Which one of the following paraphrases most accurately restates the quotation from Agamemnon found in lines 48—49 of ...

Ravi on March 13, 2019

@Shiyi-Zhang,

Happy to help.

The questions states, "Which one of the following paraphrases most
accurately restates the quotation from Agamemnon found in lines 48-49
of the passage?"

We're tasked with restating the quote from Agamemnon in lines 48-49.
In referring back to the text, we see that Agamemnon is constrained by
a god. In order to bring winds, he must sacrifice his daughter.
Ultimately, his passion for winning makes him want to sacrifice his
daughter. The quote, "If this sacrifice will loose the winds, it is
permitted to desire it fervently," shows Agamemnon is justifying his
sacrifice of his daughter by deferring to the will of the gods. We
should look for an answer choice that says something to the effect of
"If the gods mandate a sacrifice in order to get something I want,
then it's fine for me to want to make the sacrifice."

You asked about (B).

(B) says, "If the goddess has ordained that the only way I can get a
wind to move my ships to battle is by performing this sacrifice, then
it is perfectly appropriate for me to deeply desire victory in
battle."

This is a really tricky answer. It looks great at first, but it has
one big problem. In his quote, Agamemnon is justifying to himself the
sacrifice he's making, so the desire he's referring to is the desire
to make the sacrifice. This is different from what (B) says, as (B)
says he's desiring the victory of the battle. While it's true he wants
to win, the 'desire' in the quote is about the desire to make the
sacrifice, so we can get rid of (B).

(C) says, "If the goddess has ordained that the only way I can get a
wind to move my ships to battle is by performing this sacrifice, then
it is perfectly appropriate for me to deeply desire this sacrifice."

(C) captures our anticipation well, and it's the correct answer.
Unlike (B), (C) correctly describes the 'desire' in the quote as
referring to the sacrifice, not the victory in battle. This is why (C)
is the correct choice.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any other questions!