Instructions
For this ἄσκησις you will draw and label a plan of your “ancestral” οἰκία in your notebook and try adapting Kydraios’ descriptions to fit your living situation. If your “ancestral” οἰκία consists of more than one floor, just draw a plan of the ground floor. Here are some additional notes about conducting your guest through your house:
For now limit the number of verbs to the three that appear in the first reading assignment:
βαδίζω (“I walk”)
τρέπω (“I turn”)
ὁρῶ (ὁράω) (“I see”)
Note: when you use τρέπω, you will use the middle voice. For example, “I turn (myself)” is τρέπομαι; “we turn (ourselves)” is τρεπόμεθα. As we discussed in class, we can change τρεπόμεθα (the indicative) to “let us turn ourselves” (i.e., use the subjunctive mood) by lengthening the thematic vowel: τρεπώμεθα.
Here are some of the adverbs and prepositional phrases you might want to use:
ἐξ ἀριστερᾶς (χειρός) (“to the left”) when referring to something that is on the left side (of something else)
ἐξ δεξιᾶς (χειρός) (“to the right”) when referring to something that is on the right side (of something else)
ἐπ’ ἀριστεράν (χεῖρα) (“to the left”) when you are moving to the left
ἐπ’ δεξιάν (χεῖρα) (“to the right”) when you are moving to the right
ἔμπροσθεν (“before,” “in front,” “forwards”)
ὄπισθεν (“behind,” “in back,” “backwards”)
As we discussed in class, we typically have more rooms in our houses and rooms for specialized purposes beyond those in the ancient world. We will, however, apply some of the words that appear in ancient Greek texts to our modern situations:
For “dining room” use συσσίτιον, συσσιτίου, n. (oud., i.e., οὐδέτερον), which referred to the common mess halls in Sparta and Crete.
For “front room” or “living room use “ξενών, ξενῶνος, m. (αρσ., i.e., ἀρσενικόν), which means “guest quarters.”
For “family room” or “television room” use δόμος, δόμου, m. (αρσ., i.e., ἀρσενικόν), which can refer to the entire house but also describes a room or chamber. We read, for example, that this was the room where Telemachus welcomed Athena in the guise of Mentes to his οἷκος:
“χαῖρε, ξεῖνε, παρ᾽ ἄμμι φιλήσεαι· αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα
δείπνου πασσάμενος μυθήσεαι ὅττεό σε χρή.”
ὣς εἰπὼν ἡγεῖθ᾽, ἡ δ᾽ ἕσπετο Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη.
οἱ δ᾽ ὅτε δή ῥ᾽ ἔντοσθεν ἔσαν δόμου ὑψηλοῖο,
ἔγχος μέν ῥ᾽ ἔστησε φέρων πρὸς κίονα μακρὴν
δουροδόκης ἔντοσθεν ἐυξόου, ἔνθα περ ἄλλα
ἔγχε᾽ Ὀδυσσῆος ταλασίφρονος ἵστατο πολλά,
αὐτὴν δ᾽ ἐς θρόνον εἷσεν ἄγων, ὑπὸ λῖτα πετάσσας,
καλὸν δαιδάλεον· ὑπὸ δὲ θρῆνυς ποσὶν ἦεν.
Greetings, Guest, you are welcome with us, and when
you have eaten dinner tell us what you need.
Having spoken, he led and Pallas Athena followed.
When they were inside the high-roofed chamber,
taking her spear to the great pillar he
stood it in the polished spear stand,
where steady-minded Odysseus used to place his many spears,
and leading on seated her on a chair having spread
over it a beautiful, smooth, embroidered
coverlet. Beneath her feet was a footstool.
In this room Phemios, the singer, entertained the suitors:
κῆρυξ δ᾽ ἐν χερσὶν κίθαριν περικαλλέα θῆκεν
Φημίῳ, ὅς ῥ᾽ ἤειδε παρὰ μνηστῆρσιν ἀνάγκῃ
ἦ τοι ὁ φορμίζων ἀνεβάλλετο καλὸν ἀείδειν.
And the footman placed the cithara in Phemios’ hands
who by compulsion sang for the suitors.
Strumming the stings he struck up a beautiful song.
You also have the words for objects inside your οἰκήματα:
δίφρος, -ου or θρόνος, -ου (“chair”)
τράπεζα, -ης (“table”)
κλίνη, -ης (“bed”)
βιβλιοθήκη, -ης (“bookcase”)
When you have drawn your plan, labeled the rooms and their contents (for some at least), and taken a friend (φίλη or φίλος) through your οἰκία, take a picture of your work and send it to me as an attachment to a text message or email.
