Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

Classical Myth - Best Critical Points

Terms in this set (15)

Colin Burrow: 'the wish to re-embody Ovid is often accompanied by a fear that...
'the wish to re-embody Ovid is often accompanied by a fear that Ovid will come to dominate his Christian imitators' - need for the imitation to be more than just imitation, then; a moving away from the source, or at least bettering it?
Who, according to Colin Burrow, is the strongest classical influence on Milton?
Ovid
How does Colin Burrow claim people view Virgil?
'not quite a Christian, and this could be taken in a positive sense - he leads the way to the Christian era - or a negative one - he presents a secular vision of imperial power which a Christian reader must seek to leave behind'
Colin Burrow: 'The poem itself enacts a process of...
'The poem itself enacts a process of translation in the way it adapts material from the Homeric poems and their Hellenistic offshoots to suit a Roman setting'
Colin Burrow: 'poets are guided by Virgil to emerge out of a world of...
'poets are guided by Virgil to emerge out of a world of romance into a poetic realm of formal unity and ethical rigour'
Roma Gill on Marlowe's play: 'As prologue to the play, this little scene prepares an audience for
'As prologue to the play, this little scene prepares an audience for the unorthodox presentation of known heroes that is to follow' Teases out critique within praise more than its source, then?
Roma Gill on Marlowe's play: 'gaze on the gods that
'gaze on the gods that men create in their own images'
Roma Gill on Marlowe's play: 'Diversifying the interest in this way, Marlowe not only makes
'Diversifying the interest in this way, Marlowe not only makes drama out of epic but, playing with fire, leads tragedy into comedy'
'Iarbus is denied
'Iarbus is denied a tragic death by her'
Is dramatic irony (almost) inevitable when we have re-tellings? Does Marlowe reach for this?
In the storm scene, Gill thinks so.
'Aeneas never...
'Aeneas never 'grows into' his clothes' - He is a shadow of who he is in Virgil.
CHRISTINA FAWCETT, The Orphic Singer: as if, by Christianising the pagan singer, he hoped to
as if, by Christianising the pagan singer, he hoped to change the end of the story, to save the life of the singer, at least, if not to spare the Babe the eventual "bitter cross"' - As if, through inhabiting the myth, Milton actually hopes to change an ending; quite the opposite of foreshadowing.
CHRISTINA FAWCETT, The Orphic Singer: 'When facing the
'When facing the acceptance of death and sacrifice, Milton's poetic voice falters and aborts the song entirely' - is Milton trying to wrestle with the inevitable teleology of myth?
CHRISTINA FAWCETT, The Orphic Singer: Though this is a poem dedicated to the Nativity of the Christ, there is a
Though this is a poem dedicated to the Nativity of the Christ, there is a deep tone of regret at the thought of the old gods and powers passing away
CHRISTINA FAWCETT, The Orphic Singer: 'In assuming the role of a Virgilian singer, Milton wants to succeed where
'In assuming the role of a Virgilian singer, Milton wants to succeed where Virgil's Orpheus failed by controlling nature by means of a song that echoes throughout eternity, thus transcending time. [...] The result is a profoundly contradictory poetics of stasis, in which the poet's progress in enabled only by his ability to halt the progress of time itself.'
Other sets by this creator