西概Note week13

• Helen

Meaning：

A reference to the mythological figure Helen of Troy. Her abduction by Paris was said to be the reason for a fleet of a thousand ships to be launched into battle, initiating the Trojan Wars.

Origin：

Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships

And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?

Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss

Hubris ：Extremely pride or self-confidence, Describing violent and excessive behavior.

For example：

• Agamemnon (purple robes)

Agamemnon commanded the united Greek armed forces in the ensuing Trojan War Upon Agamemnon's return from Troy, he was murdered (according to the oldest surviving account, Odyssey 11.409–11) by Aegisthus, the lover of his wife, Clytemnestra. In old versions of the story, the scene of the murder, when it is specified, is usually the house of Aegisthus, who has not taken up residence in Agamemnon's palace, and it involves an ambush and the deaths of Agamemnon's followers as well. In some later versions Clytemnestra herself does the killing, or they do it together, in his own home.

ideal → of the best or most suitable type

spectator (to look)

audience (to listen)

• Drama

1.          dramatic → exciting and impressive

2.          irony (反諷) → a form of humour in which you use words to express the opposite of what the words really mean

3.          dramatic irony → a situation in which an audience knows more about what is happening in a play or film than the characters do (戲劇性諷示；劇中人未察覺但觀眾卻能領會)

For example：Oedipus the king

Sarcasm (語言上) → saying or writing the opposite of what you mean, or of speaking in a way intended to make someone else feel stupid or show them that you are angry.

• Chorus：

Literature in ancient Greek plays, a group of actors who all speak the same words, describing the action and making comments about it

• Tragedy ：

Tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in audiences. While many cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, the term tragedy often refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization. That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity.

• Tragic flaw (Hamartia) → a flaw in character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy

The term hamartia derives from the Greek ἁμαρτία, from ἁμαρτάνειν hamartánein, which means “to miss the mark” or “to err”. It is most often associated with Greek tragedy, although it is also used in Christian theology. Hamartia as it pertains to dramatic literature was first used by Aristotle in his Poetics. In tragedy, hamartia is commonly understood to refer to the protagonist’s error or flaw that leads to a chain of plot actions culminating in a reversal from their good fortune to bad. What qualifies as the error or flaw can include an error resulting from ignorance, an error of judgement, a flaw in character, or sin. The spectrum of meanings has invited debate among critics and scholars, and different interpretations among dramatists.

• Foreshadow → if something foreshadows a future event, it shows or gives a warning that it will happen

For example ：The storms and rains of that year foreshadowed a long period of unstable weather conditions.

• Trilogy(三部曲)

A trilogy (from Greek τρι- tri-, "three" and -λογία -logia, "discourse") is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games. Three-part works that are considered components of a larger work also exist, such as the triptych or the three-movement sonata, but they are not commonly referred to with the term "trilogy."