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Descendants of Troy
Readings in the Humanities
Revised Edition
Edited by Sergio La Porta
Bassim Hamadeh, CEO and Publisher
Christopher Foster, General Vice President
Michael Simpson, Vice President of Acquisitions
Jessica Knott, Managing Editor
Kevin Fahey, Marketing Manager
Jess Busch, Senior Graphic Designer
Stephanie Sandler, Licensing Associate
Copyright © 2013 by Cognella, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system
without the written permission of Cognella, Inc.
First published in the United States of America in 2013 by Cognella, Inc.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 978-1-60927-869-4 (pbk)/ 978-1-62131-866-8 (br)
Contents
Introduction 1
Sergio La Porta
The Iliad
Homer
Book 1
Book 6
Book 9
Book 16
Book 18
Book 24
The Shield of Achilles
3
23
40
61
68
88
117
W.H. Auden
The Odyssey
Homer
Book 1
Book 2
Book 5
Book 10
Book 11
Book 21
Book 23
Book 24
Ithaka
221
C.P. Cavafy
Odysseus to Telemachus
121
135
149
156
170
191
205
214
Joseph Brodsky
223
The Trojan Women
225
Euripides
The Aeneid
Virgil
Book 1
Book 3
Book 4
Book 6
The Swan
279
307
325
341
371
Charles Baudelaire
Metamorphoses
Ovid
Book XII
Book XIII
Book XIV
375
386
425
The Inferno
Dante
Canto I
Canto II
Canto III
Canto IV
Canto V
Canto XXIV
Canto XXV
Canto XXVI
Canto XXVII
Canto XXXII
Canto XXXIII
Canto XXXIV
433
438
443
448
453
458
463
468
473
478
483
488
Introduction
Sergio La Porta
T
his reader is intended to introduce students to the classical western literary tradition who have
had little or no exposure to it. It tries to balance a wide range of reading with the ability to enjoy a
deep reading of each text. The selections included are large enough to give the student an appreciation
of the style and method of each author, yet manageable enough to be read in one semester. It is hoped
that students will be motivated to read the full text of these works after reading these selections.
When teaching survey courses in the past, I found that students had a difficult time adjusting to new
characters, places, and historical contexts for each new work. The effort required to become familiar
with foreign names and places blocked their becoming comfortable with the material. Therefore, I
decided to focus the readings for this class on the Trojan War and its participants so that students can
quickly assimilate a more limited number of names and places. The common references will also help
attune students’ ears to literary resonances between texts.
Beyond making these works more accessible, this reader also endeavors to illuminate their contemporary relevance. Towards that end, selections of modern poetry have been included that underscore
how artists continue to be inspired by these classical texts. These modern poems also bring into relief
important social and moral questions implicit in the earlier works. This strategy provides students a
stimulating introduction to modern poetry as well as fosters an understanding of intertextuality and the
dynamics of literary creation.
The selections begin with the Homeric epics and proceed chronologically, concluding with Dante’s
Inferno. No prose texts have been included. Given the importance of poetry in the classical world and its
under-appreciation in modern American society, it seemed beneficial to enhance students’ comprehension of the poetic form.
The selections from the Iliad are meant to challenge most students’ assumption that the work
constitutes a record of the Trojan War as an historical event. Rather, the passages draw attention to the
‘personalities’ of the characters: the argument between Achilles and Agamemnon (bk. 1); the meeting
of Glaucus and Diomedes and that of Hector with Andromache (bk. 6); the embassy of Odysseus
to convince Achilles to re-enter the war (bk. 9); the death of Patroclus (bk. 16); and the embassy of
Priam to beseech Achilles for his son’s corpse (bk. 24). These passages should lead students to question
what kind of hero Achilles represents, whether there is evidence of character development for Achilles,
whether any act can be just during war, and why the Homeric position does not seem to present a
triumphalist narrative. In addition, the description of Achilles’ shield (bk. 18) is included in order that it
may be compared with W.H. Auden’s ‘The Shield of Achilles’. Auden’s poem again evokes the questions
of the effects of war on a society and of whether Achilles can be considered a contemporary hero.
The selections from the Odyssey similarly focus on those passages that help define the characters
rather than on the tales of Odysseus’s journey. They include Telemachus’s situation at home (bks. 1 and
2); the introduction of Odysseus on Calypso’s island (bk. 5); Odysseus’s defeat of Circe and his stay on
her island (bk. 10); Odysseus’s journey to the underworld (bk. 11); the contest of Penelope (bk. 21);
Penelope’s recognition scene (bk. 23); and the finale in the underworld (bk. 24). Two modern poems
have been selected to resonate with the Odyssey, C. Cavafy’s “Ithaka” and J. Brodsky’s “From Odysseus
to Telemachus”. Cavafy’s “Ithaka” asks students to recast Odysseus’s journey home into a more personal
Introduction | 1
journey through life. Brodsky’s poem teases out the tensions of Odysseus as (willingly?) absent father and thus
relates the story of Telemachus and Odysseus to concerns of parenthood.
The Homeric epics are followed by Euripides’s The Trojan Women, of which the entirety is reproduced
here. This play provides the opportunity for students to delve deeper into the issue of the effects of war on its
participants and on society from a perspective not often portrayed, that of the most marginalized element of
ancient society, the captured woman. The play also invites a discussion of the role of tragedy in ancient Greek
society and the role of the dramatist as a social critic. It further affords an occasion to show examples of the play’s
modern dramatization either on stage or on film.
The reader then returns to the epic tradition with Virgil’s Aeneid, which allows for comparison with the Iliad
and the Odyssey. The selections focus on Aeneas’ relationship with and treatment of Dido (bks. 1 and 4); Aeneas’
realization of his destiny in the scene of little Troy (bk.3); and his descent to the underworld (bk.6). Aeneas’
relationship with Dido, unlike Odysseus’s sexual conquests, raise the question of whether one’s social, historical
duty should take precedence over personal responsibilities. The episode in which Aeneas visits ‘little Troy’ reveals
Aeneas’ realization that Troy cannot be reborn, but that he must establish a new city. Baudelaire’s “The Swan” is
intended to be read alongside this episode from the Aeneid. It explores the burden of memory and loss on the
self. Both Virgil and Baudelaire can open up discussion of current immigration issues, like trying to live a new
life in America and the effects of past traumas on new immigrants. The final selection from the Aeneid is Aeneas’
journey to the underworld (bk.6), which permits further comparison with Odysseus and a discussion of the
function of the underworld in both texts.
Remaining in the Latin world, the reader then includes selections from bks. 13 and 14 of Ovid’s
Metamorphoses. The emphasis in these passages is on Ovid as a subversive author and social critic. The selections
underscore how he undermined the epic tradition and questioned the Roman political establishment through
his literature. Ovid’s treatment of the Iliad once again raises the problem of the hero and the glorification of war.
By the time students’ have finished with the Metamorphoses, they will have become acquainted with poetics,
intertextuality, and the function of the author as social critic. This will prepare them for the large leap from the
literature of Classical Antiquity to Dante’s Inferno. Although the Inferno contains little direct reference to the
Trojan War, the prior readings should still guide the students much as Virgil guides Dante. The selections from
the Inferno do not concentrate on the punishments Dante enumerates nor on the historical Florentine conflict
in which he was involved. Instead, they focus on literary issues: the introduction of the literary self into the text;
distinguishing between Dante the author and Dante the Pilgrim; Dante’s relationship to classical literature; and
his reading methodology. Throughout, the selections challenge the student to read between the lines, whether
deciphering the obscure words at the entrance to hell, listening to Francesca’s misreading of love, or comprehending Ugolino’s crime.
As is readily discernible, although the Trojan War forms the backdrop to nearly all of the texts included, this
reader has deemphasized the historical and mythological aspects of these works in favor of issues that on the one
hand concern literary form, character development, and intertextuality, and on the other, larger moral questions
of justice and war, of personal versus civic responsibilities, and of the role of literature and of the artist in society.
In the past, this approach has made students more receptive to these texts and enabled them to bring their own
experiences into their reading. Overall, this reader aims to impress on students that active and engaged reading
is a fundamental tool to leading an active and engaged intellectual and public life.
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