For Friday's class we will be reading passages from Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code, as well as The Batrachomyomachia. The author of The Batrachomyomachia is unknown but is "supposed" to be Homer. While reading pay close attention to common themes and ideas that we have studied throughout the semester, specifically our most recent work with Dares and Dictys. Also, keep in mind the context of Lucian's "True History" during your reading. I'll also have a couple interesting video clips to show in class. Hopefully we can get the clips out of the way first so that we may enjoy the rest of the class outside (weather permitting). See you all on Friday!
-Rich Rodd
Here are the readings:
Da Vinci Code: pages 162-172 and 242-256. Please ignore the pages skipped, the preview shows all of the important content.
http://books.google.com/books?id=ohZ1wcYifLsC
The Batrachomyomachia: Story is first chapter of document.
http://books.google.com/books?id=6x4AAAAAYAAJ
Jordann Markowitz
ReplyDeleteIs Sir Leigh Teabing a real royal historian? If he is and people know who he is then it will affect how people read the story and if they believe the theory about the grail.
Katie Burke
ReplyDeleteWas the Batrachomyomachia written as a mock-epic?
Sara Welish
ReplyDeleteAre there other narratives about occurrences between animals? We have read a lot about half-animals but I cannot remember reading anything simply about animals.
Maeve Tischbein
ReplyDeleteIf the gods in the poem Batrachomyomachia decide not to get involved in the battle why does Zeus step in at the end? Seems a bit hypocritical...
Shannon Potts
ReplyDeleteIn the first section of the Da Vinci code, the man Silas is shown to be a murderer. Could it be considered a kind of irony that he is an albino who saw himself as "pure...like an angel" (p167) ?
Krysta Brown
ReplyDeleteWhile I enjoyed both stories, (I am a big fan of the Da Vinci Code) I am not sure I see the connection between the two. Don't really have any questions...just interested to see how the correlation develops.
Jordann,
ReplyDeleteNo, but he has qualifications that are real.
Katie,
Yes, and it was often attributed to Homer but only the gullible believed that.
Sara,
Yes, the most famous are Aesop's fables. There are many similar animal tales in the ancient world. Aristophanes' comic plays--like the Birds that we mentioned recently--sometimes had animal characters.
Maeve,
Zeus is always hypocritical even in "real" epic.
Shannon,
Certainly. The book is of course full of symbols.
Krysta,
I am sure Rich can explain better but I believe that he will be asking you to relate each to earlier works in the course. Both readings have clear stylistic connections with Lucian are most recent reading. Lucian is a parodic sort of alternate history. Da Vinci Code is alternate history and the Battle of Frogs and Mice is a parody.