Term 2 - Lecture 1 Flashcards
Who liberates Danae from “the girls tragedy”?
Dictys
Why is Enkidu provided to Gilgamesh by the gods?
Because Gilgamesh is wild and arrogant. He beats up young men, and won’t allow a woman to marry until he has sex with them first. Over entitled.
Enkidu is a wild and hairy man who must be “tamed” by contact with a woman before he can come to the city of Uruk.
The men of Uruk prayed to the gods for Enkidu to help civilize Gilgamesh.
How does Herakles ascend to Olympia?
Through apotheosis. He is burned on a funeral pyre.
Is Gilgamesh divine or mortal?
He is 2/3 divine, and 1/3 mortal.
He suffers from this fate. He suffers the most from the fact that because he is part mortal, he must die; even though he is mostly divine.
What happened in Sophocles’ Women of Trachis?
Marries Dieaneira (man-destroyer). Nessus, a centaur, ferried Dieaneira and Herakles across a river, he tricks and rapes Deianeira. Herakles is an archer and kills Nessus with a bow and arrow. Nessus (dying) apologizes and gives Deianeira blood “in case she ever wants love again”.
Herakles then falls in love with Princess Iole of Oichalia and wants to cheat on Deianeira. Deianeira, wanting love, smears Nessus’ blood on Herakles. It kills him.
What kind of bride is Andromeda?
A bride of death
What does this image depict?
The story of the Stymphalion birds. They were everywhere and their feces were contaminating. (or their wings fell as sharp knives).
Herakles used a percussive instrument from his initiation into Cybele (Dionysus) to kill them.
1/12 labours.
Who are Herakles’ three wives?
- Megara
- Deianeira
- Hebe
What was a common theme from Pindar’s Epinician songs?
The hero is greater than mortals, and a model to emulate.
Who is this?
Herakles - wearing the skin of the Nemean lion
What does this image depict?
The origin of the milky way
Who are Herakles’ teachers? What do they teach him?
- Linus - lyre
- Chiron (centaur) - arching
What is this an image of?
Herakles stealing the girdle from an Amazon queen.
The amazon queens live without men, with moonshaped shields. They are the inversion of a civilized woman, the Other.
1/12 labours.
Who becomes the wife of Perseus?
Andromeda, daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus of Ethiopia
What happened when Perseus killed Medusa?
Pegasus was born, fathered by Poseidon
How is Enkidu tamed by a woman?
He has sex with her, a prostitute sent by the goddesses. Enkidu is mad - he wants to stay wild but he is no longer an animal. He is angry with the prosititute, but eventually makes the transition into a tamed animal, gradually coming to the city of Uruk.
What does Hera do to attempt to kill the twins (Herakles and Iphikles)?
She sends snakes
What is this an image of?
Hebe and Herakles
What happens to the immortality herb given to Gilgamesh by Utnapishtim’s wife?
A snake steals it. This is the etiological story of why a snake sheds its skin.
Why is the Greek Hero known as a “divided person”?
The hero is great and excessive; a model for others to follow/ “emulate”.
Part human, part divine. May be bestial, or animal-like. Often isolated and alone because of this.
Has difficulty accepting limits.
The hero is prone to hybris, which will likely result in punishment.
Hero is often caught between two impossible choices.
Where does Perseus become the king of after capturing the head of Medusa?
Tiryns and Mycenae
Who can Medusa be compared to?
The Python that Apollo and Zeus had to slay.
What happens when Perseus and Andromeda return home?
Perseus returns to Seriphos and turns both Polydectes and his court to stone. He then gives the head of Medusa to Athena.
What was the epic of gilgamesh, written in 700 BCE on the 12 Akkadian tablets recorded on?
Clay
How is Herakles educated? What happens?
- By his music teacher Linus, who tries to teach him the lyre. Herakles is bad at it, so he impulsively kills him.
- He is then sent away to Chiron, the wise centaur, who teaches him to be a good archer
Who is Andromeda the daughter of?
Cassiopeia and Cepheus, of Ethiopia
When is Gilgamesh confronted with his mortality?
When Ishtar kills Enkidu.
What was the “ultimate task” of Herakles?
Capturing the head of Cerebus, the hundred headed dog that guards Hades.
What is this an image of?
1/12 labours.
The Cerynitian hind. Herakles had to get permission from Artemis (goddess of animals) to remove a horn.
What were the two quests of Gilgamesh?
- Slaying a monster
- Search for immortality
On both of these quests Gilgamesh has both gods who hep him, and gods who hate him.
What is Herakles known for? How does he display it?
His impulsivity, and his appetite.
Has sex with 50 woman - daughters of Thespius (allows them to claim descendence), and an amazing capacity to eat and drink.
Who is this?
Andromeda
What are the three main parts of the life of a Greek Hero?
- Separation
- Initiation
- Return
This is the Nemean lion. What is the story behind it?
Herakles had to defeat it in his first labour. He kills it and wears the skin.
The lion cannot be killed by any weapon so Herakles has to kill it with his bare hands. He uses a claw from the lion to kill it.
What are the origins of Perseus?
Io (a mortal) was impregnated by the touch of Zeus with Epaphus (name meaning touch). Epaphus lived in Egypt. He gave rise to 50 daughters and 50 sons, in which only one couple survived. They returned to Greece. This eventually gave rise to Acrisius, the King of Argos.
Acrisius was the father of Danae. Perseus is the son of Danae and Zeus.
Who is Utnapishtim?`
A mortal who was granted immortality. He survived a flood that wiped out the human race and lives in a garden of paradise.
What happens with Gilgamesh after Ishtar kills Enkidu?
He refuses to bury Enkidu. He bathes him and does not believe he is dead until a worm comes out of his nose. Gilgamesh is confronted with his mortality. In his grief, he leaves the city
How does gilgamesh undergo transformation?
By going “beyond” the realms of the human world. Through suffering.
What happens when Gilgamesh encounters Utnapishtim?
Utnapishtim tells him that he will give him the secret to immortality if he can stay awake for a whole week. He immediately falls asleep after the long journey.
Utnapishtim’s wife bakes a loaf of bread for every day of the week, and places them subsequently beside Gilgamesh. Some become moldy, when Gilgamesh awakes. (Mold symbolizes death).
Then, Utnapishtim’s gives him an herb that will make him immortal, but a snake steals it.
What is this an image of?
Apotheosis
When was the story of Gilgamesh written?
As early as 2150 BCE
What is the lineage of Herakles?
Perseus and Andromeda have kids. Their kids give birth to Amphitryon and Alkmene (cousins). They have another cousin Eurystheus. Amphitryon and Alkmene have Iphikles. Zeus has sex with Alkmene, and gives birth to Herakles. Herakles and Iphikles are twins.
Sthenelus (mother of Eurystheus) was pregnant at the same time as Alkmene. Hera hastened the birth of the cousin Eurystheus, so Zeus’ and Alkmene’s offspring (Herakles) would not be king.
What does “Herakles” mean?
Hera-kleos
Kleos = glory
Represents Herakles glory against Hera