What are the major conflicts in The Aeneid? Go beyond just Dido and Aeneas, Greeks and Trojans, to consider other less obvious ones. What types of conflicts (physical, moral, intellectual, or internal) can you detect? Describe the conflict(s), and resolution if there is one.
How does the evolution of the hero figure relate to social, political, and/or cultural changes? Discuss how Beowulf compares to two other heroes from different time periods (ancient, Greek, Roman, middle ages) covered in class. How are these heroes different? How are they specifically tied to their historical context? Which heroes are more alike? Different?
As an epic journey to Hell and back, The Inferno clearly traces its ancestry, in part, to The Aeneid. As an “autobiographical” record of a spiritual struggle, it also has equally obvious roots in Augustine’s Confessions. We come to this book, then, uniquely well-versed in its literary antecedents. Where do you see the influence of The Aeneid in Dante’s poem? Of Confessions?
Evaluate how Napoleon both continued and broke from the aims of his revolutionary predecessors.
Based on the texts by Kafka and Eliot, discuss how the writers seem critical of modern culture, as they portray modern man as a self-conscious functionary who fears an acute loss of spirituality and identity, as well as the ability to achieve authenticity and happiness, overcome by the dehumanizing forces of industrialization and capitalism in post-WWI Europe.
