Greek Cultural Contributions

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Shrek

A typical comedy:

• contains comic devices such as puns (Donkey calls Shrek “really tall” instead of “ogre”), slapstick antics (Shrek’s wax, mud shower, barrel, Donkey can fly), misunderstandings (Shrek thinks Fiona can’t stand him, Fiona thinks a handsome prince rescued her), mistaken or hidden identities (Shrek is not a handsome prince, the dragon is nice, Fiona is an ogre) and eavesdropping (Shrek overhears Fiona and Donkey talking).

• is set (at least in part) in the country, which is often depicted as a magic, idealized place (coming back from rescuing Fiona, Shrek’s swamp).

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Shrek - a classic comedy

• has shepherds, farmers and other middle-class people as characters (though it may have royal and upper-class characters, as well) - (townsfolk, soldiers, Monsieur Hood, fairy tale characters, ogre/hero, prince/villain).

• opens by showing the hero in some kind of distress, troubled by a problem and trying to figure out a way to solve it (fairy tale characters move to Shrek’s swamp after being evicted, he wants them to leave).

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Shrek - a classic comedy

• criticizes society or specific people in society in a funny way (prince is small and compensates for his size with gigantic surroundings).

• ends with the hero’s triumph (Shrek gets Fiona and his swamp back).

• frequently closes with a scene in which a wedding or another type of celebration takes place (Shrek marries Fiona).

• ends with the reestablishment of order and a sense that a new “golden age” is beginning (song “I’m A Believer,” prince is killed, soldiers become nice, Shrek and Fiona ride off in a carriage, - they all lived happily ever after).

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Science/Philosophy

Science - studying the laws of nature; scientists

Philosophy - loving wisdom; philosophers

Together they were called philosophia

Socrates (below)

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Socrates

History for kids

Go to this website:

www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/socrates.htm

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Socrates

This is supposed to be of Socrates,

but it was made after he had already been dead for some time,

by someone who did not know what Socrates looked like.

He believed people could discover truth if they knew how to think.

Plato was his pupil.

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