Term 2 - Lecture 3 Flashcards
Who married Thetis? Who initiated this?
Peleus. This is what Prometheus initated. Prometheus warned Zeus not to sleep with Thetis because he would bear a son greater than himself (and be overthrown).
Which three heroes were subdued by Amazon women?
- Herakles (retrieving the girdle of Hippolyta)
- Theseus (is seduced by Hippolyta/Antiope)
- Achilles (Penthisilea)
How is Alcestis the perfect wife? Who is she married to?
Alcestis is married to Admetus. Admetus is a friend of Apollo. Admetus is fated to die young, but if he can find someone to die in his place he will be granted more time. His parents refuse, saying that they already gave him enough; life. Alcestis dies in his place.
Admetus then realizes and regrets it, realizing that Alcestis was the only thing worth living for. Herakles realizes, and brings her back to life. Alcestis performs katabasis “due to her husband’s heroic efforts”.
Where does the judgment of Athena, Aphrodites, and Hera occur?
Mt. Ida, by Paris
Who chooses “The Good Mother”?
A god.
How was Ariadne a Helper Maiden?
She helped Theseus navigate the labyrinth to kill the minotaur.
Who begins as the commander of the Greek army?
Agamemnon, the brother of Menelaus.
Who suggested that Helen chooses her own husband? What oath bound the suitors?
Odysseus gave the advice to Tyndareus. All suitors were bound by the oath to protect Helen’s marriage, despite who was finally chosen. It will be Helen’s own choice (dangerous).
Who is involved in the Trojan Royal House?
Laomedon has a child, Priam.
Priam marries Hecuba.
Their children are Paris, Hector, Cassandra, Polyxena etc.
Hector and Andromache have a child named Astyanax.
Who is in the house of Atreus (Argos)?
Tantalus has a son named Pelops.
Pelops has two sons: Atreus and Thyestes.
Atreus has two sons with Aerope: Agamemnon and Menelaus
Thyestes has two sons: Aegisthus and two other sons
Who is the only female mortal ever produced by Zeus through sleeping with a mortal?
Helen
How does Thetis feel about marrying Peleus?
She doesn’t want to. This means that her children will be subject to death, which is something that no goddess should have to go through.
What is Paris’ roman name?
Alexander
Who exposed Achilles?
Odysseus
Which story depicts the following:
- Agave killing her own son
- The story of Clytemnestra
- The story of Medea
- Euripides’ Bacchae
- Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers
- Euripides’ Medea
How does the beauty contest between Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera arise?
From eris bringing the apple of discord, which was “for the fairest”.
What is important about the wedding of Thetis and Peleus? What can it be compared to?
It involves the commensality of gods and mortals. It can be compared to the feast at Mekone.
It is sometimes also said to be the last occasion of commensality between gods and mortals.
What instrument does Paris play?
The lyre; as shepherds do
Who are “agents of change”? Who are “agents of exchange”?
Change: men
Exchange: women
What does Menelaus do after returning home to find out what Paris has done?
He invokes the oath of the suitors. They all agreed to protect Helen’s marriage in the hope to marry her. Menelaus’ brother Agamemnon commands the Greek army, and all of the suitors follow to attack Troy.
What order do the three contestants in the divine beauty contest go in?
- Hera
- Athena
- Aphrodite
There are two major sources of literature that cover the Trojan war… what are they? When were they written?
- Epic Cycle (Archaic period)
- involves some lost Greek epic poems such as Cypria
- preserved in fragments, quotations, and summaries - Later literature based on early myths
- Greek tragedy and Pindar (Classical period)
- Latin epic (Roman period)
How is Penelope the perfect wife? Whose wife is she?
She is married to Odysseus. Odysseus is away from the home for more than 20 years. Penelope remains faithful the entire time. Many men want to marry her (to claim Odysseus’ belongings), and yet she still remains faithful.
How is Persephone a bride of death?
She marries (/is kidnapped by) Hades. Their marriage ritual is funeralistic, and her marriage entails her succumbing to the underworld.
How is Agave a bad mother?
Bacchae is a king, who refuses to worship Dionysus. Dionysus makes Bacchae’s mother Agave insane. She thinks that Bacchae is an animal, so she tears him to pieces. She is a bad mother under the influence of Dionysus.
Who does Helen choose to be her husband?
Menelaus, an important king, the son of Atreus at the city of Argos.
How is Medea a bad mother?
When she finds out Jason was prepared to take a new bride (that was Greek, and wasn’t her) she killed her and her own offspring.
Why does Helen have to choose her own husband?
There are so many suitors who want Zeus as the grandfather of their children. Also Helen is just beautiful.
If Tyndareus (father of Helen) chooses a husband for Helen, he will make hundreds of enemies.
Where do the Greeks gather before the beginning of the war?
Aulis
What is a characteristic specific to the Nereids?
They are shape-shifters.
How is Antigone a bride of death?
Her Uncle Creon is her father-figure, and he is both a ruler and a general. Her brother led an army against the city, and her Uncle Creon bans that his burial is a proper one. As the female of the household it is her duty to have him buried properly. She dies for him. She hangs herself in a cave that she is trapped in.
What is strange about the house of Atreus?
Cannabilism!
Tantalus feeds his son Pelops to the gods (Demeter takes a bite). Thyestes and Atreus quarrel over the throne. Atreus gets the throne. Out of anger Thyestes sleeps with Atreus’ wife Aerope.
Atreus is so angry that he invites Thyestes and his family over. Atreus cooks Thyestes’ two sons into a stew and Thyestes eats them
Also sleeping with family members’ wives. Thyestes sleeps with Atreus. Aegisthus sleeps with Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra.
What does Paris win from the divine beauty contest?
Helen’s hand in marriage (the most beautiful woman in the world), by Aphrodite’s favour.
This incurs the wrath of Hera and Athena
After Paris makes his judgment what happens with regards to his family life and living situation?
He is recognized and accepted back into his own house as a Trojan of the Trojan royal family.
What is kleos?
Glory (associated with the man)
Name the three examples of perfect wives.
- Penelope
- Alcestis
- Psyche
How was Medea a Helper Maiden?
She helped Jason obtain the Golden Fleece by drugging the guard dragon.
How was Odysseus recruited to the side of the Greeks?
He was a suitor for Helen; when he was not chosen he moved on and married Penelope, they had a son Telemache. He did not want to go to war so he pretended to be insane. He took an oxen and plowed the field, on the shoreline of the beach throwing salt. Palamedes was sent by Agamemnon to recruit Odysseus.
He threw Telemache in front of the plow and Odysseus stopped to protect him from harm, revealing that he was actually sane.
What is a characteristic specific to the Nereids?
They are shape-shifters!
What is the difference between Iphigeneia and Antigone?
Iphigeneia is a passive figure, she is helpess and cannot decide her fate in death.
Antigone is a figure of agency/action. She sacrifices herself to ensure that her brother receives a proper burial. She buries herself.
What was Aphrodite’s promise?
To give Paris the hand of the most beautiful woman in the world such that he chose her as the fairest of them all
Where is Paris raised?
Mt. Ida, by shepherds due to Hecuba’s prophecy
Who was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis? What is the result of this?
Eris (strife) is not invited. (Hesiod’s works and days). Eris brings the “apple of discord” - it is “for the fairest”.
How is Achilles recruited to the Greek side?
Thetis and Peleus marry, Achilles is born. Thetis knows that if Achilles fights in the war he will die, so she tries to protect him by hiding him on Skyros, dressed as a girl. Odysseus found Achilles on Skyros, pretending to be a merchant. Odysseus came with scarves and clothing and jewelry, with some hidden weapons. He sounded a war horn, and Achilles immediately grabbed the weapons and put on armour, exposing himself as a man.
Name three Helper Maidens.
- Nausicaa
- Ariadne
- Medea
After Aphrodite makes her promise, how does Paris get Helen?
His father Priam sends him on an embassy to Sparta. Paris is welcomed into the house of Menelaus (and Helen); he is a hospitable host. Menelaus leaves town for a week, and Paris steals his wife Helen, and a lot of Menelaus’ belongings, violating xenia.
How does Peleus “get” Thetis to marry him?
He has to hold her while she shape shifts to many different animal forms. She finally stops shifting and agrees; he proves himself.
Who are the two witches?
- Circe
- Medea
Who wins the divine beauty contest?
Aphrodite
Who is involved in the royal house at Sparta? What is it also known as?
The House of Tyndareus
Tyndareus + Leda + Zeus (in the form of a swan)
produced four children.
Tyndareus + Leda = Clytemnestra and Castor
Leda + Zeus = Helen and Polydeuces
What does the word “Amazon” mean?
A = without
Mazon = breasts
Therefore “amazons” are without breasts
How is Polyxena a bride of death?
She is the youngest daughter of Hecuba and Priam. After the fall of Troy, she is sacrificed to the ghost of Achilles by the Greeks - extremely sacrilegious.
Name four examples of The Good Mother, and who they were mothers of. Who chose them?
- Danae, mother of Perseus. Chosen by Zeus, in the form of a rainshower
- Io, mother of Epaphus. Chosen by Zeus with a single touch
- Europa, mother of Minos and other Cretan kings. Chosem by Zeus in the form of a bull
- Aethra, mother of Theseus. Chosen by Poseidon.
How is Iphigeneia a bride of death?
Iphigeneia is sacrificed by her father (the king of Argos) to die. Usually the father sacrifices his daughter in marriage.
What is the difference between kleos and aidos?
They are opposites:
kleos: glory and pride
aidos: modesty and shame
How is Nausicaa different as a Helper Maiden than Ariadne and Medea?
She maintains aidos by not asking for Odysseus’ hand in marriage after helping him, although she would have liked to have married him. Ariadne wants the hand of Theseus, and Medea wants the hand of Jason.
Who was involved in the divine beauty contest? What problem does this inflict upon Zeus?
How does he solve this problem?
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodites
Zeus’ problem is that he doesn’t want to be the one to make the decision, because Hera will be angered if she doesn’t win.
Problem is solved by Paris being the judge. Paris is of the Trojan family.
Who are the Amazon women?
Warriors who refuse male company and motherhood.
What do Hera, Athena and Aphrodites all offer to Paris?
Hera = power
Athena = glory in battle
Aphrodite = the most beautiful woman in the world (mortal)
Who are the four examples of Brides of Death? Who is the divine example?
- Persephone (divine)
- Iphigeneia
- Antigone
- Polyxena
What type of women are considered “transgressors”?
Witches, the Amazons, bad mothers, bad wives, bad daughters, etc.
What does the name “psyche” mean? What does the name “eros” mean?
Psyche means soul, eros means love. Their union is the union of love and soul.
What are the “spheres of action” of men/women?
Men: quest, combat, sport, leadership, speech, motion, public sphere, beauty, kleos
Women: seclusion, silence, fidelity, industry, maternity, domesticity, private sphere, beauty, aidos
How was Nausicaa a Helper Maiden?
Nausicaa lives on an island and is playing on the beach with her friends. Her laundry is out drying on some rocks in the sun. Odysseus has been at sea for 10 years, and is desperately in need of clothing. Nausicaa gives him both clothing and directions. He thanks her and leaves.
What is aidos?
Modesty and shame, self-restraint, proper behaviour (associated with the woman)
Who is Peleus?
The King of Phthia, Thessaly. He was an argonaut who sailed with Jason!
Who is Medea, and what does she do as a witch?
She is the grand-daughter of Helios (a titan), and the niece of Circe (a witch). She puts the dragon to sleep, allowing Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece, she rejuvenates a ram, and she murders the royal family at Corinth. She kills Pelios.
Who are the three bad wives? What do they do?
- Helen: abandons her husband Menelaus for Paris and is the beginning of the Trojan War.
- Clytemnestra takes a lover (her husband’s worst enemy), kills her husband, and rules in his place.
- Medea destroys the future of Jason.
What was Hecuba’s prophecy. What did she do about it?
That she would “give birth to a torch” who would go on to destroy the city of Troy. This child was Paris.
She set the child out on the mountainside, allowing him to be raised by shepherds in a natural setting.
What family is Paris from? What is his significance?
He is from the Trojan family. He is the judge of the divine beauty contest.
What is so special about Helen?
Helen is the only example we have of a female offspring of Zeus from impregnating a mortal woman
Who is Circe, and what does she do as a witch?
She is the daughter of Helios (a Titan).
She is known for changing men into animals (changed Odysseus’ men into pigs), and singing an enchanting song.
How is Psyche the perfect wife? Who does she marry?
Psyche is married to Eros.
Psyche is the most beautiful woman on the earth (mortal); she is treated like Aphrodite. She is unmarried because she is too beautiful. Aphrodite sends her son Eros to the earth to “get rid” of Psyche. He falls in love with her at first sight, when he accidentally pricks himself with his arrow.
Wind sweeps Psyche off a cliff all the way to a palace, where she is alone. A lover comes to her bed, but she can never look at him. Her sisters come to visit and are jealous of his love for her, so they tell her that her husband Eros is a terrible man.
They give her a lamp and a knife to kill Eros. She uses a lamp and sees him; falling madly in love with him. A drop of oil from the lamp awakes him. He is angered and he flies away. To redeem herself, she must perform labours for Aphrodite (she can do them because she is so beautiful). She performs katabasis, taking Persephone’s beauty from the underworld and storing it in a jar. She’s not allowed to look at it, but she takes a peak out of curiosity and falls into a coma.
Everyone is so impressed by what she’d do for Eros that she gains immortality.
Who are the two bad daughters? Why are they bad?
- Medea: betrays her father (King Aeetes of Colchis) by choosing her own husband, Jason of Iolcus (Thessaly, Greece), her father’s enemy. Destroys her full blood-brother Absyrtus.
- Ariadne: betrays her father (King Minos of Crete) by choosing her own husband, Theseus, of Athens. Detsroys her half-brother, the Minotaur.
How is Clytemnestra a bad mother?
She already killed her own husband, and is prepared to kill her son Orestes when he comes seeking revenge. She also mistreats her own daughter, Electra.
How did Peleus and Thetis meet?
Peleus (a mortal) was aboard the Argo with Jason. Thetis was a Nereid (a goddess), she swam out of the sea to admire the first ship. Peleus sees her and wants to marry her. The gods (suprisingly, considering mortal and goddess) allow it. This is due to Prometheus’ prophecy that Thetis would bear a son greater than Zeus.
Who exposed Odysseus?
Palamedes
List the three bad mothers.
- Agave
- Clytemnestra
- Medea
Who claims to be the “mighty hunter”?
Agave (mother of Bacchae)
Who does Psyche do labours for?
Aphrodite
