17: Theban Saga Flashcards
Myth Types
- Divine Myth: True Myth or Myth Proper
- Legend aka Saga: tales of heroes and heroines. G. Hēros = “Hero”. Elements of folktale
- Folktale: fairytale and fable
Greek heroes and cities in Mycenaean age
- Late Bronze Age aka Mycenaean Age
- Greek heroes have 2 divisions:
1. Older heroes: long before Trojan War
2. Younger heroes: just before or during Trojan war - Late Bronze Age cities
–> located in the Peloponnesus: Sparta, Tiryns, Argos, Mycenae, Pykos (STAMP)
–> Greek mainland: Athens, Thebes, Iolcus
–> Asia minor and islands: Troy, Crete
how many Heroic motifs in Heroic Quest and with Heroines
10 Heroic motifs and 5 Heroine motifs
10 Folktale Heroic Motifs in Heroic Quest
- Miraculous/Unusual Conception/Birth: often divine
- Immediate Opposition: imminent threat at birth
- Enemies instigate accomplishments by posing direct challenge
- Assistance: often divine but can be himam
- Seemingly Insuperable challenges: sent on quest; labors undertaken
- Various adventures and temptations: Human, monstrous, divine; physical, spiritual, sexual
- Taboos
- Triumph over death: often katabasis
- Reward: marriage, power, wealth
- Death: often dies in obscurity or disgrace, rarely deification
5 Folktale Heroine Motifs
- Departure or exile from home often under compulsion
- Seclusion often in order to prevent impregnation
- Impregnation, usually by a god
- Punishment and/or rejection
- Resue and birth of son
Europa and the Bull
- Europa is a sister of Cadmus, the first King of Thebes
- Zeus disguises as a bull and abducts Europa and swims to Crete with her on his back
- Europa becomes first queen of Crete and give birth to her son with Zeus named Minos, the first King of Crete
Where was Thebes and how was it founded
- Bronze Age Thebes located in Boeotia in central Greece
- Cadmus originally from Phoenicia. He is sent to find missing sister, Europa. Delphic oracle tells him to “follow cow” and build a town on the spot where she lay down. The cow guided him to Boeotia (Cow Land), where he founded the citadel –> Cadmeia = Acropolis and eventually renamed Thebes
Cadmus and Dragon
- Cadmus slays serpent/dragon sacred to Ares. Athena advises Cadmus to sow its teeth, when he does armed men spring up from it and fight each other.
- Only 5 survive: Spartoi = “Sown Men” and nobility of Thebes descended from Spartoi, who helped build the city of Thebes
Cadmus and Harmonia
- Cadmus slave to Ares for 1 year for killing Ares’ serpent/dragon and rewarded at the end of service by being given Harmonia, the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite
- Cadmus marries Harmonia and all gods attend their wedding. Hephaestus makes a necklace and gives it as a bridal gift, which plays an important role in later Theban saga
- Cadmus and Harmonia transformed into serpents due to the cursed necklace or the serpents curse
Children of Cadmus and Harmonia and importance
Children:
* Semele: mother of Dionysus
* Agave: mother of Pentheus
* Cadmus introduced alphabet derived from Phoenician script
* their children continue the dynasties of thebes
What did Cadmus introduce
the alphabet, derived frmo Phoenician script
Order of the King of Thebes (10)
- Cadmus
- Pentheus
- Labdacus
- Lycus
- Zethus and Amphion
- Laius
- Oedipus
- Eteocles
- Creon
- Laodamas
Chubby Powerful Ladies (La) Lyfted (Ly) to Zimbabwe in Australia Laughing (Laiu) at Oedipus Even Crying (Cre) Loudly (Lao)
Amphion and Zeus
- Antiope raped by Zeus and gives birth to twins named Amphion and Zethus. They are abandoned on Mt. Cithaeron
- A shepherd finds them and raises them
- Amphion: musician and Zethus: shepherd
- They avenger their mother and kill her opressor, Dice and become rulers of Cadmeia
Amphion and Zethus in founding of Thebes
- After Amphion and Zethus become rulers of Cadmeia, Amphion’s music moves stones into place to make the walls of Thebes
- Zethus marries Thebe (heroine)
- Amphion marries Niobe (Niobids)
- Cadmeia renamed to Thebes
- Double foundation myth: Cadmus founds Cadmeia = Acropolis and the walls of lower city are called Thebes proper with 7 Gates to the City
Who is theseus
founder of Athens
