CH. 4 - Heroes and Myth Flashcards
in “The Hero, a study of Tradition, Myth and Drama” mythographers outlined how many common traits of heroes, and what is this called?
22 common traits called the “mythic hero archetype”
1. the heros mother is a royal virgin
2. his father is a king and…
3. often a near relative to mother but…
4. the circumstances of this conception are unusual and …
5. he is also reputed to be the son of a god…
6. at birth, attempts are made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather to kill him but
7. he is spirited away and,
8. he is raised by foster parents in a far away country
AND SO ON
other mythographers disagreed with the 22 common traits. Om “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” the pattern is called a _____
a monomyth
1. the hero is separated from his familiar surroundings
2. he undergoes a mysterious initiation, during which he grapples with natural powers and gains understanding of himself in relation to the gods
3. He returns to share the new vision with his fellow inhabitants
general characteristics of Perseus
- one of the earliest greek Heros
- similar to Herakles
- most Greek heros struggle with women, he performs all of his exploits with the aid or on the behalf of women
- mutually supports woman through his career
- does not journey to the underworld
early life of Perseus
- mother Danae had been imprisoned in a bronze chamber by her father Acrisius, king of Argos
- there was a prophecy where a son of Danae would kill him
- Zeus comes to her in a shower of golden rain, releasing procreative powers
- when Perseus is born Acrisius sets his daughter and grandson adrift at sea in a small wooden chest (Larnax), a symbol of a womb and a coffin
- consider Perseus’s connection between male and female
- protected by Zeus and float ashore to Sephirus
King Polydectes and Perseus
- king of Sephirus, the island where Danae and Perseus floated to
- he wanted Danae but she said no
- Perseus protects her by offering any gift to please him
- Poly wants the head of medusa, and impossible task
Perseus and the Gorgons
- gods are worried about his so athena steps in and tells him to go to the sisters of the gorgons: the graiae
- 3 old hags that share one tooth and eye between them
- Perseus steals it mid transfer and forces them to reveal the location of the nymphs who have magical weapons
- waiting until the gorgons are asleep, he puts on his cap and walks in backwards using the sheild as a mirron
- cuts off Medusas head and Pegasus comes out
- places the head in his pouch and goes back to Sephirus
what are the items/tools that Perseus uses to kill the gorgons
- and invisibility cap, may have belonged to Hades
- a pouch
- pair of winged sandals, may have belonged to Hermes
- a sickle
- a shield (mirror)
Medusa
- her golden wings and hair of snakes are symbols inherited from the Great Goddess figures (i.e. Isis has wings), linking the upper and lower links together
- she is hated but her son pull Zeus’s chariot
- a guardian of womens mysteries, like Artemis
- ## Perseus’s enrance into her cave symbolizes entering the underworld, and like his predecessors he escapes alive
Perseus’s marriage to Andromeda
- on his way home, he stops in Ethiopia where the princess Andromeda is chained to a rock at the mercy of a sea serpent called Cetus
- he mother Casseopeia boasted that she is more beautiful than the sea nymphs which angered Posseidon
- Andro’s father king Cepheus was told only this sacrifice would save the kingdom
- Perseus offers to save her in exchange for her hand in marriage, he agrees and kills the moster
- she is already promised to Phineus, who attacks Perseus and loses
- they get married and have a son named Perces
Perseus returns home
- uses Medusa’s head to turn Polydectes and his followers to stone
- returns all his magical weapons to Hermes who return them to the nymphs
- gives head to Athena, it’s power binds men by turning them into stone, a symbol which is then put on her masculine weapon of war, a sheild
Perseus derives his power from females
How does Perseus kill his grandfather and become king
r- Perseus throws a discus at the funeral games for a friend
- it hits and kills Acrisius
- he does not want Argos throne so he trades cities with his cousin Megapenthes, the king of Tiryns
- Perseus eventually also becomes the tuler of Mycenes
Perseus’s death
At the hands of Megapenthes to avenge his Acrisius
- Athena make him and Andromeda into constellations
early life of Herakles
- Zeus + Alcmene
- Herakles means “glory of Hera”
- Zeus tricked Hera to nurse him as a baby, when she found out she furiously ripped him off, her spraying breast milk became the milky way
- sent serpents to kill Herakles, strangles the serpents as he is so strong
- like other hero’s he struggles with human and divine sides, particularly with his animal like savage behaviour
- also struggles with returning home to like with Megara after so much brutality and war
why does he have to perform the 12 labours
he kills his music teacher Linus, Hera caused him to go into a state of madness where he kills his wife and kids
- oracle told Herakles to serve king Eulythes to try and repent for his crimes
- it took 12 years to perform the 12 labours, Hera helps King E come up with them
what are the 12 labours
- Killing the lion of Nemea (took its hide)
- Killing of the Hydra of Lerna (denied, he had help)
- Capture the hind of Ceryneia (which was sacred to Artemis)
- capture the wild boar of Erymanthos
- Clean the stables of Augeas (redirect 2 rivers, also denied)
- removing the stymphalion bird (pets of Aries)
- capturing the Cretan bull (he set it free after the king saw it)
- go to Thrace and capture 5 man eating horses of Diamedes
- bring back the belt of Hippolyte, the amazon queen
- bring back the cattle of Geryon
- bring back the golden fleece of hesperides
- capturing cerberus
Herakles’s death
after remarrying Deianeira, he cannot rest contentedly at home
- she chases after him to bring him home
- she can’t cross a river, she gets help from a centaur who tries to rape her
- he finds her in time and shoots him
- centaur asks Dei to prove herks commintment to her by smearing his blood, now contaminated with the hydras poison
- she rubs it on a shirt and when he puts it on it burns and kills him
- becomes a god after his death
Jason and his brother
- son of Aeson of Iolcos
- his brother Pelias took the throne by force which made his parents send Jason to be raised in secret by Chiron
- Pelias was told by an oracle that that a man descended from Aeson and wearing one sandal would kill him
- on the way back to Iolcos, Jason loses a sandal while helping Hera (disguised as an old lady) cross a river
- when he comes home and Pelias sees him with one sandal he sends him away (to obtain the golden fleece)
Jason and the Golden Fleece
- Pelias sent him on this impossible mission
- the fleece in in Colchis which is ruled by king Aeetes who doesn’t like visitors
- expedition of the Argonauts
- Hera is interested in the quest as she feels insulted by Pelias
- she wants him dead and thinks only Madea can do it
- Aeetes will give him the fleece if he does some tasks (which he completes) but Aeetes plans on tricking them and killing them anyways so they have to steal it
- Madea cast a spell to put the serpent guarding it asleep and they steal it
what did Madea do to keep her father king Aeetes from chasing after the fleece
she kills her youngest brother and dismembers the body, tossing the remains in the sea so her father can’t give him a proper burial
- not even the monstrous Herakles would do such a thing
Jason’s return with the fleece
- brings it back to Pelias, who killed Jason’s dad while he was away since he wouldn’t come back
- his mom then commits suicide
- Madea then tricks Pelias’s daughters (with sorcery) that they will rejuvinate their father if they kill him, dismember the corpse, and cook it
- Jason then get the throne
- this forfeits the trust of the ppl of ilocos so him and Madea flee
Jason’s death
- he is killed when a beam from his rotting shit falls and lands on his head
- jason is not elevated (like perseus, herakles, theseus) to the status of divinity
- consider how he always makes women do his dirty work
Theseus origins
- mother is Aethra, father is either Poseidon or Aegeus as she slept with both of them in one night
- as a sign and a test for the youngster, Aegeus leaves a sword and pair of sandals under a heavy stone, lifting the stone will asster the childs political and divine inheritance
as Theseus travels from Troezen to Athens he kills a bunch of bandits to make the journey safer, who are the bandits
- Periphetes, who beats his victims with a bronze club, which Theseus takes
- Sinis, who ties his victims to a pair of pine trees bent to the ground, which when released they tear the victim in two
- killed the wild Sow Krommyon
- Skeiron, who pushed his victims off a cliff where they were devoured by a big sea turtle
- Kerkyon, wrestles passer bys to death
- Kills Procrestus with the same iron bed he used to torture and kill his victims
Theseus and the Labyrinth
- Crete sends 7 men and women into the Labyrinth every 9 years to be devoured by the minotaur
- one of Mino’s daughters Ariadne gets Daedelus to tell them how to kill the minotaur (unroll a ball of string to navigate the labyrinth)
