The Green Knight

 Gawain’s quest for the Green Knight is accompanied by

detailed descriptions of the changing seasons of the year. How

does this attention to weather and landscape complement the

figure of the giant knight, who appears both in green and, as Sir

Bercilak, with a beard “of a beaver’s hue”—that is, a deep brown?

How would you compare the role played by seasonal change in

the characters’ lives here with that in other poems and narratives

you have read? Choose a song and pictures to complement your

response.

As Part two of the poem begins the seasons change more. Gawain parts from Camelot when it is autumn. I feel that the seasons changing represents Gawain's emotions he is going through on his journey to find the Green Knight.  The seasons go from warm happy feelings to sad and dark feelings throughout his travels. As Gawain arrives the Green Knight transforms into Sir Bercilak with a dark brown beard. I feel that when the Green Knight is green he stands for youth and liveliness. When the Green Knight is Sir Bercilak I feel that his dark brown beard stands for the old age and death of all life. 

This is The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. I feel this describes what I explained above. The first couple seasons are happy, as you get to winter it gets more dark and does not so cheerful or playful.

Dante's Inferno

BLOG : 1. The suitability of the penalties to the sins in the

Inferno . 2. The differences between upper and lower Hell. 3.

Possible differences between Dante’s perspective and ours.

1. The suitability of the penalties to the sins in the inferno is that the punishment fit the sin. They each gets punished just as harshly as their sins. That's why as at the beginning of hell the punishment is light and as you get deeper it get harsher. The ones that are in the Ninth circle of hell are getting chewed by Lucifer. 

2. The people in upper hell are only there because of self-indulgence. This means that they didnt do anything wrong, but love something or someone to much. However the people in lower hell were put there because the main out come was to harm others either through violence or fraud. 

3.  Our view on hell that there is only one level of hell and everyone goes there because of their sins. Dante on the other hand has hell split into 9 levels each one getting worst as you go deeper in hell. We also believe that when you die god can decide whether or not you can be forgiven for your sins and sent to heaven instead of hell. Dante believed that you had to pay for your sins no matter what. 

Song of Roland

Discuss: 1. The poet’s attitude toward Roland. 2.

Archbishop Turpin and the Crusaders’ attitude. 3. The

supernatural and the superhuman elements in the poem. 4.

Elements of oral poetry in Roland .

In the Song of Roland the poet portrays Roland as a Hero. The poet did this by making Roland a courageous person who is very confident in his army. The poet had Roland die in a heroic death and sent him straight to God's Kingdom (Heavin). Archbishop Turpin fought bravely beside Roland, to which he proved his loyalty to Roland. The poet also made the Archbishop the inspiration for the first crusade. The Christian crusades brought the crusaders who were for the cause of the crusade. The Crusaders also fought along Roland in the Crusade. This also proves that they had loyalty and were brave. First of the story is an Epic, which epics were told Orally. The Song of Roland is broken up into verses. Which inside the verses the 4th and 10th syllables had emphasis on them or know in the musical world a syllabic stress .  Many of the poetic devices in  The Song of Roland are lost when it is translated from the dialect of Old French in which it was composed. 

What Beatitudes and Other Religions believe

Compare the recommendations for human conduct

offered in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5.3–11) and those that are

implied in the Greek texts you have read. 2. How do Islamic

perceptions of Heaven and Hell differ from those of Christianity

and Judaism? 3. What is the Koranic attitude toward women as

revealed in Sura 12 (Joseph)?

The Beatitudes practice Christianity. They look to the bible and its stories to help guide them in their religion. They also believe in god. In the text that we have read in class the characters follow the greek gods. They do not read a book like the bible to help them practice their religion. The mortal and the gods communicate often and the gods give the mortals advice. For the Beatitudes, this does not happen usually. The only interaction they get are from other mortals or when God and the prophets talk. 

In the Islamic religion they believe in Allah. Allah is similar to God because is the king of heaven. Islamics believe that heaven has multiple ates and Allah decides wether you get to pass through each gate or not. If your bad deeds outweigh your good, you go to Hell known as Jahnnam. Christianity and Judaism are very similar in their beliefs. believe that when you die God decides whether or not you go to heaven or hell. They both believe that once you go to heaven or hell that is where you remain.

The Koranic attitude towards women is that women are treated like objects than human beings. They are only really there to pleasure and nurture men. 

Similarities and Differences between Aeneas, Achilles, and Odysseus.

 Discuss the character of Aeneas, which has often come

in for harsh criticism. (Charles James Fox, the eighteenth-century

English statesman, found him “either insipid or odious,” and

William Butler Yeats speaks of an Irishman who thought Aeneas

was a priest.) The implied comparison is of course with epic

heroes such as Achilles and Odysseus. How far is such an

attitude justified?

In my eye, I feel that Aeneas was a caring and charitable man. Him and his father had to go on a voyage to find a new place to live. Aeneas was the leader of the allies in the Trojan War. He also led a group of refugees to Italy and became the founder of Roman culture. All of the hardships that Aeneas had to go through, makes him just as epic as Achilles and Odysseus. Aeneas was so focused on finding a new life that he gave up his true love and also proved his courage. 

Aristotle terms and meanings

Give a brief but clear explanation of what Aristotle means

by the following terms (not an internet definition or something you

learned in high school – use only Aristotle’s text):

• Tragedy

• hamartia  (Be careful; it does NOT mean tragic flaw.)

• katharsis  (Use Aristotle’s text)

• deus ex machina  What does this literally mean? How does

Aristotle feel about it?)

 Include images of Ancient Greek theater ruins such as Aristotle would have known.

Tragedy-Aristotle says a tragedy is an impression  of an action that is complete,serious and possessing magnitude. A tragedy was higher than history because it extravagates what could happened instead of just telling us what happened. It is a drama not a narrative meaning it shows us the story rather than telling it. It creates a cause and effect chain which reveals what had happened at anytime. 

Hamarita- Means tragic mistake, it is mostly mistaken for a tragic flaw. Aristotle says it doesn't come from being immortal but yet it is not possible to not have a tragic mistake. Aristotle also says it is "A law of necessity or probability".  It is also normal for the character to bring about their own downfall.

Kartharsis-Means cleansing of the tragic emotions of pity and fear. I feel that Aristotle uses this to take away the fear and pity the audience has, that he created earlier in the story. 

Deus ex machina- Means "god from the machine"  There was a machine in the theater to show the gods flying above the actors or actresses. Aristotle despised the idea and wanted to  get away from the idea. He also wanted the scene to look real. 

What makes an Tragic Figure

The Sophoclean Hero Sophocles’ heroes are famous for

their determination and single-minded perseverance, their

privileging of the individual over the city or the community, and

their force of character. Although Antigone gives her name to this

play, Creon has by far the greater number of lines, and he is the

one to suffer a tragic “reversal.” Discuss what makes each of them a tragic figure, you 

may also wish to address the question of how Antigone’s gender

affects her role as a heroic figure.

Both Creon and Antigone are tragic figures. Creon is a tragic figure because He ruled as a king. When he decided to deny Polyneices the proper burial. This broke one of the gods laws stating that each man should have a proper burial.  This throws him into a fate of suffering. Creons human flaws and emotions such as pride and arrogance led him to his down fall which ties him to being a tragic hero.  Antigone shows the power of women. She is faithful to the gods. She also cares a lot about her family too. 

 Creon is above and Antigone is in the picture below.

The music in the video is very interesting. I typed in music of Antigone and got this.