CLST 100 Final

Allegory

A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself. These came in 1st century BC and 1st century AD from Heraclitus, Cornutus, and anonymous author of life of Homer

Amphinomus

D (the best-behaved suitor, speaks up against murdering Telemachus) I (Penelope's favorite suitor (most likely to marry her), compelled to stay with suitors by Athena) Among the dozens of suitors, the only decent man seeking Penelope's hand in marriage. Amphinomus sometimes speaks up for Odysseus and Telemachus, but he is killed like the rest of the suitors in the final fight.

Neoptolemus

D (the son of Achilles, Odysseus tells Achilles all of his accomplishments) I (another example of how Telemachus should be)

Medon

D (town crier of Ithaca, is loyal to Odysseus, house boy, Telemachus says he should be saved from the slaughter, supplicates to Telemachus)

Cave of the nymphs

Described in like 10 lines of Book 13 (Two Tricksters) holy place of sea nymphs (Nereids) stone, sea purple cloth, water always flowing through two entrances: north one for humans, south one is sacred and for immortals

Tyrian

Dido's people. Live in Carthage

Who was Homer

composer of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two oldest and most important works of Greek literature. We know nothing certain about him. Though there is still disagreement, most people suspect his epics were written down around 750 B.C.E

Signified

concept--> idea attached to word

ketabasis

descent into darkness/underground space typically transition from adolescence to adulthood- facing and defeating some enemy down there to earn your right to transition, emerge a new man- could say Cyclops episode of Odyssey exists to explain this ritual, provoked by people doing ketabasis when people wanted to explain it

Laius

king of Thebes who was unwittingly killed by his son Oedipus exposes him at Mt Cithaeron and ties his ankles together with leather strap

what is an epic?

lengthy tales of the deeds of superhuman heroes of the past, who were often involved in great wars. Future generations often measured their own virtue against that of the epic heroes they read about

Pluto

like Roman Hades, god of the underworld

Neptune

like Roman Poseidon, God of the sea

Jupiter

like Roman Zeus, king of the gods, husband of Juno

Theoclymenus

Someone who hears the gods D (Prophet who is a fugitive exiled for murder but is given hospitality by Telemachus and is brought with him to Ithaca, prophesices good fortune for Telemachus) Sent to stay with Piraeus who came back on ship with Telemachus, is welcomed into T.'s home when Piraeus brings him later Tells Penelope of promising sign of bird when T. approached Ithaca Foretells the suitors' deaths to them before leaving the house in book 20

Prometheus

Son of Iapetos who was eternally bound to a rock for an eagle to eat his liver for tricking Zues into eating ox bones in the form of a fatty sacrifice and stealing fire from olympus to give to man.

Dark Ages

1150- 850 BC

Cerberus

3-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades

Phoebes

Apollo

Aeaea

Island home of Circe

Eteocles

Son of Oedipus

"Noman"

the name that Odysseus gives himself when tricking Polyphemus

Opening of Aeneid compared to Odyssey

"I sing" he is telling the story, not the muse Not just a single first word of man, but linking of arms and of man (basically like Iliad and Odyssey in one) "By destiny"- fate but more forward leaning than backward, future towards which epic is going- all about Rome One against one- Aeneas vs. Juno- populates opening part of epic Word meaning piety and duty

Barthes striptease

"Striptease" The author begins this essay by clarifying that the style of striptease to which he is referring is French, and specifically Parisian, striptease. Later in the essay, he draws a clear distinction with American striptease, suggesting that in France striptease is, in essence, making the private public. The implication is that in America, the opposite is taking place - that public sexuality (striptease) is, in fact, a manifestation and a redirection of private desire. The body of the essay is focused on the way French striptease essentially separates who the women are from what they do, detailing near-ritualistic use of costume, music and dancing to create a mythic presentation of the female anatomy that, in fact, de-sexualizes them. In other words, the author is suggesting that in French striptease, a woman's removal of her clothing is a mythic act

Furies

'Avenging Furies' curse Melampus, king of Argos, with temporary madness

Augustus

(63 BCE - 14 CE) First emperor of Rome (27 BCE - 14 CE) He restored order and prosperity to the Empire after nearly a century of turmoil. Grandnephew to Julius Caesar. Supporter of Vergil, he wrote Aeneid for him and Augustus is the one who saved it and had people edit and publish it after Vergil died Very savvy in supporting poets- works to his benefit to use literary power (but be careful not to write Vergil off as propagandist)

Archaic Period

(800 BC - 480 BC) Was a period of ancient Greek history that followed the Greek Dark Ages. This period saw the rise of the polis and the founding of colonies, as well as the first inklings of classical philosophy, theatre in the form of tragedies performed during Dionysia, and written poetry, which appeared with the reintroduction of the written language, lost during the Greek Dark Ages. The end of archaism is conventionally marked by Xerxes' invasion of Greece in 480 BC.

Proserpina

(=Persephone) in Aeneid; wife of Hades in the Underworld; captured by Hades and Zeus

Book 6

Athena appears in a dream to Phaeacian princess Nausicaa and tells her to go do laundry in preparation for future marriage After laundry and lunch Nausicaa plays ball with her slaves but they lose the ball and scream so O. pops up to appeal for help from Nausicaa She gives him clothes and tells him how to get to her parents' palace Odysseus prays for Athena's help

Phorcys

According to Hesiod, Phorcys is the son of Nereus and Gaia. He marries his sister, Keto, and begets the Graiai, sisters who possess only one eye and one tooth between them, and who pass them around as one of the sisters wants to see or eat. He also begets the Gorgons, the most notable of whom (as well as the only mortal Gorgon) is Medusa, whom Perseus slays. *In general, he is the father or leader of sea-monsters.*

Nestor

D (King of Pylos, fought in the Trojan War) I (Telemachus visits him to ask about Odysseus, good example of xenia (give Telemachus gifts, food and transportation)) King of Pylos and a former warrior in the Trojan War. Like Odysseus, Nestor is known as a clever speaker. Telemachus visits him in Book 3 to ask about his father, but Nestor knows little of Odysseus's whereabouts. Horse lord

Cattle of the Sun God

D (holy cattle eaten by Odysseus' men, Helios threatens to hold back the sun until Zeus kills Odysseus' men) I (food/not food, certain foods are more holy than others)

oracle

1) the physical temple site, 2) the person who recites the divine message, also known as a "mantis," or 3) the words the mantis speaks.

Theogony Introduction

1-35 Invocation of the Muses. 36-115 Muses announce their intention to sing truth through Hesiod and the order of races in their song

Odysseus's Route

1. Troy 2. Cicones 3. Lotus-Eaters 4. Cyclopes 5. King Aiolos 6. King Aiolos (again) 7. Laistrygonians 8. Circe 9. Underworld 10. Sirens 11. Scylla and Charybdis 12. Helios 13. Calypso 14. Phaeacians 15. Ithaca

Themes in Metamorphoses

1.) Changes/transformations- men bubbling up from earth, humans transformed into animals (during which the person's humanity dissolve in front of you but they maintain self awareness while stuck inside this animal's body), Line between human and animal transgression (humans transformed into plants and animals, abstractions, males transformed into females and back again 2.) Crimes of a sexual nature 3.) Links between the human and divine world (they are often times around humans, and when they are bad things happen--> trouble), psychologizing this link 4.) Bodies- starts with bodies the same way Odyssey starts with man and Aeneid with man and war -- has too many limitations, requires too much, demands things of people that are not wise--> leads to trouble, transformations often one body to another 5.) Violence- destructive and gory but random and purposeless unlike the hero stuff with violence in Odyssey- over the top you wanna see gore I'll show you gore, esp. in transformations and dismembering and people being robbed of humanity (could be commentary on Roman society and people cheering for fights at Colosseum to watch people dismember each other) 6.) Myth redrawn to help us into individual characters' psyches (like in house of Cadmus we focus in on his fratricidal horror that he feels watching this, also like when we see Diana doing her morning routine and getting ready like a sort of humanizing moment that she is embarrassed to be seen in)

Readings of Aeneas/Dido story

1.) Dido perfect example of backcurrents- anti Roman bits of Roman formation story, sympathetic Dido 2.) Sympathetic Aeneas- he has this duty to found Rome and can't be sentimental and stay with Dido Functionalist- Xenia (Dido) loses out to new core value of pietas (Aeneas) Freudian- shows Carthage and its relationship with Rome as a forbidden love affair- story of violence and annihilation into love- allowing Rome to have sexual/loving relationship with greatest enemy and turning Carthage into forlorn bride left at alter- Carthage just wanted Rome to love it Structuralist- voluntary associations vs blood ties- marriage and perfect future offered to Aeneas through voluntary association with Dido but blood ties draw him away (his father, his duty to father Rome) Socio-biology- something about fatherhood as central biological drive/program of action (Aeneas stepping into a father role after his father dies, being referred to as father Aeneas or Father of Rome)

Fall of Mycenae

1150 BC

Theogony Primordial Dieties

116-125 Chaos (=the "chasm" in West's trans.), an empty space that fills the Universe. Creation of Gaia (Earth), Tartaros (Underworld) and Eros (Desire). 125-131Chaos gives birth to Nyx (Night) and Erebos (Darkness); Gaia gives birth to Ourea (Mountains), Ouranos (Sky) and Pontos (Sea) by parthenogenesis. 132-139 With Ouranos (=sky), Gaia (=earth) conceives the twelve Titans: Okeanos, Koios, Kreios, Hyperion, Iapetos, Thea, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne (=memory), Phoebe, Tethys, and Kronos. 140-153 Again with Ouranos, Gaia bears the three Kyklopes and the three "Hundred-Handers." 154-206 Castration of Ouranos by Kronos; creation of Aphrodite (an Olympian). 207-232 Genealogy of Nyx: Various permutations of death, sleep, and sin/evil. 233-336 Genealogies of the minor sea deities Nereus, Thaumus, Phorkys, Keto, and Eurybia; includes a large numbers of monsters.

Fall of Troy (year)

1220 BC

Fontenelle

1657-1757 Externalist Thought of Greek myths as old fashioned, strange, impious--> he agreed it was irrational but thought it had a truth to it and was trying to explain the world, an attempt to do science before they were capable of doing it, attempt at explanation

Mycenaean Period

1500-1200 BCE

Eurymachus

D (manipulative and deceitful suitor, one of their leaders) D (violates xenia) A manipulative, deceitful suitor. Eurymachus's charisma and duplicity allow him to exert some influence over the other suitors.

Ino

D (minor sea goddess who gives Odysseus her scarf/veil in order to help him reach the shores of Scheria after Poseidon wrecked his raft after he left Calypso's island) Also one of Cadmus's daughters who kills her children and throws herself off a cliff

Hume

1711-1776 Internalist Enlightenment- myth is irrational, fantasy, they stand against it for science and rationality, humans have grown out of it

Heyne

1729-1812 Externalist Myth explains a human reaction to being in the world (as opposed to scientific explanation Fontenelle said) They explain awe (a mixture of fear and wonder) about our natural world Memorialization of great people of the past *Comes up with term myth because he thought calliing them "fabula" trivialized them too much and he was the first person we talk about that was a real scholar of myths that used concrete language to talk about abstract things*

Herder

1744-1803 Internalist Myths are a reaction to the external world and therefore reflect a particular national identity Connected with a later movement called romanticism-- his ideas are that myths are almost innate and are an automatic response from human beings to the world, swelling reaction to life that bubbles out of us Myths belong to a particular people and constitute a national identity Thinks myth is the first thing that comes out of human's mouths-- on level with religion, etc. Emotional, autonomous quality of myths Studies root in myths

Grimm

1785-1863 Internalist Brings ethnological and folklorist approach to myths, kind of precursors to ethnographic studies-- have to hear people's stories to understand them Does ethnographic studies and is looking for pure, national identity of a place, like euhemerism but for political organizations instead of individuals, similar ideas to Herder in myths as way of studying cultural/national identity but Herder studies the actual myth and he studies the people through ethnographic studies

K.O. Muller

1797-1840 1800- Search for Origins Myths come from both external (reflect historical reality) origins and internal tendencies Myths reflect historical period. Shows what it was like to live at that time. Two layers: Agrarian society- myths about fertility and tradition Complex society- myths focusing on leaders and power

Max Muller

1823-1900 Philologist (studies ancient languages-- including Greek, Latin, Sanskrit) Notices similarities between these lanuages that exists in different parts of the world Proto-indo-European: his proposed prior language explaining the simlarities between languages The people who spoke this language had at least one major god--> Sky-father Other 3 have Dyaus (dyaus pitar), Zeus (Zeus pater) and Jupiter (Ju+piter) that all have this common route when you look at the language Pretty startling revelation at time now agreed upon by scholars Myth is a disease of language: people naturally made mistake of personifying aspects of nature they were describing as gods because they had a very concrete language-- no way to describe abstract things like nature

Freud

1856-1939 All human beings have a psyche with desires that are expressed both consciously and unconsciously Conscious mind is rational and listens to reason, unconscious is hidden to us, we're not aware of it, the larger part of the mind and does not listen to reason Repression batter- keeps desire in check and makes people engage in civilized behaviors-- not airtight and opens gates to let off steam from time to time Dreams are a common means by which humans allow themselves to live out and fulfill these desires- healthy mechanism Myths are the second way that desires can healthily escape unconscious-- like a collective dream of an entire culture that allows it to live out and express a desire that is otherwise deeply prohibited)

Henreich Schliemann

1882-90 German business man obsessed with proving the Iliad to be true. Marries a 17-year old Greek girl. Finds Trojan gold, but endangers the site due to poor practices. Steals gold from Turkey. Digs at Mycenae and finds bronze-age graves.

Barthes

1915-80 French thinker of great importance in middle of last century- one of the first academics to take pop culture seriously as something that can be analyzed through semiotics

myth and ritual

2 main components of religion according to scholars- myth and ritual- mutually illuminating Jane Harrison (1850-1928)- classicist who is influenced by anthropology--> advances in understanding of ritual and its place in vulture during her time- anthropologists claimed it was a key part of human social dynamics, necessary mechanism for building and enforcing human interactions (anchor of social organization) rituals are intertwined with what's happening in myths-- myths follow rituals and explain ritual behaviors whose original meaning has long since been forgotten, rituals are provocative, odd, make people ask why the heck they are doing that myth and ritual theory: myths are there as explanations of ritual behavior distinct from functionalism because the rituals aren't being legitimized- they don't need to be, it's just what you do - explanation not normalization Homeric hymns really lend themselves to this kind of reading, things like Odyssey not so much so myth and ritualists go ritual hunting

Eleusis

2000 BCE- there were wars between Eleusis and Athens, Athens was the victor and Eleusis became strongly influenced by Athens, cult of Demeter was established between 1500-1100 BCE, an important site in the Eleusinian mysteries dedicated to Demeter, in the Hymn to Demeter, it is ruled by King Celeus and Queen Metaneira

Theogony Genealogies of Titans

337-374 Okeanos and Tethys (both Titans) give birth to over 6000 rivers and springs. 375-403 Genealogies of Kreios and Eurybia and their offspring. 404-452 Genealogies of Phoibe and Koios (Titans) and their offspring. 453-458 Kronos and Rhea (Titans) give birth to the Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus (all Olympian gods). 459-506 Kronos swallows all his children except Zeus. Zeus prepares to overthrow Kronos. 507-616 Genealogy of Iapetos. Hesiod uses this genealogy to interrupt Zeus' ascent to power and tell the stories of Prometheus and Pandora. This also completes the genealogies of the Titans.

Ovid

43 BC-17 AD, Metamorphoses internal conflicts in his poetry with people being torn between two courses of action regular people in the midst of great events doesn't tell excursive beginning middle and end story- rambles, but in a very intentional way- episodic poetry from prosperous family, had best education money could buy- which was in verbal arts (for being a lawyer) and this included working on mythology and literature greatest poet of his day, clearly a genius, and everyone around him knew it and acknowledged it got himself into trouble with authorities, Augustus got involved, eventually he was exiled for some unspecified offense **changes our definition of math and mythology as we see it today, fits more with this clump of stories probably untrue about some ancient characters that may have some deeper truth to them or may not- but are fun to hear *he basically retells whole thing- sits down and gives you whole big package of mythology- first one to do this relationship with muse- ask for forgiveness not permission, he's gonna do what he wants uses some language of science of his day in opening too- gives him authority as a poet

Odysseus in 5-8

5: Maintains life, alive, starts here at rock bottom 6: Makes a connection 7: Finds his way to a city, makes connection to powerful people 8: Rebuilding his strength

Theogony Mortals and Immortals

963-968 Hesiod reinvokes the Muses and shifts gears to tell about goddesses sleeping with mortal men. 969-1018 Immortal offspring of goddesses and mortal men. Note the prevalence of Homeric heroes (e.g. Aeneas, Achilles, and Odysseus) and tragic figures (e.g. Polydoros, Aeson, and Medea). 1019-1022 Conclusion and segue to Catalogue of Women.

epic poetry to tragedy jump

5th century BC Homer was 250 years ago and what he wrote was ancient history You had a choral group then someone decided to bring a leader, he began to act things out, then when 2nd actor was brought out for dialogue this is beginning of tragedy 3 big poets/authors of tragedy we read- Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides these plays would be trilogies that would happen morning, evening, and night Door on stage as focal point of anxiety and energy Chorus are an in-between/in the middle in terms of identity- in interacting with actors and audience, they are typically middle aged men, do some dancing and singing Differences with tragedy and epics- very few constraints in epics, just poets imagination with time, place, etc.- changing whenever you get dense, intense, focused psychological drama instead with tragedies that don't have this freedom, gods are characters, tragedies have to be tight (not meandering and long like epics), family is super important in tragedies Family in tragedies- nasty, violent (not close and intimate like in Odyssey)

Theogony Zeus's Ascent to Power

617-663 Zeus enlists the "Hundred-Handers" and sets up on Mount Olympus. 664-719 Zeus and the "Hundred-Handers" defeat the Titans; Zeus casts the Titans deep into Tartaros. 720-819 Extended description of the Titans' new home in Tartaros. 820-840 Gaia, angered at Zeus' treatment of the Titans, and Tartaros conceive Typhoeus. 841-868 With much difficulty, Zeus defeats Typhoeus and locks him in Tartaros. 869-880 Description of Typhoeus trapped in Tartaros.

Vergil

70-19 BC Father was a farmer who married well (employer's daughter), he probably worked on his father's land Landowner and pottery manufacturer Studied rhetoric and philosophy, as well as law in Cremona, Milan, and Rome Meanwhile, great events were shaking up the Roman world, though Vergil was largely unaffected by them. In 49 B.C.E., Julius Caesar crossed the River Rubicon and occupied Rome. Vergil might have been conscripted to serve in Caesar's army for a year, but it is just as likely that his poor health prevented him from serving at all. Lived a quiet life while civil war was raging in Rome, wrote about cowherding Gained favor of Octavian, who took control of Rome after Julius Caesar was assassinated, wrote the Aeneid for him (who was later called Augustus) Dies before finishing Aeneid, ordered that it be burned upon his death, but Augustus intervened and saved it and it was published to national acclaim Works in traditional that Homer is central figure in-epics- but is not copying him (deeply schooled in his work though), he rewrites it purposefully- uses myth as identity building not for an individual, but for a nation Traces of Euhemerism and allegory in his work, and nation-building We know a huge amount about Vergil compared to playwrights we read before him- saw Rome go from a troubled republic to one that collapses and is replaced with empire ruled by Augustus, civil war was defining characteristic of Rome while he is writing- deeply traumatic time that left Romans shell-shocked at the end of these 100 years- who are we as a people outside of this violence and war? he helps to answer that

Iliad and Odyssey year

750 BC

First Olympics

776 BC

Theogony Zeus/Olympian Division of World

881-885 Zeus divides the Universe between himself (sky), Poseidon (sea), and Hades (underworld). 886-911 Zeus sleeps with Metis, Thetis, and others from the Titan era. The Fates and Muses are his most notable offspring from these wives. 912-929 Zeus conceives the Olympians Apollo, Artemis, Ares, and Athena; a jealous Hera conceives Hephaistos. 930-962 Zeus produces the Olympians Hermes and Dionysus, as well as the hero Heracles.

Theoxenia

A festival celebrated in many parts of Greece in honour, not only of the principal local divinity, but of many others who were considered as his guests. Such was the feast held at Delphi in honour of Apollo in the month hence called Theoxenios (August). Of the manner of its celebration nothing is known. Distinguished men, such as Pindar and his descendants, were also invited to the sacrificial feast. Elsewhere other gods appeared as hosts at the feast, as the Dioscuri, the patrons of hospitality, in Paros and Agrigentum. Antinous puts off attempting to string the bow after everyone else fails using the excuse of it being the day for the festival for Apollo

Sisyphus

A king in ancient Greece who offended Zeus and whose punishment was to roll a huge boulder to the top of a steep hill each time the boulder neared the top it rolled back down and he was forced to start again

Olympus

A mountain situated in Thessaly, the summit of which [nearly 10,000 feet above the sea] rises from the region of the earth's atmosphere into the sky, and was, according to the earliest popular belief of the Greeks, the abode of the higher (hence named Olympian) gods. Below the summit, which, according to Homer's description, is never ruffled by winds or drenched with rain, but is always radiant in cloudless splendour [Od. vi 42-45], comes the region of clouds, which Zeus at one time gathers together and at another dispels; it forms the boundary between the celestial region and that of the earth; and accordingly Homer elsewhere implies that the clouds are the gates of heaven, which are guarded by the Hours [Il. v 749]. On the highest peak Zeus has his throne, and it is there that he summons the assemblies of the gods. The abodes of the other gods were imagined to be placed on the precipices and in the ravines of the mountain. When the height of the vault of heaven came to be regarded as the abode of the gods, the name Olympus was transferred to the sky.

Myrmidons

A race in Southern Thessaly, said to have originally dwelt in the island of Aegina and to have emigrated from it with Peleus. They fought before Troy under their chieftain Achilles.

Thyestes

A son of Pelops; quarrels with brother Atreus over the kingship in Mycenae; tricked into eating his own sons by Atreus at the Banquet of Thyestes after Atreus finds out he was sleeping with his wife and stole his golden sheep Accidentally rapes daughter (Pelopia) and has son with her (Aegisthus) who thinks he is Atreus's son (was also exposed by his mother and found on mount cithaeron

The Roman Empire

According to the traditional date, Rome was founded in 753 B.C.E. by Romulus, son of Mars, on the Palatine Hill. Near of the end of the fifth century, Rome began a conquest of Italy. Over the next few centuries, the Romans waged war with the Latins, Etruscans, and other native peoples of Italy. Usually, defeated peoples became "allies" of the Romans By 270 B.C.E., Rome had finally conquered the Greek colonies in the south of Italy, including the wealthy and powerful city of Tarentum Punic Wars against Carthage in 100s/200s BC that spanned over 100 years These conquests made rich Romans richer, but the poor were not seeing the benefits of expanding Roman influence. As the gap between the rich and the poor widened, several who tried to introduce reforms, there were revolts until Julius Caesar gained control, but then he was murdered by a group of senators Julius Caesar's grandson Octavian restored the republic and was given the title of Augustus (he restored in name only really and changed a lot politically)

Cycnus

Achilles vs Cycnus. In the Metamorphoses. Achilles thinks Cycnus would be easy to kill but he is unharmable and this frustrates Achilles. They then have hand-to-hand combat and he gets transformed to a white bird and flies away. This part is comedy-like. transformation of body into swan predicted by name

Aeneid book 6

Aeneas must consult with the Sibyl at Cumae and travel to the underworld, where he meets dead friends and comrades Deiphobus, Dido, Palinurus, and Anchises. His father shows him Rome's distant future and heroes. The underworld for Vergil is a place where ethical scores are settled (not the case for Homer)- there is a place where people are having a feast and being joyous and then there is an area where people are being punished (it is one of the key influences to the idea of the Christian underworld)-- in Homer basically everyone except the 3 extremes being tortured for all of eternity is just there and doesn't really want to be, in Vergil it can be fine to be there The gods that are in the underworld- Hecate, Earth, etc. are those that populate early stage of Earth before Zeus takes over and locks them down in Tartarus Vergil's underworld is actually under (as opposed to just very far away in Homer) Also parallel to Odyssey in Aeneas seeing his father there, Odysseus sees his mother

Aeneid book 3

Aeneas' account, part 2- our Trojan hero describes how, after leaving the area around Troy, the Trojans visited a bunch of places before they eventually realized they would have to go to a new land in the west. Also, Aeneas' dad Anchises died.

Anchises

Aeneas' father. dies during the journey but still appears as guidance for his son. Aeneas goes to the Underworld to see and seek counsel from him. Aeneas holds the Olympic games to honor his death

Misenus

Aeneas's companion who was killed and was unburied at the time Aeneas first talked to the Sibyl. Aeneas was not allowed to enter into the underworld until he was buried. He was drowned by Triton for challenging him to a musical contest. Parallels Elpenor needing proper burial in Homer (son of Aeolus): Aeneas' trumpeter. dies at Cumae as punishment for challenging the gods, Aeneas buries him as a task necessary to go to the underworld; beginning of burial rituals for passage of souls to the Underworld; is sucked up by the waves, but the beach is dry

Hades

Aidoneus in Hymn to Demeter God of the underworld Listening to the instructions of Circe, Odysseus travels to the underworld of Hades Odyssey: Odysseus must travel through death to continue his life in Ithaca, for this he must receive advice from the famous Theban seer, Tiresias. While in Hades, Odysseus crosses paths with many men and women that have affected his life at some point Hymn to Demeter: forcefully takes Persephone from Demeter and forces her to come to the underworld and marry him, tricks Persephone into eating pomegranate so that even when Demeter causes famine to get attention of Zeus and get Persephone back, she only gets to be back 2/3 of the time and still has to be in the underworld for the rest of the time Brother of Zeus and Poseidon

Contest for shield of Achilles

Ajax and Odysseus give speeches about why they should et them- physical and oratory competition reflective of lawyer society Ovid writes in- functionalist reading legitimizes that crafty, chattering class wins over these grand heroic physical fighters Odysseus wins and Ajax commits suicide, his blood flows to ground and a flower blossoms- transformation of death into life

Metamorphoses Ajax and Ulysses

Ajax and Ulysses can't seem to settle their dispute over Achilles's armor, so a council assembles to decide for them. Ajax tries to convince them that he deserves it because he is related to Jove and to Achilles. In addition he argues that Ulysses, while "a master of language," is untrustworthy, a shifty trickster who betrays his comrades to benefit himself. Ulysses argues eloquently that the opposite is the case. He accuses Ajax of cowardice and provides a long list of his own heroic actions. Ultimately the council awards the armor to Ulysses. In response Ajax takes his own life.

Advertising and myth

All about second order signification- signs become signifiers, their second order signification is mythology Qualifies with definition that says mythology is traditional tale with secondary partial reference to things of collective importance Also qualifies because it's pervasive all over the place in our society- more so than books and poetry are today Stories are told in today's ads- tells you the thing you can buy, if you buy it, is an act of identity formation--> real values and emotions are tapped into and moved onto object you can buy, perfect orchestration of second order signification Can also use myth tools on ads- what cultural norm does ad normalize? what socially repressed desire does it let out? what binary is it centered on?

Life of Homer anonymous author

Allegorical reading of Ares and Aphrodite (1st c. C.E.) Ares and Aphrodite are love and strife and they are sometimes together (then there is harmony) and sometimes apart. Helios denounces them, Hephaistos chains them, and Poseidon, water, frees them. It is clear from this that the hot, dry essence and its opposite, the cold wet one, sometimes draw the universe together and sometimes pull it apart.

Heraclitus

Allegorical reading of Ares and Aphrodite Union of love and strife. -Divine laughter since it is a cause for joy. Commentary on the art of the blacksmith. -Fire (Heph.) softens the iron (Ares). -Need to apply passion (Aphro.) to the work. -Poseidon is the water that pulls the iron out and cools it off.

Cornutus

Allegorical reading of Ares and Aphtodite (1st c. B.C.E.) Ares + Aphrodite = adultery: The brutal and violent do not correspond well with the cheery and gentle, nor is one naturally intertwined with another. But there is a noble offspring from this: harmony.

Euripedes

Along with Sophocles and Aeschylus, a preeminent ancient Greek dramatist Author of Bacchae

Delphi

An ancient city in central Greece, in Phocis: site of an oracle of Apollo two names- Pytho and Delphi (closely related to the 1st and 3rd epithets of Apollo) The story of Apollo at Delphi begins with the god's conquest of the Python. According to some ancient accounts, the Python protected the oracle of Gaia, the mother of the gods and first inhabitant of the site-- in Homeric Hymn Apollo slew the serpent and then spent eight years on leave, in order to cleanse himself. Center of world- Wanting to find the center of the Earth, Zeus sent out two eagles at opposite ends of the Earth. They collided at Delphi, and Zeus concluded Delphi was the "omphalos," or navel of the world. Though Zeus' surveying methods may not be sound, Delphi occupied a special place for the Greeks and their gods Delphi's fame later spread well beyond Greece; during the 8th and 7th Centuries BC, the site received Mediterranean-wide recognition as the premier divine oracle The Oracle was perhaps the oldest in Greece and practiced nearly every form of divination- by far the most important form of divination at Delphi came from the preistess of Apollo herself, the Pythia. Apollo himself possessed the Pythia and spoke his enigmatic prophecies directly though her. Agora (marketplace) and treasuries, temple, theatre, stadium Also where Oedipus goes to ask the Oracle what his nature is and gets his bad oracle 1.) Hymn to Apollo, Eleusian mysteries and worship of him 2.) Oracle in Oedipus and in Aeneas in Metamorphoses 3.) Omphalos and center of the world

Carthage

An ancient city on the north coast of Africa Dido is Queen in 4th 3rd and 2nd century BC it is sending out a bunch of colonies and charging taxes from ships- threat to Rome because they wanted to be big power in Mediterranean Romans have bad loss in battle against Carthage then have a huge comeback in 2nd Carthaginian War that they think of as a hugely definitive moment for Roman identity- the defeat of Carthage makes Rome Rome

Oedipus's daughters

Antigone and Ismene

Ambrosia

Anything that confers or preserves immortality: (1) the food of the gods (as nectar was their drink), which doves, according to Homer, bring daily to Zeus from the far west: (2) the anointing oil of the gods, which preserves even dead men from decay: (3) the food of the gods' horses.

Metamorphoses Nestor and Hercules

As Nestor told the story of the Centaurs and Lapiths, Hercules' son reminded the old man that he'd left Hercules' role in defeating the Centaurs out of the story. Nestor explained that he didn't mention Hercules because it brings up the painful memory of how Hercules killed his eleven brothers including Periclymenus. Periclymenus transformed himself into an eagle and clawed Hercules face and Hercules shot him with an arrow that killed him. After that story, the Greeks went to bed

Book 19

Athena makes a magic light shine in hall Melantho is rude to O., Penelope scolds her and tells O. about her weaving trick O. tells Penelope a false autobiographical story (says he comes from Crete and knows O.) Penelope cries, O. promises that O. will be home within the month Penelope offers O. a nice bed with clean sheets but he refuses, saying he is used to rough conditions but will let an old slave woman wash his feet Eurycleia does so and recognizes him from the scar on his leg he got on a hunting trip with his grandfather Autolycus who named him O. makes her keep his identity secret, Penelope tells O. of her suffering and her dream about the geese killed by an eagle (sign from gods where geese eating grain at her house were killed by an eagle swooping in where geese are suitors and eagle is husband and eagle in her dream tells her this), she asks how he interprets the dream Penelope explains bow and axes contest tomorrow, the winner of which will gain her hand in marriage (they have to shoot an arrow from a distance through all of the axes set up in a row, they need to string the bow correct and shoot through all 12 axes)

Book 8

At Phaeacian council place Alcinous invites the lords of Phaecia to his palace for a feast to welcome the stranger (O.) Alcinous orders men to equip a ship and help visitor on his was After meal Demodocus the blind poet sings about a quarrel between O. and Achilles, O. starts crying so Alcinous suggest everybody go outside and play sports O. demonstrates great athleticism in hurling a discus and is congratulated by Athena in disguise Demodocus sings a second song about the adulterous affair of Aphrodite and Ares Phaeacians give O. lavish gifts, bathe him, and feed him O. asks Demodocus to sing song of the Wooden Horse and weeps desperately, Alcinous notices and asks him to explain who he is

Book 15

Athena urges Telemachus to go home Menelaus and Helen send him and Pisistratus off with lots of gifts, T. tells P. he's not going back to Nestor's home with him but is going to Ithaca instead T. meets Theoclymenus while boarding ship, who is in exile for murder and exceptionally skilled at prophecy Eumaeus urges O. to stay with him instead of going into town to beg and tells how he was born into a king's family but enslaved as a child, bought by Laertes, and raised by Anticleia alongside O.'s sister T. receives a promising sign (bird sent by god to fly onto his right hand) approaching Ithaca and sends Theoclymenus to stay with Piraeus (who had sailed home with him)

catharsis

Audience in tragedy go through a catharsis, a term which Aristotle borrowed from the medical writers of his day, which means a "refining" -- the viewer of a tragedy refines his or her sense of difficult ethical issues through a vicarious experious of such thorny problems

Metamorphoses Memnon

Aurora grieves over the loss of her son Memnon, who is killed by Achilles. She begs Jove to grant Memnon some honor to give her solace. Jove agrees, and from Memnon's funeral pyre a flock of birds rises. The birds begin to fight each other to the death, and Jove names them the Memnonides. They return each year to battle each other in Memnon's memory.

Book 12

Back on Circe's island, they hold a funeral for Elpenor Circe gives O. advice on route They sail past the sirens and O. is the only one who hears their song They reach six-headed Scylla and whirlpool Charybdis, Scylla eats 6 men They are marooned on Helius's island Men were half starved and ate the forbidden cattle while O. napped When they leave Zeus wrecks the ship and they all drown except O. who is swept bag clinging to a fig tree above Charybdis He jumps into water, clutching broken timber from ship and manages to row away from Scylla After 10 days of drifting reaches island of Calypso

Aeneid book 4

Back to real time. Dido (with help from Venus) has fallen in love with Aeneas, who must leave Carthage because of his destiny. Dido is NOT HAPPY about this, kills herself, and curses Aeneas, prophesying eternal hatred between her descendants and his.

Barthes Novels and Children

Barthes reads Elle magazine's balancing of novels and children as an indulgence and a warning - it celebrates the novels and reassures with the number of children that female duty is not be shirked: "One novel, one child, a little feminism, a little connubiality." As for the men with whom children are had and who might also write books, he is "Nowhere and everywhere, like the sky, the horizon, an authority which at ones determines and limits a condition. Such is the world of Elle."

Barthes operation margarine

Barthes' discourse titled "Operation Margarine" principally focuses on how the "Established Order" is able to maintain its control over people by being self-critical in regards to petty issues, thereby keeping the populace content and blind in regards to the larger evils posed. He cites specifically the army and the church, and links it to an ad for margarine (one that would not be unfamiliar today) with the intent of showing how "a little 'confessed' evil saves on from acknowledging a lot of hidden evil." (Barthes. p42) His point is well-made and certainly is still very much applicable to our present situation. As he says, the "Established Order" as one might term the global system (and the players within the system, government and international businesses) effectively neutralizes discontent by giving air to some frustrations, focusing on well-known (almost proverbial) issues (such as people on cell-phones in cars) as a way to avoid going into more serious ills (the effects of 'the grid' on society). Its the sort of realization that makes one think 'gee that Big Brother is a real rascal' but the psychology behind this can be applied further, perhaps even to the extent that this particular way of thinking is a condition of life (and even more probable, of modern life especially).

Readerly vs writerly

Basically Barthes says that literary work should make the reader not just a consumer but a producer of the text- newer things force the reader to produce a meaning or meanings that are authorized Readerly texts: the reader is the receiver of a fixed, pre-determined reading Writerly texts: self-consciously acknowledges its artifice by calling attention to the various rhetorical techniques which produce the illusion of realism

Universal laws

Being in a position of power means choosing between 2 bad things Secrecy creates intimacy

teleology

Big in Aeneid-- the explanation of phenomena in terms of the purpose they serve rather than of the cause by which they arise. History is on its way to an end point; Aeneas moving towards endpoint of Rome idea that things are moving toward an end (history is in forward motion moving toward a point--> Rome), everything else either builds to that or is ground up in the machine of history connects with pietas as duty toward the future future leading toward Rome seemed like an inevitability at time of Aeneid given their power then- false starts of building Rome up through book 6 as reminders that we're moving towards a very specific end movement toward Rome with things like Juno constantly standing in the way- back currents against teleological tide- story of Dido as another example of this Ovid will mostly avoid direct confrontation with Vergil in rewriting his version of the Trojan War, but he absolutely resists the idea of teleology, there is absolute absence of central hero, lack of prophecy, emphasis on gore and fantasy

Demodocus

Blind poet at the palace of Phaeacians who sings song of O.'s quarrel with Achilles that makes him cry, then sings about affair with Ares and Aphrodite that O. enjoys, then at O.'s request sings about Wooden Horse which causes O. to weep so much Alcinous is like yo who tf are you D (Blind Phaeacian bard, sings of the Trojan War) I (believed to be a representation of Homer (sphragis - author's signature in the narrative), reason people believe Homer was blind)

Socio-biology

Burkert (1931-2012): the claim that cultural forms like myth and ritual are expressions of common biological human processes (biological programs of action)- certain biological things that we don't decide on but just have as human beings ex: birth, maturing, reproduction, eating, metabolism & growth, death myths are expressions of these experiences

Metamorphoses Actaeon

Cadmus's grandson, Actaeon, is hunting in the forest with friends. Actaeon wanders off and stumbles upon a forbidden sight: the goddess Diana being bathed by her nymphs in a sacred grove. Diana is furious and turns Actaeon into a stag. Suddenly his own hunting hounds attack him, and Actaeon dies.

Metamorphoses Caenis

Caenis was a beautiful girl who would marry no one. Neptune raped her and then offered to grant her one wish. She answered: "'This wrong you've done me needs an enormous wish -- / Put pain like that beyond my power. Grant me / To cease to be a woman -- everything / That gift will be to me.'" Book 12 -- Caenis, line 201-4 Neptune granted the wish and then she became Caeneus. He also made her invulnerable to spears and arrows.

Ogygia

Calypso's island where Odysseus stayed for about 7 years.

Signs built into natural world

Cconsistently built into books 17 and 18 to represent ignorance of suitors (ex: O.'s strong body and stool Antinous throws at him just bouncing off)

Antinous

D (most arrogant suitor, leads plot to murder Telemachus, first to be killed by Odysseus) I (violates xenia (living in Odysseus' house and not welcoming Odysseus disguised as a beggar), representative of the suitors as a whole) The most arrogant of Penelope's suitors. Antinous leads the campaign to have Telemachus killed. Unlike the other suitors, he is never portrayed sympathetically, and he is the first to die when Odysseus returns.

Metamorphoses Lapiths and Centaurs

Centaurs famous for debauchery- rude, want to drink and have sex Nestor also told the Greek soldiers about the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodame. The Centaurs, half-men, half-horse, were invited to the wedding, but in their drunkenness, they kidnapped the bride and the other Lapith women. A bloody battle ensued, and many of the Centaurs ganged up on Caeneus and buried him under a forest of felled trees. When the Lapiths saw Caeneus leave the pile as a brown bird, they were inspired to fight and destroy the Centaurs who didn't run away in fear.

Barthes and semiotics

Changes signifier box to make it more general--> word, picture, object (broader than just language) and says that in our world signs themselves don't sit still, they become signifiers in new semiotic triangles- take on second order signification this second order signification is myth, so myth is now everywhere according to Barthes signifier (object) and signified (concept) become sign which then repeats cycle of signifier object to signified concept and becomes a mythic sign **Says there's a kind of sneakiness to myth- sneaks in meanings and pretends they're natural when they're actually culturally constructed**

Chaos

Chaos, a Greek term translated as "chasm" by West, is the first being to come into existence in Hesiod's Theogony. In the Greek, it is essentially a great abyss, and empty, formless, and infinite space, not at all like our notion of things out of order. Chaos is responsible for the existence of Nyx, who later bears some of the more terrible aspects of the universe, such as War and Famine. For this reason, Chaos becomes associated with the darker aspects of the universe.

Lotus-Eaters

D (offer lotus fruit to Odysseus' men, those who eat it forget their homes and just want to stay there and eat lotus)

Two shorts and a long

Cicones, lotus eaters, cyclops Aiolos, Laistrygones, Circe Sirens, Scyla+Charybus, cattle of the sun

Purpose of theogony

Claims what structures his poem (genealogical connections between different parts of the world) is what structures the whole world Peeling back a veil that overlays the deep secrets of how the world works here vs. stories of a great individual in HOmer

Cosmogony

Cosmogony is a theory or account of the origin of the universe. Numerous cosmogonical accounts of the universe exist in addition to Hesiod's Theogony, such as the Hittite "Kingship of Heaven" myth, the Babylonian myth Enuma Elish, and the account of creation in the biblical book of Genesis

Cosmology

Cosmology is the study or theory of the form, content, organization, and structure of the universe.

Cosmos

Cosmos is the universe considered as a harmonious and orderly system. In several Mediterranean religions, the cosmos was a complex system of interrelationships between gods, humans, political entities, ancestors, and others--the interrelationships all had their place in the universe and all had their appointed roles. The divine relationships between the gods served as the model for the cosmos, and the stars often served as the map.

Books 1-4 Main Plot Points

Council of the gods. Athena bargains with Zeus. Athena visits Telemachus; he sails for Pylos. Telemachus reaches Pylos, then moves on to Sparta. King Menelaus receives Telemachus. Happens while Odysseus is on Calypso's island

Alcinous

D (King of Phaeacia, Phaeacians are portrayed well be Homer, blessed by the gods) I (provides Odysseus with hospitality and safe passage to Ithaca) King of the Phaeacians, who offers Odysseus hospitality in his island kingdom of Scheria. Alcinous hears the story of Odysseus's wanderings and provides him with safe passage back to Ithaca.

Orestes

D (Agamemnon's son, avenges his father's death by killing his mother and her lover) I (used as an example of how Telemachus should act toward the suitors (Athena tells him this)) Odyssey portrayal vs Eumenides portrayal

Laestrygonians

D (Antiphates is their king, giants that destroy all but one of Odysseus' ships) I (Odysseus as a survivor (did not bring his own ship all the way into the harbor), food/not food binary (cannibalism), bad xenia)

Irus

D (Beggar at Odysseus' palace who challenges Odysseus disguised as a beggar to a fight, Odysseus reveals his big muscles and his strength during this fight but the suitors still don't find anything suspicious about hime)

Odysseus

D (Complicated man (Polytropos - of many twists and turns), crafty, witty, great talker, thinker, great liar, not only an expert in using tools/weapons but knowledge of how to build these items, survivor, often disguised and shifting and creating identities, knows secrecy is power (secrecy creates intimacy), master of knowing his audience) I (Punishes violators of xenia, has a long and complex nostoi, numerous structuralist binaries, hupaino (lies), understands double determination, Rituals (katabasis, sacrifice, purification), has a scar that is representative of his core identity (suffering, man of pain), Kleos) The protagonist of the Odyssey. Odysseus fought among the other Greek heroes at Troy and now struggles to return to his kingdom in Ithaca. Odysseus is the husband of Queen Penelope and the father of Prince Telemachus. Though a strong and courageous warrior, he is most renowned for his cunning. He is a favorite of the goddess Athena, who often sends him divine aid, but a bitter enemy of Poseidon, who frustrates his journey at every turn.

Polyphemus

D (Cyclops, son of Poseidon, blinded by Odysseus) I (doesn't understand xenia (doesn't interact with people so much), can be seen as an innocent shepherd rather than a monster, Odysseus as a survivor, katabasis, biggest reason Poseidon is mad at Odysseus) One of the Cyclopes (uncivilized one-eyed giants) whose island Odysseus comes to soon after leaving Troy. Polyphemus imprisons Odysseus and his crew and tries to eat them, but Odysseus blinds him through a clever ruse (he asks Polyphemus for gifts because of xenia but he refuses so instead Odysseus gives him a gift of very strong wine that gets him drunk and weakens him so he can then blind him) cand manages to escape. In doing so, however, Odysseus angers Polyphemus's father, Poseidon. In Metamorphoses he is singing love song, crying (a little bit absurd as part of the point), story interrupts horrible suffering of Trojan women with this digression that opposes Cyclops in Homer (cannibal, monster)

Eupeithes

D (Father of Antinous, wants to get revenge against Odysseus, rouses Ithacans to go attack Odysseus, bloodshed is prevented by Athena)

Agamemnon

D (Former king of Mycenae, commander in the Trojan War, betrayed and murdered by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus upon his return) I (Speaks to Odysseus as a ghost in the Underworld and warns him about what he may be facing when he returns home) Former king of Mycenae, brother of Menelaus, and commander of the Achaean forces at Troy. Odysseus encounters Agamemnon's spirit in Hades. Agamemnon was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, upon his return from the war. He was later avenged by his son Orestes. Their story is constantly repeated in the Odyssey to offer an inverted image of the fortunes of Odysseus and Telemachus. In Iliad: general of the Greek armies. He and Achilles fight on the same side, but they do not get along. In Orestia he kills his daughter because he is supposed to, and in doing so betrays Clytemnestra who never forgives him throughout the play King of Mycenae, one of the major players in the Trojan War. Murdered by his wife Clytemnestra to avenge for his sacrifice of his daughter. Father to Orestes

Phaeacians

D (Host Odysseus and help him return to Ithaca, are punished by Poseidon for this) I (strongly exhibit xenia (Euryalus offers more gifts to Odysseus after losing to him in the games))

Menelaus

D (King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, husband of Helen) I (Also good xenia like Nestor, but tells Telemachus a lot of stories about Odysseus) King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, and husband of Helen, he helped lead the Greeks in the Trojan War. He offers Telemachus assistance in his quest to find Odysseus when Telemachus visits him in Book 4. In Iliad: Menelaus is King of Sparta. The Greeks go to war with Troy after a Trojan named Paris takes his wife Helen who is considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world.

Aegisthus

D (Lover of clytemnestra, murdered Agamemnon, murdered by Orestes to avenge his father) Son of Thyestes and his daughter Pelopia. At his birth he was exposed by his mother, and brought up by shepherds. His uncle Atreus, husband to Pelopia, finds him and brings him to Mycenae, thinking him to be his own son; but Aegisthus and his real father contrive to kill him and seize the sovereignty of Mycenae. (See ATREUS.) This position he loses again by his cousin Agamemnon's return from exile; but during that hero's absence at Troy he seduces his wife Clytaemnestra, and with her help slays him treacherously on his return. In the eighth year after this deed comes young Orestes, and avenges his father's death by slaying Aegisthus. negative example for Greek identity (not his fault) but his parentage is super messed up has affair with the wife of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra. Plots with her to kill Agamemnon and Cassandra; is eventually murdered by the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, Orestes.

Scylla

D (Monster Odysseus must pass with his men, instructed not to fight the monster, that she will take and eat six men from every ship that passes underneath) I (Odysseus as a leader (doesn't tell his men that six of them will be eaten in order to save more of the crew))

Charybdis

D (Monster Odysseus must pass with his men, whirlpool that swallows the sea and vomits it back up, Odysseus is told to avoid it)

Laertes

D (Odysseus' aging father, depressed until he sees Odysseus again, loves his son and grandson and wants to see them be courageous) Odysseus's aging father, who resides on a farm in Ithaca. In despair and physical decline, Laertes regains his spirit when Odysseus returns and eventually kills Antinous's father

Argos

D (Odysseus' loyal dog who dies upon seeing his master has returned home)

Anticleia

D (Odysseus' mother, he speaks to her spirit in the Underworld, she died from missing Odysseus so much)

Eurylochus

D (One of Odysseus' crew members, very cautious man, refused to enter Circe's house, convinces the crew to stay a night with the cattle of the Sun which eventually gets everyone killed) I (functionalism - importance of burial, ring composition)

Elpenor

D (One of Odysseus' men, drunkenly falls at Circe's and dies) I (sees Odysseus at Hades and begs for a proper burial, Functionalism - importance of funeral rites in Greek culture because of importance of a good afterlife) Youngest man in Odysseus's crew, Elpenor got drunk night before they left Aeaea, slept on the roof, and, when he heard the men shouting and marching in the morning, fell from the roof and broke his neck

Nausicaa

D (Phaeacian princess, daughter of Alcinous and Arete, compelled by Athena to go wash clothes in the river, she is the first to meet Odysseus after he washes up on shore in Phaeacia, falls in love with Odysseus) I (Helps Odysseus receive a warm welcome, instructs him on how to approach her parents) The beautiful daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of the Phaeacians. Nausicaa discovers Odysseus on the beach at Scheria and, out of budding affection for him, ensures his warm reception at her parents' palace.

Telemachus

D (Son of Odysseus, shows extreme growth throughout the epic) I (Originally blames gods but becomes more assertive and begins to understand double determination, xenia, structuralist binaries with Odysseus/Suitors) Odysseus's son. An infant when Odysseus left for Troy, Telemachus is about twenty at the beginning of the story. He is a natural obstacle to the suitors desperately courting his mother, but despite his courage and good heart, he initially lacks the poise and confidence to oppose them. His maturation, especially during his trip to Pylos and Sparta in Books 3 and 4, provides a subplot to the epic. Athena often assists him.

Cicones

D (Where Odysseus first lands after leaving Troy, the Ithacans greedily plunder them and stay too long and some of his men are killed even though Odysseus warned them to leave)

Penelope

D (Wife of Odysseus, loyal but wary (tests Odysseus upon return)) I (Hupaino (literal weaving of cloth), structuralist binaries with Odysseus, has a dream about Odysseus (horn - true dream, ivory = false dream, leaves the final test about the bed to prove Odysseus' true identity) Wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus. Penelope spends her days in the palace pining for the husband who left for Troy twenty years earlier and never returned. Homer portrays her as sometimes flighty and excitable but also clever and steadfastly true to her husband. Weaves by day and unweaves by night the burial shroud for Laertes, saying she will not remarry until she is finished as a way to fend off the suitors and wait for Odysseus

Phemius

D (bard in Ithaca, decides to supplicate to Odysseus during the slaughter, Telemachus vouches for his loyalty) I (shows the significance of the knees, when you get someone's knees, they owe you)

Melanthius

D (brother of Melantho, goatherd, supports the suitors, finds the storeroom and arms the suitors, is tortured gruesomely before death) I (violates xenia (is cruel to Odysseus disguised as a beggar)) The brother of Melantho. Melanthius is a treacherous and opportunistic goatherd who supports the suitors, especially Eurymachus, and abuses the beggar who appears in Odysseus's palace, not realizing that the man is Odysseus himself.

Philoetius

D (cowherd, loyal to Odysseus, fights against the suitors alongside Odysseus, Eumaeus and Telemachus, helped arm Odysseus and locked the suitors in the palace along with Eumaeus)

Calypso

D (goddess who falls in love with Odysseus when he lands on her island, keeps him there for seven years until told by gods (Hermes) to let him leave) I (good/bad xenia (treats Odysseus well and has sex with him all the time and repsects the gods but forces him to stay even though he is unhappy and missing home)) The beautiful nymph who falls in love with Odysseus when he lands on her island-home of Ogygia. Calypso holds him prisoner there for seven years until Hermes, the messenger god, persuades her to let him go

Eurycleia

D (old, loyal female servant of Odysseus) I (first person to notice Odysseus by recognizing his scar, stays quiet about it) The aged and loyal servant who nursed Odysseus and Telemachus when they were babies. Eurycleia is well informed about palace intrigues and serves as confidante to her masters. She keeps Telemachus's journey secret from Penelope, and she later keeps Odysseus's identity a secret after she recognizes a scar on his leg

Melantho

D (one of the female servants in Odysseus' house, often sleeps with the suitors, is killed) Sister of Melanthius and maidservant in Odysseus's palace. Like her brother, Melantho abuses the beggar in the palace, not knowing that the man is Odysseus. She is having an affair with Eurymachus. Penelope raised her like her own and gave her toys

Aeolus

D (ruler of winds, Odysseus and crew go to him after the cyclops and he gives them a bag of winds to go back to Ithaca, crew thinks it is treasure and they open the bag which sends them back, when they return he kicks them off his island because he believes Odysseus' journey to be cursed) I (One of Odysseus' obstacles on his journey, incompetence of his men, more about xenia)

Achilles

D (seen in the Underworld, we learn that he chose a short life with lots of glory and honor over a long and uneventful life but would rather be still among the living, put Kleos over everything) In Iliad: Achilles is the main character and the greatest warrior in the world. He leads the Myrmidons against the Trojans.

Proteus

D (shape-shifting sea god that Menelaus overcame to return home, he tells Menelaus of Adamemnon and Odysseus' fates)

Pisistratus

D (son of Nestor, goes with Telemachus to Menelaus, is a good speaker unlike Telemachus) I (Yet another example of how Telemachus should be)

Agelaus

D (suitor, asks Telemachus to reason with Penelope to get her to marry one of the suitors)

Amphimedon

D (suitor, tells Achilles and Agamemnon in the Underworld the story of the slaughter of the suitors, accuses Penelope of planning their death by leading them on for so long)

Sirens

D (tempt sailors with their songs, have knowledge of all things, crew binds Odysseus and waxes their ears to avoid) I (minor monster Odysseus faces)

Clytemnestra

D (traitorous wife of Agamemnon, murders him along with her lover Aegisthus) I (foil to Persephone) In Orestia though she's assertive and strong for a Greek woman- Agamemnon killed their daughter and she never forgives him, when he returns from war with additional wife (Casandra) he introduces her to Clytemnestra publicly which is brutish She has very clever communication system of lighting fires on highest peaks starting at Troy after it falls so Clytemnestra can know, from very far away, within minutes that Troy has fallen Weaves beautiful carpet by hand and dyes it crimson so when Agamemnon comes home she can make him walk on it- weaving out of bitterness (contrast to Penelope), expensive dye of crimson comes from sea which represents purity but the crimson is like pollution, idea of closeness continued with idea of being entangled and trapped- intimacy not a good thing in Agamemnon

Helen

D (wife of Menelaus, her abduction caused the Trojan War) I (Offers assistance to Telemachus) Wife of Menelaus and queen of Sparta. Helen's abduction from Sparta by the Trojans sparked the Trojan War. Her beauty is without parallel, but she is criticized for giving in to her Trojan captors and thereby costing many Greek men their lives. She offers Telemachus assistance in his quest to find his father.

Circe

D (with-goddess, transforms Odysseus' men into swine, Odysseus resists her powers with the help of Athena and Hermes) I (good/bad xenia (turns guests into pigs until Odysseus resists her powers, is hospitable for a year afterwards), directs Odysseus to go to the Underworld to speak to Tiresias) The beautiful witch-goddess who transforms Odysseus's crew into swine when he lands on her island. With Hermes' help, Odysseus resists Circe's powers and then becomes her lover, living in luxury at her side for a year. By turning men into swine, she turns them into food- disturbing They stay here for a full year and Odysseus has to be torn away

Anticleia

Daughter of Autolycus, wife of Laertes, and mother of Odysseus

Anna

Dido's sister, encourages her to pursue Aeneas, helps Dido build her funeral pyre not knowing her true intentions. Holds Dido as she dies

Bacchae plot

Dionysus, the god of wine, prophecy, religious ecstasy, and fertility, returns to his birthplace in Thebes in order to clear his mother's name and to punish the insolent city state for refusing to allow people to worship him. Prologue background on how Semele got pregnant by Zeus, Hera got jealous and convinced Semele to ask Zeus to appear to her but he's too powerful for mortals to see so he comes as lightning and burns her but he rescues Dionysus and stitches him into his thigh, then Semele's family say she was struck for lying about Zeus and the child and they both died Beginning of action- Dionysus returns to Thebes disguised as stranger. Pentheus was given kingdom by his grandfather Cadmus and he decided not to allow the worship of Dionysus Dionysus drives Semele's sisters mad and they go to Mt. Cithaeron to worship him and perform his rites, Pentheus tries to stop them but is tricked by Dionysus disguised as stranger into dressing as a woman and going with the disguised Dionysus into the mountains, He sits in a tree to watch them perform the rites but when they see him they drag him to the ground and start to attack him, he pleads for his mother Agave to recognize and release him, but she is driven mad by Dionysus so she and her sisters gruesomely rip him apart and kill him Agave returns to Thebes with her son's head and brags about the lion she hunted and killed but Cadmus tells her to look more closely and she sees that it is her son's head, not a lion, and she killed him Dionysus appears in true form and banishes Agave from Thebes and Cadmus and his wife will be transformed into serpents- Cadmus says the family has learned from the punishment but this is too much of it

Homer's storytelling techniques

Ring composition (object, digression, object) Simile Mix of grand and small (ex starting book one with Zeus up on Olympus and ending it with a door bolt click)

Metamorphoses Achilles and Cycnus

During the battle Achilles killed many Trojans, but when he came to Cycnus, he just couldn't kill the guy. As it turns out, Cycnus was the son of Neptune, and the sea-god was protecting him. When Achilles tried to kill the man with his bare hands, Cycnus was transformed to a swan. Both armies took a few days to rest and during the break Nestor told the Greeks about Caeneus. Achilles- killing machine- here we zoom in on him in one on one battle and see him as kind of a violent brut- also first intro to Trojan war is one of brutalistic violence

1700s Theorists

Enlightenment and Response Externalist tendencies: Fontenelle (1657-1757) Heyne (1729-1812) Internalist tendencies: Hume (1711-1776) Herder (1744-1803)

Eumenides

Eumenides is a euphemism- like name for the furies that means the kindly ones Hover in the background and are older order agents of justice that work simply by blood Hesiod gives 2 stories of where they come from- either blood of severed testicles of whichever o=one was also responsible for Aphrodite's birth or something else Three ancient creatures who use bloodshed to achieve justice in the world. Hunt down Orestes for killing his mother to avenge her murder of his father Agamemnon. "the kindly ones"-- job is to punish; older order agents of justice linked to miasma; born from blood of Uranus.

Metamorphoses Cadmus

Europa's father sends her brother, Cadmus, to find her, but threatens him with exile if he fails. As a result, Cadmus rejects his father and his homeland. Instead he goes to Apollo's oracle, which tells him that a cow will guide him to a place where Cadmus should create a new city. Soon Cadmus finds a cow, who leads him to an ancient forest. Cadmus decides to build the city there. When Cadmus's men go to collect water, they are attacked by a giant serpent who kills them all. Cadmus finds their bodies and attempts in vain to kill the serpent, although he wounds it and traps it against a tree. He hears a voice proclaim that he, too, will become a snake one day. Suddenly Minerva descends from the sky and instructs him to plough the soil and plant the serpent's teeth, "from which a future people should arise." Cadmus follows her instructions, and soon an army of men emerges from the ground. They battle each other until only five men remain, who strike a truce. With these friends Cadmus founds the city of Thebes, marries, and creates a dynasty.

Book 23

Eurycleia tells Penelope that the old beggar is really O. and that he has killed all the suitors. She is reluctant to believe this, T. scolds her but O. tells him they will recognize each other in time, through secret signs He says they have to make noise as if a wedding party to delay the people of Ithaca finding out what happened Penelope tests O. by telling Eurycleia to pull the bed frame out of the room and make up the bed for the guest O. is horrified and tells story of how he built the bed himself using a still-living olive tree that grows in the middle of the palace Penelope acknowledges him as her husband and they weep O. tells her about his next journey to the land of people who do not know the sea They go to bed together, he tells her an edited version of his adventures In the morning O. sends her upstairs and prepares to fight off the Ithacans

Story of Agamemnon in books 1-4

Everyone seems to be angry and outraged about what's happening in this house, books 1-4 show education of Telemachus of how to be antry, when to be vengeful and when not to be T. makes a big speech and people pity him

Oedipus background

Exposed on a hillside (mount Cithaeron) by his parents (left there and given to gods- like leaving a baby on a doorstep) father (Laius) drills holes in his ankles and ties them together with leather straps, herdsmen is given baby in Thebes, he meets up with a friend in the hills and gives kid to him to see if someone in hi kingdom wants it, Polypus and his wife do, rumors start to swirl that he is a bastard child, the accusation is made at a banquet, Oedipus freaks out and goes to Delphi and inquires what his nature is and Delphi says he will kill his father and marry his mother so he deicides to run away from Corinth He runs into Laius who hits him on the head to say get out of my way so he kills him and everyone with him (a bit hot-headed), goes to Thebes where Sphinx has presented a riddle that needs to be solved to end plague upon the city, male gendered human is answer and Oedipus solves it-- proving intellectual capacity he is welcomed to marry their queen and inherit the kingdom (wild xenia), new plague from Apollo arrives and this is where the play begins

Peleus

Father of Achilles

Atreus

Father of Agamemnon and Menelaus Brother of Thyestes Fight over kingship of Mycanae with brother, thinks he'll win with golden sheep that he promised to Artemis years ago but kept for himself but his wife is sleeping with Thyestes and gives the sheep to him so he loses then he kills Thyestes' sons and feeds them to him and later hunts Thyestes down through his sons and has them kill him

Homeric Hymn to Apollo Summary

First part- Leto (mother) searches for place to give birth, eventually is able to at island of Delos by promising them that there will be a site of worship for Apollo there to bring them wealth/prestige Second part- Apollo travels Greece to find place for his oracle Crisa, under Mt. Parnassus where he slays the snake pythos and is given epithet of pythian Apollo-- at Pythos/Delphi he establishes his sanctuary. He needs worshippers so he sees a ship and jumps aboard in the form of a dolphin and leads them to the site of worship giving him the Delphinius Apollo epithet

Book 10

Fleet reaches floating island of Aeolus, guardian of the winds, who gives O. a bag of winds as gift to help him on his way They almost reach Ithaca but O. falls asleep at rudder The men are jealous O. is acquiring all the wealth on the trip so they open the bag of winds and the ship was blasted back to Aeolus' palace and they were sent harshly away They reach land of Laestrygonia and all men besides O. moored inside harbor Inhabitants turnout to be cannibal giants who skewer and eat all the men in the harbor The last remaining ship goes to Circe's land, she turns half his men into pigs Hermes gives O. drug to make him resistant to Circe and he persuades her to turn men back to humans They stay there for a year until O. asks Circe for help returning home and she tells him they must visit the underworld first and consult the spirit of the prophet Tiresias to advise their journey Youngest crew member, Elpenor, falls from attic in house on last morning and breaks his neck

Cadmus

Founder of Thebes who played the dragon and sowed its teeth in the ground that the aristocratic families of Thebes rose out of, gets super cursed though because the dragon was sacred to Ares and Aphrodite/Athena gives a cursed heirloom necklace to his wife that curses generations of their family In Bacchae he has given kingdom to Pentheus and is the one who tells Agave that she killed her son and is holding his head and then he and his wife get turned into snakes by Dionysus as punishment father to Agave and grandfather to Pentheus. Founder of Thebes. Tried to convince the people to respect Dionysus but ignored. Eventually turned into a snake to repay his sin for killing Ares' snake.

House of Thebes

Founding of Thebes: The Phoenician princess Europa was carried off over the sea by a bull, and her father, Agenor, commanded his sons, including Cadmus, to find her. They all failed in their search, and while his brothers went on to found colonies of their own, Cadmus went to Delphi where the oracle told him to give up the search, find a cow with special markings, follow it, and found a city where it stopped to rest. Cadmus wanted to sacrifice the cow for Athena but he sent his men to fetch water to do this and a guardian dragging the place killed them so then Cadmus killed the dragon and at Athen'a suggestion sowed its teeth in the ground and armed men sprung up out of this and fought and 5 of them survived Oudaios, Chthonios, Echion, Pelor, and Hyperenor, survived and became the ancestors of the aristocratic families of Thebes The dragon was sacred to Ares so Cadmus was his servant for a year then married his and Aphrodite's daughter but Aphrodite gave her a necklace heirloom that was super cursed so that was bad for the whole fam after that They had 5 children- Semele, mother of Dionysus, was destroyed when Zeus came to her in all his glory with lightning and thunder. Ino killed her children and then threw herself off a cliff. Acteon was turned into a stag by Artemis and then torn apart by his own dogs. Agave killed her son, Pentheus, ruler of Thebes at the time, while under the influence of Dionysus. Polydorus parented Labdicus who parented Laius who parented Oedipus An oracle informed him that he would be killed by his own son, and, as a result, Laius refrained from intercourse with his wife, until one night, in a drunken rage, he had intercourse with her anyway.--> When Jocasta bore a son, Laius had his feet pinned together (to keep his ghost from walking) and ordered a shepherd to abandon the baby on Mount Cithaeron near Thebes. Instead, the shepherd gave the baby to a friend from Corinth. This friend delivered the baby to Polybus, king of Corinth, and he and his wife, Meriope, adopted the child, giving him the name "Oedipus", which seems to mean "swollen foot" or "sore foot".

Readings of Ovid

Functionalist hard to do, could say potentially it legitimizes the practice of poetry Structuralist- ability to act (free will) versus inability, human vs. nonhuman Freudian- lots here, everything is basically socially prohibited desire indulged

Dis

Hades

Metamorphoses Acts, Galatea, and Polyphemus

Galatea and Acis are lovers. Cyclops/Polyphemus also loves Galatea, but she despises him, loving only Acis. The famous seer Telemus sails to Etna and warns Cyclops that Ulysses is going to take his one eye. Galatea overhears Cyclops speaking out loud to himself, wishing that she would fall in love with him. He sees Galatea and Acis spying on him and threatens them. Galatea dives into the sea, but Cyclops throws a rock at Acis and kills him. Galatea is able to transform Acis into a river god.

Metamorphoses Circe

Glaucus asks the goddess Circe for help in wooing Scylla after she initially rebuffs him. Circe offers herself to him instead, but he declines, and Circe grows jealous. She concocts a potion and uses it to cast a spell on the bay where Scylla swims. Scylla looks down and discovers her lower half has been turned into a ring of raging dogs. Now a monster, she hides in a nearby cave. Circe is also in love with Ulysses, and Scylla gets revenge on Circe by eating Ulysses's men. As a result Scylla is transformed into a reef, which Aeneas is able to sail past safely.

Zeus

God of sky and thunder King of gods Became king by overthrowing Kronos and the other titans The greatest god in the Greek mythology; according to the common legend the eldest son of Cronus (Kronos) and Rhea Province: ·King of gods and men ·Father of younger Olympians Attributes:·Lightning bolt ·Eagle most powerful of the Greek gods, associated with masculine power, kingship, fatherhood, and hospitality. Often linked with eagles and as god of the skies, he controls lightning and thunderbolts When with the help of his brothers and sisters, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera, he had over-thrown Cronus and the Titans, the world was divided into three parts, Zeus obtaining heaven, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the lower world; the earth and Olympus being Appointed for the common possession of all the three. But the king of the gods is Zeus, whose power, as Homer says, is greater than that of all the other gods together avoided being swallowed by his father (who had been told one of his children would overthrow him) when Rhea sought help from URANUS and Ge. Cronus had previously swallowed DEMETER, HESTIA, HERA, HADES and POSEIDON. Along with Hades and Poseidon, Zeus shared the rule of the world and became king of Olympus as the children of Cronus were filled with admiration for their noble brother and sided with him against their unjust father - even following Zeus into The Battle of the Titans. Zeus mated with many goddesses and mortals but was married to his sister Hera - goddess of marriage and monogamy.

Okeanos

God of the river (oceans) Married to Tethys TONS of offspring In Greek mythology, originally the ancient river of the world which flows around and bounds the earth and sea, itself unbounded and flowing back into itself. From Oceanus arise all seas, rivers, streams, and fountains. To Homer, Oceanus is the beginning of all things, even of the gods: he the original father, and his wife, Tethys, the original mother. With her he lives, a gentle and hospitable old man, in the farthest west away from the world and its doings According to Hesiod, Oceanus and Tethys are children of Uranus and Gaea; the former the oldest of the Titans, who after the fall of Cronus submitted to Zeus. From him are sprung 3000 sons and as many daughters, the Oceanides. The oldest of the family, which is spread over the whole earth, are Achelous and Styx

Nyx

Goddess of night Significant offspring of primordial dieites One of the first parthenogenetic offspring of Chasm that, along with Erebus, Nyx represents night. Together they birth bright day and air. Even though Nyx and Erebos are produced parthenogenically form Chaos, they have to reproduce sexually together to get Day and Light Nyx alone later goes on to produce a lot of bad things

Eris

Goddess of strife Significant offspring of primordial dieites The goddess of discord, fighting, and quarrelling in the Greek mythology. In Homer she is sister and companion of Ares, and like him insatiate of blood; in Hesiod she is daughter of Night, and mother of trouble, oblivion, hunger, pain, murder and carnage, brawls, deceit, and lawlessness She was the only one among the gods who was not bidden to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis.

Selene

Goddess of the moon

Styx

Goddess of underworld River Styx, body of water that runs through Tartarus on which even the gods are able to take an oath--- you can swear but have to swear on some punishment so if they swear on this they will be in a coma for many years as a horrible punishment The eldest daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, by Pallas, son of the Titan Crius. She became the mother of Zelus (zeal), Nike (victory), Kratos (power), and Bia (strength). She was the first of all the immortals who hastened with all her offspring to help Zeus against the Titans. In return for this Zeus retained her chilren with him in Olympus, and Styx herelf became the goddess by whom the most solemn oaths were sworn. She is the Nymph of the mighty river of the same name (the tenth part of the water of Oceanus) which flows in the nether world. She dwells in the distant west, on the borders of the night, in a house supported by silver columns and overshadowed by lofty mountains. When one of the gods had to take an oath by Styx, Iris fetched some of her sacred water in a golden cup: whoever swore falsely thereby was punished by having to lie speechless and breathless for a year, and by banishment for nine years from the council of the gods [Hesiod, Theog. 775-806].

Hebe

Goddess of youth

golden age

Golden Age of Greece, from around 500 to 300 BC, has given us the great monuments, art, philosophy, architecture and literature which are the building blocks of our own civilization. The two most well known city-states during this period were the rivals: Athens and Sparta; Anchises says Rome will have a Golden Age in the future by the work of the Trojan descendants

Polytropos

Greek adjective used of Odysseus and meaning "of many twists and turns." Wilson translates as complicated

Ajax

Greek warrior known for his sturdy shield and physical strength. After the death of Achilles, Thetis gives his arms to the bravest Greek hero. Ajax hopes to win Achilles' armor; he kills himself after Odysseus receives the armor and refuses to speak to Odysseus when he visits the Underworld. D (still won't talk to Odysseus as a ghost in the Underworld because he killed himself because Odysseus was proclaimed greater man than he and received Achilles' arms over him) In Iliad: the second greatest Greek warrior after Achilles. He is called Ajax by the Romans.

Nostoi

Greek word for stories of "homecoming" after the Trojan War (journeys home) Lots of these about great heroes after war (like Agamemnon)

Sophocles

Greek writer of tragedies; author of Oedipus Rex Sophocles, the son of a wealthy arms manufacturer, was born probably in 496 B.C.E. in the deme Colonus near Athens. Of all the ancient playwrights, he scored the most wins in dramatic competitions, and won the most important dramatic festival, the City Dionysia, an unmatched 18 times education in music, athletics, and dancing General in Peloponnesian War, when the question arose of giving to the state an oligarchical constitution, he was on the commission of preliminary investigation. He also filled a priestly office and head of management at treasure of allies After his death the Athenians worshipped him as a hero and offered an annual sacrifice in his memory. In later times, on the proposal of the orator Lycurgus, a bronze statue was erected to him, together with Aeschylus and Euripides, in the theatre, and an authorized and standard copy of his dramas was made to preserve them. Even in his lifetime, and indeed through the whole of antiquity, he was held to be the most perfect of tragedians; one of the ancient writers calls him the "pupil of Homer" Aeschylus invented greek tragedy, Sophocles perfected it **2 big changes that made the dialogue more important: (1) by the introduction of a third actor, so that three people could be on stage in addition to the chorus, while in his last pieces he even added a fourth; and (2) by a due subordination of the chorus, to which, however, he gave a more artistic development, while he increased its numbers from twelve to fifteen persons** Ideal heroes but no superhuman loftiness- have different sort of certain ideal truth

Suppliant

Guest in house, acts humbly and earnestly

Healthy vs unhealthy minds

Healthy minds can control the desires that slip through barrier, so those desires only slip through as dreams. No one can consciously control the desires of the unconscious. Taken to a macro-level, the repressed desires of a society that slip through do so as myths, exactly analogous to how dreams work for individuals

Book 24

Hermes leads spirits of the suitors to Hades, Achilles and Agamemnon are chatting, Agamemnon tells Achilles about Achilles' funeral, Agamemnon greets the dead suitors Amphimedon (a suitor) tells how they died Agamemnon expresses jealousy over O. for having a loyal wife O. goes to countryside and meets his old father in his orchard and pretends to think Laertes is a slave and makes up a fake story about his identity, claiming to be a guest-friend of O. Laertes is overwhelmed by grief and O. reveals his identity, proving it with childhood memory of being taught about the trees in the orchard O. reveals himself to slaves in the hut, news of the suitors' murder got out and people gather in outrage outside palace Eupeithes, beraved father of Antinous, speaks out against O., old Halitherses tries to restrain the crowd saying suitors behaved poorly and fighting is risky, over half still want to fight Athena and Zeus agree O. should be appointed as king and there should be peace O., T., Laertes, and all his slaves arm and Athena joins them disguised as Mentor and they begin killing, Eupeithes dies first Athena stops bloodshed even though O. is eager to keep killing

Weaving

Highest form of craft belonging to females according to Greeks- Penelope's weaving and unweaving of funeral shroud, Odysseus weaving plots and schemes-- this connects them

Kingship in heaven

Hitite, not fully known story but similar to Theogony First god of heaven overthrown, then this guy's cup bearer castrates him and swallows his general, tells him he is impregnated with several divinities

Ithaca

Home of Odysseus island in the Ionian Sea in Greece Homer described it as being "low-lying" and farthest to the west, despite being mountainous, and the island of Kefalonia being even more to the west.

Argive

Homer uses this to mean Greek

Economy of Homeric language

Homeric language has very few formulas that have the same meter and express similar ideas, and Albert Lord's research showed that the poet often expressed similar ideas in identical patterns. More importantly, economy and modularity are not mutually exclusive properties. If the poet exchanged one formula for another, he changed the meaning as a consequence. In other words, the poet often had one and only one unique arrangement of formulas to express an essential idea

Nestor

Horse

Laistrygonians

Hostile giants who attack Odysseus and eat his men. Cannibalism a race of powerful giants whose king, Antiphates, and unnamed queen turn Odysseus's scouts into dinner. Odysseus and his remaining men flee toward their ships, but the Laestrygonians pelt the ships with boulders and sink them as they sit in the harbor. Only Odysseus's ship escapes.

Dido and Aeneas marriage

Hunting trip, rain, Aeneas takes shelter in cave- Earth and Juno conduct marriage ceremony with torches, there are witnesses from high heavens, called a marriage, first half of passage clearly describes this as a marriage, the second half gives a different version of what happened- it's not a marriage- tells 2 completely contradictory tales- making Dido sympathetic and undercutting this at the same time

Homeric Hymn to Apollo tensions

Hymn begins with god being born and has to struggle to find place to fit in, ends up being temple, which is understood as house of god on Earth- this transition of being born to finding place is a struggle with jealousy, isolation, finding what to be in charge of, etc. I think this is from this hymn but honestly double check Places used in hymn- we have good evidence that these are worship sites for cults to Apollo Divided into two parts because they are so distinctly different- almost certainly one in the same in 5th century, now we see them as like 2 halves of a whole Tensions resolved in hymn: 1.) Mythic time- slow progression/transition into solidification of world Greeks would recognize around them with Zeus in charge- hymns fill in the blanks, footnotes to Theogony that work birth and struggle of the god (Apollo) into a certain era to show how they got their attributes- myth explains other myth in this way 2.) Authority- Zeus and Apollo, Apollo coming into Olympus charging with bow and arrow drawn- calls back to idea of son overthrowing father violently like happens a bunch in Theogony, but he subordinates himself to Zeus for the good of mankind- resolved 3.) Cult- Panhellenic unity in worship of gods- Dilos is concerned that she will be totally abandoned after Apollo is born there, Creten sailors concerned that they won't have a livelihood in Delphi--> 2 major sites for Apollo (Dilos and Delphi) with one (Delphi) much more popular because of great oracle--> resolved tension in explaining why Delphi is most important ritual site but Dilos still holds significance 4.) Differences between humans and gods

Hypertext

Hypertext blurs the boundaries between reader and writer and therefore instantiates another quality of Barthes's ideal text. From the vantage point of the current changes in information technology, Barthes's distinction between readerly and writerly texts appears to be essentially a distinction between text based on print technology and electronic hypertext, for hypertext fulfills the goal of literary work (of literature as work) [which] is to make the reader no longer a consumer, but a producer of the text. his reader is thereby plunged into a kind of idleness -- he is intransitive; he is, in short, serious: instead of functioning himself, instead of gaining access to the magic of the signifier, to the pleasure of writing, he is left with no more than the poor freedom either to accept or reject the text: reading is nothing more than a referendum. Opposite the writerly text, then, is its countervalue, its negative, reactive value: what can be read, but not written: the readerly. We call any readerly text a classic text

Theatre of Dionysus

In Athens Where all the plays and tragedies about him would have been performed

Cassandra

In Homer Cassandra is the fairest of the daughters of Priam and Hecuba. For the promise of her love, Apollo conferred upon her the gift of prophecy; she broke her word, and the god punished her by letting her retain the gift, but depriving her of the power of making her hearers believe her. Her utterances were therefore laughed to scorn as the ravings of a mad woman. It was in vain that, at the birth of Paris, she advised that he should be put to death, and that, when Helen came to Troy, she prophesied the destruction of the city. When the city was taken, she was dragged by Ajax the son of Oileus from the altar of Athene, at which she had taken refuge; but Agamemnon rescued her and took her as his slave to Mycenae. Here she was slain by Olytaemnestra when Agamemnon was murdered. She was worshipped with Apollo in several places under the name of Alexandra In Agamemnon tragedy she is the second wife that he brings home from war at Troy vision- she is cursed to see what is going to happen but no one will ever believe her- she forces her own death but cannot warn anyone or stop it Apollo's cursed Priestess. Rejects Apollo's pursuit so he curses her with always telling the truth but nobody believes her. Taken as concubine to Agamemnon. Killed by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus with Agamemnon.

Elysian Fields

In Homer, Elysium is a beautiful meadow at the western extremity of the earth, on the banks of the river Oceanus. Favorites of Zeus, such as his son, Rhadamanthys, and Menelaus, his son-in-law, are carried there without dying first.� They live a life of perfect happiness—there is no snow, nor storm, nor rain, but the cool west wind breathes there forever. Hesiod probably speaks of the same region, when he mentions the "islands of the blest" by the Ocean, where some of the heroes of the fourth generation of men live a life without pain, and where the earth produces her fruits three times in the year. In later times Elysium with its bliss was localized in the world below, and regarded as the abode of those whom the judges of the dead had pronounced worthy of it. (heaven)

Hector

In Iliad The greatest of all the Trojan warriors, Hector is King Priam's son. He is killed by Achilles on the battlefield

Cattle of the sun

In this section, the Crew lands on the Island of Thrinacia. The men are tempted by the cattle on the island, so they eat them, despite Odysseus's warning. Helios complains to Zeus, and Zeus makes Odysseus ship become shipwrecked. Only Odysseus lives. Cattle stood for luxury (aristocratic standing, regular folks would eat grain and maybe pig, most gods prefer cattle) Weird things start to happen after they eat sun cattle, huge violation of disgust with "improper" food

House of Atreus

Inability of justice to deal with inter-family violence and trouble- gets stuck in recursive spin (if you're supposed to kill mother, someone in family will then be supposed to kill you, etc.) Aeschylus' Oresteia. household that begins with Tantalus who serves the flesh of his son Pelops to the gods at a banquet, the gods noticed (except Demeter who was distracted about Persephone and ate his shoulder) so they reconstructed him In chariot race Pelops refuses to give winner his award and throws him into the sea so the winner casts a dying curse on Pelops that affects the family for generations to come Pelops then became king of "Peloponnesus", meaning "island of Pelops". He fathered several sons, including Thyestes, the father of Aegisthus, and Atreus, the father of Menelaus and Agamemnon. Mycenaean king was killed and it was decided that a son of Pelops should be the next king, Atreus was older but Thyestes said king should be whoever has the best golden lamb Atreus thought he was all set because he had a golden lamb hidden away, Years earlier, he had promised his best sheep to Artemis as a sacrifice, but when a golden-fleeced sheep appeared among his flocks, he kept the fleece, instead. His wife, Aerope, knew of this impiety and gave the fleece to Thyestes, her lover. When Atreus found out about his wife's infidelity he killed Thyestes' sons and fed them to him Thyestes then accidentally rapes his daughter and has a child with her After many years of searching for Thyestes, Atreus finally sent his two grown sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, to Delphi to find out where Thyestes was Atreus had his other son Aegisthus behead Thyestes but he's actually the son of Thyestes and his daughter, when she realizes this she kills herself and when Aegisthus realizes this he kills Atreus Then Menelaus and Helen have Hermoine and Agamemnon and Clytemnestra have Orestes, Electra, and Iphigenia

Signs in Odyssey

Informaiton buried in the world around you, readable in a differential way, a character's ability to read signs is either their savoir or their undoing 1.) Signs built into natural world 2.) Signs from the gods 3.) Signs from the gods using the natural world

Troy movie

Intro- ominous, ancient, historical, fame and glory, male at center, romantic love as most important thing Menelaus and the Trojans- having a party, regular folks drinking, having fun sexual banter, lusty excitement as markers of what people do during peace- unguarded Helen's leaving with Paris- desparately in love, finding herself (identity) through him, leaving with him as act of self realization Agamemnon- lust for empire, greedy, wants to build a world and rule it (greed as very negative quality in this story) Beach battle scene- lots of gore, strength of Greek army with ships, battle strategies, Achilles' bravery and leadership (risking lives, desire for glory), cultural superiority Core value of this epic (like Odyssey has xenia and Aeneid has pietas) is romantic love (Paris and Helen finding self realization through it, Achilles finding his moment of peace and fulfillment in lifetime of war with Briseis Structuralist love and greed reading possible

Phaeacia

Island kingdom ruled by King Alcinous. The Phaeacians are shipbuilders and traders. was a region in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as the home of the Phaeacians and the last destination of Odysseus in his 10-year journey before returning home to Ithaca.

Arete

It is the mark of an eminent and greatly distinguished woman to have such good sense and judgement displayed so publicly, or even to be bold enough to walk through town, as Athena describes her. (7.82-86)� Most Greek women would stay inside all day doing indoor tasks, only occasionally going out, and usually to aid in some chore in the house.� But Arete not only goes about business like men, she even settles their disputes.� Arete is taking on all the qualities that the Greeks usually associated with a man; hence, a good choice for Odysseus to supplicate. D (Wife of Alcinous, intelligent and influential) I (Shows us the importance of knees (Odysseus is told by Nausicaa to grasp Arete's knees upon entering the throne room, once you have someone's knees they are in your debt), this scene breaks the norms of how women are treated) Queen of the Phaeacians, wife of Alcinous, and mother of Nausicaa. Arete is intelligent and influential. Nausicaa tells Odysseus to make his appeal for assistance to Arete.

Eurybates

Ithacan and faithful servant of Odysseus; a herald of the Greeks

Barthes Romans in Film

Julius Cesar is picked apart. Throughout this piece of writing Barthes elaborates on major aspects on the film. He goes from mens hair draped neatly on their foreheads to women with curled hair to the most extreme of men sweating. He signifies each characteristic as an attribute to the deeper feeling of this ancient time and how in a way the western worlds perspective and acting is a poor representation of the time. Barthes does not believe that an actor such as Marlon Brando with a native root can portray a character such as Julius Cesar because of how he has been depicted in countless movies and shorts before. What Barthes has tried to explain throughout his essay is that there is no common ground for actors to fully drift into the role they wish to portray without understanding the significance of every single piece of make up, hairstyle or added effect.

Aeneid book 1

Juno's wrath against the Trojans; Aeneas shipwrecked near Carthage Aeneas is fleeing the ruins of Troy, Juno is against him because Carthage is her favorite city and a prophecy holds that Trojan descendants will destroy it, also Paris (another Trojan) said Venus was more fair than her in a divine beauty contest so she has Aeolus (god of winds) send a storm that shipwrecks them Meanwhile, on Mount Olympus, the home of the gods, Aeneas's mother, Venus, observes the Trojans' plight and begs Jupiter, king of the gods, to end their suffering. Jupiter assures her that Aeneas will eventually find his promised home in Italy and that two of Aeneas's descendants, Romulus and Remus, will found the mightiest empire in the world. Jupiter then sends a god down to the people of Carthage to make sure they behave hospitably to the Trojans. Venus in disguise advises him to go to Carthage Begins in medias res ('in the middle of things')-while sailing to Italy, Aeneas is blown off course by a storm caused by Juno. He winds up on the North African coast, believing all of the Trojan ships other than his own have been lost. With the aid of his mother Venus, Aeneas arrives in Carthage and meets Queen Dido, who asks to hear about the fall of Troy.

Metamorphoses Tiresias

Jupiter and Juno discuss whether men or women receive more pleasure from sex. They ask Tiresias if he knows the answer, since he was once transformed from a male to a female, then back again after seven years. Tiresias takes Jupiter's side in the matter and says that men enjoy sex more. Angered, Juno curses Tiresias with blindness, but to compensate Jupiter gives him the power to see into the future.

Pentheus

King of Thebes in the Bacchae; tried to stamp out Dionysus' cult in his city; punished by being dismembered by the Maenads. Grandson of Cadmus, king of Thebes, forbids them from worshipping Dionysus, is tricked by Dionysus into disguising as a woman to go spy on Agave (his mom) and her sisters perform the rites of Dionysus on Mt. Cithaeron, when they see him there Agave tears him apart and does not recognize him as her son then brings his head back to Thebes bragging about it thinking it is a lion she hunted and killed King of Thebes who denied Dionysus's divinity. As a result, he was tricked into dressing as a woman and going with the disguised Dionysus into the mountains, where he was gruesomely killed by his possessed mother and her sisters. Another name that tells you about the person before you even meet them in the play- Greek for man of grief or suffering (Odysseus mens man who is hated by the gods)

Thebes

Land where Oedipus and previously Laius ruled.

Corinth

Land where Oedipus was raised as a prince, but he ran away from there to prevent himself fulfilling the prophecy

Structuralism

Levi-Strauss (1908-2009) A structuralist reading discusses how a text affirms a cultural binary These binaries are usually concerned with a fundamental organizing category of the human experience (such as male/female, divine/human, kinship/estrangement) If your binary/scope-selection is good, all parts of the myth will fit into the two columns of your binary. Remember, structuralist readings are not concerned with narratology, chronology, or poetology, but are interested in the mythological material. Structure refers to the structure of the human mind, which Levi says myths reflect and is binary- Each myth is like its own language and you break it up into pieces that each have their own vocabulary and some anchoring binrary opposition between 2 things The myth does not reconcile binaries, it reasserts it when it comes under threat

Internalist theories

Looking for explanation for myths? Human mind Myth as product of the human mind, acting like or experiencing things all humans do Hume, Herder, Freud, Levi-Strauss, Barthes

Externalist theories

Looking for explanation for myths? Look to external world Myth is an epiphenomenon (phenomenon that sits/lends on another) of some element of nature or historical person or event, view myth as a prescientific attempt to explain natural phenomena or to provide justification for social, religious, or political customs or institutions Fontenelle, Heyne, Max Muller, Malinowski, Harrison, Burkert

Divine signs

Lots in 17 and 20 Telemachus's sneeze in 17 (sign that whatever was just said is true-- that if O. comes back he and his son will take vengeance), thunder from Zeus in 20, overheard words, birds, vision of blood, dreams in 20 (O. has wakeful dream that Penelope recognizes him at the same time she has wakeful dream that he is there)

Circle of Maecenas

Maecenas born Rome 70 BCE Maecenas likely inherited some of his fortune, but he probably owed much of his financial and social success to his relationship with Octavian, also known as Augustus Took interest in literature and formed this circle that included Virgil, Horace, Propertius, and many others -- all the most famous poets of their day Super super influential for generating the idea of Roman-ness for the Augustan age and beyond The upheavals of civil war left not only the countryside in tatters. Roman identity itself had been torn apart, or at least left deeply unsettled, as old idols, values, and heroes were toppled. Maecenas' circle, and Vergil in particular, did the major cultural repair work of their generation. He was also a writer but the rest of his circle was much more influential Not just propagandists though- it is important to locate, track, and critique the political and social effects of this great art (Aeneid)

Simpson's Odyssey

Making commentary on their own society (the writers' society), throwing myth back at you in exaggerated way that reflects what our society thinks of these terms/concepts today-- consumer products (Odyssey is a minivan, Trojans are condoms, Greece is Grease, Styx is a band that sucks, Homer is Homer Simpson, not the poet)

Functionalism

Malinowski (1884-1942) Myths serve a function, they're a hardworking cultural force legitimizing cltural and social values and norms Not interested in hisotry and origin of myth, just hunting for the social and cultureal norm being legitimized in it Not expecting myths to lay out any universal truth--> specific to a certain group

Lambe

Metaneira servant, makes Demeter laugh in her time of grief. Connected to iambic poetry. Granddaughter of Hermes

Demophoon

Metaneira's son that Demeter plans to make immortal, Demeter rubs him in ambrosia, the food of the gods, she then held him to the fire, when Metaneira finds out she yells at Demeter, who then reveals herself and ends the process of making Demophoon immortal

Basic Rome/Greek time overview

Modern time--> Rome (1st BCE-- about 2000 years ago)--> Athens (5th century BCE--- about 2500 years ago)--> Homer (8th century BCE--- about 2800 years ago)--> Trojan War (13th BCE---- about 3300 years ago)

Typheous

Monster that challenges Zeus after he defeats Titans and seems to win, this solidifies that unlike the past rulers he will not be overthrown by a younger generation and will forever be top dog in the universe

Mount Cithaeron

Mountain between Thebes and Corinth where Oedipus was supposed to be murdered but survived, where Laius was murdered- where important things happen, center for Oedipus's birth (it's the tomb that becomes his womb- where he survives when he shouldn't and is reborn--> autochthony) Mountain where infant Oedipus was supposed to be left to die, but was instead exchanged and saved. Sophocles' Oedipus the King; Euripides' Bacchae. The mountain on the outskirts of the city of Thebes on which Oedipus is abandoned and to which the women run when driven into a divine state of ecstasy by Dionysus. 1. Oedipus is exposed here 2. Actaeon is torn apart by his hounds here 3. Agave and sisters worship Dionysus and tear Pentheus apart here More things happen here- see recitation notes

Tools on Bacchae

Myth and ritual- story about the worship of Dionysus with him himself instructing us on how to worship him --explains the very weird things Greeks do to worship him (orgies, get plastered, etc.) Freudian- prohibited desire expressed in this play- too much drunkenness, indulgence in frenzy of violence (ripping apart animals), power, eating things raw instead of cooked, sex (orgies irrespective of pair bonding- whichever partners and however many), inversion of women's role (them in charge- socially prohibited) Structuralism- order and disorder, lots of others too Socio-biologies- myths are expressions of biological programs of action- vibrance of youth and dhow societies deal with that- youth doesn't care about the rules and annoys older people Funcitonalist- 1>) endorsement/legitimizing of social norm that sometimes it's good to just let loose, you need to go wild- social order, gender norms inverted here- express yourself 2.) theme of play is basically get on the bandwagon- sending message to join the crowd and not stick out- not very revolutionary 3.) going too far can go too far- not too revolutionary here either- it ends badly for some people

Greek man's identity

Name, where he's from, who his parents are, what has he DONE (actions not thoughts)

Book 7

Nausicaa gets home and O. walks to town Athena hides O. in magic mist then guides him to the palace disguised as a little girl O. supplicates the queen Arete, Alcinous the king welcomes him with great xenia Arete notices the clothes O. is wearing are ones she made and he explains Nausicaa gave them to him, he is offered a comfortable bed on the porch and goes to sleep

Reading of Ovid as moralistic

Not invading sphere of gods/respecting them-- Actaeon Not being too self obsessed-- Narcissus

Bacchae play themes that tie it together and link it with background

Nothing too much- nothing to excess as Greek motto- Dionysus is by definition too much- can say he is showing nothing too much including moderation- even moderation needs to be taken in moderation Slippage between hunter and hunted within family- the son that is torn apart by hunting tools, Semele burned like a sacrifice, Ino's thing, Agave hunting down own son and ripping him apart- all daughters of Cadmus getting mixed up with the line between the humans and animals in hunting

Book 18

O. encounters a real beggar, Irus, at the palace and Irus taunts him Suitors challenge them to fight and they do, O. wins and is rewarded with meal O. tells Amphinomus a story that is a lie but has the moral that when O. returns there will be blood and he almost heeds warning but Athena makes him stay to die Penelope is inspired by Athena to show full beauty to suitors, she comes down and reproaches T. for his treatment of the beggar and declares she must marry a suitor soon O. is glad and the suitors give her gifts Slave woman Melantho taunts O., he responds aggressively, Eurymachus taunts him and throws a footstool at him The suitors have a final drink and go to bed

Books 13-16

O. gets back home and starts with washing up on some unknown shore like in every other adventure He needs to get from Ithaca to courtyard, courtyard to house, house to bedroom, and bedroom to bed-- role of Penelope in determing whether he can move into each space

Book 20

O. knows slave women are slipping out to meet the suitors and is angry but Athena calms him and promises to protect him and his interests Penelope weeps and prays, O. hears her crying as he wakes up and prays and hears a slave praying for an end to all the suitors' banquets T. wakes and is worried P. failed to treat O. properly but Eurycleia reassures him and under her supervision the slaves prepare the house for the big day Melanthius appears and insults O., Philoetius (another herdsman) arrives and speaks positively to O. Philoetius and Eumaeus both swear their loyalty to their master Following advice of Amphinomus suitors reconsider plan to kill T. T. helps O. to food and tells suitors not to abuse him Ctesippus (a suitor) hurls an ox-foot at O. and T. speaks out against their behavior Athena makes suitors laugh uncontrollably, Theoclymenus foretells their death and leaves Suitors tease T. but he does not react, he and O. wait for their moment

Book 22

O. shoots Antinous through the neck and Eurymachus through the nipple, the suitors try to defend themselves T. kills Amphinomus, then goes to get more weapons Suitors try to slip out the back, Melanthius sneaks to storeroom and gets weapons for them O. instructs herdsmen to intercept and torture him (hang him from storeroom roof) Athena disguised as Mentes joins O. and many are killed, Phemius and Medon are spared Soon all men are dead, O. tells T. to hack to death the slave girls who slept with the suitors but he hangs them instead Herdsmen mutilate and slaughter Melanthius Surviving slave women are brought back to greet their master

Book 9

O. starts to tell his story- narrative begins to be in quotations which lasts through book 12 After sacking Troy he and his fleet were blown off course, they reached the land of Cicones where they sacked the city, killed the men, and enslaved the women as concubines O.'s party remained on shore, drinking, the Cicones retaliated and some men were killed Another storm struck fleet and they reached land of Lotus-Eaters, who tempted some of the men to eat the lotus fruit and forget all thoughts of home O. ordered crew back on board They reached island of Cyclopes and found Polyphemus's cave, brought some men and special win to visit him, he wasn't there so they broke in O.'s men tried to persuade him to steal from Polyphemus and run but he insists on staying Polyphemus returns and O. demands a gift, he refuses, eats two men, and goes to sleep with the rest trapped in the cave Polyphemus eats two more men, O. offers him wine and he gets drunk O. tells him his name is "Noman" and stabs his eye with olive stake but no one believes anything happened to him because he's just saying "noman" has hurt him O. and men escaped the next morning clinging to bellies of animals Polyphemus let out to pasture As they sailed away Polyphemus threw a huge rock at them that almost destroyed the ship, O. reveals his real name and Polyphemus calls on Poseidon to curse him

Book 14

O. visits Eumaeus (swine herd) in disguise, guard dogs set on him but Eumaeus rescues him and welcomes him into his home Eumaeus expresses his loyalty to his old master and grieves for his supposed death O. predicts the return of O. and tells a convuluted lie about his history (came from Crete, stayed in Egypt, was tricked by Phoenician and shipwrecked and landed in Thesprotia where he heard about O., was tricked and enslaved, landed on Ithaca with slave ship and eventually escaped and ended up at Eumaeus's hut) Eumaeus says he does not believe O. is en route and is skeptical of tricksters They go eat, O. tells a story about O. tricking one of his men into giving him a cloak and Eumaeus gives him cloak as reward for the story They go to sleep with E. out with the pigs and O. in the hut

Signifier

Object--> physical word, sound, or written

Books 9-12 Main Plot Points

Odysseus and his men raid the Cicones. They arrive at the Land of the Lotus Eaters. Odysseus blinds Polyphemus. Aiolos gives Odysseus the bag of winds. Odysseus nearly reaches Ithaca. The Laistrygones destroy 11 ships. Circe turns the crew into swine. Odysseus vists Teiresias in the Underworld. Odysseus's ship passes the Sirens. Odysseus passes between Scylla and Charybdis. The crew slaughters Helios' cattle. Zeus kills everyone but Odysseus. Odysseus arrives on Calypso's island.

Autolycus

Odysseus' grandfather

Tiresias

Odyssey: (Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld, Odysseus is sent to meet him by Circe) I (Gives Odysseus valuable information (a prophecy) about his journey, predicts he will return home, *warns him against eating the cattle of the Sun*) A Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld. Tiresias meets Odysseus when Odysseus journeys to the underworld in Book 11. He shows Odysseus how to get back to Ithaca and allows Odysseus to communicate with the other souls in Hades. The famous blind soothsayer of Thebes, son of Eueres and Chariclo, and a descendant of the Spartan Udaeus. The cause of his blindness has been variously stated Oedipus: tells Oedipus that he is the curse on the land and Oedipus claims he is conspiring against him

Justice problem in Orestes

Older order (blood ties- furies) vs. newer Olympian gods' court system based on voluntary associations Problem- older order has no way of solving problems of House of Orestes/Atreus (emblematic situation of unsolvable problem)- every time justice is done to kill the killer more blood is spilled in family and cycle continues Thinking of court system with laws and witnesses and examination where arbitration decides justice- sounds good but essentially it comes down to whose murder was the worst Apollo tries to downplay mother-son relationship by saying mother is essentially just vessel and son really belong to father Furies argue for importance of mother-son relationship based on blood ties (blood relation of Orestes and Clytemnestra is important to them but marriage relation of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon is not) Athena basically makes her decision just because she sides with men Court system mechanism- abstract laws, courts, arguments as opposed to internal vengeance- seems like a good thing but idea of mother/father having right to judge you more than strangers- they know you really well-- strangers casting judgment on you with power to take away your property, citizenship, life is a problem for these people-- court system is not necessarily bad move but complicated Agamemnon is making Athenians watching the play feel ok about new way of doing things- organization/justice (functionalist reading of myth) Binary structuralist reading works well for blood ties vs voluntary associations in Eumenides and so does functionalist legitimizing of court system

Circe story

On Aeaea, Circe drugs a band of Odysseus's men and turns them into pigs. When Odysseus goes to rescue them, Hermes approaches him in the form of a young man. He tells Odysseus to eat an herb called moly to protect himself from Circe's drug and then lunge at her when she tries to strike him with her sword. Odysseus follows Hermes' instructions, overpowering Circe and forcing her to change his men back to their human forms. Odysseus soon becomes Circe's lover, and he and his men live with her in luxury for a year. When his men finally persuade him to continue the voyage homeward, Odysseus asks Circe for the way back to Ithaca. She replies he must sail to Hades, the realm of the dead, to speak with the spirit of Tiresias, a blind prophet who will tell him how to get home.

Punic Wars

Once most of Italy was under Roman control, the Romans began military exploits beyond their borders. This brought them into rivalry with the Carthaginians, who presided over a powerful North African empire, which dominated the sea lanes of the Mediterranean and enjoyed near total control over lucrative Mediterranean trade routes. Rome and Carthage fought a series of wars, called the Punic Wars, which spanned over 100 years and were pivotal in the formation and expression of characteristics on which Romans prided themselves: tenacity, discipline, and duty.

Homeric composition

Parry: highly repetitive and formulaic language underlies the entire poem Lord: composed the poem as he performed it--> In other words, the Homeric poet did not memorize and repeat a fixed sequence of events; instead, the poet created each performance spontaneously by weaving together a series of modular components. fusion of composition and performance The highly formulaic and repetitive language of both works results not from lack of creativity, but is a watermark of their oral nature

Agave

One of Cadmus's children, mother of Pentheus, in the Bacchae she is driven mad in worship of Dionysus on Mt. Cithaeron and tears her own son apart when she sees him disguised as a woman watching them because she doesn't recognize him as her son, returns to Thebes boasting about lion she hunted and killed holding his head, is told by Cadmus it is her son's head and she realizes what she did, then she is banished by Dionysus sister to Semele (mother of Dionysus) and mother to Pentheus. Possessed to become one of Dionysus' Bacchae women and kills her son thinking he's a mountain lion and brings back his head into the city.

Metamorphoses Picus and Canens

One of Circe's acolytes tells Macareus the story of King Picus, the son of Saturn and the ruler of Latium. He marries Canens, a nymph. One day Picus goes hunting. Circe sees him and falls in love. Circe casts spells to make Picus lose his way in the forest. She offers herself to him, but he rejects her, telling her that he belongs to Canens. She threatens him, saying that Canens will never see him again, then transforms Picus into a woodpecker. His courtiers accuse Circe, but Circe turns them into beasts after they threaten her. Canens waits for Picus's return, while the townspeople search the forest. She then enters the forest but can't find him. She wastes away and vanishes in grief.

Pythian Apollo

One of his epithets- Apollo killed the Python residing at Delphi's oracle and ended the havoc it caused at the city. He buried the python at Delphi. Origin of the Pythian Games

Telphusian Apollo

One of his epithets- Apollo was tricked by the nymph in Delphi, Telphusa, into not building his temple there. After going to try to build at Crisa and failing, he realized the nymph tricked him into not building there. He shamed her and built his temples there.

Delphian Apollo

One of his epithets- Delphi houses Apollo's oracles. Said to be the center of the world because Zeus releases 2 eagles to opposite direction and Delphi is where they met. Where Apollo shapeshifts into a dolphin and led the ship to Delphi where the sailors carried out his rites

Delian Apollo

One of his epithets- Leto travels all around Greece looking for a place to give birth to Apollo, eventually Delos (personified island) agrees in exchange for a temple to Apollo, Leto is in labor for 9 days until Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth comes from Olympus to help

Hyperion

One of the Titans (q.v.), father of the Sun-god Helios, who himself is also called Hyperion in Homer

Patroclus

One of the shades Odysseus sees in the Underworld. Patroklos was Achilleus' best friend. The Iliad tells us that after Trojan warrior Hektor killed Patroklos, Achilleus swore revenge—killing Hektor, and thereby sealing his own doom

Electra

Orestes' sister who together with Orestes kill their mother Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus for murdering their father, Agamemnon

Metamorphoses Little Aeneid

Ovid will mostly avoid direct confrontation with Vergil in rewriting his version of the Trojan War, but he absolutely resists the idea of teleology, there is absolute absence of central hero, lack of prophecy, emphasis on gore and fantasy King Priam's son, Aeneas, searches for a place to establish a new city now that Troy has fallen. He visits King Anius in Delos, who tells him how Agamemnon stole his daughters and turned them into slaves because Bacchus granted them the power to change anything they touched to corn, wine, or olive oil. When the women appeal to Bacchus, he turns them into doves. Aeneas also visits the Delphi oracle, which advises him to find the land of his ancestors to establish his new city there. He continues his journey and another prophecy advises him to go to Sicily. To get there they must face the sea monster Scylla and the violent whirlpool Charybdis.

Parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis is reproduction without sexual intercourse. It is used by many of the earliest deities, including Chaos, Nyx, and Eros. In these early instances the main reason behind it seems to be the lack of other sexual partners. Later, very powerful gods use this method to produce offspring without the messiness sometimes involved in having a partner (sort of like what Madonna does today). Zeus uses parthenogenesis to produce Athena all by himself out of his own head. Hera gives him tit for tat and also parthenogenically produces the god Hephaistos. refers to creation by a single power/single principle (earth by herself, chasm by itself, zeus by himself)— significant when someone can do this

Books 19-24 Main Plot Points

Penelope proposes bow competition. Still disguised, Odysseus wins the competition. Odysseus reveals himself to suitors and Penelope. With Athena's help, Odysseus kills all suitors. Odysseus reassumes his throne. Penelope finally accepts Odysseus. Suitors' families attempt to take revenge. Athena intervenes to put an end to the violence.

Book 21

Penelope takes storeroom key and gets O.'s bow, her slaves bring the axes T. tries to string the bow but fails, O. makes him stop trying Leodes, the suitor's prophet, tries and fails too, Antinous sneers and asks Melanthius to light a fire and bring some fat to grease the bow but they al fail, only Antinous and Eurymachus have still not tried when they stop O. reveals himself to Eumaeus and Philoetius Eurymachus fails, Antinous uses excuse of feast day to Apollo to put it off O. suggests that they let him try, Antinous and Eurymachus speak against this but Penelope speaks up for him, T. scolds her and sends her upstairs where Eurycleia locks the women in their quarters Eumeaus gives O. the bow, Philoetius secures the gates of the house, O. effortlessly strings the boy and shoots through all the axes

Eurynome

Penelope's housekeeper

Evilium

Penelope's name for the evil town of Ilium aka Troy

Metamorphoses Pentheus and the Bacchus

Pentheus, the king of Thebes, scorns Tiresias and the gods, especially the new god, Bacchus. Tiresias prophesizes that Pentheus must honor Bacchus or he will be ripped limb from limb. Soon Bacchus arrives in Thebes and is greeted by his reveling worshippers. Pentheus continues to insult the god. Pentheus's men bring him a man they seized named Acoetes, a sailor. While at sea he and his fellow sailors find a young boy who Acoetes is convinced is a god. The other sailors try to kidnap the boy, but Acoetes stops them. The boy turns out to be Bacchus. Acoetes protects Bacchus from further harm by the crew, and Bacchus turns them into dolphins. Only Acoetes remains and sails Bacchus to Naxos, where he joins his cult. Pentheus dismisses Acoetes's story and instructs his men to torture and kill him. They chain Acoetes in a cell, but the door flies open and his chains fall off. At the celebration for Bacchus, Pentheus is mistaken for a boar by his own mother and his aunt, Autonoe. They rip him limb from limb as a victory sacrifice to the god, fulfilling Tiresias's prophecy.

Gerenian

People from Gerenia, Nestor

Laodamas

Phaeacian, son of Alcinous and Arete favorite and oldest son of Alcinous; best-looking Phaeacian

Book 13

Phaeacians give lots of gifts to O. and put him on magical self-steering ship and he falls asleep on way back to Ithaca then wakes on the shore beside the cave of the nymphs *Poseidon wrecks ship as it approaches Phaeacia, turns it to stone, and threatens to cover the country with a mountain* O. does not recognize Ithaca when he awakes because Athena disguised the island Athena disguised as a young man tells him they're in Ithaca and questions O., who lies about who he is and pretends to come from Crete Athena praises O.'s caution and capacity for deceit, expresses her love for him and revelas the truth They hide treasure in the cave and plan to kill suitors Athena disguises O. as an old beggar and goes to get T. from Sparta

Moly

Plant that Hermes offers Odysseus to ward off Circe's magic a magical herb mentioned in book 10 of Homer's Odyssey

Metamorphoses Trojan War

Priam, Aesacus' father and king of Troy, mourned his son's death. Paris was the only absentee from the funeral because he had not yet returned with Helen, his stolen wife. The Greeks were on their way to Troy at that time, but a storm stalled their progress. Calchas saw a snake eat nine birds and interpreted the omen as a sign that the war would last for nine years and the Greeks would be victorious. The snake turned to stone. Calchas suggested that they sacrifice a virgin to ease Diana's wrath because Agamemnon had angered the goddess. Diana saved the girl and replaced her with a deer. The storm abated and the Greeks were on their way to Troy. Rumour warned the Trojans that the enemy approached. The Trojans tried to prevent the Greeks from landing on their shore and with that, a bloody war began.

Paris

Prince of Troy, son of Priam and Hecuba. When Peleus and Thetis married, Zeus hosted a banquet on Olympus. Eris, the goddess of discord, threw an apple into the banquet for the most beautiful. Zeus gave the judgment to Paris. Paris was forced to choose between Hera, Queen of the Gods, Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, and Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. They all offered him something different in return for the apple (Hera: control of Europe and Asia, Athena: to become the best fighter, Aphrodite: the most beautiful woman in the world (Helen of Troy/Sparta)). Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite and so Aphrodite stole Helen from the Greeks (from Menelaus, King of Sparta) to give to Paris. When Menelaus discovered this, he rallied the Greek behind him. Thus began the Trojan War. It was waged for 10 years. In the last year, Paris was supposed to fight Menelaus to end the war, but he ran away.

Hephaestus

Province: ·Fire ·Forge Attributes: ·Lame ·Smith's tools In Greek mythology, the god of fire, and of the arts which need fire in the execution. He was said to be the son of Zeus and Hera, or (according to Hesiod) of the latter only. The boy was ugly, and lame in both feet, and his mother was ashamed of him. She threw him from Olympus into the ocean, where he was taken up by Eurynome and Thetis, and concealed in a subterranean cavern. Here he remained for nine years In Book four he is mentioned by Menelaus as he gives Telemachus a mixing-bowl made by Hephaestus. Later Hephaestus is also mentioned in the song "The Love of Ares and Aphrodite Crowned with Flowers". In the song, Helios tells Hephaestus that he caught Aphrodite cheating on him with Ares and Hephaestus demands that Zeus punish Ares for having an affair with Aphrodite. The gods make jokes about Aphrodite and do not take Hephaestus seriously except for Poseiden who tells Hephaestus that Ares will be punished and if Ares escapes punishment then Poseiden will take the punishment himself. Hephaestus agrees and Ares and Aphrodite no longer have an affair.

Kronos

Province: ·King before Zeus Attributes: ·Sickle the youngest son of Uranus and Gaea, who mutilated and overthrew his father, and, with the assistance of his kinsfolk the Titans, made himself sovereign of the world. He took his sister Rhea to wife, and became by her father of Hestia, Demeterr, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus

Artemis

Province: ·Moon ·Hunting Attributes: ·Bow and arrows ·Hunting dress ·Stag The virgin daughter of Zeus and Leto (Latona), by the common account born a twin-sister of Apollo, killed Orion with her painless arrows because he was the lover of Eos, Odysseus compares Nausikaa with the goddess Artemis in beauty and stature, Lovely and virgin, Penelope prays to her a few times

Poseidon

Province: ·Sea Attributes: ·Trident ·Horses D (god of the sea, doesn't like Odysseus, doesn't want him to return home (Odysseus blinded his son Polyphemus)) I (Odysseus' main opposition among the gods, structuralist binaries with Athena) God of the sea. As the suitors are Odysseus's mortal antagonists, Poseidon is his divine antagonist. He despises Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, and constantly hampers his journey home. Ironically, Poseidon is the patron of the seafaring Phaeacians, who ultimately help to return Odysseus to Ithaca.

Dionysus/Bacchus

Province: ·Wine Attributes: ·Femine dress ·Vines ·Leopard skins ·Satyrs and silenes ·Maenads Greek religious practices/festivals were usually communal events with everyone involved- he was worshipped to opposite way- outside of the city, somewhat secret, often at night Followers were mad women, posse of wild/sexual/drunk half beast half men, they wear animal skins and carry staffs wrapped with vines or with masks of him on top Act of drinking wine like being possessed by him, taking part in this by drinking his liquid inverse norm of alcohol in rituals because you drink to complete excess to the point where you enter his realm- aka a whole other state of being Sense of foreignness- some ideas that he's imported because he's so different, given stereotypical eastern traits- effeminate, lack of self control, drunkenness (not traditionally Greek traits)- difficult to know if he actually came from the east but this is how the Greeks described him- used him and his teachings as way to explain easterners' (Indian) behavior when they came into contact with him Born from Zeus and mortal mother Semele (daughter of Cadmus- founder of Thebes), born from Zeus's head eventually because of Hera's jealousy and Zeus absorbing Semele/Dionysus Establishes cult to get revenge on his mother's family because no one believed her when she said she was impregnated by Zeus so they shunned her and then thought she was killed by Zeus as a punishment for this sacrilegious claim Initiation into cult as perversion of usual by a male putting on female clothes and watching female ritual- another inversion of female characters being more powerful than males in some of these tragedies, esp. in the Bacchae Greek projection of what they think a foreigner would be on Dionysus (when Athenians do all this inversion stuff they set it in Thebes- a place for them to experiment and do weird things, moments of iconic greatness happen in Athens) son of Semele and Zeus, whose godly status was denied by the people of Thebes. Dionysus is not the typical god--he is quite feminine and described as Eastern (foreigner). Additionally, his rites are also not conventional, as they involve eating raw meat and getting extremely drunk; emphasizes excess instead of moderation;

Hera

Province: ·Consort of Zeus ·Marriage Attributes: ·Peacock Queen of the gods eldest daughter of Cronus and Rhea, sister and lawful consort of Zeus According to Homer, she was brought up in her youth by Oceanus and Tethys

Hermes

Province: ·Messenger ·Lying ·Thievery ·Trade ·Psychopomp Attributes: ·Broad-brimmed hat (petasos) ·Caduceus In Eumenides god of trade and trickery. Messenger of the gods. Sent by Apollo to guide Orestes to Athens and supplicate to Athena. In Odyssey sent by Zeus and Athena to tell Calypso to let O. go

Athena

Province: ·Wisdom ·Crafts ·Warfare Attributes: battle armor, owl D (daughter of Zeus, goddess of wisdom, assists and defends Odysseus and Telemachus, often disguises as Mentor) I (Empowers Odysseus (doesn't just bring him home herself or solve his his problems for him), helps Telemachus grow (teaches him to be angry, be assertive)) born from the head of Zeus- calculated and deliberate Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, purposeful battle, and the womanly arts. Athena assists Odysseus and Telemachus with divine powers throughout the epic, and she speaks up for them in the councils of the gods on Mount Olympus. She often appears in disguise as Mentor, an old friend of Odysseus.

Aros

Province: love Attributes: ·Winged boy ·Bow and arrows ·Dove

Aphrodite

Province: love Attributes: Dove or swan D (Story of how she is shamed in front of the male gods after cheating on her husband Hephaestus with Ares (Demodocus sings this story)) The Greek goddess of love the "foamborn" (see URANUS), as Anadyomene, "she who rises" out of the sea after Uranus is castrated and his testicles are thrown into the ocean

Ares

Province: war Attributes: battle armor

Agamemnon summary

Queen Clytemnestra gets signal from fire system that Troy has fallen Chorus, made up of the old men of Argos, enters and tells the story of how the Trojan Prince Paris stole Helen, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus, leading to ten years of war between Greece and Troy. Then the Chorus recalls how Clytemnestra's husband Agamemnon (Menelaus' brother) sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to the god Artemis to obtain a favorable wind for the Greek fleet. The Queen appears, and the Chorus asks her why she has ordered sacrifices of thanksgiving. She tells them that a system of beacons has brought word that Troy fell the previous night. The Chorus give thanks to the gods, but wonder if her news is true; a Herald appears and confirms the tidings, describing the army's sufferings at Troy and giving thanks for a safe homecoming. Clytemnestra sends him back to Agamemnon, to tell her husband to come swiftly, but before he departs, the Chorus asks him for news of Menelaus. The Herald replies that a terrible storm seized the Greek fleet on the way home, leaving Menelaus and many others missing. The Chorus sings of the terrible destructive power of Helen's beauty. Agamemnon enters, riding in his chariot with Cassandra, a Trojan Princess whom he has taken as his slave and concubine. Clytemnestra welcomes him, professing her love, and orders a carpet of purple robes spread in front of him as he enters the palace. Agamemnon acts coldly toward her, and says that to walk on the carpet would be an act of hubris, or dangerous pride; she badgers him into walking on the robes, however, and he enters the palace. Cassandra sees that she and Agamemnon will die but no one believes her, she is pretty resigned to her fate, within the ~door~ of the stage Clytemnestra kills Agamemnon and Cassandra and says she did it to avenge Iphigenia Clytemnestra is then is joined by her lover Aegisthus, Agamemnon's cousin, whose brothers were cooked and served to Aegisthus' father by Agamemnon's father. They take over the government, and the Chorus declares that Clytemnestra's son Orestes will return from exile to avenge his father.

Dido

Queen of Carthage, originally loyal to her dead husband but falls in love with Aeneas when Juno uses arrow shooter to make them fall in love. Goes crazy when Aeneas insists on leaving Carthage, kills herself with Aeneas' sword and burns down the city. Aeneas sees her in the Underworld, reunited with her dead husband Shows up in book 4 of Aeneid and interrupts teleological progress toward founding of Rome Sympathetic in her display of great xenia to Aeneas, it is not her fault that she falls in love with him (tricked by cupid- divine intervention), Vergil tells the story from her perspective, inside her head- strength is sticking up for herself and trying to plan to get out of the problem Aeneas's departure- seems not like dutiful move to sneak off, but he blames fate- Dido takes her own life which in Roman context takes strength from a noble Roman at point when your life is too difficult- she in many ways embodies ideal Roman woman Curses Aeneas when she kills herself saying that their descendants will have eternal hatred

Metaneira

Queen of Eleusis, mother of Demophoon. Takes in Demeter in disguise as an old nurse for her weak baby. Later infuriates Demeter when she chastises her for putting Demophoon in the fireplace, not knowing Demeter was giving him immortality. Demeter then takes back her gift, throws Demophoon on the floor, and reveals herself as a goddess. Metaneira then build temples to honor Demeter and appease her. Her daughters find Demeter and bring her to the palace

Hecuba

Queen of Troy, wife of Priam, and mother of Hector and Paris. Metamorphoses- Described as lioness, queen getting revenge gouges Polynestor's eyes out in rage (parallels Agave in the Bacchae)- her body transformed into a dog is a transformation of body but also of myth where instead of her being punished/stoned to death like she would be in other myths she is spared by being transformed (mitigation of punishment)

Book 11

Reach dark land of the Cimmerians, O. performs sacrifice praying to reach his homeland by digging a ditch and filling it with blood Spirits of the dead appear Elpenor asks for proper burial Anticleia (O.'s mom) comes but O. first speaks to Tiresias who foretold him many dangers ahead O. speaks to Anticleia and weeps for her death, but she slips away when he tries to embrace her Parade of famous mythical women all associated with even more famous male heroes comes along O. pauses his story and Alcinous begs him to continue, he tells story of meeting ghost of Agamemnon Agamemnon told him how he was murdered Achilles told him he regrets trading his life for honor Ajax refuses to speak to O. He sees torments of the dead and other male heroes, speaks to Heracles, and returns to ship

Place names in Aeneid

Real places that audience members would know well- close of book 3 setting journey in real geography as opposed to Homer's fantasy geography

Basic genealogy of Gods

Rhea=Kronos-->Zeus=Semele--Dionysus Gaia=Tartaros--Typhoeus

Diana

Roman Artemis, Goddess of the hunt In Metamorphoses she is bathing and doing getting ready routine at noon (when most horrible things in Ovid happen) and Actaeon sees her and she gets embarrassed by this and feels sort of the hunted hunter relationship with a human and divine inverted here she transforms Actaeon into a stag out of embarrassment after this goddess of the hunt, transforms Actaeon into a stag out of embarrassment when he sees her bathing in the cave (intimacy); emphasizes transformation of human into animal

Venus

Roman equivalent to Aphrodite, Goddess of love and beauty

Juno

Roman queen of gods (like Hera) Hera and Juno both mean the air (Hera is anagram fro Greek word for air), Juno as behind the blows of air- allegorical linkage/tradition of theology with Homeric tradition and extra built in meanings

Hecatombe

Sacrifice of 100 cattle of your finest/best cattle to the gods. Such great sacrifices were especially common in the worship of Zeus and Hera.

Metamorphoses Scylla and Glaucus

Scylla lands on an island, and Glaucus falls in love with her, but she flees from him. He tells her he is a sea-god but was once a mortal fisherman. One day on the beach, a group of fish he catches wriggles away from him and reenters the sea. He wonders if a plant on the beach caused this and chews on it. The juice of the plant makes him plunge into the sea, where the sea gods welcome him and make him immortal. They also change his appearance, turning him blue and giving him a fish's tail. His story fails to reassure Scylla, who flees. Angered, Glaucus pays Circe a visit.

Thetis

Sea nymph; mother of Achilles.

Books 5-8 Main Plot Points

Second council of gods. Calypso frees Odysseus. Poseidon destroys Odysseus' raft. Odysseus lands on Scheria and meets Nausicaa. Odysseus narrates his adventures to Phaeacians.

Xenia in Aeneid

Seen in the Bard performing for the audience in Carthage Textbook example in Dido- come on in, marry me, you can inherit the kingdom and we can throw festivals for you etc. (example of a sympathetic characteristic of Dido)

Teucrians

Share ancestors with the Trojans. Aeneas mistaken their land for their new home, but Apollo corrects him and tell him it's actually Italy he's looking for. Where Aeneas and his men suffered the plague because they weren't at the right place

Sibyl

Shows Aeneas to the underworld- gives a speech that basically says life is fragile then tells him that to get there he must find golden bough hidden in tree (he can find it if he's lucky and if fate wants him to have it it will fall into his hands willingly- otherwise he cannot possibly get it)- but neither of these things happen- raises question of if he really belongs down in underworld according to fate In Odyssey Circe tells him to go to underworld then Tiresias shows him around- another difference Apollo's prophet, undying but still ages. tells Aeneas his fate and leads him to the Underworld; cursed by Apollo after refusing his advances and is made to wither and become old but never die.

Mentor

Son of Alcimus of Ithaca, friend of Odysseus, who, on departing for Troy, confided to him the care of his house and the education of Telemachus [Od. ii 225]. His name has hence become a proverbial one for a wise and faithful adviser or monitor. Athene assumed his shape when she brought Telemachus to Pylus [Od. ii 268), and when she aided Odysseus in fighting the suitors and made peace between him and their relatives [xxii 206, xxiv 4461.

Titans

The first generation of immortal deities, predating the olympian gods. Offspring of Uranus and Gaia. Lead by Kronos, they engage in a war against the olympians, eventually ending in their defeat and subsequent imprisonment in Tartarus

Priam

Son of Laomedon and Strymo, brother of Tithonus and Hesione, the last king of Troy. Originally his name was Podarces (the swift-footed); the name Priamus, which is interpreted to mean "ransomed," is supposed to have been given to him after the first sacking of Troy by Heracles. Heracles allowed Hesione to select one of the prisoners, and when she decided in favour of her sole surviving brother, she was permitted to ransom him with her veil. Legends represented him as rich alike in treasures and in children. He had fifty sons and fifty daughters by different wives; by his second wife, Hecuba (Gr. Hekabe) alone, nineteen sons; among them Hector, Paris, Deiphobus, Helenus, Polydorus, Troilus; by his first, Arisbe, Aesacus. Among his daughters were Creusa, the wife of Aeneas, Cassandra, and Polyxena. In his young days he was a migbty warrior, as in the conflict with the Amazons; but at the outbreak of the Trojan War, he was so old and feeble that he took no part in the combat, and only twice left the city to conclude the compact for the duel between Paris and Menelaus, and to beg the dead body of Hector from Achilles. He met his death in the sack of the city by the band of Neoptolemus, at his family altar, whither he bad fled with Hecuba and his daughter.

Polynices and Eteocles

Sons of Oedipus and Jocasta Kill each other in battle of Thebes

omphalos

Stone that Rhea gives to Kronos instead of Zeus that he swallows Zeus gets Kronos to vomit up his children eventually (at Earth's persuasion) and the stone comes back up too and it falls onto Earth at the oracle cite of Delphi, omphalos means navel, it is thought to be the center of the Earth now

Promethius/Mekone

Story of human beings emerges out of figure Promethius (offspring of a Titan named yapatos) and happens at a place called Mekone, Zeus witnesses the sacrifice, Promethius makes two piles (choicest meats covered with fur to try to hide or bones showing and glistening with fat) and gives Zeus a choice so he picks the bones but the way Hesiod tells it is that he is doing this so he can punish humans later, not because he was tricked, Promethius was trying to trick them and Zeus went along with it leaving all the best parts for the human beings— Hesiod uses this myth to explain the ritual background to assuage the guilt of humans who at that time kept the best part for themselves, this is just how things have always been Zeus steals the fire, Promethius steals it back, Zeus is super angry and tortures him for all eternity by having his liver eaten out by a bird then grown back and eaten again Now to punish all humans, Zeus creates women to afflict all males! They're just a punishment for all the things that happened and Mekone

Aeneid book 2

Story of the Trojan horse; and the destruction of Troy Aeneas' account, part 1-our Trojan hero describes how, as Troy was falling, he fled from the city with his father Anchises, son Ascanius, and family gods (penates) and escaped with the gods' help. Sadly, his wife Creusa got lost on the way out of the city, and was killed.

Homer and Hesiod Differences

Structure (Theogony has no interest in narrative/storytelling), replaces this with lists/catalogues that 1. act as a repository of a culture's memory 2. are opportunity for poet to show mastery of poetry (in live performance) 3. function as a public forum/act of cultural synthesis linking disparate groups/people from different cities 4. source of plain grandeur in an epic

Gilgamesh

Sumerians, also had sky god, storm god, and goddess of sex and love Have stories of creation of universe and god and humans Gilgamesh, oldest epic in existence, is similar to Iliad in war talk and Odyssey in journey

Scar

Super important, big ring structure Indelible mark of identity, sign of struggle, location in a place usually covered except in privacy of home Good enough for everyone else to recognize that it's him, not for Penelope

Violence in Metamorphoses

Super over the top and gruesome, in Homer it's almost always the case that people who get killed are people you care about to narrativize it, focus on the human life-- in Ovid he plays up gore, maybe making commentary on what people care about when hearing these stories- blood thirst- saying to audience basically this is what you want to see so I'll give it to you

Eumaeus

Swineherd- even lower on social totem than goat herd- but still does all the right steps of courtesy and xenia, just to the extent that he is able, still given positive quality of xenia in way Homer tells it, O. return giving by giving his story (which is a lie, but close to the truth) D (loyal swineherd who helps Odysseus when he returns) I (xenia (was kind and welcoming to Odysseus even though he looks like a beggar), addressed in the second person because he's especially nurturing to Odysseus) The loyal shepherd who, along with the cowherd Philoetius, helps Odysseus reclaim his throne after his return to Ithaca. Even though he does not know that the vagabond who appears at his hut is Odysseus, Eumaeus gives the man food and shelter (displays xenia without wealth)

Book 4

T. and Pisistratus find Menelaus and Helen in their rich home at Sparta celebrating the parriages of Menelaus's two children Welcomed warmly, Menelaus tells story of his voyage back from Troy and expresses grief for his brother Agamemnon and friend Odysseus so Telemachus starts crying Helen recognizes Telemachus, Pisistratus explains reason for their visit Everyone cries about absence of O., P. intervenes and Helen pours a magical drug into the wine that removes all capacity for grief Helen describes O. disguising himself and sneaking into the city, Menelaus tells the Wooden Horse story, they go to sleep Menelaus tells how he stopped in Egypt on way home, accrued wealth, met and temporarily captured Proteus the old sea god who gave him some news of his fellow warriors, like the murdered Agamemnon Menelaus gives Telemachus gifts to bring home The suitors back in Ithaca plot to kill T. on his return journey, Penelope also finds out T. left and is full of grief Athena sends dream phantom to comfort Penelope

Book 16

T. arrives at Eumaeus' hut and is warmly greeted and introduced to "stranger" T. sends Eumaeus to tell Penelope of his arrival Athena makes O. look young and strong so he tells Telemachus who he really is, they cry together and make plans to kill the suitors O. tells T. to hide all the weapons so the suitors are unarmed and keep his identity secret (even from Penelope and Laertes) T. proposes modification of O.'s plan based on how many suitors are there Suitors find out T. is back and are sad their murder plan didn't work, Amphinomous speaks against killing him, Penelope speaks out against suitors Eumaeus returns to cottage and tells T. and O. that suitors are back, they eat and sleep

Book 17

T. leaves hut and tells Eumaeus that beggar will have to go begging his way Eurycleia and a tearful Penelope greet T. warmly Piraeus brings Theoclymenus to the palace and T. invites him in as a guest Penelope asks about trip, Theoclymus tells her about bird sign Eumaeus and O. meet goatherd Melanthius at fountain who insults them and kicks O., Eumaeus prays for revenge Melanthius returns to palace and eats Argos (old dog left behind by O. as a puppy 20 years earlier) recognizes his master then dies Telemachus gives food to O. when he enters his own home as beggar, suitors all give him scraps except Antinous who throws a footstool at him O. curses him and others reproach him, Telemachus sneezes as a sign that the vengeance just spoken of will happen Penelope invites beggar to talk to her and promises him new clothes if he tells her the truth about news about O., he puts off the conversation

Pelops

Tantalus's only son, he kills, boils, and serves him to the gods in a stew; Pelops is restored to life by the gods who recognize what he served them and they put him back together Cursed for acting dishonorably in chariot race Becomes king of "Peloponnesus", meaning "island of Pelops" Sons are Thyestes and Atreus

Book 2

Telemachus calls assembly and speaks to elite men of Ithaca about trouble caused by suitors Antinuous explains Penelope's weaving trick Zeus sends two eagles (sign) that attack the faces of men in the crowd and an Ithican man (Halitherses) explains this is a prophecy that O. is on his way home Telemachus asks for a ship to travel in search of news about O., prays for Athena's help, she disguses as Menor and promises to help him and equip a ship for him Suitors tease T. at dinner and he sneaks out with help of Eurycleia gets supplies and packs up and sets sail

Book 3

Telemachus reaches Pylors (home of old King Nestor) and receives warm welcome Nestor tells how Greeks destroyede Troy then were cursed by Athena Brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus quarralled, troops split up, and the fleet was scattered on their way home Nestor reached home safely, Agamemnon was killed immediately upon returning home, Menelaus was swept to Egypt by a storm Nestor warns T. to remember the story of Aegisthus and Agamemnon and be wary. Nestor insists T. stays night, then sends him off with a carriage and gifts and his son Pisistratus as a companion in the morning

Homeric Hymn to Demeter

Tells everything associated with the kidnapping of Persephone and what Demeter did to get her back. Oldest of the Homeric Hymns - 650 BCE Zeus gives Hades the okay to abduct Persephone Demeter withdraws from world of men and the Earth freezes up Demeter as past her childbearing years in form she has taken Metinera at the tail end of hers, Persephone just entering hers (socio-biology reading) Weaving together of different kinds of stories- founding of rights at Ellusius, story of fertility, mother-daughter story, women's transitions (puberty, marriage, fertility) Demeter demands temple is set up for her and explains the rights (mysteries) that should be done here to honor her Secrecy and initiation of people who get to particupate, 9 day length, special drink, iambe (who is likely linked to quality of ritual), whos name reflects the meter used to throw insult poetry at people during ritual--> straightforward myth and ritual reading on this hymn Pairs of doubles: Metaneira/Demeter, Persephone/Demopoon Demophoon is late born, Metaneira just gained child while Demeter just lost- Meteneria is head of her household because of reproductive power, Demeter needing to find a place to fit into house now--> loss of fertility as loss of power in this culture, Demeter takes on someone else's child in Demophoon and tries to give her immortality Persephone as taking on some mortality by going to underworld (place of the dead) while Demophoon is turned from mortal to immortal by Demeter's oven thing

The Argo

The Argo is the ship of those who sailed with Jason a generation before the Trojan war, to Aea, which in later times was understood to be Colchis, lying at the farthest end of the Black Sea. As the legend goes, their voyage took place before the time of Homer's Odysseus and has many parallels to the plot of the Odyssey.� As in the Odyssey, a group of heroes make a journey through fabulous lands and bump into all kinds of strange gods, people, and monsters.�

Enuma Elish

The Babylonian creation myth, serves as justification of the supremacy of their highest god, Marduk, who is like Zeus in that he is a sky god, of a younger generation and overthrows his parents in an older generation to triumph Both are songs of praise, triumphant narratives about god kin

Metamorphoses

The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a narrative poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world Goes from the first creation (like Theogony story) to Thebes (Cadmus, Actaeon, Semele, Tiresias, Narcissus, Pentheus and Bacchus) and others, then Trojan War (Achilles and Cycnus, Caenis, Lapiths and Centaurs, Nestor and Hercules, Death of Achilles), and the Aeneid/Aeneas stories to Scylla and Glaucus, Circe, Picus and Canens, and ends on Julius Caesar First time all of these stories were put together in one big collection Redraws myth as more how we see it today (mostly made up stories about people who may or may not have existed but with second order significance) and focuses on individual psyches

Books 13-18 Main Plot Points

The Phaeacians bring Odysseus to Ithaca. He stays with the swineherd Eumaios. Telemachus travels back to Pherai. Next he sails to Pylos, then home to Ithaca. Telemachus joins Odysseus and Eumaios on Ithaca. Disguised as a beggar, Odysseus visits the palace.

Eumenides plot overview

The Pythia describes the Eumenides (Chorus) attacking Orestes. Apollo reveals how Orestes will be acquitted. Clytemnestra's shade stirs the Eumenides to further attack Orestes. The Eumenides and Apollo debate the cosmic "legality" of the Eumenides' attacks on Orestes. Extended monologue by the Eumenides concerning their genealogy. Conversation between Athena and the Eumenides. The Eumenides agree they would free Orestes if he were proven innocent. Eumenides state their justification for attacking Orestes to Athena. Athena decides to gather a jury of Athenian citizens. Another monologue by the Eumenides on their functions and duties. Athena sets up the trial, and Apollo vows to defend Orestes. The Eumenides begin their "cross-examination" of Orestes. Apollo testifies on Orestes' behalf and demonstrates his innocence. Athena asks the Athenian jurors to vote. She also sets up Athens as the world's center of justice. The jury splits 50/50, but Athena casts her vote for Orestes, and thus he is acquitted. The Eumenides, dishonored by the decision, threaten to take their anger out on Athens. As compensation, Athena offers the Eumenides special privileges and honors from Athens. Athenian citizens hold a procession honoring the Eumenides.

Aeneid book 5

The Trojans stop in Sicily to perform funeral games in Anchises' honor. Funeral traditions/games in comparison with Odyssey- games are transition points for both of them, just happening in different places- in Odyssey he is reintegrated back into human society in these games (last moment of reintegrating before he takes over the narrative, Aeneas's transition point here is him being fully formed and ready to do battle he'll need to do In this book Aeneas really takes the helm of the ship at the end to show generosity, leadership, etc. after people are appealing to him to solve their problems and help them- beginning of him being referred to as father

the true gates of dreams

The gates of horn and ivory are a literary image used to distinguish true dreams (corresponding to factual occurrences) from false. The phrase originated in the Greek language, in which the word for "horn" is similar to that for "fulfil" and the word for "ivory" is similar to that for "deceive". On the basis of that play on words, true dreams are spoken of as coming through the gates of horn, false dreams as coming through those of ivory The earliest appearance of the image is in the Odyssey, book 19, lines 560-569. There Penelope, who has had a dream that seems to signify that her husband Odysseus is about to return, expresses by a play on words her conviction that the dream is false

golden bough

The magical branch that grants Aeneas permission to cross the river Styx; Aeneas lays the branch on the threshold of the palace of Dis. a special tree whose branch must be given to Persephone as a gift when Aeneas visits the underworld; the Sibyl says Aeneas may only go to the Underworld if he is fated to do so, if the golden bough comes off the tree then he is fated and she will guide him there; his mother Venus send doves to help him find it in the forest. after he broke off the branch, a new one grew back which is good omen.

Barthes "The Blue Blood Cruise"

The mythification of normality, the excessive, contradictory and ironic idealization of famous and prestigious human beings, and the senseless glorification of a common situation Since the coronation of Queen Elizabeth has not entirely satisfied the minds of the masses, an event even more special fulfills this void: on a ship, that has the honor of being called one of the bravest Greek leaders, something mythical, worthy of the name of "Agamemnon", takes place. Kings disguised as humans arouse the wonder of the people, increasing the general interest with ordinary actions that, because of their common scope, acquire an exaggerated extent. "Marie-Antoniette-playing-the-milkmaid type", "King Paul (...) wearing an open-neck shirt and short sleeves", "Queen Federika" wearing" a print dress", "kings" shaving "themselves" were all so unusual actions that make it seems that the kings have jeopardized, or even denied, the divine nature that mortals have given them. But this transformation in ordinary mortals is set to reveal its superficial nature, since, even acting as humans, the kings only keep company with other kings, so that their blue blood is never contaminated, thus remaining protected from the close ship's environment and preserving their true divine nature. This is the reason why, even acting as mere mortals, prestigious men remain prestigious, always ready to take on their elevated roles and to be far away from humans.

Cimmerians

The people of Hade's island of the dead, they live outside the underworld inhabitants of the opposite side of the Oceanus river surrounding the earth, a country forever deprived of sunshine, thus at the entrance to the kingdom of Hades, toward which Odysseus sails to obtain an oracle from the soul of the seer Teiresias. Also see class notes

Book 1

The poet invokes the muse The gods hold a council, Athena appeals to Zeus about Odysseus and he promises to send Hermes to make Calypso help him go home Athena disguises as Mentes, goes to Ithaca and inspires Telemachus, convincing him O. is still alive then flies away like a bird Phemius (singer) sings about Troy, Penelope is upset and tries to stop him but she is stopped by Telemachus who scolds her and makes her go upstairs and announces he is calling a meeting the next day Antinuous and Eurymachus speak nastily to Telemachus and try to find out who Athena was

Oedipus the King plot overview

The priest, talking with Oedipus, tells him Thebes is under a curse and the city needs his help again. Creon learns from Apollo that the curse on Thebes resulted from King Laius' murder. The city must banish the murderer to lift the curse. The Chorus calls on various Olympians to aid Thebes. Oedipus asks the Thebans to help him find and expel Laius' murderer. He avidly begins an all-out manhunt. The blind priest Tiresias has information about the plague, which he refuses to divulge. After much prodding from Oedipus, Tiresias claims that Oedipus is the source of the curse. Oedipus alleges that Creon and Tiresias are conspiring against him. Tiresias tells Oedipus to learn the truth about his parents and then forecasts Oedipus' downfall. Creon, talking with the Chorus, denies the charges of collusion with Tiresias. Oedipus threatens to execute or deport Creon. Creon maintains his innocence and advises Oedipus to consult Apollo. Oedipus' wife, Jocasta, and the Chorus defend Creon and convince Oedipus not to kill or banish him. Oedipus explains Tiresais' prophecy to Jocasta; Jocasta counters that not all of Apollo's vision come true and cites King Laius as an example. Jocasta recounts Laius' murder. Oedipus has the first suspicions that he may have killed Laius. Oedipus tells about the group of travellers he murdered. Oedipus demands to see the lone survivor of the group to confirm if he indeed killed Laius. Chorus calls on the gods for help. A messenger tells Oedipus that the King of Corinth is dead and that Oedipus is to assume the throne. Oedipus refuses to return, for fear of fulfilling Apollo's prophecy that Oedipus would sleep with his mother. Messenger tells Oedipus that he is not, in fact, the son of Polybus (the dead King of Corinth): A herdsman rescued Oedipus, after he was exposed as an infant, and turned the baby Oedipus over to the messenger himself. Jocasta becomes convinced that Oedipus murdered Laius. Oedipus brings in the herdsman who rescued him as a child. Oedipus squeezes the information out of the herdsman and realizes that he is the son of Laius and Jocasta, killed his father (Laius) and slept with his mother (Jocasta). Long lament by the Chorus. A second messenger reports Jocasta's suicide. Oedipus blinds himself. Oedipus claims he will suffer more by blinding himself than by suidice. Oedipus asks Creon to banish him from Thebes and administer rites to Jocasta. Oedipus laments for his daughters, Antigone and Ismene. Conclusion. Chorus indicates that Oedipus will continue to live after the tragedy's ending. Priest comes in and says there's a pollution in the land Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is the pollution at around line 300 so he knows this pretty early on but spends the rest of the play wrestling with it Messenger from Corinth tells Oedipus he has inherited the kingdom and he and Jacinta rejoice because if his father died from natural causes he couldn't have killed him- herdsmen from Thebes comes and things become clear in a terrible way as his pasts from Corinths and Thebes come together

1800s Theorists

The search for origins Combo internalist/externalist: Jacob Grimm (1785-1863) K.O. Muller (1797-1840) Externalist: Nature Myth- Max Müller.(1823-1900)

1900s Theorists

The search for universals Functionalism-- Malinowski (1884-1942) Psycho-analysis-- Freud (1856-1939) Myth and Ritual-- Harrison (1850-1928) Socio-biology-- Burkert (1931-) Structuralism-- Lévi-Strauss (1908- ) Semiotics and Post-Structuralism-- Barthes (1915-80)

Metamorphoses sack of Troy, Hecuba, Polyxena, and Polydorus

The story turns to the fall of Troy. King Priam dies. The Greeks take the women of Troy as prisoners and slaves, including Priam's wife, Hecuba. The ghost of Achilles appears to the Greeks and demands a sacrifice. Hecuba's daughter Polyxena is chosen and dies. Hecuba believes she still has one child still alive, Polydorus. She does not know that he has been killed by her son-in-law, Polymestor, to gain treasure. Hecuba learns the truth when Polydorus's corpse washes ashore. She tricks Polymestor into a meeting. She gouges out his eyes in revenge and is transformed into a dog. Mortals and gods alike all think "the tragic end of Hecuba unfair."

Aetiology

The study of causes for things that are found in nature and usually explained by myth (the flower Hyacinthus explained by Ajax's suicide, etc.) The causes, set of causes, manner of causation of a disease or condition; study of things in nature explained by myth (ex; Echo, Ajax's suicide)

Cattle of the Sun

The treasured cattle of the sun God Helios. Circe warns Odysseus not to slaughter the cattle of the sun or he will be punished. He foolishly stops on the island and winds keep him there for a month. When he falls asleep his crew eats some cattle. His crew is destroyed as punishment. In this section, the Crew lands on the Island of Thrinacia. The men are tempted by the cattle on the island, so they eat them, despite Odysseus's warning. Hyperion complains to Zeus, and Zeus makes Odysseus ship become shipwrecked. Only Odysseus lives.

Hesiod's Eastern Sources

The underlying concepts of Hesiod's Theogony are not exclusive to Greek myth. Several Near Eastern cultures have their own religions and creation myths, and the similarities between them and the Theogony are striking. Sumerians: Gilgamesh (the oldest epic in existence, story has similarities to the military aspects of the Iliad and the journey of the Odyssey.) Babylonians: Enuma Elish (the story of the creation of the universe and serves as the justification of the supremacy of the god Marduk, who defeats Tiamat, one of the two original divine beings in the world) Hittites: Kingship in Heaven (though the complete story is unknown, Kingship in Heaven bears many similarities to the Theogony-- castration and gods overthrowing one another)

Theomachy

Theomachy is war against gods and among gods. Within the Theogony, there are several instances of theomachy, such as the uprising of Kronos and his siblings against Ouranos, and the overthrow of Kronos by Zeus and his siblings. Many Near Eastern myths also prominently feature theomachy, such as the Hittite myth of the overthrow of Alalu by Anu, and the overthrow of him by Kumarbi. In addition, the Babylonian epic Enuma Elish gives us the story of the overthrow of Tiamat by Marduk. A common feature of many of these Near Eastern stories is that cosmogony is somehow dependent on a grand, cataclysmic theomachy.

Television and movies and myth

There are some obvious remakes of myth (Lord of the Rings, GOT) Mythic past- medieval, Roman, Greek, etc. tend to be all smushed together in the spears and sandals genre Hour long drama ("quality TV") as bonanza for functionalism- it hones in on some social issue of great concern at the time, story is told about mostly good individuals doing their best (for the most part) within a flawed system--> legitimizes that the systems we have in place are ok (people are worried and stressed about them, but there are good people in them doing their best to make it better)-- narrate, tell story based on institution of social concern, show good people doing their best within that system Documentaries: remaking myth for contemporary age and telling it for the audience and demographic today

Barthes the Brain of Einstein

This essay examines and defines the myths surrounding Albert Einstein, one of the most famous mathematicians of the contemporary era. The author specifically examines the varying ways in which Einstein's brain is presented in popularized, mythic culture. The first is as a potential source of logical insight able to reduce the many mysteries of life to a simple mathematical equation similar to E=mc?, Einstein's famous distillation of the relationship between matter and energy. This representation, the author suggests, evokes a sense of magic, mystery, and spirituality. The second, and perhaps contradictory, representation of Einstein's brain is as a construction of deep complexity, capable of immense amounts of hard work, the meaning of which only Einstein himself could fully understand. The author suggests that the mythic resonances of Einstein's image reconcile two manifestations

Fama

having your glories/hardships told- being talked about as a hero- part of being a hero, a leader in losing battle (totally willing to die for city), a narrator (ability to capture audience in speech) in Aeneid personified as a monster, spreads words about Dido and Aeneas' affair which enrages Dido's previous suitors Personification of rumor in both Vergil and Ovid

Aeneas

Trojan hero who survives the Trojan War and leads the survivors to find new land (Italy). Represents pietas and Duty to the gods / fate / his people; falls in love with Dido but must leave her because of duty to his people and his new country Model for Roman political and military leader, helps to define nationhood as through what a good Roman man is and has always been- exemplary prototype for Romans- ethical dimensions of doing what's right for homeland and family (rallies his men with leadership to reinforce loyalty to city, runs back in to get family from burning city, pays attention to gods and signs) In Iliad -A mythical Greek warrior who was a leader on the Trojan side of the Trojan War. Mentioned in Odyssey In Aeneid- he is central figure who is important but by no means the greatest Trojan hero In Hymn to Aphrodite (we did not read) it is explained that he came from Aphrodite loving a mortal (which is embarrassing for her) In 3rd century BCE legends that are not really based in anything begin to spread that Aeneas is founder of Rome- Trojans founding Rome is a possible history at time Vergil writes Aeneid but it is not proved accurate at all (there are several other possibilities)

Echo

talkative nymph cursed by Juno because she is annoying to only say the last word(s) of others around her; falls in love with Narcissus who rejects her; she watches Narcissus die and mourns him; her body dies except for her voice, an echo in the mountains; explains occurrence of echos in nature (aetiology)

National identity in myth

What Vergil brings to the epic- name? where is it from? what is its past? Typically past/what they've done is where you really look for national identity- in narrative/storytelling and myth (Vergil gives essentially the Odyssey books 9-12 but for Rome) Vergil saw Rome go from a troubled republic to one that collapses and is replaced with empire ruled by Augustus, civil war was defining characteristic of Rome while he is writing- deeply traumatic time that left Romans shell-shocked at the end of these 100 years- who are we as a people outside of this violence and war? he helps to answer that Why choose Trojan background for Rome when there are other possibilities at the time and none are proved? Link to Homeric great past (but not Greek sides because they don't want to be thought of as derivative 2.) Romans dominated Greeks militarily but Greeks then came back and conquered them culturally- Romans have a touch of culturally inferiority complex 3.) Claim that family from which Augustus comes is the Julian clan, Vergil names Aeneas's child Julus as that will play important role to give claim of genetic linkage to Julian

Tethys

Wife of Ocean (Okeanos) TONS of offspring

Book 24? Why?

You're not the only one who thinks book 24 is tacked on, and not well integrated with the rest of the narrative. Some scholars suggest that this part of the tale must have been added by a later author. Those who defend it as being important to the story suggest that it demonstrates Odysseus' inability to sit still, and is an appropriate conclusion to a tale about a wandering adventurer.

Polyxena

Youngest daughter of Priam; sacrificed after the war to the ghost of Achilles. singling out characteristics like modesty to present a role model of what a chaste woman should be

Book 5

Zeus and Athena discuss fate of O. Zeus sends Athena to protect T. and Hermes to rescue O. from Calypso Calypso reluctantly agrees to let O. go O. constructs a raft and almost reaches Phaecia but Poseidon sees him and sends a storm to wreck the ract Ino, the White goddess, helps O., he clings to a plank and swims to shore With help of Athena he finds somewhere to rest

Metis

Zeus has sexual relations with her and impregnates her then swallows her down before she gives birth, but this isn't frowned upon like Kronos etc. because her name means practical wisdom so it's seen as him internalizing practical wisdom, he gains reproductive powers from this and Athena is born from his head (and presumably first she came out of Metis inside him) The first wife of Zeus and the wisest of the gods/mortals. As she was about to birth her daughter Athena, she was consumed by Zeus at the council of Earth and Heaven so that no other gods could take his throne. Metis later becomes his functional wisdom and Athena is born from his head. She is an instance of how males dominate the reproductive cycle in the Theogony and a victim of this vicious cycle of power insecurity and desperate maintenance of it.

Parcae

the Fates; Juno complains that the Parcae have resolved that Carthage will be destroyed-- look for recitation notes on this **

Mentes

the King of the Taphians and the son of Anchialus. He is mentioned in the Odyssey. i. In Book I, the Goddess Athena disguises herself as Mentes, an old family friend of Odysseus, when she goes to visit his son, Telemachus.

Iliad

a Greek epic poem (attributed to Homer) describing the siege of Troy When the story opens, the Trojan War has been raging for nearly 10 years. The Greeks are camped outside the walls of Troy. Agamemnon and Achilles Argue Achilles Refuses to Fight The fight continues Patroclus is killed (by Hector) Achilles enters battle to avenge Patroclus Achilles dies (weakness at heel that Apollo knew about and guided Paris's arrow towards) Trojan Horse: Odysseus came up with an idea as to how the Greeks could get behind the walls of Troy. They built a large wooden horse. Some of the soldiers hid inside the horse while the rest of the Greek army got into their ships and sailed away. The Trojans thought that they had won the battle and that the horse was a gift. They rolled the horse into the city and began to celebrate their victory. During the night, the Greek ships returned. Odysseus and his men snuck out of the horse, killed the guards, and opened the gates. The Greek army entered the gates and destroyed the Trojans. The Greeks had finally won the war.

libations

a drink poured out as an offering to a deity

Chimera

a fantasy; a horrible creature of the imagination (illusion)

Hamartia

a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine. not necessarily their own fault. Dictated by fate. The complex nature of Oedipus' "hamartia," is important. The Greek term "hamartia," typically translated as "tragic flaw," actually is closer in meaning to a "mistake" or an "error," "failing," rather than an innate flaw. In Aristotle's understanding, all tragic heroes have a "hamartia," but this is not inherent in their characters, for then the audience would lose respect for them and be unable to pity them; likewise, if the hero's failing were entirely accidental and involuntary, the audience would not fear for the hero. Instead, the character's flaw must result from something that is also a central part of their virtue, which goes somewhat arwry, usually due to a lack of knowledge.

Trojan War

a war, fought around 1200 B.C., in which an army led by Mycenaean kings attacked the independent trading city of Troy in Anatolia Until about a 100 years ago, we were quite sure that the Trojan War was purely legend, and that asking when it happened would be like asking when Atlantis sank. But at the close of the 19th century archaeologists led by Heinrich Schliemann found the remains of a great citadel that existed on the Western shore of Asia Minor, the traditional location of Troy, and which appeared to be overrun in a great war around the year 1250 B.C.E., a time which is compatible with the traditional story of the Trojan War In Homer it is simply the rape of Helen which is the occasion of the war. A later legend traced its origin to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis Iliad tells the story of the 10th year, when it finally ended The Trojans think they win and are celebrating victory when they let the horse in and the Greeks come out and all the Trojans are killed or put to slavery, the city is destroyed

Dolius

a wedding gift from Penelope's father (servant); father of Melanthius and Melantho

Troy

a great citadel located on the Western shore of Asia Minor that appeared to be overrun in a great war around the year 1250 BCE. The story of the Trojan war that took place in Troy is contained in Homer's epics the Iliad and the Odyssey and is also elaborated by post-Homeric poets. Troy relates to the overall plot of the Iliad and the Odyssey in that it was the location of the Trojan war and the city that got destroyed in the Greeks battle with the Trojans. This is premise of the Iliad and the reason for Odysseus's travels in the Odyssey.

patronymic

a name derived from the name of a father or ancestor

Dardanus

a sacred island blessed by Apollo. Ruled by Aeneas's friend. Where he receives the prophecy that he needs to find the land of his ancestors; was also the name of the founder of Dardania which was originally Terucia

Eleusianian Mysteries

a set of rites, surrounded by a major multi-day festival, which show numerous ties to the tale of Demeter and Persephone told in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. 9 day event once a year held partly in the city of Athens and partly in the nearby town of Eleusis people came from all over initially the Greek and later the Roman world The activities began on the day before the first official day of the Mysteries, when a procession carried the so-called "Hiera," mysterious "holy things" whose nature is unknown, from Eleusis to Athens after preliminary sacrifices purification and sacrifices (days 1-4), procession with ribbons insults and jeers (day 5), events at Eleusis (day 6-8) and return to Athens (day 9) The Eleusinian Mysteries lasted for well over a millennium and had countless initiates. The Mysteries probably ceased to be celebrated in 396 A.D. with the destruction of the sanctuary at Eleusis and the Eleusinion at Athens by Alaric and the Visigoths. multi-day festival dedicated to Demeter, features sacrifices and purification rites, procession from Athens to Eleusis, day of fasting that is broken by drinking the kukeon, not much is known about the mysteries because the ritual was a secret to those who were not initiated, legitimized by the Hymn to Demeter

aegis

a shield; protection The storm-cloud and thunder-cloud of Zeus, imagined in Homer as a shield forged by Hephaestus, blazing brightly and fringed with tassels of gold, in its centre the awe-inspiring Gorgon's head. When Zeus shakes the aegis, it thunders and lightens, and horror and perdition fall upon those against whom it is lifted.

miasma

a stain or a cloud, like a toxic cloud of badness (ex: rotting corpse)- evil as an external thing you could come across coincident with this-- if you come across it you will be handed by forces of justice for having evil on you, even if it's just from bad luck (not connected to ethics) this theory of justice is not fair- same forces of justice upon someone who kills body and someone who stumbles across it- but serves as an explanation for widespread/large scale suffering happening at this time Evil in Agamemnon does not get washed out, just more built in despite attempts with pharmakon

apocalypse

a story about how the universe works "un-hidden" many thousands of these written at time of Aeneid- possible that Vergil is being influenced by this genre and writing his own version of it because he is indiscriminately curious about everything going on around him When Aeneas sees his dead father in the underworld he asks all these questions about how the universe works "an unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known and which could not be known apart from the unveiling". Story about how the world works. Conveyed to a man by another man or an important figure; Aeneas asks Anchises about how the universe works in the Underworld, turns into historical explanation and Rome's future identity

Xenia

absolutely over the top performative, bragging hospitality to demonstrate wealth, the more the better, no upper limit-- both kind to other person and expression of power Is also expected of people without wealth (Eumaeus)

Oedipus as the ideal tragic hero

according to Aristotle's definition with connection between connection between "pity and fear" and "catharsis" First, the audience develops an emotional attachment to the tragic hero; second, the audience fears what may befall the hero; and finally (after misfortune strikes) the audience pities the suffering hero. the tragic hero must be a complex and well-constructed character Nobility and virtue-- the audience respects him as larger and better than themselves (his parents were king and queen of Thebes, then he earns a sort of false non blood nobility for himself) His hamarta- a kind of human failing and human weakness. Oedipus fits this precisely, for his basic flaw is his lack of knowledge about his own identity. Moreover, no amount of foresight or preemptive action could remedy Oedipus' hamartia; unlike other tragic heroes, Oedipus bears no responsibility for his flaw. The audience fears for Oedipus because nothing he does can change the tragedy's outcome. Pity from audience- from blinding himself instead of committing suicide he intensifies his suffering, his suffering does not end a the close of the play, Fulfills 3 parameters of tragic hero- 1.) His dynamic and multifaceted character emotionally bonds the audience; 2.) his tragic flaw forces the audience to fear for him, without losing any respect; 3.) and his horrific punishment elicits a great sense of pity from the audience

repression barrier

actually another way of saying "culture" — culture imprints itself on the psyche in the form of the repression barrier. Desires that slip through the repression barrier are "expressed in" taboo behaviors. Then, the trip through the repression barrier re-shapes them and displaces them onto something acceptable (or at least less unacceptable than where they were originally directed; like a character in a dream/myth).

chaos

also translated as chasm, empty formless abyss, first being to come into existence in Theogony

epithet

an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned. a brief descriptive phrase that is often used to characterize a person or thing something inherent to them, part of identity

Euhemerism

an approach to the interpretation of mythology in which mythological accounts are presumed to have originated from real historical events or personages Euhemerus: (c. 300 B.C.E.) The gods, we are told, were terrestrial beings who attained to immortal honor and fame because of their gifts to humanity... Regarding these gods many and varying accounts have been handed down by the writers of history and of mythology; Euhemerus, who composed the Sacred History, has written a special treatise about them.

Deo

an epithet for Demeter. Connected with grains (since Demeter is goddess of agriculture). "god-like"

Rituals in ancient Greece

anchoring piece of calendar (mark transition in time- required to do so), done in honor of god (usually a single god), done in a special location (take you out of normal city life), would last a few days and include a lot of different elements (games, songs, drinking alcohol, fasting, marches, special foods, meat sacrifice (bigger animal--> better), first fruits off line also sacrificed

Pallas

another name for Athena

Scheria

another name for Phaeacia the mythical island of the Pbaeacians (see PHAeACES), identified with the historic Corcyra.

Palinurus

helmsman of Aeneas's flagship. Performs his duties faithfully but falls overboard. As a price for Aeneas to arrive safely from Sicily to Italy, Neptune wanted a sacrifice. the pilot who falls asleep and into the ocean on their journey to Cumae; is the sacrifice for the crew's safe passage to Italy-- Venus pleads to Juno for Trojans safe passage, Juno says someone must die on the journey to ensure safety Can also parallel Elpenor because he survives al this stuff at sea and then is killed

god/religion aspects of rituals

attributes of god, beauty, epithets (specific names of gods) epithets are the names they like- a way to appeal to them-- these are stories in the myths of how they get these names (like Apollo kills dragon and it rots so he's named after Greek 'rot,' or Dolphinus which he gets from jumping onto ship and transforming himself into a dolphin, or another from chastising a nymph who tried to fool him)

Aeschylus

author of Orestia trilogy- we read first and last- Agamemnon and Eumenides trilogy plot- The story recounts the murder of Agamemnon on his return home from the Trojan War, Orestes' revenge by murdering his own mother and her lover, and finally Orestes' run-in with justice the earliest of the three great tragic poets of Greece-Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. He was born at Eleusis in 525 B.C.E., served in the Athenian army, and fought in the pivotal battles of the great Greek war with the Persians, Aeschylus deserves to be seen as the true creator of tragedy. Before his plays, only a single actor was positioned onstage at any given time, and the chorus was the most important element on stage. The actor could wonder aloud or have conversations with the chorus, but there was no room for person-to-person dialogue. By adding a second actor to the first, he originated the genuine dramatic dialogue, which he made the chief part of the play by gradually cutting down the choral parts-- also used scenic apparatuses more than his predecessors

Barthes on wrestling

high contrast environment with characters absolutely clear in their opposition- hideous old and saggy defeated by young, new, and strong- makes sense to Barthes that viewing public does not care if what they're watching is real or not, the idea of justice is being reenacted night after night in wrestling What the crowd is excited about in wrestling is watching justice work- if someone breaks the rules they get payback for it

Demeter

fertility (in the form of grain) Province: Grania (grain/crops) Attributes: Cornucopia the goddess of fertility of the earth/harvest; becomes miserable when she loses her daughter, Persephone, who is captured by Hades for marriage; becomes caretaker/nurse to Demophoon, Metaneira's child; takes revenge on mortals and gods through a famine (no food for mortals, no sacrifices for gods) when Metaneira attacks her for attempting to give Demophoon immortality; emphasis on strong mother-daughter relationship

Durkheim

claims that the divine itself is an epiphenomenon of ritual behavior

Fate and Oedipus

could argue that he is to blame--hot-headed, can't recognize own ignorance and understand what he does not know- overconfidence is his own knowledge may cause his downfall but avoid the idea of "fatal flaw" because it was not around at this time also could say that it is just fate riddle that Oedipus can't solve is his own identity

Odyssey meter

dactylic hexameter, a metrical pattern in which the line is broken up into six feet, each foot consisting of a long syllable followed by two short syllables

Libation in Oreteia

daughter Electra and son Orests take revenge against their mother for their father, go out into wilderness and start praying to earthly powers (earth itself, Hades, Persephone, titans, etc.)

Iphigenia

daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Sacrificed by Agamemnon to Artemis to appease her wrath against the Greeks.

psyche

everyone has one, conscious mind vs. unconscious mind

Chthonic

having to do with the Earth- attachment to grand, very negatively valued in Greek context Justice- older order chthonic gods versus Olympians with different ideas of justice also I think comes up with Oedipus because he's like from the earth

Persian wars

fought between Persia and Greece. Explains why Dido was queen of Carthage (connection to Cleopatra and her role as "distraction" for her husband). Ended in peace.

authchthony

from the Earth itself, claim that some great hero has emerged from the land itself, natural out of the earth Gives us another way to think about Oedipus and where he's from- land itself, not this messy biological human background claim to the land if you come from it- idea that human being came from the lands itself is consistently linked with flaws in feet in much because you have to be harvested/plucked from the Earth--> defects in feet- Achilles heel, Hector dragged around by feet, Oedipus meeting swollen foot Sophocles sort of takes the idea of being earthborn as heroic and great and turns it on its head with idea of land and place and Oedipus not knowing his as his undoing positive valuing of chthonic in reminders of feet in names of male lineage in Oedipus's family

Aeolos

god of winds; gives Odysseus bag of winds

Actaeon

grandson of Cadmus; when he accidentally encounters Diana, goddess of the hunt, bathing in a cave, she transforms him into a stag; he maintains awareness of his transformation but cannot speak/communicate; flees, while deciding where to go is attacked by his own pack of dogs, who afterwards were unaware of what they have done and look for their master

Sinon

guy who lies and cheats his way into getting the Trojan horse in and letting the Greek army out in the middle of the night first Greek we meet in Aeneid is a liar (in Greek, think Odysseus, liars are seen as resourceful and clever in their society but in Roman society this is a negative trait) highlights the Greek praise of cunningness versus Roman expectation that you don't get into trouble in the first place (like Aeneas going around Scylla versus Odysseus being rewarded for getting himself out of it after making the better of two bad choices- Aeneas makes a whole new path)

Narcissus

handsome hunter who encounters Echo, who falls in love with him; he rejects her love; cursed by Nemesis, god of revenge, to love his own reflection, starves himself and dies because he cannot turn away from his face in the water; turns into a flower **important that he dies starting at his reflection not because of traditional he loves himself so much thing but he literally is unable to separate himself form the object of himself that he sees A water nymph, Liriope, comes to ask Tiresias about the future of her son, Narcissus. Tiresias replies that her son will live a long life if "he shall himself not know." Echo is a nymph who can only echo what others say. Attracted to Narcissus, she follows him but cannot speak to him. Finally she uses her echo to trick him into coming to her, but he shuns her. Narcissus mocks Echo, as he has mocked many others who desire him.

Ritual audiences

horizontal (human, social) and vertical (gods, religion)

Penates

household gods. Aeneas brings them from Troy to Italy

purity and pollution

important in Agamemnon purple/crimson dye of carpet as symbol of blood but its origin is in sea that represents purity talk of cleaning with water bath becoming blood bath attempts to clean and purify turn back into pollution at root of story

Kukeon

in Hymn to Demeter the mixed drink that Demeter (in disguise) asks of Metaneira's daughters when she first meets them. Later becomes part of her mysteries. Favorite drink of Greek peasants (Demeter trying to keep up her disguise)

secrecy

in Odyssey it creates intimacy, in Agamemnon it builds walls and separates by keeping someone out- tears families apart

Helius

sun god Island they are marooned on in book 12, the men eat his forbidden cattle and are punished for it (their ship wrecks and they all drown)

conscious mind

influenced by cultural attitudes

double determination

is when there are two causes for an event- the actions of a person and the actions of a god or goddess

Sign

joining together of signifier and signified

Nekuia

journey to the underworld

dactylic hexameter

line is broken up into 6 feet, each foot has long syllable followed by two short Odyssey, Aeneid, Metamorphoses, Homeric Hymns

Ovid's telling of Trojan war

links to things we knew but emphasis is very odd compared to overarching story of war Achilles- killing machine- here we zoom in on him in one on one battle and see him as kind of a violent brut- also first intro to Trojan war is one of brutalistic violence Centaurs famous for debauchery- rude, want to drink and have sex

pharmakon

means both medicine and poison in Greek comes up a lot in Agamemnon 1- what he thinks will be medicine actually ends up being poison 2- talking about how medicine is administered- Cassandra saying Clytemnestra is trying to make her into a medicine that will heal her family (doesn't work)

Apollo

medicine, sun, archery, etc. Province: ·Sun ·Archery ·Medicine ·music Attributes: ·Beardless youth ·Long hair ·Bow and arrows ·Lyre

Semele

mortal mother of Dionysus in the Bacchae backstory tells how she got pregnant by Zeus, Hera got jealous and convinced Semele to ask Zeus to appear to her but he's too powerful for mortals to see so he comes as lightning and burns her but he rescues Dionysus and stitches him into his thigh, then Semele's family say she was struck for lying about Zeus and the child and they both died-- Dionysus gets revenge on her family in this In Metamorphoses she has elicit affair with Jupiter and Juno transforms as old lady (in jealousy) and visits Semele's home disguised as her nurse, Beroe, and manipulates Semele into asking Jupiter to prove his love by embracing her during sex as he does Juno. When Jove fulfills her request, his divine power kills Semele. Jupiter snatches the baby out of her womb and sews it into his own thigh. The child born is Bacchus, who is nursed by Ino, his mother's sister, and brought up by nymphs.

Heracles

mortal son of Zeus, strong and brave but lacks self-control, rises to Olympus after death Hercules He was called Alcaeus (Alkaios) from his paternal grandfather; Alcides (Alkides) from alke, strength.

Leto

mother of Apollo and Artemis minor goddess impregnated by Zeus searches for place to give birth to Apollo in Hymn to Apollo because most places refuse her since they're scared of her unborn son's power as a son of Zeus The rocky, barren island of Delos is the only place that will accept her, saying it's hated by all the Greeks and pleading for Apollo to glorify it with a temple.

2 ways of thinking about metamorphoses

of bodies and of myth

Multiple causes in Aeneid

often multiple causes for something happening ex: Venus making Dido fall in love with Aeneas to weaken her, she sends down arrow (Cupid as form of Aeneas's child) shooter to maker them fall in love, but also might just be using mythological language as psychological explanation for what's happening here (puppy effect- see his ability to care for his child, more likely to like him)

Nereus

old god of the sea; father of the 50 Nereids The eldest son of Pontus and Gaea, husband of Doris, daughter of Oceanus, father of 50 (according to a later account, 200) beautiful Sea-nymphs, the Nereids.

Eurynomous

one of Penelope's suitors and son of Aegyptius

Oedipus relationship with Delphi

overconfidence in being more clever than him, makes huge mistake obvious to audience in saying he proved Oracle of Delphi wrong interpretation of Oracle also matters- what they say is always true but you don't always know what they mean, analogous to Sphinx's riddle

Sparta

where Pisastratus and Telemachus go in book 4, Menelaus and Helen are king and queen there, they welcome them for a feast and tell a ton of stories about Odysseus

new frame of what a hero is in Aeneid

pietas (duty), subordination to groups of people working together to build something (similes to bees and ants- hive mentality), maker and keeper of boundaries (Aeneas's obsession with building walls and boundaries that has this underlying core value of Roman empire and emperial power at stake)

Hesperia

place in Italy where Aeneas says he was told his true home is and that's where his ancestors are- makes clear line of one family that founds Rome in Aeneid

Jocasta

queen of Thebes who unknowingly married her own son Oedipus

parthenogenesis

reproduction without sexual intercourse

animal sacrifice reading

sacrificed as human gesture to divinity (and not just the Greeks did this) why? blood guilt- humans like meat but feel guilty so this is how they exonerate themselves showing mortality to highlight god's mortality?

pietas

sense of piety and duty, super core value of Roman society that Aeneas embodies in the Aeneid (goes back to get family in burning city of Troy, very willing to die for his city, leaves Dido because of his duty to found Rome) doing the right thing, even if it's hard, doing it for others that are relying on you regardless of cost to you very different from Greek core value of resourcefulness seen in Odysseus honorable, taking care of others, etc.

Iris

sent by Juno, who pitied Dido's pain in dying, to free Dido from her body and take her soul down to the Underworld; messenger of the gods, goddess of rainbows

Mount Parnassus

slopes where the Muses sang and played music

Ascanius/Julus

son to Aeneas. Escapes Troy with his father and grandfather. Ancestor to the founders of Rome Claim that family from which Augustus comes is the Julian clan, Vergil names Aeneas's child Julus as that will play important role to give claim of genetic linkage to Julian

Alcides

stands in for Hercules In underworld (book 6) tells us that even Hercules (the most mythic figure from all history) did not control as much of the Earth as our emperor- Rome has outdone myth- grand story of greatness of Rome and they all feel great about themselves- then the two gates of horn and ivory has hero exit through gate of false dreams at end of book- so now does this leave Romans feeling great about themselves or does it undercut this?

rhapsodes

stitches of song, trained in epithets, etc. freestyle that follows a particular rhythm--> poetic competitions as part of ritual

Typhoeus

stone serpent born of Gaia and Tartarus, to challenge Zeus

cosmology

study or theory of form, content, organization and structure of the universe

Similarities and Differences Aeneid and Odyssey

stylistic features- epic, simile, epithets (pious Aeneas), ecphrasis (literary description of a work of art)- similar to shield of Achilles in Iliad Content- Trojan war story and the hero Nostos- homecoming versus founding a city/home References to Scyllla and Cyclops (placed real world), stoic hero (Aeneas quieter with emotions than Odysseus) Book of 3 wanderings similar to 9-12 in Odyssey Ability of Odysseus and Aeneas to capture an audience when telling their story Aeneas more than next Homeric hero- exemplary prototype of Roman man, Odysseus more clever and cunning/lying Telemachian part of Vergil's characterization of Aeneas in him having to learn leadership from others in early part of epic

rituals

stylized behavior invoking the divine that has the power to establish, maintain, or change social status (they do things- organize social order) not just symbolic of changes, they produce the change

Creon

the brother of Jocasta and uncle of Antigone who became king of Thebes after the fall of Oedipus Oedipus alleges that Creon and Tiresias are conspiring against him. Tiresias tells Oedipus to learn the truth about his parents and then forecasts Oedipus' downfall. Creon, talking with the Chorus, denies the charges of collusion with Tiresias. Oedipus threatens to execute or deport Creon. Creon maintains his innocence and advises Oedipus to consult Apollo. Oedipus' wife, Jocasta, and the Chorus defend Creon and convince Oedipus not to kill or banish him. Jocasta's brother, Oedipus' brother-in-law; he's sent to the Oracle at Delphi to investigate the plague at the beginning of the tragedy, then is accused by Oedipus of plotting to steal the throne by bringing him the seer Tiresias who accuses Oedipus of being the plague of Thebes; he grants Oedipus's request and banishes him from Thebes at the end of the story.

Metamorphoses Death of Achilles

the final days of the Trojan War. Neptune and Apollo attempt to scheme against Achilles, who killed Neptune's son, Cycnus, years before. Apollo convinces Paris to take revenge on Achilles since Achilles also killed Paris's brother, Hector. Apollo helps Paris aim at Achilles, and Paris shoots him successfully with his arrows, killing him. Ajax and Ulysses begin to argue over who will inherit Achilles's armor.

Mount Haemus

the place where Oedipus was abandoned as a child by Laius's shepherd. His ankles were tied together

Sparagmos

the tearing apart of animals, how they were sacrificed Dionysian practices (they are torn apart alive and eaten raw- the wrong way to do things, example as Dionysus as opposite and inversion of other Greek gods)

Atlas

the titan who holds up the sky and the earth The son of the Titan Iapetus and Clymene (or, according to anotlier account, Asia), brother of Menoetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus. In Homer [Od. i. 52] he is called *"the thinker of mischief,"* who knows the depths of the whole sea, and has under his care the pillars which hold heaven and earth asunder. In Hesiod [Theog. 517] he stands at the western end of the earth, near where the Hesperides dwell, holding the broad heaven on his head and unwearied hands. To this condition he is forced by Zeus, according to a later version as a punishment for the part which he took in the battle with the Titans. By the Ocean nymph Pleione he is father of the Pleiades, by Aethra of the Hyades. In Homer the nymph *Calypso is also his daughter,* who dwells on the island Ogygia, the navel of the sea. Later authors make him the father of the Hesperides, by Hesperis. It is to him that Amphitrite flies when pursued by Poseidon. As their knowledge of the West extended the Greeks transferred the abode of Atlas to the African mountain of the same name. Local stories of a mountain which supported the heaven would, no doubt, encourage the identification. In later times Atlas was represented as a wealthy king, and owner of the garden of the Hesperides. Perseus, with his head of Medusa, turned him into a rocky mountain for his inhospitality. In works of art he is represented as carrying the heaven; or (after the earth was discovered to be spherical), the terrestrial globe. Among the statues of Atlas the Farnese, in the Museum at Naples, is the best known. (See also OLYMPIC GAMES, fig. 3.) In Greek architecture, the term Atlantes was employed to denote the colossal male statues sometimes used in great buildings instead of columns to support an entablature or a projecting roof.

cosmos

the universe considered as a harmonious and orderly system

cosmogony

theory or account of the origin of the universe

Homer and Hesiod Similarities

tone and big issues at stake, meter, dialect, strong panhellenic potential (potential to talk to Greece as a whole) through pastiche of vocabulary, melding together stories of different places, etc.

Modern myth

traditional tale with secondary partial reference to things of collective importance more like Ovid's myth take of it being thrilling, exciting, entertainment with less emphasis on truth

Oresteia

tragedy about the story of Orestes justice as central theme Orestes' problem: how do you avenge your father's murderer when it is your mother? (Agamemnon and Clytemnestra) No simple answer- emblem of action in Homer, ini this he's not an easy example Orestes and a friend disguise themselves as foreigners, after long conversation about whether or not he should kill Clytemnestra, he drags her behind the stage door and after screaming he emerges Starts to hear the furies/Eumenides, he is clinging to the stone in Delphi that is thought to be actual stone that Rhea gave to Kronos instead of Zeus Ghost of Clytemnestra haunting around him, furies of Apollo begin a debate over justice Sudden switch to scene in Athens (where people watching this play are right then)- purposeful building in of contemporary references Athena addressing furies, court case, she decides in Orestes' favor, furies swear to scorch Earth but are instead given a place of honor in new system\ Clytemnestra invokes furies to avenge through miasma vs Olympian gods protecting Orestes

desires

universal among humans; almost always boil down to desire for pleasure or power

theomachy

war against goes amongst gods (Kronos v. Uranus, Zeus v. Kronos, etc.)

Persephone

wife of Hades, queen of underworld Province: ·Daughter of Demeter and Zeus ·Consort of Hades Attributes: pomegranate She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. As the wife of Hades, she is the dreaded queen of the world below. As a maiden while plucking flowers (near Enna in Sicily, according to the story common in later times), she was carried off into the lower world by Hades on his car, with the consent of her father. Hymn to Demeter shows Aidoneus coming and taking her away by force and she and Demeter both object (she is taken away screaming) but Aidoneus wants it to happen and Zeus allows it to-- gender and power Strong link between marriage and death for the women in Persephone's story- violently torn from family and brought to underworld, now as a young person has to find her place in the underworld

Homeric hymns

written by followers of Homer who call themselves Homer to pay homage to him; written in honor of individual gods; outline ritual behaviors gods want humans to do for them in worship; written around 6th/7th centuries written by followers of Homer who call themselves Homer as an homage Likely to be written in 7th and 6th centuries, hymns written in honor of an individual god Opening of Theogony is structured as hymn Hymn (English) has Greek word behind it, Hymnos, which means song and can be narrative, have same meter/style/language (dactylic pastiche) of Homeric epics, about 1000 lines long Likely that hymnos were anchored to specific festivals, where there were competitive performances of songs

Polydorus

youngest son of Priam. In the Aeneid, he is sent to Thrace with payment to seek protection if Troy falls. When Troy did fall, the King of Thrace broke the agreement, killed him, and kept the payment. This act is a serious violation of xenia. In Metamorphoses, his body washes up on shore which drove Hecuba crazy.

Rhea

·Consort of Cronus ·Mother of elder Olympians, titan goddess, important woman but not huge center of reproduction (unlike Gaia) Daughter of Gaia and the sister/wife of Kronos who gives birth to the Olympians. Her children are eventually swallowed by Kronos who, hearing from Ouranos and Gaia's prophecy, fears the overthrowing of this power by one of his offspring. Rhea gives a stone to Ouranos in place of Zeus to thwart him, and after Zeus is raised in secret, Gaia tricks Kronos to spit his children back out and Zeus saves his siblings, earning him his spot as king of the olympians.

Gaia

·Earth ·mother of the gods, center of reproduction for beginning of time--> power Offspring include Uranus who becomes her mate, the titans, and some monsters like cyclops and hundred-handers

Uranus

·Sky Castrated by Kronos Son and husband of Gaea, the Earth, who bore to him the Titans, the Cyclopes, and Hecatoncheires. He did not allow the children born to him to see the light, but concealed them in the depths of the earth. Enraged at this, Gaea stirred up her children against him, and Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, unmanned him with the sickle which his mother had given to him. From the blood that fell upon the earth were born the Erinyes and the Giants. The member which was cut off fell into the sea, and out of the foam produced around it there came into being the goddess called Aphrodite (hence called Aphrogeneia, i.e. foam-born