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Classics > The Odyssey > Flashcards

The Odyssey Flashcards

1
Q

Aeolus

A

Keeper of Winds
§ Gives Odysseus bag containing all winds
§ One will blow him home safely § Within view of Ithaca
§ Odysseus falls asleep § Men open up bag
§ Winds blow them back to Aeolus’ island

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2
Q

Anticlea

A

Anticlea was the daughter of Autolycus and Amphithea. The divine trickster and messenger of the gods, Hermes, was her paternal grandfather. Anticlea was the mother of Odysseus by Laërtes

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3
Q

Antinoüs

A

Penelope’s Plan
§ Archery contest for Suitors
§ String Odysseus’ bow
§ Shoot arrow through row of 12 axe heads
§ Penelope had revealed plan to ‘Beggar’ § T riumphant Odysseus
§ No Suitor can even string bow
§ ‘Beggar’ Odysseus does so easily
§ Kills main rival § Antinoös
§ Father & Son kill remaining suitors

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4
Q

Arete

A

mother of nausicaa

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5
Q

Argus

A

Faithful dog

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6
Q

Calypso

A

Sea-nymph Calypso (‘Concealer’) keeps Odysseus prisoner on Ogygia for 7 years
§ Zeus sends Hermes to get Calypso to release Odysseus

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7
Q

Cicones

A

Odysseus & companions arrive at Ismarus
Home of the Cicones
§ City sacked, but Maron, priest of Apollo, spared
§ Maron gives them 12 amphorae of wine

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8
Q

Circe

A

Daughter of Helius
§Lives on island of Aeaea
§Circe welcomes Odysseus’ men
§Odysseus stays behind with ships

Men transformed into swine
§ Hermes gives Odysseus antidote
§ Moly
§ Odysseus:
§Immune to Circe’s Magic § Circe
§ Makes love to Odysseus
§ Changes men back into human form

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9
Q

Cyclopes (sing. Cyclops)

A

one eyed monster, polyphemus

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10
Q

Eumaeus

A

Athena disguises Odysseus as beggar § Encounters swineherd, Eumaeus
§ & Faithful dog Argus
§ Argus recognizes him … then drops dead!
§ Revelation
§ Reveals himself to Eumaeus & T elemachus
§ Keeps identity secret from Penelope § Meets with her as beggar
§ Gives her hope

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11
Q

Euryclea

A

told to move bed made of olive tree that cannot be moved

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12
Q

Ithaca

A

Home island
Wife: Penelope
Son: Telemachus

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13
Q

Laestrygonians

A

Cannibals
§ Kill and devour almost all!
§ Only Odysseus and crew escape

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14
Q

Lotus-eaters

A

Driven off-course to land of Lotus-Eaters
§ One taste of fruit:
§ Blissful Oblivion
§ Only desire: to eat more lotus fruit!

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15
Q

Maron

A

Maron, priest of Apollo, spared § Maron gives Cicones 12 amphorae of wine

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16
Q

Melanthius

A

Goat-herd § Mutilated & killed

17
Q

Menelaüs and Helen

A

king of Sparta
Menelaus, in Greek mythology, king of Sparta and younger son of Atreus, king of Mycenae; the abduction of his wife, Helen, led to the Trojan War. During the war Menelaus served under his elder brother Agamemnon, the commander in chief of the Greek forces

18
Q

Nausicaä

A

Daughter of Alcinoüs & Arete:
§King & Queen of Phaeacians
§ Recounts adventures § They send him home

19
Q

Nekuia

A

rite by which spirits summoned

20
Q

Nestor

A

king of pylos

21
Q

Nostos (Pl. Nostoi)

A

Homecoming -10 years to return home
Poseidon: nemesis
Athena: protector

22
Q

Odysseus (Ulysses)

A

Odyssean/Ulyssean Constraints § Named in Honor of Odysseus (Ulysses)
§ Present Self Handicaps Future Self
§ Thomas Schelling
§ Choice and Consequence. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press. 1984 § Examples:
§ Avoid Shopping on Empty Stomach § Alarm Clock on Far Side of Room
§ T oss out Cookies When Sated

23
Q

Ogygia

A

Odysseus prisoner 7 y

24
Q

Penelope

A

wife of O
Penelope & Suitors
§‘Circumspect’ Penelope
§ Besieged by suitors
§ Squandering family resources
§ T elemachus
§ Still too young to be a threat
§ Penelope: Puts off suitors
§To decide when weaving done § Undoes day’s work nightly

Penelope sent away before slaughter § Still wary beggar may not be Odysseus
§ P enelope T ests Odysseus
§ Asks Euryclea to move marriage-bed
§ Built by Odysseus out of live olive-tree § Cannot be moved
§ Odysseus of course knows this!
§ Penelope now sure of his identity

25
Q

Periphron

A

the suitors of Penelope are one of the main subjects of Homer’s Odyssey

26
Q

Phaeacians

A

Odysseus alone at sea
§Poseidon shatters raft near Scheria § Island of Phaeacians
§ Leucothea and Athena help him
§ Leucothea:
§ Sea-Goddess
§ Odysseus washes up ashore

27
Q

Phemius

A

a bard, O spares

28
Q

Planctae?

A

Wandering Rocks were a group of rocks, between which the sea was mercilessly violent. The Argo (led by Jason) was the only ship to navigate them successfully (with divine help from Hera, Thetis, and the Nereids

29
Q

Polytropos

A

of many twists & turns,10 years fighting at Troy

30
Q

Pylos

A

T journey, Nestor king

31
Q

Scheria

A

sland of Phaeacians

32
Q

Scylla and Charybdis

A

Scylla
2 versions of myth
1. Daughter of sea-god Phorcys § P oseidon:
§ Tries to seduce her § Amphitrite:
§ Transforms her into horrific monster § Scylla’s lower half:
§ Ringed with raging dogs

  1. Ovid’s Metamorphoses
    § Glaucus falls in love with Scylla
    § Asks sorceress Circe for aid
    § Circe loves Glaucus; transforms Scylla
    § Scylla’s Hangout
    § Straits of Messina (between Sicily & Italy) § captures and devours 6 of Odysseus’ crew

Charybdis
Daughter of Poseidon & Gaia
§ A voracious whirlpool
§ Sucks down & spews up
water 3x a day
§ Located in Straits of
Messina
§ ‘Caught between Scylla and Charybdis’

33
Q

Sirens

A

Women who lure sailors onto rocks
§ In Homer
§ Human form
§ In popular tradition
§ Human heads; Avian bodies
§ Odysseus eager to hear song
§ Tied to mast
§ Crews’ ears stopped with wax
§ They sail on unharmed
§ Odysseus cries out for sailors to heed song

34
Q

Telemachus

A

son of O
T elemachus sent on journey
§To Pylos:
§ King Nestor
§ To Sparta:
§ King Menelaus
§ Odysseus:
§ Dead or Alive?
§ Odysseus still lives!

35
Q

Thrinacia

A

Where Helius pastures herds
§ Circe had warned Odysseus § Do Not T ouch Cattle
§ Odysseus’ crew disobeys
§Trapped on island without food § Slaughter a few head

When they sail again
§ Helius Has Zeus blast ship with thunderbolt § All drown but Odysseus
§ He avoids Charybdis
§ Washes up on Ogygia § Island of Calypso

36
Q

Tiresias

A

Seer’s response:
§ To Return home; alone, after many years
§ Must face Suitors trying to marry Penelope

37
Q

Polyphemus

A

Polyphemus
§ Son of Poseidon
§ One-eyed Giant
§ Polyphemus kills & eats Odysseus’ men
§ Gets Polyphemus drunk on Maron’s wine § T ells him his name is ‘Nobody’
§ Blinds the drunken Polyphemus
§ They escape tied beneath giant’s sheep
§ Polyphemus curses Odysseus

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