Answers to eight questions on academic topics

¶ … Adam and Eve's punishment for eating the apple in Genesis relates to any of the myths we read this semester. (Metamorphoses, Theogony)

Kafka's Metamorphoses, like the story of Adam and Eve, is a tale of a fall from grace. Like Adam and Eve after they eat from the tree of knowledge are cast out of the Garden of Eden, Gregor Samsa is cut off from his family and job after he is mysteriously transformed into a cockroach. Adam and Eve must face death because of their new transformation, just like Samsa dies far earlier than he would normally because he is now an insect. Adam and Eve's transformation is instantaneous, like Samsa's -- one minute they are unaware they are naked, but after eating of the tree they are suddenly self-conscious. And like Gregor Samsa, Adam and Eve were deceived -- Adam and Eve by the serpent; Gregor by his own family. Gregor believed that his work was financially necessary for his family to survive and for his sister to pursue music, but the family 'gets by' without his work and his sister, at the end of the tale, is more interested in getting married. Gregor was kept in a state of hard-working ignorance until his insect-like condition as a long-suffering son and employee was made physically manifest.

Q2. Hesiod repeatedly refers to Zeus as the best of the Olympians. What did he do that distinguishes him from his predecessors, Kronos and Uranus?

Zeus was able to exercise a stable influence of power over the other gods and create a meaningful form of rule over the world. He created humanity. He also assigned the various gods their respective roles. He was the father of a variety of important gods in the Olympic pantheon. He overthrew his father Kronos, who attempted to swallow all of his children. Without Zeus, Greek life would have been impossible, both for the other gods and for human beings.

Q3. What are three of the major threats against Odysseus' homecoming?

The first major threat is that of the curse of Poseidon, after Odysseus blinds Poseidon's child the Cyclops. Because of this Odysseus is condemned to wander the earth and denied fair winds. He is also repeatedly put into peril because of his encounters with strange beings and people, as well as nearly perishes on repeated occasions because of the moral weakness of his men. The second is Calypso, who tries to keep Odysseus for herself because she loves him so much. The third are the suitors who wish to marry Penelope and take Odysseus' kingdom for their own.

Q4. Describe a scene in which the problem of sight vs. insight is paramount in the Odyssey.