Classmates Research Excursions

One of the research excursions I read was on Andrew’s about Prophecy in Ancient Greece. I liked the structure that he used starting with showing how the research he did relates to the book before diving into the research. Something that always confused me was how people believed seers could exist, but what I learned is that seers were simply just believed in. No explanation was really necessary, they existed because they existed. I learned that they were believed in so much that even when they were wrong, they were not blamed, but were given excuses by the people. They did not even have to make their own excuses. Andrew’s research excursion provided me with context about Tiresias and why Creon, who did not listen to anyone, eventually decided to change his mind, even though it was too late, because of Tiresias’ prophecy.

In John’s research excursion on the Chorus in Ancient Greece, I mainly learned about what the chorus is and how it was used. I learned that a chorus is a group of respected people inside the play, in Antigone’s case a group of elders. The chorus is supposed to be passive and not support a specific person's claims. The chorus represents the public notion. The characters in the play try to appeal to the public by talking to the chorus such as in Creon and Heamonn’s argument, where both sides knew they would not convince the other. Through John’s research excursion, I learned about why the chorus even exists and how the chorus’ role in Antigone is important.