Literature Exam 2

Includes information on Virgil's Aenid, Dante's Inferno, Sundiata, and Keita Background

Punic Wars

3 conflicts between Roman Republic & Carthage

How long did the Punic wars last?

264-146 (2nd-3rd century) BCE

What happened during 149-146 BCE?

Carthage is sacked and burned.

When did Rome conquer Greece?

By the mid-2nd Century BCE

What did Rome do after they were conquered by Greece?

They adopted many aspects of Greek culture, including their legends and gods

Odysseus

Ulysses

Zeus

Jupiter

Hera

Juno

Hermes

Mercury

Athena

Minerva

Aphrodite

Venus

Gaius Julius Caesar

Roman general who successfully expanded the empire and began to seize power as a dictator.

How did civil war during Julius Caesar’s time occur?

when Julius Caesar is ordered to disband army and refuses. Julius Caesar wins but is assassinated in 44 BCE.

How does another civil war occur during Octavian’s time?

When Octavian goes to war against Marc Anthony and Cleopatra

Octavian

Julius Ceasar’s nephew and heir who became the first Roman Emperor: Caesar Augustus

When did Octavian become Roman Emperor?

When he triumphs the civil war in 30 CE

When did Rome’s Imperial Age begin?

In 27 BCE

In Virgil’s lifetime

Rome experienced a series of civil wars that ended when Octavian became emperor in 27 B.C.E

Virgil’s Life

70-19 BCE.

Virgil’s First Published Work

The Eclogues, collection of pastoral poems

What was Virgil’s relationship to Octavian?

They were close friends; he was a member of the emperor Octavian’s inner circle.

When did Virgil write The Aeneid?

Last 10 years of his life

What is The Aeneid about?

a poem that develops a mythic history about the founding of Rome.

Gravitas

seriousness, dignity

Pietas

duty, devotion to one’s gods, country, and family

Which of the Roman Virtues are Aeneas often described as?

Pius

Pius

Rationality and restraint of emotion

What is The Aeneid regarded as?

A masterpiece

What is the Aeneas used as in Roman Schools?

to teach philosophy, grammar, verse

When was The Aeneid influential?

throughout period of Roman Empire, through the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance

What The Aeneid regarded as in Christian Europe?

Almost divinely inspired

What empires controlled large areas of west Africa?

Ghana, Mali, and Songhay

When did Ghana, Mali and Songhay control West Africa?

700-1600 C.E.

Were the empires who controlled West Africa able to co-exist?

Yes, but at different periods, each rose to dominance

Who was the historical Sundiata and what was he famous for?

a real person who defeated the Sossos at the Battle of Kirina in 1235 and established the Empire of Mali.

What are the two main religious traditions reflected in the epic Sundiata?

Islam and Animistic (divinity in nature)

Syncretism

Blending of religious traditions.

How did Islam come to sub-Saharan west Africa?

By trade routes that had existed since the 4th Century. Muslim scholars traveled these routes.

What did muslim scholars become?

Scribes in service of African Kings

1st Role of Griots

keeper of history, including family histories, stories of the past, laws, and agreements between tribes

2nd Role of Griots

singer of praise

3rd Role of Griots

teacher and adviser of monarchs and aristocrats

4th Role of Griots

custodian of cultural memory and cultural values

What is a griot?

traditional West African storyteller, historian, and musician, serving as a vital custodian of oral history and cultural identity within their communities.

Christianity

One of the several competing religions in the Roman Empire, the early centuries after life of jesus

Was Christianity a always legal religion?

No, it was illegal but became a accepted religion

When did Christianity become a accepted religion in the Roman Empire?

325 C.E.

What happened in 337 C.E.?

Emperor Constantine Converted to Christianity

Why was the Roman Empire of the past revered?

Because it was the vehicle for spreading Christianity, it was seen as completely divine

When does Dante write the Divine Comedy?

At the beginning of the 14th century, early 1300’s

How many years between Dante & Virgil?

1300+

When did people stop believing in the Pantheon of Gods?

In the early years of the Roman Empire

What happened when people stopped believing in the Pantheon of Gods?

Different religions started to develop and compete against each other

Middle Ages “Medieval”

Europe, spans between 500-1500 AB/CE

Christian Church

The church during the Middle Ages, every person in western Europe went there

Roman Catholic Church

Christian church of Western Europe in Middle Ages

What did many people believe about the Roman Catholic Church?

It was structured like the Roman Empire, very hierarchical

1st Similarity between the Catholic Church & The Roman Empire

The pope was the head, just like the Roman Emperor was the head

What is the Catholic Church like during Dante’s Time?

It was very powerful and often corrupt

When is Dante’s Time?

The Middle Ages

2nd Similarity between the Catholic Church & The Roman Empire

Catholic Church’s Bishop had authority over Diocese, similar to Roman Empire governor controlling geographical provinces

Diocese

Geographical divisions of territories

What was being built during Dante’s Time?

The Duomo

The Duomo

Symbolized how wealthy and powerful the Roman Catholic Church was and the devotion people had. Took hundred’s of years to be built

What was Dante very critical about regarding the Catholic Church?

The corruption, in the Inferno he sent popes to hell

Dante Alighieri

Born in Florence, 1265-1321, period of political upheaval

Portrait of Dante made by Botticelli

Dante is wearing a laurel wreath

What does a laurel wreath symbolize?

Poetic achievement

What does the symbolism of the wreath date back to?

Ancient Rome when a military victor was crowned with a laurel wreath

Period of political upheaval

Faction within 2 groups; Guelf vs. Ghibellines

Why was Dante banished?

Because of his involvement in the political struggle

What was Dante known as when he was banished?

A poet, known for his work of La Vita Nuova

La Vita Nuova (1295)

Sequence of poems about his love for a woman named Beatrice, he loved her from afar

Did the Punic wars happens during Virgil’s lifetime?

No, they happened in 2nd & 3rd BCE, before Virgil lifetime

How are the Punic wars and the Aeneid related?

The Aeneid is Virgil’s story about why the Punic wars started

Why is Juno trying to stop Aeneas from founding Rome?

Because she heard of a prophecy of the destruction of Carthage by Trojan blood, Aeneas

Penates

Roman household God

What are the underlying causes of why troy fell?

Trickery, deceitful rhetoric, lack of emotional control (crazed w/joy and pity) and the will of the Gods

Why did most of the Gods want Troy to fall?

So, Rome could be created

What convinced Anchises to leave the house during the fall of Troy?

He saw a halo of light around Ascanius head, suggesting his future kingship

In Dante, why did souls want to go to hell?

Because of how powerful Divine Justice is, it turned their fears into desire

What did Anchises show Aeneas in the Blessed Groves?

His lineage and future glory of Rome, motivates him to continue on his journey to find Rome

Why is Virgil an appropriate guide for Dante the Pilgrim?

Because he looks up to him as a great poet

Why is Virgil an inappropriate guide for Dante the Pilgrim, regarding Christianity?

Because he wasn’t and couldn’t have been a Christian

When did Dante write the Divine Comedy?

When he was banished, parallel to Dante the Pilgrim

How is Dante the Poets life parallel to Dante the Pilgrim’s life?

Dante the Pilgrim lies on a journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven. Purpose was to help him to get to heaven. Dante the Poet, was on a long journey back to Florence but he died while banished. They were both on a journey to find where they belong

In The Divine Comedy, who was Beatrice?

She is a woman who helps Dante the Pilgrim on his journey to heaven, by sending Virgil as a guide. She was based off a real person who died in 1290

1st Fact of Divine Comedy

Written in Italian (Dante’s Vernacular language) not Latin

2nd Fact of Divine Comedy

About Dante’s journey through Hell (“Inferno), Purgatory (“Purgatorio”), and Heaven (“Paradiso”)

Latin

The language of well-educated people

Why is the Divine Comedy called a comedy?

Because the old meaning of comedy is work with a happy ending

What is purgatory a belief of?

Catholic Church, not protestant denominators

Purgatory

Temporary period of suffering so sins are purged away, allowing the soul to go to Heaven

How many circles does Hell have?

9

1st Category of the Circle of Hell

Incontinence (2nd-5th Circle)

2nd Category of the Circle of Hell

Violence (7th Circle)

3rd Category of the Circle of Hell

Fraud (8th-9th Circle)

Incontinence

Lack of self-control; lust, gluttony

1st Structure of Dante’s Poem

3 Canticles: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso

2nd Structure of Dante’s Poem

33 Cantos in each Canticle