CLA 210 Exam 2

Oenamus Story

- Oenamus fell in love with his daughter, hippodamias -

What happened with Tantalus and Atreus?

-While the gods were dining with Tantalus, Tantalus kills his son and feeds him to the gods -Demeter accidentally eats the shoulder but the gods find out and punish Tantalus

What is the Trojan Cycle

-biggest group of myths -only illiad and odyssey survive -center around "the house of Atreus"

Odysseus Nostoi

-story beings "en media res" -Penelope waits for Odysseus to return home

Theban Cycle

2 separate foundation stories Cadmus founds idea of Thebes, Aethon and Zethus found concrete form

Meleager (from argos)

3 fates stated that "when the log is consumed, the child will die"; Artemis sends in a giant boar bc she's been offended, Atalanta joins the hunt and together she and Meleager kill it; Meleager gives her to the hide, to the annoyance of his uncle; Meleager kills his uncle so his mother throws his log into the fire and Meleager dies

Agamemnon Nostoi

Agamemnon murdered by Clytemnestra (his wife) and her boy toy Aegisthus. End of Curse of Atreus. Clytemnestra is having affair with Aegisthus. Cly lays out cloth for Agamemnon. Agamemnon enters the palace and no one understands Cassandra. Cly traps him in a net and stabs him. She defend herself by claiming Iphigenia's murder as the reason. Orestes: seeks vengeance on his mother and is encouraged by his sister Electra to kill their mother He is pursued by Furies until there is a great trial, and Orestes is exonerated (swing vote is Athena; always votes for male)

Comparative approach

An interpretation of Oedipus that sees similarities to these other 3 stories in Indo-European mythology is this approach:

Voyage of Argo

Argus, son of Phrixus (guy who rode the ram) built largest ship ever Athena added in a magical talking beam to the prow Jason calls for great men to join (Heracles, Orpheus, Castor and Pollux, Meleager, etc.) Lemnos: only women live there bc they pissed off Aphrodite (the women refused to sleep with their husbands, so Aphro made them all stinky) Heracles loses Hylas to water nymphs and they leave both behind Polydeuces killed boxer Amycus (who had been crushing his opponents skulls)

The First Founding of Thebes

Cadmus searched the longest for his sister Europa Finally met an oracle that told him to follow a cow and wait until it laid down and start a city there. Follows a cow and it sits there. He then plants the dragon teeth in the ground at Athena's suggestion; teeth grow into warriors Sparti (sown man). One of C's sons, Nycteus, marries Antiope, who is later seduced by Z.

Scylla and Charybdis (odysseus nostoi)

Char = whirlpool and Scylla = six headed monster; men avoid them by stopping and starving on Helius' cattle island; Z destroys their ship and O is almost drowned by Charybdis

7 against Thebes

Eteocles and Polynices decide they will each rule Thebes for a year and then swap

King Telephus and Agammemnon

Greeks set sail, can't find Troy; land near Troas Achilles wounds King Telephus there; Oracle tells King that only that which harmed you can heal you; Achilles heals king and Telephus leads them to Troy. Wind blows against them, Calchas explains it's Artemis Agamemnon sacrifices Iphigenia Wife (Clytemnestra) doesn't take sacrifice well; when her husband returns home she kills him

Marriage of Peleus and Thetis

He wrestles her and then they decide to get married Thetis predicted that Thetis' child would be greater than her father; so Z told Peleus to 'seduce' (aka wrestle to the ground) Thetis The gods throw a really grand wedding, but don't invite Strife (Eris) Strife comes along and causes trouble (throws an apple for the most beautiful)

What is the role of myth in tragedy?

Helps explain why stories are the way they are- why the outcomes happened Agamemnon must sacrifice Iphigenia to Artemis to make the winds favorable for sailing Aristotle: improve of religious hymn in honor of Dionysus (therefore... Dionysus is origin of tragedy) However, tragedy lost Dionysiac associations early on, and only Euripides maintains it Medea play is good example of tragedy

psychoanalysis

If an approach has to do with so and so having some sexual problem

How does characterization impact the plot of the Illiad?

Illiad never delves into the minds/thoughts of the characters, but instead allows readers to interpret their true intentions based on actions The book follows the overall theme introduce on the first line of 'rage' Agamemnon is proud and there is honor to him as leader of the Greeks Achilles wants everything because he feels like he puts in the most work Hector- he fights for his things and tries to protect everyone, the hero Priam- he went behind enemy lines to get his son back (Hector); very paternal figure

Who wrote/told about Oedipus?

Isophecles

Origin of Golden Fleece

Jason was descendant of Aeolus (son of Hellen); had 7 sons, one Athamas who married Nephele, they gave birth to Phrixus and Helle Decides to marry 2nd wife, Ino Ino got jealous of 1st wife (thought her sons wouldn't get inheritance) convinces the father to sacrifice his children As Athamas is about to kill his children, a golden ram appears and takes Phrixus and Helle away Helle falls off at Hellespont; ram lands in Colchis and Phrixus then sacrificed it and gave the skin to Aeetes

End of Trojan War

Menelaus finds Helen with new husband Deiphobus, kills him, and plans to kill Helen but she looks she pretty he decides to leave her alone. Two return home and live uneventful life. Ajax the Lesser rapes Cassandra on the shrine which leads to death of many Greeks. One of few Trojans to escape Aeneas, who carried his lame father Anchises and son Iulus out of the city

Minos and Pasiphae:

Minos drives out 2 brothers when all 3 fall in love with same boy; Minos declares himself king and marries Pasiphae (3 children: Ariadne, Phaedra, Androgynous (all subject to tragedy)

How do myths stress the importance of the ideal Greek household and its importance to the city?

Myths show past traditions that existed in Greek society (ie: the rites to become an adult in Crete probably involved bull wrestling) Explained the roles of men and women, how much control the gods had over people's lives, etc. Older generation is pious/smart and young generation is brash (Odysseus) Humans cause downfall through their own behavior (Ody with men on Cattle Island)

Roman Myth traits

No creation myth; very little divine myth; most myths were borrowed from Greeks in 3rd-2nd century; mostly about imperial/cultural propaganda State above individual Devotion to family and ancestors

How does odysseus handle getting home?

O leaves on raft and Poseidon ****s him over again. Washes ashore and found by Nausicaa and is taken before king and treated with good xenia and sent back to Ithaca . hosted by swineherd and reveals himself to Telemachus, who explains situation. O proves himself during contest during which he shoots his unshootable bow. Penelope tests him by asking Euryclea (the nurse who recognizes his scar) to bring out their bed (an impossible feat) . Upon his return, his nurse recognizes him by a scar on his thigh- he kills all of Penelope's suitors, and proves himself to her that it really is him after being away from home for 20 years

Calypso (odysseus nostoi)

O washes up on Ogygia and lives there for 7 years; only sleeps with her during night (when it doesn't count) and longs for Penelope during day. Hermes comes to get him

Trojan Horse

Ody sneaks into city and steals Palladin Ody and Neoptolemus go and retrieve Philoctetes (and the bow) Ody has Epeus build giant wooden horse and 50 warriors climb inside while other Greeks leave Sinon, a Greek, explains that the Greeks left and gave this horse as an offering to Athena In one version, Helen comes out and calls to men in voices of their wives Laocoon (he and wife had sex in temple of Poseidon) tries to stop them, but serpents crawl out of the water and strangle him Prophets are ignored and the horse is brought in and Greeks invade

Cicones and Lotus Eaters (Odysseus Nostoi)

Odysseus and men raided island of Cicones, but while they stopped another group of Cicones attacked and killed several men Lotus eaters: Men escaped and came to land where people consume drug that makes them forget home Bad xenia: arrive and are attacked

Curse on House of Atreus

Oenomaus falls in love with is daughter, Hippodamia Pelops gets a fancy chariot from some dude he promised would get to sleep with H. He got too handsy and got thrown off the chariot. As he fell, he cursed pelops (his son is soon Atreus)

Second Founding of Thebes

One of C's sons, Nycteus, marries Antiope, who is later seduced by Z Antiope is driven from Nycteus (bc he's embarrassed by her pregnancy) and moves to land Sicyon and marries a king Antiope is retrieved by Nycteus and gives birth to twins (Amphion and Zethus) on way back; she leaves children in meadow Antiope is tortured by king's wife until she is rescued by her children Zethus marries Thebe Amphion marries Niobe

Thyestes and Atreus

Oracle predicts one son of Pelops must become the king Thyestes suggested the golden fleece (no... a different golden fleece) will be a sign. Atreus thinks he has it but his wife is sleeping with Thyestes so Theyestes has it. Atreus asks zeus to make the sun rise on the west and shocker, Atreus becomes king.

How does Thyestes take the throne?

Oracle: have sex with your daugher. Theyestes is grossed put but rapes a girl who happens to be his daguhter, Peopia. Pelopia marries Atreus and have Aegistus who inherits the rapists sword. Theystes recognized the sword and pelopia kills everyone so Theyestes becomes king.

"The Judgement of Paris"

Paris must judge who is the most beautiful- Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera Helen is abducted which leads to the men invoking the Oath of Tyndareus. Odysseus hesitates but the men trick him into coming.

Fall of Troy

Paris shoots an arrow guided by Apollo and kills Achilles Ajax rescues body of Achilles and fights with Odysseus over the armor First armor is thought to go to Ajax (bc he killed more people) but then Odysseus claims he killed more via traps Armor goes to Ody Ajax pulls out sword and thinks he is starting to kill them all, but instead starts killing sheep (goes mad)

Return to Colchis (argos)

Pelias forces Jason's parents into suicide and won't get the throne to Jason Medea tricks daughters of Pelias into cutting him into little tiny pieces Jason and Medea move to Corinth; Jason decides he wants to marry Glauce, daughter of Creon; Medea kills her and Jason's 2 sons Jason dies old, sick, and alone when prow of ship falls on him and kills him

Philoctetes

Philoctetes is bitten by a snake and abandoned bc his wound is so stinky; Phil is the one with Heracles's bow (that will lead to end of war)

What is the Illiad generally about?

Picks up during 10th year of battle and focuses on rage of Achilles/conflict between 2 men Hector vs Achilles at the end - he drags hector's body on his chariot. Then returns his body and hector gets a proper burial.

Who does Leda give birth to?

Polydeuces and Helen (male and female parts from Z), and Castor and Clytemnestra (male and female parts from Tyndareus)

Major Myth Interpretation

Rational vs. Irrational Plato Allegory & Moral Allegory Historicism: Etymology, Euhemerism Anthropological (Darwin, Frazer, Levi-Strauss) Comparative mythology Psychoanalysis Initiation theories

What are the primary differences between Roman and Greek myth?

Roman myths focuses much more on the foundations of Roman society, on how every person should be devoted to the country first, and family second Roman mythology disregards mortal deeds, whereas Greek mythos praises them (heroes in Greek myth often do dangerous/heroic deeds that endanger their life, but Roman myth doesn't put any emphasis on that) Roman gods started as non humanoids and were attached to tangible objects rather than human personality traits

Major Kings of Rome

Romulus, Tulius (?), Serbius (??), Tarquin the Proud

How did Oedipu's oracle come true?

Shepard ordered to leave O exposed to the elements, but shepard delivers him to Polybus and Merope of neighboring kingdom O eventually learns he will kill his father and marry his mother after going to the oracle to learn why he doesn't look like his parents Horrified, O leaves, and on the way out kills a man who struck him at the crossroads Solves the riddle of the Sphinx at Thebes and is crowned the new king bc their king has recently died; marries the queen Sphinx: barbarousness vs. education Queen and O have 2 sons and 2 daughters: Polynices, Eteocles, Antigone, and Ismene Finds out queen is his mother and tears his eyes out, and leaves palace

historicism/euhemerism

The idea that Zeus as a god was originally probably a king who became more and more influential is what approach (it all goes back to history)

Nostoi

The return trips home

House of Tyndareus

Tyndareus marries Leda; Z comes to Leda in shape of swan the same night Tyn had sex with her Castor and Polydeuces are inseparable twins; alternate living between Hades/Olympus; official protectors of Roman state Cly marries Agamemnon and lots of suitors gather to compete for Helen Odysseus, one of Helen's suitors, arranges to solve the king's dilemma if he will arrange a marriage between Odysseus and Tyn's niece, Penelope Tyn makes his famous oath: Menelaus wins Helen by offering the largest money/dowry Oath makes it so if anything happens to Helen, the strongest leaders will have to come together and bring her back

What are some examples of allegorical interpretation of myths, and what are the strengths and weakness of this approach?

Weaknesses: you can't apply it to everything Strengths: very creative with interpretation of myth Weaknesses: covers too much ground and tries to appeal for both popular audience while still throwing a bit of a bone to people who know the mythology Disney's Hercules: decided a 'what-if' story of if Hercules had been just a complete god and born to Hera and if Hades was thirsty for the throne. Percy Jackson: takes the idea of Perseus and merges him with the idea of Theseus, Hercules, and a lot of other Greek

Europa and the Bull

Zeus takes form of bull and abducts Europa King sends Europa's 3 brother to either find her, or never come home Cadmus (founds Thebes) Phoenix (founds Filicia) Cilix (Cilicia) Zeus and Europa have many children, including Minos, Sarpedon, Rhadamanthys Minos will become king of Minoas (and also judge of underworld with brother R)

Phineas and Harpies (from Argos)

arrive in Bosporus and find King Phineus had been punished by Zeus for speaking too boldly (now old, blind, and cannot eat bc the harpies steal his food) Phineus promises to tell the truth of their trip if they kill the harpies; so they do They learn of the Symplegades (Clashing Rocks); use a dove to see if they make it, if the dove loses a tail feather, they'll die Manage to make it thru

Jason Origin

born in Thessaly (land of man eating horses). Salmoneus, brother of Athamas, had daughter Tyro, whom Poseidon impregnated. She gives birth to twins, Pelias and Neleus; Pelias is arrogant and wants to rule Thessaly. Imprisons half-brother and rightful ruler to the throne, Aeson (Aeson sends off a child to be tutored by Chiron (Jason)). Oracle: a man with one sandal will be the downfall off Pelias Jason returns to Colchis and helps an old lady across a stream (that was Hera) and he loses a sandal for his troubles Pelias, seeing this one sandal, asks Jason: "What would you do if you knew someone was going to kill you, someone over whom you had power?" Jason: "I'd have him bring me the golden fleece!" And so Jason was sent to fetch the golden fleece

Why was Liaus (Oedipu's father) cursed?

cursed by Pelops for raping his son; Laius married Jocasta and Oracle foretold that Laius would die at the hand of his own child

Ariadne

daughter of Minos, falls in love with Theseus the moment she sees him, gives him a ball of yarn and begs to be taken away. Abandoned on an island and found/taken in by Dionysis

What happens to Medea at the end?

either experiences apotheosis and serpents take her to heaven or she goes somewhere else and marries a king to eventually meet Theseus

Laestrygonians (odysseus nostoi)

giant cannibal men; O's is the only ship to escape

Tiresias (odysseus nostoi)

goes to underworld to hear from Tiresias; warns them about Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis, and avoid Cattle of Helius

Aeneas meets Dido

he has his own type of Odyssey adventure and the second part is like the Iliad with the fighting.

Sirens (odysseus nostoi)

heads and breast of women, bodies of birds; O, on advice of Circe; is tied to the mast to listen to their music

Etymology

if a word is traced back to some bit of a word

Crete

island south of Greece, culturally distinct people. Minoans. Problems: myths are gone and our primary source of the myths (Minotaur, etc.) is Ovid.

Who was Oenomaus?

king of Pisa

Overall themes of Cretan Myth

lots of myths were lost and all that remained were heavily influenced by Greeks (showing how very foreign Crete people were). Athenians always showed greater intelligence/skill and with better navy. Grotesque sexuality of Cretan (Pasiphae and the bull; Ariadne betraying her home land) . Adulthood rituals (initiate leaves town (Minoas), undergoes mock death (Labyrinth), has some form of sexual experience (Ariadne), returns an adult). Stories mostly come from Ovid and all have to do with some weird sex (usually)

Aeneas (rome)

memory encouraged by Augustus, who used the story to fuel his regime/continuation of old republic

Polyphemus (odysseus nostoi)

men make themselves at home, Odysseus looks for inhabitants and finds giant cave and decides to wait to receive hospitality. Polyphemus returns and puts a giant rock in front of the door and grabs one of the men and eats them (bad xenia). Odysseus tricks Poly by telling him his name is 'no one' and then blinding Polyphemus. Next day men strap themselves to bellies of sheep and leave cave unnoticed. Poly chases them to their ship and O reveals himself. Poly calls upon the name of his father and curses O

platonic interpretation

might say: myths were useful in teaching people how to be good citizens

tragic hero

person in high place undone

How does Achelles get involved in the Trojan war?

prophet states they wouldn't be able to take off from Troy w/o help of Achilles (son of Thetis); Achilles has been hidden among girls in island Scyros; O tricks Achilles by laying down bunch of pretty girl ornaments and a sword and then saying people are attacking; Achilles picks up the sword

Atalanta

refuses to marry, has races with men where she murders them; Hippomenes is given 3 apples which he uses to distract Atalanta and wins; when he defeats her, they fall madly in love and have sex in Zeus' temple; Z appears and turns them into lions

Who is Atreus

the grandson of Tantalus and the son of Pelops

Romulus and Remus

they fight and Romulus wins and founds Rome

Circe (odysseus nostoi)

turns men to swine; Hermes gives Odysseus a potion that will save him; O stays on island for year with his non-pig men

Androgeus:

very strong warrior, goes to fight in the fighting games. King Aegeus asks him to fight a wild bull that kills Androgeus. Minos invades King Aegeus' land in retribution Scylla (Aegeus' daughter, falls madly in love with Minos when she sees him and cuts her father's thread of immortal hair, allowing her people to be defeated) . Leads to eventual fall of Athens, and the Athenians then had to send 7 young men and women to the minotaur

Medea and Golden Fleece

when Medea sees Jason, Aphro causes her to fall in love Oracle: foreigner would bring end to Aeetes; so Aeetes gives the foreigner an impossible task and guards his fleece with a never-sleeping dragon Medea helps him destroy the dragon and helps steal the fleece. Jason and Argonauts flee after him or Medea kill her brother.

The Bull from the Sea

when Minos declared himself king, people demanded sign that he should rule, so Minos told Poseidon if he was sent a bull from the sea he would sacrifice it. Poseidon send the bull, but it was too fine to sacrifice, so Mions sacrificed a different one Poseidon got mad, so he made Pasiphae fall in love with the bull. Daedalus (exiled from Athens after jealously killing one of his students) helps build her a wooden cow so she could get some. After Pasiphae gives birth to the Minotaur, Minos demands that Daedalus builds a labyrinth to hold the Minotaur.

Aeolus (odysseus nostoi)

wind-king; offers O a bag of unfavorable wings. Men get close enough to Ithaca and O falls asleep (bad things always happen when O falls asleep). Men untie the bag, thinking it holds riches and are blown back to Aelous. Aelous says the gods must hate them and sends them away

Elektra complex

woman wants to overthrow mother and marry father