Chapter Eighteen Lecture Two

1. Chapter EighteenLecture Two After the Argo

2. The Death of Pelias

3. The Death of Pelias • Rumor back in Iolcus: the Argo was destroyed • Pelias, thinking he has avoided his fate, kills Jason’s father, mother, and brother • When Jason returns, Pelias reneges • Medea’s trick with the old ram • Hera’s revenge is complete, but the people of Iolcus (understandably) banish the two

4. Jason and Medea in Corinth

5. Jason and Medea in Corinth • Jason and Medea live happily in Corinth for a while – have two sons

6. Jason and Medea in Corinth • Euripides’s Medea • Glaucê, daughter of King Creon of Corinth • Background is the first years of the Peloponnesian War • Creon banishes Medea • Jason tries to “reason” with Medea • Medea’s revenge with the gift to Glaucê and the murder of her two sons • Escapes on a chariot drawn by dragons

7. Jason and Medea in Corinth • Jason dies an inglorious death as an old man • Struck on the head by a rotting part of the Argo • Medea + Aegeus => • Medus of Calchis (eponym of the Medes) • Still in the Elysian Fields with Achilles?

8. Medea: Sorceress and Wife

9. Medea: Sorceress and Wife • Greek witches, like Circê and Medea, often beautiful and seductive • Medea uses potions, not spells • In Euripides’s play, Medea is especially vulnerable • A social comment on the status of women • She is also a paradigm of a dangerous, uncontrollable woman

10. Calydonian Boar Hunt

11. Calydonian Boar Hunt • Another legend, not of Thessaly, but of Aetolia • Mentioned here because many heroes on the Argo were from Aetolia

12. Aetolia

13. Calydonian Boar Hunt • Oemeus + Althaea => • Meleager • “When that log is consumed, the child will die.” • Meleager joined the Argonauts • Back from Colchis, his father’s land is plagued by a giant boar (sent by Artemis)

14. Calydonian Boar Hunt • The great hunt brings in many heroes from the time of Heracles and the “Seven Against Thebes” expedition • Including Atalanta from Archadia • Boar brought down by Atalanta, Amphiaraüs, and Meleager • His uncles object when Meleager wants to award the pelt to Atalanta; he kills them in the scuffle

15. Calydonian Boar Hunt • Althaea (Meleager’s mother), whose brothers he had killed, throws the log on the fire, and Meleager dies • Atalanta returns home; wants to stay unmarried • The Race of Atalanta • Melanion (aka Hippomenes) wins the race with the help of the Apples of the Hesperides

16. Calydonian Boar Hunt • They are turned into lions by Zeus for violating his shrine

17. Heroic Myths of the Hunt and Hunter

18. The Hunt and Hunter • The hunt of Meleager resembles sacrifice, war, dangers posed by the hunter to society, and dragon combat • Hunting is external and dangerous • Sacrifice was domestic and designed to establish peaceful relations with the gods • Similarly, war is external and dangerous and warriors, like hunters, can be dangerous to the society they are to protect and serve

19. The Hunt and Hunter • These activities must be controlled with ritual • The hunt is a stylized male initiation • In many way, the hunt of Calydon becomes perverted: • Atalanta should not be there • The hunters should not turn on each other

20. End