西概明天的牛刀小試 (Sep. 19, 2012)!
1. Who won the golden apple that said to the fairest? (A) Athena (B) Helen (C) Aphrodite (D) Hera.
2. What’s there in the Trojan Horse? (A) salvation army (B) Greek warriors (C) Phoebus Apollo (D) Trojan women.
3.Helen is (A) sister of Clytemnestra (B) daughter of Leda (C) wife of Menelaus (D) all of the above.
4. An Achilles’ heel is a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength, that can actually or potentially lead to downfall. Achilles is (A) son of Patroclus (B) lover of Thetis (C) patron god of Athens (D) none of the above.
5. The Trojan War lasts for (A) 10 (B) 15 (C) 20 (D) none of the above years.
September 30, 2009
西概明天的牛刀小試(10/01/2009)
1. 2546 in English?
2. "Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships" (whose face?)
3. "Hermes bringing to Alexander (also known as _____), the son of Priam the goddesses of whose beauty he is to judge, the inscription on them being: 'Here is Hermes, who is showing to Alexander, that he may arbitrate concerning their beauty, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite." (Description of Greece, LXV.9.5).
4. Who won the golden apple at last?
5. It is recounted that Zeus held a banquet in celebration of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis (parents of _____). However, Eris, goddess of discord, was uninvited. Angered by this snub, Eris arrived at the celebration, where she threw a golden apple (the Apple of Discord) into the proceedings, upon which was the inscription καλλίστῃ ("for the fairest one").
6. "罩門、致命傷" in English?
7. M_____ and Agamemnon are brothers while Clytemnestra and Helen are sisters.
8. However, P_____ and Achilles are lovers. P's death brings Achilles back to the battlefield to kill Hector.
9. Homer's Iliad only covers a few weeks of the Trojan war, and does not narrate Achilles' death. It's one of the conventional techniques of Homeric narrative called i_____.
10. The Iliad begins with Achilles' withdrawal from battle after he is dishonored by Agamemnon, the commander of the Achaean forces. Agamemnon had taken a woman named _____ as his slave. Her father Chryses, a priest of Apollo, begged Agamemnon to return her to him. Agamemnon refused and Apollo sent a plague amongst the Greeks. The prophet Calchas correctly determined the source of the troubles but would not speak unless Achilles vowed to protect him. Achilles did so and Calchas declared Chryseis must be returned to her father. Agamemnon consented, but then commanded that Achilles' battle prize Briseis be brought to replace Chryseis. Angry at the dishonor (and as he says later, because he loved Briseis) and at the urging of Thetis, Achilles refused to fight or lead his troops alongside the other Greek forces.
October 1, 2008
1. 2546
2. 花癡
3. 春藥
4.罩門、致命傷
5.石榴子
Merriam-Webster OnLine
www.wikipedia.org
1. MMDXLVI
2. nymphomaniac
3. aphrodisiac
4. Achilles’ heel
5. pomegranate
