Reflections and Close Reading

I was suprised that i didnt hear anyone talk about how there was no mention of how Achilleus died in the Iliad. Homer never specified it. I did some research on it and it seems he was killed by Paris with a spear on his ankle (Achilles-ankles). Perhaps homer has a message that follows not mentioning the death of Achileus. Maybe because we knew he was going to die for along that we just didn’t care when he died, which is odd to me because I’ve been curious since the book ended. The constant reminder of his upcoming death must have caused our urge to know how and when he would die to disappear. This is just a thought on the Iliad ended, would like to hear more if it.

it was difficult trying to differentiate the topic of pain and pleasure in real life and in the play. perhaps I'm not understanding the full purpose of the chorus in this play but I would like to know how it is different in the play to real life because i feel like its just simply similar to watching a scary movie. Does the fact a God and a Titan being involved in it have an affect on this difference, or is it that they're being told first hand? i know i was suppose to be answering this but im unsure as to what answers i can provide for that with explanation that makes sense. i would just be repeating myself.

Ive added a quote from Prometheus Bound to my final. The chorus states that " Unfold the whole story and tell us upon what charge Zeus has caught you and painfully punishes you with such dishonor. Instruct us, unless, indeed, there is some harm in telling. " this quote would help me in answering topic 1 since the chorus is gaining pleasure in knowing the story of prometheus and would have simpathy since they are still worried that by Prometheus telling his story would increase his punishment

    I'm going to be discussing the first topic where Prometheus expresses his emotions about Zeus's ways as a God towards the chorus.  I think the act of sympathy is a charitable act because they are comforting Prometheus in this specific scene. After Prometheus says how he feels about Zeus , the Chorus responds ." I mourn your unfortunate fate  Prometheus .Shedding from my eyes a coursing flood of tears and I wet my tender cheeks with their moist streams. For Zeus, holding this unenviable power by self appointed laws, displays towards the gods of an overweening spirit."

In my final paper i will be talking about how Prometheus suffers and the compassion that is brought to him. Prometheus is saying zeus will be overthrown and he knows he suffering. l o suffers more than Prometheus because Prometheus knows that he is suffering for a good cause, while Io is being punished for no fault of her own. The chorus is sympathizing for Prometheus because he’s suffering he feels no compassion for his miseries. The chorus is telling Prometheus that he’s done wrong. 

I have decided to change the topic of my final paper.  Initially, I wanted to approach topic #1 and use Prometheus Bound , however my snow day assignment was on Philoctetes which I found to be much easier (at least for me) to analyze and elaborate on.  I would like to add not only the physical pain Philoctetes feels, but also the emotional and mental effect of this pain that has been put upon Philoctetes.  I have so much context that I know would work so well with my approach to this paper and by using his physical, mental, and emotional state altogether, I can write an essay that is better in writing and analyzation than if I were to solely write about Philoctetes physical state.

I decided to do the last topic about Herald's speech as the final paper. "Were I to tell you of the hard work done, the nights exposed, the cramped sea-quarters, the foul beds ... why must a live man count the numbers of the slain?" (555-569). I believe that these lines are the most important part of Herald's speech. Herald in terms of the plot is important only to deliver the message that Agamemnon is returning home with victory. His excitement for coming back in his home makes him an interesting character. Even though he describes all the troubles they had while they were fighting Trojans he leaves that behind and says that from now on nothing bad will happened to them, which is kind of ironic since we all know what happens next.

For the final paper, I chose the final prompt, Agamemnon's story has always interested me, whether it is in the Illiad or the Agamemnon. The way his psyche is displayed and shown to us is left to much interpretation and his interactions with others, especially those he see's as inferior to himself is, in my opinion, a huge debate topic because of how others perceive him within the story and how we the reader are left to perceive him.

One instance I am dedicating an entire paragraph to is when the chorus was insisting on hearing the pain that Io claims she is enduring or has endured. It seems to be a good point where the chorus sort of wants to know more about her, possibly to understand where she is coming from or just wanting to know more about her. Maybe they feel the need to ask her in order to sympathize with her? I feel this could be where pain and pleasure come in and the act of sympathy and their relationship altogether. The scene where Io meets Prometheus when he is tied up and she asks to hear about his story and his pains can go hand in hand with the relationship between pain, pleasure, and sympathy as well. I feel like I can go in depth with this scene altogether.

Herald: Did ye pine for us, as we for you? Leader: The whole land’s heart was dark, and groaned for thee. These two short lines I feel are the most significant for my paper. In this instance we see the chorus trying to hint to the herald that something is obviously wrong. As a herald, his job is to deliver  messages both ways, however in this crucial moment, the herald failed to pick up on the energy in the “room” and deliver it back to Agamemnon

for the final I have been reading over Prometheus Bound to look for quotes or sections of the story to relate to topic one, howeve it's not going so well since I have no idea what quote to use. Usually I would read stories multiple times till I find a quote to use so im just going to keep looking. In the mean time I have to start looking for research papers that are based on Prometheous Bound or how pain and pleasure is connected to the act of sympathy so I can add them to my outline

I started doing my outline for the final assignment, and it is going very well. I feel like it is much easier than just starting to write my own paper. I chose to talk about topic one; how is pain and pleasure connected with the act of sympathy in the Prometheus Bound. I want to include my own opinion about what I think of pain and pleasure, but I do not want to overdue it. I feel like if I begin to talk about my own opinion, I will stick to that and forget about the actual topic.

For the snow-day assignment I want to talk about Antigone. I am still undecided on which lines to use. For the final paper, I am deciding on choosing topic one. I feel like our class discussion is very helpful to me for this topic.

So with my Philoctetes paper, I'm still finding some evidence to build on. For now, here is an excerpt of what my intro might be. After an incident involving a poisonous bite from a snake, Philoctetes, the wielder of Heracles bow, is left alone on an island (Lemnos) to fend for himself. With no aid or medicine, Philoctetes was in a state of agonizing pain and solitude for ten years straight. This tragic incident has damaged Philoctetes' physical and mental state, hindering Philoctete's ability to trust any being, especially Oddyseus. His inability to trust possibly jeopardizes the Greek's victory, for if they do not get the bow off of Philoctetes' possession, they will not win the Trojan War. Because of Philoctete's injured body, his ability to trust or help his comrades has weakened significantly. If I'm honest, this is all I have so far. Of course, I have a lot more to add on to my intro, but I'm at a plateau. What else should I add here? If anyone...

For my final paper I am still not 100% sure on which topic i'm doing but for now I have chosen prompt #3. The first point that drew me into it was that Hermes is yet another God to say Prometheus has a lack of wisdom. Most of the time when a person is sure of something or is very knowledgeable on a topic, people say they have wisdom so it was interesting to me that even while Prometheus literally knows the future events that will come to pass, most of them are still stating that he lacks wisdom. He knows the impact that his actions would have on the future so no matter what, whatever he does is strategically done. He knew what would happen and still did it anyway.

I'm well aware that I'm late in regards to posting what my final topic is, I published this before but I'm not sure why it didn't go through. My topic for the final will either be the first topic (pain and pleasure with the chorus) or the fourth topic (Philoctetes's body affecting his state of mind). Both topics are very interesting to me, and have a lot of evidence to back it up. Although I do feel as if there is more evidence in regards to Philoctetes, some of the actions the Chorus committed in Prometheus Bound are worth talking. They may not be obvious at first, but after carefully looking through small details one will notice what it is that they are feeling. I will probably stick with Philoctetes though, he is an interesting character to discuss. I will publish my other blog for this week some time tomorrow or Wednesday, I don't know why my blog didn't uploaded last week

I am interested in choosing topic 1 for my final paper. I'm going to discuss how the Chorus experiences pain and pleasure in their act of sympathizing with Prometheus and go more into depth about what Prometheus went through throughout the book.

In Prometheus, the Chorus’s desire to be informed of Prometheus and IO’s sufferings that were done Zeus derives from the individual self first then unforced by group thinking. The individual self  or humans, always have the need to know. Everyone wants to know the most they can as easy as they can, which is just by being told something. Each member of the Chorus individually wanted to hear the rest of their gruesome experiences and seemed to be feeling both pleasure and disgust. It is hard to really figure out what in us wants to always know things no matter how horrible they are, probably the feeling of getting an answer without having to do anything or maybe because we all have a sense that knowledge is power.

For the final assignment I am in doubt between topic number one and topic number five. I feel like I'm comfortable with these two topics. Topic number one has a lot to write about because the chorus has a big part in the book. Also there can be a big comparison between pain and pleasure that chorus experiences. Topic number five also is a good topic that you can go in depth to analyze Herald speech. He is a charismatic character and also different. There's so much you can write on the topic if he fulfilled his duty as a messenger, and give reasons what made him take the action he did.

For my final paper I will be choosing  prompt #1. In my paper I'm going to go into an in-depth analysis about pain and pleasure in the  Prometheus Bound. The tie it with the act of sympathy and sacrifice. I'm also going to talk about the pain   Prometheus went through through out  the book, and then tie that to how sympathetic the chorus becomes to his pain. The Chorus experiences pain by standing in with  Prometheus when Zues comes, also bring up points where they want to hear about the pain someones going through. Lastly i'll bring up instances where they sympathizer  feels pleasure in pain, also why is there pleasure in pain and suffering.