Classics 40-Greek Myth Final-Erickson

Telemachus

Son of Odysseus; weak

Menelaus

-king of Sparta, second place Telemachus visits. doesn't really know where Odysseus is, except that he left on a separate ship

-worshipped as hero but palace cannot be found

-Agios Vasileios: suspected house of Menelaus, 20 swords

Nestor

Lives in Pylos, first place Telemachus visits, tell him to go see Menelaus

Penelope

wife of Odysseus; wanted by many suitors, want her palace, and nice dowry

Laertes

Father of Odysseus; not actually dead

Odysseus

clever, grandson of Hermes, his Metis wins the war. Main character. "Sufferer"

Xenia

guest friendship: bathing, feeding, and giving gifts to strangers. Overseen by Zeus. Once made, passed down through generations.

Kleos

honor and fame. comes from speaking well, Xenia ties, battle

Mentes

Athena disguises as mentee and tells Telemachus to become a man

Helen

woman the trojan war was all over, wife of Menelaus, gives happy drugs

Calypso

concealer, keeping odysseus on her island, last place Odysseus is before he gets to the phaiacians

Ino-Leucothea

sea goddess that blindfolds O. after he's shipwrecked on a beam and he must trust her. she gets him to Scheria-Island of the Phaiacians

-mystery cults after her? blindfolded cults.

Scheria

island of the Phaiacians, no suffering or pain on this island, descendants of Poseidon. equiv to death, no kleos

-garden scheria: magical fruit, don't have to pick fruit

Alkinoos and Arete

king and queen of Phaiacians. Arete is suspicious of Odysseus

Nausicaa

princess of Phaiacians. Washing her clothes, marriageable age. Looks like Artemis-non-sexualized

Finds O. in olive branches, brings him to palace

Bow Eurytos

magical bow that skips over water. Appears in Phaiacian athletic festival

Kikonian island

first stop for O after Troy, pirates and slaves

Lotus-eaters

gives men lotus, they don't want to leave

O. forces them out.

"munching"--> animalistic

Polyphemus

Cyclops, son Posiedon

traps in cave, "nobody" pokes out his eye

O. can't resist Kleos, tells him his name

Aeolus

gives him a bag of wind tied with silver string

his men open bag, let out the wind

Laestrgonians

cannibals, stay away!

Circe

enchantress, turns his men into swine.

she tells them to go to the underworld

Eurylochus

one of O's men, snaps O out of Circe's sex spell

Teiresias

restrain your desires, don't eat Helios' cattle on island of Thrinakian

Elpenor

unburied, bury me!!

Scylla and Charybdis

rock with monster, whirlpool

Ithaca, Polis Bay

beach with cave, O hides his treasure here

Eumaios

swine herder, good Xenia to O

Eurykleia

old nurse, recognizes O by his scar

Herakles

Hera - Kleos

big and brawny, BIE

chief spokesman for Dorian Identity

son of Alcmena and Amphitryon/Zeus

Alcmena

Queen of phebes, zeus disguises as Aphitryon

Eurystheus

king of Mycaene

supervisor of Herk after he kills his wife and all of his children and is banished from Phebes

sends him on his labors

Iphicles

twin of Herk, his sidekick

Thespius

king with many daughters, asks Herk to marry one of his daughters,

he sleeps with all 100 of them

Zeus-like

Linus

music teacher of the lyre

Herk bashes his head with lyre til he dies bc he got irritated

1. Nemean Lion

get non-penetrable skin

suffocates lion, uses claws to cut the skin

2. Hydra at Lerna

kill hydra

Ialos (Iphikles's son) tells Herk to cauterize the heads

-crab is added to vase

3. Cerynitian Deer

retrive antlers

fastest deer w gold antlers

-Cretan plaques: capture goats and transfer to sanctuary as rite of passage

4. Erumanthian Boar

capture boar alive

-vase painting with Eurystheus hiding in pot

5. Stall os Augeus

clean the dung

Athena tells him to redirect the river through the stalls

6. Stymphalian Birds

kill the birds

he uses a slingshot

8. Horses of Diomedes

Diomedes welcomes guests by feeding them to horses

Herk feeds him to his own horses

9. Belt of Hippolyta

Queen of the Amazons

Chasity belt?

10. Cattle of Geryon

bring back a cow

on island of Eurthia

red island (sunset->death)

2 headed dog

3 upper bodies

11. Garden of Hesperides

get golden apple

rides in golden cup of Helios to garden

another version: holds world for atlas momentarily if he can get the apple for him

12. Kerberos and Hades

bring back Kerberos

only hero that confronts hades

Apotheosis

-labors transform from hero to god

-divine worship

-Athena takes him to mt Olympus

Theseus

athenian version of Herakles

expanded around the same time as Athenian Democracy (508 BC)

son of Poseidon or Aegeus, king of Athens and aethra

Original story of Theseus (pre-expansion)

-chosen to be sacrificed to Crete, King Minos throws ring to ocean to prove Theseus is son of Poseidon

-Amphitrite and Athena help him

-Ariadne, daughter of Minos, falls in love, helps him escape

palace Knossos

where the family of Crete live

king minos and queen pasiphae

Medea

Aids Jason in getting the fleece by killing her brother and betraying her father. Uses evil king’s daughter to kill him, as well as her and Jason’s children

Aegeus

father of T (kinda)

-kills himself after thinking T. died during labors

-Aegean sea

1) Sinis

mountain man, ties strangers to tree and rips them apart

thesues ties him to his own tree

-(Herk: horses of Diomedes-bad Xenia)

2) Skiron

wash my feet; thesis throws him off a cliff

-turtle is added to vase

-(Herk: hydra at Lerner added crab)

-(Herk: horses of diomedes-bad Xenia)

3) Prokrustes

lie on the couch: too short=cut off, too long=stretch

theseus throws him on a short couch and cuts him up

Aeson

father of Jason, half brother of Pelias

-locked up in dungeon; succession crisis

Pelias

King of Iolkos (northern Greece)

-oracle tells him beware of man with one sandal

-sends Jason on mission to get Golden Fleece hoping he would die

-indirect father of Jason (confrontation with father)

Amathas

-about to sacrifice son, but sacrifices golden ram instead

-is in the garden of Ares

Jason and the Argonauts

-first ship: Argo

-team: Orpheus, Castor, Pollux, Pelleus, Herakles, Theseus, Amphiaraus, Atalanta, Meleager

Jason

-born outside of city

-raised by centaur

-river takes his sandal off as he goes to see his dad, Aeson

-succession crisis

Island of Lemnos

first stop for JaA: island of B.O. women

Hylas

sidekick of Herakles

falls for a nymph, drowns in water

Amycus

-forces strangers intoa boxing match

-Pollux: defeats him and ties him to a tree

-similar to Theseus and Sinis

the plight of Phineus

-being punished in the underworld: harpes show him food but take it away before he can get it

-JaA kill the harpes

-He prophesies: beware of the clashing rocks

Symlegades

the clashing rocks; narrow passage to Black Sea, whirlpool on the other side

-similar to Scylla and Charybdis

Madea

-daughter of King Aeetes in Colchis

-she helps Jason get the fleece

-a little crazy

Steps to getting the fleece by Madea

1) Jason must yoke bulls and sow dragons teeth to them

2) warriors from teeth will fight until 5 are left

3)subdue dragon

-Alt ver: Jason gets eaten by the dragon, Athena makes him regurgitate Jason

Journey Home for JaA

purified by circe, sirens, scylla&charybdis, thrinakia

-Phaiacians: Jason is forced to marry Medea here

Mechanical Man: Talos and crete

guards the city

Jason defeats him by pulling his oil plug from his ankle

confrontation with Pelias

-Medea tricks Pelias' daughters

-cuts up goat, then has goat come out in one piece

-has daughters cut up Pelias but he's just dead

Pelops

-son of Tantalus

-fed to gods, put back together

-kills father in law (chariot race)

-cursed

-curse of house of Agamemnon

-father of Atreus and Thyestes

Tantalus

-likes tricking people

-tries to feed his son to the gods

-punished with eternal thirst and hunger

-curse of house of Agamemnon

Atreus

-son of Pelops

-Atreus feeds Thyestes his own children

-curse of house of Agamemnon

Thyestes

-son of Pelops

-fed his children by brother

-curse of house of Agamemnon

Iphiginea

-Daughter of Agamemnon

-killed by dad to sacrifice Artemis before he left for the Trojan War

Clytemnestra

-wife of Agamemnon

-kills husband with her lover when he returns from the Trojan war with Cassandra of Troy

Orestes

-son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra

-kills mother and her lover for killing his dad

-furies leave him alone because he had to avenge his father

-ends the curse of the House of Agamemnon

Bronze Age

Period from 3000-1000 BCE when Greek myths were set, characterized by metal tools and early civilizations

Early Iron Age

Period from 1000-700 BCE, marked by less writing and a cultural "dark age"

Archaic Age

Period from 700-480 BCE, when Greek writing resurged, and city-states emerged

Classical Period

Period from 480-323 BCE, when many foundational Greek myths and literature were developed

Mythos

A traditional tale or narrative that conveys cultural values and beliefs, distinct from logos, which is verifiable

Logos

Rational discourse or accounts based on evidence and reason, opposed to mythos

Hymn

A poetic song praising a god, often part of oral tradition, as in the Homeric Hymns

Symposium

A drinking party where Greek men engaged in intellectual discussions, entertainment, and revelry

Red-figure pottery

A Greek vase painting style where figures remain red against a black background, used in depicting mythological scenes

Greek religion

A polytheistic belief system with gods who exhibit human traits and require ritual worship

Anthropomorphism

The attribution of human traits, emotions, and behaviors to gods, as seen in Greek mythology

Niobids

The children of Niobe, who were slaughtered by Apollo and Artemis as divine retribution for their mother's hubris

Reciprocity

The Greek concept of mutual exchange, such as helping friends and harming enemies, seen in divine and human relationships

(Animal) sacrifice

A key religious practice where animals were killed as offerings to gods, with their inedible parts burned

Physical allegory

A mythological interpretation where natural phenomena are personified, e.g., Demeter's daughter representing plant life cycles

Demeter

The Greek goddess of agriculture and fertility, central to the Eleusinian Mysteries

Persephone

Daughter of Demeter, abducted by Hades, leading to the seasonal myth of her time split between the underworld and Earth

Hades

The god of the underworld, ruling over the dead and enforcing the laws of the afterlife

Moral allegory

A mythological interpretation where myths illustrate moral or ethical lessons, e.g., Paris choosing Aphrodite for desire over wisdom

Judgment of Paris

A myth where Paris chooses Aphrodite as the fairest goddess, leading to the Trojan War

Historical allegory

The interpretation of myths as distorted historical events, e.g., the Hydra representing Lernaean guard posts

Euhemerus

A theorist who argued that myths stem from real historical events or figures, later deified

Aktaion

A hunter punished by Artemis and torn apart by his own dogs after seeing her naked