women to be feared Flashcards
When did Medea meet Jason?
When he was was on his quest to find the legendary Golden fleece
Who was Medea the daughter of?
Aites the king of Colchis
Jason and his quest for the golden fleece [4]:
- Jason was promised the throne of Thessaly by his uncle Pelias if he got the golden fleece
- Jason built a ship called the Argo and collected a group of heroes, later known as the Argonauts
- The King of Colchis, Aites, did not want him to get the fleece so he set Jason a challenge
- Jason had to yoke a pair of oxygen to a plough, used them to plough the field and then sowed the field with serpents’ teeth
What would happen once serpent teeth were sown into the earth?
Warriors would spring up from the earth
What were Oxen?
Monstrous beasts of metal that breathed fire
Hera’s involvement in Jason’s quest [3]:
- Jason was one of the favorite mortals of Hera
- She knew the quest for the fleece would be difficult for Jason so she made Aites’ daughter, Medea, fall in love with Jason
- Hera hoped that Medea would help Jason complete the quest with her magical powers
Which Greek epic poet narrated the moment Medea fell in love with Jason ?
Apollonius
The love Eros inspired in Medea was…[2]:
- Overwhelming
- She longed for nothing else but to save Jason’s life
How did Medea help Jason?
[3]:
- She gave Jason a charm that would make him invulnerable and able to complete Aites’ tasks
- She also used a combination of magic, chants and drugs to lull the serpent to sleep
- In return Jason promised to take Medea back to Greece with him and marry her
Why was it a problem that Medea helped Jason?
She was betraying her father and country
What Greek word is Medea’s name derived from?
[2]:
- ‘planner’ or ‘deviser’
- this links to her cunning characteristic
How did Medea slow down the angry Colchians when they chased the Argonauts?
[2]:
- She killed her brother, Apsyrtus and then cut his body into to pieces
- Every time the Colchians got close she would threw a piece of her brother into the water and the Colchians had to stop and search for the piece as they believed in proper burials
When Jason and Medea arrived in Thessaly…
- King Pelias was shocked to see that Jason had acquired the golden fleece and refused to give up the throne
Medea’s plan for the throne of Thessaly [4]:
- She showed the two daughters of king Pelias a magic ritual that could reverse the ageing process
- She demonstrated by cutting up an old ram and then boiled it in a cauldron
- When the girls weren’t looking she replaced the ram with a young lamb, tricking the girls
- The girls tried the ritual on their father, unwittingly killing him in the process
What happened to Medea and Jason after the death of King Pelias? [2]:
- They were driven out of Thessaly by angry townsfolk
- They had to seek refuge in The Greek city of Corinth
Medea’s unpopularity in Corinth [3]:
- Jason and Medea settled down in Corinth and had 2 sons
- Medea had gained an unfavourable status of the barbarian foreigner which meant that Jason was not able to get along with local rulers
- Jason left Medea so that he can improve his status and his new bride was the princess of Corinth called Glauce
medea’s revenge
- gave a gift to glauke which was a wedding dress and clown which burst into flames
- glauke and creon died
- killed both of her sons to discontinue his bloodline
- ran away to athens in her grandads chariot
Cleopatra background [3]:
- pharoh of egypt
- very intelligent
- insisted people call her queen
how did cleopatra and anthonys behaviour cause a scandal in rome?
they dressed up as gods
atmosphere virgil in the aeneid creates [4]
- epic war battle
- adds senior roman gods
- others other gods [“barking aubis”]
- death on battlefield reflects death of Egyptian rule
how does virgil characterise octavian? [2]
- hero of italy
- “with him the senate, the people, the household gods”
how does virgil characterise agrippa ? [2]
- “favoured by the winds and god” [naval battle]
- was octavians most trusted man
how does virgil characterise cleopatra? [4]
-characterised as powerful "the queen in the centre signals to her columns" -slutshamed "eqyptian consort" -presented as a coward and runs away from war "admist the slaughter -sourceress bewitching anthony
how does virgil characterise anthony? [2]
-he is presented as powerful
“conqourer of eastern people
-different
“barbarous wealth and strange weapons”
