Quiz 3 Notes - Chapter 11-14 PDF

Quiz 3 notes Chapter 11 Heroic Quests and Monstrous Encounters - Monsters identify the political, economic, sexual, and cultural boundaries a community is organized around because they violate them o A hero restores and reaffirms these boundaries when he defeats a monster...

Quiz 3 notes Chapter 11 Heroic Quests and Monstrous Encounters - Monsters identify the political, economic, sexual, and cultural boundaries a community is organized around because they violate them o A hero restores and reaffirms these boundaries when he defeats a monster ▪ In Odyssey,….. - Example of 3 heroes that are closely linked to a monster o Hercules and the Nemean lion o Theseus and the Minotaur o Perseus and Medusa - Hercules as the idealized Greek (male) paragon Heracles - Parents: Zeus and Alcmene o Alcmene’s husband was Amphitryon o Zeus disguises himself as Alcmene’s husband Amphitryon and seduces her when Amphitryon was away at a battle, becoming pregnant with fraternal twins; Zeus’s son Hercules and Amphitryon’s son Iphicles o Zeus announces that a child born that day descendant from him will be a king among men, but as Hera discovered Zeus’s new infidelity, she not only delays Alcmene’s labor but causes the early birth of another baby Eurystheus (distantly descended from Zeus) o Eurystheus fulfills Zeus’s prophecy and becomes king of Tiryns – ruler of men - Zeus is not the reason for myths and cults devoted to Heracles o Hera’s anger at Zeus’s liaison with Alcmene stands behind Heracles’s greatness o As Heracles is born, Hera ruthlessly pursues him ▪ She drives him mad and causes him to kill his wife Megara and their two sons - Eurystheus and the twelve labors (athloi) o A Delphic oracle bids him to serve Eurystheus, who demands he performs various deeds as punishment for killing his family o Twelve deeds were sculpted on the temple of Zeus in Olympia and have become the labors Hercules is best known for - After surviving all the trials Hera has imposed, the gods recognize the valor, strength and endurance of the hero o Hercules was allowed to enter Olympus, where he marries Hebe (youth) ▪ This makes him unique among the Greek heroes - Worshiped throughout Mediterranean world o More cult shrines than any other hero and considered both a hero and god o Hera’s hostility towards him created the opportunity for him to become divine o Harcles = “glory of Hera”, indicates his identity is more bound to her than to Zeus Heracles, the Master of Animals - Confronts animals more than any other hero o As an infant, he wrestles and defeats snakes that Hera places in his cribs o Origins in common “master of animals” figure; mythic figure facilitates the relationship between humans and animals  ▪ Stories about the Master of Animals develop and change as their society changes - In most, the human dominates, but sometimes extraordinary deference can be paid to different kinds of animals - Walter Burkert and story origins and patterns o Connects Hercules to Mesopotamian cylinder seals from third millennium BCE ▪ Shows a lone hero fighting bulls, lions and a multiheaded snaky figure - These are the animals that Heracles conquers or capture as part of his 12 labors o Argues that the link between the Master of Animals and heroic tales can be understood by examining story patterns - Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale o Burkert refers to Propp, by arguing that Propp’s list of events in a hero’s tale detailing his quest for a sacred object/villain also described a hunter’s chase for an animal ▪ Both hunter and hero depart and go to an uninhabited realm, receive help or face difficulties, find a desired object, obtain it, and return home - Explains how tales about the Master of Animals could readily evolve into heroic quests o In his book, Propp studied Russian fairy tales to understand why so many fairy/folk tales were similar to one another - He divided tales into the “component parts” of characters and actions - Grouped characters into 7 types: 1. The hero 2. The false hero 3. The princess (or the prize) 4. The villain 5. The dispatcher 6. The donor 7. The helper o Propp’s 31 Functions in Folktales 1. A family member of the hero departs from home 2. The hero is warned not to do something 3. The hero violates this warning 4. The villain attempts to gain information about his victim 5. The villain gains information about his victim 6. The villain attempts to deceive his victim to get his possessions or his person 7. The victim unknowingly submits to the villain’s deception 8. The villain causes harm to a family member, and/or a family member lack or wants something 9. The hero responds to a request or command and departs or is dispatched 10. A seeker (who is sometimes the hero) decides on an action 11. The hero departs 12. The hero is tested to see if he is worthy of help 13. The hero reacts to the actions of a donor 14. The hero acquires use of a magical agent 15. The hero is led to the location of a desired object 16. The hero and villain join in combat 17. The hero is branded 18. The villain is defeated 19. The initial lack is resolved 20. The hero returns 21. The hero is pursued 22. The hero is rescued from pursuit 23. The hero, unrecognized, arrives home or in another country 24. A false hero presents false claims 25. A difficult task is presented to the hero  26. The task is completed 27. The hero is recognized 28. The false hero or villain is exposed 29. The hero is given a new appearance 30. The villain is punished 31. The hero ascends the throne Heracles’s Labors - Many of his 12 labour labors involve the defeat or capture of animals that recall the Master of Animals - First labor: Nemean Lion and its skin o He defeats the Nemean lion and thereafter is depicted wearing its skin o Heracles maintained in intimate connection with the lion: impenetrable skin protects him, and its jaws enclose his head - Five labors: captures or relocates, noxious animals: o Ceryneian hind, Erymanthian boar, Cretan bull, Stymphalian birds, and man-eating mares of King Diomedes o Suggest Hercules’s commonalities with these beasts because his strength and endurance match theirs - chases the hind for a full year and wrestles the boar into submission o Establishes spatial boundaries between cities and their surrounding uninhabited lands by removing these animals to protect the human communities o Important cultural institutions ▪ Heracles’s victories over animals lead to important cultural institutions, like Athletic games at Olympia - Hercules’s wrestling match with the Nemean lion provides a model for a wrestling and boxing competition and a foundation story for its establishment - Becomes a role model for athletes - Some labors affirm social norms (that animals have violated or challenged) o Defeat of the Lernaean hydra reinforces the boundary between human and beast as well as male and females ▪ Resembles Zeus’s defeat of Typhoeus - Both have many heads - Both associated with unruly female reproduction and resistance to Zeus’s rule ▪ Hydra challenges Hercules as the behest of a female: Hera - Allows Heracles to limit the hydra’s unrestrained self-replication and defeat her - His victory asserts the benefits of male control over female reproduction o Victory over the Amazons ▪ Hercules must obtain the belt of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons ▪ Success signals that they’re vulnerable to the military/sexual prowess of Greek men and reasserts the hierarchy of male over female ▪ His victory affirms the important hierarchy of Greek over non-Greek - Greeks and non-Greeks: the defeat of Geryon, a three-headed and three-bodied monster o Explores contested boundaries between Greeks and non-Greeks in foreign lands o Hercules travels to Erytheia near Sicily to steal Geryon’s red cattle o Geryon’s red skin is like the color of his island’s soil, linking him to its indigenous population o Three bodies and heads are a combination of disparate parts and represent the blurring of boundaries between Greeks and non-Greeks through marriage in Greek colonies  o Geryon’s death symbolizes the reestablishment of these boundaries as well as Greek dominance over indigenous populations in Italy - The Underworld: boundaries between human and divine, and foreshadow his apotheosis into a god o Apples of the Hesperides ▪ Hercules must obtain three golden apples guarded by the Hesperides (nymphs) and a snake ▪ Apples = immortality cuz they’re gold and can’t die, symbolize immortality o Cerberus ▪ Hercules must enter the Underworld and capture Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards its entrance o Hercules conquers death by obtaining the apples and Cerberus, blur boundaries between mortality and immortality Heracles in the City - Greek tragedies present him in domestic settings, where his strength threatens his family and doesn’t benefit society - Euripides’s The Madness of Hercules o Hercules as murderer and would-be suicide ▪ Returns from his labors and discovers that King Lycus believes he’s died and plans to kill Hercules’s wife Megara, their two sons, and his father Amphitryon ▪ Hercules kills Lycus, then Hera drives him mad and he kills his wife and children ▪ Athena causes him to fall asleep and stops his rage before killing Amphitryon o Theseus persuades him to live when Hercules wants to commit suicide after his actions o Suggests Hercules is dangerous to human communities - Sophocles’s Trachiniae o Last few hours of Hercules’s life; breaking boundaries rather than establishing them o Nessos the centaur and Deianira ▪ Nessus attempted to rape Deianira who was ferrying across a river on his back; Hercules shoots Nesuss with a poisonous arrow ▪ Nessus told Deianira his blood was a love potion before he dies ▪ Deianira awaits Hercules’s return years later o Hercules, Iole, and Hyllus ▪ Hercules returns with his lover Iole; Deianira drenches Hercules’s clothes with Nessus’s blood out of jealousy to win his affections back; but the blood is poisonous cuz it was mixed with poison from the arrow Hercules used ▪ Hercules’s clothing burns and tears at his skin; he learns Deianira accidentally poisoned him and killed herself in grief as he endures the pain ▪ Hercules curses deianira and demands his son Hyllus marries Iole o Hercules builds himself a pure on Mount Oeta, where he laments that his pain has made him cry like a little girl ▪ Athena arrives to escort him to Olympus, where he’ll live as a god - Hercules as monstrous boundary-breaker o Self-proclaimed transformation into a girl and apotheosis into a god blur differences between male and female and mortal and immortal o He is both man and god, woman and man, savage and civilized Perseus - Perseus encounter with Medusa, a female monster called gorgon, defines him; her power and reputation eclipse his o Head of Medusa served as protective function, frequently depicted on temple and shields ▪ Shields: frighten enemies and make them stop in their tracks ▪ Temples: ward away anyone approaching in an impious way - He is a distant ancestor of Hercules; son of Zeus and Danae; grandfather = Acrisius, king of Argos - Acrisius having received a Delphic oracle that his grandson would kill him and usurp his throne, he imprisons Danae in a room o But Zeus appears in her room in a form of a shower of gold an impregnates her o When Perseus is born, Acrisius locks Danae and Perseus in a trunk and sets it out to sea in order to avoid putting them to death directly and incurring the wrath of the gods; Perseus and Danae arrive on Seriphos ▪ Dictys, brother of Polydectes, the king of Seriphos, finds them and shelters them - Polydectes is rebuffed as a suitor, so he imprisons Danae in his house and send Perseus to the temple of Athena for his youth - Polydectes sends Perseus to recover head of Medusa to dispense with the young man so he might marry Danae o Perseus visits the Graeae or the Phorcydes, who are Medusa’s sisters and know where she may be found ▪ Graeae share one eye and one tooth; Perseus takes them and promises to return them in exchange for the info he needs ▪ The gifts of the Graeae: winged sandals to fly, a bag to hide Medusa’s head from view, and a cap to make him invisible - Perseus finds the Gorgons and decapitates Medusa, stowing her head in the bag - Medusa: o Gorgon sisters = daughters of Phorcys (sea deity) and Ceto (Sea creature) o Medusa is the only mortal and especially dangerous to mortal men o If a man looks at her, they turn to stone o Depicted as winged, wearing a short tunic and boots o Snakes instead of hair - Several adventures on the return to Seriphus that Perseus uses Medusa’s head to protect himself o The Titan Atlas threatens him; turns into a large mountain o Perseus rescues Andromeda in Ethiopia, who was tied to a rock and left to be eaten by a sea monster; punishment by the Nereids who were angry at her mother Cassiopeia for bragging that Andromeda was more beautiful ▪ Andromeda’s father Cepheus promises Perseus he can marry her if he saves her; plots with Andromeda’s betrothed Phineus to kill him so Phineus can marry her ▪ Perseus turns Phineus and his men to stone; marries Andromeda and has seven sons and two daughters - On Seriphos, Polydectes turned to stone and Perseus rescues Danae; Dictys is established as the new king - Death of Acrisius: he learns of Danae and Perseus’s survival; killed after being hit by a disc Perseus threw in an athletic contest  - Delphic oracle predicting Acrisius would be killed by his grandson is fulfilled Medusa the Monster - Originally depicted as a beautiful, winged maiden; sleeping posture emphasizes vulnerability to Perseus’s attack - Poseidon, Medusa, and Athena o Poseidon sexually violates Medusa in Athena’s temple; Athena punishes Medusa by turning her hair into snakes o Medusa can now only frighten men, not attract them - Medusa gives birth to Chrysaor (mortal man) and Pegasus (winged horse) from her neck upon her death o Rarely seen in visual sources o Sarcophagus from Cyprus: shows how Chrysaor and Pegasus struggle to free themselves from her neck; Medusa pulls them out ▪ Emphasizes Medusa’s maternity - Athena’s invention of the flute to imitate the sound of her or her sisters’ beautiful wailing - Fascination and repulsion provoked by her gruesome death bringing beautiful music and Pegasus into the world - The story of Medusa suggest female monster are often credited with the powers of procreation and artistic creation, alluring properties that threaten to transform men in ways they can’t control o Monsters define the heroes who pursue and destroy them ▪ Perseus becomes the monster he sought to defeat by using Medusa’s head to turn his enemies to stone ▪ Hercules becomes invulnerable like the Nemean lion skin he wears Chapter 12 The Homecoming Husband - After leaving home and having many adventures, heroes return - Most Greek heroes don’t have a successful return home Nostos and Nostalgia - Nostos: “return (home)”, especially from Troy o When Achilles is fighting at Troy, he realizes that he will never return home but instead will die there and be remembered in song - Algos: “pain or sufferings of either mind or body” - The importance of the hero’s wife at home o “The Homecoming Husband” tale-type; life and livelihood depends on reunion with wife ▪ Woman is forced to choose another husband ▪ First husband returns (disguised) on the wedding day and discloses his identity to his wife, is recognized by her domestic animals, or answers the woman’s questions correctly ▪ Revenge on the rival follows Odysseus - In the Iliad, contrasted with Achilles - Embassy to Achilles in Book 9  o When the Trojans are nearing the Greek ships and many Greek warriors have been injured, Agamemnon realizes how desperately the Greeks need Achilles to rejoin their ranks. o Agamemnon commissions Odysseus to lead an embassy to Achilles’s tent to offer him gifts and persuade him to rejoin the battle against the Trojans o Achilles implies that Odysseus is deceitful and that his eloquent words don’t express his true thoughts and intention - Zeus is a distant ancestor of Odysseus’s father Laertes; his mother Anticleia is the daughter of Autolycus, the son of Hermes - Autolycus named Odysseus = odussasthai “to be angry with” or “to cause suffering” o Autolycus suffered at the hands of men and women and asks that his grandson’s name commemorate his own life as well as Odysseus’s maternal heritage - Odysseus’s scar o Attacked by a wild boar, scar on his leg o Identifies Odysseus but also symbolizes the suffering Odysseus causes and endures Cunning Intelligence and Passive Heroics - Odysseus’s cleverness or cunning intelligence (metis), the trait for which Athena is known, has earned him the epithets “very clever”(polumetis) and “very tricky” (polutropos) in Homer - He is endlessly resourceful and talented like Athena and Hermes o Shapeshifter like Hermes o Man of many crafts and talents (shipbuilder, farmer, athlete, warrior) like Athena o He is a hero equipped to survive in any setting - Cunning intelligence defines his character in tragedies o Ajax ▪ Odysseus persuaded the Greeks to give him Achilles’s arms by speaking more artfully than Ajax ▪ Ajax believes that he is a better warrior, he deserves the weapons ▪ Odysseus claims his Trojan Horse has secured victory over Troy ▪ His persuasive rhetoric leads to his acquisition of Achilles’s arms and to Ajax’s decision to kill himself after failing to seek revenge on the Greeks ▪ Odysseus mediates a dispute about whether Ajax should be buried as a traitor or soldier; skillful and compassionate speaking argues that Ajax should be buried with honors o Philoctetes ▪ Odysseus is a self-serving mentor to Neoptolemus (son of Achilles); counsels Neoptolemus that gaining one’s objective outweighs all other considerations, including ethical ones - In the tragedies of Euripides Odysseus appears has: o Iphigenia at Aulis: a cutthroat politician o Hecuba: a man who must balance his moral inclinations against the necessities of the situation he finds himself in necessities of the situation he finds himself in - He is also described as “passive” because of his willingness to maneuver around hardship, to lie in ambush, and to keep what’s on his mind silent - Also excels in essential skills of planning, thinking, and keeping still o Sirens ▪ Odysseus plans strategically to defend his crew against their enchantments while allowing him to listen and learn from their songs without succumbing to the dangers they present  ▪ He gives beeswax to his men to plug their ears and has himself tied to the ship’s mast, so he won’t abandon the boat and crew ▪ Rather than fighting, ensures he’ll be physically incapable of taking any action - Odysseus learns from female characters o Not only sirens but also, Circe, Calypso, the ghosts of his mother and other women, and his wife Penelope Polyphemus the Cyclops - Odysseus tells the tales of his many adventures to the Phaeacians, the last people he meets before returning home to Ithaca with their help o Describes his confrontation with the, one-eye giant Polyphemus as a case in which his intelligence triumphs over Polyphemus’s brute strength ▪ The tale of those 2 is more complex than brains vs brawn - Polyphemus is one of several Cyclopes who dwell on one of the islands that Odysseus and his crew visit o Odysseus judges the Cyclopes as lawless and arrogant cuz they don’t pursue activities Greeks consider making a society civilized o Island’s harbor is well suited to protect ships and verdant and rich land supports agriculture; but the fields are uncultivated, and the harbor doesn’t have any ships; also, no public spaces for gatherings ▪ Island’s inhabitants don’t engage in agricultural work or seafaring ▪ Suggest that those who live on the island don’t pursue the kind of conversation that that leads to self-government or cultural and social activities that are hallmarks of Greek civilization o Each Cyclops establishes rules over his family while being indifferent to his neighbors - In Greek society, a high value was placed on hospitability (xenia) o A religious and ethical demand involving more than good manners ▪ Overseen by Zeus, who believed to protect both host and guest o Hosts were expected to provide food and lodging to guests as well as help them on their way in exchange for gifts and stories o Guests were expected to be courteous and honest o Odysseus and Polyphemus both violate these normative behaviors - Odysseus in Polyphemus’s cave o Cave is well ordered and brimming with food; gives evidence of owner’s successful animal husbandry o Odysseus and his men help themselves– uninvited– to all the food they want; his men beg him to leave with as much food and animals as they can get safely to their ships, but Odysseus isn’t persuaded ▪ He hopes the cave’s owner will be generous and exchange gifts and food when he presents himself as a respectful guest o Polyphemus enters and is surprised and angry to see uninvited strangers eating his food; asks them if they’re pirates/uncivilized thieves o Polyphemus eats some of Odysseus’s men as revenge for violation of his cave o Odysseus tricks the Cyclops into getting drunk and blinds him by driving a burning stake into Polyphemus’s eye; he and his men escape undetected by clinging to the wool under the bellies of Polyphemus’s sheep as they’re let out to pasture o Odysseus less than heroic o Polyphemus’s neighbors ask if he needs help when he screams in pain; Cyclops appear less isolated and brutish than Odysseus claims  ▪ Women’s Worlds and Odysseus’s silence -After Odysseus’s escape from Polyphemus, he encounters many females on his journey home -Nymph Calypso, Circe, The Sirens and Nusicaa o Calypso delays Odysseus for years in her faraway island with promises of immortality o Circe offers him a life of indulgence and pleasure on another island o The sirens seduce him with their songs of praise o Nausicaa, daughter of the king of Phaeacia, promises he will become king if he marries her ▪ In these encounters, attentive listening/“passive heroics” replaces violence and action; experiences contribute to Odysseus’s transformation from a marauding hero set on obtaining goods while abroad to a returning hero set on remarrying his wife and regaining his house and land - 3 women - the ghost of his mother, women in the underworld and the goddess Calypso contribute to his transformation - Odysseus’s visit to the Underworld is a social enterprise o Teiresias provides him with info about his journey home, explaining that only ghosts who drink blood from the ram Odysseus slaughtered are able to speak o He addresses his mother reports that Penelope remained loyal to him despite his long absence o Spoke with his companions at Troy tell him about their travails on their voyages back to Greece and what happened to them once they reached their cities and families o Odysseus realizes his past as an Iliadic hero has come to an end makes the choice to o spend his brief time in the Underworld with women he never knew while they were alive, who describe their experiences while their husbands were away at war ▪ Odysseus listens to them like how he listens to the sirens ▪ His choice underscores the high value Odysseus places on understanding/acquiring knowledge from and about women - Eight years with Calypso o Length of stay suggests Calypso’s importance o He says the goddess promised to make him immortal but never persuaded him to accept her offer o He drenched her garments in tears until she released him at Zeus’s command o Odysseus doesn’t say what happened during the eight years o The transformation of the lonely, wandering hero into someone determined to pursue a new course of action ▪ Odysseus desire for travel and exploration is extinguished ▪ Thereby unites his past as a soldier and wanderer to his present identity as a fit suitor for his wife, Penelope, and thus signals his readiness to return to Ithaca. Homecoming - Second half of the Odyssey - Disguised reconnaissance in the palace o He must discover who remained loyal to him during his absence o Disguised as a beggar; goes to his swineherd Eumaeus and his son Telemachus; tests their loyalty, then reveals his identity o Odysseus goes to the palace to test the loyalty of his servants, suitors, and his wife; his hound Argus recognizes him upon his arrival ▪ Argus was covered in dirt; his condition symbolizes the condition of Odysseus’s house during his long absence; Argus’s death upon seeing his long-lost owner conveys the suffering of those who remained loyal to him in hopes of his return  - Argus’s death upon seeing his long-lost owner conveys the suffering of those who remained loyal to him in hopes of his return - Conversation with Penelope o Penelope’s dream of an eagle killing her geese; Odysseus interprets her dream as a prediction that he is the eagle, and the suitors stationed in her house are the geese: he’ll return shortly and kill them o Penelope doesn’t accept this interpretation that doesn’t explain why the destruction of the geese upsets her - The bow contest o Penelope decided Odysseus is most likely dead and sets up a contest to determine who she’ll marry; she’ll marry whoever can string Odysseus’s bow o None of the suitors succeed; Odysseus asks to try, and he succeeds, and he then kills the suitors with Telemachus and Eumaeus’s aid - Still uncertain that the man id Odysseus, Penelope asks him to reveal the secret of the bed o Odysseus anticipates a warm embrace from Penelope when she enters the hall; she claims to be uncertain if he is really Odysseus and tricks him into revealing the secret of how their wedding bed was made o They reunite when he correctly explains the bed’s construction - All of the events that define the tale-type of the “Homecoming Husband” o Recognition of the hero by an animal, social pressure on his wife to remarry, and his correct answer to his wife’s test concerning his identity o - Penelope is important to Odysseus’s successful return; her actions preserve his land, name and family and makes their restoration possible upon his return Jason - Tales of Jason’s return to Greece are modeled on Odysseus’s travel - Medea is a non-Greek princess who, like Helen, travels throughout the Mediterranean, o She prevents Jason from achieving a successful return - Jason’s mortal lineage o Jason’s father was Aeson, the founder of a city o Aeson’s brother (Jason’s uncle) was Pelias o Aeson and Pelias shared a mother Tyro, o Pelias’s father was the god Poseidon, Aeson’s father was the mortal Cretheus o Jason has no divine parents or grandparents o Jason is favored by Hera, and helped by Athena o Jason was raised away from home - Two Homecoming 1. Return to his family precipitates his immediate departure and requires a second attempt at homecoming o Jason turns up wearing only one sandal while Pelias, Jason’s uncle, is making a sacrifice to his father, Poseidon. o Cuz Pelias had received an oracle telling him to beware of a man wearing one sandal, he sends Jason on a quest that he believes Jason will not survive o He demands that Jason recover the Golden Fleece, which is guarded by a never- sleeping dragon in Colchis, on the Black Sea o Jason sets out from Iolcus on the Argo, a ship constructed by a man named Argus with the help of Athena. o Men from all over Greece agree to sail with Jason, forming a band of sailors called the Argonauts.  o They have a series of adventures before arriving in Colchis o Jason arrives on Colchis, he learns that King Aeëtes will not give him the Golden Fleece, unless he accomplishes three tasks: 1. He must yoke fire-breathing oxen and plough a field with them 2. He must plant a dragon’s teeth and then defeat the soldiers, called Spartoi, who immediately spring up from them 3. He must defeat the dragon who guards the Golden Fleece o Jason accomplishes all of these tasks because Medea, the princess of Colchis and daughter of Aeëtes, provides him with drugs to protect him from the fire- breathing oxen and to make the dragon sleep and a ruse to make the Spartoi fight one another rather than attack him. o He obtains the fleece and departs from Colchis. o Jason and the Argonauts, now with Medea, have further adventures to Iolcus - Medea uses her magical herbs once again to Jason’s benefit - She rejuvenates Jason’s father by placing his dismembered body and magical herbs in cauldron - His father leaps out of the cauldron whole and youthful o After, Medea encourages the daughters of Pelias, to perform the same ceremony for their father. - Once Pelias’s daughters dismember him and fill a cauldron with - his parts, - Medea withholds her herbs, making the girls the instrument of their father’s gruesome death o Medea destroys Jason’s tormenter - Forcing them to leave the country and destroys his successful homecoming 2. In Corinth, Jason makes a second attempt to achieve a successful return o He decides to marry Corinth’s princess, Creusa, with the consent of her father king Creon o They secure a kingdom. o But Medea will not tolerate his betrayal o She kills Creusa, Creon, and her two sons Oedipus - Sigmund Freud described a developmental stage in young children as the “Oedipus complex” - The story of Oedipus exemplifies a tragic view of the world in which the abilities of all people, including wise kings, to know themselves are limited compared to the vast knowledge of the gods o It also serves as one of the more curious examples of a hero’s disastrous homecoming. - Parent: King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes - Sophocles wrote 2 plays about Oedipus: 1. Oedipus Tyrannus 2. Oedipus at Colonus - Oedipus Tyrannus (Oedipus’s Life) o Plagues in Thebes and Oedipus’s investigation ▪ Oedipus’s attempt to find and exile the murderer of Laius, the former king of Thebes, cuz the presence of the murder is polluting the land and causing a plague. ▪ Oedipus questions and threatens various Theban citizens.  ▪ His interrogations bring to light that, many years earlier, King Laius and Queen Jocasta received an oracle saying their child would kill Laius and marry Jocasta - To avoid fulfilling the oracle, they ordered a shepherd to abandon their infant son in the hills to die - The shepherd took the child but, rather than letting him die, gave him to the childless king and queen of Corinth ▪ They also reveal that Laius was killed while traveling on the road to Thebes. o Oedipus pieces together the truth of his identity ▪ Oedipus had once received an oracle predicting that he would kill his father and marry his mother. ▪ To avoid fulfilling this prophecy, he left Corinth and those whom he believed were his biological parents. ▪ He killed an old man who blocked his passage on a road; solved the riddle of the Sphinx, who was harassing the residents of Thebes married the Theban queen, Jocasta; became king; and produced four children o Jocasta commits suicide and Oedipus blinds himself ▪ In conclusion, Oedipus despite his best intentions has fulfilled the oracle given to his parents and himself. ▪ Horrified, Jocasta kills herself ▪ Oedipus finds her body and blinds himself with the pins from her robe - Oedipus at Colonus o Oedipus’s disappearance ▪ Oedipus has been exiled from Thebes ▪ Now an outcast, and blind, he wanders accidentally into the sacred grove of the Furies in Colonus, an area in Athens. - Assisted by his daughter (and half-sister) Antigone, who has accompanied him ▪ He pleads for mercy first with the Athenian citizens, who demand that he leave the sacred space he has trespassed, and then with Theseus, the beneficent king of Athens ▪ Oedipus reveals a prophecy he has received: - when he dies, his body will bring great blessings on the land where he is buried. ▪ When the plays ends, Oedipus’s body has disappeared in the grove and his hero shrine there brings good fortune to Athens - Oedipus as a tragic “homecoming husband” o He suffers losses upon his return home o When he defeats the monstrous Sphinx and wins both queen and the kingdom, he believes he’s in foreign land, but unknowingly hr returned home - Oedipus as a “detective”: his tragic quest set to destroy his and his family life The Quest Hero - Constantine Cavafy’s “Ithaca” o Believes the importance of the journey o Sees the journey of Odysseus as a metaphor for life itself o His journey is an extended metaphor for every person’s life is shaped by his or her desires and fears, as well as shared encounters along the way Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth - Labeled a narrative pattern – monomyth - Describes a monomyth in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces  o “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered, and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from his mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons upon his fellow man” - He believes the hero’s journey corresponds both to events in each person’s life and to the psychological maturation that transpires beneath the threshold of consciousness - Argued that the monomyth resonates with all people and appears in stories in all societies, past or present - Monomyths are “true maps of the psyche” and “emotionally realistic even when they portray fantastic impossible, or unreal events” - Only applies to men’s journeys and is culturally specific Subjective Experience and the External Landscape - W.H. Auden’s “The Quest Hero” o Emphasizes how the hero’s quest represents the internal reality of readers, not the heroes, but the readers of the hero’s adventures o If the hero’s quest is familiar, it’s cuz resonates with the reader’s subjective experience; reflects how individuals experience their own lives - - The hero’s landscape is near; exploits acquire meaning because they represent and respond to desires, fears, and hopes the lie in the hero’s heart and the reader’s subconscious Chapter 13 Heroines and Heroes - “Heroine” seldom refers to a female protagonist in a mythological tale. - Describes women in groups o May reflect the historical fact that women frequently worshipped the gods in groups. - Few cult shrines dedicated solely to heroines. o Most heroines were worshipped alongside their husbands or sons. - Many female characters in myth, did not have any cult shrines. - Some scholars argue that tales with female protagonists, like tales about heroes, express male concerns and the societal norms they sought to impose on women o In Greece, each woman had to have a male guardian (kurios) who oversaw, indeed controlled, the social, economic, and legal aspects of her life. ▪ A young unmarried woman was expected to be loyal to her natal family, especially her father, who served as her kurios. ▪ Then she was expected to shift her loyalty to her husband, who became her new guardian. ▪ Should her husband die, another male, usually her son or father, would become her kurios o This is social imperative – a women had to be loyal to and obey her male Helen - Parents: Zeus and Queen Leda of Sparta - As the Zeus, has many affinities to divinity - Her beauty is great; after she dies, she is worshipped as a heroine and a goddess - Helen’s phantom and her doublets o Helen has a double of herself, called a phantom o Connect to her marriage with Menelaus, there are doublets – repeated actions ▪ Example, Helen is abducted twice.  1. As a child, by her Theseus, where her brother, the Dioscuri, retrieve her, her father marries her off to Menelaus 2. When Paris abducts Helen for the second time in her life and takes her to Troy - Has 2 different afterlives and 2 different cult shrines – one with Menelaus and one with Achilles o Remains married to Menelaus after death, and they dwell on the Island of the Blessed in the Underworld o Joins Achilles on the White Islands after death, where they share a cult shrine Helen of Troy - After Helen and Paris arrive in Troy, Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon lead an army of Greeks to retrieve her. o It does not assign blame to Helen for causing the war, King Priam treats her with respect and kindness and showcases her artistic abilities and her awareness of her precarious status in Troy o She weaves a tapestry depicting the Trojan War, an action that suggests she is much like the poet of epic - Helen’s storytelling and magic in Book 4 of the Odyssey o Menelaus vision ▪ Menelaus recounts that Helen attempted to trick the Greeks hiding in the wooden horse into revealing themselves before ambushing Troy. o Helen’s vision ▪ She helped Odysseus sneak into Troy on a reconnaissance mission. - Each story presents a different view of Helen’s loyalty o In hers, she is faithful to the G reeks; in Menelaus’s tale, she tries to betray them - The Odyssey emphasizes Helen’s regal deportment, storytelling, and magic; it also leaves unresolved whether Helen was loyal to Menelaus Helen’s Phantom - Some poets claim that Helen’s phantom was at Troy not her - Poet Stesichorus o Composed poems that mentioned that Helen’s phantom travels to Troy, while the real Helen stays in Egypt with King Proteus - Herodotus elaborates on Helen’s stay in Egypt, which he learned from Egyptian priests o When Paris was leaving Sparta with Helen, he was blown off course to Egypt, where his servants informed the Egyptians that he had abducted Helen and much of Menelaus’s treasures. Enraged by Paris’s behavior, Proteus sends him away and keeps Helen. - Euripides’s play – Helen o Imagines Helen as a faithful wife who has waited 17 years for Menelaus in Egypt ▪ When he learns that Helen has been in Egypt, not Troy, they unite and escape from the Egyptians who are hostile to Greeks through a clever strategy that Helen devises. o Euripides suggests that Helen is like the loyal Penelope and Menelaus is like the shipwrecked Odysseus who returns from Troy in rags o Euripides presents Helen as a devoted wife who waits for her husband’s return and hints at the ignorance of the Greeks and the Trojans who fought for ten years over an insubstantial phantom - Alcestis - She was not worshipped as a heroine in cults - Euripides indicates that she was worshipped alongside Apollo Carneius in Athens and Sparta  o Portrays her decision to die on behalf of her husband and her unexpected return from the dead - Like Helen she both leaves and returns to her husband’s house - Euripides’s play – Alcestis o A “satyr” or comic play that treats serious issues o Opens with an argument between Thanatus (death) and Apollo ▪ Artemis has condemned Admetus to death because he made a ritual error when sacrificing to her. ▪ Cuz Admetus, who is known for his hospitality, had treated Apollo with kindness, Apollo compels Thanatus to allow Admetus to live if he can find someone to die in his place. ▪ The only person willing to exchange places with Admetus is his wife, Alcestis. ▪ Thanatus boasts that he will take Alcestis to Hades on this day ▪ Alcestis asked Hera to protect her children and said a farewell to her marriage bed to which she claims loyalty, dying in Admetus’s place - Alcestis is very near death and asks Admetus not to marry again: a stepmother will not treat their children well and will deprive them of their inheritance. - He promises to fulfill her wish and places a statue of her in their marital bed to ensure his faithfulness. ▪ Alcestis sees Charon, the ferryman of the Underworld, utters farewell, and dies o Second half of play, Admetus receives Heracles warmly even though he has come during Alcestis’s funeral ▪ Wanting to be a good host and friend to Heracles, Admetus hides that he is mourning his wife, but fails ▪ Heracles, much like Apollo, becomes determined to repay Admetus’s generosity and abruptly departs to retrieve Alcestis from the Underworld. ▪ When he returns with a veiled silent woman, whom he claims he has won in a contest, he convinces Admetus to take her as a bride ▪ Lifting the woman’s veil, Admetus realizes that she is his wife, Alcestis. ▪ She is unable to respond to him, Heracles explains, she will remain silent for three days after being dead in the Underworld. ▪ The play ends on a celebratory note: Admetus and Alcestis are reunited, thanks to Admetus’s hospitality and Heracles’s strength - Reunion poses questions about how women’s actions are treated o By Admetus’s decision to replace Alcestis with the silent women undermines his promise not to remarry o By returning to Admetus’s house, Heracles undermines the significance of her suffering before death and the honor of her decision ▪ Heracles’s rescue steals her honor o Her silence emphasizes that she has a perspective about staying in or leaving her husband’s house, is unspoken and unknown Penelope - Wife of Odysseus - She is crucial to Odysseus’s successful resumption of his position as king of Ithaca - In her conversation with Odysseus, who presents himself as a beggar, she uses myths and dreams to convey her thoughts - Penelope explains her decision to set up a contest on the following day and marry whoever can string Odysseus’s boy o Penelope reveals her anxious commitment to Telemachus’ well-being  o She and her son have different interests because Telemachus has reached adulthood but cannot inherit his father’s estate if Penelope remains unmarried. o If she refuses to marry, she harms his future livelihood o At the end Odysseus kills the suitors and reclaims his throne - Questions on Penelope’s knowledge and motives o When Odysseus appears in front of her as her husband not a beggar, she still tricks him into proving his identity o As she places their bed into the hall for him to point out the secret of their marital bed built around a tree, its immoveable ▪ Some scholars say that her trick indicates that didn’t recognize that the beggar was Odysseus during the bow contest ▪ “Bed trick” symbolizes that role of Penelope in Odysseus’s household - Unlike Helen and Alcestis, she never left her husband’s house, but all of her words to Odysseus suggest how her life within its confines didn’t lack mental and physical anguish, and clever tricks Heroine and Households - Helen, Alcestis and Penelope focus on their marital relationships - They differ in many details, but for one o Each heroine imagines ending her marriage, without the permission of a male guardian (kurios), in terms of leaving her bed, bedchamber, slaves, children, and house, not her husband. o Penelope - Contemplates whether she should stay with her son and keep her “property, the slaves, and the great-roofed house” safe and intact. If she marries a suitor, she will have to leave her house o Helen - describes her departure from Sparta, she states that she has left her bedchamber and her daughter o Alcestis- bids farewell to her wedding bed and grieves for her children before dying - In sum, each heroine equates her marriage with the household she and her husband have created o Her decision to remain married to her husband determines the economic, emotional, and social welfare of all its residents, not only his. Chapter 14 Heroines in an Unjust World - Procne, Medea, Clytemnestra and Hecuba, become vengeful murders, considering their representation in Greeks tragedies o Greek tragedies borrowed heroes and heroines from the world of mythology and offered “updated” versions of them that showcased their relevance 5th and 4th BCE audience o Tragedies set in the city or house required female characters o Made heroines the protagonists of their dramas - Tragic heroines differ from their epic versions in serval ways o They directly name the social constraints upon them o They point out the fault lines in the world beyond the tragic stage by exposing the contradictory demands placed on individuals, whether male or female, by family, religion practices, and service to the state o Tragic heroines offered alternate views of the state Clytemnestra - Mortal sister of Helen - Married to Agamemnon, brother of Menelaus, whom she had serval children with: Iphigenia, Electra, Orestes - Known for one terrible deed: killing her husband Agamemnon, and his Trojan concubine Cassandra - Aeschylus’s trilogy, the Oresteia o