week 13 西概

Iliad is the ten-year siege of the city of Troy
Christopher Marlowe's lines from his tragedy Doctor Faustus (1604) are frequently cited: "Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?" Images of her start appearing in the 7th century BC

Helen and Hector's mother wore purple robes on the pyre of Hector.
Because purple is the color of kings, nobles, priests and magistrates all around the Mediterranean.

tragedy：A form of drama based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in audiences.

tragic flaw：Aristotle mentions hamartia in Poetics. He argues that is a powerful device to have a story begin with a rich and powerful hero, neither exceptionally virtuous nor villainous, who then falls into misfortune by a mistake or error (harmartia). Discussion among scholars centers mainly on the degree to which hamartia is defined as tragic flaw or tragic error.

dramatic irony：the device of giving the spectator an item of information that at least one of the characters in the narrative is unaware of, thus placing the spectator a step ahead of at least one of the characters

hubris：In a modern context, extreme pride or self-confidence; in its ancient Greek context, it typically describes violent and excessive behavior rather than an attitude.

promiscuity：The practice of having casual sex frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners.

6 means not perfect in Babel. In the New Testament, the Book of Revelation (13:17–18) cryptically asserts 666 to be "man's number" or "the number of a man" (depending on how the text is translated) associated with the beast, an antagonistic creature that appears briefly about two-thirds into the apocalyptic vision

Christian denominations consider 7 to be a holy number.Because God rested on the 7th day, that is the reason for the observance of the Hebrew Sabbath on the last day of the week. And 777 is represented the god.


Laius= Laios：In Greek mythology, King Laius, or Laios of Thebes was a divine hero and key personage in the Theban founding myth. Son of Labdacus, he was raised by the regent Lycus after the death of his father.


The Sphinx：A mythical creature with, as a minimum, the head of a human and the body of a lion.


Kreon= Creon ：A figure in Greek mythology best known as the ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus

Tiresias：In Greek mythology, Tiresias was a blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years.

Plague：an infectious disease that is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis

adj.+en=>v
ex：blackens、sickens


Oedipus：(meaning "swollen foot")a mythical Greek king of Thebes, the son and killer of Laius, son and consort of Jocasta, and father and sibling of Polynices, Eteocles, Antigone, and Ismene.

chorus：A Greek chorus who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action.

condemn：to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; indicate strong disapproval of; censure


herdsman：the keeper of a herd, especially of cattle or sheep.