final exam Flashcards
what pattern does hercules follow?
propps hero pattern
- the 10 step heroic pattern that is typical in folk tales
-
who is hercules?
- son of zeus (name means glory of hera)
- considered the greatest greek hero
- primitive in nature
- achieved divine status at death
- protector by definition, civilizing force that kills monsters and founds cities
- founded the olympic games
what is the iconography of hercules?
- bow and arrows
- lion skin
- club
what was the story of hercules’ youth?
- raised in thebes
- when human father (amphitron is off to war) zeus takes a liking to alcemena
- he comes to alcemena in the from of amphitryon and they sleep together
- heracles is conveived
- when amphitryon comes back she sleeps with him and conceives heracles twin brother —-iphicles
- hera is jealous so she sends snakes into his crib
- he defeats the serpent
- but eurisythius is born firsr so hercules has to serve labours for euristhius
- his teachers are amphitryon, linus, and eurytos
- kills linus
who does hercules kill?
- linus his centaur mentor bc he cant play the lyre lool
- because of this blood guilt he is sent to mount cithaeron
herclues does what on mount cithaeron?
- amphitryon sends him there to tend to sheep after being acquitted in death of Linus
- where he hears the problem of the lion
- kills the lion by strangling it to death
- (also symbolic for an initiation from boyhood to manhood)
- from this he gains iconic lion skin
-
heracles and the minyans vs thebans
- …..
how many labours must heracles complete before he can continue his quest?
12 to achieve immortality and the end
where hercules get his weapons from?
bow from apollo, gold breastplate from hephaestus, club made by himself, and robe from athena
what does heracles do in delphi?
j
Propps hero pattern
1) ) The hero usually has elements of the extraordinary linked to his
birth and his childhood.
2) He faces opposition from the beginning, and he must prove his
worth by surmounting challenges.
3) His enemy(ies) usually instigate his achievement.
4) He is helped by at least one ally, divine or human.
5) He faces obscene obstacles, often labors that must be
accomplished or a quest that must be completed.
6) Adventurous conflicts with divine, human, or monstrous
opponents present him with physical, sexual, and spiritual
challenges.
7) He may also have to observe taboos – e.g., he must NOT look
back, eat forbidden fruit, or be too inquisitive.
8) Death itself is the ultimate conquest, usually achieved by going
to and returning from the Underworld.
9) The hero’s success may be rewarded with marriage, political
security, or wealth and power.
10) But knowledge through suffering and more lasting spiritual
enlightenment (literal or symbolic) – entailing purification,
rebirth, redemption, and even deification – are also part of
the hero’s attainment.
family of heracles
mother - alcmene daughter of electryon king of mycenae
human father, Amphitryon, son of Alcaeus
- twin brother, Iphicles
what is hercules reward for defeat of minyans?
marriage to megara
who does heracles serve in delphi?
the king of tiryns
where are first 6 labours oh heracles?
in the northern peloponnese
where are last 6 labours of heracles?
all over the world
The lernean hydrra was labour ?
labour 2
- heracles received help from mortal nephew iolaos
- where he got his fancy poisonous arrows with hydra blood
- iolas cauterizes the head of each hydra while heracles cuts it off
what is the life of heracles an allegory for?
- a life of vice and pleasure
labour 3, 4 - heracles
- The cerynitian deer
- sacred to artemis and appolo
- he negotiates with them and is able to take the deer alive to eurytheus and let it go free - the erymanthian boar
- boar is ravaging countryside of erymanthus
- pholos shows up and shows hospitality to heracles - who asks for wine
- if he opens the wine the centaurs will smell it and attack them
- heracles doesn’t listen he opens the wine anyway and the cnetaurs come to attack him
- he kills centaurs until he gets to chirons cave and a poison arrow accidentally kills him
- pholos also picks up an arrow and dies
- shows heracles vice
Why is heracles story following the propps hero pattern?
- consideres the quest a universal hero structure
- extrordinary elements influence his birth and childhood
- faces insurmountable challenges
- enemies instigate his achievements
- helped all allies human or otherwise
- had conflicts with morals, the divine, and monsters he had to physically come over
- has taboos such as extreme anger
- death is ultimate conquest as shown by entry to the underworld
- hero is rewarded with marriage, political security, wealth and power
Labour 5 heracles - the augeian stables
- the augeian stables
- Augeias tasks heracles to clean out horse stables that are full of shit
- he says hell clean out the stables in return to getting half the cattle
- gets help from athena to divert a river to run through the stables
- however he does not give heracles the cattle anyway and kicks he and phyleus out
- when heracles comes back to kill him he founds the olympic games
- side quest: he stops off at house of dexamenos and in return for hospitality and kindess heracles promises to kill unwanted centaur eurytion
labour 6,7 - heracles
- kills the stymphalian birds which have metal feathers that would fall out and kill people
- with divine aid from athena he scares birds with castanests out of the bushes - most popular story was that poseidon sent this cretan bull to minos and then released the violent bull into mainland Greece which heracles captures and takes home
Labour 8 - heracles
- man eating mares of diomedes
- who is son of ares and a thracian king.
- heracles kills diomedes and takes the mares which he dedicates to hera
labour 9 - heracles
The war belt of Hippolyte
- the amazons: a tribe of warrior women from the island of theiscyra in mothern parts of the worl
- the war belt symbolizes queenship and had magical powers
- heracles is sent to stand against amazons and take war belt from the queen
- the amazons enslaves and maimed boys at birth and girls were raised to hunt and fight
- heracles talks to hippolytae who gives up the war belt tp him
- hera thought he got it too easy, so she tells the amazons that heracles kidnapped hippolyta when they charge his ship he kills hippolyte
- with aid of achilles all are killed
- all amazons are killed off because they don’t fit into the greek world