After Midterm Flashcards
Which Greek author is known for their work “The Library” or “The Library of Mythology”
Apollodorus
When did Apollodorus write “the Library”?
What does Apollodorus mean?
i. ) Circa 100s A.D.
ii. ) Gift of Apollo
Who were the two protagonists of the Kalydonian Boar story?
Meleager and Atalanta
i. ) Where was Meleager born?
ii. ) What was his fathers name and title?
ii. ) What caused the boar to ravage the territory?
i) Kalydon in Aitolia
ii) Oineus, King of Kalydon
iii) King Oineus failed to sacrifice to Artemis, and she replied by releasing the boar to ravage the territory
What happened with Meleager after the Kalydonian Boar was killed?
He quarreled with his mother’s brothers over who would keep the prized hide of the boar. He then killed them. Afterwards his mother burned the logs she had hidden based on the prophecy she heard when he was seven days old. Once the logs were fully consumed, Meleager would die.
The hero Atalanta was known as a kind of human equivalent to which goddess?
What was her most notable difference (other than divinity)?
Artemis, and she was not a virgin.
What happened to Atalanta as a child?
Who cared for her?
She was abandoned by her father since he wanted a boy.
She was suckled by a she-bear
How did Atalanta find a worthy companion? What was his name and how did he win her heart?
What happened to the couple?
She challenged her suitors to outrun her, failure meant death
Melanion
He defeated her by dropping before her golden apples provided by Aphrodite.
Afterward while hunting, they came across a sanctuary of Zeus and made love. As punishment, they were turned into lions.
What difficult topic does the myth of Atalanta explore involving early Greek culture?
The Greek perception of gender ideology, a woman that is wild must be tamed by men
Essentially, there can be no compatibility between wife and mother and the activities of hunting and warfare.
Background story of Perseus:
i) Mothers name
ii) How he was born and what happened after, why?
iii) Who saved Perseus and his mother, what mission followed and why?
i) His mother’s name was Danae
ii) Danae was seduced by Zeus, and Perseus was born. Her father heard from an oracle that Perseus would kill him, so he locked them in the chest and threw them in the ocean.
It floated from the coast of the Argolid to the island of Seriphos.
iii) They were fished up by Diktys. His brother (the local ruler) fell in love with Danae. In order to get Perseus out of the way, he sent him on a mission to collect Medusa’s head.
What is Medusa and who was sent to collect her head?
Medusa was one of the monstrous Gorgons.
The Gorgons lived by Ocean (the end of the world).
Their heads were fringed with serpents, they had boar tusks, bronze hands, and wings of gold.
They petrified anyone who looked at them.
Perseus, son of Danae and Zeus was sent to collect her head at the request of Polydektes (the local ruler and brother of his savior)
Who helped Perseus fetch the head of Medusa?
What did he bring with him?
Athene, Hermes, and Graiai (under compulsion)
A sickle, a pouch, winged sandals and a cap of invisibility
How did Perseus defeat Medusa?
By looking at her reflection in his shield he managed to avoid her direct and lethal stare. He cut off her head with the sickle and put it in the pouch. He eluded the remaining Gorgons by putting on his invisibility cap.
Who did Perseus save on his return after defeating Medusa?
Andromeda, the daughter of King Kepheus.
She was chained to a rock as an offering to a sea-monster which was threatening the land.
Perseus despatched the beast and took Andromeda back to Greece to be his bride.
What did Perseus do once he returned to Seriphos after saving Andromeda and slaying Medusa?
He used Medusa’s head to petrify Polydektes, who was oppressing his mother Danae.
Then he gave his sandals, pouch and cap to Hermes and Medusa’s head to Athene.
Afterward, during an athletic competition, Perseus involuntarily killed her grandfather Akrisios (as per the oracle’s prophecy) from a discus throw.
