Lecture 14 Flashcards

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1
Q

Deaths of Agamemnon and Cassandra

A
  • killed by Clytemnestra with help of Aegisthus because Agamemnon murdered Iphigenia
  • also has to do with the curse of the house of Atreus, in particular deeds done by Atreus who was Agamemnon and Menelaus’ father
  • also not as importantly he was sleeping with Cassandra
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2
Q

Tantalus and the Curse

A
  • where it starts
  • son of Zeus
  • crimes of thievery, infanticide, cannibalism
  • stole ambrosia and nectar from gods
  • tested god’s omniscience by attempting to feed them his son Pelops
  • All the other gods know except Demeter and she eats a bit of Pelops’ shoulder
  • Spends all eternity starving and dying of thirst because he stands in a lake that recedes when he goes to drink and trees that pull back when he goes to reach for their fruit
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3
Q

Pelops

A
  • resurrected
  • but being in house of Atreus does evil deeds
  • Cheating, betrayal, murder, patricide
  • cursed
  • wants to marry a girl but her father had a prophecy that anyone she marries will kill him so he challenges all her suitors to a chariot race
  • vandalizes her father’s chariot and he dies in the race
  • then gets cursed by the one who prophesized that
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4
Q

Atreus and Thyestes

A
  • seduction, political intrigue, family murder, cannibalism
  • Atreus murders Thyestes children and feeds them to Thyestes and he becomes cursed
  • Atreus stays king and Thyestes has to flee
  • Atreus then dies and then Menelaus and Agamemnon rule after him
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5
Q

Clytemnestra’s actions and their role in avenging the evil deeds of Atreus

A
  • Aegisthus is Agamemnon’s cousin and is getting revenge for what happened to his brothers and his father.
  • she feels like she’s ended the cycle and that she’s had the final say
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6
Q

The Libation Bearers

A
  • Orestes and Electra meet at Agamemnon’s tomb to plot Clytemnestra’s death
  • Apollo demands Orestes avenge his father’s murder
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7
Q

The Furies

A
  • aim to make right any patricide, matricide, or familial murders
  • physically chase Orestes trying to make his life miserable, not trying to actively kill him
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8
Q

Sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi

A
  • Orestes comes here to cleanse himself and ask for forgiveness for killing his mother and Aegisthus
  • he is cleansed with the blood of a sacrificial victim at the Omphalos
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9
Q

Apollo and the Furies and Apollo

A
  • furies don’t mind that Clytemnestra killed her husband because it’s not a blood relationship
  • Apollo says the furies have no right to persecute Orestes but they say yes they do because what he’s done is worse
  • Athena is chosen to decide
  • She holds the very first court case with jurors of Athens to decide
  • Athenians experimenting with Democracy
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10
Q

Radical Democracy

A
  • direct governance by the people

- we have representative democracy in which we elect people to represent us.

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11
Q

Main Branches of Radical Democracy

A
  • Ekklesia (council of all citizines, excluding slaves and women)
  • The Council of 500 (prepare business for Ekklesia, selected by lottery)
  • The Archons (lead Ekklesia, council of 10 selected by lot)
  • The Strategoi (generals, council of 10 elected with unlimited reelection
  • The Law Courts (jurors selected by lot, no judged)
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12
Q

Selection by lot

A

-was a backbone of their democracy because it’s fair. They believed elections were biased toward the rich

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13
Q

Key aspects of Athenian Democracy

A
  • selection by lot
  • paid offices so that everyone is able to take up their office if selected
  • limited terms
  • ostracism: meant to be a pressure release on people who had gained too much power.
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14
Q

Ostracism

A
  • Temporary exile (10 years)
  • Ostraka: pottery shards with people’s names on them that are voted to be exiled
  • come back and don’t lose their wealth and belongings, just keeps them from gaining too much power but didn’t always work
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15
Q

Law Courts

A
  • had timed speeches using water clocks

- secret ballot system to render a verdict

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16
Q

Secret ballot system

A

-two pots with wicker wrapped up so no one can see and you have two tokens one with a longer bar and one with a shorter bar and you put a specific one in the guilty pot and the other in the not guilty pot

17
Q

Furies Trial Argument

A

-Argue that Clytemnestra is the true parent and you shouldn’t kill her because she’s the one that nursed you and your dad isn’t the true parent. Killing your mom is worse than killing your husband

18
Q

Apollo’s Trial Argument

A
  • Mother isn’t an actual parent, they just put the eggs in her and they grow.
  • Bonds to your father are far stronger than those to your mother. What you are is because of your father
19
Q

Athena’s Decision

A
  • sides with Apollo because she’s only ever had a dad

- Also says she’ll always side with men

20
Q

Eumenides

A
  • means the “kindly ones”
  • referring to the furies post judgment
  • Athena makes them the kindly ones by telling them to do nice things for the city and she’ll give them a sanctuary in the city
21
Q

Feminist Interpretation of Eumenides

A
  • Struggle between feminine and masculine forces
  • Women get completely shut down by patriarchal society. Male forces rules out
  • Great goddess
22
Q

Etiological Interpretation of Eumenides

A

-Explains the origins of the court system in ancient Athens.

23
Q

Establishment of court system

A

-Athenians replace blood price (you kill someone in my family, I kill someone in your family or you pay me a price) with a rational system to decide fault and blame.

24
Q

Structuralism interpretation

A
  • Interested in binary organization of the human mind. Structural interpretations often deal with opposites, arguing that myth provides a way of structuring and understanding the inherent conflicts in human experience
  • Ex: feminine vs. masculine, light vs. dark, younger generation vs. older generation (gods and mortals), ancient traditions vs. new innovations
25
Q

Structuralism interpretation in Eumenides

A
  • new vs. old traditions: blood price and the new court
  • male vs. female
  • gods vs. mortals: Orestes and Apollo vs. the Furies