1. GREEK AND ROMAN REFRENCES IN HAMLET

2. Aristotle Hamlet follows the character arc of Aristotle’s tragic hero
1) Flaw or error of judgement (harmartia)
2) A reversal of fortune brought about because of the hero’s error of judgement (peripetea)
3) Recognition that the reversal was brought about by the hero’s own actions (anagnorisis)
4) Excessive pride (hubris)
5) The character’s fate must be greater than deserved

3. Allusion
An incidental mention of something that can be direct or implied – a metaphor or a parable
Hamlet’s constant references to myth to explain things that are real demonstrates his growing madness
Hamlet is a scholar, and his masking of reality with something familiar could be his way of protecting himself / attempting to acclimatise to his new role
Shakespeare uses allusions to Classic Greek imagery to contrast with tradition, but also create a sense of a great cycle; all this has happened before, and will happen again. Tragedy is ancient and inevitable as the gods.
Over time Hamlet’s references turn from heroic (Hercules) to tragic (Troy), showing his own descent into melancholia

4. “Hyperion …”
“Hamlet does not just connect his father to a titan, but also the source of light and with   that hope and happiness” (Muijden).  
but also ‘untouchable’, which hints that Claudius will never be able to match Old Hamlet in Hamlet’s eyes because of his bitterness
The Sun is the source of all life – without Old Hamlet, Denmark will wither and die (linking to the diseased semantic field)
Hyperion was not a God, he was a Titan – their primordial, crueller predecessors.
This could be seen as an extension of the contrast between Old Hamlet’s harsher more traditional method of rule (duelling to the death, enforcing the pagan revenge code) and Claudius’ softer. More democratic approach (solving the Fortinbras crisis)
– Wilson Knight critical perspective for part b)
It could also be a hint that the ghost does not care for Hamlet or any man, and either sees him as dispensable or actively seeks to sow discord in the lives of those he has left behind for his ‘jailhouse’

5. “… to a satyr”
Satyrs are ugly and deformed, half goat and half man, symbolising Hamlet’s distaste for Claudius
Claudius is a perversion who belongs with baser creatures, and the link to a common barnyard animal suggests he is not worthy of the throne. Does hamlet feel superior? A goat should be doing hard work for its betters and brighters, should it not, and we know Hamlet values his own intelligence.
They were also servants of Dionysus, Greek god of wine and madness. This links to Hamlet’s disgust at Claudius’ bawdy drinking (he is a literal servant of the drink)

6. “Than I to Hercules”
Hercules famously completed his 12 trials – contrasting Hamlet to him foreshadows that he will not hold up well under the pressure of his own ‘trial’
Hercules was eventually driven mad by Hera, wife of Zeus and Queen of the Gods. Hera was Goddess of family and matrimony, so her husband’s bastard child was a blight on her honour.
This could parallel how some say Hamlet is driven mad by his own Queen and mother’s perceived immorality
Hercules’ dysfunctional relationship with his ‘mother’ could parallel what Hamlet sees in his own mother – why has she abandoned his father (and by extension, him) for Claudius? Is he not good enough for her? Did she ever really want him?
This is an interesting perspective; what if Hamlet’s anger towards Gertrude is generated by the fear that this (marriage with Claudius) is what she wanted all along, and the marriage that bore him was false? This would put new meaning onto his insults to her about being unfaithful
Hercules was originally known as Heracles, in his mother’s attempt to appease Hera: Both Hamlet and Hercules were named after the parent that torments them.
This is a deliberate contrast to the Classic Greek image of the hero – Hamlet is ill suited to his new role.

7. “Niobe, all tears” Niobe was the wife of King Ampiton of Thebes
At the birth of the Twins, Apollo and Artemis, she bragged that she was a better mother than theirs, Leto
This shows arrogance, the same fatal flaw as Gertrude. However, where Gertrude is proud of her own beauty, Niobe is proud of her achievements as a mother. Is this wishful thinking on Hamlet’s part, or irony?
Apollo and Artemis killed all 14 of Niobe’s children in revenge. She wept endlessly for them.
Hamlet is criticising Gertrude’s lack of emotion (which in itself is slightly hypocritical – in “Frailty…” he criticises her for being weak, and yet here he criticises her for not crying, at the time considered both a weak and womanly thing to do)
Hamlet may also be commenting on how Gertrude has lost her child as well as her husband, through her own arrogance (in accepting Claudius’ hand)

8. “For Hecuba. What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba
“For Hecuba? What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba. That he should weep for her!”
Hecuba was the wife of Priam, the last King of Troy, a doomed city.
She asked Polymestor to protect her son, Polydorus during the Trojan War. When Polydorus died, she tore Polymestor’s eyes out.
On the surface, Hamlet is providing the players with an example of the great emotion he wishes them to convey.
The image of the Queen of a doomed City is interesting; as a mother she is unable to save her son, and as a woman she is unable to do anything but be dragged along by her city’s tragic end.
This could communicate Hamlet’s own state of mind; he is no longer in control of the drive for revenge. Alternatively, it could represent Gertrude, unable to stop Elsinore’s fall in her relegated position and also unable to save her own son.
The image of a queen’s grief blinding a hero has thematic resonance (This could link to Freud)
Hamlet choosing Hecuba’s bloody fury as an example could represent a subconscious longing for his mother to fight for him as she does for Polydorus. The gory image suggests his intentions for his mother are not as pure as he makes out (Freud). But, alas, “Frailty, thy name is woman.”

9. “Each petty artery in this in this body / As hardy as the Nemean lion’s nerve”
Killing the Nemean Lion was Hercules’ first trial. It had unbreakable skin.
Beyond the obvious images of strength and armour, the extended allusion to Hercules in this earlier section of the play (Act 1, scene 4) tells us Hamlet is still trying to be a true hero at heart, and has yet to be corrupted.
The Nemean Lion’s pelt was a spoil of war, yet Hamlet has not yet done anything to earn such spoils. This highlights his inaction and fatal flaw, and suggests he may not be ready to take on such responsibility, if he sees trials in nothing.

10. “I find thee apt. And shouldst thou be than the fat weed / That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf. Wouldst thou not stir in this”
The Lethe is a river in the Underworld. One drop of its waters could wipe your memory.
The Ghost is saying you must be mindless not to be energetic at the news that he was murdered by Claudius
The link between the Underworld and forgetting is interesting – the ghost speaks of the Lethe as if he has personal experience (weeds are a very specific detail) – has he taken a dip and forgotten his humanity? This again pulls the question of the ghost’s morality into light.
The link between hamlet’s reaction and the Lethe is also important, and precursors the images of Hamlet wiping his own mind in his later soliloquy. Revenge is all-consuming, and wipes all other things from your mind, making you forget who you are. This is foreshadowing to Hamlet losing touch with his humanity, possibly joining his father.

11. “One speech in it I chiefly loved; ‘twas Aeneas’ tale to Dido; and thereabout of it especially where he speaks of Priam’s slaughter.”
Priam was the last King of Troy, a doomed city, foreshadowing Claudius’ death
Priam was promiscuous and had many wives – a link to Claudius’ own sinful sex life
Troy was famously defeated by letting in the wooden horse – could this be a comment on how Hamlet will exploit his position close to the King to enact his murder?
Later, Claudius offers Hamlet a poisoned cup – a trap as the horse was – but it backfires and Gertrude drinks instead. This could be seen as commenting on how certain cycles (like the Great Chain of Being) cannot be changed – Priam cannot use his own doom against his enemies - A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

12. “Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead / Til of this flat a mountain you have made. To o’er top old Pelion, or the skyish head of blue Olympus.”
Pelion is one of the largest mountains in Greece. According to myth, the Giant children of the earth goddess Gaia piled boulders on top of it, creating Mount Ossa (also later referenced) as an attempt to reach and attack Mount Olympus, home of the gods
This could be a comment on Laertes own journey and significance in the play, building from small beginnings into a major threat by the end
Gaia bore the Giant race with Tartarus, god of monsters, to destroy the Olympians for deposing her first children, the Titans.
This could be a comment on how revenge for those we love can drive us to do terrible things with terrible people (satanic interpretations of Old Hamlet’s ghost could parallel Tartarus, whose domain was the worst level of the Underworld) or pervert us (literally laying with the devil connotes Gertrude and Claudius)
It could also be comment on how resistance can come from unexpected places. The gods defeated the titan King Kronos by cutting him into a thousand pieces, but that was not their final battle, and they had to fend off another deadly threat from the giants. In the same way, hamlet is so focused on claudius he does not think of Laertes until too late.

13. “Let Hercules himself do what he may”
Hamlet’s allusions to Hercules continue right to the end of the play, but by that time he has twisted them, using his last to mock Laertes, showing he has lost sight of his good purpose and failed.
This shows Laertes has become the one with true intent, as as Hamlet’s foil (and the direct opposite of him), casts Hamlet as the villain.
This also calls back the Hamlet’s initial reference to Hercules. It hints that Laertes is poised for a similar tragic fall. However, unlike Hamlet, Laertes fits comfortably into the classical hero role. Hamlet evidently hates him for it, which is why he mocks him, perhaps wishing Laertes were in his place.
Alternatively, Hamlet could be bitterly mocking Laertes because he knows what tragedies await him, and perhaps finds the idea Laertes will become the image of the man he is fighting funny. Let him do whatever he wants, it makes no odds. Our fate is inevitable.
At this point, Hamlet recognises there can be no true heroes – in mocking Laertes, he is almost mocking himself at the beginning of the play. Perhaps he is wishing he had gotten all of this over with quickly and adopted Laertes’ tactic of charging straight in. All Hamlet’s dancing around did nothing to help him, only prolonging the inevitable.

14. Seneca
Massive reliance on language – Seneca’s plays weren’t acted (closet plays) and used language to fill this deficiency
Greek plays still weren’t that well known or studied – the language was still unfamiliar
Seneca was a Roman philosopher from 1st Century AD
They often dwell on and re-enact horrific acts of violence and feature long reflective soliliquies
Usually Senecan tragedy focuses on supernatural elements
Seneca was famous for his bloody climaxes – something we see in Hamlet