Study Guide-  Greek Unit Exam

I.  Sophocles’ Oedipus the King

a.  Aristotle’s definition of reversal and how it applies to the play

b.  Change of Fortune and how it applies to the play

c.  Recognition and how it applies in the play

d.  Necessity and Probability and  how they apply to the play

e.  Oedipus as the tragic hero (how the traits of Aristotle’s tragic hero are present in the character)

f.  The role of character in the tragedy of Oedipus

g.  The definition of catharsis and its importance in the play

h.  The various sources of irony in the play

II.  Homer’s The Iliad

a. Analyses of Achilles, Agamemnon, and Hector

b.  The themes of the poem

c.  The various motifs in the poem

d.  The various symbols in the poem

e.  Characteristics of the epic

f.  The Epic Hero

g.  The mythological background to the story

III.  Homer’s The Odyssey

a.  Literary devices in The Odyssey

b.  Themes/ Motifs in The Odyssey

c.  Contrasting Themes/ Motifs in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

d.  Background information on:

                i.  Homer

                ii.  The setting of the poem

                iv.  The style of the poem

                V.  The structure of the poem

                vi.  Historical Context:

                                1)  The Bronze Age

                                2)  The Dark Age

                                3)  The Iron Age

e.  Key Points in Books 9-12 (from lecture)

f.  The element of “rebirth” in Bks. V-VIII

g.  The summative study questions

h.  The epithet

i.  The epic simile