Greek Epics

 The legacies of Greece and Rome are so intertwined that people often speak of them together
with the term “Greco-Roman.”
 Thus, the famous phrase: “the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome.”
 Even the Ancient Civilizations Almanac (1999) would say, “Thanks to Rome, Greece would never
die.”
Egypt
Tunisia Italy
Algeria Spain
Syria France
Croatia England
Libya Greece
England Turkey

Introduction
 Greeks are:
 Recognized as exceptional people.
 Known in the history as the “Noble Greeks.”
 “The glory that was Greece”
-Attainments in literature, sculpture, architecture, and philosophy

Out of darkness of barbarism that prevailed in ancient times when absolute

despots governed their people capriciously, cruelly, and ruthlessly, when the
governed were wretched and miserable, when superstition and ignorance
were rampant, the cities of Greece progressed.

These cities became centers of white-hot intellectual energy, and their

inhabitants pursued beauty in all its forms, and developed a passion for
democracy in its true sense.

GREECE
 Greece, which is officially named the Hellenic Republic, is a country in the Mediterranean.
 To the north of Greece lie Albania, Bulgaria, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
 To the east is Turkey.
 To the southeast of Greece is the Aegean Sea, to the south is the Mediterranean Sea, and to the
west is the Ionian Sea.
 The capital city is Athens.
 The main language is obviously Greek, probably the oldest language in Europe, but most people
also speak English.
  About 98% of Greek people are Greek Orthodox, but the rest are split among Roman Catholic,
Jewish, and Muslim faiths.

Religious Holidays
 After New Year’s Day, the next holiday of the year occurs on January 8th, and is called
Gynaikratia. Typical gender roles are reversed, with men staying home to do housework while
women spending the day drinking coffee in the cafes.
 The Greek Carnival season lasts for three weeks in February and March, just before the
beginning of Lent.
 Hellenic Festival are concerts featuring traditional and modern Greek music styles, as well as
drama performances, all occurring in the ancient theaters.

Greek Art and Literature

 Four Major Forms of Greek Art
1) Architecture (DORIC, IONIC, CORINTHIAN)
2) Painting (Spartan woman on a klismos chair, Helen of Troy)
3) Sculpture (Venus of Milo)
4) Pottery (The Derveni Krater)

 Greek history goes back to Bronze Age, between 300 and 1200 B.C.
 Golden Age or Classical Age of Greece
-Parthenon was constructed
-Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King
-Beginnings of democracy started in Greece
 To understand the Greeks, one must try to recapture their experiences and ask what these did
for them and what these cost.
 Such a search cannot be entirely successful, for to probe a distant past is extremely difficult.
Why is it that probing a distant past is extremely difficult?
 Documents and monuments exist, but they are sadly incomplete and we cannot reconstruct
things as they really were.
 We read Greek works on through translation.

History of Greek Literature

1) Pre-Homeric Age and the Homeric Age
Extends from remote antiquity to the Age of Herodotus (484 B.C.)
2) Athenian Period to the Golden Age of Pericles
Extends from the age Age of Herodotus to the death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.)
3) Period of Decline
Extends from the death of Alexander the Great to the enslavement of the Greeks by the Romans and
extends to A.D. 1453.
Qualities of Greek Literature
1. Permanence and Universality - Greek literature has an enduring quality. It is alive-to-day as it was
when it was written more than 3,000 years ago.
2. Essentially Full of Artistry
- Greek literature is a product of people who purposely and conscientiously developed their
physical and intellectual powers.
- The Greek mind became the foundation of the literature of the Western world, and its
masterpieces afford the most splendid examples of artistic beauty and excellence that the world has
ever known.

3. Originality
- The quality of literary originality does not mean that all literary types originated from Greece.
- The Greek mind modified and improved all that it touched. artistic beauty and excellence that
the world has ever known.
4. Diversity of Talent - The Greek mind never rested complacently on any one subject; it was ever
searching, ever seeking.
5. Intellectual Quality -This means that the Greek mind challenged one to think for some purpose-to
bring about some inner transformation.

Listening and Reading Effectively

Effective Listening
 Listening is an exercise.
 A student listens, gathers information through the auditory “input”, and continuously selects
and organizes what he/she hears into a pattern or structure of closely related thought.
Listening Process
 LISTEN
 GATHER
 SELECT
 ORGANIZE
Effective Reading
 Effective reading is reading with speed and accuracy.
 Intelligent reading is not a mechanical process. It means digging beneath the surface, trying to
determine what the writer is actually saying, and getting the writer’s hidden implications and motives
Noting Routines When Listening and Reading
 Speakers use certain expressions called routines to signal to the listeners the material that the
speaker will say next.
 A routine means a reiterated phrase or formula.
Examples of Routine
 Namely  Outstanding example are
 Such as  As mentioned previously
 In fact  Among these are
 Are as follows  Sequence markers such as first, second, next, finally
 And I quote  Introductory adverbs such as fortunately, later, after all, now

Homer (8th Century BC)

- Seven cities contended for the honor of being his birthplace.
- He was called a blind poet of Greece.
- Very little is known about him, but his transcendent genius is vividly impressed upon his works.
- His country folks called him “the Poet”.
- He wrote the two epics, The Iliad and the Odyssey.
Iliad and Odyssey
- They depict the complete life of the ancient Greeks in action.
- The Iliad showcases the passions found in and the cruelty of war. It is a story of love and
heroism.
- The Odyssey speaks of great adventures.
- These are great epics, studies of men and women of the time and the way of life and ideals of a
great civilization that has vanished but still wonderfully alive in people’s heart.
 Theme of the Iliad and the Odyssey:
-affirmation of the truth that one’s fate is the result of one’s actions.

 Ill fate results from ignorance and unguided and immediate passions. The deities give only what
a person ask for; one’s destiny is largely a matter of one’s own thinking.
 The plot structure of the two poems forms a succession of events, each one closely linked to
the next, yet each event is an interesting story by itself
The Mythological Background of the Iliad
Zeus, the father of deities, seemed to have realized that the earth was getting terribly overcrowded. To solve the problem of
overpopulation, he devised a great war that would sweep like a conflagration over Greece. This was the Trojan war.
A minor goddess, Thetis, was married to a mortal, Peleus. Out of this marriage, Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior, was born.
Eris, the goddess of mischief, was not invited to the marriage feast, so into the middle of the banquet hall she threw a
golden apple with this note: To the fairest of the goddesses.
Each of the most beautiful of the goddesses--- namely, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite--- claimed the golden apple. A quarrel
ensued and Father Zeus was asked to decide who was the most beautiful of the three.
This placed Zeus in a predicament since Hera was his own wife and Athena and Aphrodite were his own daughters.
So he parted the clouds covering Mount Olympus, the dwelling place of the deities, and showed the three goddesses a prince of
Troy named Paris. Zeus suggested that the three beauty contestants take their problem to Paris and ask him to decide.
The goddesses descended upon the earth, circled Paris by turns, and each proceeded to bribe him so that he would award
her the golden apple.
Hera promised him power; Athena promised him wisdom; Aphrodite promised that she would give him the most beautiful
woman in the world for his wife. Paris awarded the golden apple to Aphrodite.
Helen of Troy
Background
In Greek mythology, Helen was the most beautiful woman from the age of the heroes. She was the wife of
Menelaus, king of Sparta (one of several Greek kingdoms). After Helen ran away with Paris, prince of Troy, the
Greek armies fought a ten year long war against Troy to win her back. The English playwright, Christopher
Marlowe, called Helen, "the face that launched a thousand ships."
Now Paris no longer found the choice so hard to make. He had long been in love with the most beautiful woman on
earth, whose name was Helen. It so happened that Helen was married to King Menelaus, and Paris had thought up
until that moment that the possibility of his winning her love was beyond all hope, but now he understood that his
chances could be greatly improved - and so Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite.
She giggled with delight, but the other two goddesses were furious and flew directly back to Mount Olympus in a
great huff, where they complained long and bitterly to Zeus about the unfairness of the competition. Zeus had a
dark feeling that there was trouble in store for humankind.
Paris set sail for the land of Sparta, where Menelaus was king and lived with his beautiful Queen Helen. Menelaus
welcomed the famous prince into his palace, and while the two sat talking about the affairs of the world, Queen
Helen came down from her perfumed room, looking as lovely as a goddess.
The maid-servants brought her a seat and covered it with a soft lambswool rug, and she sat before her silver
work box, but before she began to embroider, she glanced over at the visiting prince and questioned her husband,
“Shall I guess the name of this prince who has come to visit us? Let us see if I am right or wrong? I have heard tell of
a prince from far off Troy who is famous the world over for his looks and fashionable style. Is it he, Paris, prince of
Troy who has come to stay with us?”
“My dear wife,” said Menelaus, “As always, you are quite right. It is indeed, Paris, prince of Troy who is paying us
the honor of his visit.” Paris acknowledged Queen Helen with a nod of his head.
At dinner that night, Helen added a special potion into the wine, so that anyone who drank it would forget all his
cares, and be happy for the rest of the evening. They feasted and made merry and while Menelaus was busy
laughing and joking with one of his generals, Paris spoke softly to Helen.
“Most beautiful queen,” he said, “I beg you, meet me tonight in the orchard beneath the palace walls and we shall
sail away together in my ship, and head directly for Troy, the most magnificent city in all the world.”
And because the goddess of love, Aphrodite, had wished it so, Helen could not help herself, and agreed to his
suggestion.
When King Menelaus awoke in the morning, and he discovered that his guest and his wife had run away together,
he flew into a rage, kicking the furniture and punching the walls of his chamber.
He swore before all the gods that his revenge would be truly terrible - so he went to see his elder brother, King
Agamemnon of Argos, and said to him, “My dear brother, the honor of our family has been besmirched by this
foreign peacock, this perfumed playboy, this prancing Prince of Troy. Let us gather together all the kings of Greece
and combine our armies into the greatest force that has ever been seen since the dawn of history, and let us sail to
the far of city of Troy, and teach Prince Paris some manners.”
Although Agamemnon was wise and he knew that it is always a terrible mistake to rush headlong into conflict. He
suggested first, that they send an ambassador to Troy to request the return of Queen Helen, whom he was sure had
been abducted against her will. He knew that Paris’ father, King Priam of Troy was a good man, and he was sure
that he would order his son to release her, and so they sent a message to Troy in the name of peace and
reconciliation, but Helen did not wish to go home, and Prince Paris refused to return the lovely queen to her
husband, saying that they had been brought together by the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite herself; and so that meant
war. King Agamemnon, the brother of the wronged Menelaus, summoned all the kings of Greece and prepared a
navy of a thousand ships, the greatest military force to ever set sail.
And that is the story of how the great war between the Greeks and the Trojans was started by Prince Paris and
Queen Helen.
What is grammar?
• In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases and words in a
natural language.

What is subject-verb agreement?

 It means that the characteristics of the subject should be reflected in the verb. For example, if a subject
is
singular, the verb form must also be singular.
Example:
He loves you. (singular)
We love you. (plural)

A bouquet of yellow roses lends color and fragrance to the room.

- A subject will come before a phrase beginning with of. This is a key rule for understanding subjects. The
word of is the culprit in many, perhaps most, subject-verb mistakes.

Everybody tries to make a good first impression.

- Use singular verb forms after the following: everyone, everybody, somebody, nobody and someone.

Some of the pie is missing.

- With words that indicate portions e.g., a lot, a majority, some, all-Rule I given earlier in this section is
reversed, and we are guided by the noun after of. If the noun after of is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural,
use a plural verb.

Examples
1. A lot of the pies have disappeared.
2. A third of the city is unemployed.
3. A third of the people are unemployed.
4. All of the pie is gone.
5. All of the pies are gone.
6. Some of the pie is missing.
7. Some of the pies are missing.

My aunt or my uncle is arriving by train today.

- Two singular subjects connected by or, either/or, or neither/nor require a singular verb.

Examples:
1. Neither Juan nor Carmen is available.
2. Either Kiana or Casey is helping today with stage decorations.
1. Neither the serving bowl nor the plates goes on that shelf.
2. Neither the serving bowl nor the plates go on that shelf.

Neither the serving bowl nor the plates go on that shelf.

The verb in an or, either/or, or neither/nor sentence agrees with the noun or pronoun closest to it.
Examples:
1. Neither the plates nor the serving bowl goes on that shelf.
2. Either John or his sisters are in the school today.]
A car and a bike are my means of transportation.
 As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and.
Example: 1. Adrian and Joshua are best friends.
 However, note these exceptions: Exceptions: Breaking and entering is against the law. The bed and
breakfast was charming. In those sentences, breaking and entering and bed and breakfast are compound
nouns.

There are four hurdles to jump.

In sentences beginning with here or there, the true subject follows the verb.
1. There is a high hurdle to jump.
2. Here are the keys.

NOTE:
The word there's, a contraction of there is, leads to bad habits in informal sentences like There's a lot of people
here today, because it's easier to say "there's" than "there are." Take care never to use there's with a plural subject.

Three miles is too far to walk.

Use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums of money, etc., when considered as a unit.
Examples:
1. Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense.
2. Ten thousand pesos is a high price to pay.

Linguistics is interesting to learn.

Some subjects may look plural at first glance but are in fact singular and so require a singular verb. This is because
the English language uses ‘s’ to pluralize, and so nouns such as ‘linguistics’ (although ending in ‘s’) require a singular
verb.
Example: Physics is a really hard subject.

1. Did you drink enough water?

2. I did wash the dishes.
The words do, does and did often cause confusion in the English language. They are all forms of the verb to do. The
verb to do can be used as an action verb and also as an auxiliary verb.

1. Your client do understand the contract.

2. He always does good work.
3. Do you like me?
4. What did they bring you?
5. When did they arrive home?
6. Your friends did get the e-mail.

Context clues
Context clues are hints found within a sentence, paragraph, or passage that a reader can use to understand the
meanings of new or unfamiliar words. A reader should rely on context clues when an obvious clue to meaning is
provided, or when only a general sense of the meaning is needed for the reader's purposes.

FORMAL and INFORMAL DEFINITON

Formal Definition
- A formal definition is structured in a logical and concise/pattern/so that the information can be provided without
additional unnecessary words. A formal definition includes the following:
1. The term (word or phrase) to be defined.
2. The class of object or concept to which the term belongs.
3. The differentiating characteristics that distinguish it from others of its class.

The bicycle is a mode of transport that has two wheels and is powered through the pedaling effort of the rider.
Term Class differentiating characteristics

2. Crystal is a quartz that is transparent or nearly so and that is either colorless or only slightly tinged.
Term Class differentiating characteristics

When to Use Formal Definitions?

 When your writing contains a term that may be key to audience understanding and that term could
likely be unfamiliar to them.
Example:
"Stellar Wobble is a measurable variation of speed wherein a star's velocity is shifted by the gravitational
pull of a foreign body."

 When a commonly used word or phrase has layers of subjectivity or evaluation in the way you choose to
define it.
Example:
"Throughout this essay, the term classic gaming will refer specifically to playing video games produced for
the Atari, the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and any systems in-between."

 Avoid defining with "X is when" and "X is where" statements. These introductory adverb phrases should
be avoided. Define a noun with a noun, a verb with a verb, and so forth.
 Do not define a word by mere repetition or merely restating the word. "Rhyming poetry consists of lines
that contain end rhymes."
 Define a word in simple and familiar terms. Your definition of an unfamiliar word should not lead your
audience towards looking up more words in order to understand your definition.
 Keep the class portion of your definition small but adequate.

Informal Definition
- Informal definitions, on the other hand, do not include distinguishing features.
- The writer uses known words or examples to explain an unknown term. These definitions may be
synonyms or antonyms introduced by or, in other words, or like. It could also be stipulation, analogy, or
illustration.
PERSUASIVE TEXT
- A persuasive text is any text where the main purpose is to present a point of view and seeks to persuade
a reader.
- A persuasive text can be an argument, exposition, discussion, review or even an advertisement.

Persuasion - is an act or process of convincing another person to do something on your favor.

You will recognize persuasive texts with these features:

1) Use of repeated words
2) Use of capital letters
3) Use of exclamation points
4) Asking rhetorical questions (questions that need not be answered but asked for effect) Touch of humor

Study this example:

SALE! Grab the SPECIAL OFFER today! Would you want to miss this special offer? CALL NOW!

Alliteration - Alliteration or the use of recurring similar consonant sounds

Example:
We hail for happiness, health, and hope!

Metaphor - Metaphor or the use of description of one using the description of another
Example:
Would you let your website be a bland dish? Let us spice if up for you!

Language affect - Language affect or the use of words that convey distinct emotion
Example: Where is your sense of fairness, justice, patriotism?