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