UF CLT3370 Exam 2

Demeter

-goddess of grain, harvest, and cultivation
-suffix "meter" means mother
-mother of Persephone

Great Goddess

-most female goddesses were only goddesses of one thing
-the ones who differ are virgin goddesses with masculine qualities

Great Mother Goddess

-female fertility goddesses are common in other cultures
-womanly figures
- also goddess of the earth
-Demeter seems to be an adaptation of this

Homeric Hymn to Demeter

-longest Homeric Hymn
-tells the story of Demeter and Persephone
-referred to with her daughter as the Two Goddesses

Persephone

-often called Kore, meaning daughter or girl
-daughter of Demeter and Zeus
-referred to with her mother as the Two Goddesses
-dichotomy of character (queen of the underworld and kore)

Rape of Persephone

-Hades kidnaps Persephone from a field and takes her to the Underworld
-earth is dying because Demeter is mourning her daughter
-compromise is that Persephone spends six months in the Underworld and six months on earth

Hades

- rarely appears on earth
-kidnaps Persephone
-tricks her into eating six pomegranate seeds, so she spends six months a year with him

Hecate, daughter of Perses

-the abduction of Persephone starts with her
-Persephone's handmaiden
-may or may not be the goddess Hecate

Bernini

-completed a marble statue that depicted Hades abducting Persephone

Doso

-name Demeter takes when she wanders the earth searching for Persephone

Celeus

-welcomes Demeter/Doso into his home
-king of Eleusis

Metanira

-wife of Celeus, king of Eleusis
-stops Demeter from doing the immortality ritual on Demophon

Demophon

-son of Celeus and Metanira
-Demeter, as Doso, tries to make him immortal by burning of his mortal parts
-ritual is not completed

Triptoloemus

-son of Celeus and Metanira
-Demeter, as Doso, teaches him the knowledge of agriculture because she is not able to make Demophon immortal
-travels around in a winged chariot to spread agricultural knowledge

Allegory consistency with reality of the myth of Demeter and Persephone

-allegory of nature where Hades represents the earth and Persephone represents the plants that grow our of the earth
-myth equates the resurrection of Persephone with spring, but that does not match up with the reality of Greek agriculture

Social Interpretation of myth of Demeter and Persephone

-demonstrates the relationship between the mother and daughter before the daughter's marriage
-mothers have to give up their daughters to a stranger
-Greek marriages were arranged
-shows the connection between fertility and death aka out of death comes life, which is shown in Persephone's rebirth every six months

The Eleusinian Mysteries

-one of the most famous religious cults in the ancient world
-worshipped Demeter
-people who divulged secrets were killed
-most knowledge of cult comes from archaeology and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter
-initiates got a blesses afterlife
-anyone, except murderers could join

Eleusis

-place where the Elusinian Mysteries began

Mystes

-basis for the word mystery
-one who closes the eyes

Initiatus

-basis for the word initiate

Telesterion

-Hall of Initiation in Eleusis
-temple to Demeter

Hierophant

-high priest
-he who reveals the hiera (sacred things)

Hiera

-the sacred things

Kykeon

-what the initiates to the Eleusinian Mysteries would drink before a two-day fast

Anaktoron

-palace
-the hierophant would appear from here

Dionysus (Bacchus)

-god of wine, primal nature, lifeforce, divinely inspired madness (frenzy)

Homeric Hymns to Dionysus

-two hymns that are a main source of information about him

Apollodoros, Euripides, Ovid

-author of Bibliotheca, Metamorphoses, and Bacchae, respectfully
-main sources for information about Dionysus

Semele

-mother of Baccus
-princess of the house of Thebes
-daughter of King Cadmus
-asks to see Zeus in his glory and it kills her

Cadmus

-father of Semele and her sisters
-grandfather of Pentheus
-king of Thebes
-tries to talk sense into Pentheus about respecting Baccus

Ino, Queen of Orchomenus

-multiple versions of her story
-she falls off a cliff with her son, Melicertes, after Hera drives her or her husband mad
-turned into a sea-deity when she dies

Athamas, King of Orchomenus

-husband of Ino and father of Melicertes
-driven mad by Hera

Melicertes, son of Ino

-killed by his mother
-turned into a sea-deity when he dies

Leucothea

-Ino's name when she became a deity upon death

Palaemon

-Melicertes' name when he became a deity upon death

Nysa

-where Hermes delivered Baccus in goat form to nymphs
-Baccus discovers the vine and learns the art of making wine

Maenads

-the raging women
-female followers of Baccus

Bacchae

-another name for female followers of Baccus

Thyrsus

-a staff crowed with a pinecone or ivy leaves that makes noise
-carried by the Bacchae

Satyrs

-half-human creatures with erect phalli and the tails and ears of horses

Silenus

-ugly, drunken, fat satyr who told tall tales
-attendant of Baccus

King Midas

-king of Phrygia
-asked Baccus to give him golden touch and turned his daughter to gold

Pactolus River

-where King Midas washed off the golden touch
-has gold sediments and gold flakes in it in real life

Ariadne, daughter of King Minos

-helps Theseus kill the minotaur
-Baccus falls in love with her and marries her
-Receives a crown made by Hephaestus

Corona Borealis

-name of the constellation Ariadne is turned into when she dies
-is of the crown she wore

Lycurgus, king of the Edonians

-persecuted Dionysus and his followers
-struck blind by Zeus in response
-Thracian

The daughters of Minyas (Minyads)

-reject the notion that Baccus is a god
-Baccus strikes them mad, then blind, then turns them into bats
-tore apart their children in their madness

The daughters of Proetus (Proetids)

-their father rejects Baccus
-given leprosy and stricken with madness
-think they are cows and tear apart their children

Melampus

-offers to cure the Proetids for 1/3 of Proetus' kingdom
-eventually cures 2 out of 3 daughters for 2/3 of the kingdom

Dionysus and the Pirates

-Baccus is abducted
-helmsman recognizes him as a god
-Baccus morphs into a lion and then turns pirates into dolphins

Euripides The Bacchae

-play
-most information we have about Baccus is from here

Agave, Autonoë, Ino

-Semele's sisters
-Ino did not raise Baccus in this version of myth
-don't believe Semele slept with Zeus
-driven mad by Baccus

King Pentheus

-king of Thebes
-champion of order and reason
-does not believe Baccus is a god
-torn about by his mother Agave and the Bacchae

Tiresias

-old prophet in tragedies that tries to convince Pentheus to listen to Baccus
-Odysseus opened a portal to the underworld to seek his advice
-was turned into a woman for seven years
-Hera strikes him blind after he says men are better at sex, so women enjoy it more than men
-Zeus gives him the gifts of prophecy and long life

Eastern Origins of Dionysus

-in myth, Baccus comes from Thrace
-Thrace and Phrygia have cults similar to Baccus' cult

Zemelo

-Phrygian mother-goddess
-may be related to the name Semele

Tuwarsa

-Hittite word for wine
-may be related to the word thyrsus

Bakivali

-Lydian name for Baccus
-may be related to the name Baccus

Folktale motifs of Dionysus myths

-the short-sighted wish (Semele, Midas)
-the vengeful stepmother (Hera)
-a portion of the kingdom as reward
-resistance to the god, which leads to madness and destruction

Cult of Dionysus

-Greeks believed they could feel his presence directly, which was central to the cult
-loud music and consumption of wine was part of ritual
-appealed to women

Enthusiasmos (enthusiasm),

-being filled with the god

Extasis (ecstasy)

-standing outside oneself

Sparagmos ("tearing apart")

-of an animal
-let devotees directly experience Baccus

Omophagia ("eating raw flesh")

-may have been cannibalism in prehistoric times
-let devotees directly experience Baccus

God of the Theater

-many of the best known Greek myths are presented as the plots if tragedies performed at festivals in Baccus' honor
-Baccus

Lenaea

-an annual Athenian festival with a dramatic competition that celebrated Baccus

City Dionysia

-spring festival in Athens for Baccus
-three tragedies and one satyr play were presented
-day four had comedies performed

Dithyramb

a wild choral hymn of ancient Greece, especially one dedicated to Dionysus

Thespis

-Aristotle claims he invented tragedy
-had an actor take on the role of a mythical creature and speak in first person as that character
-"the first actor"

Myths of Death

-reflected Greek attitudes toward death, which was pessimistic
-recurring theme in myth is descent into and return from the world of the death

Sappho

-has a quote that describes the pessimistic Greek attitude toward death

Hades (Pluto)

-"the unseen one" (the enricher)
-ruler of the dead

Polydegmon and Polyxenos

-epithets of Hades
-mean "host to many" and "receiver of many"

The Greek View of Death

-pessimistic
-the soul survived after death in an unseen realm
-the underworld was a real place that could be reached
-death was at the forefront of Greek culture
-belief in afterlife
-belief in the existence of the dead and ghosts

eidolon

-an "image" that the soul survived as
-could not be toucched

psyche

-Greek word meaning breath, soul

anima

-related to the Greek word anemos, meaning wind

spiritus

-Latin word meaning breath, spirit

Erinyes

-Furies
-vengeful ghosts that attacked those who spilled the blood of family
-not ever mortal

Greek funerary customs

-purpose was to make sure the dead crossed over to the underworld
-lavish and loud
-dark clothes and loud mourners were to appease the dead

Greek Funeral

-had three steps: prothesis, ekphoras, and epitaphios
-possible that Olympics started as funerary games

Prothesis

-"laying out"
-where mourners begin wailing
-dirges (sad songs) start

Ekphoras

-"carrying out"
-procession to a burial site outside city walls
-loud and extravagant

Epitaphios

-speech/eulogy

Hermes Psychopompus

-"soul guide"
-leads souls to Hades

Odysseus

-one of the earliest versions of journey to the Underworld
-journeys to the death realm to speak to Tiresias

Circe

-witch who instructs Odysseus to speak to Tiresias, the prophet

Oceanus

-where Odysseus journeys to in order to speak to the dead

Necromancy

-libation mixed with blood
-creates a portal to communicate with the dead

Elpenor

-one of Odysseus' soliders
-fell off a roof while drunk and died
-asks Odysseus to bury his body

Aeaea

-Circe's island
-where Elpenor's body is located

Anticlea

-mother of Odysseus
-died of a broken heart waiting for Odysseus to return

Agamemnon

-Agamemnon warns Odysseus about his wife, Penelope
-Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra, was not faithful and is juxtaposed with Penelope

Achilles

-was told that if he went to battle, he would die but people would know his name
-if he stayed home, he would live a long life, but no one would know who he was
-chose to battle
-tells Odysseus he made the wrong choice

Minos, King of Crete

-judge in the Underworld
-decides quarrels that develop between people in the underworld

Rhadamanthys

-brother of Minos
-judge in the Underworld

Aeacus

-king of the island Aegina
-judge in the Underworld

Tityus

-son of Zeus
-Hera convinced him to rape Leto, mother of Apollo and Artemis
-has a raven eat his liver every day and it regrows every night
-similar to Zeus' punishment of Prometheus

Tantalus and Pelops

-Tantalus tried to feed the gods his son, Pelops
-Demeter eats his shoulder because she is mourning Persephone being in the underworld
-gods kill tantualus
-Pelops is resurrected and given an ivory shoulder
-punishments is that food and water are always just out of reach

Sysiphus

-killed travelers that visited his kingdom, violating xenia
-tricks and imprisons Thanatos (Death), causing no one to die
-tricks Persephone into letting him to return to earth after second death and stays
-punishment is to carry a large boulder up a mountain that rolls back down once it reaches the top