EPIC POETRY - TEST REVIEW
EPIC POETRY
1. Match the literary terms to their correct definitions and give text examples (see handout)
2. Why was figurative language used in epic poetry? (purpose)
3. Identify three (3) key elements of an epic poem
4. Identify three (3) epic poems, and their dates and regions of origin, and their type of print
5. Why are the literary works we studied significant to their regions and to us, today?
6. Why did bards hold an honored position in society?
7. How did people believe they achieved immortality?
HERO ARCHETYPE
8. Identify the eight (8) characteristic traits of a hero and their text examples (see handout)
9. What is the relationship of the archetypal epic hero to his or her community?
10. What do Beowulf, Gilgamesh, and Achilles have in common/differences?
BEOWULF
11. Anglo-Saxon life was dominated by what code? (Consider the role of the king to their thanes)
12. What significant contribution did King Alfred make to Old English?
13. What are the circumstances of the first section of the Beowulf story?
14. Describe the battles between Beowulf and Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon
15. Identify significant text passages (see handout)
16. How does Beowulf win the battle with Grendel?
17. In Beowulf’s fight with Grendel’s mother, the piece of armory that saves his life is-
18. What weapon does Beowulf use to kill Grendel’s mother?
19. Who is Wiglaf and why does he help Beowulf in his final battle with the dragon?
20. What last thoughts does Beowulf express as he is dying?
21. How does Beowulf die and what do his people do to honor him?
22. The most important event in Beowulf’s career as a leader of the Geats is the…?
23. Consider the creatures Beowulf fights. What do they represent/symbolize?
GILGAMESH
24. Where does the epic poem of Gilgamesh take place and what historical figure is it based on?
25. Who is Gilgamesh? Enkidu? What is their relationship?
26. Who is Humbaba and what is his relationship to the gods?
27. Who are the foil characters in Gilgamesh?
28. What do the Elders of Uruk urge Gilgamesh to do?
29. Which character is most afraid of the upcoming battle?
30. The forest is called “Hell” by some and “Paradise” by others. What does Gilgamesh call it? Why is this important?
31. While Gilgamesh sleeps and dreams, Enkidu does what?
32. How does the battle transpire? List the events.
33. What tempting plea does Humbaba make Gilgamesh and what stops him from accepting?
34. What similarities/differences do Beowulf and Gilgamesh share?
35. How does Humbaba compare with the monster figures in the Beowulf epic? (similarities/differences)
ILIAD
36. Who wrote the Iliad and why was he considered “blind”?
37. What is an epic simile?
38. Epic similes are also known by what name?
39. Where does the Iliad take place?
40. How did the Trojan War begin?
41. Who is Hector? (His position) Achilles?
42. Which gods assist Hector (Trojans) and Achilles (Greeks)?
43. What is occurring at the very beginning of the selection, Book 22, of The Iliad?
44. How does the goddess Athena deceive Hector?
45. How does the chief god, Zeus, determine Hector will die?
46. What is Achilles’ greatest character flaw, or hubris?
47. What appeals does Hector make to Achilles and why does Achilles refuse Hector’s requests?
48. How do the Greeks respond to seeing the dead body of Hector? What does Achilles do to Hector’s body?
TEXT EXCERPTS
Identify the poem and what significant scene each text excerpt comes from:
49. “He came to, ripped him apart, cut his body to bits with powerful jaws, drank the blood from his veins, and bolted him down, hands and feet; death…great teeth came together, snapping life shut.”
50. “Men at arms, remain here on the barrow, …this fight is not yours, nor is it up to any man except me to measure his strength against the monster or to prove his worth. I shall win the gold by my courage, or else mortal combat, doom of battle, will bear your lord away.”
51. “Of all the kings upon the earth he was the man most gracious and fair-minded, kindest to his people and keenest to win fame…nowhere…was there a warrior worthier to rule over men.”
52. “His friend in agony, he still was captive to his dreams which he would tell aloud to exercise: I saw us standing in a mountain gorge, a rockslide fell on us, we seemed no more than insects under it. And then a solitary graceful man appeared and pulled me out from under the mountain. He gave me water and I felt released.”
53. “His shoulders, like a porter’s under building stones, were permanently bent by what he bore; he was the slave who did the work of the gods but whom the gods would never notice, monstrous in his contortion, he aroused the two almost to pity.”
54. “I know you well-I see my fate before me. Never a chance that I could win you over…But now beware, or my curse will draw god’s wrath upon your head…for all your fighting heart-destroy you at the Scaean Gates!
55. “Beg no more, you fawning dog…Would to my rage, my fury would drive me now to hack your flesh away and eat you raw - such agonies you have caused me!”