Final Flashcards
(84 cards)
1
Q
Who were Perseus’ parents?
A
Zeus and Danaë
2
Q
What happened to Perseus as an infant?
A
- He and his mother (Danaë) were cast out to sea in a chest because of an oracle
- Survives and grows up on an island
3
Q
Why did Perseus sever Medusa’s head?
A
Because he promised Polydectes that he would bring it to him, despite being a near impossible task
4
Q
Who helped Perseus with the task of obtaining Medusa’s head and how? (8)
A
- Hermes, Athena, and the Graeae
- Provided him with winged sandals (so he could fly), a cap of invisibility, a shield, a sword to decapitate Medusa, and a pouch to carry the head in
5
Q
How does Perseus behead Medusa? (2)
A
- She is the only mortal gorgon
- He looks at her reflection in the shield rather than directly at her
6
Q
Why does Perseus rescue Andromeda? (2)
A
- Poseidon cursed her homeland with flooding and a sea monster because her mother (Cassiepea) claimed to be more beautiful than the Nereids
- Andromeda was a sacrifice to appease the monster
7
Q
Motifs of the myth of Perseus (5)
A
- Princess in trouble
- Heroic pattern
- Villainous kings
- Rash promise of hero and an impossible task
- Supernatural/magic
8
Q
Why is Odysseus an interesting hero?
A
He is clever and insightful rather than brawny
9
Q
What does the Odyssey tell the story of?
A
Odysseus’ return home to Ithaca for his reunion with his wife (Penelope) and child (Telemachos)
10
Q
What difficulties does Odysseus encounter on his return to Ithaca? (5)
A
- Wrath of the gods
- Monsters
- Alluring women (Sirens) and witches (Circe)
- A visit to the underworld
- Bad weather and sea conditions
11
Q
What does Odysseus/Ulysses represent to the Romans and later literature? (4)
A
- The archetypal patient man
- Endures adversity
- Persists towards his goal
- Ultimately succeeds
12
Q
What does Penelope represent to the Romans and later literature? (2)
A
- The archetypal heroine
- Patient, loyal, and faithful wife
13
Q
What does the word Odyssey mean?
A
Quest for life itself
14
Q
How is the Odyssey used in popular culture?
A
Usually set in contemporary times but remains similar, stressing the universality of the thematic content
15
Q
Why is myth used in cultural texts? (4)
A
- To retell a story that is powerful, universal, and timeless
- Allow writers to expose or express contemporary issues
- Offer an escape from our world
- For comparison
16
Q
How do writers give a personal perspective when using myth in their works? (2)
A
- Revisioning the characters to add depth or their own characters
- Using the myth as a foundation to create their own story by adding, subtracting, enhancing or embellishing the content
17
Q
How were myths used in cultural texts during the Middle Ages? (4)
A
- Retold with characters set to the medieval period
- Emphasis on morality and religion
- Rationalization of the pagan and supernatural
- Added romance element
18
Q
How were myths used in cultural texts during the Renaissance? (3)
A
- Didactic and romantic
- Brought together biblical and classical
- Used to give a personal perspective
19
Q
How were myths used in cultural texts by the Romantics? (5)
A
- Reaction against rational and mechanical world
- Symbolism
- Myth as religion: link to nature
- Personal and exalted visions of nature, man, and poetry
- Lamement for loss of beauty of the Greek world
20
Q
How are myths used in cultural texts by modern and contemporary writers?
A
A voice for those who have never had a voice before
21
Q
How were myths treated in early Christianity? Example?
A
- They were rationalized so that they could be deemed acceptable
- Roman poet Lucretius
22
Q
Who was Ovid? (3)
A
- An author popular in the middle ages
- Stories for romantic sake but with moralizing tones
- Warn to be careful of revenge, jealousy, arrogance
23
Q
Who did the Trojan Legend start with? Then who? (8)
A
- Dictys (2 AD)
- Dares
- Boccaccio
- Benoit
- Dante
- Caxton
- Chaucer
- Shakespeare
24
Q
How were myths approached during the Italian Renaissance (14th C)? (3)
A
- Scholars learned Greek
- Rebirth of classical literature
- Epic, poetry, pastoral, drama
25
How were myths approached in 16th and 17th C England?
- Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare
- Use of mythic characterization
- Allusions
- Allegories in poetry
- Masques
26
How were myths approached during the French Renaissance (16th and 17th C)?
Retelling of great dramas (e.g. Racine)
27
How were myths approached during 18th C England? (2)
- Dryden: more interested in Roman, translated Ovid
| - Pope: translated The Iliad and presented his own views
28
How did the Romantics and Victorians approach myth?
Retelling stories in their own voice, express concepts of their age
29
Shelley and Arnold on myth
Look back to classical for beauty "moral grandeur"
30
Tennyson on myth
Gives Ulysses his own voice, go forward in life
31
William Morris on myth
Life and death of Jason
32
How were myths approached in the 20th C? (3)
- As sources for Jungian archetypes
- For political and moral allegory
- To express social, religious, and psychological problems
33
How did Pound & Eliot approach myth?
Lame for a lost world, a fragmented world after war
34
How did Eugene O'Neill approach myth?
Set dramas in 19th C New England
35
How did Hilda Doolittle approach myth? (3)
- Retelling with the voice of women
- Retelling of myths with female characters
- e.g. Clytemnestra, Antigone, Helen, Medea, Phaedra
36
How did Joyce, Kazantzakis, and Walcott approach myth? (2)
- Retelling of Odysseus
| - Set in own time and place
37
How did Anouilh and Giraudoux approach myth?
Questions the events happening around them
38
What are the favourite types of characters and themes used in music, dance, and film? (5)
- Gods
- Lovers
- Sagas
- Heroes
- Women
39
Who are the favourite gods used in music, dance, and film? (7)
- Apollo
- Aphrodite
- Dionysus
- Artemis
- Hades
- Persephone
- Prometheus
40
Who are the favourite lovers used in music, dance, and film? (5)
- Orpheus and Eurydice
- Cupid and Psyche
- Helen and Paris
- Troilus and Cressida
- Pygmalion and Galatea
41
What are the favourite sagas used in music, dance, and film? (6)
- Troy
- Odysseus
- Theban
- Oresteia
- Crete
- Labyrinth
42
Who are the favourite heroes used in music, dance, and film? (4)
- Jason
- Herakles
- Perseus
- Icarus
43
Who are the favourite women used in music, dance, and film? (10)
- Medea
- Cassandra
- Ariadne
- Daphne
- Danaë
- Phaedra
- Jocasta
- Antigone
- Leda
- Electra
44
Which great European composes used myth in their music? (5)
- Bach
- Handel
- Mozart
- Beethoven
- Wagner
45
Which American composes used myth in their music? (3)
- Bernstein
- Stravinsky
- William Shuman
46
Which pop musicians used myth in their music? (5)
- The Doors
- Led Zeppelin
- Paul McCartney
- Cream
- Pete Townshend
47
Which dance musicians used myth in their music? (4)
- Isadora Duncan
- Ruth St. Denis
- Martha Graham
- George Balanchine
48
What is the heroic cycle?
Departure, fulfillment, return
49
What is a hero? (3)
- A demi-god
- Special in some way
- An outsider
50
What does a hero do? (4)
1) Leaves the familiar world to set out on a journey/quest
2) Performs tasks such as vanquish monsters
3) Enters into a kind of death (underworld, defeats dragon)
4) Remerges victorious
51
What do heroes gain from their quest?
A greater understanding of themselves and the world
52
How does a hero's life end? (4)
- It's different with each hero
- Herakles dies at Dienira's hand yet goes to Olympus
- Bellerophon and Jason have unhappy endings
- Perseus defeats the dragon, gets the princess and the kingdom
53
What are the two kinds of deeds according to Campbell's "Hero's Adventure"? (2)
- Physical battles (monsters, etc)
| - Spiritual: undertaking a supernormal experience and coming back with a message)
54
What is the journey according to Campbell's "Hero's Adventure"?
From the known to the unknown
55
What do revelations to the hero do according to Campbell's "Hero's Adventure"? (2)
They transform and teach them causing transcending illuminations and enlightenment
- e.g. Odysseus chose to be human when given the opportunity for a life of pleasure and immortality
56
What are the events leading up to the Trojan War? (5)
1) Marriage of Thetis with Peleus
2) Zeus mating with Leda in the form of a swan, result is Helen
3) In Troy, King Priam and Queen Hecuba have many children
4) Judgement of Paris
5) Suitors are called to honour the oath taken
57
How did the marriage of Thetis and Peleus cause the Trojan War? (2)
- Son Achilles
- Goddess of Discord not invited (Eris)
- She comes anyway and tosses an apple to "the most beautiful" which is claimed by Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera
58
How does Zeus mating with Leda in the form of a swan cause the Trojan War? (6)
- Helen is the result
- Helen's mortal sister Clytemnestra marries Agamemnon, king of Argos and warriors
- Kings and princes from all over Greece to court Helen, who is to be queen of Sparta
- Odysseus devised an oath which all suitors must take to protect Helen if abducted
- Helen chooses to marry Menelaus, brother of Agamemnon
- Helen and Menelaus have a daughter named Hermione
59
How do King Priam and Queen Hecuba's children cause the Trojan War? (3)
- One of their sons, Paris is left exposed on Mt. Ida
- According to an oracle he is destined to be the destruction of the Troy
- Grows up to be a shepherd, marries Oenone the river nymph and has a son
60
How does the judgement of Paris cause the Trojan War? (5)
- He is considered wise and well-balanced to judge beauty
- Hera offers him power over Asia
- Athena offers him military glory
- Aphrodite offers him the most beautiful woman in the world (the problem is, it's Helen and she's already married)
- Paris goes to Troy, falls in love with Helen and abducts her to Troy ("though she was not unwilling")
61
How does Odysseus' oath to protect Helen cause the Trojan War? (2)
- The suitors are called to honour it
| - Achilles and Odysseus are unwilling
62
The Muse of Medusa by May Sarton (6)
- A new take on Medusa
- She is not as scary and dangerous as she's made out to be
- She is misunderstood
- A representation of all women, how we are viewed in society
- Medusa as a feminist figure
63
The Judgment of Paris by W. S. Merwin (6)
- Tells the story from Paris' point of view
- Shows us how little he understands the situation
- He doesn't know the names of the goddesses
- He has a simple mind and is overwhelmed
- He picks Aphrodite
- He will lose regardless of who he picks
64
Troy by Edwin Muir (2)
- The Trojan War as a rat infestation
| - Dirty, greedy, dangerous
65
The Shield of Achilles by W. H. Auden (6)
- Written during the Cold and Korean wars
- "A vision of modern inhumanity"
- The shield as the Cold War and its impending doom
- Thetis watches Hephaestus engrave Achilles' shield
- The images aren't as pleasant as she expected
- Suggests that Achilles won't live long
66
Cassandra by Robinson Jeffers (4)
- Anti-war poem
- Cassandra as ravaged
- Too truthful and horrible
- Poets and religious figures who exaggerate the truth
67
Cassandra by Stephen Mitchell (3)
- Myth as political
- The female voice as political and personal
- The world is ending because of the environment
68
Cassandra by Louis Bogan (3)
- Cassandra is given her own voice
- It's common for Cassandra to have no voice because people don't believe her
- Others have fought for this battle
69
Leda and the Swan by W. B. Yeats (4)
- Zeus raping Leda rather than seducing her
- Violence that brings on more violence
- Leda is often depicted as the mother of war
- Did she know this was going to be the result?
70
Leda by Mona Van Duyn (3)
- A response to Yeats' poem Leda and the Swan
- She becomes insignificant in myth after her encounter with Zeus
- We only hear about her because of Zeus and in association with him
71
No Second Troy by W. B. Yeats (3)
- Reference to the war between England and Ireland
- Helen as trying to encourage men to war
- She has a passion beyond her control
72
Helen by H.D. (4)
- Describes the emotions of the Greeks regarding Helen
- She brought conflict and war
- She was seen as beautiful for her white skin, delicate hands, cool feet, and slender knees
- Now the Greeks hate her for those reasons because their obsession with her beauty led to warfare
- They hate when she's happy and that the past can bring her happiness
73
Penelope's Despair by Yannis Ritsos (3)
- Penelope's reaction to Odysseus' return
- His return was not what she expected
- She is flustered and can only say "Welcome"
74
You Are Odysseus by Linda Pastan (4)
- Focus on home and family life
- Penelope turns away suitors because she is so devoted to Odysseus
- She's "merely Penelope" and doesn't consider herself as important as Odysseus
- The war doesn't stop, it continues every day
75
Circe's Power by Louise Glück (3)
- What it's like living isolated and lonely
- Being able to turn men to animals
- Using her magic to expose the truth
76
Siren Song by Margaret Atwood (4)
- Sirens were half human, half bird who lured sailors to their death with their irresistible song
- Gives Sirens a voice
- Helplessness of men
- Women as "birds"
77
What happens in books 1-4 of The Odyssey? (2)
- They focus on Telemachos who is trying to expel suitors of Penelope from their palace in Ithaka
- He goes to Pylos and Sparta seeking news about his father
78
What happens in books 5-12 of The Odyssey? (11)
- Odysseus leaves Calypso (the nymph he stayed with for 7 years)
- He arrives in the land of Phaiakians where he tells the story of his wanderings:
* Lotus-eaters (where the me forgot their home)
* Polyphemus and the Cyclop (got him drunk, blinded him, escaped the cave)
* Aiolos the wind god who sent them to the Laistygonians who attack Odysseus and his men
* Circe's island (she tells them that they must visit the land of the dead and consult Tiresias, the prophet)
* Tiresias tells him that he will return home but warns him to not touch the herds of the sun god
* They return to Circe who warns them of the Sirens, and Scylla and Carybdis
* They arrive at Helio's island despite the warnings and kill the cattle
* A storm occurs out of revenge killing everyone but Odysseus
* Odysseus reached Calypso
79
What happens in books 13-16 of The Odyssey? (3)
- Odysseus and Telemachos return to Ithaka separately
- Athena comes to Odysseus and tells him how to overcome the suitors dressed as an old, poor man
- Odysseus meets up with Telemachos and reveals his plan
80
What happens in books 17-23 of The Odyssey? (3)
- Odysseus returns to his home disguised as a beggar and is abused by suitors
- Penelope suggests a contest with Odysseus' bow to determine which suitor she should marry
- They all fail so Odysseus strings the bow, shoots, and reveals himself while killing all the suitors
81
What does Martin Winkler say about Home?
That he is the father of Western literature and the grandfather of film
82
What is the relationship between films based on myth and historical authenticity? (3)
- Historical authenticity is not necessary or sufficient to assure the quality of a film
- There are many versions of myths, we can look at it in new versions too
- Myth is the foundation to build a new story while keeping the integrity of themes (e.g. Clash of the Titans)
83
How is the Trojan War used in film
- WWII stories (Christopher Longue)
- Korean War stories (Dan Rather)
- Achilles in Viet Nam (Johnathan Shay)
- Themes of war and its effects
84
What does Wolfgang Petersen say about The Iliad and contemporary wars?
- It is simply true
| - Power-hungry Agamemnons who want to create a new world order
