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Module 2 - Part
2: Explorations and Exercises
Other parts of this module include:
Index | Part
1: Overview | Part
3: Texts and Contexts | Part
4: Web Resources
The Problem of Violence in the Ancient World
To respond to these exercises, it helps to have some appreciation
of the cultural assumptions explored in them. Click on Web
Resources for further insights into the way ideas about
the human and divine in each culture colors the literary
texts that we are studying.
These questions are arranged into three color-coded categories.
Level A invites you to look closely
at some specific aspects of individual texts. Answering these
questions shows that you have read carefully and understand
the significance of important words and ideas as they appear
in context.
Level B asks you to think more
deeply about the implications of some of the details that
you have isolated.
Level C allows you to build on
the findings of the first two categories to theorize broadly
about the relationship of the text to social and historical
forces beyond the work itself.
Topics in this module's Exploration and Exercises section include:
Focus on the Oresteia
Level A
- The Chorus in Agamemnon recalls the moment
when their king instructed his men to hoist Iphigenia
up "like a yearling" and gag her, lest "a sound will
curse the house" (ll. 232, 236). What kind of behavior
does this imply is required of the sacrificial victim?
- Turning their attention to Iphigenia's point of view,
the members of the Chorus speak of "her glance like arrows
showering / wounding every murderer through with pity" (ll.
238–39). What is ironic about this description of the
sacrificial victim?
- Cassandra calls Agamemnon's palace "an echoing womb
of guilt" and a "slaughterhouse of heroes" (ll. 1091,
1093). How can a womb be a slaughterhouse? How do the
violent acts that have taken place there justify the
terms that she uses?
- What kind of ruler is Aegisthus? What does he mean
when he speaks of "techniques" that can be applied to
silence criticism (l. 1656)?
- Apollo recoils from the Furies in the Eumenides,
suggesting that they are on alien soil:
Go where heads are severed, eyes gouged out,
where Justice and bloody slaughter are the same...
(ll. 184–85)
What does he want to deny about their claims for vengeance?
- How is Orestes like Ixion, the first murderer in Greek
mythology? What has Orestes undergone in order to be
restored to the community whose rules he violated?
- Why did the trial of Orestes end with a tie vote?
In what way are the claims of both sides justified?
- What change of costume dramatizes the transformation
of the Furies to the Kindly Ones? How does the ending
of the Oresteia depend on their claims being
honored rather than violated?
Level B
- How many acts of sacrifice occur in the Oresteia?
Discuss the evolution of the images of sacrificial violence
from the opening Chorus of Agamemnon through
the closing exit of the Furies in The Eumenides.
- Why are the Furies more offended by Orestes' matricide
than they are by Clytemnaestra's murder of her husband?
Why does Apollo get so angry with them as the trial draws
to its conclusion?
- How does ancient Athenian biological lore favor the
claims of the male and make the woman's role in childbearing
seem secondary? How do the multiple references to the
womb in Aeschylus's play complicate Apollo's bland argument
in opposing the Furies?
- What does Clytemnaestra mean at the end of Agamemnon when
she says, "Our lives are based on pain" (l. 1694)? Does
the trilogy suggest that this is a problem specific to
Clytemnaestra or is this a universal human truth? Offer
evidence for your response.
Level C
- The basic Athenian stage set contained an altar. What
is the connection between drama and sacrifice? How is
tragedy at its root an exploration of the nature of violence?
- What is the nature of violence in the Iliad and
the Odyssey? Do the Homeric poems regard the
use of force in human affairs as a problem to be solved?
- Compare the way Homer describes violent action with
Aeschylus's evocation of violence in the Oresteia.
What kind of information is relayed by the messengers
in Greek tragedy? How do the generic differences between
narrative and drama influence the treatment of violence?
- How are violence and gender linked in the Oresteia?
Compare the treatment of women in their relation to violence
in the Homeric epics and the plays of Aeschylus and Euripides.
Focus on Genesis 4, Cain and Abel
Level A
- Biblical narrative is very sparing of detail. What
are we told about Cain and Abel? How can we connect the
bare information we receive about them with the terrible
violence that occurs in the encounter of the two brothers?
- With whom does Cain enter into dialogue? Why is his
conversation with God recorded, but not his exchange
with Abel?
- How is Cain punished? What is the mark of Cain? What
inferences can we draw about the view of violence in
the Hebrew Bible?
Level B
- The hostility between brothers in this early chapter
of Genesis emerges from the different ways in which they
approach sacrifice. Can you find any evidence that explains
why God prefers Abel's offering to Cain's?
- How does the narrator indicate the emotional turmoil
into which Cain is thrown by the sequence of events described
here? Do you sympathize with his reactions? Do you think
he is portrayed as a villain?
Level C
- Why should violence between brothers occur so early
in the biblical account of human history? What does this
story tell us about ourselves?
- Compare the way violence is described in the Homeric
epics with the description of murder here. What weapons
are used? What wounds are inflicted? Why do we know so
little about the physical event in the story of Cain
and Abel?
Focus on Genesis 22, The Sacrifice
of Isaac
Level A
- Three times in this brief narrative Abraham says, "Here
I am" (the King James Translation alters the phrase,
but it is a single word in the original Hebrew). How
does this response tell us what kind of person Abraham
is?
- What details are offered about the three-day expedition
that Abraham and Isaac take to Mount Moriah ? Why does
Abraham leave "early in the morning"? Who travels with
them? At what point do the father and son go on alone?
- What role does Isaac play in this story? How are the
violent aspects of the sacrificial act brought into play
by his participation in the preparation for the rite?
- How does Abraham learn that he need not sacrifice
his own son?
Level B
- Why does God immediately tell Abraham that He intends
for him to offer his son as a "burnt offering"? How would
this narrative be different if that injunction were delayed
until after father and son reached their destination?
- What understanding do we have of the relationship
between Abraham and Isaac? Find some suggestive bits
of dialogue and explain their significance.
- We know that Abraham has another son, Ishmael, by
his wife's servant, Hagar. The chapters that lead up
to the binding of Isaac spell out the difficulty with
which Abraham and his wife Sarah, who are both well beyond
child-bearing years, conceive Isaac. Why is Isaac called
his "only son"? How does the conclusion of chapter 22
suggest the significance of this "only" son?
Level C
- Compare Abraham's exchanges with God with Cain's.
Why does he "tempt" Abraham? How does Abraham's response
differ from Cain's and thus exemplify a new religious
idea?
- The aborted sacrifice of Isaac became a favorite theme
for artistic representation. Study the four paintings
found in the Web Resources page for this study unit.
How does each artist seem to propose a different psychological
interpretation of Abraham's experience?
- Discuss the forms of violent conduct that concern
Homeric epic, Athenian tragedy, and the early narratives
of Genesis. Compare the psychological impact of the biblical
narratives with the psychological insights afforded by
Greek epic and Greek drama. What characteristics are
most valued by the different writers and the cultures
that shaped them — and that they in return shaped?
- Read the poem in Volume B by Rabbi Ephraim Ben Jacob,
also called "The Sacrifice of Isaac." Written in response
to the First Crusades, this dense and tragic text assumes
the legend that Abraham actually sacrificed Isaac before
the angel could stop him, and that the child was brought
back to life. Discuss the development of this theme in
the context of the historical calamity that the Crusades
became for medieval Jews. How does the biblical story
give Ben Jacob a frame for understanding violence?
Focus on the Mahabharata
Level A
- Describe the manner in which the descendants of Pandu
and Dhrtarastra are born. How do the accounts of their
births predict the difference between the Pandavas and
the Kauravas? What portents suggest that they are all
born for a violent end?
- Vikarna explains that "hunting, drinking, dicing,
and fornicating" are the vices that plague kings (p.
976). What does this tell us about the honor code of
the warrior class? How do each of these diversions distract
a ruler from his Dharma?
- Cheating is not mentioned as a vice, but it lies at
the heart of the Mahabharata conflict. What
kinds of deception are practiced? By whom?
Level B
- On a visit to his cousins, overwhelmed by the splendor
of the Pandava palace, Duryodhana erroneously thinks
a crystal surface is a pool of water; later, he makes
the opposite mistake, thinking that a pool of water is
a flat surface. What connection may these embarrassing
mistakes have with the way he evades detection in Book
9? (See p. 995.)
- Bhima speaks of his opponents as sacrificial victims.
Do you think he is accurate in describing Duryodhana
and Duhsasana in this way?
- In Book 8, Karna and Arjuna fight their climactic
duel. Discuss the magical aura that invests the encounter
of two of Kunti's sons. What happens to Karna's arrow?
What happens to his chariot? What happens when he dies?
- Arjuna utters a pious prayer as he takes aim at his
mother's oldest son: "If I have ever practiced ascetic
austerities, gratified my preceptors, and listened to
the counsels of well-wishers, let this sharp shaft, so
long worshiped by me, slay my enemy Karna by that Truth!" (p.
994). Do you find this appeal to morality and ritual
compelling? Discuss the ethical content of his words
and of his deeds.
Level C
- Explain the ways in which the Kauravas' treatment
of Draupadi undermines the rationale of the caste system
and threatens the rule of law. Compare Arjuna's complaint
to Krishna in the First Teaching of the Bhagavad-Gita : "when
women are corrupted, / disorder is born in society" (stanza
41).
- On page 957 in the Anthology, the headnote
mentions that modern readers tend to favor Draupadi when
they draw comparisons between her and Sita in the Ramayana.
How would you compare the roles played by the queen mothers
Kunti and Gandhari in the Mahabharata and by
Kaikeyi and Kausalya in the Ramayana? Comment
on the complex gender politics in the two South Asian
epics and the ways in which they precipitate violent
behavior.
- Does the Mahabharata justify the existence
of violence in the world? How do you interpret the significance
of Krishna 's argument about the embodied self in the Bhagavad-Gita in
attempting to answer this question?
- Compare the implications of the brief story of Cain
and Abel to the extended account of the rivalrous brother
clans in the Mahabharata. Why is the family
at the root of so many tales of bloodshed and social
calamity?
- Compare the role of the supernatural in the battle
scenes in the Iliad and the Mahabharata.
How are we to judge the violent events in which gods
and natural portents participate? How would you compare
the modern warrior's reliance on high technology to inflict
pain and annihilate enemies? Are there lessons that we
might learn from the ancient epics in this regard?
Focus on the Historical Records
Level A
- Explain how Ssu-ma Ch'ien offended the Emperor by
taking the part of Li-Ling. What do we learn about the
significance of strategic decisions in the art of war?
What do we learn about the ruler's expectations of his
courtiers?
- Discuss the rhetorical delicacy of the Letter
in Reply to Ren An. How does Ssu-ma Ch'ien talk
about the violence done to his body? How does he suggest
the usual effects of torture on its victims? How did
he manage to withstand those effects?
- For all his intelligence and personal nobility, the
Prince of Wei comes to a bad end. What does he do to
himself after he saves several members of his family
from their enemies? How are family tensions related to
violence in this story?
- Most ancient literature focuses on the lives of aristocrats
and kings, but many of Ssu-ma Ch'ien's histories introduce
us to men who are low on the social scale, like butchers
and cleaners of latrines. How is the violence in which
they are involved different from the violence described
in the epic tradition?
Level B
- The Letter in Response to Jen An sets a
pattern that Ssu-ma Ch'ien seems to explore in the other
selections printed in the Anthology. How many
of his heroes mutilate or deface themselves? What leads
them to commit violence against themselves?
- Discuss the importance of women in the world of Ssu-ma
Ch'ien. Look, for example, at the role played by Lady
Ju or the Prince of Wei's sister in The Prince of
Wei, or at Nieh Cheng's mother and sister in the
selection from Biographies of the Assassins.
Level C
- Compare the attitude toward cannibalism in ancient
China as represented by Ssu-ma Ch'ien's offhand reference
to Chih the Outlaw (p. 868) with the attitude of the
diarist in Lu Xun's Diary of a Madman (Volume
F). What view of traditional Chinese society emerges
in these very different works?
- How does violent action arise from the conception
of honor that motivates Yu-jang or Nieh Cheng? How does
it arise from the conception of honor that we see in
the heroes of Greek literature, like Hector or Achilles,
or in Sanskrit literature, in figures like Arjuna or
Bhima? Compare and contrast the idea of self that motivates
the characters you choose to discuss.
- Compare the impact of women's social roles on the
forces that set in motion the cycles of violence described
in the Oresteia, the Mahabharata,
and the histories of Ssu-ma Ch'ien.
Focus on Kierkegaard's Fear
and Trembling
Level A
- A "panegyric" is an oration that praises its subject.
The term is derived from two Greek roots that refer to
a eulogy in a public assembly. What rhetorical strategies
does Kierkegaard use that justify the title "Panegyric
on Abraham"? Why does he call one section "Preliminary
Expectoration"?
- Why does Kierkegaard speak of "Father Abraham"? What
is the difference between being the father of Isaac and
the "Second Father of the human race," as the conclusion
to the "Panegyric on Abraham" declares?
Level B
- In "Problemata: Preliminary Expectoration," Kierkegaard
says that Abraham "believed that God would not require
Isaac of him." What does he mean by this? Is there any
evidence in Genesis to support this assertion?
- In Problem II, Kierkegaard speaks of Cain and Abraham.
How does he distinguish between their motives?
- What is the difference between the tragic hero and
the knight of faith? Why does Kierkegaard find Abraham
such a towering figure? How is his willingness to sacrifice
his child of an order far different from Agamemnon's?
Level C
- Kierkegaard offers four versions of the events of
Chapter 22 of Genesis in the Prelude to Fear and
Trembling. Discuss the variations he introduces
in each: how does modifying one's perception of Abraham's
inner thoughts affect one's understanding of Isaac's
experience?
- Explain the comparisons of Abraham's paternal care
for Isaac to a mother's means of weaning a breast-feeding
child that conclude each variant of the story of Chapter
22.
- In "Problem I," Kierkegaard sets the question for
which this philosophical treatise is probably best remembered: "Is
there such a thing as a teleological suspension of the
ethical?" Discuss the many paradoxes that Kierkegaard
grapples with here. In what sense is Abraham's behavior
unethical?
Focus on Iphigenia in Aulis
Level A
- The Chorus is upset by watching the brothers Menelaus
and Agamemnon quarrel. How deep are family ties in this
play? What is Euripides suggesting about human conduct
here?
- What is the connection between a bride and a sacrificial
victim?
- Who are the "barbarians" to whom the Chorus and Iphigenia
refer? What does Euripides suggest we should think about
the Greeks who so disdain these barbarians?
Level B
- What view of the heroic warrior does Euripides offer
in his depiction of Achilles? Find some examples in his
speeches that seem telling to you.
- Clytemnaestra speaks of Agamemnon's having killed
her husband; this idea is an invention of Euripides'.
Comment on the impact of references to the past in Iphigenia
in Aulis : Why is it worth noting that
Menelaus swears by Pelops and Atreus when he wants to
be reconciled with Agamemnon?
Level C
- How does Iphigenia greet her own victimhood in her
last long speeches? What is ironic about her attitude
toward the Trojan War?
- Comment on the role played by the female Chorus in The
Eumenides and in Iphigenia in Aulis.
What is the relation of women to violent action in
these two plays?
- Compare and contrast the portrait of Clytemnaestra
in this play and in the Oresteia. Which is
the more heroic figure?
- Compare the ending of Iphigenia in Aulis with
the ending of Medea. How seriously does Euripides
propose the last-minute remedies offered in each play?
Focus on "We Pluck the Bracken"
Level A
- Who is speaking in this folk ballad, one of a series
of such poems in the Classic of Poetry?
- Look up the meaning of the word "bracken" if it is
unfamiliar to you and discuss the images in this poem.
How do they provide an ironic counterpoint to the experiences
being described?
Level B
- How would you relate this poem to the fate of Po Yi
and Shu Ch'I? Discuss the differences in social rank
between them and the speakers of the ballad. How is the
decision of Po Yi and Shu Ch'I to abandon the privileges
of their class typical of Ssu-ma Ch'ien's protagonists?
- How is the warlord portrayed here? Compare the description
of warriors and their chariots in Greek and Sanskrit
epic.
Level C
- What does the preservation of a ballad like "We Pluck
the Bracken" suggest about the treatment of war in the
Chinese Classics?
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