23: Theseus and Attica Flashcards
1
Q
Theseus and attica
A
- theseus is athens’ greatest hero
- athens was the most dominant polis (city state)
- Attica was the region where athens is situated
2
Q
A
3
Q
conception of theseus
A
- aegeus: avatar of poseidon. childless king of athens
- he consults delphic oracle: ‘do not open wine skin’
- goes to troezen in peloponnesus
- king pittheus of troezen gets aegeus drunk and has him sleep with daugther, aethra
4
Q
theseus coms of age
A
- aethra’s dream: poseidon appears and sleeps with her and makes theseus–>Dual paternity
- aegeus’ orders was to raise child in secret
- sword and sandals under boulder: grown son to bring tokens to athens
5
Q
Theseus’ 6 Labours
A
- Troezen to Athens
- 6 labours: ‘half pint heracles’, was used for athenian propaganda
6
Q
6 labors
A
- epidaurus
- isthmus of corinth
- n. of isthmus of corint
- near megara
- eleusis
- between eleusis and athens
7
Q
1 and 2
A
- Epidaurus kills periphetes so theseus clubs him to death
- isthmus of corint kills sinis so theseus ties him to 2 bent pines
8
Q
3 and 4
A
- N. of Isthmus of Corinth, village of crommyon. Kills Crommyonian sow
- near megara, sciron who is a robber. Forces passers by to wash his feet and boots them over cliff, devoured by gigantic turtle
9
Q
5 and 6
A
- At Eleusis, Cercyon, a former local hero who out wrestles wrestler
- between eleusis and athens. Procrustes (‘stretcher’) bed;hammer;saw made to fit. ‘Procrustean bed’: conformity through extremity
10
Q
Heroic Homecoming
A
- sorceress Medea: Aegeus’ new wife
- Theseus a threat to Medea’s son: Medus
- Medea attempts to poison theseus. Ageus IDs sword and sandals and mEdea flees on dragon drawn chariot
11
Q
Bull of Marathon
A
- bull formerly known as the cretan bull (heracels’ 7th labour)
- ravaging plain of mararthon: captures and brings to athens and sacrifices to apollo delphinius
12
Q
king minos revenge
A
- son, androgeos, killed in attica
- minos invades attica
- 7 young men and 7 young women sacrificed annually to minotaur in labyrinth
- theseus volunteers
13
Q
theseus and ariadne
A
- ariadne, daugther of minos and pasiphae who falls for theseus
- theseus uses tread of ariadne to escape labyrinth
- theseus slays minotaur and escaped with ariadne and athenian youth
14
Q
ariadne abandoned
A
- pit stop on naxos, theseus leaves her behind
- dionysus rescues her. her crown catasterized as constellation corona
- becomes wife of bacchus
15
Q
king is dead
A
- naxos to delos to athens: sails to be changed from black to white. Theseus forgetes
- Aegeus hurls himself into the Aegean sea
- Theseus: King of Athens/ Synoecism of Attica
16
Q
Theseus and amazons
A
- heracles’ 9th labor: girdle of hippolyta
- theseus’ share: antiope and child: hippolytus
- amazons invade: athenians win and antiope dies
- theseus vs amazons: amazonomachu. Popular in athenian art for triumph over barbarism
17
Q
Dynamic Duo
A
- Theseus and Pirithous. the king of lapiths and son of ixion
- help each other find wives. Daughters of Zeus: theseus, Helen, Pirithous, Persephone
- Helen abducted: still a child and rescued by Dioscuri
- Theseus and pirithous: katabasis to kidnap persephone by binding to magical thrones
- heracles’ 12th labor: rescues theseus but pirithous hubris too great
18
Q
Daedalus
A
- daedalus: skilled craftsman and inventor and athenian royalty
- perdix: assistant to Daedalus. Invents saw and daedalus kills him by hurling him from cliff. Athena pities him and changes him into a Patridge
- Expiates blood guilt: exiled to Crete
19
Q
Daedalus and Minos
A
- poseidon answers minos’ prayer and minos substitutes divine bull for lesser
- minos’ punishment: pasiphae falls in love with bull and commissions daedalus to hollow cow, which mates with bull, making minotaur
- daedalus builds labyrinth as cage for minotaur
20
Q
Minos and Daedalus
A
- Minos imprisons Daedalus
- Daedalus fashions wings with feathers and wax
- Icarus, Daedalus’ son. was warned to fly not too low or high. Icarus disregards –> fall of Icarus
