| Term | Definition |
|---|
| the iliad | It is Achilles' story—the gods intervene in human conflict |
| aristotle | Greek philosopher who linked morality with the golden mean |
| sappho | Poet called the 10th Muse by peers |
| euripedes | Dramatist—often in trouble with political leaders, skeptical about myths, increased focus on tragic choice, presented men as they are |
| works and days | This literary work complained about the "gift devouring" aristocracy |
| pendar | Used his poems to decry the fall of aristocratic values and the rise of democratic values |
| sophocles | Introduced 3rd actor, closely aligned with those in power, conventional religious values, presented men as they should be |
| thespis | Legendary founder of Greek drama—created first actor (speaker separate from chorus) |
| middle comedy | These comedies reflect political changes in Athens after Peloponnesian War—most political commentary gone |
| iamb | Poetic foot consisting of 2 syllables (the first unstressed, the second stressed) |
| menander | Great writer of new comedies; used stock characters; situational comedies concerned with ordinary happenings of contemporary life |
| hubris | Exaggerated pride—holding oneself equal to the gods |
| the fates | These blind sisters controlled the destinies of mankind |
| muses | They helped inspire artists in nine categories of artistic endeavor |
| furies | Born of bloodshed, they punished those who escaped public justice |
| visual | This interest of Roman audiences influenced changes in theatre building |
| terence | All 6 of his plays (4 based on Menander originals) survive; refined language, subtle humor, complex story lines |
| plautus | Wrote a lot, wrote fast—plays include puns, satire, parody, backchat, and slapstick humor |
| seneca | Most important tragedy writer of the Empire—wrote for private reading/recitation—gory violence |
| cato | Sour, cantankerous conservative who wrote and spoke against Hellenization of Rome |
| pliny | Wrote a history into which he threw nearly everything he'd ever read—source of much misinformation |
| plutarch | Wrote a series of biographies of important Greeks and Romans—parallel lives—pleasant anecdotal style |
| vergil | Wrote The Aeneid—Rome's epic of the founding of the city |
| vernacular | In the language of the people rather than in some scholarly language such as Latin |
| iambic tercets | Name for the 3-line stanzas that were the basic structural unit of The Divine Comedy |
| the church | That force in Medieval society around which much of the rest (art, architecture, literature, music) seemed to revolve |
| middle english | The result of the years of mingling the language of the Normans and the language of the Anglo-Saxons |
| beatrice | The woman (representing faith) who guided Dante on the final leg of his 3-stop Holy Week journey through the afterlife |
| morality plays | Dramas—originally under church control—didactic allegories in which characters had names of virtues, vices, or other qualities |
| miracle plays | Dramas, originally under church control, that were based on the lives of the saints |
| laura | The woman idealized by Petrarch and celebrated in his sonnets |
| those who abused the power of their positions | For what group were the lowest reaches of Hell reserved in Dante's great work? |
| mystery plays | Dramas, originally under church control, that were based on Bible stories |
| commedia erudita | A "learned comedy" designed for small courtly audience in Italy—early efforts based on Plautus and Terence |
| commedia dell'arte | Improvised comedy with stock characters often in half masks and exaggerated costumes—performed by traveling troupes |
| italian tragedy | Intended to "induce wonder, pity, and horror"—often lengthy, bloody, complicated (and boring to modern audiences) |
| tragicomedy | This artistic genre was created by Renaissance Italians when they attempted to re-create Greek drama |
| cervantes | Wrote Don Quixote |
| castiglione | Wrote The Book of the Courtier |
| 14 | How many lines are required for a poem to be considered a sonnet? |
| 5 | How many metrical feet are in a pentametric line? |
| rousseau | Said, "man is born free and everywhere he is in chains" |
| descartes | Said, "Cogito ergo sum" |
| voltaire | Said, "I may disagree with what you say , but I will defend to the death your right to say it" |
| rousseau | Said, "I felt before I thought" |
| relativism | Belief that good and bad are not universally true—that these qualities may differ from one society to another |
| humanitarianism | Active desire to raise downtrodden from their low circumstances |
| deism | Belief that God created the world but does little to influence its ongoing natural processes |
| montesquieu | Wrote Spirit of the Laws—USA's founders influenced by his thinking and that of Locke |
| thomas hobbes | Viewed the fear of death and the quest for power as primary driving forces in human behavior/motivation |
| diderot | Driving force behind assembling, editing, and publishing The Encyclopedia |
| herman melville | Novelist—works often set at sea—keenly interested in conflict between good and evil |
| transcendentalism | Belief that matters of ultimate reality (God, the Cosmos, the self) go beyond human experience |
| walt whitman | Poet—extravagant with words—wrote mostly free verse—seemed to celebrate everything—published some his own works |
| henry david thoreau | Wrote books and articles on self-sufficiency and civil disobedience—influenced Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. |
| nathaniel hawthorne | Novelist and short story writer—works often set in Puritan New England—explored guilt and other dark aspects of humanity |
| emily dickens | Poet—precise, meticulous choice of words—controlled rhyme and meter—delicate, small poems—most published after author's death |
| mary shelley | English novelist who wrote a "monster" story which raised questions about the potential negative impact of the rise of science |
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