The Chautauquan, Vol. 05, February 1885Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Philosophy
The Chautauquan, Vol. 05, February 1885
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Chautauqua Institution -- Periodicals; Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle -- Periodicals
P. 121.—“Swan’s Utterance.” Referring to the fable told of the swan, that
it sings its sweetest song at death—“the sweetest song is the last he
sings.” Thus in “Othello,” “I will play the swan and die in music.”
P. 127.—The chapter on Æschylus may be supplemented by the following
readings: “Theory of Greek Tragedy,” De Quincey; Müller, Mure, and
Mahaffy on Æschylus, in their histories of Greek Literature; Talfourd’s
“Tragic Poets of Greece,” from “History of Greek Literature;” Symond’s
“Studies of the Greek Poets,” _Christian Examiner_, Vol. xliii, p. 140;
_Contemporary Magazine_, Vol. iii, p. 351; _Biblia Sacra_, Vol. xvi, p.
354; _North American Review_, Vol. lxvii, p. 407.
P. 129.—“Cyprid.” A poem, author unknown, called Cyprid or _Cypria_,
“either because the author came from Cyprus, or because it celebrated the
Cyprian goddess, Aphrodite, and detailed from the commencement her action
in the Trojan war.… The poem was an introduction to the ‘Iliad,’ telling
a vast number of myths and leading the reader from the first cause of the
war up to the tenth year of its duration. It is easy to see that such a
vast subject, loosely connected, must have failed to afford the artistic
unity which underlies the course of the ‘Iliad.’”
“Little Iliad.” A poem by Lesches, a Lesbian. It relates the complete
story of the sack of Troy, from the contest of Achilles to the fall
of Troy. The “Competition for the Arms,” we have had in the “Iliad.”
“Philoctetes” was the chief archer of the Greeks, having been instructed
by Hercules in the use of the bow. On the voyage to Troy he was bitten
by a snake and left on the island of Lemnos. In the tenth year of the
war the oracle declared the city could not be taken without the arrows
of Hercules. Philoctetes was brought, and having slain Paris, the city
was taken. “Neoptolemus,” a son of Achilles, was one of the warriors that
the oracle declared necessary for the capture of Troy. He was one of the
heroes concealed in the wooden horse. “Eurypylus” who came from Ormenion
to Troy, played a prominent part in battle, slaying many Trojans; he
was wounded by Paris. “Ulysses Mendicant,” the story of the wanderings
of Ulysses. “Lacæna,” the Lacedæmonian woman, referring to Helen.
“Illii-persis,” treats of the plundering of Troy after the capture, and
“Apoplus,” of the sailing away of the ships. “Sinon.” After the wooden
horse was finished, Sinon mutilated his body and allowed himself to be
captured by the Trojans. He told them that he had been maltreated by his
countrymen, and that if they (the Trojans) would drag the horse into the
city they would conquer the Greeks. After the Trojans had followed his
advice he let the Greeks out of the horse. “Troades,” the Trojans.
P. 134.—“Trilogy.” A set of three dramas. Each one is in itself complete,
but the three are related, one event following or growing out of another,
as in Shakspere’s Henry VI.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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