Myth Part 2: The Mythreckoning

Peredur's mom's advice

She does not want him to be a knight so she tells him exactly the opposite of how a chivalric knight would act

Apophatic Monstrosity

1. defined by negative 2. defines social, cultural, moral, Ideas by negative example (sub acts and thoughts - metaphorical deformities- for physical deformity) a. example- Heroic: don't fight the good guys, not oath breakers, not greedy, not disloyal, do not run away from battle Monstrosity broadened to the things not desired by the culture and the like.

Actual lady in lady of the fountain

Basically the Celtic idea of the Goddess super hot otherworldly and unnamed inextricably linked to the fountain, which is linked to rain/thunder/growth (fertility)- representation of nature, pagan belief, and the country itself

Cataphatic Monstrosity

Cataphatic theology- god based upon what does is or is thought to be 1. Monstrosity- describes monstrous beings as they are or are perceived a. deformity b. hypertrophy of body c. atrophy of body d. Bizarre e. absence of body parts f. mixture or composite beings: - animal & human form g. animal births by human women h. mislocation of organs or body parts i. disturbed growth- born older, not a baby k. monstrous races: Antipode- backwards in everything (Volsung is a bit monstrous because he was born at age 6 (and already had teeth and could think and that's just super effing weird)

Peredur (in Mabinogion)

Celtic Hero theme Dad dies when Peredur is young, and his mother raises him in isolation in woods. As he comes of age he meets a group of knights, and goes with them to the court of King Arthur. At the court he suffers the ridicule of the knight Cei and sets off, promising to reclaim his honour. On his travels he meets two of his uncles. The first shows him how to bear arms, and instructs him not to question the significance of what he sees. The second uncle reveals a severed head on a platter (perhaps the major departure from Chrétien's telling, which instead features the Holy Grail). Peredur continues on his journeys, staying with the nine witches of Gloucester and falling in love with Angharad Golden-Hand. He returns to Arthur's court, and eventually learns that the severed head was that of his cousin. The cousin had been killed by the witches of Gloucester. Aggrieved, Peredur avenges his family members, and returns home a hero.

The Lady of the Fountain (in Mabinogion)

Celtic Hero theme Probs written in 13th cent, but was around in the 10th cent whole moral of the story is about conquering the impluse to conquer, take ladies, and seize power- its about the rebirth of the hero (which is why it is so didactic) The story begins in the court of King Arthur. As the king sleeps, the knights Owain, Kynon and Kai tell tales as they eat. Kynon tells of a quest to determine whether there is anything left to achieve mastery of. He speaks of wandering, eventually finding a castle where he is greeted by a man. Kynon is led inside, where he receives hospitality from 24 damsels. The man asks Kynon what he seeks. When Kynon tells him, he is told of a large sheltered glade, where the tall black warden of the woods, a man with one foot and one eye, is to be found wielding a vast iron club. The following day Kynon sets off to find the woodward. The man demonstrates his power over the animals of the woodland, and directs Kynon to an open space where a fountain is to be found next to a marble slab. Kynon journeys to the fountain. There he finds a silver bowl, chained to the fountain, as described by the warden. Kynon takes the bowl and throws water on the marble slab. This causes thunder to roar, hailstones to fall and birds to sing. A knight on a black horse appears, and the pair joust against one another. The knight dismounts Kynon and takes his horse. Crestfallen, Kynon returns to the glade, where the black giant mocks his misfortune. Back at the castle, Kynon is again entertained. The following day he leaves for his own court. There ends Kynon's tale, as Arthur wakes and the men feast. In the morning Owain, inspired and intrigued by Kynon's humiliation, finds the mysterious castle. There, again, he is given great hospitality, and describes his search for the knight who guards the fountain. He sets off the next day and finds the black warden and the fountain. Owain takes the bowl, casts water on the marble slab, and again the knight appears. The pair fight, Owain mortally wounding the knight with his blade. The knight flees and Owain follows him to a vast castle.The knight passes through the castle portcullis, but it falls on Owain's horse, trapping them. Owain sees beyond a gate a maiden with golden hair clad in yellow. She comes to the gate and opens itThe maiden, Luned, gives Owain a ring of protection and invisibility, so when the men from the castle come to kill him they are unable to find him. Owain follows the maiden to a chamber. They eat and drink, and Owain sleeps. In the night he hears a cry, which Luned tells him signifies the death of the nobleman who owns the castle. The next morning Owain hears a commotion. Luned tells him the nobleman's body is being taken to the church. Owain looks out of the window and sees a great many people assembled in their finery. In the midst of the throng walked a fair lady. Owain falls in love, and asks Luned of her identity. "Heaven knows," she replies. "She may be said to be the fairest, and the most chaste, and the most liberal, and the wisest, and the most noble of women. And she is my mistress; and she is called the Countess of the Fountain, the wife of him whom thou didst slay yesterday." "Verily," said Owain, "she is the woman that I love best." "Verily," said the maiden, "she shall also love thee not a little." As Owain sleeps, Luned goes to see her mistress, the countess of the castle. Luned tells the countess that unless she can defend the fountain, her dominion will be jeopardised. Only a knight from the court of King Arthur can fulfill the role, and she offers to find such a warrior. Luned returns to her chamber, where she dallies for the time it would take to visit and return from Arthur's court. She then revisits the countess, bringing with her Owain. The countess dismisses her, and the following day asks her subjects for permission to marry Owain. She does, and for three years Owain defends the fountain. One day Arthur tells his nephew Gwalchmai (Gawain) of his sorrow at losing Owain. Arthur and 300 of his men embark to find Owain, with Kynon their guide. They find the first castle, the black giant, and the fountain. Kai steps up and throws water from the bowl to the marble. The black knight appears and defeats Kai. The following day the other warriors all attempt to defeat the knight, until only Arthur and Gwalchmai are left. Gwalchmai fights the knight for three days, until eventually the knight lands a blow to Gwalchmai's head that dislodges his helmet. "My lord Gwalchmai, I did not know thee for my cousin," says Owain, "owing to the robe of honour that enveloped thee; take my sword and my arms." "Thou, Owain, art the victor; take thou my sword," replies Gwalchmai. Owain takes the men to the castle of the countess, where they feast for three months. Arthur requests that the countess grants Owain leave for three months, which she consents to. Owain, however, remains with his fellow warriors for three years; his knightly exploits overshadow his nightly duties and the countess is displeased. One day, at the city of Caerlleon upon Usk, a damsel on horseback arrives and takes from Owain his ring. "Thus," said she, "shall be treated the deceiver, the traitor, the faithless, the disgraced, and the beardless." In sorrow and self-disgust, Owain roams the land until his body wastes away and his hair grows long. Eventually he is found by a widowed countess who feeds and anoints him until he recovers. Owain hears of how the countess once had two earldoms, but all but a castle was taken by a neighbouring earl who wanted her for his wife. Three months pass, and one day the earl comes to the castle. Owain takes weapons and armour and captures him, bringing him to the castle. The earl returned the two earldoms he taken from the countess and half of his own possessions.Owain roams the land once more, eventually encountering a serpent within in a rock, with a fearful black lion nearby. Owain draws his sword and kills the serpent, and the lion follows. The lion brings a roebuck to Owain and they eat. Owain hears a sigh. It is Luned, who has been imprisoned in a stone vault by the countess' men. She directs him to a castle owned by a hospitable earl, where Owain, his horse and the lion are well received. In the castle Owain meets the earl's beautiful daughter. The earl tells of a giant monster in the mountains that kills and devours men. The previous day his sons had been taken by the monster, who will slay them if the earl doesn't deliver his daughter. The following day the monster arrives with the earl's sons. Owain and the lion go to confront him. Although Owain pledges to fight alone, the lion springs into the fray and kills the giant. Owain continues to the meadow to find Luned. He finds a great fire, towards which two youths are leading the maiden, taking advantage in the absence of her protector. Owain attacks the pair, and with the lion he overcomes them, saving Luned. Owain returns with her to the dominions of the Countess of the Fountain. From there he takes the Countess to the court of Arthur, where she remains his wife to the end of her days. Owain sets off once more, finding the court of the black giant. There he meets 24 daughters of earls, who had been enchanted and seized by the giant. Aggrieved, Owain leaves. Outside the castle he finds the black giant. They fight furiously. Owain eventually overcomes him, and binds his hands. In a plea bargain, the giant says he will turn his domain into a hospice if Owain spares his life. Owain agrees. The following day Owain takes the 24 women, their goods, jewels and horses, to Arthur's court. There he finally settles as head of the household.

Frogs

Comedy theme By Aristophanes dionysis and his servant sneak into the underworld to bring back the best tragedian because all the living ones suck portrays the greek view of the afterlife (have to pay the ferry man) flips myths on their heads for comedy (h3ercules supposed to be big and dumb, but here he's actully smart, dionysis is normally witty but here he's had by his slave and hercules) Dionysis goes to hercules for help- they're related- plays on the idea that family usually mourns you on your journey to the underworld Frog chorus mouthpiece of the playwright/audience and connects audience to the afterlife(annoys dionysis) Dionysis sets up a competition between euripides (young, scrappy upstart, write in quick choppys sentences) and aeschylus (old, longwinded, potentially too weighty) aeschylus wins (because his lines are weightier and also because he gives good advice for athens and prove he'll be helpful)

The Odyssey book 11

Death and Underworld theme Basically circe gives odysseus tips and he goes to the underworld, but to get there he just has to let the wind blow him because there's no piloting on the way to hell (DEATH IS INEVITABLE- this has been your regularly scheduled nihilistic statement) first runs into an old crewmate, elpinore, who they left on an island unburied and odysseus is like "My bad...' (this moment stresses the importance of burial) they do this whole blood ritual and he talks with tiresias who tells him to shape up (don't bug the cows= go home, bug the cows=lose everything) then odysseus' mom shows up and throws shade wives of heroes/princesses show up and present the image of perfect greek woman who is successful because of being a wife and mom Oh, also achilles is like "the underworld sucks"

Aneid book 6

Death and Underworld theme Written by Virgil Basically just the Roman version of the Odyssey In another myth Orpheus (a hero) goes to the underworld and makes it back unscathed (but without saving his wife)- differs from other heroes because he chose to go there) In the Aeneid Aeneas has to find a golden bough. The entrance to the underworld is a cave (diff. than the ocean in greek myth), Like odysseus he sees unburied souls, but unlike odysseus he actually goes into the underworlde being ferried across by charon instead of just waiting outside and summoning spirits. Talks to dido (villainizes carthage, reveals shse''s dead- like agamemnon and odyysseus), meets crewmate (like odysseus), Talks to sybil (not tireseas), talks with dad (not mom like odysseus) who tells him what will happen to his lineage when the fighting is over( not like odysseus who gets a report on how the fam is in the present)... This is virgils plug to focus on augustus (because he's supposedly decended from heros and this whole story is just propaganda)

Oedipus Tyrannus

Drama theme By Sophocles A priest and his followers ask Oedipus to find a way to save them from the plague. Creon returns and reports that they need to find the murderer of Laius, the former king. Oedipus swears he will find and punish the man. He summons Tiresias, the famous seer, to tell what he knows. At first Tiresias refuses to speak, but when pressed, he tells Oedipus that the murderer he seeks is Oedipus himself. The king and the chorus refuse to believe the prophet, and Oedipus accuses Tiresias and Creon of plots and corruption. Jocasta intervenes and tells Oedipus not to worry. Oedipus starts to asks questions about Laius's death, and the circumstances begin to sound familiar. But a Messenger comes from Corinth to say that Oedipus's father is dead, so he doesn't need to worry about the prophecy. Oedipus asks about his mother, since there's that other part of the prophecy, and the Messenger tells him he was adopted. Jocasta realizes the truth—that Oedipus is her son as well as her husband—and tells Oedipus to stop the interrogations. He doesn't listen, and an eyewitness, the Herdsman who rescued him when he was an infant, confirms that he was Laius and Jocasta's child, and that Oedipus killed Laius. A Servant reports the suicide of Jocasta, and Oedipus emerges from the house having blinded himself. He seeks exile and mourns with his daughters. Creon takes over.Moment with tiresias is the turning point- oedipus - moment with tiresias is the turning point- up until now, the chorus has been with him, because he's just trying to stop the plague in his kingdom- in this scene, oedipus is initially super respectful, but he starts to get mad that tiresias won't tell him what he wants to know (but tiresias doesn't want him to know) Oedipus tells tiresias "your ears and eyes are blind" even though he's really the one who is blind (and will be, because mans gotta look inward) dramatic irony- oedipus asks tiresias to rescue him, but refuses to be rescued by not listening to tireseas, and tiresias even says that wisdom sucks when it can't benefit those who knows

Xenia

Greek code of hospitality; guest friendship (broken in the Cyclops story) Zeus= protector of guests and would punish if people didn't abide by it (seen when odysseus and crew attack the cicones and then odysseus and crew get blown off course)

Volsunga saga pt 7

Gudrun drama She mopes in Denmark for forever but her dad is like- Marry atli- and she's like NO... but finnnne Marries atli, atli wants the treasure and plots against gunnar and hogni, gudrun warns them (hogni's wife ALSO warns him... no one pays attention) Gunnar and hogni go to atli's court, fight men off, are captured, then atli is torturing them and gunnar is ALL ready to get rid of the weakest link (hogni) and requests hogni's heart atli and frineds bring gunnar the heart of a slave and gunnar calls their bluff, so they kill hogni and gunnar is like "HA now you'll never know where the treasure is because i'll never tell" so atli throws him in a snake pit and gudrun throws him a harp and he goes out playing the harp with his feet Gudrun is PISSY and kills their kids and makes atli eat them and then kills atli THE END

Classical Monstrosity

Monsters in Greece= weird physical characteristics, primitive minds, BIGGNESS, antagonistic, cause fear, sometimes have divine ancestry/creation, more supernatural Being monstrous is a sliding scale, not a binary (ex, centaurs can be helpful and train heroes or act uncivilized and be evil, similarly, the 100 handers are just wird enough to be ostracized by zeus, but aren't inherently evil---

Peredur as a feminist?!?

K Nagy. Sure. He give agency back to the lady who offers herself to him by denying her, he gives Guinivere the men that he defeats as gifts, he is a defender of women (even thougn he's not super great with fidelity, he refuses to sleep with ladies when offered to him)

Fafnir

Kin killer Monstrous body - hangs 180 ft to drink- very large Greedy Composite being Skin-changer (categorically evil) verbal poison

Fornaldur Sagas

Like in Volsunga Saga A. Fornaldar Sage- Saga of Ancient Times * Islendinsascgur- Iceland sagas about families of Iceland, very different from Fornaldar 1. Most popular type of sagas becasue of how many survived today 2. Function a. Things SUCKED in iceland SO, people don't want to read family sagas of this time; they wanted to read stories of glory, and their connection to the gods (12th C.) Gave national pride A. Prose Narratives, Heroic Themes, fabulous motifs, time and historical sesttings were lax/amorphous 1. Old swords are the best swords, they stood the 2. oaths and loyalty- binding and revered 3. greed and issues, greed physically makes you change into a dragon 4. Strange old men offering advice than disappears, Odin 5. Odin, Loki, doing something stupid 6. Family drama, common, marriages and siblings 7. courage, requirement!: two sons - one killed for not being courageous enough. 8. oaths, turning to wolves- must attack a certain number of people- shouldn't be attacking people due his oath of calling for help if +7 B. Fabulous Motifs- fantastical 1. Bird talking, tasted blood of dragon, (nut hatches) Sigurd becomes part dragon like allowing him to talk to birds. a. typical Odin hero b. Odin's notable friends 1. Ravens: Huginn & Muninn 2. understands them c. direct line to Odin x2; genealogy is important d. magical items, cursed treasure e. Witch(s) C. Time; view like a romance 1. No references 2. Deaths of important leaders miss placed historically 3. Historical setting not that significant, more for color D. Tradition 1. no single Fornadlor Saga that doesn't have a related text. a. finds gaps in other texts, fills the gaps b. (Norse fan fiction)

Medea

Medea is the eponymous hero, but is she the tragic hero? Jason goes throug the whole tragic process, but medea does not rise and fall at all, she's plotting and vengeful the whole time All she wants is to be a greek wife, but that can literally never happen because greek men are not allowed to legally marry a foreigner-- also she wants a husband, a home, and kids (what a greek woman should desire, but in the end she destroys theswe all --- killing jason's future wife, burning their palace, and literally just killing her kids) She starts by trying to appeal logically to creon and jason, but when that doesn't work she has to resort to womanly tricks (poisoning, making creon give her another day, scheming to g medea has no home- betrayed family, jason is her only shot at being NOT rootless, and that loss is sad, but the way she goes about it (and the fact that she rejects his offer aof taking care of her is NOT cool) ALSO she's witchy, which is code for monstrosity and non- greeknes a very woman centric play- medea is the king of athens to let her in) everywhere she goes she brings destruction, Preesented as a sympathetic caracter regardless (even though she's mythologically just ebil Opening speech-characterizes her as pitifu because she's abandonedl, but all of her statements are a bit twisted and the nurse notes this and shows the hints of potential problems (reveals what will happen- shows she hates her kidds and has a temper)

The Odyssey book 9

Monster theme Cyclops story The Cyclops have no society- isolated, no wine, no government, no hunting, no craftsmen- this qualifies them as monstrous (not just their appearance) However, Polyphemus' home is ordered, he cares for the goats (and creates dairy products with them) Men want to take cheese and run, but Odysseus convinces them to stay to respect xenia rules and find our who lives in the house (Odysseus in the right) BUT they ate the cheese without being offered and get Polyphemus drunk, so he calls on Zeus to smite them or whatever (Odysseus in the wrong) Also, Odysseus boasts, which is not okay Initial monster becomes humanized (shows care for animals, is blinded and a bit pathetic) and human becomes monstrous (Odysseus acts un-greek)

The Odyssey book 10

Monster theme (especially monstrous women) Circe story women as monsters are bewitching (both with looks and literal sorcery... hot) Odysseus is more cautious on Circe's island than he was on the Cyclops island (because he's learning) Circe's home is unnatural (wild animals acting like pets) She's shown to be a greek woman (doing handiwork, singing.... BUT THIS IS BEWITCHING AND SHE'S ACTUALLY SPINNING A WEB) Respects rules of xenia by inviting the men in and offering the "civilized" food (BUT IT IS DRUGGED) Circe also bewitches Odysseus as a hot young man pretending to be helpful ;) After Circe turns everyone back, she is no longer monstrous, but a good hostess

Volsunga Saga

Norse Monstrosity theme, heroic women theme, monstrous women theme Unknown author - 13th Cent. Three Basic Themes: Heroism, Monsters/Monstrosity, Female Monsters/ Monstrosity Is a Fornaldur Saga 1. runic knowledge, princely jealousies, betrayals, unrequited love, vengeance of barbarian queen, greedy schemes of Attila the Hun, mythic deeds of the dragon slayer, Sigurd the Volsungs 2. Wars among kings: Burgundians, Huns, Goths 3. Sigurd, Siegfried in German Icelandic manuscripts (13th C) form the largest existing vernacular literature of the Medieval West Pg. 5 "The account of Sigmund and his son Sinfjotli in the forest, and others like it in the saga, reflect the uncertain boundaries between nature and culture and between the world of men and wthe world of the supernatural."

"Lay of Hamdir"

Norse death theme Fate, prophecy, and death we didn't really go over this

"Poem of Atli"

Norse death theme earliest eddic lay, written by thorbjorn hornklofi earliest version of the legend of the burgundians at atli's court (instead of bringing a whole army, like in volsunga saga, gunnar and hogni just show up like beasts) They ignore gudrun's warning (would b3e cowardly to listen to a lady, also it minimizes caszualties bc they're just presenting themselves) NOT just a suicide mission, but a stick it to the man and assure that he doesn't discover your treasure kind of mission SEE cooperative principle of communication

Norse death and the afterlife

Old norse heroes seem to relish their defeat- if you died bravely you had figurative immortality becase the world would remember you, you'd have poems written about you, and you might go to valhalla You can die by being flippant (witty stoecism to show that the opponent has no power over you, even in death- can criticize the opponent)- this is what tehodore and4ersson calls posturing, but taking grim satisfaction in your own death is badass. (last words are purposeful- they say things that foe is woefully ignnorant of and ultimately brings their downfall)

Death and Underworld in Greek Mythology

One was judged on their goodness by multiple judges (one for east, one for west, Minos was the main judge, and there are more but Wrightson forgot them because he's just like that) You get sent to various places (Tartarus is for the really bad baddies and they're continuously tortured, Normal human souls go to The Underworld is gaurded by cerberus, has east and west entrances, have to get past Thanatos (personification of death) to get in, also have to pay charon the ferryman to get across the river (one coin under tongue for greeks)- not feared, but not to be looked forward to either... so in life you just lived to the fullest and hoped you were good enough that your family would remember you The good places= elisium fields (heroes and people related to gods go here... no normal people allowed) or isle of the blessed (but only if you've been reborn 3 times and are perfect every time, which sounds like too much work) Unburied people not allowed to get into underworld But if you wanna sneak in, you can pay with golden branches (like hercules did) Water is crucial to greek myth of underworld (saw ocean as boundary of where world ended) We don't know much about the religious connection to the underworld or what the sould really did to get there

Grail stories

Perceval (aka peredur) and/or gallahad are the grail knights they come across beasts/supernatural ladies on their journey the grail can either heal you or prolong your life unnaturally if you eat or drink from it no one knows what it is or actually looks like (in peredur, it is the head platter) incomplete, a bunch of dead ends, and lots of plot holes

Romance Genre

Seen in Mabinogion French based- was initially just any story in french, but it transformed into a genre that typically featured adventure, episodic tales, elements of a quest Three types of romance- matters of France (think Charalamagne), Matter of rome (think mythology/classical sources), Matter of britain (think arthur and the knights) Motifs= magic/the supernatural, chivalric ethose (initially used in 12th cent to define knightly duties of defending church and fellow man, but it transformed into devotion to lady/loyalty to lord), and courtly love (which actually gave women the position of power, men have to earn their love, ritualistic speech is used, men are usually super emo and pathetic- pale, distracted, can't eat, super distressed)

Volsunga Saga pt 3

Siggurd's generation a king wants to marry Signy (who is not happy about it) Odin shoves a sword in Barnstock (the Volsung family tree symbol) Sigmund pulls the sword out and the king who's after signy offers to buy it off of him and siggurd says no, which pisses the king off The king leaves with Signy, later Volsung goes to visit them and Signy warns him that its probs a trap, but he goes anyway and the king kills Volsung and only 10 of the brothers are alive. Signy says they should be put in stocks and left outside to suffer, but a wolf eats the brothers each night... but to save sigmund, she has someone put honey on his face and when the wolf licks the honey, siggurd bites the wolf's tongue and it pulls back and rips him out of the stocks Sigmund is safe and hides in the woods, signy tests her kid's courage by sewing him into his clothes aned then sendding him to the woods to be tested by sigmund, she does this with another kid too and then just realizes her kids with the king are weak so she conspires to sleep with sigmund (her BROTHERR) because they'd have pure/strong kids. She turns herself into a sourceress and sleeps with him and has sinfjolti (this monstrous lil bastard of a kid) Sinfjolti passes the tests

Volsunga saga part 1

Sigi generation Sigi= son of odin Sigi kills a thrall and hides him in a snowdrift, so it's murder and he's outlawed Sigi becomes a king through raiding, gets married and has a son named Rerir Rerir gets married, wife is barren, Frigg gives her an apple to help out and Volsung is concieved

Saga of the Volsungs Monsters

Sigmund and Signy: incest Sinfjotli: psychotic Takes on 11 men as a wolf Kills the other children of King Siggeir Sigmund won't kill them, not heroic Death by poison, least heroic way to die, aside from (pg 51) dying in bed. Sigmund telling him to man up, even though he is very drunk, so Sigmund- call for restrait in action and words not followed, result son dies, Sinfjolti Otter: Eats with his eyes closed, doesn't like to see his food diminish, gluton and hoarded; precursor to Fafnir's Greed- same family Signy: Positive attributes Not Squeamish Dedcatied to avenging her father "Loyalty" Intelligent Recognizes Her own Failings Pg 41: Siegger to torture her brothers instead of kill them out right. Negative attributes 9/10 of bros are killed horrifically Denies an honorable death and their place in Valhalla Incest- Sinfjolti, moral deformitiy Witchcraft shows Filicide Suicide Mostrous- all her action

Volsungasaga pt 5

Sigmund marries another chick, has sigurd one day regin (who was like... his teacher?) tell him about his brother who is a dragon because he killed his dad to have cursed treasure and sigurd's like, "I bet I can handle that" Regin makes him a sword (1st one breaks) Odin tells sigurd to dig a bunch of ditches so that fafnir's super poisonous blood doesn't hurt sigurd sigurd stabs fafnir and fafnir's like "fine but this treasure will ruin you life" Sigurd eats fafnir's heart and can hear birds who tell him that regin wants the gold, so sigurd kills regin

Volsunga saga pt 6

Sigurd and brynhild drama He comes across lil miss valykrie and then she teaches him runes and he promises to marry her sigurd goes to brynhild's brother-in-law's castle, brynhild shows up but is all emo and is like "Sigurd, you can't marry me because you gotta marry gudrun" and he's like NAH and gives her one of the fafnir rings as a promise Now GUDRUN has a dream and so she goes to brynhild and brynhild interprets it saying that she'll marry sigurd and he'll die and she'll then marry atli and then kill him, and gudrun is like "oh..." Sigurd then goes to gudrun's dad's castle and gudrun's mom gives him a potion that makes him forget brynhild and so he marries gudrun THEN sigurd helps gudrun's brother woo brynhild and sleeps with her and so she thinks she's in love with gunnar and marries him but when she goes to court gudrun snitches and br4ynhild is heartbroken over sigurd gunnar and hogni plot against sigurd, sigurd dies, brynhild is happy and then SO depressed and kills herself and is burned with sigurd on the pyre

Volsunga saga part 4

Sinfjolti and siggurd go out into the woods and find these wolf skins on these dudes, so naturally they put them on and become wolves and kill a bunch of people. Sinfjolti was being dumb, so sigmund bit him in the throat and he almost died but odin saved them Signy asks siggmund to kill her kids and he says no, so sinfjolti does it and gives their corpses to the king and there's a battle and then the king buries them alive but signy smuggles them in a sword so that sigmund can cut his way out of the dirrt they set the king's hall on fire and signy walks into it because she apparently NOW has loyalty to the king?!? Sinfjolti goes home, sigmund marries someone, has a kid named helgi (there'ss a story with helgi and sinfjolti, but its boring and helgi marries someone Sinfjolti kills sigmund's wife's brother, so sigmund's wife poison's sinfjolti

Hesiod- Theogony- lines 820-885

Story of Typhoesus- Early Greek monster was the son of Gaea and Tartarus (kinda like hephaestus- a product of parthnogenisis) Looks SICK AF- 100 heads of snakes, dragons, flames on head (can't control burning)- because his physical features overtake him and he's out of control, he is bad and zeus must destroy him Hesiod's point?- monsters are not much of a threat to gods, but they are a threat to humans, and this story shows that Zeus can take care of humans, shows that Zeus has power and deserves to be head god Creation elements- Typhoesus's defeat creates storm elements- bad winds and bad lightning (as opposed to zeus's good lightning)

Greek Drama

Thespis was the firsst tragedian aeschylus was the first tragic playright (sphocles was the BEST, euripides was just there) had masks structure- hero has flaw, suffers a downfall, learns a moral lesson, there's a bunch of dramatic irony (whole audience knows what will happen), scenes with actors are interspersed with the chorus CHORUS= moralizing and biases, connects audience with story, refelct on action and comments on how the scenes will add to the end result, leader usually starts on side of hero but switches by the end Actual structure= prologue (introduces action), parados (where the chorus comes in), episodes (scenes of action central to plot, stasima (the songs of the chorus, meant to provide separation), exodos (close of the play (usually with a moralizing song by the chorus) devices= mimesis (simulated action on stage), catharsis (ritual cleansing that hero must go through to absolve crime - for oedipus, it is the eye gouging), anagnoresis (where the hero recognizes he's don e wrong- reversal of hero's fortune), and hubris (overweening pride that must be punished- for oedipus, it is the fact that he is told not to look into the problem, he looks into it anyway, and then he refuses to accept the truth- moment with tiresias marks this the best)

Greek heroes and their connection to death

To commune with souls you feed them blood Gilgamesh has many of the same motifs that greek hero/underworld stories have Hercules vs theseus (basicallyy the athenian hercules, but not as cool): Thesius was the first, and he went with his bud perathus who wanted to steal persephone (which was a BAD idea) and when they get there hades ties them to chairs of forgetfulness forever... until hercules comes to the underworld and saves them, but when theseus gets back to the real world he's immediately killed (RIP) Heroes who go to the underworld are proving their worth at the highest level

Volsunga saga pt 2

Volsung's generation Volsung is born at 6 yrs old (and his mother dies in the process obviously) Becomes king, gets married, has a bunch of kids two of those kids are Sigmund and his sister Signy

Mabinogion

Welsh talels Common themes of relationships of mundane to the majical, relationship of self to others (dealing with other cultures), and aspects of romantic heroism Characteres were simalar to their 12th century audience in codes of honor/values (which helped to reinforce those values, in courtly manners, and in invoking the christian god

Cooperative principles of conversation

`be as informative as required dont give too much info don't lie don't say something you aren't sure about be relevant don't be ambiguous be brief breaking these rules= face threateniung bc you create insecurity or hostility This is seen in lay of atli when the emissary of atli offers them weapons (being obscure because he means that the weapons will be offered in the hands of soldiers) Gunnar does this in his last word to atli too "you'll be as far from men's eyes" not only saying that he'll be alone and that he's not brave (because he chose to let others do his dirty work instead of killing gunnar himself, but also that gudrun (a woman) may be close when he dies (she's a woman, she loves her br4others, revenge is imminent) but basically he's showing that aatli is woefully ignorant of his impending dowonfall and that he's gonna go down hard

Celtic Mythology

animistic (recognizing the "aliveness" of nature" the Goddess has primacy, represents life/fertility (goes by many names) the Consort (male god) is more realated to the human world/ancestors Mutability is a halmark of this world- humans mutate for various reasons, nature is in flux too

Lady of the fountain difference in romance style

compared to Peredur, this story is less episodic, more linear, and more didactic (Goddess being taken back to Arthur's court in the end= sign of pagan magic being converted to Christianity), and Owein is not as invincible as Peredur (gets a lot of help)

Problems in the lady of the fount

episodes double up (2 instances of rescuing the 24 ladies, 2 black knights, 2 maid/lady duos BUT they are divided by MONIAGE (a courtly trope of a period of madness in the wilderness - as in owein's whole werewolf thing- and these episodes are divided pre and post madness) After madness, owein is seeing the same things through a new perspective

Greek Comedy

get raunchy they almost always politically lampoon people have elaborate costumes (phalluses for funsies)

Fisher king

keeper of the grail, wounded (in the thigh, code for his balls, he's barren, so the land is barren) and occupies the grail castle, if asked about the grail,he will be healed (but in peredur, he follows his 1st uncle's advice telling him not to ask about weird shit, therefore leaving his other uncle wounded)

Owein

knight of the round table, replicating adventure that somebody had already had (and is successful), conquers consort of the fountain (the black knight) and becomes the knight himself (comes with sexy perks and clout and lots of $/things)

Creepy shit in peredur

the witches are both capable of good (they train him) and evil (they kill his cousin- thus they must be killed in the end) The spear dripping blood and the dripping head (repeated throughout literary history, this is the first instance... early rendition of the holy grail, thus the king (peredur's second uncle) serves as the fisher king character)