.jpg) |
| Edward Burne-Jones, painting of Pygmalion and Galatea (as statue) |
NOTE: We're going to skip a few chapters and go to Part Two of the book, reading Chapter 5: "Cupid and Psyche," and Chapter 6, "Eight Brief Tales of Lovers." After this (on Wednesday) we'll have our first Reading Exam, which is an open-book (1) essay question. So come ready to write! The best preparation for the exam is simply to read the chapters, do the questions, and listen to our class discussions. I pull everything from these three areas.
Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: The myth of Cupid and Psyche seems to play on the idea that "love is blind," since Psyche is never allowed to see Cupid's true form. But isn't the nature of a real relationship to truly know and understand the other person? So what lesson or idea might the Greeks have seen in this story? What do you feel it represents about love or marriage?
Q2: Though a Greek story, "Cupid and Psyche" was only written down by Ovid, a Roman poet who lived from 43 BCE to around 17 AD. As Hamilton notes in the opening, "The writer is entertained by what he writes; he believes none of it" (121). How might we see that the story as recorded here is somewhat critical or mocking of Greek beliefs and/or the gods? Why might we read this as a "civilized" writer's version of a "primitive" story?
Q3: Why might it be significant that most Greek love stories are tragic (or have unhappy endings)? Did the Greeks not believe in "happily ever after"? Which story seems to best capture the Greek philosophy of love for you?
Q4: The myth of "Pygmalion and Galatea" is one of the most famous, and modern writers have been obsessed with it, turning it not only into a play (by George Bernard Shaw), but also a musical (My Fair Lady, with Audrey Hepburn). Why do you think this story has haunted the Western world for so long? What makes it such an interesting and/or powerful statement about love (especially as it ends happily)?
No comments:
Post a Comment