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Units 3-4 REVIEW. LLT 121 CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY FALL 2012. Final Exam Essay Questions.
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Units 3-4 REVIEW LLT 121 CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY FALL 2012
Final Exam Essay Questions 1. Compare the "adventure hero" as exemplified by Heracles with the “civic hero” as exemplified by Oedipus or with the "Homeric hero" as exemplified by Achilles. Pay particular attention to the hero's values and the public affairs content of his stories. 2. Legend, by nature, often contains a kernel of historical fact. Prove this by citing and commenting on one example each from the Theban cycle, the Trojan War, and the Nostoi. How and why was historical fact passed on in this manner?
Nature of the Heroic, The Bridge between humans and the divine • Euhemerus = gods were first humans and then heroes • Obviously less than divine, but somehow more than human • Still bound by human limitations, such as injury and death Appeal of the “local hero” • Provides “community engagement” through service to city • Sometimes intervene between the gods and their home city • Goes to far off places, meets weird creatures, kills them • Does things that you and I might never dream of (wish fulfillment) • Still does things wrong but makes up for them in a superhuman way • Makes people proud to be from their home city
Entertainment Value of the Heroic Why do these stories need to be entertaining? • Remember that Greek civilization was largely non-literate • Who wants to remember a boring old list of facts? • Exaggeration is fun! Soap Opera Theory (Oprah, Brangelina) • We all wish we could be rich and/or beautiful too • We also enjoy watching rich and/or beautiful people suffer Wish Fulfillment Theory (Rambo, Madonna, Chuck Norris) • We all wish we could go crazy and live like rock stars or cowboys • We also want to avoid the risks of illness and death Who are some modern individual heroes?
Young Heracles Birth of Heracles • fathered by Zeus (disguised as Amphitryon) and Alcmena. • Amphitryon gone to avenge Alcmena’s brother’s deaths from war. • Zeus boasts; Hera speeds up Eurystheus’s birth • Alcmena has twins: Heracles (Zeus’s son) and Iphicles (Amphi’s). Heracles's Trials by Hera • Eurystheus - cousin of Heracles for whom he performs his labors, becomes king of Mycenae (whomever born first, got to be king) • Snakes, beast master/demigod,-sent by Hera, strangled. Now identities of children are known • Saves Thebes, king gives him daughter, Megara, for wife. Hera strickens him w/ madness and he kills family. • Goes to Oracle and must perform 12 labors for Eurystheus.
Heracles’s First Six Labors • Nemean Lion- invincible skin. Taken by beating and using own claw. Provides armor. • Lernaean Hydra - Many headed dragon w/ immortal head. Cauterizes others, buries immortal head under rock. Dips his arrows in the Hydra’s blood to make them poisonous • Cerynean Hind- Artemis's sacred (rein)deer with gold horns. Has to catch and bring back. (w/ permission). • Erymanthian Boar- chases into deep snow, catches. • Augean Stables - dirty for 10+ years, clean in one day by having 2 rivers run through stables. Refused to pay Heracles. • Stymphalian Birds - dirty, man eating, scared them w/ bronze rattle, & shoots to get out of area.
Heracles’s Second Six-Pack • Cretan Bull - father of Minotaur. • Mares of Diomedes -flesh eating horses. Killed Diomedes and fed to horses. Change to nice ponies. • Girdle of Hippolyta(Queen of Amazons) to take off means to undress for intercourse. Kills after Hera intervenes. • Cattle of Geryon - Go edge of world to take cattle from 3 headed monster Geryon. Brings them back in the cup of sun god Helios. • Apples of Hesperides - tree of life guarded by dragon "Ladon". Nereus prophet instructs w/ Atlas help. Apples = immortality • Cerberus - 3 headed hound of hell-captured w/ permission from Hades; Heracles promises to marry Meleager’s sister Deianeira.
Heracles’s Side Labors (parerga) • Antaeus (son of Gaea, wrestled and choked to death) • Atlas (tricked into taking the world back) • Busiris (cruel Ancient Egyptian king, killed) • Centaurs (gets them drunk and kills them) • Cercopes (beware the man with the black bottom) • Olympian Games (to honor his daddy Zeus) • Prometheus (freed from his rock)
Death of Heracles • Deianeira“man killer,” sister of Meleager • Nessus the centaur offers her a honeymoon ride, gets killed • Heracles tires of family life with Deianeira, wins Princess Iole in an archery contest in Trachis • Kills Iole’s brother, incurring miasma, has to be auctioned to Omphale (Lydian Queen) dress up as maid for a year. • Returns to claim Iole, Deianera hears about this, sends favorite cloak w/ potion on it..he dies. • Philoctetes lights funeral pyre and receives bow and arrows. • Mortal part goes to underworld, immortal part goes to Mt. Olympus • He marries Hebe, Goddess of youthful bloom (daughter of Zeus and Hera (Hera finds him now worthy).
Legends of Athens King Erichthonius -1st king of Athens. • When Athena born, Heph runs after to claim prize, • his seed spills on Athena’s thigh and she wipes it on Gaia • autochthony - a creature w/ body of snake, head of human • Daughters of Cecrops saw it and went crazay Cephalus and Procris • Cephalus dresses in disguise to prove his wife Procris. • Wife unveils herself and Cephalus curses her. • Artemis gives her dog and spears that always get target. • Cephalus gets spear, lies under tree and asks wind (aura) to come. • Procris hears this and rustles bush behind him…he kills her.
Legends of Crete • Queen Pasiphae asks Poseidon to send beautiful bull for sacrifice; • Poseidon sends bull as ordered, but Pasiphae does not kill it. • Pasiphae made to fall in love for punishment. Daedalus builds wood cow for her to “entice” the bull • Pasiphae gives birth to Minotaur – bull-headed baby boy • Daedalus builds the Labyrinth to keep the Minotaur out of sight • Labyrinth = actually the magnificent palace at Knossos • Daedalus gets seriously weirded out in the process • He builds wings for himself and his son Icarus, who flew too high and drowned in the Icarian sea. Hubris!
Birth of Theseus • King Aegeus could not impregnate wife. Oracles said not to undue hainging ft of wine skin. • Pittheus knows what this means and gets him to bed his daughter Aethra. • Alternate explanation = Aethra raped by Poseidon (Aegeus may originally have been a sea god, not a king) • Aegeus buries sandals and sword underneath rock. • If the child is a son, he should claim the sandals and sword and come to Athens • Theseus becomes a young man and leaves to meet dear old dad.
Perseus’s Childhood • King Acrisius of Argos was told by an oracle that his grandson would kill him • He imprisoned his only child, his daughter Danae, in a forest • Zeus enters in shower of gold sunlight-conceives baby Perseus. • Acrisius puts Danae and Perseus into a box which he throws in the sea (assuming they will drown) • Washed up on island of Seriphus, ruled by evil king Polydectes, who covets Danae. • Perseus has to satisfy Poly w/ gift to gain admission to party of rich (usually one horse). • Perseus says he could just as easily bring back the head of Medusa the Gorgonette. • Polydectes said “You’re On!” • Perseus’s chances are either 0% or 100%, depending on how you look at it.
Perseus’s Excellent Adventure • Perseus befriends Athena (lends shield) and Hermes (gives Cap of Darkness, winged sandals, magic bag) to help him conquer. • Graeae (3 goddesses of Old Age sharing one eye and tooth) tell him how to win after he takes their eye. • Walking backwards, using shield as a mirror, cuts Medusa's head off (out come Pegasus and Chrysaor). • On his way back, saves and marries Andromeda (her mother said she was prettier than Goddesses) from a sea monster • Shows Polydectes the head and turns him to stone • Gives magical stuff to Hermes and shield to Athena-Medusa’s head on shield). • Goes back to Argos; King Acrisius flees in fear. • Goes to discus contest, hits Acrisius in foot, incurring miasma • Wanders around, eventually founds Mycenae.
Background of the Argonauts Jason’s early years • Sent Jason to Mt Pelion, raised by Centaur Chiron. • Went back to Iolcus to claim throne from Uncle King PeliAS. • Lost shoe carrying Hera in disguise thru river (fulfilling prophesy of Pelias getting killed by man w/ one shoe). • Goes to town, Pelias tells him he has to go get golden fleece. Origin of the Golden Fleece • King Athamas and Queen Nephele had two children:Phrixus and Helle. He tired of her, got 2nd wife Ino, who bribed an oracle to order Athamas to sacrifice Phrixus. • Gold ram appeared before sacrifice, Phrixus and Helle soared away on its back. • Helle lost grip and fell to Hellespont to death over sea. • Phrixus landed in Colchis, sacrificed ram to Zeus, and gave skin to Aeetes (son of the sun god Helios) for thanks.
Countless Screaming Argonauts • Jason sails on the Argo, a ship built by Argus and Athena. • Best fighters (B-Movie Heroes) go on trip, recruited by Hera. • Island of lonely Lemnian women who offended Aphrodite and made stinky. Argonauts stay and heroically beget children. • Next island they meet King Cyzicus, mistakenly killed after being swept back into harbor. • Stop on Cios after Heracles broke oar, loses Hylas (Herc’s boyfriend) to sea nymphs. Hercules goes away too. • Island of Phineus- cursed w/ harpies taking food for revealing too much of divine plan. Harpies (1/2 woman and bird) befoul food. Drive off Harpies • Pass through Symplegades (clashing rocks), and send a dove through to confirm passage.
Adventures in Colchis • On Colchis, King Aeetes of Aea received the Argonauts. • Hera makes Aeetes’s daughter Medea fall in love with Jason • Aeetes tells Jason he can have fleece if • he yokes 2 fire breathing bronzed hooved bulls and plows earth • sowed the dragon’s teeth left over from Thebes • destroy warriors springing from their teeth. • Medea helps Jason accomplish the labors and take the fleece. • Medea chops up her brother for Aeetes to pick up en route.kill son. • Back in Iolcus, Pelias is unwilling to step down. • Jason kills the other menfolk and Medea tricks Pelias’s daughters into chopping him up and killing him. • Town people drove Jason and Medea away to Corinth.
The Medea of Euripides Plot • Medea and Jason have moved to Corinth • Local king Creon wants Jason to marry his daughter Creousa • Medea offers to go along with the plan – does she mean it? Questions: • Is this a typical midlife crisis story? • Is Jason heroic or sleazy? • Is Medea a crusader or a witch? • Who do the gods blame? • What is Aegeus doing here?
Bellerophon • While in Corinth he incurs miasma, goes to Argos. • Purified by King Proetus whose wife Sthenoboea falls in love with him. • He refuses, She writes note accusing him of trying to rape her. • King Iobates has him perform labors. • Labor #1: Solymi • Labor #2: Amazons • Labor #3: Chimera • gets big head, tries to fly to Olympus on Pegasus • Thunderbolt kills him -- HUBRIS!!!! • Pegasus stays on Mt. Olympus
The Amazons Lineage • Name comes from a+mazon = Greek for “no breast” • Supposedly chopped their right breasts off to make them better archers • Total matriarchy under Queen Hippolyta • Supposedly male children were exposed at birth and only female babies raised Purpose of the Amazons in Greek Myth • Get beat by various Greek heroes • Heracles • Theseus • Bellerophon • Somebody has to be the bad guys (or girls) in these legends • Also, a possible lesson for uppity females
Atalanta • Father abandons Atalanta to be raised by hunters and a she-bear. • Atalanta becomes a famous runner; her dad becomes proud and holds race for her hand in marriage. • Hippomenes (aka Milanion) brings 3 golden apples to the race • Every time she gets ahead, he throws an apple and she stops to pick it up. • Atalanta and Hippomenes get married and consummate marriage in Artemis’s temple. • Artemis changes them into a lion and a lioness (supposedly could not procreate)
Calydonian Boar Hunt, The • Sent by Artemis to ravage Calydon after she is dissed • Meleager and men go to hunt it. • Atalanta (either the famous runner or not) hits it first, • Meleager finishes it off. • Uncles tease him about giving skin to a girrrrrlllll • He kills his uncles • Mom takes log from box (when it burns, Meleager dies) • Throws it into the fire, killing Meleager • In the underworld, Meleager fixes up Heracles with his sister Deianeira
Peleus as hero • Peleus in Phthia. King Eurytion purifies him from miasma and joins him in Calydonian boar hunt. • Peleus misses boar and kills King. Goes to Iolcus for purification. • Queen Astydamia falls in love with young Peleus, who rejected her. • Astydamia writes a note claiming Peleus had raped; Peleus gets sent on labors: • Peleus is taken out on a “snipe hunt” and abandoned. His sword is hidden in a pile of poop. • Wakes up surrounded by centaurs. Chiron, nice centaur, tells Peleus where sword is. • Awarded wife Thetis(the nymph destined to bear “a son who is greater than his father”) for his display of good behavior.
Retellable Heroic Tales Pyramus and Thisbe (Ovid) = Romeo and Juliet • Wall separates houses, forbidden to see one another. • Thisbe sees lion w/ bloody teeth and leaves, dropping scarf. • Pyramus sees veil, stabs himself in side. Thisbe falls on his sword. Hero and Leander • Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite, lives in tower. • Hero turns lamp on every night to guide Leander on thru water. • Rainy night it goes out and Leander loses his way. • She sees him on beach dead next morning-jumps off. Philemon and Baucis • Zeus and Hermes in disguise. Everyone mean except P and B. • P and B pray to gods before meal, and about to kill goose for dinner. • Gods reveal themselves, spare P and B from flood • Wind up as Oak and Linden tree w/intertwining branches.
Founding of Cadmeia (Thebes) • Cadmus was the son of Agenor, king of Tyre. • Searching for his sister Europa, whom Zeus, disguised as a bull, had carried to Crete, Cadmus came to Delphi to ask Apollo for advice. • Apollo told him to follow a divinely sent cow until she lay down. • Cadmus followed the cow to Boeotia, sacrificed her, and in the process killed a serpent, • Athena told Cadmus to sow the serpent's teeth. The men sprung from the teeth fought one another until only 5 remained. The noble families of Thebes were descended from these 5 "Spartoi," or "sown men."
House of Cadmus Cadmus and Harmonia • After serving as slave to Ares for one year, Cadmus married Harmonia, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. • Cadmus and Harmoniaintroduce writing. This is logical, since he is from Tyre and since the Greeks adopted their writing from the Phoenicians. • Eventually Cadmus and Harmonia were turned into serpents Daughters of Cadmus and Harmonia: • Ino: Married Athamas, plotted against Phrixus, eventually leapt into the sea and became the goddess Leucothea. • Semele: impregnated by Zeus, mother of Dionysus. • Autonoe: mother of Actaeon, turned into a stag by Artemis • Agave: mother of Pentheus.
House of Labdacus • Labdacus founded a new dynasty: His son, Laius, was the father of Oedipus. • Lycus, descended from a Spartoi, reigned before Laius. Lycus' brother, Nycteus, had a daughter, Antiope. • Antiope bore twins to Zeus: Amphion and Zethus, • Amphion married Niobe (of the 7 sons and 7 daughters) and built the walls of Thebes. • Zethus married Thebe, who gave her name to the newly walled city. • After the deaths of Zethus and Thebe, Laius returned from exile • By abducting Pelops‘s son, Laius brought a curse on himself. • Laiuslearned from the Delphic oracle that he would be killed by his son • Laius and his wife Jocasta had their son exposed on Mt. Cithaeron after he was born
The Oracle and the Riddle Oeddie’s story (continued) • Baby found by Corinthian shepherd; named “Swellfoot” (Oedipus) • Raised as son of King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth • Friends taunted him as a bastard, went to oracle which said "marry his mother and kill his father. • Decides never to return to Corinth • Gets road rage and kills some random old chariot driver dude Meanwhile in Thebes • Sphinx sits on hill by Thebes posing riddle "what goes on 4 legs in morning, 2 @ midday, and 3 in the evening?“ • Laius went to consult oracle, but gets killed en route • Creon, brother of Laius’s widow Jocasta, announces that whoever answers Sphinx’s riddle gets to marry Jocasta and become king
Oedipus Rex • Oedipus and Jocasta had boys Polynices & Eteocles, girls Antigone & Ismene. • Oedipus rules for 20 years, loved by all. But a plague comes. • Tiresias, blind prophet, tells truth but Oedipus alleges conspiracy. • Old Corinthian messenger announces Polybus’s death • Oedipus is relieved – thinks he has shaken off the oracle’s prophecy • Old Corinthian messenger admits he personally discovered Baby Swellfoot • Jocasta hangs herself in bedroom; Oedipus blinds himself • ARTI MANTHANO
Seven Against Thebes Problems with the succession to Oedipus • Eteocles rules first, for one year • Polynices went to Argos and married king Adrastus' daughter. • Eteocles refuses to step down Polynices and the other Six of the Seven Against Thebes • Adrastus, king of Argos • Tydeus, friend of Polynices • Capaneus, killed by a thunderbolt from Zeus. • Hippomedon, fell in battle • Parthenopaeus, fell in battle • Amphiaraus, Polynices bribed his prophetess wife with the necklace of Harmonia to convince her husband to join.
Sophocles’s Antigone • In Sophocles‘s play Antigone, Creon, brother of Jocasta, ruled Thebes after the death of Eteocles. • Creon decreed that the body of Polyneices could not be buried or given any funeral rites. • His sister Antigone claimed that this was a sin against the gods and defied Creon's law. • Creon locked her in a tomb. • Teiresias warned Creon to release her, but it was too late; she had hanged herself. • His son Haemon, who had been engaged to Antigone, killed himself, as did Haemon's mother, when she learned of his death.
Theban Saga – Rest of the Story Sophocles‘s Oedipus at Colonus, • Oedipus eventually took refuge in Athens, where he was received by Theseus. • At Colonus (suburb of Athens) Oeddie is received into the heavens The Suppliant Women • In Euripides’s play The Suppliant Women, the mothers of the Seven against Thebes beg Theseus to help bury their sons. • Eventually Theseus agreed, and Theseus returned from Thebes with the bodies Tiresias • Weird sex change results in gift of prophecy • Advises Odysseus (among others) even after his death
WORDS OF TRVTH LEGEND BY ITS VERY NATVRE CONTAINS A KERNEL OF HISTORICAL FACT
Pelops Founds the House of Atreus • Pelops (son of Tantalus): last seen being served as soup • Wins wife Hippodamia in chariot race given by father King Oenomaus of Pisa; has charioter Myrtilus take out wheel pins • Myrtilus (a bastard son of Hermes) thought he got Hippodamia. • Pelops pushes him down wall, incurring a mighty curse • Sons of Pelops and Hippodamia = Atreus and Thyestes • Atreus's wife Aerope lets his brother Thyestes have the ram while Atreus was asleep. • Next morning Thyestes shows off the ram; the sun rose and sat backwards. (total eclipse of the Sun) • Atreus serves Thyestes Thyestes’ own children for supper • Later, Aegistheus (son of Thyestes) finds out the truth and kills Atreus. • Agamemnon and Menelaus (sons of Atreus and Aerope) flee to Sparta.
House of Tyndareus Leda and the Swan • Leda, wife of Tyndareus of Sparta, raped by Zeus in form of a swan. • Leda also has sex with Tyndareus the same night. Leda lays two eggs. • Mortal egg: Castor and Clytemnestra • Immortal egg: Pollux and Helen Children of Zeus and Leda • Castor dies; Pollux can’t stand it, so they share Pollux’s immortality • 1 day on Mt. Olympus, 1 day in Underworld. • Clytemnestra and Agamemnon have three children- Orestes, Electra, Iphigenia • All Helen's suitors vow to honor her choice of husband = Menelaus.
Wedding of Peleus and Thetis • All the deities invited except for Eris (discord) • Eris throws out golden apple inscribed "For the Fairest" • Hera, Athena, Aphrodite claim prize • Zeus is too smart to serve as judge • Prince Paris of Troy agrees to serve as judge; chooses Aphrodite; • Receives most beautiful woman in world, Helen as his prize • Helen is already married to King Menelaus of Sparta • Paris received as guest of Menelaus; • Helen is driven craaazy by Aphrodite; they steal treasures and flee.
Gathering of the Greeks Gathering at Aulis (minus two draft dodgers) • Odysseus, wife Penelope just had son Telemachus, fakes madness by plowing fields w/salt • Achilles, mom dresses him up as a girl, sends him to Island of Nubile Young Girls • Odysseus gets off boat and lays toys out • Achilles caught because he is the only one who reached for guy toy • Artemis holds winds back because of no sacrifice on her name. Agamemnon’s Dilemma • Agamemnon is told to sacrafice daughter Iphigeniaby Calchas (the sea): two alternatives • Don’t kill daughter and be a loser, wimp • Gets Iphigenia to show up by claiming she will marry Achilles - and sacrifices her.
The Greek Team • Agamemnon = king of Mycenae-killed by wife and lover when returned home • Menelaus = King of Sparta • Odysseus = King of Ithaca • Achilles = Greatest Greek hero, kills Hector, killed by Paris • Diomedes = best fighter/ thinker; wounded both Ares and Aphrodite • Nestor = wise old wind bag • Idomeneus = King of Crete • Philoctetes = Mighty Steerman/ Stinky foot • Ajax the Greater • Ajax the Lesser = raped Cassandra in Athena’s temple-- HUBRIS • Neoptolemus (a/k/a Pyrrhus) = Achilles son • Patroclus = bromantic love interest of Achilles
The Trojan Team • Paris (son of King Priam and Hecuba of Troy) = won Helen • Hector = brother of Paris, heir to throne, greatest Trojan hero, • Andromache = heroic wife of Hector, mother of Astyanax • Astyanax = son of Hector and Andromache; thrown to his death from the walls of Troy after it fell • Aeneas = (son of Aphrodite and Anchises) eventually escaped from Troy and founded Rome • Sarpedon = illegitimate son of Zeus whom even Zeus could not save • Helenus = son of Priam; prophet; third Mr. Helen • Priam = aged king of Troy; hopes to leave it all to Hector • Cassandra = 100% accurate prophetess whom nobody ever believes
