the vehicle is the flock of birds. This simile is used to describe the sheer multitude of soldiers. This grand exhibition of the giant army is a catalogue and is also a testament to the large scope of the Iliad--this epic takes place across miles and miles of battlefield with many heroes (as opposed to the more modest scope of Middlemarch where heroic action takes place in subtle resignations in a small town).
Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses, hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls, great fighters' souls, but made their bodies carrion, feasts for the dogs and birds, and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end. Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed, Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles. (Iliad 1.1-8)
Poet's invocation of the muse—The proem of the Iliad is a hallmark of the epic genre and sets the stage for the tone and subject of the epic. Here, the reader finds out that the Iliad is about rage--specifically, Achilles' rage, and the consequences of it. The invocation of a higher power is also the epic explanation for how the bard is able to relate so many details with such accuracy--he invokes the muse to inspire the story in him.
"The majestic king of Troy slipped past the rest and kneeling down beside Achilles, clasped his knees and kissed his hands, those terrible, man-killing hands that had slaughtered Priam's many sons in battle. Awesome—as when the grip of madness seizes one who murders a man in his own fatherland and, flees abroad to foreign shores, to a wealthy, noble host, and a sense of marvel runs through all who see him— so Achilles marveled, beholding majestic Priam." (24.557-67)
Priam and Achilles, simile of the exile—This is the moment of Achilles' reintegration into society. Priam's efforts as a suppliant work this time. Achilles identifies with him as a father figure and is able to have a moment of mutual grief with him. This is also an example of ring composition. Achilles accepts Priam in a way that Agamemnon did not accept Chryses.
"High matter thou enjoin'st me, O prime of men, Sad task and hard, for how shall I relate To human sense th' invisible exploits Of warring spirits(;) how without remorse The ruin of so many glorious once And perfect while they stood; how last unfold The secrets of another world, perhaps Not lawful to reveal? Yet for thy good This is dispensed, and what surmounts the reach Of human sense, I shall delineate so, By lik'ning spiritual to corporal forms, As may express them best."
Raphael to Adam --Raphael reveals the difficulty in recounting events from heaven to mere mortals on Earth who are not likely to understand. This foreshadows that, after the fall, angels and God will only be able to communicate with mankind through the use of symbols. Raphael elaborates on the nature of human knowledge as restricted from the knowledge of the angels. It is this difference in knowledge that provides the basis of Eve's desire to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in the first place.
"But knowledge is as food, and needs no less Her temperance over appetite, to know In measure what the mind may well contain; Oppresses else with surfeit, and soon turns Wisdom to folly, as nourishment to wind."
Raphael to Adam--Raphael warning Adam about overindulging in knowledge. This imagery alludes to Eve's eating the apple and her own overindulgence. Raphael also explains that knowledge, while dangerous, must be shared in cases of the fall, which should be known by all of mankind.
"Joy, warm as the joy that shipwrecked sailors feel; when they catch sight of land — Poseidon has struck their well-rigged ship on the open sea with gale winds and crushing walls of waves, and only a few escape, swimming, struggling out of the frothing surf to reach the shore, their bodies crusted with salt but buoyed up with joy as they plant their feet on solid ground again, spared a deadly fate. (23.262-269)
Reunion of Odysseus and Penelope—(book 23) This is a reverse simile where Penelope's joy is rewritten through simile in terms of Odysseus' physical experience. With his homecoming she is also experiencing nostos. This simile shifts the reality of the poem towards Penelope; she is also going a journey.
"A spirit urged in me" we could talk about double determination. "As a father, brimming with love, welcomes home his darling only son in a warm embrace — what pain he's borne for him and him alone! — home now, in the tenth year from far abroad, so the loyal swineherd hugged the beaming prince, he clung for dear life, covering him with kisses, yes, like one escaped from death." (16.19-25)
Reunion of Telemachus and Eumaeus—(Book 16) This passage is an epic simile in which Eumaeus is described as the father of Telemachus. In this scene, Odysseus is waiting in the wings, watching his son interact with Eumaeus. This epic simile not only showcases the cost of Odysseus' absence (that Telemachus has found a new father figure), but it also gives the reader a skeleton for future reunion scenes of greater importance (Odysseus & Telemachus, Odysseus & Penelope). There is dramatic irony and tragedy in here. Epic simile[—] Eumaeus is the tenor and Odysseus is the vehicle
"Thus Satan talking to his nearest mate, With head uplift above the wave, and eyes That sparkling blazed, his other parts besides Prone on the flood, extended long and large, Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge As whom the fables name of monstrous size, Titanian, or Earth-born, that warred on Jove, Briareos or Typhon, whom the den By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea-beast Leviathan, which God of all his works Created hugest that swim th' ocean stream: Him, haply slumb'ring on the Norway foam The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff, Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell, With fixèd anchor in his scaly rind Moors by his side under the lee, while night Invests the sea, and wishèd morn delays."
Satan compared to Leviathan-- This is an example of misprision, or mis-evaluating or incorrectly recognizing something. Here, the pilot mistakes Satan for an island. This is thematically pointing out the ability of humans to make mistakes and furthermore, Satan's ability to fool the humans into making these mistakes.
"Remember'st thou Thy making, while the Maker gave thee being? We know no time when we were not as now(;) Know none before us, self-begot, self-raised By our own quick'ning power, when fatal course Had circled his full orb, the birth mature Of this our native Heav'n, ethereal sons. Our puissance is our own."
Satan to Abdiel and the angels, reported by Raphael and Adam--Satan mocks the hierarchy that exists in Heaven. It is this very hierarchy--the rulership of God and God's nepotism toward Jesus--that motivates Satan to be a fair ruler over hell. He says that if God made everyone but everyone cannot remember their creation, why should the angels honor God as the creator if they are not even sure about their own creation? Satan introduces the idea that perhaps the angels created themselves, denying the sovereignty of God and inciting the conflict in heaven.
"Not that I less endure, or shrink from pain, Insulting angel, well thou know'st I stood Thy fiercest, when in battle to thy aid The blasting volleyed thunder made all speed And seconded thy else not dreaded spear. But still thy words at random, as before, Argue thy inexperience what behoves From hard assays and ill successes past A faithful Leader, not to hazard all Through ways of danger by himself untried."
Satan to Gabriel--Satan mocks that Gabriel knows nothing about what makes a good leader. Gabriel criticized Satan's journey to Paradise because he came alone without the other devils, but now Satan claims that he was the first one to come to his aid during the battle in heaven. Satan channels Aeneas when he claims that a good leader never gives up, even in the face of danger and failure. This is similar to what Satan said in Book 1 when he told Beelzebub not to give up after falling to hell.
"Unspeakable desire to see, and know All these his wondrous works, but chiefly man, His chief delight and favor, him for whom All these his works so wondrous he ordained, Hath brought me from the choirs of Cherubim Alone thus wand'ring."
Satan to Uriel--Satan, in his disguise before Uriel, misleads and deceives the "good" of the angels, passing his "evil" off as "good." Satan's curiosity to see the work of God culminates here, as he finishes his journey and witness the human world. Contrasts with the idea that the other epic journeys were fated for the heroes, but this journey was not fated for Milton's anti-hero. Desire for knowledge continues to be a corrupter through PL, as Satan corrupts Paradise with his presence and Eve later corrupts mankind by eating the fruit.
"But I should ill become this throne, O Peers, And this imperial sov'reignty, adorned With spendor, armed with power, if aught proposed And judged of public moment, in the shape Of difficulty or danger could deter Me from attempting. Wherefore do I assume These royalties, and not refuse to reign, Refusing to accept as great a share Of hazard as of honor, due alike To him who reigns, and so much to him due Of hazard more, as he above the rest High honored sits?"
Satan to the assembly of devils--Satan is saying that a good leader must accept both honor and danger. Therefore, he offers to go into Chaos to find Paradise on behalf of all of the devils. This lowering of his own status in order to save the rest of the devils parallels Jesus' later sacrifice to save all of mankind; the councils of angels and devils are parallel and inverted at the same time. This similarly continues the concept of hierarchy in which Satan believes that he should not place himself above the rest of the devils but should be willing to experience danger for himself as an equal (Satan condemns the hierarchy that exists in Heaven).
"Oh father what intends thy hand," she cried / "Against thy only son? What fury O son, / Possesses thee to bend that mortal dart / Against thy father's head? And know'st for whom(;) / For him who sits above and laughs the while / At thee ordained his drudge, to execute / Whate'er his wrath, which he calls justice, bids. / His wrath which one day will destroy ye both!" (PL 2.727-734)
Sin to Satan and Death--Casts God as the antagonist and also plays on the idea of pietas that Virgil deals with in Aeneid. This is a very negative view of the interference of Gods that characterize all of the preceding epics: here we can see Milton illustrating divine machinery with skepticism. (But keeping in mind that this is an intentional temptation: doesn't represent Milton's actual commentary)
"For if your hands should violate this great offering to Minerva, a total disaster—if only god would turn it against the seer himself!—will wheel down on Priam's empire,Troy, and all your futures. But if your hands will rear it up, into your city, then all Asia in arms can invade Greece, can launch an all-out war right up to the walls of Pelops. That's the doom that awaits our sons' sons. (Aeneid 2.243-251)"
Sinon to the Trojans, in Aeneas's account—Continues the idea of fate. Sinon recounts to the Trojans exactly what is going to happen; later on, Laocoon the priest strikes the Trojan Horse with two spears ("violates this great offering") and the Trojans fall, just like Sinon predicts. This is, once again, the founding of Rome divinely ordained by the gods, like Minerva.
"Behold me then, me for him, life for life I offer, on me let thine anger fall(;) Account me man(;) I for his sake will leave Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee Freely put off, and for him lastly die Well pleased, on me let Death wreck all his rage."
Son to God—The theme of self-sacrifice as a means of achieving a state of higher being. Jesus offers to become a mortal being to save mankind. This is similar to how Satan offered to brave the dangers of Chaos on behalf of the devils to find Paradise.
"Dear stranger, would you be shocked by what I say? Look at them over there. Not a care in the world, just lyres and tunes! Easy for them, all right, they feed on another's goods and go scot-free — a man whose white bones lie strewn in the rain somewhere, rotting away on land or rolling down the ocean's salty swells." (1.184-189)
Telemachus to Athena disguised as Mentes—This represents Telemachus' struggle. He faces uncertainty about the binary. He doesn't know for certain if his father is dead or not and therefore he doesn't know what role he should assume in his household. As a consequence, he is powerless to stop the Suitors (stuck between being a son and being a king).
"I hug your knees, Odysseus — mercy! spare my life! What a grief it will be to you for all the years to come if you kill the singer now, who sings for gods and men. 1 taught myself the craft, but a god has planted deep in my spirit all the paths of song — songs I'm fit to sing for you as for a god. Calm your bloodlust now — don't take my head! He'd bear me out, your own dear son Telemachus — never of /72z/own will, never for any gain did 1 perform in your house, singing after the suitors had their feasts. They were too strong, too many — they forced me to come and sing — 1 had no choice! " (22.362-373):
The bard Phemius to Odysseus—(Book 22) The theme of suppliance and collapsing your victors knees reoccurs in this passage. Achilles kills the his enemies who bow to down to him and so does Odysseus but Odysseus spares the bard. The bard - the narrator and the craft of storytelling - is thus elevated and represented explicitly as the good in this romantic epic between good and evil.
"But drive far off the barbarous dissonance Of Bacchus and his revellers, the race Of that wild rout that tore the Thracian bard In Rhodope, where woods and rocks had ears To rapture, till the savage clamor drowned(;) Both harp and voice(;) nor could the Muse defend Her son. So fail not thou, who thee implores: For thou art Heav'nly, she an empty dream."
The bard's invocation to the muse Urania--Milton introduces the concept that Christian epic is a higher form of epic than the others in the oral tradition. This is because the poet Orpheus was doomed to die because the Greek muse Calliope could not save him. However, Milton is confident that the muse Urania can save him in his goal to write a Christian epic unlike any other. Remember: at the beginning of Paradise Lost, Milton claims that his epic will be incredibly new, unlike anything the world has ever seen before.
"Not sedulous by nature to indite Wars, hitherto the only argument Heroic deemed, chief mast'ry to dissect With long and tedious havoc fabled knights In battles feigned; the better fortitude Of patience and heroic martyrdom Unsung."
The bard's proem to Book 9, describes the argument of the poem--Milton once again establishes that his Christian epic is superior to the earlier poems of the epic tradition, claiming that his recounting of the fall of man is a direr situation than the wars described in the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid. Milton defines what it means to be a Christian hero as separate from a Homeric hero: a Christian hero follows the will of God, while a Homeric hero simply wants glory on the battlefield. This is a stark departure from the themes and purpose of earlier poems in the epic tradition.
"And here in the heart of the shield: the bronze ships, the battle of Actium, you could see it all, the world drawn up for war, Leucata Headland seething, the breakers molten gold. On one flank, Caesar Augustus leading Italy into battle, the Senate and People too, the gods of hearth and home and the great gods themselves. High astern he stands, the twin flames shoot forth from his lustrous brows and rising from the peak of his head, his father's star."
The battle of Actium on Aeneas' shield—Aeneas' shield is an icon for the imperium of the future Roman state. There are events from Roman history that have not happened yet, such as the Battle of Actium, emphasizing the fate intrinsic within Aeneas' journey to found Rome. Notably, Aeneas' later battle with Turnus and the Latins is an allegory for the Battle of Actium depicted on the shield.
"O much deceived, much failing, hapless Eve, Of thy presumed return! Event perverse! Thou never from that hour in Paradise Found'st either sweet repast, or sound repose(;) Such ambush hid among sweet flow'rs and shades Waited with hellish rancor imminent To intercept thy way, or send thee back Despoiled of innocence, of faith, of bliss."
The narrator addresses Eve--
"Others, I have no doubt, will forge the bronze to breathe with suppler lines, draw from the block of marble features quick with life, plead their cases better, chart with their rods the stars that climb the sky and foretell the times they rise. But you, Roman, remember, rule with all your power the peoples of the earth—these will be your arts: to put your stamp on the works and ways of peace, to spare the defeated, break the proud in war.": Achates to Aeneas in the Underworld—A clear statement of Roman values. The Romans will not necessarily be known for their artwork and their culture, but they will be extremely effective political leaders and bureaucrats. This is what Aeneas stands for when he exhibits pietas: fine leadership skills with a renunciation of individualistic desires.; "Now come, Erato—who were the kings, the tides and times, how stood the old Latin state when that army of intruders first beached their fleet on Italian shores? All that I will unfold, I will recall how the battle first began... And you, goddess, inspire your singer, come! I will tell of horrendous wars, tell of battle lines and princes fired with courage, driven to their deaths, Etruscan battalions, all Hesperia called to arms. A greater tide of events springs up before me now, I launch a greater labor."
The narrator invokes the muse Erato—An opening gesture (invocation of the muse) to call forth the second Iliadic portion of the poem in which the battle between the Romans and Latins ensues. Remember: the Aeneid is written as a macrostructure, so there are Iliadic portions written in thirds (depending on how you divide up the poem).
"thee I revisit safe, And feel thy sov'reign vital lamp(;) but thou Revisit'st not these eyes, that roll in vain To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn(;) So thick a drop serene hath quenched their orbs Or dim suffusion veiled. Yet not the more Cease I to wander where the Muses haunt Clear spring, or shady grove, or sunny hill, Smit with the love of sacred song."
The narrator's hymn to Light--This is the narrator's second invocation of the poem, this time to light. The narrator, after spending two books in Hell, transitions the story to Heaven. Milton specifically says that, as a blind poet, he doesn't need eyesight for inspiration. In fact, his being blind allows him to see other things that normal people cannot see, and allows him to be more in touch with the divine inspiration required to write the poem.
"And he forged on the shield two noble cities filled with mortal men. With weddings and wedding feasts in one and under glowing torches they brought forth the brides from the women's chambers, marching through the streets while choir on choir the wedding song rose high and the young men came dancing, whirling round in rings and among them flutes and harps kept up their stirring call— women rushed to the doors and each stood moved with wonder." (18.654-655)
The shield of Achilles—The shield is an example of ekphrasis. It has a thematic purpose: it shows the dichotomy between the everyday and heroic, the idea of a "ransom," etc. Putting themes in an image puts them outside of time which makes the poem itself timeless--earning it kleos and time. The shield also makes the battlefield less significant--puts it in perspective. Plotwise, the shield is compensation for Achilles' suffering and also exemplifies his godlike rage (supra-humanity) as he wields a weapon of the gods.
"You Arcadians, listen! Take a message home to Evander, tell him this: The Pallas I send him back will serve him right! Whatever tribute a tomb can give, whatever balm a burial, I am only too glad to give. But the welcome he gave Aeneas costs him dear." With that, he stamped his left foot on the corpse and stripped away the sword-belt's massive weight engraved with its monstrous crime: how one night, their wedding night, that troop of grooms was butchered, fouling their wedding chambers with pools of blood— all carved by Clonus, Eurytus' son, in priceless gold. Now Turnus glories in that spoil, exults to make it his."
Turnus despoils Pallas of his sword-belt--Turnus still carries with him an idea of time and kleos, as well as the concept of proper burial rites for the enemy, extremely similar to those found in the Iliad. This desire for individualistic wealth is contradictory to the idea of a cohesive, collective state that Aeneas wishes to found in Rome.
"You Arcadians, listen! Take a message home to Evander, tell him this: The Pallas I send him back will serve him right! Whatever tribute a tomb can give, whatever balm a burial, I am only too glad to give. But the welcome he gave Aeneas costs him dear." With that, he stamped his left foot on the corpse and stripped away the sword-belt's massive weight engraved with its monstrous crime: how one night, their wedding night, that troop of grooms was butchered, fouling their wedding chambers with pools of blood— all carved by Clonus, Eurytus' son, in priceless gold. Now Turnus glories in that spoil, exults to make it his."
Turnus despoils Pallas of his sword-belt—Turnus still carries with him an idea of time and kleos, as well as the concept of proper burial rites for the enemy, extremely similar to those found in the Iliad. This desire for individualistic wealth is contradictory to the idea of a cohesive, collective state that Aeneas wishes to found in Rome.
"Seize your moment now. Or if some care for a parent's grief can touch you still, I pray you—you had such a father, in old Anchises— pity Daunus in his old age and send me back to my own people, or if you would prefer, send them my dead body stripped of life. Here, the victor and vanquished, I stretch my hands to you, so the men of Latium have seen me in defeat. Lavinia is your bride. Go no further down the road of hatred."
Turnus to Aeneas--Example of intertextuality between the Iliad and the Aeneid. Here, Turnus supplicates to Aeneas for his life, much like Priam supplicates to Achilles for Hector's body at the end of the Iliad. Only this time, Aeneas strikes down Turnus rather than obeying the supplication. Turnus is the embodiment of Trojan/Homeric warrior values that Aeneas must relinquish in order to found the new state of Rome. This scene shows that dedication to Rome is more important than individual honor.
"All their fateful oracles—words from the gods these Phrygians bandy about—alarm me not at all. Let it be quite enough for Fate and Venus both that Trojans reach the rich green land of Italy!— Trojans! I have my own fate too, counter to theirs, to stamp out these accursed people with my sword— they've stolen away my bride! Atreus' sons, they're not alone in suffering such a wound, not only Mycenae has a right to go to war."
Turnus to his men—Literary allusion to the Iliad in which Helen is taken from Menelaus and Chryseis is taken from Agamemnon; Turnus considers Aeneas' possible threat of marrying his fiance to be a similar situation. This also calls forth the idea of divinely ordained fate of Aeneas' mission... he mentions that both Fate and Venus want Aeneas to succeed, and yet Turnus erroneously claims that he has his own fate that runs counter to this. This emphasizes the binary between good (Aeneas/fate) and evil (Turnus/counter-fate).
"There are certain things which a man can only go through once in his life(;) and he must know some time or other that the best is over with him. This experience has happened to me while I am very young— that is all. What I care for more than I can ever care for anything else is absolutely forbidden to me -- I don't mean merely by being out of my reach, but forbidden me, even if it were within my reach, by my own pride and honour -- by everything I respect myself for. Of course I shall go on living as a man might do who had seen heaven in a trance."
Will Ladislaw to Dorothea—Once again, the theme of renunciation and compromise. Will admits that he was unable to fulfill all of his dreams but that he can still go on living as a man would if he had "seen heaven in a trance" and was forced to live again in the mortal world. This also draws attention to the epic of human life as compared to the immortal and fantastical lives of some of Homer, Vergil, and Milton's heroes.
"You might say the same thing of landscape, of poetry, of all refinement. If you carried it out you ought to be miserable in your own goodness, and turn evil that you might have no advantage over others. The best piety is to enjoy: when you can. You are doing the most then to save the earth's character as an agreeable planet. And enjoyment radiates. It is of no use to try and take care of all the world(;) that is being taken care of when you feel delight: in art or in anything else. Would you turn all the youth of the world into a tragic chorus, wailing and moralizing over misery? I suspect that you have some false belief in the virtues of misery, and want to make your life a martyrdom."
Will Ladislaw to Dorothea—Will condemns Dorothea's belief that artwork is not necessary for a fulfilling life. Dorothea tries to make life better for everyone by improving the infrastructure for her tenants, but Will believes that this goal is misguided. This deals with Middlemarch's themes of compromise and realism; true beauty can be seen in artwork because this involves living for the moment. Trying to save the world is simply not possible, but looking at the beauty in the world is. The epic hero, as defined in Middlemarch, cannot be perfect and completely righteous as epic heroes in the past.
""Explain! Tell a man to explain how he dropped into hell! Explain my preference! I never had a preference for her, any more than I have a preference for breathing. No other woman exists by the side of her. I would rather touch her hand if it were dead than I would touch any other woman's living."
Will Ladislaw to Rosamond—Ladislaw has completely sanctified Dorothea and placed her on a pedastel equivalent to a saint (like Saint Theresa). Here, we see a reversal from Paradise Lost in that we see the man worshipping the heroine. This also ties into the earlier quote "Does it seem incongruous...." in that Dorothea has earned reverence from those around her. I believe there's also a tie into "the fall" of Paradise Lost (how man came to fall in P.L, "how [Ladislaw] dropped into hell" but I'm not seeing it clearly.
"Ah how shameless — the way these mortals blame the gods. From us alone, they say, come all their miseries, yes, but they themselves, with their own reckless ways, compound their pains beyond their proper share. Look at Aegisthus now ... above and beyond Azs share he stole Atrides' wife, he murdered the warlord coming home from Troy though he knew it meant his own total ruin. (Odyssey 1.37-44)
Zeus to Athena This is an example of how the Odyssey is NOT pre-ethical like the Iliad is. The gods are discussing what people deserve based on the morality (or righteousness) of their action rather than their skill (whether they are "the best"). Zeus here is saying there are some rules all humans are responsible for following--a moral code?
"My cruel fate . . . my Sarpedon, the mail I love- the most, my own son— doomed to die at the hands of Menoetius' son Patroclus. My heart is torn in two as I try to weigh all this. Shall I pluck him up, now, while he's still alive and set him down in the rich green land of Lycia, far from the war at Troy and all its tears? Or beat him down at Patroclus' hands at last?" But Queen Hera, her eyes wide, protested strongly[—] "Dread majesty, son of Cronus-what are you saying? A man, a mere mortal, his doom sealed long ago? You'd set him free from all the pains of death? Do as you please, Zeus . . . but none of the deathless gods will ever praise you. And I tell you this—take it to heart, I urge you— if you send Sarpedon home, living still, beware! Then surely some other god will want to sweep his own son clear of the heavy fighting too. Look down. Many who battle round King Priam's mighty walls are sons of the deathless gods— you will inspire lethal anger in them all." (16.514-534)
Zeus to Hera on the imminent death of Sarpedon—Shows that double-determination does not ensure that the gods have control over everything. Rather, fate is something that is above both gods and humans. Zeus cannot prevent the death of his son Sarpedon because that is what fate dictates--Hera recognizes this and reminds Zeus of his role of enforcing, but not changing, fate.
"How could it occur to her to examine the letter, to look at it critically as profession of love? Her whole soul was possessed by the fact that a fuller life was opening before her(:) she was a neophyte about to enter on a higher grade of initiation. She was going to have room for the energies which stirred uneasily under the dimness and pressure of her own ignorance and the petty peremptoriness of the world's habits.
narrator--The narrator is using poets voice to convey a particular viewpoint of Dodo.