Book 10 Similes - Will

They are multiple examples of similes in book 10, however only two really caught my attention while the rest were mostly describing one character rather then contributing to the plot.

Simile 1

Pg 239 Line 96 - 98

"The Sky-dwellers, all in an uproar, favored one side of the other. Like first growled gusts of a tempest trapped in a forest, they rumble. The gale's not seen, but the tolling roar alerts sailors to storm winds wending their way towards water"

-This Simile is an example of the gods' wrath, the sky-dweller represents the gods, the uproar represents the argument they are having about Aeneas and the coming war. The gods' wrath represented as the growled gust of a tempest, means that although mortals are unaware of the danger that is soon to come, they are given signs in the form of prophecies warning them of what is to come. The gods' wrath is a continuing motif in the Aeneid where Juno continues her hate on Aeneas and the surviving Trojan.

Simile 2

Pg 250 Line 452 - 456

"Turnus leaped from his chariot, setting the style for a close-range duel on foot. And the image evoked is that of a lion, watching, from high in the hills, as a bull in the grasslands below him thinks about fighting, but make no move".

-This Simile is an important simile that shows the relation of Turnus to Pallas, Pallas is described as the bull who is hesitant on whether it should fight the lion, Turnus. Hesitation means death on the battlefield, and in this simile Pallas is already locked on to the fate that would lead him to his death. His death would eventually play a huge role, much like Patroculus' death in the Iliad.

Simile 3

Pg 258 Line 693 - 695

"He's like crag that protrudes in the vast expanses of ocean, set in the path of the furious gales and exposed to the breakers, bearing the brunt of the threatening onslaught of sky and of sea-swell"

-This is one of many similes that show the characteristics of the exiled tyrant Mezentius. Mezentius is portrayed as a very powerful and very violent warrior who was exiled as king of the Etruscan due to his Tyrant like ways. In this simile Mezentius is depicted as a crag set in the path of the furious gales and exposed to breakers, this shows that Mezentius during all the fighting is targeted by many of the enemies but no matter how many numbers the enemy way have Mezentius will weather them all and destroy them. This is also one of the only similes in which Mezentius is depicted as an inanimate object.

The Death of Turnus-Nick Blake

                In the build up to and the actual death of Turnus, Virgil uses three strategies to convey and enhance this series of events. These strategies include nature similes, heavy allusions to the Homeric epics, and an alternation between scenes of fighting and battle to scenes of the duel and a spectator audience.

Some Allusions to Homeric Epics:

·         King Latinus and Queen Amata try to convince Turnus not to fight Aeneas just like King Priam and Hecuba attempt to convince Hector not to fight Achilles in the Iliad.

·         The proposed fight between Aeneas and Turnus to decide who will have Lavinia and thus end the war also mirrors the proposed duel between Menelaus and Paris for the hand of Helen in the Iliad.

·         The prophet Tolumnius breaks of the treaty and the duel by throwing a spear at the Trojans and setting off another battle. This is similar to the scene in the Iliad where Pandarus initiated more fighting after the duel between Menelaus and Paris by shooting an arrow at the Greeks, specifically Menelaus. In both situations, the men were driven by the gods either indirectly or directly to do this.

Structure:

·         It begins with battle as Turnus rushes to the burning city where he gives his proposal for the the war and Lavinia’s hand to be decided by a duel.

·         The scene switches to a spectator event as armed men drop their battle gear and the people within the city go to rooftops, city gates, and other areas they can find a seat with a view.

·          After Juturna riles up the Latin men and Tolumnius casts the first spear, battle erupts again and evolve into a full on battle where both Turnus and Aeneas have moments of Aristae.

·         After seeing the destruction occurring within the city, Turnus decides to honor the treaty and agrees to fight. Once again all the men drop their weapons, and everyone tries to find a seat to watch the event.

The Final Duel:

·         The plain is cleared and prepared for the duel as Aeneas and Turnus charge at each other.

                                Two bulls rush at each other and tangle in hostile encounter,

                                Head against head, and their herdsmen, scared at the sight run for cover… (12.721-22)

·         Jupiter holds a scale with the fates of Turnus and Aeneas to determine the winner of the duel.

·         Turnus has a chance at Aeneas but his sword breaks upon impact of Aeneas’ godlike armour. Turnus realizes he has taken the sword of his charioteer Metiscus instead of his ancestral one.

·         Turnus flees which leads to a chasing seen that mirrored the one between Achilles and Hector in the Iliad.

·         Virgil compares Aeneas to “a hunting dog with a stag he’s got trapped at a river or fenced in by the huntsman’s scarecrows feathered in Punic crimson.” (12.749-51)

·         The two pass around the city five times, just as Hector and Achilles circled Troy several times.

·         They eventually pass by an olive branch where garments were hung as gifts for the gods. This is similar to the sacred streams where the women of Troy did laundry that Achilles and Hector pass by in the Iliad.

·         Juturna retrieves Turnus’ sword and Venus retrieves Aeneas’ spear which leads to conversation between Jupiter and Juno about Juno’s interference in these matters.

·         After Juno concedes to not intervene anymore, Jupiter sends one of the monster Dirae as a message to Juturna for her to stop interfering as well.

·         Aeneas continues to taunt Turnus who is now alone, which leads him to lift a massive stone and hurl it at Aeneas despite it missing completely. This is similar to the Cyclops hurling massive stones at a taunting Odysseus in the Odyssey.

·         Eventually Aeneas is able to send his spear through Turnus’s leg and wound him.

·         Turnus begs for his body to be returned to his family just as Hector pleaded to Achilles.

·         Just as Aeneas is about to show some mercy, he sees Pallas’ belt on Turnus. Anger and revenge take back over and he kills Turnus.

·         The book ends without revealing what becomes of the body of Turnus.

Book 9 Similes - Rich Brooks

Simile 1 (58-64)
Just like the midnight wolf in his personal siege of a dense packed
Sheep-pen, snarling at gaps in the fencing, wind-whipped and
     rain-lashed.
Ruthless and rough in his rage, long starving and tortured by
     pent-up
Cravings for hunger, by parched jaws thirsty for blood, he is madly
Howling at lambs lying just beyond reach. They are tucked beneath
     mothers,
Safe and secure, their incessant bleating's their only reaction.
Tenor - Turnus and the Trojans behind their walls
Vehicle - wolf, lambs, and sheep pen
Theme/Event - This simile shows Turnus' eagerness for war with the Trojans. It also shows the Trojans' vulnerability without Aeneas in their ranks. This is also a typical Homeric simile, using nature, and specifically animals, to portray an idea.

Simile 2 (432-438)
Doubling Euryalus over in death. Blood covers his beauteous
Limbs; his neck droops languidly down to recline on his shoulders,
Just as a brightly crimsoned flower shorn down by a
     ploughshare
Droops as it dies, or as field poppies lower their heads when their
     slender
Stems grow tired, weighed down by an unpredictable rainstorm.
Tenor - Euryalus' corpse
Vehicle - flower/poppy
Theme/Event - This simile describes Euryalus' limp body, specifically his neck, in his death. This is very similar to Homeric similes in the Iliad comparing death to trees and flowers falling down. It exemplifies Euryalus' potential as the bright flower and describes how tragically and unexpectedly his life was cut short.

Simile 3 (789-796)
Gradually Turnus starts backing away from the fight, and the river
Now is his goal and the section of wall that is moated by water.
Teucrians pressure him all the more keenly and raise a loud war-cry,
Ring him around like a big mob of hunters who've circled a savage
Lion, with murderous javelins poised. Terrified, but ferocious,
Savagery flaring his eyes, he retreats. Yet his anger and courage
Won't let him show them his back, though the counter-attack he so
     dearly
Wishes to launch cannot be. There are too many weapons and people.
Tenor - Turnus
Vehicle - Proud lion retreating
Theme/Event - This simile describes Turnus' retreat from the Trojan camp. It is a very typical simile to find in an epic. Again we have characters being described as animals. This was an especially typical simile because they are often used in "the hunter becomes the hunted" scenarios. Also, just as Achilles was compared to a lion frequently in the Iliad. The "Achilles" the Trojans must face in Italy, Turnus, is also compared to a lion.

Temple of Apollo ekphrasis-Book 6

When Aeneas lands at Cumae he heads directly for the Temple of Apollo, which is located at “the citadel’s heights”. There was a huge cave which was the house of the sibyl, or prophetess, who spoke with the authority of Apollo. 

In front of this Temple there is a grove with a shrine to the “Goddess at Crossroads” who is identified in the gloss as Hecate. Apparently her shrine was at Avernus, which is a crater and lake outside the city of Cumae, but Virgil blended the two sites into one shrine.

Aeneas sees doors made by the famous inventor Daedalus after his escape from Crete. He was the man who created the maze to imprison the Minotaur, and was later thrown into it himself. In order to escape he invented working sets of wings to allow both himself and his son Icarus to fly way.

These doors show some important mythological scenes. The first  scene on the first door shows the murder of Androgeos’, a son of Minos and Pasiphae, who was murdered in Athens by rival athletes after winning all the contests. This murder is the reason Athens must send young people to Crete as sacrifices to the Minotaur.

Then an image of the children of Cecrops, who was half man and half serpent.  Apparently his children died after opening a box which Athena gave them, but warned them never to open.This is used as a general reference to the people of Athens.

The doors also showed the urn used to draw lots, which was the Athenian method for making impartial decisions, and the means by which the young men and women were chosen as sacrifices for the Minotaur.

Next, “opposite” (I do not know if this means the opposite door or the opposite side of the door?) is the city of Knossos on Crete. Apparently the doors showed Pasiphae with the bull who was the Minotaur’s father. Then the Minotaur itself, and it’s maze house which Daedalus constructed.

Here Virgil addresses Icarus, Daedalus’ son, and tells him that he would have been an important figure on the doors but his father was too grieved over his death. Daedalus was unable to show his son his death even though he tried twice. 

Aeneas is summoned into the temple, which is situated in an enormous cave with a hundred tunnels running off in myriad directions.

Similes in Aeneid 7- Max

Simile #1

"The goddess plucked one of the serpents

Lodged in her sea-dark hair, then directed its course, introduced it

Into Amata's breast, where the heart meets the lungs, first to madden

Her and, by this display, cause chaos throughout her whole household.

Slipping between her gown and her smooth bosom, rippling, but never

Touching, it fills her with viperous breath, injects fury unnoticed. 

Now the huge snake is the golden torc on her neck, now her bonnet

Trailing with ribbons. It twines through her hair, slithers free on her body.

While the first flow of the transfused poison's assault on her senses 

Seeps, while it's threading her bones with its fire, while her spirit has not yet

Felt the effects of the flame in the whole of her heart and her reason,

She has that gentler tone in her speech you'd expect of a mother: 

Tears upon tears for her daughter, distress at her Phrygian marriage:

'Exiles, Teucrians, are given Lavinia to take as their wedded

Wife? Don't you feel sorry for her or yourself- you're her father!- and sorry

Too for her mother? He'll scoop up our girl on the first breath of north wind,

Leave me and head for his high sea's lair, this perfidious pirate!

Isn't this just how that Phrygian sheep-boy poken into Sparta, 

Carrying away Leda's Helen away to the cities of Troy's land?

What about your solemn word? And your old-time love for your family?

Didn't you pledge her to Turnus, our own blood, with many a handshake?

Granted: it's settled that what's sought for Latins is some kind of foreign

Son-in-law. Granted: you're pressured by orders from Faunus, your parent.

"Foreign", I think, includes every land that is separately settled, 

Free of our scepter's control. I think that's what the gods are declaring" (346-370)

Tenor: Rage filling Amata

Vehicle: Snake sent by Allecto to wrap itself around Amata and be bound to her bones

Event: Allecto, encouraged by Juno, sends hate into Amata to fuel her hatred for Aeneas and favor Turnus instead

Theme: Takes a turn for clothing and art (jewelry), nature (fire).

Simile #2

"whirling about like a whip-lashed top such as children, 

Rapt in their play, will propel in a great circle all round empty

Courtyards. When lashed into motion, it travels in segments of curving

Arcs; and the uncomprehending young throng stands in a stupor 

Over it, gazing in awe at the fast-spinning figure of boxwood 

Energized by their blows." (378-383)

Tenor: Hatred exhibited by Amata

Vehicle: Tops played with by children

Event: Amata is lashing out across town, just as a top spins, spewing anger against Aeneas at every breath

Theme: Child-play, play on normal associations (Hatred vs childhood innocence) 

Simile #3

"Top it with anger and it's like the roaring of firewood kindled

Under the ribs of a bubbling cauldron of copper. The surface 

Dances with joy as it heats. Underneath it, the upsurge of water

Seethe and it steams and it spurts spray high with exuberant splashing.

Water's not water, but vapor that flits and that blurs into breezes.

Therefore he ordered." (462-466) 

Tenor: Anger of Turnus

Vehicle: Kindle-wood under a boiling cauldron

Event: Turnus is filled with anger by Amata and, like a a cauldron boiling over a kindling fire spews hot water, so does Turnus become spewing with hatred towards Aeneas and calls for war.

Theme: Nature (fire)

Similes, Aeneid 11 (Frank)

Simile #1)
p.268, line 68-

“Here, on a farmhand’s bedding, they set out their noble young hero
Languid as drooping hyacinth falls, or limp as a violet
Clipped in its flower by a virgin’s thumb, but whose shimmering lustre
Lingers, whose perfect form hasn’t shriveled, as yet, though its earthen
Mother no longer sustains life’s vital strength with her nurture."

Tenor – Pallas

Vehicle – Flowers, perfect beauty; meanwhile, neglect

Event:  Pallas, even in death, is beautiful and pure.

Theme – In Homeric epic, fallen heroes are generally warmly looked upon at their death for their beauty and their valor.

Simile #2)

p.281, line 455- 

“Everywhere blend into one huge roar that soars to the heavens,
Much as when great flocks of birds just happen to settle on highland
Forests, or when, on Padusa’s fish-filled waters, the raucous
Swans trumpet calls all across those ever-talkative marshes.”

Tenor – Aeneas’s camp

Vehicle – Birds/swans

Event: The fury of the entire camp is as loud as other well-known loud packs of animals in nature.

Theme – Homeric epic generally favors using animalistic imagery for its similes.

Simile #3)

p.290, line 718 – 

“These are the young girl’s words. Like fire with the feet of a sprinter,
She outraces his horse, grabs the reins, turns to face him, attacks him,
Then penalizes her foeman in blood, casually, like a sacred
Predator soaring on wings from a cliff-top, extending his pinions,
Stalking a pretty dove, over her limits, unbridled in veiling
Cloud; and he catches her, grasps her, and guts her with curving
Talons. Her blood sputters; plumes wrenched out flutter down from the heavens.”

Tenor – Aunus

Vehicle – Aerial predator against a dove

Event: This simile describes how quick and agile Aunus was in striking Camilla, the Volscian warrior queen on a killing spree, and killing her.

Theme – This simile, like the previous, uses natural imagery to convey its message.

Juturna, Book XII - Warren Griffin

Aeneas & Turnus ( Book XII)

Juturna

• Turnus' sister
• native Italian goddess of springs
• name was given to a spring in the Forum, the lacus Iuturnae, during the second century B.C.E.--well before Vergil's time
• Juno's pawn in instigating the battle between the Latins and the Trojans 
• raped by Jupiter and promised immortality as recompense for the rape

12.138-57 (p.301-2)

•  Juturna is introduced by Vergil
•  Juno to Juturna
• "Turnus' sister, whose personal realm is the lakes and the babbling streams. It's a sacred distinction the king of the bright skies, exalted Jupiter, gave her to recompense rape and virginity ravished."
• "'Nymph, you're the glory of waters and joy supreme to my own soul, You, as you know, I've preferred to all women of Latium who've ever climbed into great-souled Jupiter's joyless bed. Of them only You would I gladly place somewhere up in the regions of heaven.'"
• "'...I granted your city and Turnus my total protection. Now I observe the youth off to encounter a fate he's no match for.'"
• "'You, if you're daring enough to bring critical help to your brother, go on. You should.'"
• "'Hurry, and now, if you can, carry off your brother from death's grip--or start war on your own. Let the pact they've conceived be aborted!'"

12.222-47 (p.304-5)

• to boost morale, Juturna takes the form of Camers and mixes in with the Latins
• a renown warrior
• born of old family blood
• disguised as Camers, Juturna harangues the Rutulian forces--provoking their desire for battle and the pursuit of kleos
• all of the Latin warriors are roused for battle 
• Juturna then stages an omen from Jupiter
  • "No omen has ever been more effective in baffling and cheating the minds of Italians."
  • "[Jupiter's tawny bird flies through the sky and disrupts a formation of shorebirds...the bird then swoops straight down to the water and snatches a gorgeous swan in the grip of his talons...then all the shorebirds mass together and chase the assailant until he releases the swan and retreats into the fog bank]"
  • the Rutulians are convinced of the omen

•  Tolumnius (Rutulian) launches a javelin at the Trojans, killing a soldier...full-scale war ensues

12.448-12.676 (p.311-9)

• After Aeneas is restored to health through Venus, he marches back to the battle to find Turnus
• The first to observe Aeneas approach, Juturna retreats
• "Juturna was first to detect and to recognize this sound, well before all other Latins. It frightened her. So she retreated."
• Then, recognizing that Aeneas is not concerned with fighting anyone but Turnus and is pursuing only him, Juturna ejects Turnus' charioteer, assumes his appearance, and drives for Turnus--removing her brother from Aeneas
• Aeneas proceeds to stomp Turnus' army
• Turnus reveals to Juturna that he knows that she's disguised as his charioteer and tells her he's not running any longer and that he will return to the battle
• "'Fate has now taken decisive command, sister. Stop your delaying. Where god, where cruel Fortune is calling us, there let us follow. I fight Aeneas! It's settled. It's settled: I suffer whatever anguish accompanies death! You will never again see me, sister, so disgraced. Let me rage out my rage while there's still time, I beg you.'"    

12.783 (p.322-3)

•  Juturna resumes the disguise of Turnus' charioteer to bring him his sword that he'd left behind
• enraged that Turnus receives divine help, Venus releases Aeneas' spear from the tree
• Zeus observes this and confronts Juno, knowing that she's assisted Turnus through Juturna
• Juno concedes and reaches an agreement with Zeus over the outcome of the conflict  

12.844-86 (p.324-5)

•  Zeus has to detach Juturna from her role as her brother's protector
• he sends an omen to Juturna, one of the "pestilent powers called the Dirae"
• born from Night 
• they are "...the fears [Jupiter] inspires among humans, sickly and death-doomed, each time the king of the gods masses hideous death and diseases overt heir heads, or brings terrors of war upon cities that earn them."
• the Dirae drops to earth, assumes the form of a smallish bird ("...such as settles at night on a funeral site..."), and crashes into Turnus' shield
• Turnus is horrified; Juturna instantly recognizes the birds true form and immediately loses hope, and laments:

 "'Oh, what help can your sister be now to you, Turnus?

Tough as I am, what more can I do? Have I skills to stop daylight dead in its rush from your eyes? Can I fight against that kind of monster?

Carrion birds, I'm already leaving the battle! I'm frightened, don't terrorize me! I know that there's death in the sound of your wing beats!

Great-hearted Jupiter sends his proud orders: that doesn't escape me.

This is his compensation to me for virginity ravished!

What did he grant me eternal life for, stripping me of life's basic terms, that we die, and of power to end, as I certainly would now, all my pain, and to walk at my poor brother's side through the shadows?

I cannot die! What joy will I have in anything round me, brother, without you? Has earth no abyss deep enough to devour, de-deify me, dispatch me to death's abysmal remoteness?'

Such were her words. Then, shrouding her head with the grey of her mantle, groaning profoundly, the goddess entombs herself deep in her waters." (12.873-886)

Bibliography

Perkell, Christine. "The Lament of Juturna: Pathos and Interpretation in the Aeneid." Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-) 127 (1997): 257-86. JSTOR. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/284394>.

Virgil. Aeneid. Trans. Frederick Ahl. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.

Prophecies in Aeneid 3- Nick Cellino

In Aeneid 3, there are four prophecies that are revealed to Aeneas and his men.

The first prophecy occurs when Aeneas and his men are at Delos. They are praying to Phoebus to give them a "home of their own" and a "city that lasts." To this, Phoebus responds with a prophecy. He tells them that the "First land that nurtured your parents' roots will take you back to her welcoming bosom" (Aeneid 3: 93-95). He tells them to seek out this land of their ancestors and that there, Aeneas and his offspring will establish a worldwide dominion. Aeneas and his men are overjoyed at hearing this prophecy. Aeneas's father Anchises says Crete must be the place Phoebus was talking about because that is where one of their ancestors, Teucer, came from. The Trojans go there and establish a city, Pergamea, but soon realize that they have not followed the prophecy correctly. There is a plague that kills many people, and none of the crops were growing.

The second prophecy occurs one night while Aeneas is asleep. He has a vision of the "household spirits of Phrygia," or the gods of his homeland. They reassure Aeneas and tell him not to give up. They tell him:
And it is we who will raise your descendants high to the heavens;
We'll give your city imperial power. You must furnish that mighty
Future with mighty defenses. Don't give up your flight and its
long toil!
(Aeneid 3: 157-160)
The gods are telling him that they are going to make his city successful as an imperial power, but he must build strong walls, or defenses, around his city. They go on to tell him that the place he is now, on Crete, is not the correct site for his city, and they have misinterpreted Phoebus' prophecy. They must go to the place called Hesperia, or Italy, to establish their city. That is where their ancient ancestor Dardanus came from.

The next stop for Aeneas and company is the island of the Harpies, where they receive a third prophecy. After slaughtering the goat and cattle on the island, Celaeno, one of the Harpies, perches on a high cliff and delivers the prophecy. She claims that her words have been given to her by Phoebus, who had gotten them from Jupiter himself. She tells them that they will reach their destination, Italy, but they will not be able to fortify their city with ramparts until "dire famine avenging the wrong done to us by this slaughter drives you to gnaw with your jaws at your tables and then to devour them" (Aeneid 3: 256-258).

Next, they come to the city called Buthrotum, which is a Greek city that is now being ruled by Priam's son Helenus along with Andromache. Helenus gives Aeneas some advice in the form of a prophecy. He tells them that their passage to Italy is going to be a long and difficult trip. They are going to have to cross many obstacles including lakes of the underworld and Circe's island, Aeaea. Then, they will find their city, and there will be signs to show them that they are at the correct place. They will see a large white sow with 30 albino piglets, and this is the site for their future city. He also tells them to be wary of the people around the coast of Italy because many of them are wicked and violent. Once they are at Italy, they should cover their heads with purple veils and light flames to honor the gods. He tells him to make sure that all of his descendants continue this tradition after him, and to make sure that they respect Juno in their prayers, above all else. Lastly, he tells them to seek out the "mad seer" of Cumae and beg her to sing her oracles to them.

Aeneid Book IV Similes

Simile #1) 

Page 79, Line 68

"Dido, unfulfilled, burns and and, in ravaging obsession, randomly wanders through the town, like a deer pierced through by an arrow hit long range, when off guard, in the Cretan woods by a shepard armed for hunt. He has his steel tipped shaft in her body, not knowing he's hit his mark. In her fight, she ranges all Dicte's meadows and woods. Barbed deep in her haunch is the reed that will kill her."

Tenor: Dido's infatuation and obsession with Aeneas

Vehicle: A dear being pierced with an arrow

Event: Venus was afraid that Juno would incite the Carthaginians to harm or attack Aeneas and the Trojans, so she told her other son Cupid to make Dido fall in the love with Aeneas so that he would be safe.

Theme: Plays in to the animal and nature theme that we see in the simile's of the Iliad 

Simile #2)

Page 81, Line 143

"He's like Apollo, deserting his wintertime home by the Lycian stream of the Xanthus to visit his mother's homeland of Delos, where he's the sponsor of the ritual dance. Round his altars there mingle Cretans, tatood Agathyrsians, Dryopes. all. celebrating."

Tenor: Aeneas 

Vehicle: Apollo

Event: They are related through the hunt scene because Apollo is known to be very skilled with the bow.

Theme: In Odyssey, Odysseus is constantly referred to as godlike and is compared to gods (mainly Zeus).

Simile #3)

Page 86, Line 300

"Mind of of control, all ablaze, she screams through the city, Bacchic cries when Thyiad frenzied  by brandished Thyrsus and loud Bacchic cries when Thebes' biennial orgies madden her soul, when Cithaeron's voice howls shrill in the night time."

Tenor" Dido's out of control screams through the city

Vehicle: A crying Bacchic (refers to the god Bacchus who is known for riots and intoxication)

Event: When Dido finds out that Aeneas is about to leave, she practically throws a fit because she is in love with him and was even contemplating marrying him, even though she swore not to remarry after her husband died. 

Simile #4)

Page 89, Line 401

"Into and out of the city you'd see them, everywhere, streaming. Ants getting ready for winter do this: they attack an enormous mountain of grain and they carry it off to the provision their anthill. Spanning fields, their black formation snakes across grassland, hauling spoils: one long slim track."

Tenor: Trojans loading their ships with supplies 

Vehicle: Ants getting ready for winter by gathering spoils

Event: The Trojans were really eager to get to Italy and therefore were not too pleased with Aeneas stalling with Dido. When their relations end, the crew is extremely relieved and excited when he tells them to pack the ships with supplies because they are going to depart soon.

Theme: Animals/nature

Simile #5)

Page 91, Line 441

"So in the Alps, wild gales from the north gust this way and that way, vying among themselves to uproot some vigorous oak tree, massive with centuries' growth: there's a roar and the uppermost foliage flies off and carpets the ground ask the trunk shudders. Yet the old oak tree sticks to the crags, and as high as its crest reaches up towards heaven's brightness, its roots stretch downs as low into Tartarus' darkness."

Tenor: Aeneas

Vehicle: A firmly planted oak tree that cannot be moved 

Event: When Dido tries to convince Aeneas to stay and not go to Italy, Aeneas has to stand his ground because it is his fate set by the gods that he go to Italy, even though part of him wants to stay. 

Theme: Nature

The Aeneid!

This week we leap from eighth century Greece to the early Roman empire-- a big change!  Here are a few resources you might find useful:

Suetonius' Life of Virgil
A Bibliographical Guide to Virgil's Aeneid
Virgil.org-- links to bibliography, maps, and much more
Aeneid 4 Read Aloud in Latin
Virgilmurder  If you are fond of conspiracy theories, you'll enjoy this site; its author believes that Augustus murdered Virgil because of covert criticism of his rule in the Aeneid.

Two Muses inspire Virgil, seated with his scroll

Book 20 Summary

After talking to Penelope about how he knows that Odysseus returns, our hero Odysseus goes to bed in the palace. However, his mind is restless as he plans to kill all the suitors in the morning. If having the suitors around wasn't bad enough some serving maids are disloyal and are sleeping with the suitors. Odysseus feels betrayed and angry. He wonders if he should kill them all now, but Athena comes to comfort Odysseus in his time of stress. She tells him not to worry about not succeeding in killing the suitors because he has a goddess on his side.
Meanwhile Penelope is feels tortured by her situation, and even asks Artemis to pretty much kill her. She misses Odysseus and worries about the suitors.
Odysseus asks for a sign that it is right to kill the suitors. Apparently talking to Athena didn't convince him. Zeus sends a thunderbolt down as he asks the question, and it confirms Odysseus's resolve.
Telemachos checks up on his "guest" (Odysseus). After he has made sure that Odysseus is fine, he allows the servants prepare the feast for the suitors. In the meantime Odysseus talks to Philoitios the cow herder. He discovers that Philoitios hates the suitors and desperately wishes that Odysseus would come home. comforted by Philoitios's loyalty, the disguised Odysseus tells him that Odysseus will return. Philoitios is doubtful, but he hopes that this vagabond is right.
We then find out that the suitors are still pretty steamed and want to kill Telemachos. Amphinomos, however, interprets a sign of an eagle killing a pigeon. He says that it is a bad omen, and that they should not kill Telemachos. They decide to feast inside. Telemachos seats himself and the disguised Odysseus at the table. He asserts to the suitors that if anyone insults or hurts his guest that he won't be happy. It's apparently very assertive so all the suitors back down for a while.
That is until Athena stirs them all up. She wants a fight and she wants Odysseus to have complete determination in killing the suitors. Ktesippos taunts and throws a cow foot at Odysseus under the influence of Athena. Telemachos gets really angry, but one of the suitors, Agelaos, calms the situation, but he claims that Odysseus will never come back and that Penelope should pick one of them to marry. Telemachos replies that he doesn't want to send his mother away from her home, but the suitors all laugh at this reply.
 The suitors at this point are no doubt under Athena's influence as they continue to  laugh and laugh. The situation gets weird however because their faces become distorted and their laughter turns to lamenting wails. Theoklymenos interprets this as a sign from the gods that death and destruction is certain in the suitors' near future, but they call Theoklymenos useless and continue to laugh. Book 20 ends with another foreshadowing of the death of the suitors.        

O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Warren

O Brother, Where Art Thou? Extra Credit - Warren Griffin

Polyphemus

John Goodman as Big Dan Teague

    In the "Big Dan Teague" arc of the movie, we can identify a few similarities with "Book IX" of The Odyssey when Odysseus encounters the cyclops, Polyphemus. First and most obvious is the physical resemblance between John Goodman's character, Big Dan Teague, and the popular representation of Polyphemus from The Odyssey. In "Book IX", Polyphemus has a minimal description as one of the monstrous "Cyclopes" on the island. From the reading we know that he is a brutish giant with immense strength; and we can infer from the blinding of Polyphemus that he has had only one eye. John Goodman, a larger gentleman, wears the eye-patch to meet this popular image of the cyclops. Similarly, both Big Dan and Polyphemus share an immense appetite.
    In the book, and as we've discussed in lecture, Odysseus isn't merely the innocent wanderer who is viciously and unduly attacked by the dreadful giant; instead, Odysseus invades the sacred home of Polyphemus and begins to spoil his possessions, only afterwards invoking the bronze-age tradition of xenia. That isn't to say that the cyclops murder and devour of Odysseus' companions is an appropriate response to his transgressions, but it does allow for a similarity between "Book IX" and the Big Dan arc of the movie. In the movie, Everett and Delmar are escaped convicts that have recently gained a large amount of money from the criminal George Nelson. They are in that way, "unwholesome" when Big Dan Teague seeks them out after noticing them at a restaurant. Also, after Everett and Delmar meet Big Dan, they only follow him to take advantage of a possible money scheme--again, "unwholesome". So when Big Dan later takes the club to their heads, it can't be said that he clubbed two innocent men; rather, two of three bad man got the...wrong end of the stick.
    This leads to what I believe the core of the Coen's interpretation of "Book IX", the purely physical and violent overpowering of Odysseus. During most of Odysseus' other trials he is victim to the divine force--e.g. Poseidon, Scylla, Circe, and Calypso. The cyclops only real advantage over Odysseus is his strength. Similarly, in the movie, Big Dan Teague is a monster of a man who only uses his immense strength to conquer Everett and Delmar. It's a simple and common obstacle where the hero is physically overpowered by the villain and has to rely on his guile to outwit his adversary. Indeed, in the book we know that Odysseus tricks Polyphemus into believing he is "Nobody", blinds him, and then steals himself and his men through the entrance of the cave underneath Polyphemus' own sheep; and in the movie, there is the albeit less dramatic scene where Everett drops the burning cross on Big Dan.
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I like the "wrong end of the stick"!  And I would agree, Odysseus has to constantly use his wits to evade being overpowered by sheer force.  You note that Everett, Delmar, and Dan Teague are equally unwholesome; I would add that the Coen brothers also realized that Odysseus and the Cyclops share a number of characteristics, brought out in the film by Dan Teague's slick salesmanship & command of the language.

Both of those Cyclops images are disturbing!  Something about the beige and the missing eye is unsettling.  Band-Aid fleshtones. 

Bibliography

Homer. "Book XVI." The Odyssey of Homer. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row, 1967. 240-52. Print. 

O Brother, Where Art Thou? Dir. Joel Coen. Prod. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Perf. George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Goodman. Touchstone Pictures and Universal Pictures, 2001. DVD.

How Everett is similar but different from Odysseus

               
             Overall Everett is similar in many ways to the character of Odysseus, however there are some stark differences between the two. Everett displays cleverness in the film "O Brother, Were art thou?", this is also a defining characteristic of Odysseus though out the Odyssey. When Everett meets the radio station manager and tells him that they are all colored and there is white, which is a reversal from the truth, it shows cleverness that is similar to Odysseus. Also similar to Odysseus is that Everett will sometimes get himself into trouble due to his cleverness and other characteristics which more often than not get them both out of trouble . An example of this is when the radio manager goes looking for the colored men that played the music, so that he could give them an opportunity to become rich. But because Everett was clever and told the radio manager that they were colored he caused himself issues. Odysseus gets into these situations to such as when he was telling people and Gods alike in the Odyssey that he was somebody that he was not. The difference is that Odysseus wants to get home but is not constantly being chased during the Odyssey. Everett wants to make it home but is also constantly being chased by law enforcement. Also the amount of time that it takes for the Odyssey to happen is years and not days, another difference,  Despite these minor differences the directors of the film did an excellent job portraying the cleverness and characteristics of Odysseus in the character Everett.

Book 15 Five Minute Summary

At the beginning of Book 15 there are several events that take place which start with Athena’s visit to Telemachus. Athena goes to see Telemachus, who is living with Menelaus, and tells him to go back home to Ithaca to look after his property. Athena also warns him about the suitors' plans to ambush him on his way home and that he must return before they succeed in marrying his mother Penelope. Telemachus wants to leave at once, but his companion Peisistratus the son of Nestor advises him to wait until the next day, so as not to be discourteous to their host. In the morning, Telemachus speaks to Menelaus about his departure and he allows him to go once he has been presented with glorious gifts and given his midday meal. Just before Telemachus and Peisistratus leave, an eagle carries a goose off from the farmyard, and Helen interprets this as an omen of Odysseus' long-awaited return. When they reach Pylos, Telemachus apologizes to Peisistratus for not having time to visit his father Nestor and asks him to help him prepare for his departure. At the docks, they meet Theoclymenus, a soothsayer, who asks Telemachus to help him by giving him place on his ship. Telemachus agrees, and Theoclymenus sails with Telemachus and his men. At this point, the  changes scenes back to the swineherd's hut at Ithaca. Odysseus tells Eumaeus the swineherd that he wishes to go to the city to beg and perhaps visit Odysseus' house to obtain work as a servant. Eumaeus advises against this, saying that the suitors are violent and inhospitable. After further conversation, in which Eumaeus talks of Odysseus' parents and of his own origins, they retire for the night. Meanwhile, Telemachus' company reaches the Ithacan shore. The young man, obeying Athena's instructions, asks the men to go to the city while he himself plans to go to the herdsmen. As for Theoclymenus, Telemachus asks him to go to the suitor Eurymachus' house. Then a hawk with a dove in its talons flies by on Telemachus' right hand. Theoclymenus interprets this as an auspicious omen, and Telemachus now instructs his friend Piraeus, who is part of his crew, to take Theoclymenus home and look after him. As the ship sails toward the city, Telemachus walks to the swineherd's Eumaeus hut. 

Odysseus and Everett... a likely pair

          The parallels between Odysseus and Everett are many. In the film O Brother Where Art Thou the main Character Everett who first name is Ulysses the Roman name for Odysseus is on a journey to get home, the same can be said for Odysseus but Odysseus wasn't a prisoner compared to Everett who is . Odysseus has his whole crew die Everett on the other hand does not. What can be said about the Character of these men , they both speak with sliver tongues and are quick witted . Odysseus skill ensure his survival and the same can be said for Everett . The both can speak and think there ways out of situations. Since they are both smart men they questions norms or certain practice such as being baptized . Next can be said about the men and there misfortune as they fall asleep and then they end up in a different place or different issues when they awake. Next the hair, both of the characters and there hair is both an object of constant attention for the both of them. At the end of the movie when Everett must go and get the ring , it is an impossible task as it is for Odysseus to appease Poseidon with an offering, but is something in which both men have to do.