Test 2 Flashcards
odyssey takes place during
the return of the Greek heroes
odysseus’s nostos timeline
victory at Troy, travels, Calypso’s island, return to Ithaca
The Archaic Period in which the Odyssey was written down
coincided with the
Age of Greek Colonization
Myths may accrue new meanings depending on
how they are told
and read and in what historical context
APOLOGOI
Odysseus’ narrative of his travels,
recounted in Books 9-12 of the Odyssey
epic characteristics
-gods, heroes, adventures
-narrative
-dactylic hexameter
genre cycle
characteristics of
the work influence expectations of
the audience
geography
-places in the world
-non-narrative
-prose texts
NEKUIA
summoning and questioning of the dead
the use of fantasy to avoid confronting
difficult realities
escapism
myth involves the disciplines of
religion, science, philosophy, history
The Odyssey tells one episode of the broader Trojan War, focusing
on
Odysseus’ nostos
The apologoi has been interpreted as a mythologized geography
of the
historical Mediterranean Sea
Odysseus’ narrative also contains elements of
fantasy that call this
geographical account into question and highlight the uses of
mythology
NON-LINEAR
NARRATIVE
a story whose order of narration is
different from the order in which its
events occurred
IN MEDIAS RES
“in the middle of things”
Books 1-4 of the Odyssey:
Telemachus Searches for Odysseus
Books 5-12 of the Odyssey:
Odysseus in Scheria
EMBEDDED
NARRATIVE
a story within the story
Books 13-24 of the Odyssey:
Odysseus Returns to Ithaca
parents of Odysseus
Laertes and Anticleia
son of Penelope and Odysseus
Telemachus
Odysseus is related to
Hermes
Odyssey tells the power struggle between
Telemachus
Penelope
Laertes
Odysseus
KYRIOS
“guardian,” a male head of household
who had legal authority over female
relatives
The Odysseytells a non-linear narrative of
Odysseus’ nostos, divided
between Odysseus’ travels and those at home
The sub-stories of Penelope and Aegisthus raise the question of
a
hero’s safety when he returns after an absence
The Ithacan side of the Odyssey problematizes
the side-effects of
heroic warfare
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
- 19th c. poet (1809-1895)
- Poet Laureate under Queen Victoria
- composed poetry on classical, historical, and
mythological themes - author of “Ulysses,” a poem on Odysseus’ later
life
Odysseus returns to Ithaca in the second half of the Odyssey and
gradually reveals his identity to those he trusts before killing the
suitors
The Odyssey raises the question of
to what extent heroes can truly
return from warfare
Tennyson’s “Ulysses” offers an interpretation of
Odysseus’ later
years that addresses this question at the heart of the Odyssey
Structure of Tragedy
EPISODES and STASIMA (SG. STASIMON)
Episodes in tragedy
*progress the plot of the tragedy
*monologues or dialogue among
characters or the characters and the
chorus
*usually three or more over the
course of a tragedy
STASIMA in tragedy
*musical interludes by the chorus
*often commenting upon the actions
from the episodes
*alternating with episodes
“imitation” or representation, especially
in visual or performance art
mimesis
CATHARSIS
“purification,” the emotional release
provided by effective tragedy
a set of three tragedies plus one satyr-
play composed by the same playwright
and entered for competition
TETRALOGY
Aeschylus’ Oresteia (458 BCE)
Tragedy 1-Agamemnon
Tragedy 2-Libation Bearers
Tragedy 3-Eumenides (The Furies)
Satyr Play-Proteus
Agamemnon and Menelaus’ father
Atreus
children of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon
Iphigenia, Orestes, Electra
Oresteia takes place during the
Return of
Greek
Heroes
Clytemnestra had an affair with
Aegisthus (Agamemnon’s cousin)
Aeschylus, author of the Agamemnon and Eumenides, was
one of
three famous tragedians from classical Athens
Tragedy is a dramatic genre concerned with
mythology and
designed to create pity and fear
The Agamemnon and Eumenides are part of a
tetralogy of
tragedies called the Oresteia
dramatic irony
a discrepancy between what the
characters and audience of a play know
Aeschylus’ Agamemnon tells the well-known myth of
Agamemnon’s nostos
The Agamemnon makes a theme of
knowledge and ignorance
Tragedy uses the
shared nature and adaptability of myth to enhance its dramatic effects
Hecuba
- wife of Priam
- mother of Hector,
Cassandra, and
Polyxena - grandmother of
Astyanax
Euripides’ Tetralogy: 415 BCE
Tragedy 1-Alexandros
Tragedy 2-Palamedes
Tragedy 3-Troades (Trojan Women)
Satyr Play-Sisyphos
Theseus
- mythical hero and
king of Athens - slayer of the
Minotaur
Peloponnesian War
war between Athens, Sparta,
and their allies (431-404 BCE)
Euripides’ Trojan Women enacts
a reflection on the aftermath of
warfare for captive women and children
Athenians during the Peloponnesian War are implicated in and
threatened with
wartime atrocity in Trojan Women
Euripides’ tragedy can be interpreted as
the use of mythology to
challenge dominant ideology in a later time period
Jonathan Shay
- clinical psychiatrist and researcher
- works with PTSD patients at a Veteran’s
Affairs clinic - published two books on the Homeric
epics and the experience of combat
Archons in Archaic Athens
ARCHONS and THESMOTHETES
archons
- Eponymous Archon
o civic head of state - Polemarch
o commander of the military - Archon Basileus
o religious head of state
THESMOTHETES
6 junior archons in charge of judicial
matters
-proposed a reform of the aeropagus
-assassinated in 461 BCE
Ephialtes
Areopagus in
Classical Athens
- council of previous
archons - responsibilities:
- advising current archons
- trying cases of murder
and other violent crimes
FORMALISM
an approach to literature that prioritizes
its form, including its structure, genre,
and use of language
RETRIBUTIVE
JUSTICE
justice administered in kind when victims
of crime inflict punishment upon
wrongdoers
retributive justice in Eumenides
-Agamemnon sacrifices Iphigenia at Aulis
-Clytemnestra & Aegisthus murder Agamemnon as revenge for Iphgenia’s sacrifice
-Orestes murders Clytemnestra & Aegisthus as revenge for Agamemnon’s murder
ERINYES
Greek name for the Furies, Greek minor
goddesses who exact revenge from those
who harm blood relatives
MIASMA
ritual impurity created through certain
crimes, including the murder of one’s
blood relatives
Aeschylus on the Areopagus viewpoints
PRO-AREOPAGUS
or
ANTI-AREOPAGUS
PRO-AREOPAGUS
*has the divine authority of Athena
*gives a sympathetic verdict in the
murder case
*is a semi-democratic body of citizens
ANTI-AREOPAGUS
*seems fairly aristocratic
*gets its deciding vote from a
goddess, not from citizens
EUMENIDES
“gracious ones,” an alternative name for
the Furies
The Oresteia was produced just after
judicial reforms instituted by
Ephialtes
The Oresteia addresses the contemporary question of
justice –
what it is and where it comes from
Aeschylus’ view of the reforms of Ephialtes remains
ambiguous
and may be taken as positive or negative
preliminary
definition
the telling of stories in and from the
ancient Greek and Roman cultures
ANTHROPOMORPHIC
described in terms of human
characteristics
TITANOMACHY
the battle between the Titans and the
children of Rheia and Cronos
MYTH OF
SUCCESSION
the central narrative of the Theogony,
telling how the Titans succeed the
Primordial gods and are succeeded by the
Olympians
COMPARATIVE
MYTHOLOGY
the study of similarities and differences
between myths in related cultures
a classification of art or literature based
on its form or themes
genre
hymn
-praise of a god
-narrative/characterization
-performance/offering
ICONOGRAPHY
the traditional attributes associated with
a mythological figure in visual
representations
pediment
A T R I A N G U L A R A R E A I M M E D I AT E LY
B E N E AT H T H E R O O F O N T H E T W O
S H O R T E R S I D E S O F A G R E E K
T E M P L E
metopes
R E C TA N G U L A R PA N E L S , O F T E N
D E C O R AT E D T O C R E AT E A F R I E Z E ,
A B O V E T H E C O L U M N S O F A
T E M P L E
naos
I N T E R I O R C H A M B E R O F A
T E M P L E
Tithonos
beloved of Eos, turned into a
cicada in some versions of
the myth
DIDACTIC POETRY
poetry that provides instruction or
education
THEODICY
if the gods are good and just, why do evil
and suffering exist?
Pandora
pan + dora
“all gifts”
SPEAKING NAME
a character name whose etymology is
thematically appropriate to their context
Prometheus
forethought
Epimetheus
afterthought
THE HOMERIC
QUESTION
a debate about how and by whom the
poems attributed to Homer were
composed
RECEPTION
the reuse, retelling, or allusion to ancient
artwork or culture in later time periods or
by different cultures
a prize given to confer honor in
recognition of status or accomplishments
GERAS
THE HEROIC
CODE
the terms of reward and sacrifice that
justify the risks of heroic warfare
timē
honor
kleos
glory
Moral injury
A betrayal of what’s right by someone who holds
legitimate authority in a high
stakes situation
ARISTEIA
an episode in the Iliad in which a single
hero excels in battle
EKPHRASIS
an extended, often detailed and vivid,
description of a work of art in a literary
text
THAUMA
“wonder,” a Greek term used in ekphrasis
to describe an awe-inspiring object
philosophy of art
branch of philosophy concerned with defining art and understanding art
art-horror
an emotional response to horror art or fiction (as distinct from a response to a real event or circumstance)
examples of monsters in mythology
scylla, cyclops, furies, sirens, hundred-handers, minotaur, medusa, laistrygonians
ideology is
deeply-held and important, pervasive, explicit and implicit
characteristics of mythology
traditional, shared, adaptable, multimedia, authoritative, ongoing
Mythology” is a versatile term that includes
stories, how they are told, and what they mean to the society that tells them
Helen Morales’ three functions of myths
lore, ideology, pleasure
ideology
beliefs and assumptions that are widely held among a certain group of people and that may reflect political, philosophical, moral, and other values
ideology that a text or image spells out, ideology that the author(s) self-consciously incorporate in what they create
explicit ideology
implicit ideology
ideology that is implied by a text or image, ideology that the author(s) and recipient(s) may or may not be consciously aware of
pleasure
myths are fun
aition
cause
marriage in ancient Greece
-an arrangement among men
-purposes: procreation and conservation of wealth
-betrothal (engue) and marriage (ekdosis)
-people involved:
-bride’s father or guardian (kyrios)
-husband-to-be (or his family)
-bride
-patrilineality: family and inheritance through the father’s side
golden age
- peace and prosperity
- no hardship or old age
silver age
- stupid and neglectful of the gods
- quarrelsome and violent
bronze age
- warlike and mighty
- remarkable only in strength and violence
heroic age
- demigods
- skilled in (admirable) war
iron age
- suffering hardship and old age
- exhausted and doomed
Heinrich Schliemann
amateur archaeologist (1822 -1890)
archaeologist of the ancient Mediterranean, author of The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction
Eric Cline
Shay’s reading interprets the Iliad as a narrative of
combat trauma, post-traumatic stress, and healing
the ancient Greek word for
“homecoming,” often used to refer to the
homeward voyages of heroes after the
Trojan War
nostos
an approach to the interpretation of
literature that prioritizes the effect of
contemporary history upon a text
new historicism
800 - 480 BCE
archaic period
a field of historicist literary criticism that
interprets texts with knowledge of the
history and ongoing effects of colonialism
postcolonialism
“hospitality,” the ideal of behavior
between visitors and hosts
xenia
a story that uses symbols to represent an
underlying message or meaning that can
be inferred through interpretation
allegory
inappropriate application of a concept,
technology, or interpretation from a later
time period to an earlier one
Anachronism
new historicism
The Cyclops episode of Odysseus’ travels can be read through the
approach of
Odysseus’ narrative of his travels,
recounted in Books 9-12 of the Odyssey
APOLOGOI
-gods, heroes, adventures
-narrative
-dactylic hexameter
epic characteristics
characteristics of
the work influence expectations of
the audience
genre cycle
-places in the world
-non-narrative
-prose texts
geography
from the ancient Greek word kuklōps,
meaning “round-eye”
CYCLOPS
summoning and questioning of the dead
NEKUIA
the use of fantasy to avoid confronting
difficult realities
ESCAPISM
religion, science, philosophy, history
myth involves the disciplines of
Odysseus’ nostos
The Odyssey tells one episode of the broader Trojan War, focusing
on
historical Mediterranean Sea
The apologoi has been interpreted as a mythologized geography
of the
fantasy that call this
geographical account into question and highlight the uses of
mythology
Odysseus’ narrative also contains elements of
a story whose order of narration is
different from the order in which its
events occurred
NON-LINEAR
NARRATIVE
“in the middle of things”
IN MEDIAS RES
Telemachus Searches for Odysseus
Books 1-4 of the Odyssey:
Odysseus in Scheria
Books 5-12 of the Odyssey:
a story within the story
EMBEDDED
NARRATIVE
Odysseus Returns to Ithaca
Books 13-24 of the Odyssey:
Laertes and Anticleia
parents of Odysseus
Telemachus
son of Penelope and Odysseus
Telemachus
Penelope
Laertes
Odysseus
Odyssey tells the power struggle between
“guardian,” a male head of household
who had legal authority over female
relatives
KYRIOS
Odysseus’ nostos, divided
between Odysseus’ travels and those at home
The Odysseytells a non-linear narrative of
a
hero’s safety when he returns after an absence
The sub-stories of Penelope and Aegisthus raise the question of
the side-effects of
heroic warfare
The Ithacan side of the Odyssey problematizes
- 19th c. poet (1809-1895)
- Poet Laureate under Queen Victoria
- composed poetry on classical, historical, and
mythological themes - author of “Ulysses,” a poem on Odysseus’ later
life
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
gradually reveals his identity to those he trusts before killing the
suitors
Odysseus returns to Ithaca in the second half of the Odyssey and
to what extent heroes can truly
return from warfare
The Odyssey raises the question of
Odysseus’ later
years that addresses this question at the heart of the Odyssey
Tennyson’s “Ulysses” offers an interpretation of
from the ancient Greek tragōdia, possibly
meaning “goat song”
TRAGEDY
- 6th –5th centuries BCE
o Aeschylus (525 –456)
o Sophocles (497 –406)
o Euripides (480 –406)
-plays written for public performance and competition at
the City Dionysia
-usually (but not always) on mythological themes
Attic Tragedy
EPISODES and STASIMA (SG. STASIMON)
Structure of Tragedy
*progress the plot of the tragedy
*monologues or dialogue among
characters or the characters and the
chorus
*usually three or more over the
course of a tragedy
Episodes in tragedy
*musical interludes by the chorus
*often commenting upon the actions
from the episodes
*alternating with episodes
STASIMA in tragedy
“imitation” or representation, especially
in visual or performance art
MIMESIS
“purification,” the emotional release
provided by effective tragedy
CATHARSIS
a set of three tragedies plus one satyr-
play composed by the same playwright
and entered for competition
TETRALOGY
Tragedy 1-Agamemnon
Tragedy 2-Libation Bearers
Tragedy 3-Eumenides (The Furies)
Satyr Play-Proteus
Aeschylus’ Oresteia (458 BCE)
Atreus
Agamemnon and Menelaus’ father
Iphigenia, Orestes, Electra
children of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon
Return of
Greek
Heroes
Oresteia takes place during the
Aegisthus (Agamemnon’s cousin)
Clytemnestra had an affair with
one of
three famous tragedians from classical Athens
Aeschylus, author of the Agamemnon and Eumenides, was
mythology and
designed to create pity and fear
Tragedy is a dramatic genre concerned with
tetralogy of
tragedies called the Oresteia
The Agamemnon and Eumenides are part of a
a discrepancy between what the
characters and audience of a play know
dramatic irony
knowledge ->expectation-> dramatic-> suspense-> fulfillment-> catharsis
process of tragedy
Agamemnon’s nostos
Aeschylus’ Agamemnon tells the well-known myth of
knowledge and ignorance
The Agamemnon makes a theme of
shared nature and adaptability of myth to enhance its dramatic effects
Tragedy uses the
- wife of Priam
- mother of Hector,
Cassandra, and
Polyxena - grandmother of
Astyanax
Hecuba
- lifetime: 480 –406 BCE
- composed approximately 90 plays
- surviving: 18 tragedies + 1 satyr-play
- arguably the most subversive of the Attic
tragedians
Euripides
Tragedy 1-Alexandros
Tragedy 2-Palamedes
Tragedy 3-Troades (Trojan Women)
Satyr Play-Sisyphos
Euripides’ Tetralogy: 415 BCE
- mythical hero and
king of Athens - slayer of the
Minotaur
Theseus
war between Athens, Sparta,
and their allies (431-404 BCE)
Peloponnesian War
a reflection on the aftermath of
warfare for captive women and children
Euripides’ Trojan Women enacts
wartime atrocity in Trojan Women
Athenians during the Peloponnesian War are implicated in and
threatened with
the use of mythology to
challenge dominant ideology in a later time period
Euripides’ tragedy can be interpreted as
- clinical psychiatrist and researcher
- works with PTSD patients at a Veteran’s
Affairs clinic - published two books on the Homeric
epics and the experience of combat
Jonathan Shay
Archons in Archaic Athens
ARCHONS and THESMOTHETES
- Eponymous Archon
o civic head of state - Polemarch
o commander of the military - Archon Basileus
o religious head of state
archons
6 junior archons in charge of judicial
matters
THESMOTHETES
- council of previous
archons - responsibilities:
- advising current archons
- approving incoming
archons and reviewing
outgoing archons - trying crimes against the
state - trying cases of murder
and other violent crimes
Areopagus in
Archaic Athens
-proposed a reform of the aeropagus
-assassinated in 461 BCE
Ephialtes
- council of previous
archons - responsibilities:
- advising current archons
- trying cases of murder
and other violent crimes
Areopagus in
Classical Athens
an approach to literature that prioritizes
its form, including its structure, genre,
and use of language
FORMALISM
justice administered in kind when victims
of crime inflict punishment upon
wrongdoers
RETRIBUTIVE
JUSTICE
-Agamemnon sacrifices Iphigenia at Aulis
-Clytemnestra & Aegisthus murder Agamemnon as revenge for Iphgenia’s sacrifice
-Orestes murders Clytemnestra & Aegisthus as revenge for Agamemnon’s murder
retributive justice in Eumenides
Greek name for the Furies, Greek minor
goddesses who exact revenge from those
who harm blood relatives
ERINYES
ritual impurity created through certain
crimes, including the murder of one’s
blood relatives
MIASMA
an explanation of something’s cause or
origin
AETIOLOGY
PRO-AREOPAGUS
or
ANTI-AREOPAGUS
Aeschylus on the Areopagus viewpoints
*has the divine authority of Athena
*gives a sympathetic verdict in the
murder case
*is a semi-democratic body of citizens
PRO-AREOPAGUS
*seems fairly aristocratic
*gets its deciding vote from a
goddess, not from citizens
ANTI-AREOPAGUS
“gracious ones,” an alternative name for
the Furies
EUMENIDES
judicial reforms instituted by
Ephialtes
The Oresteia was produced just after
justice –
what it is and where it comes from
The Oresteia addresses the contemporary question of
ambiguous
and may be taken as positive or negative
Aeschylus’ view of the reforms of Ephialtes remains
the telling of stories in and from the
ancient Greek and Roman cultures
preliminary
definition
described in terms of human
characteristics
ANTHROPOMORPHIC
to reach, to stretch
Titan
“titaino”
the battle between the Titans and the
children of Rheia and Cronos
TITANOMACHY
the central narrative of the Theogony,
telling how the Titans succeed the
Primordial gods and are succeeded by the
Olympians
MYTH OF
SUCCESSION
a request to a god or divinity for
assistance or inspiration at the opening of
a poem or other literary work
INVOCATION
the study of similarities and differences
between myths in related cultures
COMPARATIVE
MYTHOLOGY
a classification of art or literature based
on its form or themes
GENRE
-praise of a god
-narrative/characterization
-performance/offering
hymn
the traditional attributes associated with
a mythological figure in visual
representations
ICONOGRAPHY
A T R I A N G U L A R A R E A I M M E D I AT E LY
B E N E AT H T H E R O O F O N T H E T W O
S H O R T E R S I D E S O F A G R E E K
T E M P L E
pediment
R E C TA N G U L A R PA N E L S , O F T E N
D E C O R AT E D T O C R E AT E A F R I E Z E ,
A B O V E T H E C O L U M N S O F A
T E M P L E
metopes
I N T E R I O R C H A M B E R O F A
T E M P L E
naos
beloved of Eos, turned into a
cicada in some versions of
the myth
Tithonos
poetry that provides instruction or
education
DIDACTIC POETRY
if the gods are good and just, why do evil
and suffering exist?
THEODICY
“all gifts”
Pandora
pan + dora
a character name whose etymology is
thematically appropriate to their context
SPEAKING NAME
forethought
Prometheus
afterthought
Epimetheus
a debate about how and by whom the
poems attributed to Homer were
composed
THE HOMERIC
QUESTION
ancient city and site of
excavations considered to be
of Troy
Hisarlık
the reuse, retelling, or allusion to ancient
artwork or culture in later time periods or
by different cultures
RECEPTION
a prize given to confer honor in
recognition of status or accomplishments
GERAS
the terms of reward and sacrifice that
justify the risks of heroic warfare
THE HEROIC
CODE
honor
timē
glory
kleos
A betrayal of what’s right by someone who holds
legitimate authority in a high
stakes situation
Moral injury
an episode in the Iliad in which a single
hero excels in battle
ARISTEIA
an extended, often detailed and vivid,
description of a work of art in a literary
text
EKPHRASIS
“wonder,” a Greek term used in ekphrasis
to describe an awe-inspiring object
THAUMA
branch of philosophy concerned with defining art and understanding art
philosophy of art
an emotional response to horror art or fiction (as distinct from a response to a real event or circumstance)
art-horror
scylla, cyclops, furies, sirens, hundred-handers, minotaur, medusa, laistrygonians
examples of monsters in mythology
deeply-held and important, pervasive, explicit and implicit
ideology is
traditional, shared, adaptable, multimedia, authoritative, ongoing
characteristics of mythology
stories, how they are told, and what they mean to the society that tells them
Mythology” is a versatile term that includes
lore, ideology, pleasure
Helen Morales’ three functions of myths
a myth is a story
lore
beliefs and assumptions that are widely held among a certain group of people and that may reflect political, philosophical, moral, and other values
ideology
ideology that a text or image spells out, ideology that the author(s) self-consciously incorporate in what they create
explicit ideology
ideology that is implied by a text or image, ideology that the author(s) and recipient(s) may or may not be consciously aware of
implicit ideology
myths are fun
pleasure
cause
aition
-an arrangement among men
-purposes: procreation and conservation of wealth
-betrothal (engue) and marriage (ekdosis)
-people involved:
-bride’s father or guardian (kyrios)
-husband-to-be (or his family)
-bride
-patrilineality: family and inheritance through the father’s side
marriage in ancient Greece
- peace and prosperity
- no hardship or old age
golden age
- stupid and neglectful of the gods
- quarrelsome and violent
silver age
- warlike and mighty
- remarkable only in strength and violence
bronze age
- demigods
- skilled in (admirable) war
heroic age
- suffering hardship and old age
- exhausted and doomed
iron age
amateur archaeologist (1822 -1890)
Heinrich Schliemann
archaeologist of the ancient Mediterranean, author of The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction
Eric Cline
combat trauma, post-traumatic stress, and healing
Shay’s reading interprets the Iliad as a narrative of
