Mycenean Saga

Question 1

Aegisthus

Answer 1

son of T and daughter Pelopia

Question 2

Aërope

Answer 2

wife of Atreus who Thyestes has an affair with gives him the golden fleece

Atreus is banished

Question 3

Aeschylus’ Oresteia:

Answer 3

§ 1st play: Agamemnon
§ Clytemnestra & Aegisthus murder Agamemnon § Cassandra foresees his doom & her own
§ Cassandra: Concubine of Agamemnon

Agamemnon; Libation Bearers; Eumenides
§ Libation Bearers (Choephori) § Orestes exiled as a child
§ Divinely appointed to avenge father’s murder § Compelled to murder mother
§ Electra confined at home
§ Encourages Orestes in his duty
§ Orestes murders Clytemnestra & Aegisthus § Driven mad by Erinyes

Erinyes pursue Orestes §To Delphi
§Seeks purification & absolution § Apollo grants first
§ Must go to Athens for second

Orestes
§ Pleads before Areopagus
§ Athenian homicide court § Apollo: defender
§ Erinyes: prosecutors
§ Athena: judge
§ Breaks Deadlock; Orestes acquitted § Erinyes appeased
§ Become Eumenides: ‘Kindly Ones’

Question 4

Agamemnon

Answer 4

son of A, king of Mycenae
Clymenstra was queen

children
Orestes
§ Electra
§ Iphigenia
§ Chrysothemis

Question 5

Apollo

Answer 5

grants purification and absolution to Orestes

Question 6

Areopagus

Answer 6

Athenian homicide court

Question 7

Artemis

Answer 7

sacrifice Iphigenia to appease her

Question 8

Athena

Answer 8

§ Athena: judge
§ Breaks Deadlock; Orestes acquitted

Question 9

Atreids

Answer 9

sons of Ateus, Agamemnon (Kin of Mycenae) and Menelaus (king of Sparta)

Question 10

Atreus and Thyestes

Answer 10

Children of Pelops - quarrel over kingdom of Mycenae

Oracle said a kid will get it , Atreus claims as older son

Thyestes demands a divine sign that is a golden-fleeced ram

Atreus banished and fakes reconciliation and invites T for dinner, the main course is Ts sons (family trait)

T curses A and descendents (also a family trait) and goes into exile

it gets worse…

T sleeps with Pelopia (own daughter) - obeying an oracle - has a son who continues vendetta

Question 11

Aulis

Answer 11

place where Iphigneia took place

Question 12

Cassandra

Answer 12

foresaw Agamemnons doom

Question 13

Clytemnestra

Answer 13

queen of Mycenae, wife of A

Question 14

Electra

Answer 14

confined at home

Question 15

Erinyes/Furies/Eumenides

Answer 15

Orestes driven mad by them after murders C and Aegisthus

Question 16

Hippodamia

Answer 16

Daughter of Oenoponnesus, prophecy her husband murders father

Question 17

Iphigenia

Answer 17

Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis
§To launch Greek armada:
§ Must sacrifice Iphigenia § T o gain favourable winds
§ T o appease Artemis
§Variant
§ Iphigenia Rescued
§ T aken to T auris
§ Euripides’ Iphigenia in T auris

Question 18

Menelaüs

Answer 18

other son of A, king of Sparta

Question 19

Miasma

Answer 19

blood pollution

Question 20

Mycenae

Answer 20

See other people

Question 21

Myrtilus

Answer 21

Oenomaus’ charter
he removes linchpin - demands sex with Hippodamia so Pelops kills him
He curses Pelops and all of his descendants

Question 22

Oenomaüs

Answer 22

King of Pisa which is near Olympia, prophecy to be murdered by son in law

Does a chariot race where if the challenger loses he dies, Pelops was the secret weapon - had a golden chariot with winged steeds (from Poeidon)

Question 23

Olympia

Answer 23

near Pisa

Question 24

Olympic Games

Answer 24

see pelops

Question 25

Orestes

Answer 25

Prince of Mycenae

Question 26

Pelopia

Answer 26

daughter that father slept with

Question 27

Pelopion

Answer 27

cult site at Olympia - shrine to Pelops where sacrifices are made to Pelops and Zeus

Question 28

Peloponnese / Peloponnesus

Answer 28

where Pisa is, Pelops is hero, southern part of Greek mainland

Question 29

Pelops

Answer 29

Restored to life later;

gods did not want to eat Pelops stew, Demeter was sad and ate Pelops shoulder cuz she wasn’t paying attention, when he comes back alive she replaces his eaten shoulder with ivory shoulder

Variant in Pindars Ode - poseidon abducts Pelops and wa brought to Olympus\

Instituted Olympic Games in honour of victory and to purify himself from miasma

Question 30

Pisa

Answer 30

Pelops was the King

Question 31

Tantalus

Answer 31

tested Gods, killed and cooked own son (Pelops) - Pindars Olympian Ode

Cannibalism

Eternally punished to go hungry and thirsty