1. Class absences: Dr. Adams took attendance. Susan Abram, Ryan Cumbo, Colin Durie, and Crystal Sweeten were recorded as absent.
2. Homework from the previous class: In volume one of the rental textbook we were assigned to read pages 156 to 218 of The Odyssey.
3. Recording minutes: Each person in the class will have an assigned date to take notes during the class. Dr. Adams gave the following instructions for recording the minutes:
1. The minutes will be typed on a word processor and saved. 
2. The document should be saved as the following: minutes201_8-24.doc. The first part of the document name is the description of what was typed and the class number and the numbers after the underscore is the date that the minutes were taken from class. The .doc should appear after the document has been saved, so it should not be necessary to type it into the computer. My computer did not put the .doc on the saved document, so I went back to save as and typed it into the computer.
3. There are two ways to electronically send the minutes to Dr. Adams. 
1. The first way is to go to the classes share folder. You will need to go to appserver1, then choose classes, and go to eng201.04, and to the share button. 
2. The second way is to e-mail the minutes to Dr. Adams at [email protected]. 
3. The school has something new this year called webmail.wcu.edu that can also be used for e-mail. 
4. The minutes need to be sent to Dr. Adams within 24 hours so she can post them on our classes web page.
4. Discussion of The Odyssey:
1. It was thought back then that if you traveled too far away that you would fall off of the earth.
2. The lotus eaters are located in Africa. If you would eat a lotus you would always be happy afterward.
3. Cyclopes, an one-eyed giant, lives in Italy and was blinded by Odysseus.
4. Hell is a physical place in the Odyssey. Calypso and Odysseus are lovers for 9 years and Odysseus cries everyday when they are together.
5. The first time we meet Odysseus is in Book 5. It took Odysseus 19 years until he comes home. The first ten years was caused by the Trojan War.
5. Journal questions discussion:
1. People on earth have a lot more contact with gods, so they have to keep the gods happy.
2. They keep the gods happy by sacrificing animals and feasting.
3. The gods can take on different forms of people and animals.
4. The Titans were the first gods and the gods we are talking about are actually the second gods.
5. Odysseus was an ancient time hero but he did not have really good moral values.
6. This story begins with the House of Atreus that foreshadows what is going to happen with Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus. There will be two different outcomes between the two families.
7. In book number four we looked at pages 189 and 190 very carefully.
6. Homework for the next class: The homework is to read pages 274 to 324 and to concentrate on book 11 from The Odyssey.

• Landrum, Tara
• Shaffner, John
• Williams, Chris

• Small groups of about four participants each discussed questions presented by Dr. Adams. Issues such as trust, purity, fidelity and obedience were contrasted with treachery, revenge, greed and pride. The roles of the various characters were explored—the bard, prophets, gods and enemies. 

• Focus on Chapter 11 as the turning point in The Odyssey. Be prepared to discuss the handout concerning Argos, the dog. Finish Books 16-24, dealing with the return of Odysseus.

Homework:  Dr. Adams collected homework from previous class.

Class role:  Absent from class on September 2, 1999, was Phillip Booe, Kathyrn Postell, Anna Reeves, Crystal Sweeten, crystal Turner, Chris Williams, and Aaron Wright.

In-Class Discussion Questions: (Refer to hand-out for  questions)

1. Look for animal imagery in this play. Who are the animals, and what happens to them?

Animal Images: changes from maternal to predatory
1. Two birds/ pregnant hare = Clytemnestra
2. Watch dog = Clytemnestra
3. Shark from Hell = Scylla
4. Lioness = Clytemnestra
5. Wolf = Aegisthus
6. Cow = Clytemnestra
7. Bull = Agamemnon
2. Look for net and snare imagery in this play. Who uses nets, and who is caught in them?
1. Hunting nets (line 369)
2. Cast a net (line 376)
3. Snare of Justice
4. The house of Atreus is the big snare.  The nets represent the helplessness of humans compared to the Gods.
3. One theme in this play is the clash between male and female dominance. How are the men and women represented in this play? 
1. Clytemnestra is compared as a war leader and a male voice (line 359-73).  People can't understand how a woman could have such great powers and are dumbfounded when Clytemnestra does something powerful or commanding.
4. Who, exactly, are the chorus supposed to be? How does their identity become important in the play? 
1. The chorus is made up of elders.  This due to the fact that all young men are off at war.  The elders also represent the vulnerability of the community.  With nothing but women and elders, the community is in threat of attack because they can't defend themselves.
5. What is the role of prophecy and omens in the play? According to Aeschylus, does prophecy help people or make things worse? Why?
1. Prophecy gives the idea that things are inevitable. But, as in example of Cassandra, it increases our sense of helplessness. Knowledge makes our suffering much worse. 
6. One of Aeschylus's themes is that people's actions, not the gods, determine consequences. What kinds of choices are made in the play, and what are their consequences? 
1. Even though the people felt helpless, they still have a choice.

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Class Absences: Phil Booe, Jared Sanspree, Crystal Sweeten, Crystal Turner, Chris Williams, and Bryan Tate

Homework Due: Analytical Paper Rough Draft was taken up

Minutes for 9-14-99: 

-Dr Adams passed out a handout entitled: Exploring Ancient World Cultures

-Asked who read The Aeneid, and since only three people had the discussion questions became homework.

-Aeneid

1. About the Trojan War 2500 B.C.
2. Greek Individualism- heroes of individualism
3. Wrote the same story over and over again because there was already an audience for it.
4. Creativity wasn’t encouraged, all the information had to be proven

-Virgil 100 B.C.
1. Augustus Caesar- poems glorify him, Aeneid was a propaganda poem
2. Propaganda in US 
1. Christopher Columbus
2. Common Sense
3. Alice in Wonderland

1. 63 B.C.—Catiline insurrection
2. 62 B.C.—First Pompey, Julius Caesar and Marauss Crassus-Civil War
3. 42 B.C.—Antony and Octavan-Civil War
4. 31 B.C.—Antony is defeated, Octavan is Augustus Caesar

a. Too go mad, sense of kayos in life and in civil war, passionate feelings: Love causes furor

b. Virgil—Anything that ends war is good

- Secondary Epic

1. Odysseus- primary- improvised song based on skeleton of story
2. Aeneid- secondary- written first, an imitation of an oral epic

1. Epithets- defining phrase- ie. Wise Odysseus, Grey-Eyed Goddess Athena
2. Journey
3. Battle
4. Machinery
5. Names of gods are different between the Romans and the Greeks. These gods were just epic trappings. Roman probably didn't believe in them. They subscribed to stoicism. 
6. Dactyllic hexameter- eight in a line

1. Discipline, honor, obedience, don’t show suffering, steadfast, resolute (See handout The Meditations, Book 1)
2. Simple, plain, loyal, don’t like rhetoric
3. Ideal man- stable, not lead astray by women, governs family

1. Women play little part
2. Based on war
3. Stoicism vs. Furor, Duty vs. Passion, Stability vs. Chaos.
4. Virgil puts in patterns of imagery that Homer wouldn't, because he had the leisure of writing and revising. Imagistic patterns: 

1. Hunting
2. Snakes
3. Fire
4. Wounding
5. Storms

Homework: Read Aeneid Books 4, 6

Pick three of the discussion questions from the handout for journal entry. Dr. Adams will collect journal entries on Thursday.