Title: Classics 2200 / Midterm 2
Tags: Iliad Odyssey Gilgamesh

Q: [...]: [...].
A: Eschatology; Account of life after death

Archaic Greek Eschatology
(Account of life after Death)
- As depicted in the Homeric epics the Iliad and the Odyssey, and in Hesiod’s Theogony.
- The underworld is the final home of all mortals, where they must go after they die.
  - It is devoid of light, joy, substance, hope and vitality.
  - Everyone in the underworld is a ghost, you can’t really touch them.
  - There is no escape (unless you’re like a hero of some sort).
- Therefore, being alive is extremely sweet and precious.
  - You are better alive than dead regardless of how bad your life is.

Hero’s Recompense
- A hero is expected to risk his life in battle.
- The hero’s  rewards are honour (timé), and fame/glory (kleos).
- Timé is given to the hero while he is alive, in the form of loot, respect and feast proportions.
- Kleos comes to the hero after death. It will keep his memory alive in the forms of song (epic) and monuments. This memorialization will provide him with lasting fame even when he is dead.
  - The closest a mortal could get to immortality.
- For all other non-heroic people, their children offer a sort of lasting existence after death.

Hades/the Underworld
- Entrances to the Underworld are at the extreme and inaccessible regions of the world. e.g. in the place where the sun sets, or at the edge of the Ocean (as in the Odyssey).
  - If you are alive and want to go to the underworld, it is a great journey.
- The souls of the dead must cross over a river boundary (e.g. Styx, Acheron).
- In sources after Homer, Charon is the ferryman who carries the souls across the river.

Hades/the Underworld
    - Recall, people would have coins on their eyes as payment for Charon.
  - Hermes is psychopomp.
    - Escorts the souls of the dead down into the underworld.
  - Cerberus: a many-headed dog, guards the gates of Hades.
    - Mainly guarding people from leaving, not people coming in.
  - Note: Heracles made 3 journeys into the underworld.

Tartarus: The Cellar of Hades
- Even lower down in the Earth, and is singled out for those who are to be terribly punished.
- Criminals such as Tityus, Tantalus, Sisyphus, Ixion are  imprisoned here.

Tartarus: The Cellar of Hades
Tityus
- Mortal son of Zeus.
- Tried to rape Leto, but was killed by Apollo and Artemis.
- In tartarus, he is tied to the ground and two vultures devour his liver.
  - The liver is the site of “passion”, recall Prometheus’ punishment.
  - He is not necessarily being punished for rape, but rather hubris since he is trying to take something that isn’t his.
    - Typically criminals take belongings such as loot or women.

Tartarus: The Cellar of Hades
Tantalus
- Mortal son of Zeus.
- Invited to dine with the Gods, stole their divine food.
- Tried to trick the gods by serving his son Pelops to them.
  - Gods not only don’t eat meat, but they definitely don’t eat human meat.
  - Demeter, so distressed by Persephone being gone ate some of the stew, eating Pelops shoulder.
- Recall the importance of how and what people eat.
- “Tantalized” eternally by food and water just out of his reach in Tartarus.

Tartarus: The Cellar of Hades
Sisyphus
- A trickster.
- Tied up Thanatos (death) so no one could die.
- Ares released Thanatos, and Sisyphus “died”.
- Tricked Hades by telling his wife not to perform funeral rites.
- Hades allowed him to return home to “reprimand” his wife for not performing the funeral rites, he stayed until he later died of old age.
- His punishment is to roll a boulder up a hill and it rolls back every time.

Tartarus: The Cellar of Hades
Ixion
- First person to kill his own kin
- He promised bride-gifts to his father-in-law, inviting him to come and collect them.
- He prepared a pit of fire to kill him.
- No god could purify him of the miasma resulting from this crime.
- Zeus, out of pity, performed the purification and invited Ixion as his guest among the gods.
  - Normally, Apollo would purify!
- Ixion then tried to rape Hera.
- Recall, Zeus cannot be beaten, so he made a cloud that looked like Hera, tricking Ixion into intercourse with the cloud.
- Kentauros was born as a result (first of the race of Centaurs, half human, half animal)
  - Represent the beast side of humans.
- Punishment: Ixion was tied to a wheel (sometimes fiery), which rolls all over the underworld.

Tartarus: The Cellar of Hades
Later Representations of the Underworld
- Over time, myths reflect the idea of the possibility of something better after death.
- The topography of the underworld becomes more complex, with different regions for souls with different degrees of virtue.
  - Eg. people who died of love, people who died as babies etc.
- Mystery religions offer initiates hope for a blessed afterlife.
- Eleusinian Mysteries, Orphic cult, Dionysiac Mysteries.

Odyssey Book 11
- Odysseus is telling the people in the palace of Alcinous about his journey to the entrance to the Underworld, and his encounter with the dead souls.
- He was told by the witch Circe that if he was ever to get home, he must first go to the entrance of the Underworld and perform a chthonic sacrifice (pouring sacrifices into the ground for those under the Earth) to call up the ghost of the prophet Tiresias.
  - Odysseus and Circe become lovers, but he only agrees to have sex with her if she turns his men back into men, after she had turned them into pigs.
  - They stay with Circe for a year, making them forget about their journey home.
  - Tiresias can see the future, and Odysseus is to ask him how to get home.
- Liquid sacrifices (libations) are poured into a pit in the ground.

Odyssey Book 11
- Sheep are sacrificed over the pit, and the souls of the dead rise up to drink the blood.
  - Process is called necromancy, bringing the underworld to him.
- Those who drink the blood have the temporary ability to speak with Odysseus.
- He is thus able to converse with the ghosts of Elpenor, his own mother, Tiresias, Agamemnon, Ajax, Achilles, Heracles, and others.
  - Odysseus chooses who can drink the blood, thus who he speaks to.
  - Elpenor was drinking on the roof and fell off, breaking his neck and being left unburied at Circe’s home.
    - He has not had his funeral rites and begs of Odysseus to bury him, allowing him to pass into the underworld.
  - His mother tells him she died because she missed him too much, he couldn’t hug her since she is a ghost.
  - Agamemnon tells him that his wife Cleopatra and Aegisthus killed him.
  - Ajax and Odysseus were in line to receive Achilles’ armour after his death, Ajax felt dishonored after Odysseus won the contest and kills himself.
    - Ajax is mad salty and refuses to talk to Odysseus.
  - Heracles mentions Odysseus is like him! Both have to undergo certain challenges.
    - Note, this is an image of Heracles, since Heracles is immortal.

Odyssey Book 11
- Odysseus tells Achilles that he is the greatest, and he is ruling the underworld!
- Achilles won kleos for all time, but tells him that he would rather be a slave than dead in the underworld with this kleos.
  - No matter the glory or prestige, it is better to be alive.

Gilgamesh, the Early Near-Eastern Hero
- Hails from Mesopotamia (up to 2500 BC).
  - Fertile floodplain “between the rivers” Tigris and Eyphrates.
  - Mesopotamia was inhabited by Sumerians around 2800-2500 BCE.
    - Later by Akkadians and others.
  - Gilgamesh is listed as king of Uruk (city)
    - {{3::5th}} king after the ‘flood’ ca. 2800-2500 BCE.
  - The legend of Gilgamesh and other stories were written as early as 2150 BCE.
    - Perhaps our oldest surviving literature.
  - Our surviving text comes from 12 Akkadian tablets from ca. 700 BCE, written in cuneiform (wedges).
  - A recently discovered tablet V adds new details!
  - Gilgamesh is a master of nature.

Gilgamesh, the Near-Eastern Hero
Beginning of the Epic of Gilgamesh
- Gilgamesh is not necessarily that powerful, but rather intelligent and knowing.
- Went on a great journey and came back telling his story.
- Gilgamesh is beautiful and perfect, courageous yet savage and terrifying.
  - ⅔ god and ⅓ man, so he is a mortal.

Gilgamesh, the Near-Eastern Hero
Gilgamesh
- A human hero with some divine abilities
- He tames nature to make a safe space for human culture.
- But he has a shadow side: he is violent and arrogant.
- He has a close friend (Enkidu, the hero’s double).
  - Enkidu is made by the gods out of clay to be his friend.
- Two quests: slay a monster (with Enkidu), seek immortality (Enkidu has died).
- He has various divine helpers / enemies.
- He is transformed through loss and suffering.
- He goes beyond the boundaries set down for most mortals.
Gilgamesh the Hero
- Son of Lugalbanda (a mortal King of Uruk) and Ninsun (a goddess).
  - Political inheritance from his father, and divine from his mother.
- His divided nature causes him to suffer.
  - Recall, being mortal with divine features make you better than people but you are still mortal and will die, so you are on the same level in many ways!

Gilgamesh, the Near-Eastern Hero
- He is a problem for his people: he gets in fights with the men, and sleeps with all the new brides in the city.
- To solve this, the gods make Enkidu out of clay. He is a wild and hairy man who lives with the animals in the wilderness.
  - He is “tamed” by contact with the sacred prostitute Shamhat, and after sleeping with her, loses his ability to run with the animals.
  - She gradually takes him to the cultured life and the city of Uruk, where he meets Gilgamesh.
    - First they go to a farm, then a city.
- The two are at first rivals (Gilgamesh fights all men), then companions, and together they slay the monster Humbaba, who guards the cedar forest, an important resource.
  - First guy to ever give Gilgamesh difficulty in a fight, so they team up.

Gilgamesh, the Near-Eastern Hero
- Gilgamesh rejects and insults the goddess Ishtar (sex/war), who punishes him by killing Enkidu.
  - Gilgamesh points out all the things that have happened to Ishtar’s lovers and says he will not have sex with her.
- Gilgamesh, in his grief and denial delays the burial of Enkidu.
  - Finally, when he sees a worm fall from Enkidu’s nose (signal he is dead), he gives him a magnificent funeral.
- The death of Enkidu confronts Gilgamesh with his own mortality.

Gilgamesh, the Near-Eastern Hero
Solitary Quest and Return
- In search of the secret to immortality, Gilgamesh leaves the city, and travels in the wilderness, clothed in a lion's skin.
- Siduri, a bar-maid tells Gilgamesh that all men will die, it is up to him to make his time on Earth joyous and cherish it.
- He travels beyond the limits of the world to consult the old wise man Utnapishtim, who survived the flood with his wife. He travels through a lightless underground passage beneath a mountain.
- He tries and fails to earn immortality, and he suffers, but learns many other things from Utnapishtim, above all that he must accept that he too will die.
- He returns home to the city with unique knowledge, which he shares with the people of Uruk for all time, and has it written down in a sacred text.

Q: Gilgamesh, the Near-Eastern Hero
Gilgamesh and Utrnapishtim
- [...] for Gilgamesh and he falls asleep, so the [...] and when he is woken up, despite arguing he was only napping it is clear he has been asleep for time.
A: Bread is baked; bread decays

Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis
- He was put in jail for being gay, wrote De Profundis while in jail.
- He says that the ultimate mystery is ourselves, and how we confront what we know and what we don’t. We tell stories to accomplish this.
- To be wise is to know you won’t know everything.

Typical Features of the Greek Hero
- A divine parent and a human parent.
- Unusual birth story.
- Threatened at birth by a hostile force.
- Early display of special powers.
- Education in exile and/or isolation, often by supernatural beings.
- Quest, typically involving an impossible task.
- Slaying of a monster or other powerful opponent.
- Divine assistance (and opposition).
- Return home when spiritually transformed.
- Unhappy/tragic domestic life.
- Strange or ironic death.
  - Almost shameful! They don’t typically die in battle.
- Undying fame through song or cult.
- Ie) Separation (from home), Initiation (into manhood), Return (home)

Q: The Divided Being
- The hero is greater than other mortals, a model to emulate.
  - Eg. as a model of the competitive athlete in [...] songs.
  - Poems about winning athletes, comparing them to heroes.
- But he is divided: human and divine, often bestial.
  - Frequently [...], isolated and alone.
  - Look at heroes in our society, can be problematic in civil life, but great!
- It is difficult for the hero to know or accept [...].
- Hubris and divine punishment.
  - E.g. Gilgamesh, punished by Ishtar with loss of Enkidu.
A: Pindar's Epinician; arrogant; limits

Q: Hero as Benefactor and Destroyer
- Protector of [...], a tamer of nature, a champion of culture.
- But also he can be [...], a violent force of nature, a threat to culture. (think of Gilgamesh, the warrior, the athlete)
- The life-story of many gods reflects the pattern above.
A: civilization; destructive

A: Perseus

Q: Perseus
- [...] into civilized life.
- Recall, Io and Zeus made Epaphus, after many generations Hypermnestra and Lyceus make a dynasty.
- [...], a king in that lineage hears a prophecy that [...] (daughter) son will kill him (grandpa)
  - Locks her in a tower to prevent this!
A: Unusually integrated; Acrisius; Danae’s

Perseus’ Early Life
- Zeus impregnated Danae, in the form of a rain-shower.
- The resulting baby was discovered by Acrisius.
  - Realizes his quest to prevent his daughter from having a son failed.
- He put Perseus and Danae out to sea in a chest.
  - He will not get miasma if they perish, since he is not technically killing them.

Rescue & Threat
- The chest landed on the island of Seriphos.
- Rescue by the fisherman Dictys.
- Perseus comes of age on Seriphos.
- His mother is pursued by the evil King Polydectes (receiver of many-like Hades).
- Perseus offers him anything he wants as long as he leaves Danae alone.
- Impossible demand: head of Medusa (gorgon).
  - Any who look at her turn into stone.
  - Also note, she is depicted as uncontainable and uncontrollable.
  - Notice, medusa has reptilian qualities like most monsters heroes have to fight.

Perseus’ Quest
- Athena helps him with advice (wisdom).
- He must also seeks the advice of Graiae (3 hags who share a single tooth and eye).
  - Perseus steals the eye and holds it ransom until they tell him what he wants to know.
- He tricks the Graiae into directing him to far-off nymphs, who give him: a cap of invisibility, winged sandals, a pouch.
- Perseus uses an adamantine sword borrowed from Hermes to behead Medusa.
  - Similar weapon to Cronus’ sickle that he used for Ouranus.
  - He beheads her by looking at her reflection in his shield.
  - Then he puts the head inside the big leather pouch he got.
- Pegasus, fathered by Poseidon, emerges from Medusa’s body.
  - Apparently, she was actually beautiful, then Poseidon made her pregnant and then made her into a wild beast.

Perseus’ Quest Cont.
- On Perseus’ return home, he stops by in Ethiopia.
- Cassiopeia and Cepheus, Queen and King of Ethiopia
  - Cassiopeia says her daughter Andromeda is more beautiful than sea Nymphs!
- Cassiopeia’s hybris angers Poseidon, who floods the land, demands the sacrifice of Andromeda.
- Chained to a cliff, Andromeda waits for a sea-monster to come and seize her.
- Perseus comes by and uses the Medusa head to turn the monster into stone and claims Andromeda’s hand in marriage.
  - Perseus also has to battle some random guy that she was betrothed to.
- Andromeda is dressed as a bride! Very strange.

Return Home
- Perseus returns to Seriphos and turns Polydectes and his court to stone.
- He gives the head of Medusa to Athena, who places it on her shield or aegis.
- He returns to Argos, and accidentally kills his grandfather Acrisius with a discus, fulfilling the prophecy.
  - Recall the prophecy that Perseus would kill his grandfather.
- He becomes king of Tiryns and Mycenae (two neighbouring cities).
- Lives long and happily with Andromeda (unusual).
- Catasterization (made into stars).

Danae as “The Girl’s Tragedy”
- Prohibition: Danae is forbidden to marry.
- Seclusion: She is locked in a tower.
- Violation of prohibition: Zeus' rain shower and conception of Perseus.
- Threat of punishment or death: Danae and Perseus are set to sea in a chest.
- Liberation: rescue by Dictys, and again by Perseus.
- The story pattern confirms the norm that a girl should leave her father’s control, become a mother, and continue the life-cycle.
- It reflects paternal anxiety about being replaced by a son/grandson.
- Notice a similar story pattern in Rapunzel, Shrek etc.

Q: Herakles (Hercules): [...] hero
- Considered a hero among all Greeks across the nation.
- Notice, Zeus is in the family tree 2x.
  - Zeus has sex with [...] by disguising himself as her husband.
- [...] has twin babies, one from Zeus and one from her actual husband.
A: Panhellenic; Alkmene; Alkmene

Persecution by Hera
- Zeus’ oath: the next child born of his line would rule Argos.
- Hera delays labour of Alkmene, brings on labour of Eurystheus’ mother.
- Eurystheus is born and becomes king in accordance with the oath.
- Hera sends 2 snakes into the twins’ nursery. The infant Hercules strangles them.
  - Alcmene and Amphitryon see their son has divine powers.
  - Notice, Hercules is brought up as the son of the king and queen not Zeus.
- Zeus lets Herakles breastfeed off the sleeping Hera, but she wakes up and pushes him away, spilling breast milk.
  - Origin of the Milky Way.

Education
- Heracles kills his music teacher Linus when scolded.
- He is sent away to the wilderness to be educated by Chiron, the one wise centaur.
- He learns to be a skilled archer as well as the healing arts of Apollo.

Q: Heracles’ Heroic Appetites
- Slept with all fifty daughters of [...].
- Amazing capacity to eat and drink.
A: Thespius

Q: Euripides’ Heracles: Tragic Marriage
- First wife is [...].
  - Driven mad by Hera, he kills his [...].
- Heracles wants to kill himself.
A: Megara; wife and children

Q: Atonement
- The [...] instructs him to atone by serving his [...] King Eurystheus.
  - Eurystheus wants to kill Heracles, but is scared so makes him perform 12 labours which are meant to kill him.
- Different forms of confrontation with death
- Many involve taming wild forces of nature
- Through his labours, he wins glory (Hera – kleos)
A: Oracle at Delphi; cousin

1. Slaying the Nemean Lion.
- Supernatural skin which was invincible to any weapon.
- Heracles strangles it, using the claw of the lion to skin the lion.
- Heracles wears the skin of a lion and uses an olivewood club.
1. Killing the Hydra.
- More heads grow as soon as you cut one off.
- Friend cauterizes the heads heracles cut off, so the hydra could die.
1. Break off the horn of the Cerynitian Hind.
- Deer is sacred to Artemis, but he convinces her to let him do it.
1. Slaying the Erymanthian Boar.
- Athena helps him accomplish this.
1. Slaying the Stymphalian Birds.
- Either poop so much they destroy the land, or their feathers were knives that would fall down and kill people.
- Heracles made some clattering sound using a castanets to get them to fly up and then he shot them out of the air.
  - Castanets are the instrument of the great mother goddess.
1. The Amazon Queen.
- Told to bring back the belt of the Amazon Queen (either by killing or seducing her).
- Recall, the Amazons are women fighters.
1. Cattle of Geryon
2. Geryon is a monstrous cowboy who must be killed first.
1. Capturing Cereberus.
- Eurystheus hides in a jar after Cerberus is brought back.

Q: Crime and Enslavement of Heracles
- After using deception to [...], he must again atone, this time by enslavement to [...], a foreign queen.
  - Heracles invites him home then pushes him into a well.
- Supposed to be embarrassing for Heracles, but he actually has a lot of fun with her and they cross-dress.
A: kill a rival; Omphale

Sophocles’ Women of Trachis: Herakles’ Second Marriage
- Heracles sees Meleager and says he is so beautiful he wants to marry his sister.
  - Heracles wins Deianeira’s (‘man-destroyer’) hand in marriage.
- They are crossing a river, so Heracles pays a centaur Nessus to carry her across, but half-way across the centaur turns around and assaults Deianeira.
  - Heracles shoots Nessus with a poison (from Hydra) arrow, and while he is dying he “apologizes” to Deianeira and gives her his blood saying it is a love potion that she should use on Heracles.
- Years later, Herakles sacks Oichalia, because he fell in love with princess Iole.
  - He had been refused her hand in marriage and so he sacked the city.
- Deianeira sends Heracles a cloak anointed with the “love potion”, to try and make him love her.
  - When he puts on the cloak it sticks to his skin and starts melting his body.
  - Heracles is in absolute agony and asks someone to kill him.

Q: [...] (becoming a god)
- Burned alive on a funeral pyre, Herakles ascends to Olympus to join the gods.
  - Recall Demophon and the burning away of mortality.
- Reconciled with Hera, he is given [...] as his bride.
A: Apotheosis; Hebe (Youth)

Theseus: A Local Athenian Hero
- While Aethra is in the sea bathing after having sex with Aegeus, Poseidon also has sex with her.
  - Before he leaves, he leaves a sword and sandals under a boulder and tells her if a son is born he should move the boulder and retrieve the items then go to Athens to meet him.

Q: Coming of Age
- When Theseus comes of age, he follows instructions that Aegeus left with Aethra, and lifts a great [...], uncovering the sword and sandals left there by Aegeus.
- Tokens of political [...] as the son of Aegeus.
- He travels to Athens to claim his place as son of the king.
- On his way, he clears the road of threats to travelers, thus demonstrating his heroic qualities and authorizing his right to rule.
A: boulder; birthright

Theseus’ Six Labours
1. Periphetes, a club-bearing monster who robbed travelers.
- Theseus killed him and took his club.
2. Sinis, the ‘binder’, who tied his victims to two pine-trees bent to the ground, then let the pines go to tear the person apart.
- Killed by his own pine contraption.
3. The man-eating pig of Crommyon
4. Sciron, who kicked travelers over a cliff to be eaten by a sea-monster or turtle.
5. Cercyon the wrestler.
6. Procrustes the ‘stretcher’, who made travelers fit his bed by stretching (if they were too short) or cutting their limbs off (if too tall).

Bulls and Crete
- The palace of Knossos features bull-leaping frescoes.
- Recall the myth of Europa and Zeus in the form of a bull.
  - Origin of kings of Crete, including Minos.
- Minos failed to sacrifice his finest bull to Poseidon.
- In revenge, Poseidon makes Pasiphae (Minos’ wife) fall in love with the fine bull, giving birth to the Minotaur.
- As one of his labours, Herakles brings the Cretan bull to Eurystheus.
  - Eurystheus is unable to control it and it rampages throughout the Peloponnese.
  - Theseus (basically heracles-lite) slays the bull at the plain of Marathon.

Arrival at Athens
- In Athens, Aegeus’ clever and pregnant new wife, Medea, tries to kill Theseus, so that her own child can become king.
- She sends him to kill the bull of Marathon (aka the Cretan bull, earlier captured by Herakles as one of his labours, but now rampaging on the plain of Marathon).
- When Theseus returns, Medea tries to poison him, but Aegeus stops her when he recognizes the sword and sandals.
- Medea is exiled to the east.
  - She is sent to Persia (medes).
- Theseus takes up his rightful place as the prince of Athens.

Theseus’ Cretan Adventures
- Aegeus of Athens killed a son of Minos, Androgeus, who won all the athletic games hosted by Athens.
  - Aegeus was jealous of Androgeus’ success.
- Minos went to war with Athens and won.
- He demanded that 14 (7 male and 7 female) Athenian youths be regularly sacrificed to the Minotaur in the labyrinth.
- Theseus volunteered to be sacrificed and sailed to Crete.
  - He is told by his father to put a white sail up when he is returning, to signal he is alive.
- The Cretan princess Ariadne (later Dionysus’ wife) fell in love with him.
  - Decides she will help him survive.

Daedalus
- An Athenian craftsman and inventor, imprisoned in Crete by Minos.
- Made the bull costume for Pasiphae, helping her have sex with the bull.
- Designed the labyrinth to contain the Minotaur.
  - The labyrinth is really just Knossos palace.
- Advised Ariadne about clew of thread, giving it to Theseus to unroll as he traverses the labyrinth.
- In return for her help, Theseus agreed to take her home to Athens as his bride (she is a helper maiden character).

Ariadne’s Curse
- Ariadne is abandoned by Theseus on the deserted island of Naxos.
  - She wakes up and wades into the water chasing after Theseus’ ship.
- She curses him such that Theseus suffers from his forgetfulness as much as she has.
- He forgets Aegeus’ instructions about replacing the black sail with a white one.
  - Aegeus assumes Theseus is dead and commits suicide (Aegean sea).
- Ariadne either undergoes sparagmos or becomes the bride of Dionysus.
  - Either she is torn apart by Dionysus’ followers or she becomes his bride.

Q: Centers of Power in the Aegean
- The myths of Theseus’ Cretan adventures may be a way or explaining, in legend, the signs of a historical shift of the centre of power in the Aegean from Crete to Athens.
- Clearly Athenocentric.
  - Theseus as a civilizing culture hero, in opposition to the Cretan ‘Other’, who is characterized by [...] behaviours such as bestiality and human sacrifice.
A: savage

Amazonomachy
- Theseus later abducts the Amazon queen, bringing her back to Athens with the help of his friend/sidekick Pirithous.
  - Theseus and the amazon have a son named Hippolytus (horse-liker: aristocratic).
- The Amazons invade Athens to avenge the abduction.
- Great battle on the Areopagus or ‘Hill of Ares’ in Athens.
- Note, the Athenians are fighting foreign, exotic, savage/abnormal people.
- Amazonomachy depicted on the Stoa Poikile, the Parthenon west pediment, the shield of Athena inside the Parthenon, etc
  - Amazons are depicted very similar to the Persians, as political propaganda!
- Compare Centauromachy, Titanomachy, etc, as allegories for the triumph of Greek civilization over savage and disordered threats to culture.

Theseus’ Marriage to Phaendra
- Euripides’ tragedy, Hippolytus, first performed 428 BCE.
- Hippolytus is devoted only to the goddess Artemis, only worshipping her.
- Theseus marries Phaedra, Ariadne’s sister.
- Aphrodite, neglected by Hippolytus, takes revenge:
  - She makes Phaedra fall in love with Theseus’ son Hippolytus.
  - An idea that is repeated, son takes what belongs to father.
- Hippolytus coldly refuses her, shaming her for her desire.
- She kills herself in shame, leaving a note falsely incriminating Hippolytus, saying he tried to rape her.
- Theseus finds the note and rashly curses his son, calling his father Poseidon to kill his son (wave/bull from the sea).
  - After his son was killed, Theseus finds out that he was mistaken.

Q: The Danger of  Foreign Bride
- [...]’ citizenship law 450/451 BCE:
  - Only sons of Athenian fathers and mothers could be citizens of Athens.
  - Prior to the law, only the [...] had to be an Athenian.
- We see that many myths depict the dangers of foreign women.
- These mythic women often choose their own mate, or otherwise act on their own erotic desire.
  - Marriage is supposed to be arranged! Not due to [...]!
- There is a sense in which all brides are already ‘foreign’, they are from a different family/upbringing. Myths reflect both political and personal anxieties.
A: Pericles; father; lust/love

Theseus’ Katabasis
- Theseus’ companion is Pirithous, king of the Lapiths and a son of Ixion.
- They both decide they should marry daughters of Zeus.
- They kidnap Helen, who is still a child, from Sparta, to be Theseus’ eventual bride.
- They enter the underworld to capture Persephone for Pirithous.
- Hades traps them in their dining chairs.
- Herakles later rescues Theseus from Hades.

Q: Theseus’ Death
- Theseus returns from the underworld to find his city at war with [...] over Helen.
- He goes to [...] to arrange an alliance with king [...].
- He falls or is pushed from a cliff and dies.
- An ironically disappointing death, plus quite similar to his father.
A: Sparta; Skyros; Lycomedes

Theseus as an Athenian Local Hero
- Rarely mentioned in early texts, Theseus was portrayed in late archaic and Classical Athens as the ideal ruler.
- He was said to have unified the scattered towns of Attica, the region around Athens (synoikism).
- In drama, he is often a just, compassionate and pious ruler and wise protector of his people, granting refuge to exiles, refugees, and suppliants.
- He was the legendary founder of the democratic assembly and the Panathenaic festival.
  - Panathenaic festival unites all of Athens.

Jason
Early Myth, Late Sources
- The myth of Jason is very old (the Odyssey refers to it), but our major sources for it are later.
- Pindar’s Pythian 4 (462 BCE), features a noble and heroic Jason.
- This image is undermined by later narratives.
  - Euripides’ tragedy Medea (431 BCE) shows Jason as a not likeable guy.
- Apollonius of Rhodes’  epic Argonautica (Hellenistic)
- Iolcus (city) in Thessaly

Q: Early Threat
- [...], the rightful king, was driven/exiled from the throne by his brother [...].
- Aeson’s infant son Jason was sent away from home to protect him from Pelias.
- Jason was raised and educated in the countryside by the centaur [...] (like Heracles and Achilles).
A: Aeson; Pelias; Chiron

Impossible Quest
- Pelias received a prophecy that a youth with a single sandal would overthrow him.
- Jason comes of age, heads home to Iolcus.
- Crossing a river, he loses a sandal and wins the friendship of Hera. (Divine Test).
  - Hera disguises herself as an old woman and he helps her cross the river.
- Pelias imposes an impossible quest: retrieval of the Golden Fleece, trying to kill Jason.

The Golden Fleece
- Belonged to a magical flying ram that once carried Phrixus and Helle, a brother and sister, children of a minor goddess, who were fleeing from an evil stepmother in Greece.
- Helle fell into the sea, giving her name to the Hellespont.
- Phrixus settled in Colchis, and sacrificed the ram to Poseidon, but the fleece, hung in a tree, was guarded by a dragon.
  - A token of authority and kingship.
- Jason’s travel to Colchis is very long and certainly not direct.

The Royal House at Colchis
- Helios is a titan, this family comes from the titans and not the olympians.
  - Ie. This family is not greek, Colchis is a land of savages.
- Helios has a son named Aeetes who has Medea and Absyrtus.
  - The females of the family are all dangerous witches.

Jason and the Argonauts
- First ship to ever be invented, built with the help of Athena: ARGO (swift).
- Argonauts included Herakles, Orpheus, and many others (several fathers of Trojan heroes).
- Many adventures and obstacles, monsters slain, battles fought, warriors lost, children conceived.

Medea
- Medea, the daughter of King Aeetes, and a powerful witch, fell in love with the Greek hero Jason when he lands at Colchis.
- Her magical powers enabled Jason to perform impossible tasks set by Aeetes:
  - Taming/yoking of wild bulls, sowing of dragon's teeth, battle with army of sown men.
- Medea drugs the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece.
- Jason offers marriage in return for her betrayal of her father.
  - Jason is really not that much of a hero!

Escape and Crimes
- Murder of Absytrus.
  - Medea kidnaps her brother and butchers him, tossing him into the sea.
  - This forces the army chasing them to stop and pick up his pieces to bury him.
- Return to Iolcus.
- Destruction of Pelias.
  - Medea tricks the daughters of Pelias, saying they can use magic to make Pelias young.
  - She “transforms” an old ram into a young one, by boiling it in a pot, the daughters do this to Pelias and he dies.
- Medea and Jason are both exiled.

Tragedy
- Jason and Medea flee to Corinth, where they settle down.
  - Medea gives birth to two sons.
- Events of Euripides’ tragic play Medea (431 BCE)
- Jason plans to take a Greek bride, the princess of Corinth.
  - This makes Medea really angry, since she is treated as a foreign concubine.
- Medea uses her magic skill to kill this bride and then she slays her own children, thereby destroying Jason’s chances for power and offspring.
  - She gifts a poisoned cloak/crown, killing the princess as well as the King when he comes to try and help.
- Medea meets Aegeus when he is on his way to consult a prophet to see why he is infertile.
  - She makes him fertile as long as he promises to give her sanctuary in Athens if she needs it at any point.
  - Aegeus goes and makes Theseus, then after killing Jason’s kids, Medea flees to Athens using her grandfather’s sun chariot.
- Medea gets her powers from controlling men’s ability to have children.

Q: Jason’s Unheroic Death
- He is presented as a hero who is overinvolved with foreign female powers.
- Eventually he was killed by a [...].
A: falling plank of his rotting ship

Phaethon “The Shining Hero”
Paternity in Doubt
- Ovid’s Metamorphoses, 1st century BCE/CE, is our major surviving source for this story.
- Phaethon is the son of Clymene and Helios (god of the sun).
- Wanting confirmation that his father was really the sun god, Phaethon asks that he grant a favour.
- Bound by oath, Helios allows him to drive the chariot of the sun.
  - Tries to convince him not to, but Phaethon is adamant.

Out of Bounds
- Phaethon wants to assume control of a responsibility that he is not ready for.
- Phaethon is unable to keep the horses on track.
- Chariot veers too close to the earth, scorching it.
- To prevent total destruction, Zeus killed Phaethon with a lightning bolt.
Catasterization
- He is transformed into the constellation Auriga, the charioteer.
Failed Transition
- Phaethon fails to make the transition from boy to man.
- He takes risks for which he is not prepared.
- This arises his anxiety about his identity.  Who is his father?
- All the same, he is commemorated.

Q: Daedalus and [...]
- Daedalus, the Athenian inventor in Crete, was imprisoned with his son [...] by Minos.
- To escape, he made wings of feathers fastened with wax.
- He warned his son not to fly too high, but Icarus soared towards the sun, which melted the [...], and he fell into the sea.
A: Icarus; Icarus; wax

Heracles and Cereberus

Charon

Tityus

Tantalus

Sisyphus, being wayched by persephone and hades

Ixion

Cuneiform

Gilgamesh

Humbaba

Ishtar

Acrisius, Danae and Perseus (also Athena)?

Danae and Perseus

Medusa

Gorgon

Andromeda

Athenas Aegis

Heracles and Snakes

Origin of Milky Way

Centaur

Nemean Lion

Nemean Lion Skin

Hydra

Certyntian Hind

Erymanthian Boar

Stymphalian Birds

Amazon Queen

Geryon vs Heracles

Omphale

Heracles and Hebe

Apotheosis of Heracles

Labours of Theseus

Daedalus and Pasiphae

Theseus and the Minotaur

Theseus abandoning Ariadne

Theseus and Pirithous abducting Amazon

Chiron and Achilles

Medea and Jason stealing the golden fleece

Medea's Ram

Chariot of Sun

Peleus and Thetis

Eris

Judgement of Paris (Aphrodite, Athena, Hera)

Paris and Helen (and Eros)

PKoln XI

Zeus and Thetis

Q: Sources for the Trojan War include those from the [...] cycle (Cypria, Little Iliad) as well as later literature such as the poet [...] and [...] epics.
A: epic; Pindar; roman/latin

Q: - [...], as a daughter of Zeus and the most beautiful woman in the world, is the only [...] offspring of Zeus.
A: Helen; female mortal

Odysseus tells Tyndareus to make all of the suitors take an oath to defend the marriage.
- Helen gets to choose her husband, and chooses Menelaus, one of the sons of Atreus.

Q: Marriage of Thetis
[...] was the king of [...] and one of the argonauts.
A: Peleus; Phthia

Q: Marriage of Thetis
Thetis saw the ship and swam up with her [...] sisters, and Peleus fell in love with her.
- The gods let them marry because [...]
A: nereid; her son will be greater than his father

Q: Marriage of Thetis
During the marriage, Peleus has to hang on to Thetis, because she keeps [...].
A: changing shape

Q: Marriage of Thetis
- Despite the marriage being a [...] of gods and men, [...] was not invited.
A: commensality; Eris

Q: Marriage of Thetis
Eris shows up uninvited with her [...], labelled [...].
A: apple of discord; for the fairest

Marriage of Thetis
Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all claim the apple, Zeus makes Paris choose the winner.

Q: - [...] dreams that she will give birth to a fire.
- The Oracle says that her son [...] will be the destruction of Troy.
- The baby is left on [...] and raised by shepherds.
A: Hecuba; Paris/Alexander; Mt. Ida

Q: Judgement by Paris
- [...] escorts the three goddesses to Mt. Ida, where Paris is tending his flocks.
A: Hermes

Q: Judgement by Paris
- Hera offers [...]
A: royal power

Q: Judgement by Paris
- Athena offers [...]
A: glory in battle

Q: Judgement by Paris
- Aphrodite offers [...]
A: the most beautiful woman in the world

Q: Aphrodite's Promise
- Paris soon rejoins the Trojan royal family.
- [...] sends him on an embassy to Sparta, where he abducts Helen and steals some loot.
- This is a violation of [...]!
- [...] invokes the oath of the suitors.
A: Priam; xenia; Menelaus

Q: Recruitments for the War
- [...] pretends he is insane, but [...] puts his baby in front of the plow and the trick is revealed.
A: Odysseus; Palamedes

Recruitments for the War
- Achilles is hidden on the island of skyros with the daughters of Lycomedes, but Odysseus comes and busts out a war horn, at which point Achilles throws off his disguise.

Q: Recruitments for the War
- The ships all gather at [...]
A: Aulis

Sappho fragment 16 (Sappho of Lesbos 620 BC)
- She was a poet writing at the end of the 7th century.
- Revered and imitated by her peers.
- Her poems are all in the form of papyrus unearthed at Oxyrhynchus (Egypt)
- Claimed that Helen went willingly

Iliad
- Also called wrath of Achilles.
- Covers a brief period of time in the final year of the 10-year trojan war.
- Revolves mainly with Achilles and his wrath and eventual return

Q: Iliad
- Ends with the death of [...] and his funeral.
A: Hector

Iliad
- Disruption and restoration of ritual.
- Supplication ritual: Offer of ransom in return for respect/sparing of life.
Chryses, many warriors and Priam
- Funeral ritual.
Patroclus, many warriors and Hector

Q: Important Characters in the Iliad
- [...] is the [...] for the Greek army.
A: Calchas; prophet of Apollo

Q: Important Characters in the Iliad
- [...] is a strong defensive [...] warrior
A: Ajax; Greek

Q: Important Characters in the Iliad
- [...] is an old [...] warrior
A: Nestor; Greek

Q: Important Characters in the Iliad
- [...] is a regular [...] warrior
A: Diomedes; Greek

Q: Important Characters in the Iliad
- [...] is Achilles' [...].
A: Patroclus; best friend

Q: Important Characters in the Iliad
- [...] is Achilles' [...].
A: Phoenix; family member

Q: Important Characters in the Iliad
- [...] is the daughter of [...], Apollo's priest.
- Taken by the greeks in a raid on the island of [...]
A: Chryseis; Chryses; Chryse

Q: Important Characters in the Iliad
- [...] is the wife of [...]
A: Andromache; Hector

Q: Iliad
The Greeks are also called the [...], [...], or the [...].
A: Achaeans; Danaans; Argives

Q: Iliad
The Trojans are also called the [...], [...], or the [...].
A: Dardanians; Ilion; Pergamum

Q: [...] is the word for [...].
A: Nostos; returning home

Q: The first word in the Iliad is [...]
A: Wrath

Q: Iliad Book 1
- [...] refuses to give back [...] to her father, even though he is willing to offer much ransom.
- Breakdown of reciprocity
A: Agamemnon; Chryseis

Q: Iliad Book 1
- [...] punishes the Greeks by releasing a [...]
A: Apollo; Plague

Q: Iliad Book 1
- [...] reveals the source of the plague, only when [...] agrees to protect him from Agamemnon's wrath.
A: Calchas; Achilles

Q: Iliad Book 1
- Agamemnon, upon giving up Chryseis has lost [...] so instead, he takes [...] the prize of [...]
A: timé; Briseis; Achilles

Iliad Book 1
- Nestor urges peace between Agamemnon and Achilles after Briseis is taken, but has no success.
- One is king, the other is the greatest warrior.

Q: Iliad Book 1
- Achilles, angry at his treatment by [...], withdraws and prays to his mother after losing his timé.
A: Agamemnon

Q: Iliad Book 1
- Thetis supplicates [...], asking him to pay back the favours she did him, by supporting the [...] in the war.
A: Zeus; Trojans

Q: Iliad Book 1
- [...] challenges Zeus' decision because she hates the [...].
A: Hera; Trojans

Q: Iliad Book 1
- Zeus threatens Hera with violence if she [...] with him again.
A: disagrees

Q: Iliad Book 1
- [...] urges peace between Zeus and Hera, with [...] success.
A: Hephaestus; great

Q: Achilles' absence lasts from books [...] to [...]
A: 2; 19

Q: Book [...]
- Diomedes' [...]: [...].
A: 5; aristeia; A catalogue of his heroic efforts in battle

Q: Book 5
- Diomedes is the son of Tyndeus and is given courage/force by [...], so he can distinguish himself as great among the Greeks.
A: Athena

Q: Book 5
- Diomedes is very respectful of the [...] around Gods and battle, and shows restraint against fighting any [...].
A: rules; deity

Q: Book 5
- Upon being given permission by Athena, [...] cuts [...] on the wrist when she is saving her son [...] from death.
A: Diomedes; Aphrodite; Aeneas

Book 6
- Diomedes and Glaucus confront each other in battle, identify themself and soon realize they are bound by the inherited rules of xenia.
- Their grandfathers used to be friends.
- As a result, they exchange armour and agree not to fight.

Q: Book [...]
- Hector enters troy from the battlefield to tell the women to offer a [...] to [...] to win her protection.
A: 6; robe; Athena

Q: Book [...]
- Hector meets his wife [...] at the [...] of troy.
A: 6; Andromache; gates

Q: Book 6
- Hector enters the city to tell his [...] to take women to offer a robe to Athena.
A: mother

Book 6
- In the city hector meets his mother, Helen, Paris, and his wife/son combo of Andromache & Astynax.
- Interestingly he shows respect for Helen but yells at Paris!

Book 6
- Andromache tells Hector that Achilles killed her father, and her brothers, but took her mother captive, releasing her for ransom.
- While Achilles was respectful in allowing for the funerals and supplication rituals, he killed everyone and will do the same to Hector, so Hector should remain inside the city walls.

Q: Book 6
- Hector has a great understanding of [...], and knows regardless of what he does, if he is to die, he will die.
A: fate

Q: Book 6
- Hector mentions to Andromache that if he were to stay in the city he would feel [...]! Instead, he should go out to fight for glory not just for himself but for his [...].
A: shame; father

Q: Book 6
- Hector tells Andromache he believes the Greeks will take Troy, and she will be taken as a [...], something he would rather be [...] than see.
A: captive; dead

Book 6
- Hector's son Astynax fears the horsehair crest on Hector's helmet.
- Hector takes his son in his arms and prays to the gods to permit him to grow up to become like Hector and even surpass his achievements in battle

What the Greek Audience Knew
- The Greeks would win the battle.
- Andromache would be taken captive and given to Achilles' son Neoptolemus.
- Astyanax would be killed by being thrown from the walls of Troy, in order to prevent him from growing up and avenging his father.

Book 7
- Several Greeks put their tokens in a helmet, and Ajax's falls out, indicating that he will fight against Hector.

Book 7
- Ajax and Hector agree to a ritualized and formal duel to decide the war and make peace.
- Unforunately, the duel ends in a draw, meaning the war continues.
- In recognition of each other's worth, Ajax gives Hector a leather shield strap, and Hector gives Ajax a sword.
- These gifts will end up bringing destruction to both! Ajax dies after falling on the sword and Hector has his body dragged by the strap

Q: Book [...]
-The [...].
A: 9; embassy to Achilles

Book 9
-By Zeus' will, Hector has advanced and is now threatening to set fire to the Greek ships.
- Agamemnon, out of fear sends an embassy to Achilles, offering a huge list of treasure for his help in the battle.

Q: Book 9
- The members of the embassy are [...], [...] and [...]
A: Odysseus; Phoenix; Ajax

Book 9
- Odysseus goes 1st and repeats the entire offer of gifts.
- In addition, he asks Achilles to pity his fellow Greeks, reminds him of his father's advice to restrain anger and points out the potential kleos gain of killing Hector.

Q: Book 9
- Achilles is still upset and refuses the gifts on the basis that despite Agamemnon admiting he needs him, he will not admit Achilles is the [...] among the Greeks.
A: best

Q: Book 9
- Achilles says to Odysseus, most gifts can be won by [...], but the [...] he has lost won't come back.
A: pillaging; spirit

Q: Book 9
- Achilles knows he has a choice between two fates
1) [...]
OR
2) [...]
A: Nostos: A return home and death at old age; Kleos, glory and renown but an early death at Troy

Q: Book 9
- Phoenix, as a youth was exiled from his home by his [...], being taken in by Achilles' [...] and honoured as a beloved [...]
A: father; father; son

Q: Book 9
- Phoenix was cursed by his father to not have any [...], so he thus treats [...] like his own son.
A: children; Achilles

Q: Book 9
- Peleus sends [...] to Troy with Achilles to teach him how to [...] and also how to [...] (ie be a man).
A: Phoenix; fight; speak

Book 9
- Phoenix tells a story of Meleager, a hero who withdrew from defending his city due to his anger at his mother.
- His mother cursed him with an early death, especially after he killed her brothers in battle.
- He remains in his room with his bride Cleopatra, refusing many offers and appeals from family, only returning to battle when his home is threatened, but at that point gifts are no longer offered.

Q: Book 9
- Patroclus and Cleopatra are inverse names and both mean [...].
A: glory of the father

Book 9
- Phoenix, Peleus, Agamemnon, Nestor and Priam are all father figures to Achilles.

Book 9
- Ajax, a friend and relative of Achilles, speaks last and sees no point in trying to pursuade Achilles to help any longer.
- Proclaims that the embassy has failed, returning with Odysseus to Agamemnon (Pheonix stays).

Q: Ajax is recognizable because of his very large [...].
A: shield

In book 11, Agamemnon, Diomedes and Odysseus are all wounded, so Achilles sends out Patroclus to get news of the situation.
- Nestor asks Patroclus to ask for Achilles' help in battle, or have him lend his armour in order to scare the Trojans off the battlefield.

Q: Book [...]
- The death of [...].
A: 16; Patroclus

Book 16
- Hector sets fire to the Greek ships.
- Patroclus, wearing Achilles' armour, enters the battle.
- Patroclus' aristeia includes the killing of Sarpedon, whose body is recovered by his father Zeus.
- Ignores Achilles' advice not to advance on Hector, and is subsequently killed, with the armour being taken/worn by Hector.

Q: Book 16
- [...] recovers Patroclus' body for burial.
A: Ajax

Achilles’ Return to Battle
- Achilles feels rage and only wants revenge for Patroclus’ death.
  - He wishes to kill as many trojans as possible, most importantly Hector.
- He has no armour! He can’t join the battle as of right now, so he asks Thetis for help.

Achilles’ Return to Battle
- Book 18: Long delay, during which divine armour, a miraculous work of art, is made by Hephaestus at Thetis’ supplicative request.
  - The shield in particular is remarkable, including an impossible image of a countryside.

Q: Achilles’ Revenge
- [...] and [...] are reconciled, but [...] doesn’t really care anymore.
A: Agamemnon; Achilles; Achilles

Achilles’ Revenge
- Odysseus and Achilles debate about a meal for the troops.
  - Achilles doesn’t want to delay, he only wants to go and kill Trojans.

Achilles’ Revenge
- Patroclus’ death has transformed Achilles. He becomes:
  - Like a dead person in his grief (lies motionless in the dirt).
  - Like a god (in divine armour), with supernatural strength.
  - Like an animal in his hunger for revenge
  - Not like a human

Q: At some point, Achilles respected the [...] regarding battle/respect, but this is no longer the case after the death of [...]
A: rules/rituals; Patroclus

Embassy to Achilles (Phoenix and Odysseus here)

The Death of Sarpedon

Q: [...]: [...].
A: Geros; The word for a prize one wins as time

Book 22
- Priam and Hecuba appeal to Hector.
  - Priam imagines the day of his shameful death when Troy is taken, if Hector is not there to defend him. His own dogs will eat him in the palace.
  - Hecuba opens her robe to show Hector the breast that nursed him. She fears neither she nor Andromache will grant him funeral rites, but the dogs will be allowed to eat his body.

Q: Book [...]: [...]
A: 22; The death of Hector

Q: Book 22
Hector’s thoughts before the fight
- Either Hector kills Achilles or he [...].
- Maybe he should just take off his armour and offer Achilles, [...] hand and all the treasures of Troy.
  - But if he kills me without armour, it will be a [...] death.
A: dies; Helen’s; dishonourable

Book 22
- Achilles chases Hector around the walls of Troy.
  - Draws a parallel with the racing competitions men would play, but rather it is a competition to the death.
- Zeus wonders if he can save Hector; Athena protests.
  - Zeus gives Athena permission to help Achilles.
- Zeus lifts the scales of the two men’s fates. Hector’s falls.
- Apollo leaves Hector’s side. Athena tricks him, pretending to be his brother.
  - Hector thinks his brother has his back so he stops running.

Q: Book 22
Hector to Achilles
- If the gods will that I win, I will not [...] your body and expect you do the same.
A: disrespect

Q: Book 22
Achilles to Hector
- There is no escape for Hector, this is payback for what you have done to my fellow Greeks.
- I will not observe and respect the [...], like I have in the past.
A: traditional respect courtesies

Q: Book 22
Achilles Kills Hector
- Achilles tells Hector that [...] will have a funeral and Hector will not.
- With his dying breath, Hector requests that his body is sent back to Troy for [...].
  - Achilles says that no ransom would be enough to give back Hector’s corpse.
- Hector predicts Achilles’ [...] death  (like Patroclus did for Hector) and dies.
A: Patroclus; ransom; inevitable

Book 22
Violation of Death Ritual
- Achilles defiles Hector’s corpse
  - Using the belt that Ajax gave to Hector, he ties his body to his chariot and drags it in the dust around Troy, as the Trojans, Priam, Hecuba and Andromache watch and lament.
- Obsessed with revenge, Achilles delays Patroclus’ burial.
- The gods miraculously preserve both bodies.
- Finally Patroclus’ ghost visits Achilles and requests a funeral.
- Book 23: Achilles holds a funeral for Patroclus, including athletic games, and distributes prizes and honours.
  - Achilles is now participating more in his community.

Book 24: The Gods Intervene
- Apollo is indignant at Achilles’ behavior; the Gods intervene.
- Thetis is sent to speak to Achilles.
- Achilles is not eating, sleeping or anything.
  - Thetis tells him the gods are angry with him and he should show compassion for the body and the Trojan people.
- Finally, Achilles agrees.

Book 24: The Gods Intervene
Priam and Achilles
- Hermes escorts Priam to Achilles’ camp at night.
- Priam as suppliant offers ransom for Hector’s body.
  - Priam gives Achilles a chariot full of treasure, and quickly agrees because of what Thetis had told him.
- Achilles orders Hector’s body to be washed, wrapped and prepared for return.
- Neither Achilles or Priam have eaten since the death of Hector, so they decide to eat a feast together.
- Achilles tells the story of Niobe, a mythic example of grief.
  - She violated hubris by saying she was better than Leto, Apollo and Artemis killed all 14 of her children.
  - Even Niobe ate and partook in society during her grief.
- The Iliad ends with funeral of Hector.

Q: Book 24: The Gods Intervene
A Shared Meal
- Priam draws a parallel between himself and [...].
- Priam says he had [...] sons at the beginning of the war and now has 0.
- They [...] together, Priam for Hector and Achilles for his father and Patroclus.
- This is the moment that Achilles is restored back to his human state.
A: Peleus; 50; cried

Q: Book 24: The Gods Intervene
Resolution of Anger and Ritual Restored
- Achilles asks Priam how long he needs for the burial of Hector.
- Achilles agrees to pause the battle for [...] days, so that the Trojans can conduct the funeral of Hector.
- [...] for Hector by Andromache, Hecuba, and Helen
- The funeral and a communal [...]
- Final line:
  - “In this way they held funeral for horse-taming Hector.”
A: nine; Laments; feast

After the Iliad
Before the Fall of Troy
- More trojan allies are slain by Achilles.
  - Memnon of Ethiopia, son of the Dawn goddess.
  - Penthesilea, an Amazon warrior queen.

Death of Achilles
- Recall, Apollo and a trojan warrior had helped Hector kill Patroclus.
  - Apollo distracted Patroclus while a trojan archer shot at him.
- Archers are not really all that respectable.
  - Really good archers such as Heracles and Artemis are respectable though.
- Paris shoots Achilles in the heel (only part of Achilles which is vulnerable).
Battle over the body of Achilles
- Ajax protects the body and fights off the trojans, eventually rescuing Achilles’ body.

Death of Ajax (Sophocles’ Ajax)
- Funeral games for Achilles
- Thetis awards Achilles’ armour
  - to “the best of the Achaeans”
- Ajax and Odysseus contend
- The armour is awarded to Odysseus
- Ajax, dishonoured and angry, sets out at night to slaughter the Greek chiefs
- Athena intervenes; deluded by her, he kills the army’s flocks instead.
- Doubly shamed (atimos), he commits suicide, throwing himself on the sword Hector had given him.

Trojan Women Taken as Captive
- Hecuba is awarded to Odysseus.
- Cassandra is awarded to Agamemnon.
  - The lesser Ajax attempts to rape her while she is holding the statue of Athena.
- Andromache is awarded to Neptolemus.
- Polyxena, the youngest daughter of Hecuba/Priam is given to the Ghost of Achilles.
  - Prophet tells them that the ghost of Achilles is demanding his war prize and they cannot sail away (wind faces them) unless he gets it.
  - Polyxena is sacrificed over the tomb of Achilles.

The Fall of Troy
- Odysseus captures Helenus, a Trojan Prophet.
- There must be three conditions for Troy’s fall:
1. The recruitment of Achilles’ son Neptolemus (on Scryrus).
2. The capture of the statue of Pallas Athena (Palladium) in Troy.
  1. Captured by Odysseus and Diomedes.
3. The Bow of Heracles (with Philoctetes) on the island of Lemnos.
  1. Philoctetes offers to help kill Heracles on the pyre and in repayment, Heracles gives him his divine bow.

The Fall of Troy
The Son of Achilles
- Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus) arrives at Troy.
- Odysseus gives him Achilles’ armour.
  - According to tradition.
- Neoptolemus will slay Priam at the household altar (one of several sacrileges committed by the Greeks after their victory).
  - If you are holding your household altar, it is a sacred action and you should not be killed (similar to if you seek refuge in a church).

The Fall of Troy
Philoctetes (Sophocles’ Philoctetes)
- Joined the expedition to Troy
- On the way, he was bitten by a snake, and suffered a festering and agonizing wound that made him scream and stink.
- Greeks abandon him on the island of Lemnos, where he lives alone for 10 years following this.
- He had possession of the lethal bow of Heracles, using it to hunt for food.
- He hates the Greeks for abandoning him.
- Odysseus and Neoptolemus come to Lemnos to bring him to Troy to be healed and to help sack the city.
- Their problem: should they use force, deception or persuasion?
  - Odysseus thinks they should lie, Neoptolemus thinks they should use force.
  - Neoptolemus eventually understands Philoctetes’ pain and says they should just take him home, Heracles eventually comes down (as a god) and tells Philoctetes to go with them to Troy willingly.

The Trojan Horse
- Greeks decide to use cunning, saying they will leave a gift wooden horse and leave because they are tired of fighting.
- Leave the wooden horse, and the sail away behind an island.
- The Trojans celebrate and at night the Greeks come out of the horse and set fire to the city, with the ships returning to kill the Trojans.

Q: - [...] kills Priam while the dead body of [...] is on Priam’s lap.
A: Neoptolemus; Astyanax

Q: [...] goes to kill [...] for being unfaithful, but she opens her [...] and he is so horny that he doesn’t kill her.
A: Menelaus; Helen; robe

Achilles drags Hector's body

Ransom of Hector's Body

Achilles and Memnon

Achilles and Penthesilea

Apollo, Paris and Achilles

Battle over Achilles' body

Ajax carrying Achilles' body

Ajax's suicide

Discovering Ajax's body

Philoctetes

Trojan Horse

Death of Priam

Menelaus and Helen

Menelaus (throwing away sword) and Helen

Aeneas and Anchises

Ajax (the lesser) and Cassandra

Polyxena's sacrifice

Homer’s Odyssey
- Odysseus is away from Ithaca for 20 years (10 fighting at Troy, 10 returning home).
  - After Troy they don’t know where he is!
- His wife Penelope defends the household and herself against many suitors.
  - Whoever marries Penelope will get all of Odysseus’ treasures.
- Their son Telemachus comes of age.
  - Once he comes of age, he becomes the person in charge!

Agamemnon’s Nostos in the Odyssey
- While Agamemnon leads the Greeks at Troy, his wife Clytemnestra back home is seduced by Aegisthus, Agamemnon’s cousin and enemy.
- After ten years, a victorious Agamemnon returns home.
- Aegisthus invites him to a feast and murders him in the dining hall.
- Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, later comes of age and kills Aegisthus.

House of Atreus
- Atreus invited his brother Thyestes over for a meal, killing and cooking Thyestes’ children, feeding them to Thyestes.
  - Recall, their father Pelops was fed to the gods by Tantalus.
- The one remaining son of Thyestes (Aegisthus) murders Agamemnon, a son of Atreus.

Q: [...]: [...].
A: Calypso; a goddess who detains Odysseus for 7 years

Q: [...]: [...]
A: Circe; a witch, daughter of Helios, who detains Odysseus

Q: [...]: [...]
A: Nausicaa; a Phaeacian princess, who would like to detain Odysseus, but does not because she's virtuous.

Q: [...]: [...]
A: Arete; the wise queen of Phaeacia (Nausicaa’s mother)

Q: [...]: [...]
A: Anticleia; Odysseus’ mother

Q: [...]: [...].
A: Eurycleia; Odysseys' old nurse

Q: [...]: [...].
A: Orestes; Son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon

Q: [...]: [...].
A: Polyphemus; The cyclops son of Poseidon

Q: [...]: [...].
A: Tiresias; The prophet of Apollo who is in the underworld

Q: [...]: [...].
A: Laertes; Odysseus' father

Q: [...]: [...].
A: Eurylochus; Odysseus' companion who userps command

Q: [...]: [...].
A: Eumaeus; Odysseus' faithful swineherd

Books 1-5 (Telemacheia)
- First Greek word is andra = ‘man’, ‘hero’, ‘husband’
- Odysseus is descended from Hermes and is known for strategy and persuasive speech.
  - Unlike Achilles, he is merely a man, and understands his position in the world.
- Odysseus is being held on Calypso’s island.
- The suitors are pressing Penelope to remarry.
- The gods intervene (Athena).
  - She tells Telemachus to visit Nestor and Menelaus and learn about Odysseus.
- Telemachus begins a journey.
- Hermes visits Calypso.

Calypso
- Her name means ‘conceal’, ‘hide’.
  - In the time Odysseus spends on her island, he is not heard from at all!
- She offers immortality to Odysseus if he will marry her.
  - He refuses, instead preferring to go home to Ithaca and be with Penelope.
  - Odysseus indicates not only respect for Calypso, but demonstrates that as a mortal man, he should not be granted immortality.
- Hermes is sent down to tell Calypso to let Odysseus go.

Q: Ithaca, while Odysseus is away
- [...] grows up.
- No-one knows where Odysseus is, making it difficult for the house to move forward.
- Suitors are consuming Odysseus’ [...] and trying to get Penelope to marry them.
  - She uses a [...] to keep them at bay.
A: Telemachus; resources; trick

Ithaca, while Odysseus is away
Penelope’s Trick
- Eventually, she is pushed to the point where they request she picks someone to become her husband and take control of Odysseus’ estate.
- Penelope says she will, but as soon as she finishes the funeral shroud she is weaving for Laertes, the father of Odysseus who may die soon.
  - Each night, she unravels the shroud and begins again.
- Uses a standing loom which requires her to walk back and forth to make the shroud.

Zeus to the Other Gods
- How come mortals think that everything is the fault of the gods?
- Eg. Aegisthus killed Agamemnon even though we told him that Orestes would kill him in return?
- Athena in response retorts, how come we are allowing Odysseus to suffer, he is nice?
  - Zeus agrees and sends down Hermes to Calypso, and Athena to Ithaca.

Zeus Intervenes
- Poseidon is away from Olympus, so Zeus can intervene.
- Zeus sends Athena to Ithaca.
- Zeus sends Hermes to Calypso to tell her to let Odysseus go.
- Calypso is upset but she obeys.
  - Recognizes Zeus’ authority, but is upset that she can’t have Odysseus.
- Odysseus builds a raft and sets sail for home.
- Poseidon sees him and sends a storm to wreck his raft.
  - Odysseus barely survives the wreck and washes up on an island.

Telemachus
- Athena, in disguise as an old friend Mentes, visits {{c2=1::Telemachus}} in Ithaca. He shows her perfect hospitality.
- Telemachus expresses uncertainty and anxiety about whether Odysseus will ever come back and if he is even Telemachus’ father.
- Athena urges him to go on a journey to find news of his father. He is not a child anymore. She reminds him of how Orestes avenged his father.

Telemachus
- Telemachus scolds his mother when she tells the bard to sing a different song.
  - He tells her to go back to her weaving, demonstrating he is the boss now.
- Telemachus visits the homes of Nestor and Menelaus, whose households are functioning properly.
- Menelaus and Helen are at home together, celebrating the marriages of their children.
- People tell Telemachus he looks like Odysseus.
- In Ithaca, the suitors set up an ambush to kill him when he returns.

- Athena, in the disguise of Nausicaa’s friend shows up in her dream and tells her that she needs to clean up her clothing/laundry, because she is ready to be married soon.
- Nausicaa heads to a nearby field (liminal space) with her friends and they start playing with a ball.
  - At some point, the girls all yell and Odysseus wakes up.

Book 6
- Odysseus, almost drowned, is washed ashore on the island of Phaeacia.
- He walks up to Nausicaa, naked but covering himself with a branch.
- Odysseus is aware of her possible fear but instead of physically supplicating her, he stays at a distance and asks her to help him.
  - In response to her help, he prays that she finds a harmonious marriage.

Books 6-12
- Phaeacian society is a miraculous utopia and a model of xenia.
  - They welcome Odysseus, bathe him, invite him to dine, entertain him with the songs of the bard, including the story of the adultery of Aphrodite and Ares, and of the Trojan horse.
    - After being bathed, Nausicaa expresses she is attracted to him now.
  - Odysseus weeps after hearing the song of the Trojan horse.
  - Only then does the king Alcinous ask him who he is.
  - “Who are you? Who is your father? What land are you from?”

Cyclopeia (Book 9)
- The Land of the Lotus eaters.
  - Men forget about returning home after consuming the lotus plants.
- The Cyclops named Polyphemus
  - Odysseus’s cunning intelligence (metis) is demonstrated by:
    - Calling himself “Nobody, “Noman”
    - His use of wine
    - His strategy for blinding the Cyclops (technology)
    - The trick with the sheep to escape

The Cyclopes
- Giant monstrous creatures who are the children of Poseidon.
- Live separately and alone, and do not respect the Olympians.
The Cave
- Odysseus and his men enter and explore the cave.
  - He hopes to get a gift of xenia.
- The Cyclops returns with his flocks and seals the cave with a boulder.
- Odysseus supplicates him, asking for xenia.
- The Cyclops says he does not fear any gods, and eats two men “like a lion”.
- Odysseus thinks to kill him with his sword but realizes they would be trapped forever.

Blinding
- Applying technology to a club of green olive wood (olive=Athena), Odysseus creates a burning sharp weapon.
- The Cyclops returns, and Odysseus offers him a gift of strong unmixed wine.
- Polyphemus asks Odysseus’ name, with Odysseus responding “Nobody”.
  - Polyphemus offers Odysseus the gift that he will eat him last.
- After the drunk cyclops falls asleep, the men poke his eye out.

Q: Visit by the other Cyclops
- After Polyphemus has [...], other cyclops come from around the island and ask from the outside of the cave what is happening.
- Polympheus says “[...]”.
- The other cyclops call him [...] and leave.
A: screamed; nobody is killing me; crazy

Escape
- Odysseus and his men escape by hiding underneath the sheep of the cyclops.
- In a rare event where Odysseus does something foolish, he tells the Cyclops exactly what his name is, who is his father and where he is from, after he has escaped to his ship.
- The cyclops remarks that he heard a prophecy Odysseus would blind him, but he always thought it would be someone strong and handsome, not weak and small.
- Polyphemus prays to his father Poseidon, saying if Poseidon is truly his father he will make Odysseus not make it home.
  - If it is Odysseus’ fate to make it home, let him be late, lose all his men, lose his ship and find trouble in his house.

Circe The Witch
- A daughter of Helios, a singer and weaver.
- She turns Odysseus’ men into pigs.
- Hermes helps Odysseus.
  - He gives odysseus a wooden stick which makes Circe’s magic not work.
- She is amazed and invites him to bed.
  - He makes her change his men back first.
- They all stay with her for a year, until one of Odysseus’ men reminds him of his quest.

Book 11: Odysseus’ Necromancy (Chthonic Sacrifice)
- Circe tells Odysseus to ask Tiresias (dead and in the underworld) how to get home.
- Tiresias the seer tells them that they will get home alive as long as they don’t eat the cattle of the sun god.
- But, even if he doesn’t eat the cattle of the sun god, Poseidon will still make the journey very difficult.
  - Once you get to Ithaca, travel inwards with an oar until people don’t recognize the oar (deep inland) and then make a sacrifice to Poseidon.

Siren Song
- His men put wax in their ears to prevent themselves from throwing themselves overboard to be with the sirens.
- Odysseus is tied up to the post and they sail through the siren area.
- The sirens sing to Odysseus and offer to sing to him a song about the Trojan War including everything that happened on both sides.
  - Offer Odysseus the chance to bask in his own glory, but at the price of death.
- Typically, it is either kleos or nostros, but here Odysseus demonstrates his ability to have both, since he hears the song and stays alive to return home.

The Cattle of Hyperion (Helios)
- Tiresias’ warning: “do not eat the cattle of Hyperion on the island of Thrinacia.”
- The ships land at the island of Thrinacia and the wind will not let them leave.
- The men run out of rations and begin to starve to death.
- Odysseus travels out and hunts a deer, but falls asleep.
- Eurylochus persuades the men to slaughter the cattle.
  - So what if the gods will punish us, it can’t be any worse than starving!
- Reckless feasting, followed by hallucinations caused by the cattle of Helios.
- Helios’ anger, in conjunction with a storm sent by Poseidon kills all the companions.
- Odysseus, alone, is washed ashore on Calypso’s island.

Odysseus

Calypso

Telemachus and Penelope

Penelope

Nausicaa doing the laundry

Odysseus and Nausicaa

Blinding of Polyphemus

Odysseus under the sheep

Circe

Odysseus' Necromancy

Odysseus and Tiresias

Odysseus (Ulysses) and the Sirens

Footwashing of Odysseus

Eurycleia recognizes Odysseus

Odysseus shooting the bow

The suitors being attacked

Penelope and Odysseus

Overview of Books 13-24: Odysseus on Ithaca
- The Phaeacians convey Odysseus to Ithaca.
  - Place him on the ship when he has fallen asleep, along with a lot of treasure.
- He disguises himself as a beggar, a ‘nobody’.
  - Athena has told him that he cannot return as Odysseus!
- He tests the members of his household.
- He gradually identifies himself to trusted people (Telemachus and Eumaeus).
  - Odysseus visits the hut of Eumaeus, who hates the suitors for feasting on so many pigs, when those pigs are the property of Odysseus!
  - A dog that recognizes Odysseus has a heart attack and dies.
  - Eventually, Telemachus returns from his journey and stops by at the hut of Emaeus, where Odysseus reveals himself to them both.

Overview of Books 13-24: Odysseus on Ithaca
- The plan is that Odysseus will act as a beggar until it is time to strike, and all of the suitors treat him very poorly.
- While he is in the street, Penelope asks to speak with him and he lies to her and says he met Odysseus and he will return soon.
  - Penelope tests him by asking what he was wearing and Odysseus presents some gifts that Penelope had given Odysseus.
  - Penelope still does not recognize Odysseus, but says he will be treated well.
- Penelope sets up the contest for her hand in marriage.

Foot Washing Scene
- A servant named Eurycleia who had been with the family since Odysseus’ childhood is washing Odysseus’ feet.
- She recognizes a scar on his leg that he got as a child (fighting a boar) and in her excitement says she will run and tell Penelope he has returned.
- Odysseus threatens her and tells her to not speak a word yet.

The Contest of the Bow
- Inspired by Athena, Penelope sets a contest for the suitors.
- She retrieves Odysseus’ bow from the storeroom.
  - She cries while she does so since she is convinced that she will now remarry.
- Whoever can string it and shoot an arrow through a series of axe-heads will win her hand in marriage.
- No suitor even proves able to string the bow.
- Telemachus asks to try for fun, and is able to string the bow.
  - After two attempts he is about to succeed, but Odysseus signals him to stop.
- The beggar asks to try.
  - The suitors protest, but Telemachus gives him the bow.
  - Odysseus quickly strings the bow and it makes the sound of a lyre.
- Then the battle begins when Odysseus shoots one of the suitors.
  - The entire battle occurs in the dining hall, where the suitors had been abusing xenia, and will now die for that.
- The punishment of the handmaidens.
  - The handmaidens who were not loyal to Odysseus are killed.
    - Recall some of them revealed Penelope’s loom trick.

Penelope Tests Odysseus
- Penelope is asleep (Athena made her so) and Eurycleia wakes her up to tell her Odysseus has finally returned!
  - Penelope does not believe in Odysseus’ return, refusing to recognize him.
- Odysseus orders Telemachus to pretend to hold a wedding in the house.
  - This delays the families of the suitors from finding out what had happened.
- Odysseus bathes and Athena makes him beautiful.
- He meets Penelope again, who tests him for the third time (recall).
1. Interview with beggar: “What was he wearing?”
2. Test of the bow
3. Test of the bed

Q: Odysseus’ Test
- Odysseus is now frustrated and angry, telling Penelope she has a heart of [...].
- Penelope asks [...] to move the bed out from the bridal chamber.
A: iron; Eurycleia

Odysseus Passes the Test
- Odysseus reacts with anger, “Who moved my bed?”.
- He tells how he made it himself, around an olive tree still rooted in the earth and forming a pillar of the bed, and rising through the household.
  - If the bed can be moved, that means that some man cut the tree, which connected the bed to the floor of the chamber.
- Penelope is finally ready to believe that he is Odysseus.
- She asks him not to be angry, referring to how even Helen was tricked by the gods, and all the grief that caused them.

The ‘Miraculous’ Simile
- Odysseus is as welcome to Penelope as is land to a shipwrecked sailor.
  - Inverting the relationship, because Odysseus has experienced the joy that land can bring you when you have been shipwrecked.
  - Ie. Penelope is compared to the shipwrecked sailor and Odysseus is land.

The Shared Ground
- His raft, with an upright raft for travelling.
- Her loom, with upright beams for weaving.
  - Also note that she has to physically walk to use the loom.
- Their bed, for making love and sharing stories (which they do at the end of the poem)
- All three are composed of upright beams and cloths with hold them.

Book 24: Divine Intervention
- One last reunion: Odysseus and Laertes.
  - Doesn’t immediately reveal himself to his father who cries when he does so.
- Now the families of the suitors seek revenge.
- Both sides prepare for battle.
  - Athena, sent by Zeus, intervenes.
- Order is restored on Ithaca.

Q: In the trade of armour between glaucus and diomedes, [...] gets the better end of the trade.
A: Diomedes

Q: [...] and [...] are the criminals who are not sons of Zeus.
A: Ixion; Sisyphus