Athens Week 11 Quiz 5 Review

Why is Athens important in the study of myth?

Home of most of "classical" Greek canon and Major power in 5th-4th centuries BCE

Place we know most about

What is Athenocentrism?

Tendency to view ancient Greek history, culture, politics, and civilization as the central or most important lens. Overemphasizing Athens and treating it as representation for all Ancient Greek culture

How often does Athens appear in Greek tragedy?

Relatively few actually set in Athens

Distant places/times (Thebes, Troy, etc.)

When/where was the Oresteia performed?

458 BCE, City Dionysia in Athens Greece

Performed in one day

What's the significance of Argos/Mycenae in Greek myth/history?

Ancient Bronze Age city: Mycenae

Classical city: Argos

Famous myths from early in heroic age

o Persues (killed Medusa)

o Danaids (killed husbands)

o Io (turned to cow by Zeus)

What have scholars argued about the gender dynamics of the Oresteia?

"Oh she's a woman alright, a woman with a man's heart" King's"

King's absence: catastrophic inversion of gender norms

Monstrous hybridity

Struggle to control challenge of women's rule

What have scholars argued about the class dynamics of the Oresteia

Mark Griffith

"Blazing monarchs of the sky"

Subject to authority of others

Knows things... but not allowed to speak

Elite authority relies on others keeping their mouth shut

What is the "Beacon Speech" and why is it significant?

A speech where Clytemnestra catalogs a chain of beacon fires from Mount Ida to Troy. This fire delays the fall of Troy. It is significant because it shows Clytemnestra's authority in a male-dominated society. It also sets the ominous tone for the tragedy.

What is a paraodos in Greek tragedy?

The first song sung by the chorus

What does the chorus sing about in the paraodos of the Agamemmnon?

Sings about how people learn by suffering. They sing about the outbreak of the Trojan War

Who is Iphigenia and what role does she play in the narrative?

Eldest daughter of Agamemnon. Agamemnon sacrifices her because he pissed off Artemis and killed a deer sacred to her. In Aeschylus reasons unclear why he sacrificed his daughter

How does Clytemnestra welcome Agamemnon upon his return?

She welcomes him with elaborate flattery and extravegent praise. She orders a crimson tapestry and convinces Agamemnon to walk across it.

What is the thematic significance of the color crimson?

It is the color of wealth but also the color of blood

Who is Cassandra, and what role does she play in the narrative?

Princess of Troy. Apollo fell in love, gave powers of prophecy, but rejected Apollo so she is never believed about her prophecy. Enslaved by Agamemnon. Seen as threat to Clytemnestra. She gives heightened dramatic irony.

Who are Atreus and Thystes? What role do they play in the narrative?

Artreus: father of Agamemnon

Thystes: His brother

Artrues fought with Thystes and killed his children which he ended up serving for dinner

Shows that this is a haunted house

Myths of past trap the present

Who/what are the Erinyes?

Also known as the Furies

Underworld dwelling goddesses of vengence, retribution, and natural order in Greek mythology

What happens in the middle play of the trilogy, Liberation Bearers?

The aftermath of the Agamemnon. Orestes returns from exile to avenge murder of Agamemnon and ends up killing his mother.

What role does the Delphic oracle play in the Eumenides?

Oracle once belonged to Gaia, taken over by Apollo

Furies invade the temple with the threat to reverse Olympian conquest

What is the Furies' "binding song?"

Katadesmos: binding curse/spell

Inscribed on lead sheets rolled up/pierced with nail

Binds Orestes to the Furies

But works on audience too...

Casting spells on us

Why does Orestes come to Athens?

Apollo said Delphi cannot purify him only Athens can.

Arrives, finds goddess who organized trial by jury and selects Athenian citizens

What is the Areopagus? Why was it controversial in Aeschylus time?

Hill of Ares where the trial takes place

Trial by peers

Ephilates has taken power away from Areopagus

Areopagus was the site where Amazons built a fort sacrified to Ares. Amazons took over Areopagus when they invaded Athens

What is the Amazonmachy?

Where the Amazons invaded Athens after Theseus abducted Amazon queen

What arguments are made against Orestes during the trial?

Rule of the Mother and killed somebody directly related to you. Avenge parents, siblings, oath breaks

Aeschylus specifies: only ties of direct descent

What arguments are made in Orestes' defense?

Apollo claims it does not count because a mother is not a blood relative. Rule of Fathers

How does the trial resolve?

The jury deadlocks with Athena breaking the tie.

Athena finds Orestes innocent because she favors men over women

What are the Eumenides?

New name for the Furies and now the Kindly Ones

Probably Aeschlyus invention

Worshipped in cave within Areopagus

Associated with prosperity, oathkeeping