• History, especially of Athens & Sparta
• Theology: Greek vs. Hebrew vs. Egyptian
• Relationships between Love and War, Emotions and Violence
• Relationship between Sappho and Egyptian Love Poets
• Helen of Troy:
• "Daughter of Zeus by Leda [to whom he appeared in the form of a swan] . . . . Helen grew into the most beautiful woman in the world, and her many suitors agreed among themselves that whoever eventually married her would be defended by the others.  She married Menelaus, and when Paris carried her off to Troy, the Greek leaders organized the expedition against Troy"  (WW97).
• At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis (eventual parents to Achilles), Eris, the goddess of Discord and Strife, is the only one not invited, but crashes the party and throws on the floor a golden apple, on which is written, "To the most beautiful."  Three goddesses--Hera, goddess of marriage; Aphrodite, goddess of Love; and Athena, goddess of wisdom and battles-- all claim it.  To settle the dispute, the gods ask Paris, a Trojan traveller, to decide who should get the apple.  Each goddess promises him a reward to decide in her favor--Hera promises him power, Athena offers wisdom, and Aphrodite promises him the love of Helen.  Aphrodite wins. (See Ch. 27 of Bulfinch text )

• What concerns do the epic and lyric traditions, respectively, reflect?

343:

• What is a monody?

• Who is Aphrodite?
• What is happening in this poem?  What does the speaker want?
• How much of this poem should be taken literally?  How much figuratively?

• Who is being addressed?
• What is the speaker describing?
• What "breaks my spirit" (5)?
• Explain:  "I feel that / death has come near me" (15-16).

• What two things are being compared here?
• Which does the speaker believe is fairest?  Why?