Love and Hate in Ancient Greece and Rome
Midterm Information

Overview

The midterm consists of 3 parts:

I. Multiple choice (30%): 20 questions, which may be in the form of simple ID’s, or which may ask you to identify authors or characters or apply concepts from the class.  The questions will be taken from the terms and names studied so far.  For definitions of some key terms, go here.  For a list of terms and names that I will draw from for the multiple choice section, including some definitions and guidelines, scroll down.  (I'm still working on the definitions and may not define all; the items themselves are final though.

II. Quote comment (15%):  I will give you a choice of three quotes from various authors we’ve studied during the term, and you will comment on ONE of them.  The quotes will be about 8-12 lines long; I am choosing pretty central quotes and usually ones we have specifically spoken on in class.  All quotes should identify important ideas and themes raised by the quote, and give comments on culture and/or literary context that illuminate these themes.  Examples of good and poor responses to quotes are linked here, to give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

III. Essay ( 55%):  Six essay questions are below.  On the midterm, I will give you a choice between two of them, and you will write an essay on ONE.  You may prepare as much or as little as you like, but no books or notes are allowed during the test.

Essay topics 

On the test, I will give you a choice between two of these topics, and you will write an essay on ONE.

1. Friendship and Love: In De Amicitia (On Friendship) Cicero describes the ideal relationship between friends.  In The Symposium, Plato (in the voice of Socrates and Diotima) describes the higher manifestations of eros, a term used in many ways: of physical sexual desire, desire in general, love in general, and creative force.  Compare the ideals of eros as discussed by Plato through Socrates and Diotima, with the ideals of amicitia as described by Plato.  You may consider elements such as the early manifestations of the connection, what sorts of people it affects, how it develops, the nature of its place in the universe, what can destroy it, and/or anything else you can think of.

2. The House of Atreus:  The Roman author Seneca and the Athenian playwright Aeschylus both wrote dramas about the deadly events in the house of Atreus (in two different generations).  Compare and contrast the ways in which the two authors deal with the unpleasant family relationships in the House of Atreus.  Consider such elements as: the nature of revenge (its pleasures, its necessities, its rightness, its success, its side effects), the nature of hatred (how it is experienced, words used to describe it, what actions it spurs, whether it is justified, its ultimate results); and any other emotional dynamics you think important in the ways the family story comes out in both plays.  Also consider the visual/verbal images and the language used to describe these dynamics, and suggest ways in which audience response (emotional and interpretive) might be evoked by some passages and scenes.  Include specific scenes and relationships that illustrate your points.

3. Romance:  Both Apuleius’ Cupid and Psyche, and Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe, may be defined as romances, in that “Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an ‘emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.’” You can take one of two paths for this essay.  (A)  Compare how the two works (novel and novel excerpt) in terms of their role as romances, considering elements such as the way in which the relationship between the couple develops, the words used to describe the emotions behind it, the description of the couple individually and together, stresses and pleasures within the relationship, and anything else you care to.  Are there elements that do not fit into this definition of romance?  (B)  Compare the romances of Daphnis and Chloe and Cupid and Psyche in with examples from a genre or genres of modern romance (series romance novels, literary or popular novels whose central element is a love relationship, films focusing on romantic relationships, etc.).  You may focus on one or more modern works.  Consider such elements as the characters of the protagonists, the actions each takes to further or hinder the development of the relationship, the dynamics of the relationship, assumptions about the outcome of romantic relationships, use of imagery, use of antagonists (e.g. Dorkon or the sisters), elements of adventureand conflict, the way the story is told (e.g. the assumed audience), and the role of comedy.  What are the essential differences and similarities between the ancient and modern romances?

4.  Epic: Both the Iliad and the Aeneid show close personal relationships that develop or survive through the dangers and disasters of great deeds (including war).  Both people and relationships may be sacrificed.  (Aeneid: e.g. Dido and Aeneas, Nisus and Euryalus, Mezentius and his son; Iliad: e.g. Achilles and Patroklos, Hector and Andromache).  Discuss the ways in which love and great deeds/war  conflict or support one another.  Consider such things as the closeness, stability, and other dynamics of the relationship, the responses of the dyad (2 people) to the pressures they face, the ways in which the relationship affects the outcome of the surrounding events and vice versa, the elements that make the relationship work or hinder it, the characters of the dyad, and the ways in which the relationship is depicted and described by the author.

5. Latin Poets:  Overwhelming feelings of love are described in both Ovid’s stories of metamorphoses, and in the poetry of Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, and Sulpicia.  Choose two tales from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, describe the ways in which the love relationship is expressed, and compare each tale with a passage or poem from one (or more) of the other poets.  You may choose passages you consider to parallel the Ovid story, or passages you think are substantially different.  In your comparison, consider such elements as the depiction of the lover and the object of love, the relative commitment of the partners, the surrounding milieu (e.g. the other stories/expressions that prepare the reader for the passage you choose), the outcome that is described or implied, the nature of the pressures against the relationship, and anything else you want to describe.  In what ways are the ideas behind these renditions similar and/or different?  Include comment on the ways in which genre (narrative vs. expressive poetry) affects the portrayal of love.

6. Love vs. Lust:  One of the most significant dichotomies described in modern constructions of sexual/emotional relationships is “Love vs. Lust,” and many of you have found this an effective shorthand for categorizing the ancient sexual/emotional relationships we have discussed.  In the modern world, “love” is held to be more significant and worthy than “lust.”  So – to what extent do the works we have been looking at reflect the relational varieties we categorize as “love/lust”?  Do different sorts of work express different kinds of relationship?  You may consider works/ examples which portray either, and describe the dynamics of the relationship that support the idea of the relationship as “love” or “lust,” considering elements such as the nature and character of the lovers, the circumstances of the relationship, its endurance, its outcome, etc.  You should also see whether you can find instances of both “love” and “lust” relationships in the same author, and compare them on the same grounds.  Does the Greek and/or Roman world participate in our dichotomy, or is this dichotomy different or more or less pronounced in the Classical works we have studied?

Multiple Choice terms and names

These are the terms and names; I will add brief definitions under all of them, but those are reminders, and for works of literature you should be aware of the content, for characters you should be aware of their role in the work in which they appear, for poets, their background and works, and for terms, how they apply to the materials we have studied.

Roman Poets:

Lesbia: The addressee of Catullus' love poems, also the recipient of some of his most virulent expressions of hate; characterized as his married mistress, and possibly a "code name" for Clodia Metella, a notorious "New Woman" (see below).

Clodia (Clodia MEtella), a Roman aristocrat who was known for her unconventional behavior; possibly the model for Catullus' Lesbia.  She was accused (rightfully or wrongfully) of having affairs with a number of young men, and engaging in various forms of licentious behavior.

Julius Caesar

Propertius (approx. 50 BCE-15CE), elegaic poet who wrote love poems directed to his (pseudonymous or fictitious) lover Cynthia

Sulpicia: A young Roman girl of good birth, whose 6 brief poems, attached to the end of a book by Tibullus, show how a girl who cannot partake in the sexual passion of most male poetry deals with the same ideas of passion and loss.

Cybele: An eastern goddess known as "Mother of the Gods," whose eunuch priests, known as galli, were often mistrusted and reviled, but also sometimes respected for their divinely sanctioned advice.

Symposium (the work)

Aristophanes

Diotima

eros: the topic of Plato's Symposium; meaning "love" (from the erotic to the inspirational), a word and concept that could be defined in many different ways because it already had many different referents.

Gaius Laelius: The main speaker in Cicero's De Amicitia, who discusses the nature of friendship

Scipio Africanus: Eminent Roman statesman and recently deceased friend of Laulius, whose wisdom and quality as a friend inspires many of Laelius' comments

amor: literally "love," usually used of romantic relationships but sometimes of other sorts of desire.

Ovid: Roman poet known for his rather racy works (Ars Amatoria and some parts of the Metamorphoses), exiled by Augustus in 8 CE (for his poetry and possibly involvement in a royal scandal) and was never recalled.

Apollo (Phoebus): The beautiful god of music, medicine, and prophecy; famous for his bow; often identified as a sun god driving his chariot acros the sky.

Cupid: The son of Venus and Mars (the god of war, agriculture, and upholder of Roman values); also called "Amor"; portrayed as creating love (or hate) in humans and/or gods by striking them with an arrow from his bow.

Daphne: A young nymph who is struck by Cupid's lead arrow so that she will flee the approach of Apollo; in her flight her father answers her prayer and turns her into a laurel tree.

Jupiter: King of the gods; typically known as an upholder and protector of divine and civic law, but in myth appearing primarily the rapist/seducer of innocent young virgins (who never protects them effectively afterward).

Io: Another of Jupiter's victims, turned into a cow to protect her from Juno's wrath, although this didn't work since Juno drove her all over the world until finally she regained her human form.  Juno also plays a role in developing conflicts around Aeneas in Virgil's Aeneid, advancing his relationship with Dido and spurring Turnus and Amata into frenzy when Aeneas' arrival ruins their plans for Turnus' royal alliance through marraige.

Syrinx: Said nymph, another reluctant, fleeing virgin.

Diana: Virgin goddess of the hunt and the wilderness; intolerant of deviation from her standards by any of her retinue ( such as Callisto).

Ars Amatoria: Ovid's light, humorous poem purporting to be instructions to both men and women on how to form liaisons with the opposite sex, often arguing for deception and trickery, or focusing on surface details.  All of this was the direct opposite of traditional ROman views about proper sexual behavior, but fit in naturally with the earlier poets such as Catullus and Propertius.

Narcissus: Young man who fell in love with his own reflection and was finally turned into a hyacinth flower; epitome of destructive self-love.

Pyramus:  Young lover whose plan to meet his beloved (separated from him so long by a wall) led to their deaths.

Procne: Wife of Tereus, sister of Philomela; to avenge her husband's violence against her sister, she killed his child and served him up to him in a stew.  She, Tereus, and Philomela were all turned into birds.

Philomela: Sister or Procne, victim of Tereus; she alerted her sister to her plight by weaving it into a tapestry and conspired with her sister in punishing Tereus by feeling him his own son.

Virgil: Author of the Aeneid, a poem commissioned to celebrate teh raighn of Augustus, which did so by turning to the past and presenting complex and unhappy human relationships as part of the glorious foundation of Rome.

Aeneas: The refugee from Troy who eventually founds Rome, despite many losses (his wife, his father, Dido, various friends, etc.).  Son of Venus and Anchises.

Juno

Nisus:  The older of the pair of lovers killed in a night raid in the Aeneid.

Euryalus:  The younger.

Mezentius: An exiled Etruscan king, known for his cruelty, who nevertheless proves himself capable of love and sacrifice when he loses his son in battle.

Thyestes: Brother of Atreus, who once usurped his kingdom and was later driven into exile.  Returns to be fed his own children by his vengeful brother.

Apuleius: Author of The Golden Ass

The Golden Ass: The story of the travails of Lucius, a young man whose fascination with magic leads him to unwittingly transform himself into a donkey; he is forced to stay in taht condition over the course of one winter, during which he witnesses all the vagaries and cruelties of the world, and after which he is converted to the worship of Isis.

Cupid: The god of love, sone of Venus, who is the young lover in a tale told by an old woman to a captive girl in the midst of The Golden Ass

Psyche: A young girl whose beauty draws the wrath of Venus; though sent to humiliate her Cupid falls in love with her.  Her name means "soul."

Longus

bucolic poetry: a variety of poetry set in a romantic and unrealistic countryside, in which shepherds and other rural folk engage in fanciful and erotic lifestyles and pastimes.

Daphnis

Chloe