Carpe Diem, Latini Duo Discipuli!

Through stories you will take a close look at the roles played by men and women in the ancient world and compare these roles to masculine and feminine characters in contemporary books and movies. Men wrote the stories of antiquity and portrayed women as they wanted them to be. In those days women could not speak with their own voice, since ancient Greek and Roman society was patriarchal. What Latin words is the sources of this term, patriarchal? Once you make this connection, you have already begun the exploration of ancient and modern gender roles.

Complete these activities to understand gender identity in the ancient and modern world.

Activity I - Gender Identity List

Create with a partner a list of gender identity characteristics for men and women in the modern world. Write the headings WOMEN AND MEN at the top of your document. Under each heading write characteristics based on your knowledge, experience, reading and intuition.

Prepare a presentation of your gender list in class. Explain the reasons why you assigned these characteristics.

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Activity II - Cupid and Psyche

Use your gender list as a starting point for your study of ancient gender identity. The ancient myth of Cupid and Psyche will show us how ancient writers portrayed women. First, read this summary of the myth:

Psyche was a beautiful princess whose parents boasted that she was as lovely as Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Angered by this comparison, the goddess told her son Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with a monster. Psyche's parents took her to a remote mountain cliff where she awaited her fate. Although Cupid obeyed his mother, he fell in love with Psyche himself when he accidentally wounded himself with one of his arrows. As she jumped off the mountain cliff, she floated into a valley where she discovered a beautiful palace. Inside the palace were voices instead of real people who waited on her. Here Cupid as an invisible presence visited her every night. He made Psyche promise never to tell anyone about him. When Psyche's jealous sisters visited her, they suggested that her husband must a monster and she must insist on seeing him. One night after the sisters left, Psyche lit a candle to see Cupid as he slept. When some of the hot wax dripped on him, he vanished. The goddess Ceres advised Psyche to beg Venus for Cupid's return. Venus gave Psyche many difficult tasks to see if she was worthy of her son. When Psyche was coming back from the Underworld as she was completing the final task, she fell asleep because she disobeyed Venus. Cupid revives her with one of his arrows. After Jupiter consoles Venus he gives Psyche ambrosia to drink to make her immortal and she marries Cupid on Mt. Olympus.

Now read these two sections from the Cupid and Psyche story and with your partner answer the questions which follow each section. To help you answer these questions, use your notes from the other stories - Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella - which we discussed in class.

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Section l - Cupid and Psyche story

In this section Cupid is ready to meet her fate on the mountain cliff:

Accordingly, all things being prepared, the royal maid took her place in the procession, which more resembled a funeral than a nuptial pomp, and with her parents, amid the lamentations of the people, ascended the mountain, on the summit of which they left her alone, and with sorrowful hearts returned home. While Psyche stood on the ridge of the mountain, panting with fear and with eyes full of tears, the gentle Zephyr raised her from the earth and bore her with an easy motion into a flowery dale. By degrees her mind became composed, and she laid herself down on the grassy bank to sleep. When she awoke refreshed with sleep, she looked round and beheld near by a pleasant grove of tall and stately trees. She entered it, and in the midst discovered a fountain, sending forth clear and crystal waters, and fast by, a magnificent palace whose august front impressed the spectator that it was not the work of mortal hands, but the happy retreat of some god. Drawn by admiration and wonder, she approached the building and ventured to enter. Every object she met filled her with pleasure and amazement. Golden pillars supported the vaulted roof, and the walls were enriched with carvings and paintings representing beasts of the chase and rural scenes, adapted to delight the eye of the beholder. Proceeding onward, she perceived that besides the apartments of state there were others filled with all manner of treasures, and beautiful and precious productions of nature and art. While her eyes were thus occupied, a voice addressed her, though she saw no one, uttering these words: "Sovereign lady, all that you see is yours. We whose voices you hear are your servants and shall obey all your commands with our utmost care and diligence. Retire, therefore, to your chamber and repose on your bed of down, and when you see fit repair to the bath. Supper awaits you in the adjoining alcove when it pleases you to take your seat there."

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Section 1 Questions

1.Describe how the reality of Psyche's fate contrasts with Venus's command to her son Cupid.

2. How much work does Psyche perform in the palace?

3. Compare this part of the myth to the scene in "Beauty and the Beast."

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Section 2 - Cupid and Psyche

In this section of the story, Cupid has just left Psyche:

Psyche meanwhile wandered day and night, without food or repose, in search of her husband. Casting her eyes on a lofty mountainhaving on its brow a magnificent temple, she sighed and said to herself, "Perhaps my love, my lord, inhabits there," and directed her steps thither.

She had no sooner entered than she saw heaps of corn, some in loose ears and some in sheaves, with mingled ears of barley. Scattered about, lay sickles and rakes, and all the instruments of harvest, without order, as if thrown carelessly out of the weary reapers' hands in the sultry hours of the day. This unseemly confusion the pious Psyche put an end to, by separating and sorting everything to its proper place and kind, believing that she ought to neglect none of the gods, but endeavour by her piety to engage them all in her behalf. The holy Ceres, whose temple it was, finding her so religiously employed, thus spoke to her:"O Psyche, truly worthy of our pity, though I cannot shield you from the frowns of Venus, yet I can teach you how best to allay her displeasure. Go, then, and voluntarily surrender yourself to your ladyand sovereign, and try by modesty and submission to win herforgiveness, and perhaps her favour will restore you the husband you have lost."

Psyche obeyed the commands of Ceres and took her way to the temple of Venus, endeavouring to fortify her mind and ruminating on what she should say and how best propitiate the angry goddess, feeling that the issue was doubtful and perhaps fatal. Venus received her with angry countenance.

"Most undutiful and faithless of servants," said she, "do you at last remember that you really have a mistress? Or have you rather come to see your sick husband, yet laid up of the wound given him by his loving wife? You are so ill-favoured and disagreeable that the only way you can merit our lover must be by dint of industry and diligence. I will make trial of your housewifery."

Then she ordered Psyche to be led to the storehouse of her temple, where was laid up a great quantity of wheat, barley, millet, vetches, beans, and lentils prepared for food for her pigeons, and said, "Take and separate all these grains, putting all of the same kind in a parcel by themselves, and see that you get it done before evening."

Then Venus departed and left her to her task. But Psyche, in a perfect consternation at the enormous work, sat stupid and silent, without moving a finger to the inextricable heap. While she sat despairing, Cupid stirred up the little ant, a native of the fields, to take compassion on her. The leader of the ant-hill, followed by whole hosts of his six-legged subjects, approached the heap, and with the utmost diligence taking grain by grain, they separated the pile, sorting each kind to its parcel; and when it was all done, they vanished out of sight in a moment.

Venus at the approach of twilight returned from the banquet of the gods, breathing odours and crowned with roses. Seeing the task done, she exclaimed, "This is no work of yours, wicked one, but his, whom to your own and his misfortune you have enticed."

So saying, she threw her a piece of black bread for her supper and went away. Next morning Venus ordered Psyche to be called and said to her,"Behold yonder grove which stretches along the margin of the water.There you will find sheep feeding without a shepherd, with golden-shining fleeces on their backs. Go, fetch me a sample of that precious wool gathered from every one of their fleeces."

Psyche obediently went to the riverside, prepared to do her best to execute the command. But the river god inspired the reeds with harmonious murmurs, which seemed to say, "O maiden, severely tried, tempt not the dangerous flood, nor venture among the formidable ramson the other side, for as long as they are under the influence of the rising sun, they burn with a cruel rage to destroy mortals with their sharp horns or rude teeth. But when the noontide sun has driven the cattle to the shade, and the serene spirit of the flood has lulled them to rest, you may then cross in safety, and you will find the woolly gold sticking to the bushes and the trunks of the trees."

Thus the compassionate river god gave Psyche instructions how to accomplish her task, and by observing his directions she soon returned to Venus with her arms full of the golden fleece; but she received not the approbation of her implacable mistress, who said, "I know very well it is by none of your own doings that you have succeeded in this task, and I am not satisfied yet that you have any capacity to make yourself useful. But I have another task for you. Here, take this box and go your way to the infernal shades, and give this box to Proserpine and say, 'My mistress Venus desires you to send her a little of your beauty, for in tending her sick son she has lost some of her own.' Be not too long on your errand, for I must paint myself with it to appear at the circle of the gods and goddesses this evening."

So she carefully opened the box, but found nothing there of any beauty at all, but an infernal and truly Stygian sleep, which being thus set free from its prison, took possession of her, and she fell down in the midst of the road, a sleepy corpse without sense or motion. But Cupid, being now recovered from his wound, and not able longer to bear the absence of his beloved Psyche, slipping through the smallest crack of the window of his chamber which happened to be left open, flew to the spot where Psyche lay, and gathering up the sleep from her body closed it again in the box, and waked Psyche with a light touch of one of his arrows. "Again," said he, "hast thou almost perished by the same curiosity. But now perform exactly the task imposed on you by my mother, and I will take care of the rest."

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Section 2 Questions

l. How is the episode similar to Cinderella?

2. Why is it significant for animals to help Psyche in her tasks? Think of the ancient hierarchy of being.

3. Psyche means "the soul" and Cupid means "love." What explanation does this story offer for the relationship between love and the soul?

Based on what you have learned about Psyche in the myth, write a paragraph defining Psyche's role as a woman in ancient society. Refer to specific events in the myth for examples.

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Activity III - Narrator's Script

You and your partner are writing the narrator's script as a PowerPoint presentation for a part of a documentary television show about how men perceived women in ancient Greece and Rome. Your part of the documentary focuses on Penelope as a model for women in antiquity. Penelope was the wife of the Greek warrior Odysseus who fought against the Trojans for ten years in the Trojan War. Odysseus spent another ten years sailing back home to the island of Ithaca because the sea god Poseidon created many obstacles for him during the journey.

Read these four passages about Penelope from Homer's Odyssey, the epic poem about the hero's return.These readings will show you what Penelope says and does and what men observe and say about her. As you read remember our class discussion about gender identity. Make notes about Penelope's activities in relation to our class discussion. Then write the narrator's script of about 300 to 400 words for this portion of the documentary. Imagine that pictures of Penelope, the Trojan War and Odysseus' journey will appear on the screen as the narrator reads your script. Your script should express what men in the ancient world liked and did not like about women. Refer to the four readings in your script with both quotation and paraphrase. Click here for the illustrations to accompany your screenplay.

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1. Odyssey, Book I, lines 319-364

Introduction:

The goddess you will encounter at the beginning of this reading from the first book of the Odyssey is Athena, who is helping Odysseus return home to Ithaca where his wife Penelope and son Telemachus live. In the ancient world, a book is similar to a single chapter of an entire book today. The Odyssey has 24 books, or chapters. Many suitors, the men who want to marry Penelope, have been living in Odysseus' house for several years. Athena tells Telemachus that he should encourage the suitors to leave his home and then sail to distant lands to ask if anyone has seen his father since the end of the Trojan War. While Telemachus and the suitors eat dinner, a bard, someone who tells stories to music as entertainment, is singing a song about the Greeks returning home from Troy after the war. When Penelope hears the song, she walks downstairs from her rooms into the dining hall. In this reading, Minerva is the Roman name for Athena, the Danaans are the Greeks and Jove is one of the Roman names for Zeus, the king of the gods.

With these words she flew away like a bird into the air, but she had given Telemachus courage, and had made him think more than ever about his father. He felt the change, wondered at it, and knew that the stranger had been a god, so he went straight to where the suitors were sitting. Phemius was still singing, and his hearers sat rapt in silence as he told the sad tale of the return from Troy, and the ills Minerva had laid upon the Achaeans. Penelope, daughter of Icarius, heard his song from her room upstairs, and came down by the great staircase, not alone, but attended by two of her handmaids. When she reached the suitors she stood by one of the bearing posts that supported the roof of the cloisters with a staid maiden on either side of her. She held a veil, moreover, before her face, and was weeping bitterly. "Phemius," she cried, "you know many another feat of gods and heroes, such as poets love to celebrate. Sing the suitors some one of these, and let them drink their wine in silence, but cease this sad tale, for it breaks my sorrowful heart, and reminds me of my lost husband whom I mourn ever without ceasing, and whose name was great over all Hellas and middle Argos. "Mother," answered Telemachus, "let the bard sing what he has a mind to; bards do not make the ills they sing of; it is Jove, not they, who makes them, and who sends weal or woe upon mankind according to his own good pleasure. This fellow means no harm by singing the ill-fated return of the Danaans, for people always applaud the latest songs most warmly. Make up your mind to it and bear it; Ulysses is not the only man who never came back from Troy, but many another went down as well as he. Go, then, within the house and busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for speech is man's matter, and mine above all others- for it is I who am master here." S he went wondering back into the house, and laid her son's saying in her heart. Then, going upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she mourned her dear husband till Minerva shed sweet sleep over her eyes.

2. Odyssey, Book II, Lines 85-129

In this reading passage the suitors are responding to Telemachus' request that they leave Odysseus' house. The suitors have slaughtered much of Odysseus' cattle for food and insist that Penelope marry one of them on the assumption that Odysseus will never return from Troy. Laertes is the father of Odysseus.

"Telemachus, insolent braggart that you are, how dare you try to throw the blame upon us suitors? It is your mother's fault not ours, for she is a very artful woman. This three years past, and close on four, she has been driving us out of our minds, by encouraging each one of us, and sending him messages without meaning one word of what she says. And then there was that other trick she played us. She set up a great tambour frame in her room, and began to work on an enormous piece of fine needlework. 'Sweet hearts,' said she, 'Ulysses is indeed dead, still do not press me to marry again immediately, wait- for I would not have skill in needlework perish unrecorded- till I have completed a pall for the hero Laertes, to be in readiness against the time when death shall take him. He is very rich, and the women of the place will talk if he is laid out without a pall.' "This was what she said, and we assented; whereon we could see her working on her great web all day long, but at night she would unpick the stitches again by torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three years and we never found her out, but as time wore on and she was now in her fourth year, one of her maids who knew what she was doing told us, and we caught her in the act of undoing her work, so she had to finish it whether she would or no. The suitors,therefore, make you this answer, that both you and the Achaeans may understand-'Send your mother away, and bid her marry the man of her own and of her father's choice'; for I do not know what will happen if she goes on plaguing us much longer with the airs she gives herself on the score of the accomplishments Minerva has taught her, and because she is so clever. We never yet heard of such a woman; we know all about Tyro, Alcmena, Mycene, and the famous women of old, but they were nothing to your mother, any one of them. It was not fair of her to treat us in that way, and as long as she continues in the mind with which heaven has now endowed her, so long shall we go on eating up your estate; and I do not see why she should change, for she gets all the honour and glory, and it is you who pay for it, not she.Understand, then, that we will not go back to our lands, neither here nor elsewhere, till she has made her choice and married some one or other of us."

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3. Odyssey, Book IV, Lines 675-772

Earlier in this book the suitors plan to sail after Telemachus, who has already left on his journey, and kill him. They are afraid that he will find Odysseus and then Odysseus will punish them for living in his house for many years.Medon, the herald who announces visitors to Odysseus' household, tells Penelope about the suitors' plans.

It was not long ere Penelope came to know what the suitors were plotting; for a man servant, Medon, overheard them from outside the outer court as they were laying their schemes within, and went to tell his mistress. As he crossed the threshold of her room Penelope said:"Medon, what have the suitors sent you here for? Is it to tell the maids to leave their master's business and cook dinner for them? I wish they may neither woo nor dine henceforward, neither here nor anywhere else, but let this be the very last time, for the waste you all make of my son's estate. Did not your fathers tell you when you
were children how good Ulysses had been to them- never doing anything high-handed, nor speaking harshly to anybody? Kings may say things sometimes, and they may take a fancy to one man and dislike another, but Ulysses never did an unjust thing by anybody- which shows what bad hearts you have, and that there is no such thing as gratitude
left in this world." Then Medon said, "I wish, Madam, that this were all; but they are
plotting something much more dreadful now- may heaven frustrate their design. They are going to try and murder Telemachus as he is coming home from Pylos and Lacedaemon, where he has been to get news of his father." Then Penelope's heart sank within her, and for a long time she was speechless; her eyes filled with tears, and she could find no
utterance. At last, however, she said, "Why did my son leave me? What business had he to go sailing off in ships that make long voyages over the ocean like sea-horses? Does he want to die without leaving any one behind him to keep up his name?" " I do not know," answered Medon, "whether some god set him on to it, or whether he went on his own impulse to see if he could find out if his father was dead, or alive and on his way home." Then he went downstairs again, leaving Penelope in an agony of grief.

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4. Odyssey, Book 19, Lines 106-114

At this point near the end of the epic Odysseus has returned to his home in disguise. Only three people know that he is Odysseus: (1) the farmer Eumaeus who works on Odysseus' land; (2) his servant Eurycleia, who cared for him when he was a baby and (3) his son Telemachus. He is now speaking with his wife Penelope, who does not know that this visitor is her husband, Odysseus.

"Madam;" answered Ulysses, "who on the face of the whole earth can dare to chide with you? Your fame reaches the firmament of heaven itself; you are like some blameless king, who upholds righteousness, as the monarch over a great and valiant nation: the earth yields its wheat and barley, the trees are loaded with fruit, the ewes bring forth lambs, and the sea abounds with fish by reason of his virtues, and his people do good deeds under him.

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Activity IV - Gender Identity List

Now create a gender identity list similar to the one you made at the beginning of this lesson for men and women in the ancient world. Base your list on what you have learned about men and women in the Penelope and Cupid and Psyche stories.

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Activity V - Comparison

Now choose with your partner a story which you have enjoyed reading either in English class or as part of your recreational reading. The story should have a leading feminine character whom you can compare to Psyche and Penelope. Prepare a five-minute oral presentation in which you can use your two gender identity lists, the stories about Psyche and Penelope, and the modern fairy tales to discuss how ancient and modern gender identity influence the roles of feminine characters.

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