greek and roman mythology final terms

proem

usually invoking a muse, introduction to the poem/work

xenia

warm greeting/welcoming in ancient greece, provide guests with gifts and kindness, don’t even ask their name until they sit with you and are fed and cleaned up, ancient tradition of welcoming. ex. Odysseus when he arrives in Phaeacia, twisted xenia with Circe, Telemachus at Pylos with Nestor and Sparta with Menelaus

Telemachy

first four books of the odyssey, focus on Telemachus’s journey

epithet

kleos

glory that you earn through your bravery and accomplishments; odysseus kleos from fighting in Troy, Achilles when he died fighting in Troy

nostos

homecoming; ex. odysseus back to ithaca

functionalism

myth-and-ritual school

ritual is a fundamental thing we do, it is primary to what humans are; ritual generates myth, myths are derived from ritual and justify cultural rituals; example: the Eleusinian mysteries

supplication

humble and earnest plea; grab person’s knees, chin in their hand, usually begging for something/mercy from a person with more power; odysseus to arete for hospitality and aid in Phaeacia

ring composition

literary device with a circular pattern and a central theme in the middle; example: homeric hymn to apollo; establish rites —> snake —> Typhoeus —> snake —> rites

epic simile

structuralism

Freudianism

didactic poetry

instructional/advice written out in poetry; ex. Hesiod works and days, instructions for his brother about life, lecturing, not all useful, info about farming, marriage, work hard and labor for the things you want/need

ritual

highly specialized group behavior, not everyday; non-instrumental, represents human link with the gods, anchors groups; ex. killing animals as sacrifice (when telemachus gets to pylos), death of animals contrasts eternal life of gods

Eleusinian Mysteries

kind of cult for private secretive religious societies, promised salvation after death; involved ritual activity, someone comes from Eleusis to Athens with holy objects, sacrifice a pig, must speak Greek, etc; process to Eleusis with yellow ribbon tied around right hand; shout insults at them, they get to drink the kykeon potion and see the holy objects, ticket to immortal happiness!

etiology

origin story; ex. homeric hymn to demeter, story of hades and persephone and the seasons

polis

civilizations; high bar to be citizens, bubbling up with literature, art, and culture, lots from Athens, often have shared values

chorus

group of men, help move story along, use metaphors a lot; argive men who are too old to go to war; ex. in agamemnon, chorus is there, tells us what message the watchman has seen

Fury

the agents of dikē; pre-olympian divinity in charge of vengeance, punisher, will pursue you until you have paid whatever penalty you owe

dikē

retribution, justice, the furies serve as the agents of dikē (justice as revenge); what is dikē is the problem of aeschylus agamemnon, what is justice? should agamemnon die because he killed the deer, should cly and aeg die because they killed A, blood vs. marriage, etc

hubris

arrogance, reckless pride, agamemnon’s act of hubris (killing deer), clytemnestra’s scheming arrogance (plot to kill agamemnon), aegisthus’s hubris to take over throne that wasn’t his; chorus says that a man’s reckless pride and a woman’s scheming arrogance are the worst things out there

miasma

stain of blood guilt; bad air around corpse, gives you disease; blood guilt on you especially is you are the killer, can only be purified by a god, Furies are attracted to miasma, they smell it; reason for Orestes’s departure after killing clytemnestra and aegisthus

maenad/Bacchant

follower/priest/priestess of Bacchus/dionysus

pietas

piety, devotion to gods, family members, nation; Aeneas has lots of pietas, carried his father around, avoids trouble on journey (polyphemus, scylla, chyribdus) instead of going for glory for himself, cares for others

ekphrasis

literary description of visual arts; ex. minerva and arachne’s weavings, temple art of Trojan War in Carthage

Leges Juliae

laws in rome, 18 BCE; to get promoted in roman state you must have 3 sons, need to marry to get property, adultery punished with banishment, Augustus is all about family; during Ovid’s time, got banished for a poem and a mistake “carmen et error”

priamel

a rhetorical device where a series of contrasting or comparative items, situations, or examples are listed to build up to a final, often surprising or preferred, main subject or truth, acting as a "preamble" to the key point; some people like this, others this, but i like this; listing a series of options before you get to the subject; ex. alcithoë with hermaphroditus