Clas 401: Exam 3, Week 10

Aegisthus

Part of the cursed house, during the war, he has an affair with Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra

Agamemnon (Aeschylus)

Play, Greek tragedy, First play in a trilogy of plays

Alcinous

Good, king of the Phaeacians, an island helper

Arete

Queen of Phaeacia

Calypso

Nymph, "hiding", falls in love with Odysseus, and wants to keep him, will give him eternal youth and life if he stays

Cassandra

When Troy falls, Agamemnon takes her as a concubine

Clytemnestra

Sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon

Death of Achilles

Achilles told a secret to a Trojan princess, Polyxena. Some say she told Paris, and that's how he was killed. He was killed from a distance. He is usually pictured with an arrow in his ankle. Achilles received great honor and was the greatest Greek fighter.

Demodocus

Singer/performer in the house of the Phaecians, sing/speak the epic, he tells about the end of the Trojan war, and Odysseus starts to cry

Electra

The other daughter of Agamemnon, still alive

Erinyes (Furies)

Hounding spirits, follow and chase you, personification of your conscience

Erinyes Pursue Orestes

Orestes ends up in Athens, the first trial takes place, a hung jury, unsure if found guilty, Athena will be there, she decides for the hung jury and lets him go. Mercy shown, justice is established, mythological thought of the court.

Eumenides

Furies become Eumenides, they are blessed/happy spirits

Eurycleia

Loyal household servant for Penelope, it is disloyal to sleep with the men going for the throne, old women, friend, low-status, but recognizes Odysseus first when he gets home.

Fall of Troy: Helenus

A seer can see the future, and helps the Greeks

Fall of Troy: Lemnos

The island that Philoctetes was left on for 10 years

Fall of Troy: Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus)

The Greeks have to leave Troy and get Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus)/son of Achilles.

Fall of Troy: Philoctetes

The Greeks also need Philoctetes, who sailed with the Greeks, stopped at Lemnos, and was bitten by a snake. The Greeks leave him there for 10 years; all he has is a bow and arrow of Hercules to catch food, until Odysseus and Neptolemus get him.

Fight for Achilles Armor, Odysseus, and Greater Ajax

The armor is a material sign that you have done something honorable; the people on the Greek side want it, but the question is, who deserves to have it? Greater Ajax is a great fighter, and Odysseus is great with his words; the two fight over the armor. Ajax brought the armor and Achilles' body back; Ajax believes he deserves it. They fought with words, and of course, Odysseus won because he is good with his words. Ajax pictured carrying Achilles' body off the field.

Greeks Behaving Badly: Andromache

Given as a slave to Neomtolumeus (son of Achilles), Hector fought to avoid this

Greeks Behaving Badly: Astyanax

Son of Hector, thrown from the walls of Troy by order of Odysseus because he is the son of Hector.

Greeks Behaving Badly: Cassandra

Chased by Lesser Ajax, chased into the temple of Athena, a sacred place. He rapes her

Greeks Behaving Badly: Hecuba

Old women, the queen of Troy, works as a household slave to Odysseus; she was given to him

Greeks Behaving Badly: Lesser Ajax

Raped Cassandra in the temple of Athena

Greeks Behaving Badly: Polyxena

Outside the walls of Troy, Achilles kills her brother. Sacrificed on the tomb of Achilles, a sacred place.

Heroic Types: Achilles

Believes in the importance of honor, the greatest Greek fighter

Heroic Types: Ajax

Old-fashioned fighter, conservative and dignified

Heroic Types: Hector

Greatest Trojan fighter, Trojan home, Worried about his family during the war

Heroic Types: Heracles

Monster killer, murders his family, dresses as a women

Heroic Types: Odysseus

Good fighter, intellectual elements, turning, and clever mind, noble skill

Heroic Types: Theseus

Monster killer/menotaur killer, he brings people together

House of Atreus

Agamemnon is part of/origin, CURSED, Ancestry of Agamemnon

in medias res

In the middle of things, Latin, Odysseus' journey home/in the middle of going home.

Iphigeneia

Daughter of Clytemnestra, she was sacrificed at the beginning of the war because the winds blew in the wrong direction. Agamemnon has to sacrifice something important, which was his daughter, so the winds would blow in the right direction.

Ithaca

Home of Odysseus

Laertes

Father of Odysseus, old man, Penelope weaves him a funeral shroud, to put over the coffin (not dead)

Mentes

In book 1, Athena in disguise tries to prod Telemachus to find his father Odysseus

Metis

Mind, Greek word, mental ability, "He has Metis", Odysseus has metis and Athena as well.

Murder of Aegisthus

Scared he will suffer a similar fate. Aegisthus was killed by Orestes, the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, who returned to Mycenae to take vengeance

Murder of Agamemnon

Murdered upon his return home by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus. Murdered in the bath, pictured being stabbed, and sometimes a net over him

Murder of Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra was murdered by her son, Orestes, to avenge her killing of his father, Agamemnon. Pictured wearing a cloak-type thing, Furie is pictured holding a snake and a sword.

Nausicaa

Finds Odysseus on the beach, possibly holds Odysseus back

Neoptolemus Kills Priam

Killed on the altar of Zeus, seen going to stab him, the old king

Nostoi

Greek word meaning homecoming

Oresteia

Trilogy of plays by the great Greek

Orestes

Son of Agamemnon, child, sent to another relative to live.

Penelope

Weaves a lot, wife of Odysseus, men move into the house, they are waiting for her to pick one, weaves and unweaves so she doesn't have to choose one of them.

Phaeacians

Helpers for Odysseus on his way home, more like people of Atlantis, peaceful people, they live well, well ordered society. Odysseus encounters monsters, who are so close to the Greeks "looks wise".

Proteus

Not a big role, old man of the sea, shapeshifting god, helps Menelaus

Rape of Cassandra

Pictured as a soldier dragging away a woman is the rape of Cassandra.

Sacrifice of Polyxena

Shown with a sword through her/being carried and slit her throat

Suicide of Greater Ajax

Result of the dishonor he experienced when he did not get Achilles' armor. Seen with a sword through him in pictures.

Tantalus

At the beginning of the curse, at the top of the family tree, he invites the gods to dinner. He had killed his son Pelops and fed him to them; the gods know what he did. Demeter is there and is sad because his daughter is missing and accidentally eats Pelops. Tantalus is punished forever in the underworld. Food or drink gets close to him, but when he reaches to get it, it goes away.

Telemachia

First 4 book of the Odyssey, coming of age for Telemachus

Telemachus

Son of Odysseus, pressing to get out/be a man

Thyestes

Family member of Agamemnon, sleeping with Atreus's wife

The Trojan Horse: "Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts"

A giant horse made from driftwood, given to the Trojans, Odysseus' idea, put the Greeks inside it, and had the Greeks bring it to Troy in hopes that they would bring it inside the walls of Troy. They bring the horse in, and the Greek army rushes out and takes over Troy.

The Trojan Horse: Cassandra

Trojan Princess can see the future, but people do not believe her.

The Trojan Horse: Laocoön

Has doubts about the intentions of the horse, the Trojan priest of Poseidon discusses it, two sea serpents come out and kill him, take it as a sign that the Trojan horse is good, and take it into the walls of Troy. Pictured with his two sons and snakes/serpents wrapped around them

The Trojan Horse: Sinon

Plays the role of the Greek and tells the Trojans a sad story, saying the horse is a gift.