Module

in
Lit 2
World Literature

Prepared by:

Instr. Beverly faeldan garmay

Chapter 1: Introduction to the subject

Module Overview: This module will introduce you to the subject “World Literature”. It aims
to make students to appreciate the breadth and depths of literature in other countries. It also
aims to deepen the students understanding of different literary genres with the great writer of
literary masterpieces and at the same time appreciate these beautiful and timeless pieces.

Module Outcomes: At the end of this module you are expected to:

1. Discuss the nature and essence of Literature

2. Identify the divisions, elements, and forms of literature.

3. Explain the different literary theories and criticisms.

Module Topics:

Lesson 1: Nature and Importance of Literature

Lesson 2: Forms of Literature

Lesson 1- Nature and Importance of Literature

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

1. discuss the nature and importance of literature/world literature
2. compare and contrast the nature of Philippine literature to World Literature

Let’s take off

Identify the different well-known literary pieces of the world.
1. Psalm 23
2. Analects of Confucius
3. Biag ni Lam ang
4. The Road Not Taken
5. Beowulf

Content Focus
MEANING OF LITERATURE

1. According to Oxford English Dictionary

 “Literature is literally acquaintance with letters ” (literra meaning letter)
 The term has generally come to identify a collection of texts or work of
art
 The class of writings in which imaginative expression, aesthetic form,
universality of ideas and permanence are characteristic features, as
fiction, poetry and drama.
 It may also mean any printed material.
2. According to Robert Frost
  Literature is performance in words.
3. According to Henry Van Dike
 Literature consists of writings which interpret the meanings of nature and
life, in words of charm and power, touched with the personality of the
author in artistic forms of permanent interest.
4. To Arsenia Tan of University of Santo Tomas
 Literature is life which presents human experience.

All of these definitions are true to Literature exists because there are people who
wanted to express their feelings, emotion, and experiences in writing. They used
language craftsmanship and artistry to convey their perceptions in life.

IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE

In emergence of technology, literature has now taken another from. Literature

has now come alive in the Filipino television set through Telenovelas which were the
counterpart of Soap Opera in radio. Why these programs patronized by the national
audience? Some of the possible answers would be:

 For pleasure and entertainment

 For emotional gratification
 For information and education

The most common answer would be for pleasure and entertainment. But
because curiosity is a natural instinct of man, people want to talk to people and people
want to know about people. This helps man understand life by reflecting on their own
and others lives. By reading literature, man picks up something in life that applies to his
own.

Why then literature is part of the curriculum? One of the objectives of education
is to develop the personality and mode of being a student. Literature aids in the attaining of
this goal. Formal studies do not just aim to enhance technical knowledge in the profession but
also caters to the enablement of students to become mature in dealing with life. Students will
not completely learn about life by simply focusing on the mechanics of computer; accounting,
engineering, or the technical side of any vocation. Life could be learned in the life of others.
Thus teaches student how to live. It is literature that student learn the art of living.

How to study literature?

Primarily, what we should learn from literature is what the writer wanted to convey us.
The subject that the author wanted to figure out is in the first concern of the study of
literature. The subject could be anything under the sun like love, forgiveness, regrets,
courage, nature, etc. Next to the subject is the technical part which the writer employed to
make his ideas be written with arts and beauty. It is here the students have to be acquainted
with literary genres and elements. It is a great help for the students to study the different
literary genre or type so that he may appreciate better the literature.

Let’s Take Action

 In your own understanding do we need to include world literature in the curriculum?
Why? (15 pts)

Self-Check
Identification: Identify the following. Write your answer on the line provided.

__________1. Literature is literally acquaintance with _____.

__________2. He said that “Literature is life which presents human experience”.
__________3. Literature is performance in words that is according to whom?
__________4. Literature consists of writings which interpret the meanings of nature and life,
in words of charm and power, touched with the personality of the author in
artistic forms __________.
__________5. Literature has now come alive in the Filipino television set through Telenovelas
which were the counterpart of __________ in radio.

Self- Reflect
In this lesson Nature and Essence of Literature, I learned
that_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________.
Lesson 2- FORMS OF LITERATURE
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
1. discuss the different forms of literature
2. identify the different sub types of forms
3. recognize the different samples of literature

Let’s take off

Can you still recall the different forms, divisions, and elements of literature? If given a
chance to be a writer, what kind of masterpiece are you planning to do?

Content Focus

TWO MAINS DIVISONS OF LITERATURE

POEM is a composition usually written in verse. Poems rely heavily on imagery, precise
word choice, and metaphor; they may take form of measures consisting of patterns of
stresses (metric feet) or of patterns different-length syllables (as in classical prosody);
and they may or may not utilize rhyme.

PROSE consists of writing that does not adhere to any particular formal structures
(other than simple grammar). It is spoken or written language without metrical
structure as distinguished from poetry or verse.

KINDS OF POETRY

A. Narrative Poetry- A narrative poetry tells a story in verse.

1. Epic- retells in a continuous narrative the life and works of a heroic or
mythological person or group of persons. It is considered as the oldest form of
literature since it existence is known to be along the ancient history. Most of the
epic are handed down orally from generation to generation as part of oral
tradition of certain nations, until they are translated into writing. This might also
have been the reason as to the narrators could have added details thereby
supplementing their own ideas to the story as they please since the stories are
handled orally and nobody could check whether they are verbatimly duplicated.
2. Ballad- is a songlike poem that tells a story, often one dealing with adventure
or romance. Many ballads employ repetition of a refrain of incremental repetition
in which a refrain is varied slightly each time it appears.
3. Metrical Tale- is a narrative poem that relates to the real or imaginary events
in simple, straight forward language from a wide range of subjects, characters,
life experiences and emotional situations. The characters are ordinary people
concerned with ordinary events. A good example of this is the “Canterburry
Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer.
4. Metrical Romance- is a long narrative poem that presents remote or
imaginative incidents rather than ordinary, realistic experience.
B. Lyric Poetry- is a poem that expresses the emotions, feelings and observations of
the writer. Unlike a narrative poem, it presents an experience or a single effect, but
it does not tell a full story.
1. Song is a lyric poem set to music and is intended to be sung.
2. Sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem focused on a single them.
3. Elegy is a solemn and formal lyric poem about death.
 4. Ode is a long, formal lyric poem with a serious theme. It often honors
people, commemorative events, respond to natural scenes, or consider
serious human problems.
5. Simple lyric or simply lyric includes all lyric poems that do not fall under 4
types.

HAIKU

Haiku is another kind of poetry which originated in Japan. It is a 700 year old Japanese
verse form. A three line poem consisting of seventeen syllables (5.7,5). Haiku crams a wealth
of observation feeling and philosophy in just seventeen syllables. It attempts to compress a
great amount of meaning in the fewest possible words.

Most Haiku verses deal with nature. Looking at nature or its picture enables one to
write a haiku, and it makes one think.

Kinds of Prose

A. Fiction (from the Latin fingere “to form, create” is prose writing that tells about
imaginary characters and events. Some writers of fiction base their stories on real
people and events, while others rely on their imagination.
1. Short Story is a brief prose narrative that is usually can be read in one
sitting. It contains few character and single plot that revolves around the
main character.
2. Novel consists simply of a long story written in prose. It has more characters
with several sub-plots.
3. Drama is a narrative prose intended to be played on the stage. It is usually
called play. It is written in scripted form to reenacted by the actors.
4. Fable is a brief story usually with animal characters that teaches a lesson or
moral.
5. Parable is a short narrative that is at least in part allegorical and that
illustrates a moral or spiritual lesson.
6. Legend is a story that reflects the peoples identity or cultural values,
generally with more historical
B. Non- Fiction is a prose that presents and explains ideas or tells about real people,
places, objects and events.

1. Autobiography, from the Greek autum, self, bios, life and graphien, write,
is a biography written by the author about himself.
2. Biography (from the Greek words bios meaning life, ang fraphien, meaning
write) is a genre of literature based on the written accounts of individual
lives.
3. Essay is a short work of writing that treats a topic from an authors personal
point of view. Essay in English derives from essai meaning attempt.

Essay is the most common form of literature. Featured articles and editorials
in the newspaper could be classified as essay.
4. Diary or Journal is a book for writing discrete entries arranged by date
reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period.

POETRY

-it is made up of lines and ending unevenly on the right hand margin, while prose works are
made up of sentences put together in paragraph forms.

-every poem is an expression of human sentiment, sometimes happy, sometimes bitter,

sometimes casual. Since a poem is an utterance, it always have a speaker and some
motivation or provocation for the utterance. Usually it has listener too, his presence atleast
implied. Therefore, a poem is like fiction and drama-it has a story to tell.

The Elements of Poetry

A. SOUND –Poems use rhyme, rhythm, and repetition to create special sound effects
1. Rhyme is the regular recurrence of similar sounds usually at the end of the lines.
2. Rhythm- like the beat in music, is the recurrence of pattern of sound.
3. Meter-measure with which we count the beat of rhythm. Taken form the Greek
word metron meaning measure.
4. Repetition- is the repeated use of sound, word, phrase, sentence, rhythmical
pattern or grammatical pattern.

Forms of Repetition
a. Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds
b. Consonance- repetition of internal consonant sounds
c. Assonance-repetition of vowel sounds
d. Parallelism-repetition of grammatical patterns

5. Onomatopoeia- refers to words that sound like what they mean.

B. FIGURES OF SPEECH
1. Simile (Latin simile which means similar)is stated comparison between two things that
are very different, but share common element. (it uses as, like, as, as if, resembles,
etc)
2. Metaphor-(Greek metamorphein which means to carry over) is a suggested or implied
comparison between two unlike things without the use of as if, as, like.
3. Personification- gives human qualities or attributes to an object, an animal, or an idea.
4. Metonymy-(Greek prefix meta means change+onoma means name+noun suffix y)
consists in substitution the literal noun for another which it suggests because it is
somehow associated with it.
5. Hyperbole-(Greek hyper means beyond+ballein means to throw) is deliberate
overstatement or exaggeration-not to deceive, but to emphasize statement often for
humorous effect.
6. Irony-is a statement of one idea, the opposite of which is meant.
7. Oxymoron-is the combining of to produce contraries (opposites) to portray a particular
image or to produce a striking effect.
8. Apostrophe-is a direct address to an inanimate object, a dead person (as if present) or
an idea.

FICTION

The Nature of Fiction

We are all story tellers. We love to relate stories about ourselves and about
others; about life, here and now, about what have been and might be, about anything at all
within the range of our imagination.

Elements of Fiction
1. Plot- arrangement of events and actions in the story to convey a theme.
(Initial incident or exposition, development of problem, conflict, climax,
resolution or denouement)
 Three Common Conflicts in the story
 Man vs man- protagonist vs antagonist/
 Man vs environment-main character is against the things around like
society, disaster, natural calamity
 Man vs himself-the character is against himself (delimma, conflicting
ideas, conflicting beliefs that reign in his mind.
2. Characters- There is no plot without people, no action without actors.
-Protagonist is a principal figure around whom a story revolves.
-antagonist- goes against the protagonist
3. Setting- when and where the story happened.
4. Point of View-
a. omniscient narrator-knows everything about each character
b. first person point of view- the main character himself in the story
c. second person point of view- the narrator is in the story but not main
character
d.third person point of view- if the narrator is has no part in the story and
just plain narrator.
5. Theme- the universal aspect of life of the writer has perceived them to be

Diction- choice of words

Image-verbal expression of sense experience makes possible the communication of
one sees, hears, feels, smells and tastes.
Symbol- the darkness may occur in a story of the unknown and death

Let’s Take Action

Make a short video of yourself telling a story or any poem. Share in class (group
chat account) its elements.
Self-Check
A. Identify the following questions. Write your answer on the line provided.
_____1. It is the long narrative poetry.
_____2. It is a story with an animal character that gives moral lesson.
_____3. It means, an attempt.
_____4. It is written about the life of the author himself.
_____5. It is the product of imagination of the writer.
_____6. It is the sequential order of event in the story.
_____7. It is the point in the story that that problem begins.
_____8. It is a choice of words.
_____9. It is a type of conflict that the problem is the storm.
_____10. If the narrator in the story has no part, and he is just plainly narrating, what type of
narrator he is?

B. Identify what figure of speech applied in the following sentences.

_____1. You are my life.
_____2. I wandered lonely as a cloud.
_____3. She has a figure like an hour glass.
_____4. The sun looked upon the ship all day.
_____5. She must have a weighted a ton.
_____6. I will love you till the end of time.
_____7. O Liberty! O Liberty! What crimes are committed in your name?
_____8. You are normally abnormal.
_____9. Oh, mother I wish you were here to see the sight.
_____10. Silence spoke to him with healing words.
Self- Reflect
In this lesson I have learned
that_____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________.

CHAPTER 2: GREEK LITERATURE

Lesson 1- Greek Literature
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
1. discuss the different gods and goddesses
2. Identify contribution of each gods and goddesses of the Greek
3. Recognize the different samples of literature

Let’s take off

Are you familiar of the gods and goddesses? Who among the Greek character is your
favorite?
Content Focus
Greek Literature stretches from Homer until the 4th century BC and the rise of Alexander
the Great.
Two Great monumental works of Homer: The Iliad and the Odyssey

Iliad is the famous story about the Trojan war that centers the personality of Achilles
(embodied the Greek heroic ideal)
-it is a pure tragedy
Odyssey- mixture of tragedy and comedy
-it is the story of Odysseus (one of the warriors of Troy)

The Greeks invented the epic and lyric forms and used them skillfully. They also invented
drama and produced masterpieces that are still reckoned as dramas crowning achievement.

Of the hundreds of dramas written and performed during the classical age, only a limited
number of plays by three authors have survived: Aescylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
1. Aeschylus- born in 525 B.C
-he wrote 70 and 90 plays of which only seven remain. (Orestia,
Choephoroi, Eumenides(the only surviving trilogy), The Persai(song of
triumph for the defeat of Persians) Prometheus Bound is a retelling of the
legend of the Titan.
2. Sophocles- 468 “golden age” his drama Antigone is his typical work;its heroine is a
model of a womanly self sacrifice

Herodutus and Thucydides most great historians of Greece during classical age. Herodutus
is called as the father of the history

During the 3rd century, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle towers among the rest of the authors.
One of the most valuable contributions of the Hellenistic period was the translation of the Old
Testament into Greek. The work was done at Alexandria and completed by the end of the 2ns
century BC.

Greek literature is usually incorporated with the actions of the deities. The Greek believed in
gods and goddesses but they did not believe that the gods and goddesses created the
universe. They believe that the universe created the gods and goddesses that have the same
emotions and caprices as humans.

GREEK GODS AND GODESSESS

Mt. Olympus, a many-riged mountain in Thesally was the home of the gods and
goddesses. It was an adobe of perfect blessedness where they lived in slept and feasted on
ambrosia and nectar and listened to Apollo’s lyre.

THE 12 GREAT OLYMPIANS MADE UP A DEVINE FAMILY

1. Zeus- He was the chief. He was the Lord of the sky, the rain god and the cloud-
gatherer, who wielded the awfull thunderbolt.
2. Hera- Zeus wife and sister who was the protector of marriage. She punished every
woman Zeus fell inlove with. She was a jealous goddess and at times, tricky to punish
the woman she hated.
3. Poseidon- Zeus brother and second only to him in eminence was the ruler of the sea.
He had a splendid palace beneath the sea, but often he has found in Olympus. He has
the control of the storm and wind. He was also known as the Earth-shaker and could
always be seen carrying his trident, a three-pronged spear.
4. Hades- He was the ruler of the underworld and rule over the dead. He was also the
God of wealth. He had the cap or helmet that made whoever wore it invisible.
5. Pallas Athena-She was the daughter of Zeus alone. No mother bore her. She is a
fierce and ruthless battle goddess. She was pre-eminently the goddess of the City, the
protector of the civilized life, who was Zeus favorite child.
6. Phoebus Apollo-He was the son of Zeus, was called The most Greek of all gods. He is
a prominent figure in Greek literature. He is the master musician who delights Olymous
as he plays in his golden lyre.
7. Artemis-She was Apollos twin siter, she was one of the three maiden goddesses of
Olympus. She was the Lady of Wild Things, huntman-in-chief to the gods. She as also
known as the Phoebe(moon) and Selene(Luna in Latin).
8. Aphrodite-She was the goddess of Love and Beauty, who beguiled gods and men
alike. She was irresistible goddess who stole away even the wits of the wise.
9. Hermes-He was another son of Zeus. He was graceful and swift in motion. On his feet
were winged sandals, wings on his crowned hat, and his magic wand was called
Caduceus. He as Zeus messenger and was known as the Master Thief.
10. Ares-He was the god of war, another son of Zeus and Hera. He was delight in
battles, ruthless, murderer and a coward.
11. Hephaestus-He was the god of fire, also son of Zeus and Hera. He was ugly
and lame as well. He was born deformed so he was cast out of heaven. He was highly
honored as workman of the immortals, an armorer and smith.
12. Hestia –She was Zeus’ sister and a virgin goddess. She was the goddess of
Heart, the symbol of the home. Every mal began and ended with an offering to her.
 Let’s Take Action
Identify the following gods and goddess of the Greek.
__________1. god’s messenger
__________2. god of war
__________3. god of the sea
__________4. Father of the gods and goddesses
__________5. god of fire
__________6. Wife of Zeus
__________7. god of music and predictions
__________8. King of the gods and goddesses
__________9. goddess of love and beauty
__________10. A virgin goddess, sister of Zeus

Self-Check
Discuss the contribution of the following Greeks.
1. Homer
2. Sophocles
3. Socrates
4. Herodotus
5. Plato
6. Aristotle
7. Alexander the Great

Self- Reflect
In this lesson I learned
that_____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________.
CHAPTER 3: EPIC
Lesson 1- Iliad

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

1. identify the great contributions of the hero in the of Greek literature
2. share their thoughts regarding the different happenings in the story.
3. learn the different vocabularies and terms in the story

Let’s take off

Give a famous movie or story you have watched or read about Greeks. Assess the kind
of literature they have.

Content Focus
Homer is the name given to the supposed unitary author of the early Greek poem
the Iliad and the Odyssey.

The Iliad (Ancient Greek, Ilias) is together with the Odyssey, one of the Greeks epic
poems attributed to Homer. Th Trojan war was a war waged according to the legend of the
city of Troy in Asia Minor (Turkey), by the armies of the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole
Helen from her husband Menalaus, king of Sparta.

The Plan of Zeus

According to the Greek mythology, Zeus had become king of the gods by overthrowing
his father Cronus; Cronus in turn overthrown his father Ouranos. Zeus was not fauthfl to his
wife (and his sister) Hera and had many relationships from which many children were born.
Since there were many people populating on earth already he came up along with either
Momos or Themis with the idea of Trojan War in order to depopulate the Erath, especially of
his demigod descendants.

The marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the apple of discord and the judgment of Paris

Zeus came to learn from either Themis or Prometheus, after Heracles had released him
from Caucasus, that he himself would be overthrown by a son. Another prophecy said of the
sea-nymph Thetis, with whom Zeus had an affair, that his son will be greater than his father.
Possibly for one or both of these reasons, Thetis was betrothed to a now-elderly human king.
Pelueus son of Aiakos, either upon Zeus orders, or because Thetis wished to please Hera since
she had raised her. All of the gods were invited to Peleus and Thetis wedding and brought
gifts, except Eris(Discord) which was stopped at the door a gift of her own; her gift was a
golden apple on which was inscribed the words Te Lallisti, (to the fairest). The apple was
claimed by Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. They quarreled bitterly over it, and none of the other
gods would venture an opinion favoring one, for fear of earning the enmity of the other two.
Eventually Zeus ordered Hermes to lead the three goddesses to Paris, a prince of Troy, who
unaware of his ancestry, was being raised as a shepherd in Mt. Ida, because o prophecy that
he would be the downfall of Troy. The goddess tried to bribe the shepherd. Athena offered
Paris wisdom, skill in battle, and the abilities of the greatest warriors: Hera offered him
political power and control to all of Asia, and Aphrodite offered him the love of the most
beautiful woman in the world. Paris awarded the apple to Aphrodite, and, after several
adventures, returned to Troy and was recognized by his family.

To Peleus and Thetis a son was born, named Achilles. It was foretold that he would
either die of old age after and eventful life, or die young in a battlefield and gain immortality
through poetry. Furthermore, Calchas had prophesied, when Achilles was nine, that Troy
could not fall again without his help. As an infant, Thetis tried to make Achilles immortal. First
she held him over fire to burn away his immortal parts every night and rubbed him with
ambrosia during the day Peleus, who had already lost six sons this way, discovered this and
stopped it. The she bathed him in the River Styx, making him vulnerable whenever he had
touched the water. She had held him by the heel, so that part remained mortal, and so he
remained human and not a god (hence the expressions Achillesheel for an isolated weakness).
He grew up to be the greatest of all mortal warriors. After Calhas’ prophesy Thetis hid Achilles
in Skyros at the court of King Lycomedes where he was disguised as a girl.

The elopement of Paris and Helen

The most beautiful woman in the world was Helen, one of the daughters of Tyndareus,
king of Sparta. Her mother was Leda, who had been seduced (or raped) by Zeus in the form
of a swan. Helen had the scores of suitors, and her father was unwilling to choose one for
fear the others would retaliate violently.

Finally, on of the suitors, Odysseus of Ithaca, proposed a plan to solve the dilemma. In
exchange for Tyndareus’ support of his own suit towards Penelope, he suggested that
Tyndareus allow Helen to choose his husband and require all Helens suitors that they would
defend the marriage of Helen, regardless of whom she chose. The suitors duly swore the
required oath on a severe pieces of horse, although not a certain amount of gambling.

Helen chose Menelaus to wed. He had humbly not petitioned for himself, but instead
sent his brother Agamemnon on his behalf. He had promised Aphrodite a hetacomb, a
sacrifice 100 oxe, if he won Helen, but forgot about it, and earned her wrath. The two
brothers have been living at Tyndareus’ court since being exiled from their homeland of agros
after their father, Atreus, was killed and had his throne usurped by his brother Thyestes and
Thyestes’ son Aegisthus. Menelaus inhirited Tyndareus throne of Sparta with Helen as his
queen when his brothers Castor and Pollux became gods and Agammnon married Helen’s
sister Clytemnestra and took back the throne of Argos.

On a diplomatic mission to Sparta, Paris fell in love with Helen. Menelaus had to leave
for Crete to bury his uncle Crateus. Paris with Aphrodite’s help, kidnapped or seduced her and
sailed to Troy carrying part of Menelaus’s treasure. Hera, still jealous over his judgement sent
a storm. The storm lead the lovers to Egypt, where the gods replaced Helen with a likeness of
her made of clouds, Nephele. Then the ship landed in the Sidon before reaching Troy. Paris,
fearful of getting caught, spent some time there and then sailed to Troy.

Paris abduction of Helen had several precedents. Io was taken from Agros, Europa, was
taken from Phoenicicia, Jason took Medea from Cochis, and the Trojan Princess Hesione had
been taken by Heracles who gave her to Telamon of Salamis. According to Herodutus, Paris
was emboldened by these examples to steal himself a wife from Greece, and expected to
retribution, since there had been none in other cases.

Menelaus asked Agamemnon to uphold his oath. He agreed and sent him Nestor along
with other emissaries to all the Achean kings and princess, who were called to make their
oaths and retrieve Helen.

Calchas had prophesied that the first achean to walk to land after stepping off a ship,
would be the first to die. Thus even Achilles hesitated to land. Finally Protesilaus, leader of the
the Phylaceans, landed first. Achilles jumped second and killed Cycnus son of Poseidon. The
Trojans then fled to the safety of the walls of their city. Prteselaus had kille many Trojans but
was killed by Hector or Aneas, Achates or Ephorbus. The Acheans buried him as a god on the
Thracian peninsula, across the Troad. After Protesilaus’ death. His brother, Podarces, joined
the war in his place.

Achilles’ campaigns

The Acheans besieged Troy for nine years. This part of the war is the least developed
among surviving soirces, which prefer to talk about events in the last year of the war. After
the initial landing the army was gathered in its entirely again only in the tenth year, due to
lack of money as Thucydides deduces. They raided the Trojan allies and spent time farming
the Thracian peninsula. Troy was never completely besieged, thus it maintained
communications with the interior of Asia Minor. Reinforcements continued to come until the
very end. Also the Acheans controlled only the entrance to the Dardanelles, Troy and her
allies controlled the shortest point at Abydos and Sestus and communicated with allies in
Europe.

Chyryses, a priest of Apollo and father of Chryseis, came to Agamemnon to ask for the
return of his daughter, Agamemnon refused, and insulted Chryses, who prayed to Apollo to
avenge his ill-treatment. Enraged, Apollo afflicted the Achaean army with plague. Agamemnon
was forced to return Chryseis to end the plague, and took Achilles’ concubine Brisels as his
own. Enraged at the dishonor Agamemnon had inflicted upon him, Achilles decided he would
no longer fight. He asked his mother Thetis, to intercede with Zeus, who agreed to give the
Trojans success in the absence of Achilles, the best warrior of the Achaeans.

After the withdrawal of Achilles, the Achaeans were initially successful. Both armies
gathered in full for the first time since the landing. Menelaus and Paris fought a duel, which
ended when Aphrodite snatched the beaten Paris from the field. The truce was broken, the
Achean army nearly reached the wall, Diomedes, with the assistance of Athena, nearly killed
Aeneas, and wounded the gods Aphrodite and Ares. Through the next days, however, the
Trojans had the upper hand. They drove back the Acheans to their camp. On the first day of
the attack they were stopped at the Achaean wall by Poseidon. The next day, through Zeus
help, the Trojans broke into Achaean camp and were on the verge of setting fire to the
Achaean ships. An earlier appeal to Achilles to return was rejected, but after Hector burned
Protesilaus’ ship,he allowed his close friend and relative Patroclus to go into battle wearing
Achilles’ armor and leading his army. Patroclus drove the Trojans back all the way to the walls
of Troy and was only prevented from storming the city by intervention of Apollo. Patroclus wa
then killed by Hector(with Apollos help), who took Achilles’ armor from the body of Patroclus.

Achilles, maddened with grief, swore to kill Hector in revenge. He was reconciled with
Agamemnon and received Briseis back, untouched by Agnamemnon. He received a new set of
arms, forged by the god Hephaaestus, and returned to the battlefield. He slaughtered many
Trojans, and nearly killed Aeneas, who was saved by Poseidon. Achilles fought with the
riverScamander, and a battle of the gods followed. The Trojan army Trojans, returned to the
city except for Hector, who remained outside because he was tricked by Athena. Achilles killed
Hector, and afterwards he dragged Hectors body to the Trojans for burial. The Achaeans then
conducted funeral games for Patroclus. Afterwards, Priam came to Achilles tent, guided by
Hermes, and asked Achilles to return Hectors body. The armies made a temporary truce to
allow the burial of the dead. The Iliad ends with the Funeral of Victor.
The Prophecies

After the tenth year, it was prophesied that Troy could not fall without Heracles’ bow
(which was with Philoctetes in Lemnos). So Odysseus and Dioemedes retrieved Philoctetes
whose wound was healed. Philoctetes then shot and killed Paris.

According to Apollodorous, Paris brothers Helenus and Deiphobus vied over the hand of
Helen. Deiphobus prevailed Helenus abandoned Troy for Mt. Ida. But Chalcas said that
Odysseus waylaid Helenus. Under coercion, Helnus told the persuaded Achilles’ son
Neoptolemus to fight for them and stole the Trojan Palladium.

The Greeks retrieved Pelop’s bones, and sent Odysseus to retrieve Neoptolemus, who
was hiding from the war in killing Lycomedes’s court in Scyros. Odysseus give him his father’s
Keteioi or Mysians according to Apollodorus, arrived to aid the Trojans. He killed Machaon and
Peneleus but was slain by Neoptolemus.

Disguised as beggar, Odysseu went to spy inside Toy, but was recognized by Helen.
Homesick, helen then plotted with Odysseus. Later with Helens help, odysseus and Diomedes
stole the Palladium.

The end of the war came with the final plan. Odysseus devised a new ruse- a giant
wooden horse, an animal that was scared to the Trojans. It was built by Epeius, guided by
Athena, from the wood of a cornel tree grove sacred to Apollo, with the inscription:

The Greeks dedicate this tank-offering to Athena for their return home.

The hallow horse was filled with soldiers led bu Odysseus. The rest of the army burned
the camp and sailed for Tenedos.

When the Trojans discovered that the Greeks were gone, believing the war was over,
they joyfully dragged the horse inside the city” while they debated what to do with it. Som
thought they ought to hurl it down from the rocks, others to burn it, while others said they
ought to dedicate it to Athena.

Both Cassandra and Laocoon warned against keeping the horse. But Cassandra, given the gift
of prophecy by Apollo, was also cursed by Apollo to never be believed. Then serpents came
out of the sea and devoured, either Laocoon and one of his two sons, Laaocoon and both of
his sons, or only his sons, a potent which so alarmedthe followers of Aeneas that they
withdrew to Ida. The Trojans decided to keep the horse and turned to a night of a mad
revelry and celebration. Sinon an ancient spy signaled the fleet stationet at Tenedos when it
was midnight and the clear moon was rising and the soldiers from inside the horse emerged
and killed the guards.

The Acheans entered the city and killed the sleeping population. A great massacre
followed which continued into the day.

Neoptolemus killed Priam who had taken refuge at the altar of Zeus to the courtyard.
Menelaus killed Deiphobus, Helen’s husband after Paris death, and also intended to kill Helen,
but overcome by her beauty, threw doen his sword and took her to the ships.

Locrian Aias raped Cassandra on Athenas altar while she was clinging to her statue.
Because of Aias impiety, the Achaeans urged by Odysseus wanted to stone Aia to death but
he fled to Athenas altar and was spared.

Antenor, who was given hospitability to Menalus and Odysseus whwn they asked for
the return of Helen, and who had advocated so, was spared along with the family. Aeneas
took his father on his back and fled, and according to Apollodorus was allowed to go because
of his piety.
 The Greeks then burned the city and divided the spoils. Cassandra was awarded to
Agnamemnon. Neoptolemus get Andromache, wife of Hector and Odysseus got Hecuba
Priam’s wife.

The Achaeans threw ectors infant son Astyanax down from the wall of Troy, either out
of cruelty and hate or to end the royal line, and the possibility of a son’s revenge. They also
sacrified the Trojan princess Polyxena on the grave of Achilles as demanded by his ghost,
either as part of his spoil or she had betrayed him.

Aethra, Theseus mother and one of Helens handmaids was rescued by her grandsons,
Demophon and Acamas.

Let’s Take Action

Choose the best answer in the following underlined vocabulary. Encircle the letter of
your choice.
1. The other gods would not venture an opinion favoring one for fear of earning an
enmity of the other two.
A. envy B. hostility C. friendly D. entry
2. Zeus wanted to depopulate the earth, especially his demigod descendants.
A. Godlike B. female god C. male god D. angel
3. She bathed him in the river Styx making him invulnerable against any attack.
A. Harmful B. not valuable C. impossible to harm D. brave
4. Achilles was disguised as a girl.
A. Pretended B. showed C. disqualified D. disgraced
5. Paris abduction of Helen had several precedents.
A. Deduction B. marriage C. courting D. kidnapping
6. Precedents
A. President B. pattern C. percent D. presents
7. Paris thought that stealing a wife would have no retribution.
A. Enemy B. contribution C. punishment D. correction
8. The Acheans besieged Troy for nine years.
A. Surrounded B. attacked C. destroyed D. befriended
9. He agreed and sent him Nestor along with other emissaries.
A. Representatives B. soldiers C. officers D. mariners
10.It was prophesied that Troy could not fall without Heracles’ bow.
A. Prepared B. proven C. foretold D. understood

Self-Check
Arrange the story into correct order by numbering 1-10.
_____a. Helen was abducted to Troy.
_____b. There was a plan of Zeus to depopulate the earth.
_____c. The Greeks burned their camp and soiled for Tenedos.
_____d. Eris threw a golden apple with the inscription “to the fairest”.
_____e. The Trojan horse was left and taken inside the Troy.
_____f. Soldiers in the Trojan Horse massacre the sleeping population and sucked the city.
_____g. Meneleus and the allied Greek force besieged Troy.
_____h. Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena claimed to be the fairest.
_____i. Hector was killed by Achilles.
_____j. Paris chose Aphrodite to be the fairest and Aphrodite rewarded him Helen as his wife.
Self- Reflect
In this lesson, I have learned
that_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________.

Lesson 2- Odyssey

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

1. discuss the journey of Odysseus
2. share their thoughts regarding the different happenings in the story.
3. learn the different vocabularies and terms in the story

Let’s take off

Can you still recall the story of Odysseus? What are the main characteristics of him that
you admired most?

Content Focus
The Odyssey (Greek: Odusseia) is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems
attributed to the poet Homer. The poem is commonly dated circa 800 to 600 BC. The poem is,
in part, a sequel to Homers Iliad and mainly concerns the events that befalls the Greek hero
Odysseus in his long journeys after the fall of Troy and when he at last returns to his native
land of Ithaca.

It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten year Trojan War. During this
twenty years absence, his son Telemachus and his wife Penelope must deal with the group of
unruly suitors who have moved into Odysseus home to compete to Penelope’s hand in
marriage, since most assumed that Odysseus had died.

Outline of the Plot

Telemachus, Odysseus son was a baby when Odysseus sent out for Troy. At the point
where Odyssey begins, ten years after the Trojan war ended. Telemachus is about twenty and
is sharing his missing father’s house on the island of Ithaca with his mother Penelope and with
a crowd of boisterous young men, “the suitors”, whose aim is to accept her husbands’
disappearance as final and to marry one of them.

The goddess Athena (Odysseus protector) discusses his faith with Zeus, king of the
gods, at a moment when Odysseus’s enemy , the sea-god Poseidon is absent from Mt.
Olymous. Then disguise as a male stranger, he visits Telemachus to urge him to search news
of his father. He offers him hospitality; they observe the suitors dining rowdily, and the singer
Phemius performing a narrative poem for them. Penelope objects to Phemius’s theme, the
“Return from Troy” because it reminds her of her missing husband, but Telemachus rebuts
her objections.

Next morning Telemachus calls an assembly of citizens of Itahaca and demands a ship
and crew. Accompanied by Athena (Now disguised as Odysseus friend Mentor) he departs for
the Greek mainland and the household Nestor, most venerable of the Greek warriors at Troy,
now at home in Pylos. From there Telemachus rides overland to Sparta, where he finds
Menelaus and Helen, now reconciled. They were told that return to Greece after a long votage
by way of Egypt; there on the magical island of Pharos, Menelaus encountered the old sea
god Proteus, who told him that Odysseus is a captive of a mysterious goddess Calypso.
Incidentally Telemachus learns the fate of Agamemnon, the king of Mycense and leader of the
Greeks at Troy, murdered on his return home by his wife Clymnestra and her lover Aegisthus.

Meanwhile Odysseus, after wanderings about which we are still to learn,has spent
seven years to captivity on the goddess Calyso’s distant island. She is now persuaded by the
messenger god Hermes to release him. Odysseus builts a raft. It is wrecked by Poseidon but
he swims ashore on the island of Scherie, were naked and exhausted and falls asleep. Next
morning, awakened by the laughter of girls, he sees the young Nausicaa, who was gone to
the seashore with her maids to wash clothes. He appeals to her for help. She encourages
him to seek the hospitality of her parents Arete and Alcinous. Odysseus is welcomed and is
not the first asked for his name. he remains several days for Alcinous, take part in an athletic
competition, and hears the blind singer Demoducus perform the two narrative poems. The
first is an obscure incident of the Trojan War, the quarrel of Odysseus and Achilles; the
second is the amusing tale of the love affair between the two Olympian gods, ADres and
Aphrodite. Finally, Odysseus asks asks Demodocus to return to the Trojan war theme and tell
of the Trojan Horse, a stratagem in which Odysseus had played a leading role. Unable to his
emotion as he relieves this episode, Odysseus at last reveals his identity. He then begins to
tell the amazing story of his return from Troy.

Having listened with rapt attention to his story, the Phaeacians, who are skilled
mariner, agree to help Odysseus on his way home. They deliver him at night, while he is fast
asleep to a hidden harbor in Ithaca. He finds his way to the hut of one of his own former
slaves, the swineherd Eumaeus. Odysseus now plays the part of wandering beggar in order to
learn how things stand in his household. After dinner he tells the laborer the fictitious tale of
himself; he was born in Crete, had led a party of Cretans to fight alongside other Greeks in
the Trojan War, and then spent seven years at the court of the king of Egypt; finally he had
been shipwrecked in Thesprotia and crossed from there to Ithaca.

Meanwhile Telemachus, whom we left at Sparta, sails home, evading an ambush set by
the suitors. They disembarks on the coasts of Ithaca and makes for Eumaeus’s hut. Father
and son meet; Odysseus identifies Telemachus (but not to Eumaeus) and they determine that
the suitors must be killed. Telemachus gets home first. Accompanied by Eumaeus Odysseus
now returned to his own house, still disguised as a beggar. He experiences the suitors rowdy
behavior and plans their death. He meets Penelope; he tests her intentions with an invented
story of his death in Crete, where, he says, he once met Odysseus. Closely questioned, he
adds that he had recently been in Thesprotia and had learned something there of Odysseus
recent wanderings.

Odysseus identity is discovered by the housekeeper, Eurycleia when he undresses for a

bath and reveals an old thigh wound; he swears her to secrecy. Next day, at Athenas
prompting, Penelope maneuvers suitors or her into competing for her hand into archery
competition using Odysseus bow. He takes part in the competition himself; he alone is strong
enough to string the bow and therefore wins. Immediately he turns his arrow to the suitors,
and all are killed. Odysseus and Telemachus killed (by hanging) 12 of her household maids,
who had slept with the suitors; they mutilate and killed the goathered Melanthius, who had
favored them. Now at the last Odysseus identifies himself to Penelope. She is hesitant, but
accepts him when he correctly describes to her the bed he built for when they got married.

Next day he and Telemachus visit the country farm of his old father Laertes, who
likewise accepts his identity only when Odysseus correctly describes the orchard that Laertes
once gave him.

The citizens of Ithaca followed Odysseus on the road, planning to avenge the killing of
the Suitors, their sons. Their leader points out that Odysseus has now caused the death of
two generations of men of Ithaca-his sailors, not one of whom survived, and the suitors,
whom he has now executed. The goddess Athena intervenes and persuades both sides to give
up the vendetta.

Let’s Take Action

Vocabulary: Match column A with column B

Column A Column B

_____1. Boisterous a. medicine

_____2. Fate b. to change move
_____3. Sacrilege c. revenge
_____4. Rebut d. disfigure
_____5. Venerable e. noisy
_____6. Reconcile f. destiny
_____7. Potion g. disrespect or sacred
_____8. Maneuver h. deny
_____9. Vendetta i. worthy of respect
_____10. Mutilate j. reunite

Self-Check
I. Answer the following questions. Write the letter of your choice on the line
provided.

_____1. How long had Odyssey been absent from his home?
A. 5 years B. 10 yrs C, 15 yrs D. 20 yrs
_____2. How many years did Odyssey travel back to Ithaca after the Trojan war?
A. 5 yrs B. 10 yrs C. 15 yrs D. 20 yrs
_____3. Which of the following is not true in the adventure of Odyssey?
A. He become captive of Calypso.
B. Their ship was driven off course by the storm.
C. They were captured by the Cyclops.
D. They encountered pirates in the sea.
_____4. Who helped Odysseus to reach Ithaca?
A. Egyptian B. Phaeacians C. Greeks D. Cretans
____5. How old was Telemachus when Odyssey arrived in Ithaca?
A. 5 yrs B. 10 yrs C. 15 yrs D. 20 yrs
_____6. Who among the goddesses helped Odysseus?
A. Athena B. Hera C. Aphrodite D. Penelope
_____7. What competition was used in order for Odyssey to reveal himself and kill the unruly
suitors?
A. Swimming competition C. running competition
B. Archery competition D. chariot driving competition
_____8. What appearance did Odyssey assumed to disguise himself?
A. A beggar C. a suitor
B. An old man D. a warrior
_____9. The proof that Odyssey showed that made Penelope believed him was the description
of:
A.the dress gave her C. the house he built for him
B. the bed he built for them D. the ring he gave for her
10. Who is the known author of Odyssey?
A. Aristotle C. Plato
B. Plato D. Socrates

II. In a long size bond paper, draw the adventure of Odysseus. Give highlights the main
events of the story.

Self- Reflect
In this lesson, I have learned
that_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________.

CHAPTER 4: FABLE
Lesson 1 Aesop

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

1. discuss the importance of fable in our life
2. illustrate the story being read
3. create their own fable

Let’s take off

Why do you think there is a need for us to read a fable? How important it is in our
Lives?

Content Focus
Aesop

The fabulist Aesop, if there ever was aperson, was an ugly son of a prostitute. Some
compared him to turnip, others to a pot or a jar of food or a goose egg. He was born with
physical deformities, one of which was prevented speech. He was a slave; a very hard
working and pious slave; yet his cleverness, which was beyond compare, made him ill-suited
to have as a servant.
 One day his piousness compelled him to do a good turn for priestess of Isis, who
afterwards was also grateful that she prayed for speech to be granted poor Aesop. It was,
and thenceforth there was no stopping him.

Although eventually he gained his freedom, he was quite a long time the salve of a
philosopher named Xanthus. Aesop outwitted this master at every turn and in diverse
situations, vexing him and winning the admiration of all the philosophers students and
ultimately of the philosopher himself.

Aesop made his clever points through the use of fables; he was always laying stories
on people. However they were many fables in circulation amongst the Greeks of his time, and
our man Aesop no doubt made use of these allegorical stories in scoring his points. Cleverness
may lie not in intention, but in exploitation.

The Tortoise and the Hare

The Tortoise and the Hare is a fable attributed to Aesop. The story concerns a hare
who one day ridiculed a slow-moving tortoise. In response, the tortoise challenged his swift
mocker to a race. The hare soon left the tortoise far behind and, confident course. When he
awoke, however, he found that his competitor, crawling slowly nut steadily, had already won
the race.

Moral lesson: Slow and steady wins the race.

The Ant and the Dove

An ant went to the bank of a river to quench its thirst, and being carried away by the
rush of the stream, was on the point of drowning. A dove sitting on a tress overhanging the
water plucked a leaf and let it fall into the stream lose to her.

The Ant climbed onto it and floated in safety to the bank. Shortly afterwards a
birdcathcher came and stood under the tree, and laid his lime-twigs for the dove, which sat in
the branches. The ant, perceiving his design, stung him in the foot. In pain the birdcatcher
threw down the twigs, and the noise made the dove take wing.

Moral Lesson: One good turn deserves another

The Dog and the Shadow

It happened that the dog had got a piece of meat and carrying it home in his mouth to
eat in peace. Now on his way home he had to cross a plank lying across a running brook. As
he crossed, he looked down and saw his own shadow reflected in the water beneath. Thinking
it was another piece of meat, he made up his mind to have that also. So he made a snap in
the shadow in the water, but as he opened his mouth the piece of meat fell out, dropped into
the water and was never seen more.

Moral Lesson: Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.

The Gosse with the Golden Eggs

One day a countryman going to the nest oh his Goose found there an egg all yellow
and glittering. When he took it up it was as heavy as lead and he was going to throw it away
because he thought a trick had been played upon him. But he took it home on second
thoughts, and soon found to his delight that it was an egg pure of gold. Every morning the
same thing occurred, and he soon become rich by selling hi seggs. As he grew rich he grew
greedily;and thinking to get at once all the gold of the Goose could give., he killed it and
opened it only to find nothing.

Moral Lesson: Greed oft o’over reaches itself.

Let’s Take Action

In a piece of bond paper, choose one fable and do the illustration of the story. Do it like a
comic strip with a balloon dialog.

Self-Check
Create your own fable. Choose your own animal character. Do not limit your
imagination.

Self- Reflect
In this lesson, I have learned
that_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________.