9th Lit Mythologies
-
Upload
erica-chung -
Category
Documents
-
view
221 -
download
0
Transcript of 9th Lit Mythologies
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 3/45
Literary Techniques
The term literary techniques refers to the various literary devices the author uses
throughout the work, including but not limited to imagery, symbolism, metaphor,
simile, alliteration, deus ex machina, apostrophe, etc. Some techniques may be more
dominant than others, and it is important to consider why this might be so. Literarytechniques can be analyzed superficially – in terms of what they may mean within the
context of a sentence, paragraph or chapter – but it may be more meaningful to
consider how they affect the work as a whole, and how they contribute to any
identified themes.
Structure
Structure refers to the way in which the book or literary work is organized. Structurecan encompass many different kinds of organization from the work’s chronology to
the point of view it is written in. It may also refer to the form and/or genre of the
work. Many older British novels are epistolary – that is, they consist of a collection of
letters written by one or more characters in the novel. Questions to consider whenreading an epistolary novel may include: What effect might this have on the way the
characters of the work are developed by the author? Does what the character decides
to reveal in the letters change according to whom the letter is addressed?
In contemporary literature, authors have often experimented with form, blurring the
line between poetry and prose, and even going so far as to toy with the physical
organization of the book. For example, one author from the sixties chose to presenthis reader with a collection of loose chapters that are not bound in book form. The
reader is expected to choose his or her own method of reading the chapters. In fact,
the author recommends scattering the pages and reading them in a random order. A
choose-your-own-adventure book is also a classic example of literature thatexperiments with the predetermined structure of a novel.
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 4/45
discussion Question Assignments
Good discussion questions are designed to encourage critical thinking and push
readers to go beyond the surface. This means that questions should not ask “what
happens” as much as “why does this happen?” Questions should avoid asking “What
does the character do,” and be geared more towards “What motivates the character todo what s/he does?”
Discussion Question Exercise:
Legend has it that Hemingway once won a bet by declaring that he could write a short
story using fewer than ten words. Here is the alleged result:
For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
Despite being six words long, the story contains a multitude of narratives. Good
discussion questions will take these narratives as a starting point and attempt to
initiate a dialogue among readers about their possible meanings.
Good discussion questions:
1. This story clearly emulates a classifieds ad in a newspaper or other kind of
publication. Why do you think the poster of this ad chose to sell the new
baby shoes instead of throwing them away?
2. Why do you think the author chose to word the last half of this ad as
“never worn” instead of “new”? What is the difference, and why does this
matter to the story?
3. What kinds of emotions are expressed by this simple ad? What does this
ad tell you about the characters involved, and their relationship(s) with
each other?
Poor discussion questions:
1. What kind of baby shoes is the author talking about?
2. What happened in this story?
3. What happened to the baby?
The good discussion questions stimulate dialogue and are open-ended, while the poor
discussion questions tend to limit or restrict discussion, because they aim to arrive at a
definite answer of sorts instead of encouraging a debate or a discussion.
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 5/45
Vocabulary - Mythologies
1. eon
Context : Nothing is clearer than the fact that primitive man, whether in New Guinea today or eons agoin the prehistoric wilderness, is not and never has been a creature who peoples his world with bright
fancies and lovely visions. eon
2. embroider
Context: The winds flee before her and the storm clouds; sweet flowers embroider the earth; the
waves of the sea laugh; she moves in radiant light.
3. devastate
He trusted her to carry the awful aegis, his buckler, and his devastating weapon, the thunderbolt.
4. ambrosia
Within were the god' dwellings, where they lived and slept and feasted on ambrosia and nectar and
listened to Apollo's lyre.
5.
nemesis
The same was true of two personified emotions esteemed highest of all feelings in Homer and
Hesiod: NEMESIS, usually translated as Righteous Anger, and AIDOS, a difficult word to translate,
but in common use among Greeks.
6. venerate
Nevertheless she was venerated in every home.
7. elysian
On his arrival each one is brought before three judges, Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aeacus, who pass
sentence and send the wicked to everlasting torment and the good to a place of blessedness called
the Elysian Fields.
8. aegis
His breastplate was the aegis, awful to behold; his bird was the eagle, his tree the oak.
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 6/45
9. centaur
The satyrs are goat-men and the centaurs are half man, half horse.
10. circumvent
Hera kept silence then, but her thoughts were busy as to how she might help the Greeks
and circumvent Zeus.
11. demoniac
The demoniac wizards and the hideous old witches who haunted Europe and America, too, up to quite
recent years, play no part at all in the stories.
12. bestial
In Mesopotamia, bas-reliefs of bestial shapes unlike any beast ever known, men with birds' heads and
lions with bulls' heads and both with eagles' sings, creations of artists who were intent upon producing
something never seen except in their own minds, the very consummation of unreality.
13. omniscient
Nevertheless he was not omnipotent or omniscient, either.
14. trident
He was commonly called "Earth-shaker" and was always shown carrying his trident, a three-pronged
spear, with which he would shake and shatter whatever he pleased.
15. compendium
Ovid is a compendium of mythology.
16. zephyr
The four chief Winds were BOREAS, the North Wind, in Latin AQUILO; ZEPHYR, the West Wind,
which had a second Latin name, FAVONIUS; NOTUS, the South Wind, also called in Latin AUSTER;
and the East Wind, EURUS, the sam in both Greek and Latin.
17. paralyze
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 7/45
That is the miracle of Greek mythology--a humanized world, men freed from theparalyzing fear of an
omnipotent Unknown.
18. invulnerable
His mother Thetis when he was born had intended to make him invulnerable by dipping him into the
River Styx, but she was careless and did not see to it that the water covered the part of the foot by
which she was holding him.
19. displace
Gradually this Zeus displaced the others, until he occupied the whole scene.
20. topple
An entire tower standing on the roof of Priam's palace was lifted from its foundation andtoppled over.
21. prate
He wrote,
I prate of ancient poets' monstrous lies,
Ne'er seen or now or then by human eyes.
22. redoubtable
He never was to them the mean whining deity of the Iliad, but magnificent in shining
armor, redoubtable, invincible.
23. revere
Chief among them in beauty, the glorious lady
All the blessed in high Olympusrevere
,Honor even as Zeus, the lord of the thunder.
24. colossus
In Egypt, a towering colossus, immobile, beyond the power of imagination to endow with movement,
as fixed in the stone as the tremendous temple columns, a representation of the human shape
deliberately made inhuman.
25. beguile
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 8/45
APHRODITE (VENUS)
The Goddess of Love and Beauty, who beguiled all, gods and men alike; the laughter-loving goddess,
who laughed sweetly or mockingly at those her wiles had conquered; the irresistible goddess who stole
away even the wits of the wise.
26. nectar
Within were the god' dwellings, where they lived and slept and feasted on ambrosia andnectar and
listened to Apollo's lyre.
27. uninjured
The walls stood uninjured.
28. concise
The capture of Troy is the subject of the second book of the Aeneid, and it is one of the best, if not the
best, story Virgil ever told--concise, pointed, vivid.
29. satyr
The satyrs are goat-men and the centaurs are half man, half horse.
30. anthropologist
How briefly the anthropologists treat the Greek myths is noteworthy.
31. discomfit
Hera was that stock character of comedy, the typical jealous wife, and her ingenious tricks
to discomfit her husband and punish her rival, afar from displeasing the Greeks, entertained them as
much as Hera's modern counterpart does us today.
32. suppliant
It is not very high, certainly, and seems chiefly applicable to others, not to himself; but he does punish
men who lie and break their oaths; he is angered by any ill treatment of the dead; and he pities and
helps old Priam when he goes as a suppliant to Achilles.
33. annihilate
Exulting the defenders saw it fall and annihilate a great band who were forcing the palace doors.
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 9/45
34. indisputable
The Iliad is, or contains, the oldest Greek literature; and it is written in a rich and subtle and beautiful
language which must have had behind it centuries when men were striving to express themselves with
clarity and beauty, and indisputable proof of civilization.
35. discerning
At this crisis a brother of Hector's, wise in discerning the will of the gods, urged Hector to go with all
speed to the city and tell the Queen, his mother, to offer to Athena the most beautiful robe she owned
and pray her to have mercy.
36. bane
She urged her horses to Olympus and asked Zeus if she might drive that bane of men, Ares, from the
battlefield.
37. clarity
The Iliad is, or contains, the oldest Greek literature; and it is written in a rich and subtle and beautiful
language which must have had behind it centuries when men were striving to express themselves
with clarity and beauty, and indisputable proof of civilization.
38. prehistoric
Nothing is clearer than the fact that primitive man, whether in New Guinea today or eons ago in
the prehistoric wilderness, is not and never has been a creature who peoples his world with bright
fancies and lovely visions.
39. incarnate
Homer calls him murderous, bloodstained, the incarnate curse of mortals; and, strangely, a coward,
too, who bellows with pain and runs away when he is wounded.
40. diffuse
No wind, Homer says, ever shakes the untroubled peace of Olympus; no rain ever falls there or snow;
but the cloudless firmament stretches around it on all sides and the white glory of sunshine
is diffused upon its walls.
41. omnipotent
That is the miracle of Greek mythology--a humanized world, men freed from the paralyzing fear of
an omnipotent Unknown.
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 10/45
42. voluminous
Apollodorus, also a Greek, is, next to Ovid, the most voluminous ancient writer on mythology, but,
unlike Ovid, he is very matter-of-fact and very dull.
43. bewail
Then Hector's soul flew forth from his body and was gone to Hades, bewailing his fate, leaving vigor
and youth behind.
44. trinket
While the girls flocked around the trinkets, Achilles fingered the swords and daggers.
45. upbraid
"The other Trojans upbraid me," she said, "but always I had comfort from you through the gentleness
of your spirit and your gentle words.
46. appropriately
Appropriately, his bird was the vulture.
47. buccaneer
The buccaneering chieftains in the Iliad did not want justice.
48. confuse
She was the sister of Helios, the sun-god with whom Apollo was confused.
49. erupt
A volcano erupts because a terrible creature is imprisoned in the mountain and every now and then
struggles to get free.
50. mythical
A familiar local habitation gave reality to all the mythical beings.
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 11/45
51. primeval
Horrors lurked in the primeval forest, not nymphs and naiads.
52. irrational
It may seem odd to say that the men who made the myths disliked the irrational and had a love for
facts; but it is true, no matter how wildly fantastic some of the stories are.
53. appease
One of her beloved wild creatures, a hare, had been slain by the Greeks, together with her young, and
the only way to calm the wind and ensure a safe voyage to Troy was to appease her by sacrificing to
her a royal maiden, Iphigenia, the eldest daughter of the Commander in Chief, Agamemnon.
54. reassure
If the mixture seems childish, consider how reassuring and how sensible the solid background is as
compared with the Genie who comes from nowhere when Aladdin rubs the lamp and, his task
accomplished, returns to nowhere.
55. prologue
Prologue:
THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS
The evil goddess of Discord, Eris, was naturally not popular in Olympus, and when the gods gave a
banquet they were at to leave her out.
56. zenith
This second story is the better known, because of Milton's familiar lines: Mulciber was
Thrown by angry Jove
Sheer o'er the crystal battlements; from morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
A summer's day, and with the setting sun
Dropt from the zenith like a falling star,
On Lemnos, the Aegean isle.
57. inflexible
Or a rigid figure, a woman with a cat's head suggesting inflexible, inhuman cruelty.
58. onset
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 12/45
At the first onset of this new band of warriors the Trojans wavered; they thought Achilles led them on.
59. fleece
Neither has the Quest of the Golden Fleece, nor Orpheus and Eurydice, nor many another.
60. raiment
They clad her in raiment immortal,
And brought her to the gods.
61. wily
It was, as anyone would guess, the creation of Odysseus' wily mind.
62. allegory
The great hero of mythology, Hercules, might be an allegory of Greece herself.
63. jovial
He was a jovial fat old man who usually rode an ass because he was too drunk to walk.
64. animate
And we for a moment can catch, through the myths he made, a glimpse of that strangely and
beautifully animated world.
65. inexorable
He was unpitying, inexorable, but just; a terrible, not an evil god.
66. incarnation
Except in a story Homer and Hesiod tell, that Aglaia married Hephaestus, they are not treated as
separate personalities, but always together, a triple incarnation of grace and beauty.
67. pinnacle
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 13/45
But only a little further on he says that if he willed he could hang earth and sea from a pinnacle of
Olympus, clearly no longer a mountain.
68. rustle
The god's will was revealed by the rustling of the oak leaves which the priests interpreted.
69. amorous
So, back of the stories of an amorous Zeus and a cowardly Zeus and a ridiculous Zeus, we can catch
sight of another Zeus coming into being, as men grow continually more conscious of what life
demanded of them and what human beings needed in the god they worshiped.
70. respite
But the success brought only a short respite.
71. ascribe
But Hesiod has much to say about the gods, and a second poem, usually ascribed to him, the
Theogony, is entirely concerned with mythology.
72. implacable
Her implacable anger followed them and their children too.
73. pallid
Around it are wide wastes, wan and cold, and meadows of asphodel, presumably strange,pallid,
ghostly flowers.
74. inconceivable
Laughter in the presence of an Egyptian sphinx or an Assyrian bird-beast wasinconceivable; but it was
perfectly natural in Olympus, and it made the gods companionable.
75. pestilence
The Iliad, however, begins after the Greeks have reached Troy, when Apollo sends thepestilence upon
them.
76. repute
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 14/45
When her suitors assembled in her home to make a formal proposal for her hand they were so many
and from such powerful families that her reputed father, King Tyndareus, her mother's husband, was
afraid to select one among them, fearing that the others would unite against him.
77. crafty
This was her doing, he said, her crafty, crooked ways.
78. laboring
Their longing for them was great enough to make them never give up laboring to see them clearly,
until at last, the thunder and lightning were changed into the Universal father.
79. dupe
Poseidon dupes him in the Iliad and so does Hera.
80. havoc
But Diomedes raged on, working havoc in the Trojan ranks until he came face to face with Hector.
81. astronomy
Astronomy is what the Greek mind finally made out of the stars.
82. stratagem
The result of this new determination and new vision was the stratagem of the wooden horse.
83. discourage
The wooden horse had been made, he said, as a votive offering to Athena, and the reason for its
immense size was to discourage the Trojans from taking it into the city.
84. waft
This sea-birth took place near Cythera, from where she was wafted to Cyprus.
85. preposterous
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 15/45
Hercules, whose life was one long combat against preposterous monsters, is always said to have had
his home in the city of Thebes.
86. beneficent
Apollo at Delphi was purely a beneficent power, a direct link between gods and men, guiding men to
know the divine will, showing them how to make peace with the gods; the purifier, too, able to cleanse
even those stained with the blood of their kindred.
87. cleft
The trance was supposed to be caused by a vapor rising from a deep cleft in the rock over which her
seat was placed, a three-legged stool, the tripod.
88. debris
Over the debris of the tower and the crushed bodies they battered the doors with it.
89. contrive
The story was clever enough to have had by itself, in all probability, the desired effect; but Poseidon,
the most bitter of all the gods against Troy, contrived an addition which made the issue certain.
90. dissension
Up in Olympus there was dissension.
91. calculate
His plan was to leave a single Greek behind in the deserted camp, primed with a talecalculated to
make the Trojans draw the horse into the city--and without investigating it.
92. slacken
Terror and Destruction and Strife, whose fury never slackens, all friends of the murderous War-god,
were there to urge men on to slaughter each other.
93. conceivable
The story of Pygmalion and Galatea is an example; it has no conceivable connection with any event in
nature.
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 16/45
94. abhor
They were tree, Clotho, the Spinner, who spun the thread of life; Lachesis, the Disposer of Lots, who
assigned to each man his destiny; Atropos, she who could not be turned, who carried
"the abhorred shears" and cut the thread at death.
95. contradictory
But the accounts of them are contradictory.
96. dubious
It does not mention the sacrificed of Iphigenia, and makes only a dubious allusion to the judgment of
Paris.
97. ruthless
In the earliest account of her, the Iliad, she is a fierce and ruthless battle-goddess, but elsewhere she is
warlike only to defend the State and the home from outside enemies.
98. chaste
It is a strange transformation from the lovely Huntress flashing through the forest, from the Moon
making all beautiful with her light, from the pure Maiden-Goddess for whom
Whoso is chaste of spirit utterly
May gather leaves and fruits and flowers.
99. semblance
Until then, gods had no semblance of reality.
100. exult
All Troy exulted.
101. frivolous
He and three other Alexandrians, who also wrote about mythology, the pastoral poets Theocritus, Bion
and Moschus, have lost the simplicity of Hesiod's and Pindar's belief in the gods, and are far removed
from the depth and gravity of the tragic poets' view of religion; but they are not frivolous like Ovid.
102. august
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 17/45
As the idea of Zeus became loftier, two august forms sat beside him in Olympus.
103. devise
With this great encouragement the Greeks determined to wait no longer, but devise some way to put an
end to the endless war.
104. investigating
His plan was to leave a single Greek behind in the deserted camp, primed with a tale calculated to
make the Trojans draw the horse into the city--and without investigating it.
105. boar
They took part in the Calydonian boar-hunt; they went on the Quest of the Golden Fleece; and they
rescued Helen when Theseus carried her off.
106. pierce
That armor was magical and could not be pierced.
107. fuse
When his worship spread to a town where there was already a divine ruler the two were
slowly fused into one.
108. quench
When all was burned they quenched the flame with wine and gathered the bones into a golden urn,
shrouding them in soft purple.
109. avenge
Zeus had by now remembered his promise to Thetis to avenge Achilles' wrong.
110. invincible
He never was to them the mean whining deity of the Iliad, but magnificent in shining armor,
redoubtable, invincible.
111. allude
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 18/45
He wrote Odes in honor of the victors in the games at the great national festivals of Greece, and in
every one of his poems myths are told or alluded to.
112. renown
The warriors of the great Latin heroic poem, the Aeneid, far from rejoicing to escape from him, rejoice
when they see that they are to fall "on Mars' field of renown."
113. plausible
His name was sinon, and he was a most plausible speaker.
114. counterpart
Hera was that stock character of comedy, the typical jealous wife, and her ingenious tricks to discomfit
her husband and punish her rival, afar from displeasing the Greeks, entertained them as much as Hera's
modern counterpart does us today.
115. labored
The Odyssey speaks of "the divine for which all men long," and hundreds of years later Aristotle
wrote, "Excellence, much and hundreds of years later Aristotle wrote, "Excellence, much labored for
by the race of mortals."
116. taunt
The gods by now were fighting, too, as hotly as the men, and Zeus sittig apart in Olympus laughd
pleasantly to himself when he saw god matched against god: Athena felling Ares to the ground; Hera
seizing the bow of Artemis from her shoulders and boxing her ears with it this way and that; Poseidon
provoking Apollo with taunting words to strike him first.
117. malicious
In later poems she is usually shown as treacherous and malicious, exerting a deadly and destructive
power over men.
118. aloof
Or a monstrous mysterious sphinx, aloof from all that lives.
119. volcano
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 19/45
A volcano erupts because a terrible creature is imprisoned in the mountain and every now and then
struggles to get free.
120. translate
The other notable Titans were OCEAN, the river that was supposed to encircle the earth; his wife
TETHYS HYPERION, the father of the sun, the moon and the dawn; MNEMOSYNE, which means
Memory; THEMIS, usually translated by Justice; and IAPETUS, impor
121. provoke
The gods by now were fighting, too, as hotly as the men, and Zeus sittig apart in Olympus laughd
pleasantly to himself when he saw god matched against god: Athena felling Ares to the ground; Hera
seizing the bow of Artemis from her shoulders and boxing her ears with it this way and that;
Poseidon provoking Apollo with taunting words to strike him first.
122. apparition
In front of the Scaean gates stood an enormous figure of a horse, such a thing as no one had ever seen,
an apparition so strange that it was vaguely terrifying, even though there was no sound or movement
coming from it.
123. assemble
When her suitors assembled in her home to make a formal proposal for her hand they were so many
and from such powerful families that her reputed father, King Tyndareus, her mother's husband, was
afraid to select one among them, fearing that the others would unite against him.
124. revive
Apollo had revived the fainting Hector and breathed into him surpassing power.
125. discord
His sister is there, Eris, which means Discord, and Strife, her son.
126. dire
Of course the mythical monster is present in any number of shapes, Gorgons and hydras and
chimaeras dire, but they are there only to give the hero his meed of glory.
127. wan
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 21/45
136. rapture
What rapture to see the places empty, nothing in them now to fear.
137. oblige
When Calchas declared that Chryseis must be given back to her father, he had all the chiefs behind him
and Agamemnon, greatly angered, was obliged to agree.
138. triple
Except in a story Homer and Hesiod tell, that Aglaia married Hephaestus, they are not treated as
separate personalities, but always together, a triple incarnation of grace and beauty.
139. envelop
Apollo enveloped him in a cloud and carried him to sacred Pergamos, the holy place of Troy, where
Artemis healed him of his wound.
140. treacherous
In later poems she is usually shown as treacherous and malicious, exerting a deadly and destructive
power over men.
141. orbit
Heraclitus says, "Not even the sun will transgress his orbit but the Erinyes, the ministers of justice,
overtake him."
142. investigate
His plan was to leave a single Greek behind in the deserted camp, primed with a tale calculated to
make the Trojans draw the horse into the city--and without investigating it.
143. shroud
When all was burned they quenched the flame with wine and gathered the bones into a golden
urn, shrouding them in soft purple.
144. cleave
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 22/45
The trance was supposed to be caused by a vapor rising from a deep cleft in the rock over which her
seat was placed, a three-legged stool, the tripod.
145. ensure
One of her beloved wild creatures, a hare, had been slain by the Greeks, together with her young, and
the only way to calm the wind and ensure a safe voyage to Troy was to appease her by sacrificing to
her a royal maiden, Iphigenia, the eldest daughter of the Commander in Chief, Agamemnon.
146. vanquish
This spirit often turned the victors into the vanquished.
147. accurately
There is no way to date accurately any part of them.
148. pastoral
He and three other Alexandrians, who also wrote about mythology, the pastoral poets Theocritus, Bion
and Moschus, have lost the simplicity of Hesiod's and Pindar's belief in the gods, and are far removed
from the depth and gravity of the tragic poets' view of religion; but they are not frivolous like Ovid.
149. destructive
In later poems she is usually shown as treacherous and malicious, exerting a deadly
anddestructive power over men.
150. presumably
Around it are wide wastes, wan and cold, and meadows of asphodel, presumably strange, pallid,
ghostly flowers.
151. define
The later poets define the world of the dead more and more clearly as the place where the wicked are
punished and the good rewarded.
152. ferry
An aged boatman named Charon ferries the souls of the dead across the water to the farther bank,where stands the adamantine gate to Tartarus (the name Virgil prefers).
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 23/45
153. exceeding
He felt shame before them and he told them he saw his own exceeding folly in allowing the loss of a
mere girl to make him forget everything else.
154. rout
Patroclus, Achilles' beloved friend, saw the rout with horror.
155. celebrate
Except for Aeschylus' Persians, written to celebrate the victory of the Greeks over the Persians at
Salamis, all the plays have mythological subjects.
156. cavern
In later poets there are various entrances to it from the earth through caverns and beside deep lakes.
157. satire
In Lucian's little satire, Apollo asks Hermes: "I say, why do we never see Castor and Pollux at the
same time?"
158. reluctant
It made no difference to Hera how reluctant any of them were or how innocent the goddess treated
them all alike.
159. frenzy
Then his frenzy left him.
160. kindred
Apollo at Delphi was purely a beneficent power, a direct link between gods and men, guiding men to
know the divine will, showing them how to make peace with the gods; the purifier, too, able to cleanse
even those stained with the blood of their kindred.
161. mirth
THE GRACES were three: Aglaia (Splendor), Euphrosyne (Mirth) and Thalia (Good Cheer).
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 24/45
162. vigor
Then Hector's soul flew forth from his body and was gone to Hades, bewailing his fate,
leaving vigor and youth behind.
163. lurk
Horrors lurked in the primeval forest, not nymphs and naiads.
164. contradiction
Nevertheless, with one of those startling contradictions so common in mythology, she kept the Greek
Fleet from sailing to Troy until they sacrificed a maiden to her.
165. epic
Clio was Muse of history, Urania of astronomy, Melpomene of tragedy, Thalia of comedy, Terpsichore
of the dance, Calliope of epic poetry, Erato of love-poetry, Polyhymnia of songs to the gods, Euterpe
of lyric poetry.
166. sentimental
And he does, often very prettily indeed, but in his hands the stories which were factual truth and
solemn truth to the early Greek poets Hesiod and Pindar, and vehicles of deep religious truth to the
Greek tragedians,become idle tales, sometimes witty and diverting, often sentimental and distressingly
rhetorical.
167. applaud
All applauded the advice and Agamemnon confessed that he had acted like a fool.
168. hoof
He was Hermes' son; a noisy, merry god, the Homeric Hymn in his honor calls him; but he was part
animal too, with a goat's horns, and goat's hoofs instead of feet.
169. splendor
There cannot be a greater contrast than that between his poem, the Works and Days, which tries to
show men how to live a god life in a harsh world, and the courtly splendorof the Iliad an the Odyssey.
170. inspire
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 25/45
Yet he has a train of attendants on the battlefield which should inspire anyone with confidence.
171. dismay
There to his dismay he saw Ares too.
172. monstrous
Or a monstrous mysterious sphinx, aloof from all that lives.
173. identified
There is no doubt that at first it was held to be a mountain top, and generally identifiedwith Greece'shighest mountain, Mt. Olympus in Thessaly, in the northeast of Greece.
174. infinitely
In that infinitely remote time primitive man could
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
175. classical
Mythology:
Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton
Introduction to Classical Mythology
Of old the Hellenic race was marked off from the barbarian as more keen-witted and more free from
nonsense.
176. rational
With its coming, the universe becamerational
.
177. orphan
Hesiod, not much later than the Odyssey if at all, says of a man who does evil to the suppliant and the
stranger, or who wrongs orphan children, "with that man Zeus is angry."
178. rejoice
Occasionally the heroes "rejoice in the delight of Ares' battle," but far oftener in having escaped "thefury of the ruthless god."
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 26/45
179. quest
Neither has the Quest of the Golden Fleece, nor Orpheus and Eurydice, nor many another.
180. animated
And we for a moment can catch, through the myths he made, a glimpse of that strangely and
beautifully animated world.
181. banquet
They knew just what the divine inhabitants did there, what they ate and drank and where
they banqueted and how they amused themselves.
182. strife
His sister is there, Eris, which means Discord, and Strife, her son.
183. shrewd
Of all the gods he was the shrewdest and most cunning; in fact he was the Master Thief, who started
upon his career before he was a day old.
184. surpass
Circe and Medea are the only witches and they are young and of surpassing beauty--delightful, not
horrible.
185. devour
He wrote, "Fishes and beasts and fowls of the air devour one another.
186. awe
Homer says that he felt awe to slay a man who had been taught his divine art by the gods.
187. tragic
Aeschylus, the oldest of the three tragic poets, was a contemporary of Pindar's.
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 27/45
Vocabulary - Definitions
1. eon
the longest division of geological time
2. embroider
decorate with needlework
3. devastate
cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly
4. ambrosia
a mixture of nectar and pollen prepared by worker bees and fed to larvae
5. nemesis
something causing misery or death
6. venerate
regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of
7. elysian
relating to the Elysian Fields
8. aegis
kindly endorsement and guidance
9. centaur
(classical mythology) a mythical being that is half man and half horse
10. circumvent
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 28/45
surround so as to force to give up
11. demoniac
frenzied as if possessed by a demon
12. bestial
resembling a beast; showing lack of human sensibility
13. omniscient
infinitely wise
14. trident
a spear with three prongs
15. compendium
a publication containing a variety of works
16. zephyr
a slight wind (usually refreshing)
17. paralyze
make powerless and unable to function
18. invulnerable
immune to attack; impregnable
19. displace
cause to move, usually with force or pressure
20. topple
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 29/45
fall down, as if collapsing
21. prate
speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
22. redoubtable
inspiring fear
23. revere
love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess; venerate as an idol
24. colossus
someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful
25. beguile
influence by slyness
26. nectar
a sweet liquid secretion that is attractive to pollinators
27. uninjured
not injured physically or mentally
28. concise
expressing much in few words
29. satyr
30. anthropologist
a social scientist who specializes in anthropology
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 30/45
31. discomfit
cause to lose one's composure
32. suppliant
one praying humbly for something
33. annihilate
kill in large numbers
34. indisputable
not open to question; obviously true
35. discerning
having or revealing keen insight and good judgment
36. bane
something causing misery or death
37. clarity
free from obscurity and easy to understand; the comprehensibility of clear expression
38. prehistoric
belonging to or existing in times before recorded history
39. incarnate
possessing or existing in bodily form
40. diffuse
move outward
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 31/45
41. omnipotent
having unlimited power
42. voluminous
large in volume or bulk
43. bewail
regret strongly
44. trinket
cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing
45. upbraid
express criticism towards
46. appropriately
in an appropriate manner
47. buccaneer
someone who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without having a commission from any
sovereign nation
48.
confuse
mistake one thing for another
49. erupt
start abruptly
50. mythical
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 32/45
based on or told of in traditional stories; lacking factual basis or historical validity
51. primeval
having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state
52. irrational
not consistent with or using reason
53. appease
cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of
54. reassure
cause to feel sure; give reassurance to
55. prologue
an introduction to a play
56. zenith
the point above the observer that is directly opposite the nadir on the imaginary sphere against which
celestial bodies appear to be projected
57. inflexible
incapable of change
58. onset
the beginning or early stages
59. fleece
the wool of a sheep or similar animal
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 33/45
60. raiment
especially fine or decorative clothing
61. wily
marked by skill in deception
62. allegory
a short moral story (often with animal characters)
63. jovial
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
64. animate
heighten or intensify
65. inexorable
not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
66. incarnation
a new personification of a familiar idea
67. pinnacle
(architecture) a slender upright spire at the top of a buttress of tower
68. rustle
make a dry crackling sound
69. amorous
inclined toward or displaying love
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 34/45
70. respite
a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfort
71. ascribe
attribute or credit to
72. implacable
incapable of being placated
73. pallid
abnormally deficient in color as suggesting physical or emotional distress
74. inconceivable
totally unlikely
75. pestilence
a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted
to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal
76. repute
the state of being held in high esteem and honor
77.
crafty
marked by skill in deception
78. laboring
doing arduous or unpleasant work
79. dupe
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 35/45
fool or hoax
80. havoc
violent and needless disturbance
81. astronomy
the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole
82. stratagem
a maneuver in a game or conversation
83. discourage
try to prevent; show opposition to
84. waft
be driven or carried along, as by the air
85. preposterous
incongruous;inviting ridicule
86. beneficent
doing or producing good
87. cleft
having one or more incisions reaching nearly to the midrib
88. debris
the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up
89. contrive
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 36/45
make or work out a plan for; devise
90. dissension
disagreement among those expected to cooperate
91. calculate
make a mathematical calculation or computation
92. slacken
become slow or slower
93. conceivable
capable of being imagined
94. abhor
find repugnant
95. contradictory
of words or propositions so related that both cannot be true and both cannot be false
96. dubious
fraught with uncertainty or doubt
97. ruthless
without mercy or pity
98. chaste
pure and simple in design or style
99. semblance
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 37/45
an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading
100. exult
feel extreme happiness or elation
101. frivolous
not serious in content or attitude or behavior
102. august
of or befitting a lord
103. devise
come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or principle) after a mental effort
104. investigating
the work of inquiring into something thoroughly and systematically
105. boar
Old World wild swine having a narrow body and prominent tusks from which most domestic swine
come; introduced in United States
106. pierce
cut or make a way through
107. fuse
an electrical device that can interrupt the flow of electrical current when it is overloaded
108. quench
satisfy (thirst)
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 39/45
119. volcano
a fissure in the earth's crust (or in the surface of some other planet) through which molten lava and
gases erupt
120. translate
restate (words) from one language into another language
121. provoke
call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
122. apparition
a ghostly appearing figure
123. assemble
create by putting components or members together
124. revive
cause to regain consciousness
125. discord
lack of agreement or harmony
126. dire
fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless
127. wan
(of light) lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble
128. ail
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 41/45
having three units or components or elements
139. envelop
enclose or enfold completely with or as if with a covering
140. treacherous
dangerously unstable and unpredictable
141. orbit
the (usually elliptical) path described by one celestial body in its revolution about another
142. investigate
investigate scientifically
143. shroud
a line that suspends the harness from the canopy of a parachute
144. cleave
separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument
145. ensure
make certain of
146. vanquish
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
147. accurately
with few mistakes
148. pastoral
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 43/45
unwillingness to do something contrary to your custom
159. frenzy
state of violent mental agitation
160. kindred
group of people related by blood or marriage
161. mirth
great merriment
162. vigor
forceful exertion
163. lurk
lie in wait, lie in ambush, behave in a sneaky and secretive manner
164. contradiction
opposition between two conflicting forces or ideas
165. epic
a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
166. sentimental
given to or marked by sentiment or sentimentality
167. applaud
clap one's hands or shout after performances to indicate approval
168. hoof
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 44/45
the foot of an ungulate mammal
169. splendor
a quality that outshines the usual
170. inspire
heighten or intensify
171. dismay
lower someone's spirits; make downhearted
172. monstrous
abnormally large
173. identified
having the identity known or established
174. infinitely
without bounds
175. classical
of or relating to the most highly developed stage of an earlier civilisation and its culture
176. rational
consistent with or based on or using reason
177. orphan
a child who has lost both parents
178. rejoice
8/6/2019 9th Lit Mythologies
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/9th-lit-mythologies 45/45
feel happiness or joy
179. quest
a search for an alternative that meets cognitive criteria
180. animated
having life or vigor or spirit
181. banquet
a ceremonial dinner party for many people
182. strife
lack of agreement or harmony
183. shrewd
marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
184. surpass
distinguish oneself
185. devour
destroy completely
186. awe
an overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration
187. tragic
very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction