Greek Myth Final

Aegisthus

- "goat boy" - Son of Thyestes and Thyestes' daughter Pelopia - Kills Atreus (father of Agamemnon) - Also has an affair with Clytemnestra (Agamemnon's wife) and they end up killing Agamemnon together.

Telegony

- (from Telegonus) - Telegony was Telegonus' journey to find himself as a man because he never met his father (Odysseus) and goes to find his father.

Homer

- A Greek poet, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey - It is also thought that the greek alphabet was invented for the sole purpose to record Homer's epics

Tiresias

- Blind prophet from either 1) Seeing Athena naked (she is the virgin goddess) 2) Siding with Zeus in an argument against Zeus and Hera about who has more pleasure, women or men. - When Odysseus goes to the Underworld to meet Tiresias, Tiresias tells him two things 1) How to get home 2) How to make it up to Poseidon - He also tells Odysseus about the suitors and how they want Penelope's hand in marriage and he also tells Odysseus how to relieve Poseidon's anger: - Odysseus would have to get an oar and walk inland until someone who never seen the ocean asks him if its a winnowing fan and hes supposed to take the oar after someone asks and fix it in the earth and create a sacred shrine to Poseidon - Tiresias also tells Odysseus that his death will be mild and that it will come from the sea

Patrocius

- Borrows Achilles' armor, dies by Hector - Also was Achilles' lover so his death spurs Achilles into a murderous rampage.

Myrtilus

- Charioteer who helps Pelops win against Hippodameias father in exchange for the first night with her - Pelops pushes him off a cliff

the curse on the house of Atreus

- Cycle of murder, vengeance, betrayal 1) Tantalus serves his son Pelops for dinner 2) Pelops kills Mrytilus after they made a deal 3) Thyestes sleeps with Atreus'wife Aerope 4) Atreus kills Thyestes sons and feeds them to him 5) Thyestes sleeps with his daughter Pelopia and has a son Aegisthus 6) Atreus marries Pelopia and Aegisthus kills them 7) Agamemnon and Menalaus (Atreus' sons) kill Thyestes 8) Agamemnon gets killed by his wife Clytemnestra 9) Clytemnestra has an affair with Aegisthus 10) Orestes (Clytemnestras son) kills her

Polyphemus

- Cyclops who was Poseidon's son. -As Odysseus and his men landed on Sicily, Odysseus is eager to see if there are people on the island because he wants to receive gifts (hospitality). As they look around the Island, Odysseus and his men go in the cave of Polyphemus and see the pails of milk, cheese, and the goats and because they're hungry they decide to eat and drink the milk (violation of hospitality). The Cyclops soon comes home and eats Odysseus' men by picking them up, dashing their heads against the ground, and eating them. - Cyclops didn't know of technology and only ate natural things - Greeks know how to make wine which is considered technology and Odysseus uses that to his advantage Polyphemus asks Odysseus for his name and he says that it's "Nobody." After Polyphemus is drunk, he says that he'll eat Odysseus last and while he sleeps, Odysseus and his men poke his eye so that Polyphemus is blind. When Polyphemus wakes up, he starts screaming and yelling saying "Nobody hurt me!" "Nobody help me!" so that when his neighbors heard this, they thought he was okay. Odysseus knows that Polyphemus had to let his sheep out so in the morning, he ties his men up to the sheep and while the sheep go out, Polyphemus feels them but doesn't feel the men - Odysseus ties himself to Polyphemus' ram After Polyphemus gets defeated, Odysseus boasts and says his real name - Odysseus gets cursed 1) He's going to come home late(20 years) 2) He's going to lose his ship and find himself in someone else's ship 3) He's going to lose his men 4) Theres going to be trouble at home

Pelopia

- Daughter of Thyestes, has a kid with Thyestes, marries her uncle Atreus, has a son Aegisthus, kills herself - Her father, Thyestes goes to the oracles and they prophesied that he would sleep with his daughter. They end up sleeping together without knowing who the other person is at a all night festival and she gives birth to a boy but sends him away. Atreus (her uncle) and Pelopia end up getting married and Atreus finds a baby boy with a sword in front of his door and they decide to adopt it (Pelopia doesn't know thats her child) - Atreus tells his two sons Agamemnon and Menelaus and his adopted son Aegisthus (Thyestes real son) to kill Thyestes. To prove his loyalty, Aegisthus tells Atreus that he will kill Thyestes with the sword that was left with him as a baby - As Aegisthus goes to kill Thyestes, Thyestes notices that Aegisthus is holding his sword and they find out that they are father and son. Meanwhile, Pelopia walks by and also notices that it was her real son all along and that the person she slept with was with her father - Pelopia is so ashamed, she kills herself with the sword.

Hector

- Does everything right - Hector kills Patroclus because Patroclus borrows Achilles' armor and Hector believes its Achilles. After killing Patroclus, Hector gets to keep Achilles' armor. Achilles gets upset that his friend has died and duels with Hector. Hector eventually loses, and Achilles drags his body around. Priam ransoms Hector's body.

Eurycleia The Nurse

- Eurykleia was the servant of Penelope who helped raise Telemachus and also knew Odysseus from when he was young. As Odysseus comes home dressed as a beggar, Penelope gives him hospitality and tells Eurykleia to wash his feet. However, as Eurykleia is washing his feet, she recognizes something on Odysseus' leg. - When Odysseus was young and went hunting with his grandfather as a young boy, he was attacked by a wild boar and had a scar on his thigh. - Eurykleia knew of this a immediately recognizes Odysseus but he tells her to keep her mouth closed because he didn't want all the suitors to kill him and he wanted to come up with a plan to win Penelope back and punish all the suitors for taking advantage of his home and Penelope's hospitality.

Atreus

- Father to Agamemnon, Aegisthus (for a while, adopted), and Menelaus, husband to Aerope and later on Pelopia, son of Pelops and Hippodameia - Atreus was favored by the gods out of him and his brother Thyestes because he was the oldest and he wanted to be in control. Atreus makes a deal with Thyestes and says that whoever can make the sun go backwards can be king but since he was favored by the gods, he had Helios make the sun go backwards. So Thyestes got mad and slept with Atreus' wife, Aerope. - Atreus kept a golden fleece and Thyestes makes a new deal saying that whoever has the golden fleece can be king and he steals the fleece from Atreus. - Atreus gets mad and invites his brother for dinner and after they finish eating, Atreus reveals that they were Thyestes' two sons. Thyestes goes to the oracles and asks how to overthrow Atreus and is given the prophecy that he would have to have sex with his daughter. - Atreus gets killed by Thyestes son Aegisthus.

How Odysseus got his name and wily character (grandson of Autolycus, a famous thief)

- He was named after pain - Odysseus took advantage of hospitality and stole food, etc.

Odysseus' Visit to the Underworld

- Odysseus doesn't know what to do about Poseidon's hate against him so Circe tells Odysseus that he has to go to the Underworld and consult Tiresias (blind prophet who lost his sight either from looking at Athena naked (she was the virgin goddess) or because of Hera and Zeus's argument about who has more pleasure and he sided with Zeus). Then Tiresias would tell him 1) How to get home 2) How to make it up to Poseidon Odysseus then meets his dead comrades of Troy: Achilles, Agamemnon, and Ajax - Agamemnon tells Odysseus to never trust women because he was killed by his wife - Ajax kills himself because Odysseus got Achilles' armor and to restore his honor, Ajax believed he had to kill himself - Achilles tells Odysseus that being dead is the worst and that he'd be the lowliest slave rather than the king of the dead Tiresias then shows up and tells Odysseus about the suitors and how they want Penelope's hand in marriage and he also tells Odysseus how to relieve Poseidon's anger: - Odysseus would have to get an oar and walk inland until someone who never seen the ocean asks him if its a winnowing fan and hes supposed to take the oar after someone asks and fix it in the earth and create a sacred shrine to Poseidon - Tiresias also tells Odysseus that his death will be mild and that it will come from the sea

the theme of the Odyssey: a man's homecoming, which is tied to his identity; Odysseus' identity is bound up in his humanity (as opposed to the deities and non-human monsters he encounters)

- Odysseus is gone for about 20 years and the entire time, his wife Penelope waits for him. At first, he comes back and is not recognized for a very long time even by his wife Penelope because he was held up with Poseidon for so many years. Now that he came back though, the first thing to recognize him was his very very old dog. Then, Penelope gave up while Odysseus already was back. There was an archery competition where the competitors had to shoot an arrow through the holes of axes and the winner of this (where Odysseus was going against the suitors) would get to marry Penelope. Later after Odysseus won the competition which surprised everyone, he went on to kill all the suitors and anyone who favored the suitors as well as making Penelope able to recognize him. - He pursues his known necessity to himself to persevere through the monsters and the fact that Poseidon had a strong toll against him, Poseidon kept him another 10 years on the island of Calypso I believe

how Achilles and Odysseus both tried to avoid fighting in the Trojan War

- Odysseus tries to avoid fighting in the war by pretending to be insane and begins to sow salt on the ground to show how insane he is - Agamemnon then has Odysseus' son Telemachus thrown in front of him which causes Odysseus to stop sowing. Which reveals that he is perfectly sane. - Odysseus outs Achilles by placing a sword among the feminine gifts brought to the daughters of Lycomedes.

Proteus

- Old man of the sea, a shape shifter - Menelaus and Helen give hospitality to Telemachus because they know his father (Odysseus) - Menelaus starts talking about his adventures - Menelaus tells Telemachus how difficult it was to leave Troy and he ran into a nymph and he asked the nymph how to get home - The nymph tells Menelaus to go to the old man of the sea, Proteus who is a shape shifter. She tells Menelaus to grab him and hold him tight because Proteus would be shifting into different animals to try and escape but eventually if Menelaus holds him tight enough, Proteus would grant a wish and Proteus ends up helping Menelaus.

Nausicaa

- Princess of Phaeacia - Odysseus lands on the shore of the Phaeacians and Athena helps him because he has no clothing. Athena puts the idea into Nausicaa's head to go to the river and wash clothes. When Nausicaa goes to the shore, she meets Odysseus and thinks hes handsome and she wants to get married - Odysseus flirts with her and gives her the idea that he would want to get married so that he can receive hospitality from her and she takes him back to the palace. When they go to the palace and her parents ask who he is, he tells them his real name (he usually lies to strangers) However he doesn't stay with them because they don't satisfy what hes looking for in his own identity

Dido

- Queen of Carthage (Juno) asks Aeneas about his adventures - Aeneas recounts the fall of Troy, his flight from the city with his father, sons and gods of numerous encounters, including Scylla & Charybdis, the Cyclopes, the Sirens Dido falls in love with Aeneas , Aeneas delays in Carthage,

Circe

- Related to Medea - Odysseus and his men land on Circe's Island and needs supplies so he sends some of his men to explore the land. Only one man comes back and he tells the story how there was a beautiful woman weaving a loom and was singing which helped her remember how to weave the patterns on the loom. As the men got near to the palace, they saw that outside of the palace, there were terrifying animals but they weren't violent at all. The woman came out and invited them all in but the one explaining the story was hiding. As the men received hospitality and were eating and drinking, Circe walked around and turned them into animals. She made their inner natures turn into the animal that represents them. Odysseus decides to go to Circe and ends up receiving help from Hermes. He tells Odysseus to watch out and gives him something to protect him from her witchcraft and gives him Moly (garlic). Circe invites him in and tries to enchant him but it doesn't work so Odysseus grabs her and forces her to change the animals back to his men. Odysseus ends up spending one year with Circe and he decides it's time to move on. However as he leaves, Circe tells Odysseus that he's in trouble because Poseidon is against him and that he'll never make it home unless he makes it up to Poseidon. She tells him that he has to visit the Underworld and consult the ghost of Tiresias (blind prophet who lost his eye because he saw Athena naked (shes the virgin goddess) and Hera and Zeus's argument about who has more pleasure) and that Tiresias will tell him how to get home and how to please Poseidon. - After he consults Tiresias, she also warns him of the Sirens and Scylla & Charybdis

Menelaos (Menelaus)

- Son of Atreus, brother to Agamemnon, husband to Helen. - Menelaus and Helen give hospitality to Telemachus because they know his father (Odysseus) - Menelaus starts talking about his adventures - Menelaus tells Telemachus how difficult it was to leave Troy and he ran into a nymph and he asked the nymph how to get home - The nymph tells Menelaus to go to the old man of the sea, Proteus who is a shape shifter. She tells Menelaus to grab him and hold him tight because Proteus would be shifting into different animals to try and escape but eventually if Menelaus holds him tight enough, Proteus would grant a wish and Proteus ends up helping Menelaus.

Telemachus

- Son of Odysseus and Penelope - As Odysseus is gone, Telemachus grows up in a house of suitors. As he grows up, the suitors feel threatened by him because he becomes a man and they feel that he is standing in the way of Penelope. Because Athena favors Odysseus, she decides to help out Telemachus and appears to him in a dream saying that Telemachus should go on a journey to find out about his father because he is old enough to learn and find who he is. Telemachus first goes to the place of Nestor (eldest to go to the Trojan war and see what happened) and asks if he heard about his father and Nestor sends his son to go with Telemachus. Next, Telemachus goes to Sparta where Helen and Menelaus live and right away Helen recognizes him and says he's Odysseus' son. Telemachus goes back home to check up on his mother and he finds out the suitors want to kill him so he doesn't stay at the palace but with a swineherd Eumaeus. - When Odysseus comes back home after 20 years, he looks for his son and meets him. Telemachus and Odysseus come up with a plan to save Penelope and get their home back - In the future, Telemachus ends up marrying Circe.

Pelops

- Son of Tantalus - Pelops fell in love with Hippodameia but her father didn't want her to be married so he said that whoever wants to marry her would have to beat him in a chariot race and if he loses, he must die - Pelops accepted this challenge and hires Myrtilus the best charioteer to drive him and in return he offered Hippodameia to spend the first night with Myrtilus. Pelops wins the contest and gets married to Hippodameia - Myrtilus asks for the first night with her and Pelops discusses it with him on a cliff and pushes Myrtilus off

How Odysseus dies at the hand of his son Telegonus, who is search for his own identity & Father

- Telegonus was the son of Circe and Odysseus. He was also like Telemachus who didn't know his true self because he never met his father so he went on a journey to find him. While he's leaving, Circe gives Telegonus a spear that never misses. During their journey, Telegonus and his men land in Ithaca and Odysseus sees this as a hostile encounter and gets ready to fight. Telegonus accidentally throws the spear and because it never misses, it hits Odysseus. As Odysseus is dying, he and Telegonus recognize each other and Telegonus realizes who he is. - To make everyone happy after killing Odysseus, Telegonus ends up marrying Penelope and Telemachus ends up marrying Circe.

Telegonus

- Telegonus was the son of Circe and Odysseus. He was also like Telemachus who didn't know his true self because he never met his father so he went on a journey to find him. While he's leaving, Circe gives Telegonus a spear that never misses. During their journey, Telegonus and his men land in Ithaca and Odysseus sees this as a hostile encounter and gets ready to fight. Telegonus accidentally throws the spear and because it never misses, it hits Odysseus. As Odysseus is dying, he and Telegonus recognize each other and Telegonus realizes who he is. - To make everyone happy after killing Odysseus, Telegonus ends up marrying Penelope and Telemachus ends up marrying Circe.

Tantalus

- The Curse on the house of Atreus originated with Tantalus who fed his son Pelops to the gods to test their omniscience and also stole from them - Demeter failed this test and Pelops was reborn with an ivory shoulder - His punishment would be eternal hunger and thirst in the realms of Tartarus where if he ever tried to drink water or grab fruit, the objects would move away from him and he would never be able to grab it and a bloodline with filth in its veins

Sirens

- The Sirens were represented as half women and half birds who lured sailors to their death with their songs. As they sang to sailors, they would tell the sailors to come closer until they were so close they crashed their ships and drowned to their deaths. While Odysseus and his men were passing the Sirens, Odysseus wanted to hear the Siren song so he told his men to tie him to the mast and never listen to any of his commands and then told them to put in wax in their ears so that they wouldn't hear anything. - Sirens were cursed in that if no one died while passing through, they would have to die in return and none of Odysseus' crew died while passing through

Aeneas

- The founder of Rome, "The Trojan who got away?" - A Few Comments on Aeneas: Greek tradition: - In the Iliad, Poseidon says Aeneas' descendants will rule Troy - In the Little Iliad, Aeneas is given as a slave to Neoptolemus, Achilles' son - In the Sack of Troy, Aeneas escapes and flees to the mountains in fear.

The Suitors

- The suitors were princes and kings of wealthy lands who wanted Penelope's hand in marriage because the land that she and Odysseus lived on was a wealthy kingdom. The suitors take advantage of Penelope's hospitality and want to kill her son Telemachus. When Odysseus comes back dressed as a beggar, they are cruel to him and treat him poorly. When Penelope holds a competition where whoever can bend Odysseus' bow and shoot an arrow through 12 axe heads, no one can do it and when Odysseus tries, he succeeds and kills all of the suitors. - The families' of the suitors want revenge but Athena helps Odysseus and persuades all of them to turn back.

Clytemnestra

- Wife of Agamemnon who has an affair with Aegisthus - While Agamemnon and Menelaus goes off to the war, Clytemnestra has an affair with Aegisthus (Thyestes son). When Agamemnon comes back, Clytemnestra kills Agamemnon with an ax because he left her alone for so long and because she was having an affair with their rival. - When Agamemnon comes home, Clytemnestra offers him hospitality and gives him a bath. When he goes in the bath, she and Aegisthus kill him. - She believes that if she kills Agamemnon, the curse of bloodshed would break but it doesn't work.

Nostoi

- ["homecomings"] - Nostalgia - "Nost"- homecoming + "algia"- pain - "The pain when you go home in the past" because you can never go back to the past

Aeolus

- king of winds - Odysseus is received by Aeolus and gets hospitality to him and his men .As Odysseus and his men leave, Aeolus gives him a bag of winds, the four winds, and says to be careful and that he can't use them all at once. As Odysseus gets back on the ship, his companions get curious to see what was in the bag and was curious on as why Odysseus didn't show and share what was in the bag. The men open up the bag and get blown all the way to Ithaca but then get blown away back to Aeolia. Aeolus gets mad because he said that he gave them a gift but they abused it

Penelope

- known as the "faithful one" - Penelope was the wife of Odysseus and they had a son Telemachus. While Odysseus was gone and didn't return from the Trojan War for 20 years, he left Penelope in charge. Since Ithaca was a very wealthy land and Penelope was very beautiful, Penelope had many suitors (who were all princes and kings of wealthy lands) that tried to ask for her hand in marriage but she was too faithful to Odysseus that she rejected them all. However, she did give them hospitality and provided them housing and foods but they never gave anything back. The suitors were anxious and kept pushing her to choose a man but she can't choose one because of her faithfulness to Odysseus but doesn't tell the suitors this because she didn't want to insult them as men so she told the men that she would choose a husband when she finished weaving a cloth. During the day, she would weave the cloth but at night she would undo what she weaved that day so that she would never finish it and never have to choose a husband. - When Odysseus comes back after 20 years, he dresses as a beggar and tells Penelope that he was good friends with Odysseus. She offers him hospitality but tells him that she would have to choose a suitor. With Odysseus' advice, she comes up with a competition between the suitors - Whoever could bend the bow of Odysseus and shoot an arrow through 12 ax heads would be able to marry her. Odysseus then wins but Penelope starts questioning to see if Odysseus has changed during those years. She tells Eurykleia to bring out their bed and set it in the courthouse so they could spend the night there together but Odysseus says no because he built the house around a tree and in that tree he built in a bed so that bed was unmovable. - After Odysseus dies by Telegonus' spear, Penelope ends up marrying Telegonus.

Iphigenia

- the daughter of king Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She was used as a sacrifice to Artemis because Agamemnon did not offer the first fruits of the season to the goddess. Artemis angered by this halts the winds so the ships are stuck. - In the alternate version Artemis spares her and asks for a deer instead

Lex Taliones

- the law of revenge - To get back at Atreus for killing his two sons and feeding it to him, Thyestes stops by an all night festival and sleeps with an unknown woman and the next day leaves his sword with her. However, he didn't know that it was his daughter. - Meanwhile, Atreus divorces with Aerope because Aerope had an affair with Thyestes. Atreus decides to get married with his nephew (Pelopia) and she has the baby before they get married but abandons the baby. Atreus one day finds the baby and the sword in front of his door and decide to adopt the baby however, Pelopia doesn't know that it was her baby. - Atreus kicks out Thyestes from the kingdom but when all the kids are grown up, Thyestes comes back and decides that he wants to kill Atreus - Atreus tells his two sons Agamemnon and Menelaus and his adopted son Aegisthus (Thyestes real son) to kill Thyestes. To prove his loyalty, Aegisthus tells Atreus that he will kill Thyestes with the sword that was left with him as a baby - As Aegisthus goes to kill Thyestes, Thyestes notices that Aegisthus is holding his sword and they find out that they are father and son. Meanwhile, Pelopia walks by and also notices that it was her real son all along and that the person she slept with was with her father - Pelopia is so ashamed, she kills herself with the sword. - Using the blood of Pelopia on the sword, Aegisthus goes back to Atreus and tells him that he killed Thyestes and when Atreus turned his back, Aegisthus used that sword to kill him and Thyestes becomes king for awhile until he is driven out by Atreus' two sons.

The Discrepancies Between the Epic Cycle story of the Trojan War and the Movie Troy:

1) Agamemnon & Menelaus do not die at Troy 2) Paris and Achilles die before the Horse is built 3) Briseis is not related to the Trojans (this is a Medieval fabrication) 4) Ajax (the warrior with the hammer) does not die in battle but at his own hands 5) Andromache & the baby and Helen do not escape through the back door at the end

The Cypria

1) Wedding of Peleus and Thetis 2) Judgement of Paris 3) Rape of Helen 4) [Oath of Tyndareus] the Greek forces gather 5) Iphigenia at Aulis 6) Philoctetes on Lemnos

Scylla

6-headed monster; if chosen this, you will automatically lose 6 men

The Cyclopes

A people who don't have any laws, ships, real cities. They are mostly shepherds.

Achilles

Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and the central character and greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad

Achilles' twin fates in life: a short, glorious life or a long, obscure one

Achilles was always different from all of humans since he was born and was born with a unique fate. He had the chice to live a short glorius life or a long life in obscurity. He chose the short, glorius life. When Odysseus goes into the Underworld to talk with the ghost of Tiresias, he sees Achilles and Achilles tells him that being dead sucks and would rather be a slave than a ghost in the Underworld. This shows that Achilles essentially regrets chosing this life to be glorius in a short time, but also shows his heroic means in his decision making.

Phoenix

Achilles' human tutor

Briseis

Achilles' prize/slave

the Aeneid is the national epic of the Romans, commissioned by Emperor Augustus to lend grandeur to Rome's history/myth by creating a link between Rome and Troy in addition, the Aeneid is supposed to explain Rome's history, its conquest of Carthage, and the link between the past (Aeneas, Troy) and the present (Augustus, Rome)

Aeneas is the stand in character for Augustus and some events parallel those of Augustus' accomplishments (such as founding Rome)

Aeneid

Aeneas' adventure

How Odysseus proves to Penelope that he really is her husband (he knows the details of how he built their marriage bed)

After Penelope finds out that the beggar is Odysseus, she still questions him because he was gone for so long that she wanted to know if he changed or was still the same. She tells Eurykleia to get their bed and place it in the courthouse so that they could spend the night together. However, Odysseus says no because he was the one that built their house. He built their house around a tree and in that tree he built their bed which was unmovable.

the significant events in the Trojan War: why Achilles and Agamemnon quarrel, why Achilles withdraws from the war, why Agamemnon's gifts do not persuade him to return, what finally draws Achilles back into the war and seals his fate

Agamemnon was upset that he got his own slave girl Chryseis taken away. Agamemnon wanted Achilles' slave girl, Briseis, and ordered Achilles to give Briseis to him. This outraged Achilles & withdrew from the war until Agamemnon begged Achilles to return to war but then Hector kills Patroclus, and he decided to go back to war to kill Hector.

The Little Iliad

Ajax and Odysseus fight for Achilles' armor, Odysseus wins, Ajax goes mad and commits suicide

the judgement of Paris

Ares vouched for Paris, claiming that his past encounter (Paris' Bull vs Ares' Bull) with him proved that Paris would be a fair judge.

Argus The Dog

Argus was Odysseus' faithful dog. As Odysseus comes back home after 20 years, he disguises himself as a beggar and Argus was about to die because he was so old however, Argus still recognizes him and right before he dies, he looks up, recognizes Odysseus, barks once, and then passes away.

the curse on the House of Atreus also being a cause of the Trojan War; trouble is hereditary

Atreus had 2 sons, agamemnon and Menelaus who competed for the hand of Helen of Troy. Menelaus marriage didnt last long. Paris of Troy seduced Helen and they fled back to Troy on Asia Minor, causing the Trojan War, which began as an expedition to reclaim Hele. Agamemnon became commander in chief of all of the Greek foces and tried to set said from Aulis. Winds sent the whole fleet overseas for 10 months. To ensure good winds carries the fleet to Troy, Agamemnon sacraficed his and Clytaemnestras daughter, Iphigenia. In victory, Agamemnon returns home in victory to his bitter wife Clytaemnestra more than nine years after the sacrafice. Cly rages at her daughters' death from Agamemnon. Oreses is the only surviving son of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra. He leaves worrying that Aegisthus will kill him. Orestes, the surviving son, returns and an oracle of Apollo told him to avenge his father's death and punish the guilty. He conspires with his sister, Electra, to murder both Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus.

The Cattle of the Sun on Thrinacia

Circe warns Odysseus about a land on the sun with cattle on there and tells him that when they go there, Odysseus must not let himself or his men eat the cattle because it breaks the rules of hospitality. Odysseus tells this to his men but because they are so hungry they don't listen and eat it anyways. Everyone who ate the cattle died except Odysseus because he was the only one that didn't eat it.

Epic cycle

Collection of epics. Formal High- end poetry mostly dealing with war; The name of the whole collection of the greek poems that relate to the Trojan war 1) Cypria 2) Iliad (Troy= Ilium/ Ilion/ Ilias) 3) Aethiopis 4) The Little Iliad 5) The Sack of Troy 6) Nostoi ["homecomings"] 7) Odyssey 8) Telegony

"to the most beautiful"

Eris' revenge. Thetis received it as a wedding gift, was smart to not take the claim and gave it up for the goddesses to claim. Zeus did not want to be the judge because of his relationship with the goddesses (Hera, Athena, Aphrodite) he knew better.

Anchises

Father of Aeneas and lover of Aphrodite Aphrodite told him not to boast of their affair but he did not listen so Zeus hit him with a thunderbolt

Thyestes

Has a kid Aegisthus with Pelopia (Thyestes' daughter), Atreus' brother, son of Pelops and Hippodameia

why Hector is a "perfect" warrior and hero, and yet he too dies

He is faithful to his wife, loves his children, honors the gods accordingly and serves his country with loyalty and honor. In Troy, Hector marries Andromache with Andromache becoming one of the most famous Trojan Women. Hector would have a kid with her named Astyanax. Andromache is almost universally portrayed as the perfect wife, being supportive of her husband. Despite this, she pleaded with Hector on occasion not to leave the safety of Troy to enter the battles raging outside the city. Hector though, would right on putting his duty to defend Troy above the duty of a loving husband, fighting on even though Hector recognized the inevitablity of defeat.

Big Ajax

He was described as being particularly tall, extremely strong and fearless, During the Trojan War, Ajax was chosen to duel Hector, prince of Troy, a duel which lasted a whole day. Towards the end of the day, Zeus sent heralds to declare the duel a draw.

why Ajax kills himself, after he unsuccessfully vies with Odysseus for the armor of Achilles; how Ajax plays by the rules, the value system in the epics (honor, glory, fame, prizes), but is thwarted by Athena and driven mad by her

He was the bulwark of the Greek army. He battled Hector to a draw, then exchanged weapons. When achilles dies from an arrow from Paris, there is a huge battle for the corpse. Odysseus and Ajax carry it back to ships. Achilles is cremated and his ashes are mixed with Patroclus... Both Odysseus and Ajax claim Achilles armor. In order to prevent bloodshed, Odysseus lets the other kings decide, he is confident enough. Armor is then awarded to Odysseus after court essentially. That night, Ajax plans his revenge, sneaks into camp and starts to kill every Greek he sees. Athena sent madness at him but he is actually cutting down a herd of livestock. In the morning, he realizes what he did... Completely disgraced, he falls upon his own sword, which Hector gave to him when they traded. After his death, Agamemnon and Menelaus refuse to allow Ajax to be buried. After Odysseus puts his opinion in though, they relent.

Leda

Helen's mother that was seduced by Zeus when he was a swan. When pregnant, she laid 4 eggs : Helen,Clytemnestra, Pollux (Zeus' son) and Castor (Tyndareus' son) (twins).

Iliad

Homer's great epic that tells the story of the Trojan War

Eumaeus the swineherd

Houses Telemachus

The Sack of Troy

In another words is the wooden horse in which the greek soldier hid. Some of the trojans said they ought to burn the horse as an offering but they were bit by two snakes. They people then thought it ought to be an offering to Athena

nostos: return home/homecoming- Odysseus!!

Includes an epic hero returning home by sea, it is a sign of great heroism, and of victory over an obstacle he phased in the journey.

Odysseus

King of Ithaca, Penelope's husband, Telemachus' father

Priam

King of Troy, Hecuba's husband

The importance of xenia / hospitality for Odysseus and his story

Odysseus and his men always take advantage of hospitality and Odysseus ends up losing his men.

Calypso

Odysseus lands on Calypso's island and stays with her for 7 years

Hecuba

Priam's wife

Agamemnon

Son of Atreus, brother to Menelaus, husband to Clytemnestra

The Phaeacians

The Phaeacians were people who helped Odysseus get back home to Ithaca. After Calypso's Island, Odysseus lands where the Phaeacians are with no crew. He tells the Phaeacians his story and they decide to help him. However, the Phaeacians were told that one day they would give help to a stranger and that would lead to consequences. However they still take him on their boat and they drop him off at Ithaca. On their way back however, Poseidon's wrath turned the Phaeacians and their ship into stone and they sunk.

Vergil

The greatest Roman poet told the story of Aeneas in his epic Aenid

Lotus Eaters

The land of the drugs Odysseus and his men land on an island, and are given hospitality, as they eat the lotus flowers they seem to be suck on the island. They forget about everything and never want to leave until odysseus grabs all his men and takes them back to the ship.

Little Ajax

The son of Oileus, raped Cassandra daughter of Priam at temple of Athena

The Trojan Horse

The trojans had big walls protecting them from the greeks. The greeks then made a wooden horse and gave it to the trojans.

how lex talionis (the law of revenge) characterizes the strife within the House of Atreus; each generation wreaks violence and suffering upon the next and perpetuates the violence

Thyestes sparks the feud by taking the throne of Mycenae from him.After taking back the throne, Atreus chopped up Thyestes (his brother) children and fed them to him in a soup when inviting him over to dinner. This crime causes a wave of terribleness that in the end leaves both brothers dead and places a violent curse on the House of Atreus for the following generations.

Penelope's ploy to avoid having to marry one of the suitors (weaving the shroud for Laertes)

When Odysseus goes back to war, he leaves her in charge of their home in Ithaca. However, Odysseus doesn't come back from the Trojan War like everyone else. Ithaca is a very wealthy land and kings wanted to wed Penelope so they could get the land but what they did wrong was that Penelope housed them and they took advantage of her hospitality without giving anything back in return. Penelope makes a ruse saying she can't choose one of the suitors because she's faithful to Odysseus but doesn't want to insult the suitors because they are men. Penelope starts weaving a cloth for Laertes (Odysseus's father) and she says they have to wait till she finished and then she said she will choose after. However, during the day she weaves the cloth and at night she undoes the threads so that she would never finish the cloth.

Scylla & Charybdis

When stuck between a rock and a hardplace, you can either choose between the Scylla or Charybdis. People usually choose the Scylla.

Charybdis

Whirlpool; if chosen this you may lose your entire ship

Paris

Youngest of Priam's children, steals Helen, kills Achilles

Eris = Strife

[Goddess of discord] She was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis because she would cause problems (have everyone fighting). But, because she was not invited she got mad and decided to send a golden apple with the message "To the most beautiful" as a form of revenge.

Odyssey

a Greek epic poem (attributed to Homer) describing the journey of Odysseus after the fall of Troy

the oath of Tyndareus

any eligible suitor must take an oath to swear to protect Helen and her future husband

Lavinia

daughter of Latinus & Amata, last wife of Aeneas

Rhea Silvia

daughter of Numitor, King of Alba Longa

Tyndareus

father of Castor, king of Sparta

Helen

fathered by Zeus, Aphrodite made her fall in love with Paris after Paris chose Aphrodite "to the most beautiful" goddess.

Latinus

king of the Latins

Turnus

local king in Italy, who is against allowing Aeneas & his people to settle

Philoctetes

one of the original voyagers with those who went to Troy. Had his snake bitten at an altar and was abandoned by the crew in Lemnos (the wound got filled with pus, started smelling bad, and he was screaming in agony the entire way). Also was in possession of Heracles' bow, which was needed if they were to win the war. Odysseus went to go back to retrieve it, but Philoctetes was pretty salty about being abandoned. He eventually gave it to them in the end.

Ascanius/Julus

son of Aeneas, also called Iulus.

Romulus & Remus

sons of Rhea Silvia, twin brothers, they were to be drowned in the Tiber River, but the trough allowed them float to where future Rome were to be. Romulus built a city wall, and Remus jumped over it to be killed by his brother; the city was then named after Romulus

Venus

their version of Aphrodite (Romans)

Juno

their version of Hera (Romans)

Castor & Pollux/Polydeuces

twins that saved Helen from being raped by Theseus. They fought against cattle raiders and Castor dies since his father was a mortal. Pollux shares his immortality with Castor by being alive one day, and vice versa.

Amata

wife of Latinus and mother of Lavinia; in the Aeneid of Virgil, she commits suicide during the conflict between Aeneas & Turnus over who would marry Lavinia

Sibyl

women oracles