Moments in HUM Books

Homer, The Iliad

Themes: Wrath, Honor, Death, Fate

• Achilles' Wrath: Quarrel with Agamemnon over Briseis (Love/Pride).

• Death of Patroclus: Killed by Hector, prompting Achilles' return (Grief/Revenge).

• Hector's Death: Achilles kills him, drags his body (Tragic Heroism/Mortality).

• Priam Ransoms Hector: Achilles relents, showing humanity (Compassion/Death Rituals).

Sappho, Poems

Themes: Love, Longing, Desire

• Fragment 31: Physical anguish from unrequited love (Jealousy/Bodily Impact of Desire).

• Fragment 130: Compares love to "a mountain whirlwind" (Nature Imagery/Passion).

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Themes: Friendship, Mortality, Grief

• Gilgamesh & Enkidu's Bond: Wild vs. civilized unity (Transformation through Love).

• Enkidu's Death: Gilgamesh's lament and quest for immortality (Mourning/Fear of Death).

• Utnapishtim's Flood Story: Immortality denied; acceptance of human limits (Divine Wrath/Existential Wisdom).

Genesis (Selections)

Themes: Creation, Sin, Covenant

• Adam & Eve's Fall: Temptation, expulsion (Original Sin/Knowledge vs. Innocence).

• Cain & Abel: First murder (Jealousy/Divine Justice).

• Abraham & Isaac: Test of faith (Sacrifice/Obedience).

Exodus (Selections)

Themes: Liberation, Faith, Law

• Burning Bush: Moses' divine mission (Calling/Identity).

• Passover & Red Sea: Deliverance from Egypt (Miracle/Covenant).

• Golden Calf: Idolatry punished (Betrayal/Repentance).

1 Samuel (Selections)

Themes: Kingship, Obedience, Friendship

• David & Goliath: Faith triumphs over power (Courage/Divine Favor).

• David & Jonathan: Covenant of loyalty (Love/Political Alliance).

• Saul's Downfall: Disobedience to God (Hubris/Tragic Kingship).

2 Samuel (Selections)

Themes: Power, Sin, Repentance

• David & Bathsheba: Adultery and murder (Moral Corruption/Abuse of Power).

• Nathan's Parable: Rebukes David (Justice/Repentance).

• Absalom's Rebellion & Death: David's grief ("Would I had died instead of you!") (Paternal Love/Political Tragedy).

Aristotle, Poetics

Themes: Tragedy, Catharsis, Plot

• Definition of Tragedy: Mimetic, cathartic, with plot > character (Structure/Purpose).

• Hamartia: Hero's fatal flaw (e.g., Oedipus' pride) (Error vs. Vice).

Herodotus, Histories

Themes: Hubris, Cultural Relativism

• Croesus & Solon: "Call no man happy until he is dead" (Fate/Wealth vs. Contentment).

• Cyrus' Rise: Shepherd upbringing foretells kingship (Destiny/Irony).

Sophocles, Oedipus the King

Themes: Fate, Knowledge, Tragedy

• Sphinx's Riddle Solved: Oedipus' triumph (Wisdom/Irony).

• Self-Blinding & Jocasta's Suicide: Revelation of incest/patricide (Shame/Despair).

Euripides, The Bacchae

Themes: Madness, Divine Vengeance

• Pentheus Torn Apart: Agave unknowingly kills son (Hubris/Chaos vs. Order).

• Dionysus' Epiphany: "You did not know what you are" (Power of the Irrational).

Euripides, The Trojan Women

Themes: War's Atrocities, Suffering

• Hecuba's Lament: "Troy is smoke" (Mourning/Loss).

• Andromache's Farewell: Son Astyanax killed (Maternal Tragedy/Futility of War).

Plato's Works

• Allegory of the Cave: Enlightenment vs. Ignorance (Philosophy/Reality).

• Ring of Gyges: Morality without consequences (Justice vs. Corruption).

• Symposium: Diotima's Ladder (Love as ascent to eternal beauty).

• Apology/Crito: Socrates' defense and refusal to escape (Duty/Law vs. Individual).

Homer, The Iliad

Themes: Wrath, Fate, Honor, Mortality, Divine Intervention

• Thetis Pleads with Zeus: Achilles’ mother asks Zeus to aid the Trojans to punish Agamemnon (Divine Favor/Manipulation of Fate).

• Paris vs. Menelaus Duel: Paris is spared by Aphrodite, breaking the truce (Cowardice/Divine Meddling).

• Hector’s Farewell to Andromache: Emotional parting with wife and son Astyanax (Family vs. Duty/Humanity in War).

• Achilles’ Shield: Forged by Hephaestus; depicts peace and war (Art as Mirror of Life/Epic Symbolism).

• Achilles’ Choice: Foretold he can gain glory and die young or live long in obscurity (Fate vs. Free Will).

• The Gods’ Feuds: Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite take sides, influencing battles (Divine Pettyness/Human Pawns).

• Achilles’ Mourning Rituals: Sacrifices Trojans and horses at Patroclus’ pyre (Grief/Excess of Wrath).

Genesis (Selections)

Themes: Covenant, Sin, Faith, Family Strife, Divine Judgment

• The Flood (Noah’s Ark): God destroys humanity, spares Noah (Divine Judgment/Covenant via Rainbow).

• Tower of Babel: Humans punished for hubris; languages scattered (Pride vs. Divine Authority).

• Sodom and Gomorrah: Lot’s family spared; wife turns to salt (Mercy vs. Obedience/Divine Retribution).

• Jacob and Esau: Jacob steals birthright/blessing (Deception/Divine Election).

• Jacob’s Ladder: Vision of angels ascending/descending (Divine Connection/Promise to Abraham’s Line).

• Joseph’s Betrayal: Sold by brothers, rises in Egypt (Providence/Forgiveness: “You meant evil, but God meant good”).

• Covenant of Circumcision: Abraham’s mark of faith (Sacred Oath/Identity).

• Hagar and Ishmael: Exiled to desert; God provides water (Marginalization/Divine Compassion).