Class notes plus miscellaneous, 02.11.05
Alright, I'll start with some of the class notes before I begin with the various assignments.Notes, Wednesday, 02.11.05
-What tranformed the furies into eumenides?
-The Oresteia, pg. 200-202: Greek idea of "Blood revenge" (Bible: "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth...")
-First tenet of Greek religion: Revere only the Gods, ie. no idolotry (similar to Christian 1st commandment)
-Oresteia/tragedy general theme: "We suffer into the truth (Aeschylus)," or, in other words: "a mature human being must recognize the tragic sense of life, the universal aspect of suffering"
-Greek word for justice: Dike (sounds like dee-kay)
-examples of repetition in the Oresteia? E.g. the word "dog" or "hound"
Here, I got to wondering just what that phrase, "the dogs of war," actually means, so I did a bit of Google research. The song by Pink Floyd (The Dogs of War, no doubt) comes to my mind...Here's what I found:
Apparently, "dogs of war" refers to soldiers, and to "cry havoc" was a military order given in Britain as early as 1385 and would have brought forth the soldiers, or "dogs of war." Hence the phrase coined by Shakespeare and used in his play Julius Caesar: "cry 'havoc' and let slip the dogs of war.
ANTONY
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy,-
Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips,
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue-
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy ;
Blood and destruction shall be so in use
And dreadful objects so familiar
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:
And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
Source: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/105600.html
And some more class notes:
-In Greek tragedy, the audience never actually sees violent acts take place on stage, as opposed to more modern entertainment. The word "obscene" comes from Greek, meaning "off stage." Interesting.
I'll try to find some pictures of the Greek Furies and perhaps some other visual material later.
posted by Bryan Kelly @ 6:05 PM
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