Ancient Literature Exam

What are the two noble voices of Literature?

Epic and Tragedy

What is an epic?

An extended narrative in verse about the great deeds of gods and men

What is a tragedy?

A serious drama in verse about the catastrophe of a noble hero through some fateful misjudgment, evoking pity and fear in the audience

Invocation

Lines that call upon a relevant Muse for inspiration or instruction (“Sing to me Muse”)

In medias res

Action if story picks up in the middle of things, relies on reader’s prior knowledge (“He raged on against Odysseus till he reached his land”)

Foreshadowing

Hints of what is to come in the action of a play or story (“Would to god that this meal were their last”)

Time Chasm (Flashback)

An interruption of a work’s chronology to describe an event in the past (“Odysseus launched out on his story”)

Direct Characterization

Narration that directly tells about a character’s traits (“Great Odysseus who excels all men in wisdom”)

Indirect Characterization

The qualities readers can infer about it a character (Odysseus being arrogant and boastful)

Parallel Structure

Repetition of particular words / structure for emphasis (Ash on stake and Odysseus)

Stock phrase

Poetic description of common events (“Dawn with her rose-red fingers”)

Homeric Epithet

A characterizing word / phrase that occurs before a person’s name (“The red-haired Menelaus”)

Personification

Description of non-living object by giving it human traits (“The belly’s a shameless dog”)

Epic Simile

An extended comparison of two things through connecting words (“Joy… warm as the job that children feel…”)