english / troy.mdon commit [english] more practice prompts - women/feminism (77dc9c0)
   1# Women of Troy
   2
   3**Euripides (Athens, c. 450 BC)**
   4
   5## Background
   6
   7- Set in 415 BC, after Trojan War
   8- Inspired by Homer's Iliad - mythical poem by Homer (Greek poet). Final weeks of war.
   9- 416 BC - Greeks invade Melos (Peloponnesian War). Melians neutral (relationship to Sparta)
  10- Athenians believed they were most civilised society
  11
  12### Trojan War
  13
  14- Eris, goddess of discord, gives golden apple to Hera, Athena, Aphrodite
  15- Zeus sends Eris to decide who has apple
  16- Paris/Alexander steals Helen from her husband Menelaus with help of Aphrodite
  17- King Menelaus gathers army
  18- Helen of Sparta becomes Helen of Troy
  19- war lasted 10 years
  20- Achilles & Hector killed
  21- gods take sides & end war
  22- Trojan horse - invented by Athena, executed by Odysseus & Athenians
  23- Trojans had banquet at end of war when Trojan horse arrived
  24
  25### Euripides
  26
  27- Athenian, 450 BC
  28- Golden Age - political/artistic/intellectual reneissance
  29- progressive representation of female characters, graphic/uncouth plays
  30- critical of society
  31- Athens attacked by Sparta >5 times
  32
  33
  34
  35
  36## Characters
  37
  38**Poseidon** - (careless) god of the sea, built Troy w/ Apollo  
  39**Apollo** - god, affair w/ Cassandra in exchange for persistent foresight  
  40**Athene** - goddess of wisdom - supported Greeks in Battle of Troy  
  41**Hecuba** - widow of Priam, King of Troy. Old & "grey-haired".  
  42**Priam** - husband of Hecuba. 50 kids.  
  43**Alexander** - aka Paris. Son of Priam & Hecuba. Kidnaps Helen from Sparta (most beautiful)  
  44**Cassandra** - their daughter, a prophetess. Manic.  
  45**Andromache** - their daughter-in-law, widow of Hector  
  46**Talthybius** - Greek officer - assigns women  
  47**Menelaus** - King of Sparta  
  48**Helen** - his wife, Trojan, imprisoned  
  49**Chorus** of Trojan women, captured  
  50**Astryanax** - small boy, Hector and Andromache's son  
  51**Greek soldiers**  
  52
  53
  54
  55- *trojan* - native of Troy
  56- Epeios (Greek) built Trojan horse to defeat King Priam of Troy (city)
  57- Women are captured and enslaved/raped, men are killed
  58- "All the women of Troy who've not yet been allocated are in this building here"
  59- Poseidon & Athene destroy Greece with help from Zeus
  60- Invasion depiction - p.26
  61
  62
  63- Greeks killed astyanax irrationally
  64- Women accept their role as slaves
  65
  66## Quotes
  67
  68> “The lucky ones are dead” - slug-emdez- NUTZZZZ
  69
  70> “I won’t sleep on a royal mattress anymore” - Also slugmEem
  71
  72> “No, no one is happier dead. The living at least have hope. To be dead is to be nothing.”
  73
  74> “After so many sorrows, and in such despair, words mean nothing”
  75
  76> "muh slavery"
  77
  78## Personification
  79
  80### Hecuba
  81
  82Complains, representing elderly, voice of Women of Troy. Wise.  
  83Personifies Troy. Persistence/hope.
  84
  85### Cassandra
  86
  87Revenge, irrationality
  88
  89### Andromache
  90
  91she ded
  92
  93### Chorus
  94
  95Represents pain, magnitude of people. Represents Women of Troy (society). Pleads to Ancient Greeks.  
  96Effectively narrator (background info etc). Gives more context than Hecuba.
  97
  98### Talthybius
  99
 100Brutality, power. Self-serving. Analogy with Auschwitz.  
 101Conflicted interests - doesn't want to be evil (empathises with women). However, it is his duty to Greeks.
 102
 103### Menelaus
 104
 105Power, selfishness, arrogance.  
 106Blind to his flaws (perhaps naive).
 107
 108### Helen
 109
 110Imprisonment. Manipulative. Self-serving.
 111
 112## Imagery
 113
 114### Water / Nautical
 115
 116> "flow with the stream, let the new wind fill our sails, not breast a rinning tide with our fragile prow" (p.9)
 117
 118- start of play - Poseidon abandons ship  
 119- water becomes symbol of comfort/peace for women (constant/familiar)  
 120- symoblism of bodies of water = tears  
 121
 122### Dark & light
 123
 124### Violence
 125
 126> "it degrades the decency of speech to put such things into words" (p.53)
 127
 128- animalistic depictions of Hecuba
 129- graphic violent passages (e.g. Astyanax's body -  p.35, p.51)
 130- uncharacteristic of artistic norms at time of writing
 131- comment on brutality/senselessness of war
 132- lost innocence/peace/humanity/honour (symbol of Astyanax)
 133- loss of common sense / perversion of nature & morality
 134- no positive outcome of violence without sacrifice of morality/humanity (e.g. Talthybius)
 135- appeal to Athenian audience incl. children
 136- war effects everyone (e.g. Astyanax) therefore everyone should see the brutal outcome
 137- acknowledgement that children should not be involved
 138
 139
 140## Extra English 3/4/19 - Building complexity
 141
 142### Structure
 143
 144- interesting opening statement/quote
 145- background hooks
 146- link topic to views & values
 147- do not list points
 148- emotional engagement - e.g. poignantly, "barbaric cruelty" etc
 149- do not evaluate play
 150
 151### Vocabulary
 152
 153- make a list of useful words/synonyms for essays
 154- suffering/grief, comfort, cruelty, condemnation, hope
 155
 156### Ideas
 157
 158- subtlties of characters - offer rebuttals/contrasts
 159- subtle differences between characters
 160
 161### Detailed knowledge
 162
 163- discuss >1 character / paragraph
 164- focus on ideas/motifs in paragraphs, not characters
 165- comment on stage directions, context etc
 166
 167### Views and values
 168
 169- rewrite link sentences as views & values statements
 170- develop a personal interpretation of the text
 171- consider how Taylor's translation impacts the message
 172- context (time, society etc) - Euripides warns his contemporaries against war
 173- women - Hecuba's power over men vs Helen's power over women
 174
 175### Text construction
 176
 177- motifs/images - water, song/dance, animals (dehumanisation), personification of Troy
 178- graphic depictions of violence & dehumanisation
 179- entire play is like its own ending/conclusion (lamenting, despair)
 180- gods do not care about Trojans, but readers do
 181- discuss significance of single characters and representation of groups, e.g. Talthybius & Menelaus are the only Greek characters.
 182