classical myth midterm2

Procne

married to Tereus; found out what he did to her sister through tepestry and then killed her son and fed it to Tereus as revenge

Philomela

Procne’s sister- was rapped by Terus and then her tounge was cut off so she couldnt speak. She created a tapestry to show her sister.

Tereus

married to procne but rapped her sister, philomela- cut her tounge

Myrrah and Cinyras

daughter and father- daughter (myrrah) falls inlove with father and gets a nurse to trick father into sleeping with daughter. Father finds out and gets angry, daughter runs away and is turned into a myrrh tree then gives birth to Adonis from tree.

Adonis and Aphrodite

Adonis- myyrah tree son
Aphrodite falls in love with Adonis. Adonis ignores her and is killed by a boar then transformed into a flower.

Hercules

Son of Zeus and Alcmene

Zeus and Alcmene

Zeus disguises himself as Alcmene’s husband, Amphitryon, and tricks Alcmene into sleeping with him. Hercules is conceived.

Hera

Hates Hercules because he is a human form of her husband, Zeus, cheating on her. Hera tries to kill Zeus many times in his life, once as a baby and when he is older she draws him insane to then kill his wife and children.

1/12 Nemean Lion

A monstrous lion with impenetrable skin. Herakles strangled it with his bare hands, then skinned it using its own claw. That lion-skin becomes his signature armor.

2/`12 Lernaean Hydra—Teamwork = Disqualified

A serpent monster with regenerating heads — cut one, two more grow back. Herakles’ nephew Iolaus helps by burning the necks. Because he got help, this labor didn’t count.

3/12 Cerynitian Deer

A sacred golden-horned deer of Artemis. Took him a year to catch without harming it. He had to negotiate with Artemis to even bring it back.

4/12 Erymanthian Boar

A huge, raging boar. He chases it into snow, captures it alive. Along the way, he gets into a bloody fight with centaurs over wine.

5/12 Augean Stables

He had to clean a massive stable with thousands of filthy cattle—it hadn’t been cleaned in years. He rerouted two rivers to wash it out. But since he made a deal for payment, Eurystheus disqualified it.

6/12 Stymphalian Birds

Man-eating birds with metal feathers. Couldn’t reach them in the swamp until Athena gives him a rattle, and he shoots them as they fly off.

7/12 Cretan Bull

A wild, fire-breathing bull from Crete (connected to the Minotaur myth). He wrestles it to the ground and brings it back alive.

8/12 Mares of Diomedes

Flesh-eating horses owned by Diomedes. Herakles kills Diomedes and feeds him to his own horses to tame them. His companion gets killed, which really shakes him.

9/12 Belt of Huppolyte

Queen of the Amazons agrees to give Herakles her magical belt peacefully… until Hera spreads a rumor that he’s attacking. A fight breaks out, and Hippolyte dies.

10/12 Cattle of Geryon

He travels to the end of the world (the west), defeats the three-bodied monster Geryon, and borrows a golden cup from the sun god Helios to sail back with the cattle.

11/12 Apples of Hesperides

Golden apples guarded by immortal nymphs and a dragon. He tricks Atlas (the Titan holding up the sky) into getting the apples for him — then tricks him again into taking the sky back.

12/12 Cerberos

Final and most dangerous task: bring back Cerberos, Hades’ three-headed guard dog — without weapons. He wrestles it into submission and brings it back alive. Even the gods were impressed.

Deianeira

Married to hercules- fearful of their wedding becuase she knows about hercules past with sleeping around - married after the twelve labors

Nessos

Deianeira and Hercules are crosing red river, nessos tries to help deianeira cross but attempts to assult her halfway through = hercules shots him with poisoned arrow

hercules death

Nessos Lie- tells Deianeira that his blood will make hercules love her more, but its poisoned and nessos knows that. hercules cheats on deineira and she becomes desperate, she puts nessos blood on hercules to make him love her more but it ends up burning into his skin and hercules brurns alive slowly.

Apotheosis

while hercules is dying zeus intervenes. zeus lifts hercules soul to olympus and this turns him into a full god rather than half human half god. he joins the olympian gods, hera is no longer his hater becuase he is a god

Thesus Birth

Son of Aegeus (king of athens). he was raised far from Athens by his mother, Aethra.

theseus journey to athens

As Theseus travels back to Athens, he clears the road of criminals and monsters. His method follows "Talion" Law"—punishment matches the crime

Periphetes

clubbed travlers- thesues clubs them to death

Sinis

tied victims to bent trees to tear apart- theseus ties him to trees the same way

Sciron

forced travelers to wash feet, kicked them to a turtle- Theseus kicks him to his own death

Procrustes

Forced travelers to fit a bed (stretched/chopped their limbs)—Theseus fits him into his own bed

Medea

Thesues Step Mother

Fearful of Aegeus’ throne

Medea tries to poision Thesues to stop this

King Minos Wife

Pasiphea

Pasiphea

falls in love with a bull = minotaur son = half man and half bull trapped inside labyrinth

Ariadne

Minos daughter- falls for thesues and gives him a thread to find his way out of labyrinth Min

Naxos

Theseus abandones Ariadne - he forgot to change his ships sails and his father thinks he died so Aegues jumps into the sea (dies = thesus becomes king) and now today that sea is called Aegues sea

Theseus as King

unites attica (small regions around athens into one political unit = strengthening athens identity)

creates Panathenaea Festival—celebration of athenian pride

moves athens towards early ideas of democracy

becomes national symbol of athens

Acrisus

hears that his daughter’s son is going to kill him so she locks her up

Danae

daughter of Acrisis and mother of Perseus

Perseus’s Birth

mother is locked up, zeus sees this and comes in the form of gold rain, gets Danea pregnant

Polydectes want

marry Danea but son is in the way

Polydectus demands

all young men to bring him a gift and has Persues bring him medusas head, he thinks this will kill him- it doesnt and he Perseus ends up beheading Medusa

Perseus killed

Acrisus and Polydectes

Andromeda parents

Cepheus (king) and Cassiopeia (queen)

Cassiopeia and Cephus

tie andromeda to a rock by the sea and leave her there to die. Poseidon floods their city becuase mother stats that she is more beautiful.

Persus and Andromeda’s story

Persus sees andromeda tied to the rock and falls in love with her. makes a deal with her parents that if he saves her he gets to marry her- they agree.

Persus and Andromeda’s wedding

her ex comes to the wedding, phineus, and he is upset, perseus uses medusas head to make him and all his freinds stone and marries andromeda

Constillations

Persus, Andromeda, Cepheus, and Cassiopeia

Europa

Cadmo’s sister- abducted by zeus who disguised himself as a white bull

Mother of King Minos

Europa who was carried across the sea to Crete by Zeus

Cadmos

ordered by his father to find Europa and come back withe her- he can not find her she is gone for good O

Oracle of Delphi

tells cadmos to stop searching for his sister and to follow a cow and the build a city there - new city is Thebes

Camdos wife

harmonia- daughter of ares and aphrodite = harmonia and husband transform into snakes

Laios and Jocasta son

Oedipus - pierce the infants ankles and order a servant to abandon him on a mountainside to die

Oedipus Survival

servant that was supposed to leave him to die feels bad and gives him to a shepheard. King Polybus and Queen Merope adopt him - and he grows up not knowing he was adopted

Oedipus prophecy

hears from the oracle that his desitny is to kill his father and marry his mother- he still thinks Polybus and Merope are his real parents but they arent

Murder of laios

Oedipus walks over to thebes and gets in an argument with an old man, ends up getting mad and kills the man not knowing the man is his father

Throne of Thebes

Oedipus reaches thebes and is terrorized by sphinx. spinx states those who cannot answer the riddle will die, oedipus answers the riddle and is crowned king and marries the recently widowed queen- aka his mother

Oedipus curse on his sons

Eteocles and Polyneices fight over who rules thebes and end up killing eachother

Mythical Past

Greek tragedies are usually set in a heroic age / serious tone

Audience Experience

know the ending- rather than what would happen, it is how it would happen

Creon (oedipus's brother in law) becomes king after

the death of Eteocles and Polyneices - oedipus sons ful

full burial honors

Eteocles- Creon allows

Must not be buried

Polyneices- Creon declared- left there to be punished

Antigone

Polyneices sister

Polyneices death burrial

Denied by Creon, his sister Antigone secretly burries him but is captured and brought to Creon

Antigone Tells Creon

Gods unwritten law (honor the dead) is greater than human laws which are temporary

Haemon

son of Creon and husband of Antigone

Eurydice

Creon’s wife and Haemon’s mother

Lliad

Epic Poetry which focuses on the rage of Achilles and the death of Hector- part of the trojan cycle

Trojan War

Paris choses Aprhodite to bring him the prettiest girl- helen. Helen was already married but Paris seduces her and takes her back to troy.

Paris

prince of Troy + brother of Hector

Chryseis

daughter of Apollo and claimed by Agamemnon

Briseis

claimed by Achilles

sends plague to all of greek army becuase his daughter was taken

Apollo

Menelaus

Helen’s Husband before Paris

Hector

ideal warrior + brother of Paris

Book 9

Greeks beg Achilles to return but he refuses

Book 16

Achilles allows Patoclus to fight wearing his armor ; Patoclus dies at Hector’s hands 

Patroclus

achilles best friend Bo

book 22

Achilles enraged by Pataclus’s death kills Hector

Book 24

Priam begs Achilles for Hectors Body

Priam

KING of Troy and Father of Paris and Hector