classics exam 3

theseus

son of Poseidon and Aethra (also son of aegeus, part divine part mortal), father of hippolytus, killer of the minotaur, 6 labors, ariadne falls in love with him and helps him get through the labyrinth to kill the minotaur

cecrops

a mortal king whom the athenians claimed they were descended from, brought together with claim of autochthonous by saying that he sprang from the earth with the form of a snake below the waist and a human above

erichthonius

“he of the wool and earth”, athenian king sprung from the earth after an act of sexual aggression by hephaestus and reared by athena, succeeded cercrops

procne

sister of philomela, granddaughter of erichthonius, married to tereus to whom she fed their own son, turned into a nightengale

philomela

granddaughter of erichthonius, sister of procne, raped by tereus, turned into a swallow

tereus

A thracian king, husband of procne, rapes her sister philomela, turns into a hoopoe

itys

son of tereus and procne, served in a stew to his father

erechtheus

an early king of athens, brother of procne and philomela

aegeus

father of theseus along with poseidon, a king of athens, killed himself after believing that theseus had died in the labyrinth

aethra

mother of theseus, slept with aegeus and poseidon on the same night, became helen’s slave when abducted from athens by the dioscuri

procrustes

“bed that fits all”, offered travelers a place to sleep for the night, but forced small people on large bed and large people on small bed and stretched/cut their limbs to fit them, killed by theseus

amazonomachy

battle with the amazons, began after theseus abducted the amazon queen antiope, athenians defeated the amazons

hippolytus

son of theseus and amazon queen antiope, raised by grandfather pittheus, became a devotee of the virgen huntress artemis and denies his sexual nature

phaedra

step mother of hippolytus, daughter of minos, wife of theseus

bellerophon

corinthian hero, grandson of sisyphus, tamed pegasus and killed the chimera

pirithous

king of the lapiths, foe of the centaurs, friend of theseus

lapiths

thessalian tribe led by pirithous that defeated the centaurs

centaurs

half human half horse creatures, defeated by the lapiths (pirithous) in the centauromachy

centauromachy

battle between the centaurs and the lapiths, lapiths led by pirithous won

pisistratus

tyrant of athens, propagandistic feature of athenian myth

europa

daughter of agenor, brother of cadmus, seduced by zeus in the form of.a bull, mother to minos

minos

cretan king of cnossus, exiles his brothers so he can be king, father of ariadne, son of zeus and europa, husband of pasiphae

pasiphae

wife of minos, instilled with sexual passion for the bull that minos was supposed to sacrifice but hadn’t as punishment by poseidon, impregnated by bull and gave birth to minotaur

daedalus

athenian craftsman who built a hollow cow for pasiphae, ordered by minos to build the labyrinth to contain the minotaur, built wings for himself and his son icarus to escape from it

minotaur

born from pasiphae and a bull, trapped in a labyrinth, killed by theseus

labyrinth

built by daedalus to contain the minotaur, ariadne gave thesues a ball of thread to find his way through

scylla

daughter of nisus, loved minos, turned into a sea bird

icarus

drowned when he disobeyed his father daedalus’ instructions not to fly close to the sun, engages in excess behavior

cocalus

king in sicily where daedalus took refuge, demanded by minos to surrender daedalus

boeotia

region north of attica where thebes was situated

sparti

“sown men”, rose up from the dragons teeth sown by cadmus, the original thebans, cadmus throws rocks at them so they get confused and fight amonst themselves —> only 5 survivors (first founding of thebes)

antiope

mother of amphion and zethus with zeus

amphion

son of antiope and zeus, husband of niobe, brother of zethus, one of the twin founders of thebes (second founding of thebes)

zethus

son of antiope and zeus, brother of amphion, co founder of thebes (second founding of thebes)

dirce

wife of lycus, persecutor of antiope, killed by her nephews amphion and zethus

laius

husband of jocasta, father of oedipus, killed at a crossroad by oedipus

jocasta

wife of laius, mother and later wife of oedipus

oedipus

son of laius and jocasta, kills laius, becomes king of thebes by answering the riddle of the sphix

polynices

son of oedipus, brother of eteocles, buried by antigone

eteocles

son of oedipus, killed brother polynices in attack of the seven against thebes

antigone

daughter of oedipus, buries brother polynices against state edict, sentenced to death by creon, represents polis vs individual, state vs family, patriarchy vs parthenos

ismene

daughter of oedipus, sister of antigone

adrastus

king of argos, sole survivor of the seven against thebes

amphiaraus

a seer (the prophet of argos), participant in the caludonian boar hunt, one of the seven against thebes, swallowed by the earth

eriphyle

sister of adrastus, wife of amphiaraus, mother of alcmeon

epigoni

“descendents”, sons of the seven against thebes, led by alcmeon, whose attack was successful

thessaly

region in greece south of mt olympus, where the house of aeolus is

iolcus

city in thessaly, home of jason, evil king pelias takes it from aeson

apollonius of rhodes

author of the argonautica

jason

son of aeson, husband of medea, leader of the argonauts, pelias gives jason a quest to retrieve the golden fleece

athamas

thessalian hero, son of deucalion and pyrrha, husband of nephele and ino and father of phrixus and helle,

phrixus

son of athamas and nephele, brother of helle, espcaped on the back of a golden ram

helle

daughter of athamas and nephele, sister of phrixus, fell from the golden ram into the hellespont while trying to travel across the sea

hellespont

straights between the aegean sea and the sea of marmora, where helle fell off the golden ram

colchis

city at eastern end of black sea, where jason sailed to find the golden fleece

aeetes

“man of earth”, king of colchis in aea, father of medea

pelias

son of poseidon and tyro, ousted brother aeson from throne of iolcus because aeson had a male heir (jason) but pelias didn’t, orders jason to retrieve the golden fleece, killed by medea

chiron

the wise centaur, tutor of heroes, raised and taught jason after his parents sent him away to protect him from pelias

argo

“swift” ship of jason, built by argus

boreads

zetes and calais, sons of boreas

phineus

blind prophet persecuted by the harpies, released by the boreads

symplegades

“clashing rocks”, threated the argonauts

medea

witch from colchis, daughter of aeetes, wife of jason, murdered her children

apsyrtus

medea’s brother, cut up to delay puruers

talus

cretan bronze robot

aetolia

district north of the corinthian gulf

calydon

main city in aetolia in western greece, home of meleager

meleager

aetolian hero, brother of deianira, killed calydonian boar

atalanta

female arcadian athlete, loved by meleager, defeated in a footrace by hippomenes

pelops

son of tantalus, defeated oenomaus in chariot race to marry hippodamia, father of atreus and thyestes, murder of myrtilus curses him and his future line

oenomaus

king of pisa, father of hippodamia, was in love with his daughter, chariot race against pelops to marry her

hippodamia

daughter of oenomaus, wife of pelops, pelops raced against her father to marry her

myrtilus

rioteer of oenomaus, bribed by pelops, his murder (by pelops) cursed pelops and his future line as well as the house of atreus

thyestes

father of aegisthus, brother of atreus, hates atreus, has an affair with atreus’s wife, she gives him atreus’s fleece, becomes king, oracle at delphi tells him the only way to get revenge on atreus is by having a child with his own daughter, impregnates pelopia without knowing who she is, atreus tells aegisthus to kill thyestes, but aegisthus tricks atreus

aegisthus

son of thyestes, lover of clytemnestra, murderer of agamemnon, killed by orestes

atreus

king of mycenae, son of pelops, brother of thyestes (to whom he fed his own children), father of agamemnon and menelaus, hates thyestes, asks the oracle of delphi how he can get revenge on his brother, so takes pelopia as a wife without knowing that they are related, impreisons thyestes but too cowardly to kill him, so tells aegisthus to kill him

menelaus

son of atreus, husband of helen, brother of agamemnon, picked by helen to be her husband among the many heroes vying for her after

agamemnon

son of atreus, brother of menelaus, leader of greek forces at troy, murdered by aegisthus

tyndareus

spartan king, husband of leda, allows helen to pick her husband

leda

wife of tyndareus, zeus visits her in the form of a swan and she sleeps with him, gives birth to helen

polydeuces

brother of castor, helen, and clytemnestra, was part of the argo crew

helen

daughter of zeus and Leda, husband of menelaus, lover of paris, many greek heroes were vying for her and she picked menelaus, she was abducted by paris which started the trojan war

castor

mortal son of tyndareus and leda, brother of the immortal polydeuces, part of the argo crew

clytemnestra

daughter of zeus and leda, wife of agamemnon, whom she killed, then was killed by orestes

oath of tyndareus

an oath sworn by all the suitors of helen to defend the chosen husband, menelaus, against any who threatened him

peleus

husband of thetis, father of achilles, his wedding was arranged by zeus and sponsored by hera, his wedding played a role in paris’s abduction of helen

ajax

a hero who committed suicide after competing for the armor of achilles and losing to odysseus, kills himself out of embarrassment

hecabe

queen of troy, wife of priam, had a dream that she gave birth to a child that would destroy troy, brings her son paris to the wild to prevent desctruction, but he eventually returns to the city

aulis

port in boeotia from where people gathered for the trojan expedition set sail, where iphigenia was sacrificed

calchas

prophet of the greek forces at troy

iphigenia

daughter of agamemnon and clytemnestra, sacrificed by her father at aulis

philoctetes

inherited the bow of heracles, bit by a serpent and abondoned on lemnos, killer of paris

chryseis

daughter of chryses, given as booty to agamemnon during the trojan war

briseis

achilles’s war captive, taken by agamemnon

andromache

wife of hector, mother of astyanax, taken captive by neoptolemus at end of war

astyanax

“king of the city”, son of hector and andromache, thrown from walls of troy

neoptolemus

“new fighter”, son of achilles, also called pyrrhus

laocoon

priest of poseidon, struck trojan horse with his spear, strangled by serpants

polyxena

trojan princess sacrifced over the grave of achilles

oresteia

trilogy of plays by aeschylus, themes include blood vendetta to civic law, chaos to order, discord to harmony, finding the mean, curses, cannibalism, human sacrifice, incest, adultry, murder, plot of offense, counter offense, reconciliation