Sophia Koh~ Fine Arts Facts Western

How many books are in the Aeneid and how are the split?

12; 6 mirror the Odyssey, 6 mirror the Iliad

Aeneid begins in…

in medias res

Virgil (birthplace, study areas, world he grew up in)

• Born near Mantua 

• Studies in Milan & Rome 

• 21 yrs ~ 2nd period of Civil War (Caesar & Pompey) 

  • Studies philosophy in Napes 

• 26 ~ Caesar is assassinated and Octavian declared heir 

• Virgil sees a world of civil wars & assassinations

• Dies on travels to Greece (19 BC)

Aeneid is written in…

Latin

Sophocles wrote… 

The Three Theban Plays 

The Three Theban Plays in chronological order:  

• Oedipus Rex 

• Oedipus at Colonus 
  Antigone

Antigone is written in…

Ancient Greek

Sophocles (birthplace, demeanor, etc.)

• Grew up in village of Colonus (Greece) (supposed burial site of Oedipus) 

• Wealthy family, good education

• Charming, good temper, wit, success

• Wrote over 120 plays ~ 7 survived (frequent winner of dramatic competitions

How many people generally attended theater?

13,000-17,000

Theater stages were massive so…

music, gestures, props, and visual effects were important!

Chorus (function, how many ppl?)

• 12-15 masked dancers 

  • Voice of ordinary person

  • Put events in context 

  • Break from the narrative 

  • Facilitate transitions 

The poet is meant to…

write, direct, compose & choreograph 

Pietas

piety, dutifulness, affection, love, loyalty, gratitude

• (when Aeneas carried his father out of town on his shoulder)

• Troy was the subject of Aeneas’ pietas 

Furor

violent madness, delirium, hostile rage, passionate desire, furious longing

• when Aeneas almost killed Helen 

Oratio recto

direct speech (the speaker’s exact words)

Oratio obliqua

indirect, reported speech/emotion

Sortes Vergilianae

person randomly opens a volume of Virgil’s works & interprets the passage which their finger lands to gain insight or predict the future 

Aristotle’s thoughts on tragedy: 

• Catharsis 

• Tragic hero 

• Unity of action 

• Cause-effect relationships 

• Reversal in fortune (peripeteia) 

• Recognition (anagnorisis)

Catharsis

purifying, clarifying negative feelings

Hamartia

tragic flaw or error in judgement

Hubris

excessive pride or arrogance

Unity of action 

no subplots, time of play shouldn’t exceed the time it takes to present it, same setting, single outcome 

Cause-effect relationships 

• Ending, esp, should feel like a natural end, no “deus ex machina” 

Deus ex machina

“God from the machine” outside force solving everything

Peripeteia

Reversal in fortune

Anagnorisis

recognition (“change from ignorance to knowledge”) on part of the tragic hero

Other themes in Aeneid:

• searching/creating home in difficult circumstances

• divine intervention in human affairs

• extended, formal speeches

• GO! Cycle of leaving home

• Dido’s death (angry vs. sad)

• to what extent do each of these characters have agency, or freedom to act, in the poem?

Characters in Aeneid:

• Aeneas (son of Aphrodite) 

  • Anchises (father), Ascanius (son), Creusa (wife)

• Dido 

  • Anna (sister who encourages her to go for Aeneas)

• Juno (goddess of marriage, childbirth; deep hatred/jealousy for Trojans)

• Jupiter (tells Aeneas to leave Carthage & finish mission)

Major plot points in books 1-4 of Aeneid: 

• Aeneas shipwrecked in Carthage by Juno’s wrath, welcomed by queen Dido “in medias res” 

• Fall of Troy (told thru narrative to Dido); the ghost of Hector tells him to flee and find a new home for his ppl 

• Years of wandering (encounters Harpies, monstrous race, suffers death of his father) 

• Dido’s love & suicide

Other themes in Antigone:

• What is someone who’s stripped of a name/history, family? 

• Creon was the tragic hero ~ “highly renowned & prosperous” then fall bc of some mistake 

Characters Antigone:

• Antigone

• Ismene ~ sister

• Creon ~ king

• Haemon ~ prince & Antigone’s partner

• Tiresias ~ seer

• Eurydice ~ queen

• (Polynices & Eteocles (fought for Thebes)) ~ brothers

Major plot points of Antigone

• Antigone’s decision to bury her brother, Polynices 

• Creon sentencing Antigone to death by entombment 

• Haemon’s failed attempt to persuade his father to be merciful 

• Creon speaking to Tiresias (seer) 

• Suicides of Antigone, Haemon, Eurydice