Great Books Final Review Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, and Augustine's Confessions based on lecture notes.

Gorgythian simile

A description by Homer of a random soldier as a flower full of seeds falling over.

Logos

The style of speech used by Odysseus characterized by reason.

Pathos

The style of speech used by Phoenix that involves telling a story.

Ethos

One of the three types of speeches identified in the Iliad notes, alongside Logos and Pathos.

Nestor

A character known for making long, tedious speeches.

Hecuba

The wife of Priam.

Andromache

The wife of Hector.

Astyanax (Scamandrias)

The son of Hector.

Mycenae

The homeland of Achilles.

Myrmidons

The people led by Achilles.

Diomedes

The son of Tydeus.

Atrides

The collective name for the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus, from Sparta.

Paris

The brother of Hector who stole Helen.

Briseis

Achilles' war prize who was stolen by Agamemnon.

Big (Telamonian) Ajax

A warrior characterized by the joke that he 'never skips leg day.'

Little Ajax

The son of Oileus, described as 'never skipping cardio.'

Patroclus

Achilles' best friend who dies during the conflict.

Shield of Achilles

An object depicting two cities—one of order/peace and one of disorder—summing up the entire cosmos; it is circular and outside of time.

Priam

The King of Troy who connects with Achilles to ransom the body of Hector.

Polytropos

A term for Odysseus meaning 'many turns' or 'cunning'; describes a man of excellence.

Calypso

The nymph who keeps Odysseus imprisoned on the island of Ogygia for 7 years.

Circe

A figure who attempts to turn Odysseus' men into pigs on the island of Aeae and eventually provides prophecies for him; he stays there for one year.

Telemachus

The son of Odysseus who evolves from being uncertain of his identity to becoming a man.

Polyphemus

A large cyclops who eats people and refuses to obey the laws of hosting.

Penelope

The wife of Odysseus known for her cunning mind, specifically demonstrated by the weaving and unweaving of Laertes' shroud.

Pious Aeneas

A Trojan exile who goes on to found Rome.

Anchises

The father of Aeneas.

Iulus/Ascanius

The son of Aeneas.

Dido

The Queen of Carthage who receives Aeneas hospitably, falls in love with him due to Venus and Cupid, and later kills herself when he departs.

Creusa

The wife of Aeneas who is lost during the escape from Troy.

Sibyl

The figure at Cumae who accompanies Aeneas to the Underworld to meet Anchises.

Turnus

The leader who is stirred into war against Aeneas by Juno and Allecto; he is eventually killed by Aeneas in single combat.

Pallas

A character killed by Turnus; Aeneas kills Turnus after seeing Pallas's belt.

Master of suspicion

A concept in Augustine’s Confessions relating to memory and education.

Evil

According to Augustine, a privation of good and an absence of good; it aims at some good in the wrong way.

Monica

Augustine’s mother, whose last request was to be remembered at the altar.

Alypius

A friend of Augustine who was baptized alongside him.

Adeodatus

The son of Augustine, who was baptized with him.

Manichean sect

A group Augustine joined that held a materialistic view of God.

Neoplatonism

The philosophical school that taught Augustine about the immateriality of God, referred to as 'the spoils of the Egyptians.'

Metis

Cunning or cleverness.

Me tis

A form of 'nobody' that follows 'if' in Greek.

Ou tis

A Greek term for 'nobody.'

Outis

The proper name Odysseus gives himself when dealing with Polyphemus.

Boulai

Plotting or counsel.

Bie

Physical force or violence.

Xenia

The concept of hospitality.

Aristeia

A hero's finest moment in battle.

Klea

The famous actions of men.

Kleos

Fame or renown.

Nostos

The return home.

Themis

Law and order.

Aidos

Modesty, which serves as a restraint against wrongdoing.

Polyainos

Full of wisdom and knowledge.

Nekyia

The rite of calling up ghosts, as seen in Odyssey Book 11.

Timé

Honor.

Arete

Virtue, excellence, worth, and the qualities for which a hero is admired.

Atê

Blindness, madness, or folly sent by the gods to punish or harass.

Nomos

The rules or norms governing guests and hosts.