Exam questions Flashcards
Name four different sets of characters from four different myths who commit adultery
- ) Paris sleeps with Helen, (when Menelaus is away, they fall in love and elope)
2) Zeus and Leda, which created the children Helen and Polydeuces
3) Aphrodite and Ares, Hephaestus ends up catching them in a net (a trap)
4) Alcmene sleeps with Zeus when she is already married
What is the myth of Aphrodite and Ares act of adultery, who catches them and what does this person do.
While Aphrodite and Ares lay together in bed, Hephaestus catches them in an unbreakable net, he then drags them to Mount Olympus and shames them in front of the other gods. This is considered adultery since Ares sleeps with a married man’s wife.
What is the story of Paris and Helen’s act of adultery?
Paris sleeps with Helen. He then elopes with her. She is the queen of Sparta and this is one of
the main causes of the Trojan War. In the judgment of Paris, he Rejected bribes of kingly power
from Hera and military might from Athena. He chose Aphrodite and accepted her bribe to help him win the most beautiful woman alive. His seduction of Helen (the wife of Menelaus, king of
Sparta) and refusal to return her was the cause of the Trojan War
Then, for your paragraph (d), explain: Does this concept of adultery have relevance for the
ancient Greek norm of male homosexual romance: Why or why not?
Married men were not considered to have committed adultery if they were to have sexual relationships with slaves or prostitutes. Its only adultery if a married man has sex with a free woman (wife or daughter of a free man)
So extramarital affairs between men would not qualify as adultery because it doesn’t involve a married man sleeping with a free woman.
Or:
Extramarital adventuring by the married man was not considered of itself to be adultery. A
married man could not commit adultery against his own marriage because it had to be done
between a woman and a man that are married. The man who sleeps with the married woman is
guilty and so is the woman if it was done willingly. It was actually quite normal for an adult man
to have a younger boy lover. The older male would act as his mentor and sponsor.
Briefly describe three noble actions and three contemptible actions by Theseus
Noble:
1. Stopped Athens from paying children as a tribute to King Minos and the Minotaur.
- Theseus and Peirithoos confronted the Centaurs
- Theseus creates good government in Athens by unifying the surrounding countryside under Athenian rule.
Contemptible:
- Theseus and Peirithoos visit to the Underworld to abduct Helen and Persephone
- Abduction of Amazon Queen, although it can be seen as heroic to many real-life ancient Greeks since they were enemies.
- He broke up the marriage of two Cretan Royal sisters and Theseus abandons his current wife Ariadne on the island of Naxos.
Explain a modern “contextual” theory that looks to
real-life ancient Greek history to account for Theseus’s dual personality.
Be thorough in your explanation at (ii). Give any relevant real-life place-names and dates.
Many Athenians thought that Theseus was a real person but that the myths about him
were a bit overexaggerated. This creates the foundation for his dual personality. His inconsistent
behaviours can be demonstrated by the actuall manipulation of his myths in Athens in 500s-400s
B.C. The Athenian government wanted to improve their public relations and change the way he
was perceived by the public eye. They wanted to make him seem like a better king then he
actually was. Ceratin element of his story had to be created and sugar coated to seem like a great
hero.
Some of the missions and tasks that he commits make him look not like a hero but a
person who seeks power. However, Theseus has a plan to become king and rule Athens. His story
goes from 1400B.C to 400B.C .
His duality can also be explained by the fact that he was also like a copycat of Heracles.
Athenian’s were motivated to make this myth about Theseus because they wanted to create a
hero who was like Heracles. Heracles himself has a dual personality, fearless but also childlike,
Genorous and jovial but also capable of rage and destruction. Heracles was being used as a
propagandistic hero of Sparta but he was modled after Heracles
If you were living in ancient pre-Christian Greece, what steps would you take to be
eligible for paradise after death?
(a) Where exactly would paradise be? Explain clearly.
The place of paradise is located in the underworld called Elysium. It’s a place to reward the people who accomplished great things in their life. It’s an ideal place for an ancient Greek aristocrat because of the sports contests, banquets, music, and poetry.
- If you were living in ancient pre-Christian Greece, what steps would you take to be
eligible for paradise after death?
(b)
Which deities might help you gain admittance there? (Name no more than three.)
Either the 3 judges (demi-gods not exactly deities)
Minos, Aeacus and Rhadamanthys
or
(Probably this option)
According to the Eleusinian Mysteries, if you worshiped certain deities, this could be used to your advantage after you die. Those who wished to get in to Elysium would worship Demeter and Persephone, they did this in the hopes of winning Persephone’s favour. You could alternatively worship Dionysus. (Who was, in the theology of Orphism, Zeus’s and Persephone’s son) If you worshiped him the correct way he would intervene on your behalf with his mother in the underworld and grant you passage to Elysium
If you were living in ancient pre-Christian Greece, what steps would you take to be eligible for paradise after death?
(c) How exactly would you equip yourself in advance, through special rituals and special knowledge?
What kind of special knowledge?
There were two secret doctrines that were believe to help prepare one for the afterlife. They were the mysteries of Eleusis and the Orphic Mysteries. The Mysteries of Eleusis worshipped the goddess Persephone inorder to gain her favour when you die.
While Orphic Mysteries would give their followers secret passwords and knowledge in order to assure them a ticket to paradise. (worships Dionysus, Persephone’s son)
(d) What would you expect to see and do, on first arriving at
the afterlife? What material items (charms or tokens) might be involved?
d) Whilst following Orphism, which was a type of cult, the person trying to get into Elysium
would be given certain secret passwords and secret knowledge to ensure they would be guided to
Elysium after death. There would be precise instructions for the soul to remember upon arriving at the Underworld which included walking to the left of the house of Hades, there you
would find a spring that you should not go near. You would instead go to the pool of memory
next to it and recite a passage to the guards they would then give you water from the spring
Explain who were the Phoenicians in real-life ancient history, including their function as “middlemen” and their contact with the Greeks. (Give a date or range).
Is Herodotus’ story true, or true to what extent?
They were from Phonecia and they were called the Canaanites. They were also known as the masters of navigation. Trade was their specialty being that of long-distance sea trade.
They lasted from the Bronze Age to the Classical Age.
Yes, Herodotus’ story was true, he and Plato wrote similar stories.
What was the Phoenician influence on Greek Mythology and religion?
- The greeks were impressed with the Phoenician god Astarte, they began worshiping her and called her Aphrodite.
- They lived side by side on the coast of the island of Cyprus, which eventually lead to intermarriages that encouraged cultural exchange.
- Greeks also bought luxury products like purple coloured textiles from the Phoenicians
