Lecture 6 Flashcards
1
Q
Academic theory
A
-framework for organizing aspects of human experience in order to understand it better; a way to make sense of the world and give it meaning
2
Q
Purpose of theories
A
- we can better understand and interpret classical myths by applying a variety of theories to them.
- theories derive from many different academic disciplines
3
Q
Etilogical theory
A
-myth explains the origins of something
4
Q
Jungian theory
A
- breaks characters into specific archetypes that occur over and over in all cultures. S
- see stories as a collection of archetypes
5
Q
Feminist theory
A
- focuses on myth’s reflection of cultural attitudes toward women and gender systems
- many different approaches under this umbrella
6
Q
Freudian theory
A
- similar to Jungian theory, approach concentrates on role of subconscious mind in formulation of myths
- emphasizes that myths (like dreams) can represent wish-fulfillment or deep anxieties
7
Q
Perseus: The Early Hero
A
- happy ending
- associated with women more than other heroes
- kills the Gorgon
- number of gifts from the gods allow him to do things other mortals can’t.
- good relationship with the gods and gives all the gifts back
- father is Zeus and mother is Danae (Zeus comes to Danae as a golden rain because she’s trapped in a tower)
8
Q
Perseus and Medusa
A
- someone wants Danae and do dissuade this, he tells Perseus that he’ll leave Danae alone if he brings him the head of Medusa the Gorgon
- goes to Grainae (one eye, one tooth they pass between them) steals the eye and forces them to give up information that allows him to get gifts from the gods
- goes to the Nymphs and receives a pouch, winged sandals, an invisibility cap, a shield and a sickle
9
Q
Medusa
A
- mother of pegasus
- when head gets chopped off he comes out
10
Q
Feminist theory and Perseus
A
- Perseus becomes an outsider after defeating Medusa and this theory deals with outsiders
- good comes from Medusa’s death
- encourages us to see Medusa as a reflection of powerful prehistoric nature of goddesses.
- association with earth and draws power from earth (chthonic aspect)
11
Q
Freudian theory and Perseus
A
- desire to protect mother
- male anxiety of decapitation: decapitation of Medusa is equal to castration which is a huge fear in mythology
- conquering of something evil creates something good–>Pegasus (wish-fulfillment)
- able to conquer death with gifts from the gods
12
Q
Perseus and Andromeda
A
- Cassiopeia
- Sea monster/Poseidon
- uses Medusa’s head to turn the sea monster into stone and is rewarded with Andromeda’s hand in marriage
13
Q
Heracles/Hercules
A
- son of Zeus and Alcmene
- great grandson of Andromeda and Perseus
- “Glory of Hera”
- Hera hates him because most powerful of all Zeus’ illegitimate children
- tries to kill him by releasing snakes in his cradle
14
Q
Hercules and Megara
A
- first wife
- in a fit of rage (maybe madness sent by Hera) he kills her and their children
- to cleanse himself he takes on 12 labors
- very often less than human in his nature (morally gray)
15
Q
The 12 Labors
A
- Kill Nemean Lion
- Kill Hydra
- Capture Golden Hind
- Capture Erymanthian boar
- Clean Augean stables
- Remove Stymphalian birds
- Capture Cretan bull
- Capture Thracian horses
- Bring back Girdle of Hippolyte
- Bring back cattle of Geryon
- Bring back Golden Apples of Hesperides
- Capture Cereberus
16
Q
Kill Nemean Lion
A
- chokes lion then uses its claws to skin it
- he fights like an animal
- savage
17
Q
Killy Hydra
A
- shows cleverness
- has a friend burn the stumps with a torch so heads don’t grow back
18
Q
Breakdown of 12 Labors
A
- first half show strength and cunning
- later half are acts that make him more and more like immortals
- they make him dig deeper to complete them
19
Q
Overcomming death
A
- bring back cattle of Geryon (giant who lives in underworld)
- steals Cerberus (giant three headed dog that guards the entrance)
20
Q
Heracles and Humor
A
- the kerkopes
- captures monkey people and carries them upside down on a pole to take them away
- they start laughing because he has a hairy butt and he finds this so funny he lets them go
21
Q
Death of Heracles
A
- centaur Nessus attempts to rape his wife Deianeira and Heracles comes to her rescue
- Nessus tells Deianeira to make a cloak out of his skin that would make Heracles always love her
- poison from the arrows that Heracles shot Nessus with kill him when he wears the cloak
- becomes a true immortal (Apotheosis)
22
Q
Theseus: Athenian Hero
A
- son of Aethra and Poseidon (mortal father: Aegeus, king of Athens)
- raised in Troezen, travels to Athens to take up inheritance
- completes six labors on journey to Athens, makes route safe for other travelers
23
Q
Theseus and the Minotaur
A
- Crete was extremely powerful at this time. The King, Minos, caught the anger of the gods and in order to punish him and bring him down to a mortal level the gods force his wife Pasiphae to fall in love with a bull. Pasiphae receives a cow outfit and mates with the bull and gives birth to a minotaur. Minos traps this creature in a labyrinth. He makes 7 boys and 7 girls come each year to be fed to the minotaur in the labyrinth.
- Theseus volunteers as a tribute to fight the minotaur. His father instructs him that if he dies his ship has to come back with black sails and if he dies they must be black.
- Ariadne, Minos’ daughter, gives Theseus a ball of yarn which he unwinds to go into the labyrinth to kill the minotaur and then to find his way back
- Ariadne and Theseus run off together and he abandons her on an island
- Forgets to change the sail so his dad kills himself
24
Q
Jason: The Diminished Hero
A
- Pelias (uncle) sends him on a mission to find the Golden Fleece
- Ship=Argo and the sailors are Argonauts (inclueds Heracles and Theseus)
25
The Golden Fleece
- butts heads with king who doesn't want him stealing the fleece
- gets help from kings daughter, Madea and she falls in love with him
- king says he can have it if he completes three tasks
- yoke a fire-breathing bull
- sow a field with dragons teeth
- fight the warriors who spring up from the teeth
- Madea is a witch and helps him complete all these tasks but the king says nay nay anyway so Madea chops up her brother and throws him into the sea so her dad has to go find all the pieces so he can be properly buried
- Jason and Madea return to Greece
- Madea tricks his uncles' daughter into killing his uncle and they have to flee to another city
- Jason marries another woman and Madea gets pissed
26
Historical perspective on Theseus myth
- transfer of power in Aegean from Minoan to Mycenaean culture?
- evidence: minoan religion involved bulls ("horns of consecration", bull leaping ritual...)
- evidence: large Mycenaean fortress on the Acropolis of Athens (plus, Athens could simply stand for the mainland)
- evidence: in addition to bulls, Minoans used a special double headed axe in religious rituals, in later Greece, this type of axe was called a Labrys
- evidence: Knossos, largest Minoan settlement set up like a labrynth
