ENGL 221 - Classical Mythology

Achilles Reference (Book 1)

Achilles Reference (Book 1)

Raging

Agamemnon Reference (Book 1)

Greedy

Hector Reference (Book 6)

Father, Son, Wife, Mom, Protector

Hector Epithet (Book 6)

"Flash of His Helmet"

Book 18 Reference

War Cry and Shield

Death of Hector Reference (Book 22)

Windpipe, dragging

Book 24 Reference

Achilles and Priam

Odyssey

Only quotes from Book 6, will be in reference to Polythemis

Heracles

Son of Zeus and Alcmene; kills snakes in his crib; glory of Hera; name means fortitude; the 12 labors in order for him to become immortal

Heracles' Mother

Alcmenes

Heracles' Father

Zeus

12 Labors

The tasks that Heracles/Hercules had to perform which later lead to his immortality

Heracles' First Labor

Nemean Lion

Heracles' Second Labor

Lernean Hydra

Heracles' Third Labor

The Cerynean Hind

Heracles' Fourth Labor

The Erymanthian Boar

Heracles' Fifth Labor

The Augean Stables

Heracles' Sixth Labor

The Stymphalian Birds

Heracles' Seventh Labor

The Cretan Bull

Heracles' Eighth Labor

The Mares of Diomedes

Heracles' Ninth Labor

The Girdle of Hippolyta

Heracles' Tenth Labor

The Cattle of Geryon

Heracles' Eleventh Labor

The Apples of Hesperides

Heracles' Twelfth Labor

Cerberus

Jason

The saga of the Argonauts concerns this man's quest for the Golden Fleece; his trials and tasks are similar to that of Heracles; educated by centaur Chiron; favored by Hera

Jason's task at Colchis

Retrieval of the Golden Fleece

Ichor

The divine equivalent of blood

Oath of Tyndareus

Suitors had to swear to this when applying for Helen's hand in marriage; if chosen/not chosen to be Helen's husband, all suitors must defend Helen and her chosen husband at all costs

Agamemnon

Brother of Menelaus; an original suitor of Helen but is now married to Helen's sister; leader of the Greeks in the Trojan war

Trojan War

The first time the Greeks came together as one nation against the Trojans. An actual event that was the inspiration of many oral traditions and legends that later became the Iliad. Home was the first to write down this story. Lasts 10 years; the Greeks win. Said to be fought over a woman.

Achilles

son of man and goddess; the best warrior; the swift runner; worried about his own glory; angered easily

Wrath of Achilles

The unifying theme throughout the Iliad; transforms through the epic

Andromache

The wife of Hector; knows Hector will die if he goes back to fight; she is later killed.

Astyanax

Hector's baby boy; murdered when Troy falls--thrown off tower wall as predicted by his mother

Nestor

Oldest warrior on the Greeks side; very wise; remains at front lines not fighting but giving command.

Paris

The son that was raised by a shepherd after he was left out in the woods because of a Dream by the Queen that he would lead to the burning of Troy; made a judgement that led to war.

Penelope

Odysseus' wife; she never remarries; she weaves a tapestry every day and unravels it every night.

Nausicaa

Princess of Phaeacians; her and her friends find Odysseus on the shore.

Polyphemus

Poseidon's son; a cyclopes blinded by Odysseus on his way back home.

Odysseus' dog, Argus

Odysseus' dog who has gotten old waiting for his master to return home; the only one to recognize the beggar as being Odysseus because he has the same voice.

Virgil's Aeneid

The Roman version of the Iliad and the Odyssey; commissioned to be written; wanted it to be better than the Greeks Iliad.

Carthage

Land where Aeneas lands and Aphrodite has him fall in love with widowed Queen Dido; always fighting with Rome.

Lavinia

Princess of Latium; Marries Aeneas after he conquers the land; their offspring would be new Romans.

Caesar Augustus

Ruler of the Roman empire; commissions Virgil to write the Aeneid; wants to be greater than the Greeks.

Janus

A uniquely Roman god; two faces: one looking to the past and one looking to the future; the god of the gates (open gates meant Rome was at peace; closed gates meant Rome was at war) *only roman god NOT taken from Greeks.

Golden Fleece

Came from a golden ram, a gift of Hermes, and ended up in the Kingdom of Colchis; Jason was sent to return this which was thought to be an impossible task; Pelias was trying to get rid of Jason based on a prophecy.

King Phineus/Harpies

Tormented by Harpies; never allowed to eat; saved by two Argonauts who drove the Harpies away.

Sirens

Dangerous yet beautiful creatures who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island.

Xenia

the proper and polite guest/host relationship

Leda/Her Eggs (Helen)

Married to Tyndareus in Sparta; raped by Zeus who was disguised as swan; becomes pregnant by Tyndareus and Zeus; lays two eggs, each having two kids in one; the most beautiful one was a girl who caused the Trojan War.

Iphigenia (background to Iliad)

Agamemnon's daughter; sacrificed by Agamemnon who brought back wind with her blood; he told her that Achilles wanted to marry her so come quickly; she wore her wedding dress which became her death shroud.

Epic/Epic Conventions

Invented by Homer when he composed the Iliad and Odyssey; in media res; invocation to a muse; statement of theme in the beginning and unifying theme throughout; a grand affair over a long stretch of times; gods intervene in affairs of humans; heroes embody the values of their civilization.

Arete

Excellence of any kind; warriors must possess this attribute.

Patroclus

Achilles' best friend who dies in battle by Hector's hand.

Priam

Father to Hector and Paris; too old to fight but very courageous.

Casandra

Daughter to Trojan King Priam and Queen Hecuba; the most beautiful of Priam's daughters.

Chryses/Chryseis

Agamemnon's war prize which he has to return to her father, one of Apollo's holy priest, after a plague is sent on his army.

Trojan Horse

Clever Odysseus' idea to get into the walls of Troy; Greeks hid inside this wooden contraption and burst out at night in the city walls.

Homer's Odyssey

The story of Odysseus' return home, 10 years after the war; his adventures and trials to get back to his wife.

Telemachus

The son of Odysseus who is just a baby when he leaves for the Trojan war; he is in his twenties when his father finally returns; he tries to find out what happened to his father.

Phaeacians

Utopian land; Athena transforms Odysseus back into his young and noble self so that he is welcomed; he tells the results of war to these people when he lands here.

Circe

Witch that turns Odysseus' men into swine, but after changes them back. Odysseus learns about the underworld.

The Contest of the Bow

Odysseus kills the suitors of his wife when he returns after ten years after the Trojan War; he is the only one that is able to use his own bow.

Aeneas

The Roman figure of Achilles; the Trojan who is the founder of the new Troy; the perfect Roman; embodies nobleness of Hector; warrior skills of Achilles; cleverness of Odysseus.

Dido

Widowed Queen of Carthage; spurned by Aeneas when he leaves to go find Rome; said to be the reason why Rome and Carthage are always at war.

Latium

The land where Aeneas lands at the mouth of the Tiberis river.

Aeneas' Trip to the Underworld

Aeneas makes his way to the underworld to contact the spirit of his father, Anchises.

Romulus and Remus

Suckled by the she-wolf; one is the founder of Rome after killing his brother; twin descendants of Aeneas.

Argo

Odysseus' dog who has gotten old waiting for his master to return home; the only one to recognize the beggar as being Odysseus because he has the same voice.

Medea/Euripides' Medea

Aphrodite made her fall in love with Jason whom she helped at Colchis by giving him magic ointment to protect him from fire and iron and drugs to tranquilize the serpent that guarded the fleece (Medea Complex) Kill children bc of hatred to father. when moms kill babies. she stabbed her kids.

Talos

Killed by Jason and the Argonauts; guarded the island of Crete; was killed by having his vein opened above one of his ankles through which his life-supporting Ichor leaked out.

Harpies

"snatchers;" winged monsters who snatched away blind King Phineus' food and fouled what was left; pursued by two Argonauts and eventually swore never to harass Phineus again.

Eurystheus

King of Argos that assigns Heracles his 12 labors

Judgement of Paris

The reason why the Trojan war was started; he chooses Aphrodite to be the fairest of them all and the promise of having the most beautiful girl in the world as his wife over choosing Helen or Athena.

Menelaus

Chosen by Tyndareus to be Helen's husband; becomes king of Sparta.

Homer's Iliad

The story of the Trojan war; shows harsh realities of war; a history passed down from oral tradition from 1200BC to 850 BC; the Greeks first written history.

in medias res

Meaning that the text starts in the middle of action.

Shame culture

The culture in which the Iliad takes place; your actions shame the entire family; you are how other's perceive you.

Hector

His shining helmet is his epithet; is noble but fearful for his family and city; he is brave; for the gods (prayers and sacrifice); he is killed by Achilles.

Hecuba

Mother of Hector; observant to the gods.

Clytemnestra

the wife of Agamemnon; a hatchling of Leda; Helen's sister

Briseis

Achilles' war prize taken away by Agamemnon; causes Achilles' rage.

Laocoon

Trojan priest who was attacked with his sons by serpents sent by the gods.

Laertes

Odysseus' father

Calypso

island at the beginning of the odyssey

Lotus Eaters

They ate flowers that made men lose their memory of home and duty; Odysseus and his men got caught here but were made to leave by Hermes.

Eumaios

The faithful swineherd who talks to Odysseus without recognizing him; one of the two people Odysseus first reveals himself to.

Virgil

Roman who writes the Aeneid; nods at Homer's writing in his works; poet noticed by Caesar.

Anchises

Aeneas' father. Bore Aeneas with Aphrodite

Turnus

The Hector figure in the Roman Aeneid.

Pallas

The Patroculus figure in the Aeneid; Aeneas' best friend.

Dante and the Inferno

14th century novel based on the Aeneid and the Odyssey; about one man's descent into the underworld

Rape of Sabine Women

A mass abduction of women by Roman men to neighboring cities in the Roman Empire.

Epic Conventions

-in medias res -invocation to prayer to a muse -statement of theme -epic proportions -values of their civilization

Xenia

the ancient Greek concept of hospitality

hubris

the intentional use of violence to humiliate or degrade

Sophorsyne

The Ancient Greek concept of an ideal of excellence of character and soundness of mind.

Arete

A man's effectiveness and skill in goodness.

4 Cardinal Virtues

Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance