Exam Preparation Guidelines      Clas. 4110
Time: Sat., Dec. 13, 3:30-6:30 p.m.
Place: Ramaley N1B23
Course Material: The final exam will cover the Argonautica (Book III), Aeneid and Metamorphoses.

I. Identifications. You will be asked to do 6 of 10. 30%
Identify and state the relevance to the study of epic literature of the following. Be brief (roughly 3-4 line answers are expected) and include an example from the Iliad, Odyssey or Gilgamesh, where possible.


A. Know the basic facts, including dates, where possible.

Alexandrian/Hellenistic Poetics (major characteristics?)
Ancient Greek, Latin (know which was the original language of the Iliad, Odyssey, Argonautica, Aeneid and Metamorphoses)
Apollonius
Augustan Period (dates, major cultural center)
Hellenistic Period (dates, major cultural center)
Homer
Ovid (including The Art of Love, The Love Poems)
Virgil (including Eclogues, Georgics)


B. Terms used in lectures.

aition (origin story)
allusion
apotheosis
aristeia
book divisions
ecphrasis (digression)
elegiac lament
furor (madness, rage)
genres other than epic (why do they matter to the study of epic?)
hymn
metamorphosis
murex (= purple dye)
peripeteia (reversal of fortune)
pietas
prologue
theodicy (= divine justice)


C. You should still know (with an example from Apollonius, Virgil or Ovid).

athletic games
councils of the gods
deliberation speeches
descent to the Underworld
(epic) catalogue
epic hero
epic simile
flood/catastrophe stories
god-protege relationship
hero's friend/substitute/double
lament
landscape description
single combat scene
wrath stories


D. Know how/why the following are relevant/important to the study of Apollonius, Virgil, or Ovid. Have one example to support your point(s) about each term.

artistic competition (in Ovid)
Bacchants
Doloneia (the Dolon episode, Iliad Book X)
Why does this matter to the study of Virgil?
ethnographical or geographical knowledge
invocation of the/a muse
magic (or magic plants)
marriage in caves
Melville's translation (or the one you are using)
organization (of the Aeneid or Metamorphoses)
pathological love or "abnormal psychology"
scholarly learning (relevance to the composing of epic)


II. Commentary on a passage. One-two paragraphs or one page is the suggested length. 30%
1) Situate the passage in the work. Be succinct (a few sentences) and precise.
2) Explain the significance of this passage to major themes or critical issues in the poem discussed in this course. Have a specific argument.


III. Essay. 40%
Prepare at least two questions for your category. Two of the three given below (for each category) will appear on the exam. You will have a choice. You are writing ONE essay only. Suggested length is 3-4 pages. You may use clean (no interlinear essays) copies of the texts during the exam. You are encouraged to focus on one-two episodes from the poem in your answer. Do not try to make your argument for more than three separate characters or tales.

The Epic Hero
A. What quality or qualities make a "hero" in the Metamorphoses?

B. "Of bodies changed to other forms I tell." What has Ovid done to "transform" any of the heroes from either the Aeneid or the Argonautica?

C. Does Ovid make fun of the epic hero? (In o ther words, does he treat the epic hero with irony, detachment, and wit, as opposed to inviting the reader to empathize with the hero.)

Gods and the Supernatural
A. Are there limits to what gods can do, in the Metamorphoses?

B. "You Gods, who have yourselves wrought every change..." Does Ovid represent transformation as an instrument of divine justice?

C. How does Ovid humanize his gods? (In other words, what does he do to bring them down to a human level -- a typical feature of Hellenistic poetry?)


Women in Epic
A. Compare Ovid's Medea with the Medea of the Argonautica.
B. "Of bodies changed to other forms I tell." Is there a connection between sexuality and transformation, for women in the Metamorphoses?
C. How does Ovid represent female love? (For example, is it always pathological or abnormal?)