G10CC Ancient Greek & Chinese Poetry

What is the Homeric question?

It concerns the doubts and debate over ...

Select all answers that apply.

• the identity of Homer

• the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey

• the textual transmission of the poems

• the historicity of the poems

When were Homeric poems composed?

• ca. 1100-1000 BC, at the end of the Mycenaean period

• between ca. 1000-800 BC, during the Dark Ages

• ca. 750 BC, at the beginning of the Iron Age

All three societies mentioned in the previous question are depicted in the Iliad and the Odyssey.

• TRUE

• FALSE

What makes a myth different from folktales and legends?

• The story originates in local culture and was passed on by word of mouth.

• The story concerns the early history of a people, and involves supernatural beings or events.

• The story is regarded as historical, though many of the details may have been invented/exaggerated.

Why would rhapsodes begin their poems with an invocation to the Muses?

Select all answers that apply.

• To show respect to the gods.

• To create a supernatural and suspenseful atmosphere.

• To give time to think about where they are going to start.

• To provide a signal to the audience that he is about to start.

The meter of the epic, called dactylic hexameter, is composed of 6 feet or either dactyls or spondees.

A dactyl is a foot of poetry marked by ...

• Two long syllables (- -)

• Two long and one short syllable (- - U)

• One long and two short syllables (- U U)

In a dactylic hexameter, the 6th (final) foot is always a spondee (- -).

• TRUE

• FALSE

What is the name of the literary device used to compare two people, objects or events in order to create vivid imagery?

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Stock Epithet

• Catalogue

The following phrases (‘god-like’, ‘resourceful’, ‘white-armed’, ‘swift-running’, 'great-hearted', etc.) are all examples of ….

• Similes

• Metaphors

• Stock Epithets

• Catalogues

The following phrases ('Agamemnon, king of men', 'when the early-born rose-fingered Dawn came to light', 'thus he/she spoke') are all examples of ….

• Stock epithets

• Homeric formulae

• Flashbacks

• Type-scenes