mythology (Njosh only)

Directions: below I supply you with a prompt (context and guidance) and a thesis (a brief summary of the argument that a written document seeks to make) and some additional text to read. Read and consider the prompt, then argue for the thesis in a single page. With such space constraints, you will need to avoid generalizations, unnecessarily long quotations, and excessive plot summary in order to receive full credit.

Thesis: Phoenix’s paradigm narrative fails to persuade Achilles to rejoin the war because the specifics of that narrative, his choice of myth, and his botched retelling of it fail to connect with Achilles' specific concerns.

Prompt: One of the clever things about myth is that Classical texts often show how the ancients actively used and changed myth in order to accomplish goals. For instance, the character Phoenix in Homer’s Iliad attempts to use a myth as a paradigm narrative to convince Achilles to rejoin the war. A paradigm narrative is a story told in such a way that the audience identifies similarities between the story and his or her situation, whether in terms of the story’s themes, its narrative, its characters, or its presentation. In many ways, the Homeric epics themselves function as very large and very complex mythic paradigm narratives. Here is the thing though... Phoenix picks a very bad myth and is a bad storyteller – that is, he doesn't know how to use myth effectively – and fails to persuade Achilles.

Your task is to analyze a single, self-contained paradigm narrative (in this case, Phoenix’s story about the Greek hero Meleager) in order to construct a coherent and cohesive argument about why it fails. Use the thesis above as the first sentence of your argument and construct your argument in such a way as to defend successfully that thesis (any extra introductory material will incur a point penalty).

First, read Phoenix's speech below (and Achilles' response) and recall what was happening at that point of the Iliad. Then, read Ovid's version of the Meleager story which follows. For the purposes of this paper, you should assume that the second version (the one written by Ovid) is the “normal” version of the myth and the one told by Phoenix is an adaptation of that myth. You should also assume that Achilles is a knowledgeable reader of myth and that, when he hears Phoenix's version, he has the other version in mind at the same time.

You have two main goals here – in the first place, you need to (briefly) identify the ways that Phoenix changes the 'normal' myth in order to better fit his purpose – this might require some review of book 9 of the Iliad. Specifically, what elements does he add (focus on two)? You should then advance an argument about why those changes only understand Achilles' demands at a surface level and fail to communicate what Achilles is actually angry about. That is, show why his version of the Meleager story fails.

Then, and here is the exciting part, discuss how two elements of the 'full' myth actually meet Achilles' case far better than the abbreviated version that Phoenix presents. That is, show how the things that Phoenix leaves out might more effectively model Achilles' story and concerns. Ultimately then, you will be arguing about why the 'normal' myth that lurks behind Phoneix's story, far from persuading Achilles that he should go back to war, remind him of all of the reasons that he has decided not to.

Some possible comparisons to keep in mind: the 'reason' that Achilles is angry (the real reason, not the reason that everyone thinks), Achilles' future fate (the 'choice' of Achilles), a comparison of Hector and Achilles (and whether this story would fit Hector better), Achilles' relationship with his mother, Achilles' relationship with his father (the last book might help you out on this one).

Phoenix's Tale: From Book 9 of the Iliad (A.S. Kline trans.)

Phoenix: And, loving you with all my heart, I formed you as you are, divine Achilles: you would refuse to feast in the hall or eat till I set you on my knee, filling your mouth with savoury titbits, touching the cup to your lips. And, child that you were, you would spatter my chest with wine and soak my tunic. But I suffered much for you and took great trouble, believing the gods would no longer send me a son of my own. I treated you as my son, divine Achilles, in hope that you might save me from some wretched fate.

So, conquer your proud spirit, Achilles, and don’t be so hard-hearted. The gods themselves may be swayed, despite their greater power, excellence and honour. The erring and sinful man in supplication may turn them from their path of anger, with incense, blessed vows, libations and the smoke of sacrifice. Prayers are the daughters of almighty Zeus, wrinkled and halting they are, with downcast eyes, following in the steps of wilful Pride. But Pride is swift-footed and strong, and soon outruns them all, and scours before them over the earth bringing men down. Prayers follow on behind trying to heal the hurt. He who respects those daughters of Zeus as they pass by, they hear his prayers and bless him. But he who is stubborn and rebuffs them, they beg Zeus, son of Cronos, to overtake with Pride, so he is brought down, and made to pay in full. So, Achilles, see that you honour the daughters of Zeus, who sway all men of noble mind. If Agamemnon failed to offer you gifts or promise more, but persisted in his furious anger, I would not tell you to swallow your pride and help the Greeks, however great their need. But now he promptly offers many gifts, and promises others later, and sends these warriors, the pick of the army, dearest to you of all the Greeks, to persuade you. Do not scorn their embassy here, or their words, though none can blame you for feeling anger. For have we not heard of men of old, warriors of great renown, who were swayed by gifts and persuaded by words, when a like fury gripped them?

Bk IX:527-605 The story of Meleager’s anger

Let me tell you, my friends, of one I recall, and of deeds of the past, the distant past. Once, the Curetes were fighting the stubborn Aetolians, with heavy losses on either side. The Aetolians were defending Calydon’s lovely city, the Curetes eager to capture and sack it, all because Artemis of the Golden Throne, angered that King Oeneus had failed to offer her first fruits of his rich orchards, brought evil to Calydon. Perhaps he forgot, and failed to notice, but, fatally blind, he sacrificed to the other gods and neglected that great daughter of Zeus alone. So, in her wrath, the child of Zeus and goddess of the hunt sent a fierce white-tusked wild boar against him, to waste his orchards, far and wide. It uprooted the trees and leveled them, branch and blossom.

It was Meleager who gathered huntsmen and hounds from a host of cities and killed the boar, so huge that it needed a mighty force to hunt it down, and not before many a man met his end. Yet even then the goddess stirred a quarrel over the shaggy carcass, between the Curetes, his uncles, and the brave Aetolians, regarding the head and hide.

As long as Meleager, beloved of Ares, was in the field, so long the Curetes suffered, and though they came in force were driven back from the walls. But when the anger that clouds the mind of men, even the wise, filled Meleager, a deep anger caused by his beloved mother, Althaea, he lay at home idle beside his wife. She was the lovely Cleopatra, child of slim-ankled Marpessa, Evenus’ child, and of Idas, the mightiest man on the face of the earth in those days, who raised his bow against Phoebus Apollo to keep Marpessa for his own. Her father and mother called Cleopatra, Alcyone, because the mother had mourned like the kingfisher with its plaintive call, when far-darting Apollo had snatched her child. Meleager lay there, nursing his anger, embittered by his mother’s curse. For he had killed an uncle, her brother, and she had knelt and beat on the fertile earth with her fists, and drowned her breast with tears, and called on Hades and dread Persephone to destroy her son. And the Fury that walks in the darkness of Erebus heard her, she of the pitiless heart.

The noise of the enemy soon reached the city gates. They were battering at the walls. So the Aetolian Elders sent their leading priests to beg Meleager’s help, promising him a mighty gift, the choice of fifty acres, half vineyard and half open farmland, from the fertile heart of the fair Calydonian plain. And the aged charioteer, King Oeneus, standing at the threshold of Meleager’s tall chamber, rattling the solid doors, beseeched his son, as his mother and sisters did too, though their strong pleas annoyed Meleager even more. Not even his dearest, most loyal friends could sway his heart. At last, when the Curetes were scaling the walls and setting fire to the great city, and his very room was under siege, his lovely wife beseeched him in tears, picturing all the suffering that comes to those whose city falls; the slaughter of the men, the houses wasted by fire, the fair women and children taken by strangers. Her list of evils stirred his heart, and he ran to don his shining armour. So, yielding to his conscience, he saved the Aetolians from disaster, though they gave him none of the gifts they had offered, despite their being saved.

Dear child, don’t be like-minded, or be led astray by a god. It will be harder work saving the ships once they are in flames. Stir yourself while gifts may be had and the Greeks will honour you like a god. Re-enter the war when the offer is gone, and though you may turn the tide of battle, they will show you far less honour.’

Bk IX:606-655 Achilles remains adamant

Swift-footed Achilles replied: ‘Phoenix, my father, my aged lord, beloved of Zeus, I have no need of such honour. I am honoured by what Zeus ordains for me, to stay by the beaked ships while there is breath in my body, and life in my limbs. And I tell you this, and take it to heart: do not try to sway my mind with shows of grief, on behalf of that warrior son of Atreus. Take care not to love him, and so incur my hatred, I who love you: better for me if you anger him who angers me. Share my kingdom and my honour, and let these men carry my answer, while you rest here on a soft bed. At dawn we will decide whether to go or stay.’

The “Myth” of Meleager from Ovid's Metamorphoses Bk VIII

VIII:376-424 The Calydonian Boar Hunt – the kill

King Oeneus of Calydon, they say, made offerings, from the successful harvests of a full year, of the first fruits of the crops to Ceres (Demeter), of wine to Bacchus (Dionysus), ‘the deliverer from care’, of libations of flowing oil, from the olives, to golden Minerva (Athena). The honour they desire was paid to all the gods, beginning with the rural deities: only the daughter of Latona’s altar was passed by (that is, the goddess Artemis): neglected, it is said, and left without its incense. Anger even touches the gods. ‘I shall not suffer this without exacting punishment’ she cried ‘and, though not honoured, it will not be said that I was unavenged.’ And the goddess, spurned, sent an avenging wild boar, over the Aetolian fields: grassy Epirus had none greater than it, and those of the island of Sicily were smaller. Its eyes glowed with bloodshot fire: its neck was stiff with bristles, and the hairs, on its hide, bristled stiffly like spear-shafts: just as a palisade stands, so the hairs stood like tall spears. Hot foam flecked the broad shoulders, from its hoarse grunting. Its tusks were the size of an Indian elephant’s: lightning came from its mouth: and the leaves were scorched, by its breath. Now it trampled the young shoots of the growing crops, now cut short the ripeness, longed-for by the mournful farmer, and scythed down the corn in ear. The granaries and threshing floors waited for the promised harvest in vain. Heavy clusters of grapes were brought down along with the trailing vines, and fruit and branch of the evergreen olives. It rages among the cattle too. Neither the herdsmen and dogs, nor their own fierce bulls can defend the herds. The people scatter, and only count themselves safe behind city walls.

[So, a massive, supernatural boar has been attacking the region of Cayldonia. In order to stop it, the hero Meleager has assembled a group of the greatest heroes of the Greeks, including Nestor and Theseus. He has also invited the warrior-woman Atalanta...]

And Atalanta, the warrior girl of Tegea, the glory of Arcadia’s woods, with a polished brooch clasping the neck of her garment, and her hair simply done, caught in a single knot. An ivory quiver, holding her arrows, that rattled as she moved, hung from her left shoulder, and her left hand held the bow. So she was dressed: as for her face, you might truly say, the virgin was there, in a boy, and a boy, in the girl. The moment he saw her, that moment, Meleager, the hero of Calydon, desired her, though the gods might refuse it, devoured by secret fires. ‘O, happy the man, whom she might think worthy!’ he said. Neither time nor honour allowed him further words: the greater task of the greater conflict urged him on.

[The heroes confront the beast and many are slain. Despite their skill, no one can pierce its hide.]

They would have wounded the beast, had not the bristling creature retreated into the dense woods where no horse or spear could penetrate. As the beast passed, King Nestor of Pylos, might perhaps have perished before his time at Troy, but, using the leverage of his firmly planted spear, he cowardly vaulted into a tree, that stood close by, and looked down, from a place of safety, on the quarry he had escaped. Telamon (a Greek hero) did follow, and careless where he was placing his feet, in his enthusiasm, fell flat on the ground, tripping over the root of a tree. While Peleus was lifting him, the girl from Tegea (Atalanta) strung a swift arrow, and sent it speeding from the curved bow. The shaft just grazed the top of the boar’s back, and fixing itself below one ear, reddened the bristles with a thin stream of blood. Nor did she praise her own successful shot more than Meleager did. He was supposed to have been the first to see the blood, and first, having seen it, to point it out to his friends, saying: ‘You will be honoured for the value of this service.’ The warriors flushed with their shame, urged each other on, gaining courage from their clamour, hurling their spears without sense of order. The jostling spoilt their throw, and prevented the strike they intended. Then Ancaeus of Arcady, with his twin-headed axe, rushing to meet his fate, cried: ‘O warriors, learn how much better a man’s weapons are than a girl’s, and leave the work to me! Though Latona’s daughter (Artemis, daughter of Leto) herself protects this creature, in her own way, in spite of Diana (Artemis), my right arm will destroy it.’ Swollen with pride, like this, with boastful words, he spoke, and, lifting the double axe in both hands, he stood on tiptoe, poised for the downward blow. The boar anticipated this daring enemy, and struck at the upper groin, the quickest way to kill, with his twin tusks. Ancaeus collapsed, and the slippery mass of his inner organs fell away in a pool of blood: the ground was soaked with the red fluid.

Then Pirithoüs, son of Ixion (the notorious sinner, see chapter 9), went against the quarry, brandishing his hunting-spear in his strong right-hand. Theseus, Aegeus’s son, called out ‘Stay, farther away, my soul’s other half, O dearer to me than myself! It is fine to be brave at a distance, also: Ancaeus’s rash courage only did him harm.’ He spoke, and threw his heavy spear, of cornelian cherry-wood, with its bronze blade. Though well aimed and capable of reaching its mark, it was deflected by the leafy branch of an oak. Jason, Aeson’s son, hurled his javelin, which swerved by accident, and the fatal throw transfixing the flanks of an innocent hound, pinned it to the ground.

But Meleager’s hand made the difference, and of the two spears he threw, though one stuck in the earth, the other fixed itself in the boar’s back. Now, while it raged, and twisted its body round, and spouted out hissing foam and fresh blood, the author of its wound came at it, pricked his quarry to fury, and buried his shining hunting-spear in his enemy’s shoulder. Then the companions give proof of their joy, shouting, and crowding around him to grasp his hand in theirs. They gaze, wonderingly, at the huge creature covering so much of the earth it lies on, and still think it unsafe to touch the beast, but nevertheless each wets his spear in its blood.

Bk VIII:425-450 The Calydonian Boar Hunt – the spoils

Meleager, himself, pressed his foot down on the head of the deadly creature, and said to Atalanta ‘Girl from Nonacria, take the prize that is mine by right, and let my glory be shared with you.’ Then he gave her the spoils, the hide bristling with hair, and the head remarkable for its magnificent tusks. She delighted in the giver no less than the gift, but the others were envious, and a murmur ran through the whole company. Of these, Plexippus, and Toxeus, the sons of Thestius, Meleager’s uncles, stretching their arms out, shouted loudly: ‘Come on, girl, leave them alone: do not steal our titles to honour, and do not let too much faith in your beauty deceive you, lest your love-sick friend turns out to be no help to you.’ And they took the gifts away from her, and denied him the right to give them. The descendant of Mars (Aries, god of War) could not bear this, and bursting with anger, gnashing his teeth, he said: ‘Learn, you thieves of other men’s rights, the difference between threats and actions’, and plunged his iron point into Plexippus’s chest, he expecting nothing of that kind. Meleager gave Toxeus, who stood in doubt, wanting to avenge his brother, but fearing his brother’s fate, scant time for doubt, and while his spear was still warm from the first brother’s murder, he warmed it again with the second brother’s blood.

Althaea was carrying thanksgiving offerings, for her son’s victory, to the temple of the gods, when she saw them bringing back her dead brothers. She filled the city with the clamour of wailing, beat her breasts, and replaced her golden robes with black. But when she heard who the murderer was, she forgot her mourning, and her longing changed from tears to revenge.

Bk VIII:451-514 Althaea and the burning brand

There was a piece of wood that the Three Sisters placed in the fire, when Althaea, the daughter of Thestius (and mother of Meleager), was in the throes of childbirth. As they spun the threads of fate firmly under their thumbs, they said: ‘We assign an equal span of time to you, O new born child, and to this brand.’ When the goddesses vanished, after speaking the prophecy, the mother snatched the burning branch from the fire, and doused it with water. It had long been hidden away in the depths of the inner rooms, and preserved, had preserved your years, youth. Your mother now brought it out, and called for pinewood and kindling: and, once that was in position, she lit the hostile flames. Then she tried, four times, to throw the brand in the fire, and four times, held back. The mother fought the sister in her, and the two tugged at the one heart. Often her cheeks grew pale at imminent wickedness. Often fierce anger filled her eyes with blood. One moment she seemed like someone threatening some cruelty: the next you would think her full of compassion. When her heart’s fierce passion dried up her tears, the tears welled up again. As a ship, that the wind, and the tide opposing the wind, both seize, feels the twin forces and obeys the two, uncertainly, so the daughter of Thestius, was swayed by her emotions, and her anger alternately calmed, and then flared again.

However, the sister in her begins to outweigh the mother, and to appease the shades of her own blood, with blood, she escapes guilt by incurring it. Now, as the baleful fire strengthens, she cries ‘Let this be the funeral pyre that cremates my child.’ As she held the fatal brand in her deadly hand, and stood, wretched woman, in front of the funeral altars, she said ‘Eumenides, Triple Goddesses of Retribution, turn your faces towards these fearful rites! I take revenge, and I do a wicked thing: death must be atoned for by death: crime must be heaped on crime, ruin on ruin. Let this impious house end in a flood of mourning! Shall, Oeneus, fortunate, rejoice in his victorious child, while Thestius is bereaved of his sons? Better for both to grieve. Only, my brother’s spirits, new-made ghosts, recognize my sense of duty to you, and accept the sacrifice I prepare, so great its cost to me, the evil child of my womb! Ah me! What conclusion do I rush towards? My brothers, forgive a mother! The hand is unequal to what it began: I acknowledge he deserves to die, but I do not desire to be the cause of his death. Shall he go unpunished? Shall he live, victorious, proud of his success, and be king in Calydon, while you lie there, the scant ashes of chill shadows? For my part I cannot suffer that to be: let the wicked die, and pull down his father’s hopes, his kingship, and the ruins of his country! Where are my maternal feelings? Where are the sacred allegiances of a parent? Where are the anxieties I suffered over those ten months? O, I wish, when you were an infant burning in those first flames, I had allowed it to be! By my gift, you lived: now for your own fault, you die! Suffer the consequences of what you have done, and give me back the life I twice gave you, once at your birth, once when I snatched at the brand, or let me join my brothers in the tomb!

I yearn to do it, and I cannot do it. What shall I do? Now my brothers’ wounds are before my eyes and the image of all that blood: and now heart’s love, and the word mother move me. Woe to me! Evil is in your victory, my brothers: but victory you shall have: only let me follow you, and the comfort I bring you!’ She spoke, and turning her face away, with trembling hands, threw the fatal brand, into the midst of the fire. The piece of wood itself gave, or seemed to give, a sigh, as it was attacked, and burned, by the reluctant flames.

Bk VIII:515-546 The death of Meleager

Far off, and unaware, Meleager is alight with that fire, and feels his inner organs invisibly seared. He controls the fierce agonies, with courage. Nevertheless he is sad that he must die a bloodless, cowardly death, and calls Ancaeus fortunate in his wounds. At the last, groaning with pain, he names his aged father, his brothers, his loving sisters, the companion of his bed, and, it may be, his mother. The fire and the suffering flare up, and die away, again, and both are extinguished together. Gradually his breath vanishes into the light breeze: gradually white ashes veil the glowing embers.

Noble Calydon lies dead. Young men and old lament, people and princes moan, and the women of Calydon, by the River Euenus, tear at their hair, and beat their breasts. His father, prone on the ground, mars his aged features and white hair with dust, and rebukes himself for his long years. As for his mother, conscious of her dreadful action, she has exacted punishment on herself, with her own hand driving the weapon into her body. Not though the god had given me a hundred mouths speaking with tongues, the necessary genius, and all Helicon as my domain, could I describe the sad fate of his poor sisters. Forgetting what is seemly, they strike their bruised chests, and while there is something left of the body, the body is caressed again and again, as they kiss it and kiss the bier on which it lies.

Once he is ashes; the ashes are gathered, and they press them to their breasts, throw themselves down on his tomb, and clasping the stone carved with his name, they drown the name with tears. At last, Diana, satiated with her destruction of the house of Parthaon, lifted them up, all except Gorge, and Deianira, the daughter-in-law of noble Alcmena, and, making feathers spring from their bodies, and stretching long wings over their arms, she gave them beaks, and, changed to guinea-hens, the Meleagrides, launched them into the air.

Evaluation Rubric Classics 2202 Fall 2016

Formatting: all papers must adhere to the following formatting requirements or suffer point penalties.

· Font size: 12-pt.

· Font style: Times New Roman.

· Margins: 1” margins.

· Length: approximately 1 full page.

· Line height: 1.5-spacing.

· Header: include name and .# in header on a single line, otherwise start text on first line of the page.

· Starts with the thesis statement and no additional introductory information

· Quotations: cite quotations with the following format (Homer’s Iliad 1.1-5).

· Saved in MS Word .doc format

· Does not have extra space between paragraphs (set space between paragraphs to 0)

( ) Paragraph 1

· Identifies 2 parts of Phoenix's Meleager story that are added to the 'normal' version (.5)

· Adequately discusses how those two additions are meant to make the story a paradigm for Achilles to follow (that is, to convince him of a course of action)

(.5)

· Shows how those additions do not actually address Achilles' concerns and are a bad match for his actual story.

(.5)

· Displays, through relevant citations of the Iliad, what Achilles' concerns actually are.

(.5)

· Displays creativity and/or persuasive argument and/or thorough knowledge of the text in making an effective argument for why Phoenix's mythic argument fails

· (.5)

PENALTIES

· Is not thoroughly proofread with clear, directed arguments in a concise paragraph (-.5)

· Did not avoid inaccuracies and inconsistencies in spelling, grammar, or capitalization. (-.5)

Please note that a particularly poorly written or edited paragraph may incur further penalties

( ) Paragraph 2

· Identifies 1 way that the 'normal myth' actually parallels Achilles' situation (.5)

· Adequately documents this parallel through relevant discussion and citation from the text (.5)

· Identifies a second way that the normal myth parallels Achilles' situation (.5)

· Adequately documents this parallel through relevant discussion and citation from the text (.5)

· Displays creativity and/or persuasive argument and/or thorough knowledge of the text in making an effective argument for why the 'original' myth fits Achilles' situation and would actively work against persuading him to fight (.5)

PENALTIES

· Is not thoroughly proofread with clear, directed arguments in a concise paragraph (-.5)

· Did not avoid inaccuracies and inconsistencies in spelling, grammar, or capitalization. (-.5)

Final grade: ( / 5) Comments on the following page

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