CLAS160 final

Definition of a hero

Someone who performs extraordinary acts of courage to serve the common good

Heroes vs Gods

Heroes: difficult to imagine outside their associated stories, epics, and plays

Traits of Greek heroes

Death, Extraordinary deeds, weird death, gravesite worship, commemoration

Cleomedes the Boxer

Played in the olympic games, but win was ruled unfair so he went on a rampage and destroyed a boys school killed 60 kids, hid in a box in a temple, and when they go to find him, he's gone. Then they worshipped him as a hero

Horizontal vs vertical tradition

Horizontal tradition: different stories associated with the same hero doing different things

Herakles

Completes 12 nearly impossible feats of cunning and strength, becomes an immortal god

Birth of Herakles

Zeus turns himself into amphitryon and sleeps with alcmene, she gets pregnant with two babies (iphicles- son of amphitryon, herakles- son of Zeus), Zeus promises that the baby born on herakles due date will be king among men, Hera is pissed so she pushes back herakles birth by one day so Eurystheus becomes king of Tiryns

Herakles 12 Labors

the delphic oracles states that herakles must serve king Eurystheus to make up for killing his family. He sends him to complete 12 labors. The Nemean Lion, Lernaean Hydra, Kerynian Hind, Erymanthian Boar, Augean Stables, Stymphalian Birds, Cretan Bull, Mares of Diomedes, Amazonian Belt, Cattle of Geryon, Apples of the Hesperides, Cerberus

Herakles in tradgedy

Euripedes' Alcestis - shows up drunk at a friends house, realizes his friend is mourning for his wife, fights death (Thanatos) to save the wife

Theseus

ATHENIAN HERO.. Similar to herakles in which he slays beasts and bad people, wins princesses. Son of King Aegeus of Athens. Completes a bunch of tasks

King Aegeus

King of Athens. Slept with Athena and leaves sandals and swords under a rock so that his child can be sent to him after he is strong enough to lift the rock up.

Labors of Theseus- Peripheries

club bearer who hits people on the head. Theseus beats him w/his own club

Sinis- Labors of Theseus

"he who bends pine trees". Captures travelers and ties to bent pine trees and releases them (tears them apart). Placed near entrance of underworld. Theseus beats Sinis by using his own method and hooks up w/ daughter Periguine.

Crommyon Sow- Labors of Theseus

Enormous pig by Phaea near Isthmus. Slays pig

Sciron- Labors of Theseus

Old dude robber. Asks passerby's to wash feet and kicks off cliff. Killed the same way

Coercion - Labors of Theseus

King of Eleusis. Challenges passerby's to wrestle and wins, kills them. Theseus wins and kills him.

Procrustes - Labors of Theseus

"stretcher". Asks passerby's to rest on beds that don't fit and stretches them to fit. Theseus cuts off Procrustes legs and head with his own axe.

King Minos

King of Crete (first). Son of Zeus and Europa (bull). Every year made King Aegeus pick 7 boys and girls to be sent to the Labyrinth to be eaten by the Minotaur

Pasiphae and the Bull

Pasiphae (King Minos' wife) is made to love bulls as a punishment to King Minos for not sacrificing the best bull to Poseidon one year.

Daedalus and the Labyrinth

Created the labyrinth

The Minotaur

Minos is supposed to sacrifice the best bull to Poseidon. One year this doesn't happen but sacrifices the second best bull and Poseidon is big mad. Poseidon makes Pasiphae (wife) LOVE bulls and has a cow costume made. Wears it and somehow has a minotaur baby. Is trapped in labyrinth.

Minoans

Bronze age civilization on the Island of Crete. Absorbed by Mycenaean civilization

Knossos

Major city of Crete, where the labyrinth is

Ariadne

Cretan Princess. Daughter of Pasiphae. Fell in love with Theseus and with a thread of jewels helps him escape the Labyrinth, they go to Naxos and Theseus leaves her, Dionysus marries her

Achilles

Greek hero of Trojan war. Mother is thetis (sea goddess). Wanted to make him immortal and burned off his mortality in boiling water, fire, and river of Styx.

Birth of Achilles

There was a prophecy that Thetis would produce a son greater than ZeusTo prevent this Zeus makes Thetis marry a mortal

Peleus and Thetis

Parents of Achilles

Achilles and Patroclus

Patroclus (best friend and maybe lover) feels bad for the greeks. Takes Achilles' armor and goes into battle. Gets killed by Hector, prince of the Trojans. Achilles throws himself into battle knowing he will die, Achilles kills hector

Homer's Iliad

About the rage of Achilles. Mopes at some point about King Agamemnon stealing Briseis, a Trojan girl, because she was his war prize. Fights for Patroclus by going after Hector and drags his body around Troy by chariot.

Role of women in greek society

women can't choose their husbands, they must bear their children, can't win glory in war, athletics, and exploration

Traits of greek heroins

extraordinary deeds, weird death, gravesite worship, song and cult

Difference between heroes and heroines

Heroines typically act out heroic deeds in the home setting instead of going into battle, endure physical and sexual abuse. Endure terrible things.

Charilla

famine in delphi, and everyone goes to the king for help, he gives the citizens food, a little girl charilla goes up and there is no food left for her, so the king hits her with a shoe,(lmao) she goes and hangs herself, famine gets worse and the people are told to worship her to end the famine

Helen

some versions she is abducted by paris which starts the trojan war

Helen's early life

theseus and pirithous decide to snatch some women to make their wives, theseus takes her and stores her away with his mom, they end up in the underworld on a bench they cant leave, her brothers set her free (castor and pollux)

The oath of the suitors

king tyndareus is worried people will turn on him when he selects a wife, makes every suitor take an oath to protect her and her husband after he chooses, they become the support in the trojan war

Clytemnaestra

married to Agamemnon, sisters with Helen, ends up killing her husband in the end. She is tricked by Agamemnon to send their daughter, Iphigenia, to him at aulis to marry Achilles but instead gets sacrificed. She hooks up with Agamemnon's cousin Aegisthus while he's in war and they plot his death

Agamemnon

ass of a father that gives up his daughter as a sacrifice. Offended Artemis somehow and was told he wouldn't have calm waters or correct winds to fight the Trojans for taking Helen and is told he needs to sacrifice Iphigenia to get what he wants

Iphigenia

daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra and gets sent as a sacrifice to Artemis to change the direction of the winds.

Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy

First: Clytemnaestra kills husband when he returns from war. Second: son Orestes kills Cytemnaestra, Third: Ghost of Clytemnaestra rouses furies to hound Orestes. He's put on trial and acquitted by Athena

Hecuba

Daughter of Phrygian King Dymas and Nymph Euagora. She's queen of Troy married to Priam. 19 sons Defined by her anger and sorrow in the Illad

Euripedes' Trojan Women and Hecuba

Focuses on fate of women and children in the aftermath of the war they lost. Daughters Cassandra and Andromache and taken as concubines and slaves. Grandson Astyanax thrown from walls. Ends with Hecuba killing herself as Troy burns to the ground.

Polyxena

Daughter of king Priam and Hecuba. Sacrificed on tomb of Achilles, her lover, after he was killed by Priam's son Paris

Medea

Daughter of King Aeetes (son of Helios) and either Idyia (sea nymph) or Hecate (goddess) Helps Jason with his many task for the golden fleece with magical herbs and rock throwing strategy

King Aeetes

Father of Medea, will let her and Jason go if he finishes 3 task

Jason and the Argonauts

seized Golden Fleece, married Medea

Euripedes' Medea

Madea learns she will be exiled when Jason wants to marry Creusa daughter of the king of Corinth (Creon). Before she leaves she poisons Creusa and King Creon. Kills her children and rides off with granddad Helios on a chariot to Athens

Characteristics of quest heroes

Primary task is his/her journeyPursuing precious objects or personComes into conflict with enemies and monstersAided by helpers or friendsDifference is one of degree

Auden's definition (quest heroes)

Precious object or person must be found, possessed, or married.Long journey, undertaken by hero.The hero himself.Tests and trials for the hero to overcome that he must overcome."Guardians of the Object" who test the hero.Human or animal helpers that offer the hero knowledge, magic, or other assistance.

Quest helpers

Heroes = Ideals of society / Embody greek idealsJason: Helped by the Argonauts, hindered by giant TalosOdysseus: Helped by Circe, hindered by PolyphemusCirce - like many women on the hero's journey - is both a helper and a hinderer.Some helpers - especially the princesses - embody Greek idealsAriadne assists Theseus with threadBut she has no kingdomMedea gives Jason magic herbsBut she's crazy and dangerousPenelope sets up a contest only Odysseus can win

Quest villians

Any manner of beast! Humans, giants, dragons, beasts, hybrids (Chimera = goat, lion, snake; Medusa = woman, wings, snake)Located at Mountain tops, oceans, and cavesHow do they act? - Wild and crazy, outside the norm.Villains = social unacceptability and "un-greek-ness"

Perseus

obtains the head of Medusa and rescues Andromeda. Had to kill the Graeae and return to three nymphs with Graeae's tooth and eye for weapons. Decapitated Medusa

Medusa

Gorgon. Mortal. Dangerous to men

Acrisius

Perseus' grandfather. Wants Perseus gone because of some prophecy saying he will kill him. Can't kill because gods will be angry but locks his mother Danae and Perseus to sea. One day Acrisius and Perseus are at the same athletic games and Perseus hurls a discus so far it hits and kills him

Dictys and Polydectes

When Danae and Perseus were sent off to sea they landed Seraphs. Dictys hauls them out of the water and he's the brother of King Polydectes, who wants to get it on with Danae and send Perseus to kill Medusa to get him out of the way. Perseus shows him the head and turns him to stone. Makes Dictys king

Gorgon

Mythical creatures with snakes for hair and had the power to turn people to stone with one look

Depiction of Medusa

Has wings, tunic, boots and a terrifying face

Graeae (gray ones)

Three sisters that shared an eye and a tooth. Perseus steals their eye and tooth

Perseus' journey home

Drops of Medusa's blood leads to birth of thousands of snakes in Libya. Atlas threatens Perseus and he turns him into a stone mountain range with the head

Atlas mountains

Atlas was turned to stone by Perseus

Andomeda

Tied to a rock about to be eaten by a sea monster. Her dad tells Perseus he can marry her if he saves her (but plots with the real fiancé to kill Perseus after he saves her). Perseus bust out Medusa's head and turns them to stone

Chrysaor

Born when Medusa's head is cut off. He is mortal

Pegasus

magical winged horse, offspring of Poseidon and Medusa. Tamed by Bellerophon with golden bridle

Bellerophon

exiled of Corinth for killing someone, goes to Tiryns when he works off his crime to king Proteus by fighting the Chimera (head of a lion, goat head sticking out thru back, poisonous snake as tail). Pegasus is his helper

Kings Proteus and lobates

when the king finds out the stheneboea has the hots for Bellerophon, he sends him to his father in law king lobates. He then sends him to fight chimera

Stheneboea

tries to seduce Bellerophon in the end he pushes her off of pegasus to her death

Chimera

female hybrid monster, head of lion, goats head protrudes from the back, snake tail

Jason

Born to Alcimede and Aeson, he is sent to grow up on the mountain and be raised by Chiron, he goes home and Pelias recognizes him because he is only wearing on sandal

Pelias

Evil uncle that took over after Jason's father, he sends Jason to get the golden fleece

Colchis

land where the golden fleece is found

Lemnian Women

Jason and the Argonauts went ashore and made a bunch of babies with the women and then left

Harpies

King Phineus is blind and starving, whenever he tries to eat the harpies come and eat all of his food, so Jason and the Argonanauts chase them off

Symplegades Rocks

rocks that clash killing anyone who sails through them

Golden Fleece

The fleece of the gold-haired winged ram. Jason and his band of Argonauts must get the fleece in order for Jason to be king.

Circe

Goddess of sorcery. Helps Jason and Medea clean themselves of Medea's brother blood. Also helps out Odysseus and his people (after turning them into pigs) because she is commanded by Hermes to do so

Sirens

Harpies. Birds with female heads steal King Phineus' food. Jason's crew helps get rid of them

Scylla and Charybdis

Mythical sea monsters. Syclla is a 6 headed monster, Charybdis is a vicious whirlpool

Talos

bronze titan, medea drugs him to drive him mad

Jason and Medea

Medea helped Jason on his tasks by her dad so they won't get hurt. Medea has a magic trick where she chops people up, mixes them with herbs and drugs and restores them. Pelias wants this, so she chops him up and never restores him.

Heroines as Historical Heroes

Doing good MORAL deeds. They've done something good and noble. More about understanding the community than adventure.

The tyrannicides

Harmodius and Aristogeiton

Harmodius and Aristogeiton

secured equality, tyrant slayer who overthrew the last tyrants

The New Heroine

Historical figure worshipped as heroes for their social and civic acts

Antigone

buried her brother polynices after she was told not to by King Creon. She was the ordered to be killed by then King Creon had a change of heart but she had already hung herself. King Creon's son was so in love with her, he killed himself, then his mother killed herself.

Polyxena

Greeks want to sacrifice Polyxena on the tomb of Achilles after the Trojan War but she offers herself instead

Iphigenia

Daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. Sacrificed to Artemis for favorable winds. Goes willingly to alter to "marry Achilles"

Euripedes' Iphigenia in Aulis

expresses despair over the military failures of generals probably relates to the sicilian expedition

Euripedes' Iphigenia among the Taurians

Expresses desire to return to Greece from afar makes sense after the Sicilian expedition..builds off ending where Artemis saves her from her sacrifice. She becomes a priestess of Artemis and sacrifices Greek Sailors in Island of Tauris. She helps Orestes (brother) escape the island.

Peloponnesian War

431-404 BCE) The war between Athens and Sparta that in which Sparta won, but left Greece as a whole weak and ready to fall to its neighbors to the north.

Iphigenia and Greek History

dr stephan said that her dead is a metaphor for the Peloponnesian war but not sure how)

Greek influence on Roman myth

same gods (different names) same stories

Etruscan influence on Roman myth

Pantheon gods- merges with Greek pantheon gods to form Roman mythology

Greek colonization

resulted from overpopulation, an increase in trade, and a widening gap between rich and poor.

Pithekoussai

-Widely believed to be the first Greek colony located in Italy-A primary trading center for the Greeks"monkey island" now Ischia in the bay of naples

Etruscan Divination

Rituals for understanding the will of the gods- reading sheeps' livers, interpreting thunder and lightning, watching the flight of birds

Aeneas

write an epic that rivals Greece : Homer copy cat; fighter in the Trojan war, flees burins Troy

Romulus and Remus

Founder of Rome in 753 BC

Rape of the Sabines

a legend telling the story of how Romulus invited the neighboring Sabines to a religious festival and told Rome's men to kidnap the unmarried Sabine women

Numa Pompilius

The 2nd king of Rome started ruling at around 700 BC. He was a smart and religious man who invented the Roman calendar and other things

Rape of Lucretia

The son of Rome's last king rapes her after threatening to kill her