An N Ea Quiz 2

Scylla

A fearful, monster barking like a dog, with 12 feet, 6 necks and mouths, rows of sharp teeth; each one of her necks and mouths will attack

beloved by the gods, but cursed by circe

the gods curing people and turning them into the monstrous

Charybdis

Thrice swallowed and spewed forth the water of the sea

Meant to be an explanation for tides and whirlpools

daughter of Poseidon, cursed by Zeus

The Odyssey

written by Homer

sequel to the Illiad

Odysseus attempts to get back home; constantly confounded; story of returning and longing for home

monsters in the Odyssey

they exist in a fixed location, and Odysseus must go to them

move the story along

marks the fantastical due to their location; generally found in the foreign

Cohen’s 7 Theses

the monster always escapes; fear is never defeated

the monster doesn’t fit into a specific category;

they have different physiologies; they cross the boundaries by being disturbing

the monstrous difference can be political, sexual, economic, and cultural; represents the foreign

the monster policies the differences of the possible; there are borders of where the monster can go

the monster is a link between the forbidden

the monster stands at the threshold of becoming; because they’re different they always in the edge of becoming; you become a monster if you fight your desires

Gods in Greece/Rome

they meddle in human affairs

affect women by turning them into monsters; used as punishments

Katadesmoi/ Defixiones

curse tablets

aggressive magic; people use them for tiny or big slights

they were pleads to the gods

a lead sheet, that can be inscribed rolled stabbed, fixing your opponent to this curse; directed against particular action; contains oath section

restricting victim’s abilities; inhabit success of opponent; divide people in intimate relationships

magic in Greece/ Rome

the socially unsanctioned use of supernatural powers and tools to control nature and compel both humans and superhuman beings to do one’s will

love magic (defixiones/curse tablets): feeds into abjection; can cause people to become emotionally attached to another person w/out their consent and cause them to abandon everything for the person you cursed them; can be used to break apart relationships; used by both men and women

The Iliad

written by Homer

epic of the hero Achilles during the Trojan War

Sisyphus

Doomed to roll a big boulder to the top of a hill but never making it up all the way for the rest of eternity

They punished him for trickery of others, including his cheating death twice.

He got this punishment because he believed he was smarter than Zeus

Tantalus

He offers a great banquet made up of human flesh to try and fool the gods, the gods punish him by being unable to quench his hunger and thirst

He violates his cultural taboo of cannibalism

He is constantly being tempted with water and food, but never being able to reach them

Persephone

a goddess, Demeter's daughter by Zeus, wife of Hades, and queen of the underworld

abducted by Hades, and raped by him

forced to stay in the underworld for 3 months of the year because she ate a seed from a pomegranate in the underworld

Orphic Tablets

Tablets call upon certain deities to help a person be guided to a good afterlife

Psychopomp

Charon and Hermes

guides to the underworld

can travel back and forth

Maschalismos/Armpitting

targeted mutilation of the corpse

rendered corpse and ghost helpless in death

the mutilation of the genitals, arms and hands; cutting of each hand and putting them in the other side to prevent the proper use of their limb

The Aeneid

written by Virgil

story of Aeneas, Trojan who fled Troy

travels to Italy

first half of the book is parallel to the journey Odysseus went through; second half is the battle

3rd book following the odyssey and the iliad

Aeneas

refugee of the Trojan war

finds his way to italy, founder of rome

the main character in the Aeneid

Sibyl

prophetess in Greek legend and lit

women of prodigious old age uttering predictions in ecstatic frenzy

figure of the mythical past and prophecies

Lake Avernus

the door to the Netherworld in rome

need to get instructions form the oracle, Sibyl; need to retrieve holy wood in deep forest; purify themselves by burying dead

witches in Greece/ Rome

in general known for love spells and spell sin general, invocation of spirits, and curse tablets

Thessaly

location in greece

where witches are from

The Golden Ass

written by Lucius Apuleius in complete Latin

details the transformation of the narrator Lucius and his eventual conversion to the mystery cult of Isis

known for its interest in magic rituals, its detailed account of the story of Cupid and Psyche and its interest in sexual preservation

Erichtho

witch of Thessaly

lucan’s The Civil War

Force of nature

prophecy via necromancy

her use of snakes

knows hell and its secrets

re-animated corpse to deliver prophecy

Pamphile

witch of Thessaly

is in the Golden Ass

seduces men w/ the stench of their own hair burning in her enchanted fire

can turn into an owl

Meroe

a story w/in a story

the account of what meroe does to her lovers if they betray her

she would curse people who would betray her

Circe

daughter of the sun god Helios and Perse

first witch in Greek lit; linked to Helen, Calypso, and the sirens

skills: sexually transgressive, knowledge that odysseus requires, path to the netherworld, turning men into animals while keeping their internal psyche

Helen of Troy

specialized in pharmakos

she’s able to do this because she picked it up form Egypt

her power is rooted in foreign knowledge

aspects of her magic aren’t really explained

Medea

from Colchis, niece to Circe

magical power- plants

role as mother

is of the foreign; her foreignness is always looked at and becomes a place for distrust

Euripedes’ Medea

the play revolving around medea and jason and her act of infanticide

Jason

husband to medea

is favored by hera the god of marriage

divorces medea driving her to kill her children

is punished w/ the murder of his children

The Argonautica

Jason, the Argonauts, and the Golden Fleece

written knowing what Jason and Medea’s fate will be

medea is subject to the whim of the divine; Hera made her fall in love w/ Jason

jason and medea are married, they consummate their loce on the golden fleece, and jason goes back to his kingdom to reclaim it

The Peliades

lost text

written by Euripedes

death of Pelias

medea uses her witchcraft, makes potion, and makes a sheep new and young again

the daughters of Pelias want to do the same for their father , but it doesn’t work

medea and jason are forced to flee their land and go to corinth

Hecate

goddess of witchcraft, moon, magic, the night, ghosts, and necromancy

links to witches in thessaly

daughter of titans, and is one and the only one to retain power

familiars: black-she dog and a polecat

aids Demeter in searching for Persephone

links to pathways and crossroads

triple goddess

connection to the netherworld= spectral, witchcraft qualities

sacrifices= dogs, honey, black female lambs

Babylonian Talmund

set of commentaries on the Mishnah (Jewish law)

red: mishnah

yellow: gemara

(red + yellow= Talmud)

blue= Rashi’s commentary on the Talmud

(rashi= medieval french rabbi)

green: medieval commentators

purple: tractate info, page number

hebrew Bible/ old testament

incantation bowls

designed to: exorcise demons, cure illness, protect against evil spirits, adn other demons

most common in Aramaic

most are apotropaic (protect person or family from evils, such as sorcery and demons), some can be aggressive (send evil against one’s enemies), some can be erotic (to make someone love someone else)

most commonly found in upside down position

set in/ at liminal points of danger

binding of demons= efficacy of bowl, shackles (circle of text) circle around the inscription and bowl

call on God and angels to protest the user and bind the demon to the bowl

aramaic

the incantation bowls were mostly written in aramaic

Baal

the lord, monster

Baal (place): particular gods

OT abstracts to foreign/ false gods

Later medieval demon in hell

Beelzebub

OT 2Kings 1:2- a foreign god: Ba’al-zebub of Ekron; King Ahaziah of Israel seeks counsel form him, Lower ranking

NT- Beezelbub: lord of the flies, sacrifices to foreign gods, a version of a foreign deity and associated w/ Satan

Jesus

Christianity i s Jesus-centric w/ a martyr complex

has the ability to exorcise demons, sign of divine power/ connection

Jesus will always win, he will al ways have power over demons

Jesus having the ability to heal disabilities, therefore linking demons to. diseases

Shenoute (early church father)

Thomas Aquinas

they had immediate triumph over demons

showing the demonic as being a threat and not being stronger than the divine

The desert Fathers

Anthony the Great

Shenoute

Benedict of Nursia

they’re monks

Satanic Panic

anything being connected the the demonic

pulls on our ideas of using conspiracies to explain the world

demons and the occult was the reason for explaining all the things that were happening