Classical Mythology Notes

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UW
CLAS 104
FINAL EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
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Historical Background (Lecture 1 Slides)

-
Homer: writing around 750 BC, last author of the Dark Ages
Bronze Age Greece (2000 - 1100 BC):
- Minoan Civilization (on Crete - Knossos is centre of Civ)
- is NOT a Greek civilization - did not speak Greek and had written
records (mainly economic records) that cannot be interpreted since not in
Greekx
- influenced the Mycenaean Civilization
- known for large palaces and advanced architecture
- had running water, indoor plumbing
- known for lively iconography (lecture 1, slide 5 - bull jumping)
- people thought they were peace loving civilization since they didnt glorify
war in their iconography - also did not have any protective walls, etc.
- religion supposed to be worshipping a mother goddess (lecture 1, slide 6)
- Mycenaean Civilization (based in Mycenae)
- began in mainland amongst people who spoke Greek
- adopted a lot of Minoan advanced elements
- known for building great walls (lecture 1, slide 9)
- cyclopeans is what the architecture is called - thought only giants
could carry these large stones
- intricate art
- Minoan vs Mycenaean: Minoan did not portray any type of violent
activities - Mycenaean did! (lecture 1, slide 10)
- a much more violent society?
- Linear B
- writing systems that Mycenaean used - adopted from both Minoan
and Greek
- an early form of Greek
- a lot of gods are listed in these Linear B tablets
- noticed that the gods we know about from Greek myths
are mentioned in the Linear B tablets -- suggests continuity
in what happened to Mycenaean Bronze Age and to the
stories told much later until 750 BC
- palace culture:
- has palaces as a centre of government and civ
- Mycenaean culture died out -- but stories were told orally over the
centuries
- why did it collapse?
- around 1200 BC -- widespread disruption of civilizations and Mycenaean
civilization deteriorated
Dark Ages (1100 - 800 BC):
- iron technology came to Greece
- myths are transmitted orally
- no one knows much about what happened - no writings

Archaic Period (800 - 480 BC):
- 800 BC - Greek alphabet
- different from Linear B
- took the Phoenician script from the East and made the Greek alphabet
from it
- 700 BC - Greek writers
- Homer and Hesiod (first writers of myths)
- Homer wrote about 750 BC
- Hesiod wrote about 700 BC
- 520 - 445 BC - lyric poets
- only survived in fragments
- Pindar - the one poet who does survive in large chunks, wrote victory
odes, wrote fancy poems or songs for victors in Olympian games and
traces their genealogy back to original Greek heroes (Hercules, etc.)
Classical Greece (480 - 323 BC):
- 480 BC - Persian empire invaded Greece but the Greek beat the Persians off
- led to Greek cultural advancements
480 - 404 BC:
- Golden Age of Athens
- tragic poets: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides
- Athenian poets and changes myths to glorify Athens
- very politically important to the Athenians
- Athenians paid poor people to go to the theatres to watch the
tragic poets
- said that tragic poets were helping people to think in a
sophisticated and subtle way which is necessary for a democracy
- thought myths addressed political subjects in a subtle way
- historians: Herodotus
- earliest historian whose writings survived
- known as Father of Histories, but some people called him as
Father of Lies since his accounts were very mythological
- versions of myths changed to become more rational
- historians tried to piece together what has happened
- Hellenistic Era (323 - 31 BC):
- Hellenistic - kinda Greeky - Greek culture watered down
- Alexander the Great - spread Greek culture all over the Mediterranean
- people cynical about religion and stories about Greeks (gods, demigods, etc.)
a lot of satire UNLIKE with Homer who was very serious about the gods
- authors:
- Apollonius of Rhodes:
- wrote Argonautica (story of Jason and the Argonauts)
- didnt have a full version of myth until now
- made mockery of the gods
Roman Era (30 BC onwards):

- more warlike and practical than the Greeks
- when Romans were exposed to Greek culture, they adopted a lot of
Greek mythology and other things which they didnt have themselves until
they met the Greeks
- but Romans have different perspective than Greeks myths were different
usually in MORAL atmosphere than Greeks
- Greek writers:
- Apollodorus:
- wrote Bibliotheca / Library of Greek Mythology history from
start of world to now
- Roman writers:
- wrote in Latin
- Vergil (70 - 19 BC)
- wrote the Aeneid about Aeneas who was one of the few who
survived the destruction of Troy found and established an
eternal city landed in Italy and essentially established Rome
- Ovid (43 BC - 17 AD)
- wrote the Metamorphoses, Fasti (religious calendar), Ars
Amatoria
- Livy (59 BC - 17 AD)
- Roman historian
- similar to Herodotus since he couldnt dispense with the
mythical stories in the history of Rome
- wrote Urbe Condita
- wanted to tell the history of Rome from the beginning but
all he had to work with were legendary stories in HIS
HISTORY, so he told them anyways
- Greeks thought Romans were descendant of Odysseus but Romans hated
Odysseus as a character (since Odysseus was tricky - Romans thought they were
more straightforward) Romans said they were descendant from the Trojans
who beat the Greeks
Notes:
- around 1400/1450 BC, Mycenaeans invaded Crete and destroyed all Minoan
centres/palaces and rebuilt main palace at Knossos
Read Chapters 1 and 2!
What is Mythology? (Lecture 2 Slides)

-
mythos: word, speech, story (origin of the word myth)

proper definition of a myth: a traditional tale with secondary, partial reference to
something of collective importance - it is something significant to a culture (hence they
keep passing it on)
tradition: from Latin tradicio which means to hand something over
essence of myth:
- traditional
- resonant/useful:
- a lot of practical things learned from myths
- Alexander the Great drew inspiration from the Iliad since he saw himself
as the descendant of Achilles
- flexible and adaptable:
- culture changes and so for these tales to resonate, they need to be
modified to speak to contemporary people
- Homer said that Oedipus retained his kingship after killing his
father and marrying his mother
- Sophocles said that Oedipus went into exile after his deed
- example: Spiderman (original: bit by radioactive spider (people were
concerned of radioactivity/nuclear power), recent: bit by genetically
modified spider) embodies hope and fears of society
myth or truth:
- Xenophanes:
- very skeptical and didnt like how original myths portrayed the gods,
thought that people were just projecting themselves in the image of the
gods
- thought to be the first monotheist
- 500 BC
- Plato:
- 300 BC
- wanted to clean up the myths - thought they didnt show behaviour that
should be emulated
- Aristotle:
- student of Plato
- says mythology is better than history since mythology has a broader
perspective
classification of myths:
- myth proper: aka divine myth
- stories about the gods
- those that focus on gods rather than heroes
- deals with gods and humanitys relationship with the gods
- functions:
like science, to explain the natural world and society practices (eg.
Athena and Poseidon)
- eg: creation story - theogeny of Hesiods
- religion was enormously important to the ancients
- saga/legend:
- stories about heroes -- always about someone MORTAL
- functions:
- like history, to explain the past
- to inspire noble behaviour
- eg. Iliad
folktales:
- simpler kind of story, doesnt really classified as a myth
- usually about the powerless who gets some magical help
- content: recurring patterns (like the poor persons quest)
interpretation of the myth:
- big question in the ancient world: should we reject the myths or should we
allegorize them?
- ancient interpretation:
- physical allegory:
- Theagenes of Rhegium
- if we allegorize myths, they actually present some truth
- historical allegory:
- Euhemerus:
- 300 BC
- made a myth to tell the stories of the myth
- says Uranus, Cronos, and Zeus were only great
kings whose stories got exaggerated
- moral allegory:
- Daphne: allegory of virtue of chastity (she was chased by Apollo,
asked her father to help her, gets transformed into a tree)
- Judgement of Paris: do you pick lust, wisdom, or power?
- medieval interpretation
- enlightenment:
- rationalistic denigration of myth
- romantic reaction
- modern interpretation
- psychological
- Freud: mostly interested in peoples dreams dreams were surfacing
peoples repressed desires, fears, and aspirations
- noticed that dreams and myths are similar
- most famous for Oedipus Complex
- stories describing heroes slaying dragons and saving a
maiden is similar to the Oedipus Complex (dragon = father,
maiden = mothers, etc.)
Jung: student of Freud, interpreted myths similar to Freud but he

looked at not how much myths function in one individual psyche
but how they function across cultures and societies
- collective unconscious
- talked about archetypes: archetypal figures and narrative patterns
in myths not only of one particular culture but in many cultures
(ex. archetype: clever trickster, in Greek: Odysseus, and there are
clever tricksters in other societies myths as well) these
archetypes must be important to the human psyche
- rites of passages: being born, completing a quest,
marriage, death, etc.
- a lot of people liked Jungs interpretation of the myths more since
his are more applicable than Freuds
- Joseph Campbell: classicist (classical mythology), parallels of
Greek myths with myths in other cultures, comparative mythology
anthropological:
- ritual (J. G. Frazer): all myth is simply religious ritual put in
narrative form
- myths are just narrative embodiments of rituals rituals are
fundamental and so in order to elaborate on these rituals, Greeks
and other cultures made up stories in the form of myths
- social charter (B. Malinowski): linked myths with social customs
and beliefs as a whole (broader perspective than J. G. Frazer)
- example: Athena vs Poseidon, how Athena became the
main god of Athens
structural:
- general: not the form of individual myths but the structures that
recur
- C. Levi-Strauss:
- structure of society is very closely related to the structure
of the human mind, and the human mind is often binary
(opposites: hunted vs hunter, life vs death, raw vs cooked,
etc.)
- structures of these myths mediate between these
opposites and brings these opposites together in a
satisfying way
- V. Propp:
- earlier than Strauss
- analyzed Russian folktales and noticed very common
themes/structures in stories and myths and standardized
them as The Quest
- W. Burkert:
- developed the most sophisticated interpretation of myths
said that there are repeated patterns, but they changed as

society changes
emphasized the flexibility of the myths with the changing of
societies
feminist:
- revolutionized how myths have been looked at
- myths were written in a strongly patriarchal society, and so
feminists have looked at them and reinterpreted them from a
female perspective (or criticized them from a feminist perspective)
Online quiz opening on Thursday! Up to end of lecture today.

Creation of Mortals (Lecture 5 Slides)
- Hesiods Versions:
- Five Ages:
- Golden Age:
- peopled lived at leisure and with carefree hearts since the
grounds were so fertile
- Cronos is ruling (though he wasnt a positive figure - cut off his
fathers penis + swallowed his children), but he ruled the Golden
Age
- Silver Age:
- far worse than Gold, both physically and mentally
- mortals were not respectful of the gods
- this race was destroyed (since gods thought that if they were
disrespectful, what was the point of having them around?)
- Bronze Age:
- mortals were violent!
- Zeus was the one who created these mortals
- not at all like the Silver
- Hesiod emphasized that each race was completely different from
the one before
- from the Greeks perspective, Bronze Age is neutral since being
violent is not as bad as being disrespectful to gods and others
- first generation where mortals die and their souls go to Hades
- Heroes:
- Greek aristocrats claimed that they were descendants of the
heroes (direct connection of heroes to present day)
- heroes were valiant in war and more just, a godlike race
- Hesiods spoke of two groups of heroes:
- first died in battle
- second lived eternally under Cronos rule in the Islands of
the Blessed (kind of like the Golden Age)
- Iron Age:
- the longest generation
- this is the worst generation
- people were evil to each other
- disrespectful of the gods
- injustice
- this is the only age where people had to work hard
- almost apocalyptic since he says that eventually, all shame will
leave all souls and Zeus will destroy this age
- some Greeks portrayed this as a degeneration, but Hesiod did not do this (since
there are some good in the Heroic Age)
whats the point?

- he emphasized people working hard (or rather, not working hard) for their
livelihood
- cautionary tale + aspiring tale want to inspire people to live righteous lives
and honour the gods (if you are just to other people and honour your gods, you
will live well and not have to work hard)
Pandora:
- important to Hesiod because he spoke about this in the Theogony as well
- Pandora is the first woman created (story is very misogynistic!)
- Background (Prometheus):
- story goes that mankind and gods were eating together in Greece.
At one of the banquets, Prometheus laid out a banquet but gave
mortals and gods different things (gave humans good meat with
bones under, gave gods bones with good meat under), Zeus
chided him and Prometheus told him he could pick which one he
wanted to eat; Zeus, being greedy, chose the one with the meat
and bones under. Zeus was pissed off when he found out that he
was tricked, so he withheld fire from humans (Prometheus is the
god of mankind). So, Prometheus stole fire from heaven and
brought it back down to humans and faced the wrath of Zeus
(Prometheus was trapped on the side of the mountain, and Zeus
bird came every day and ripped out his liver (which generated
every day)).
- To punish humans, gods created Pandora (name means every gift or
all gifts since all the gods helped in her creation and gave her a
wonderful gift (eg. Athena gave her skills of weaving and beautiful
clothes, Hephaestus gave her a crown, Aphrodite gave her grace, charm,
and desire, Hermes gave her the mind of a bitch and a moral of a thief)).
Essentially, she has all these gifts (shes beautiful, etc.) but is awful
inside.
- Prometheus (means foresight) told his brother Epimetheus (means
afterthought): Zeus is going to do something to us, so we need to be
careful. Do not accept anything from Zeus since itll be a trap! But
Epimetheus sees Pandora and was enamored with her, so he receives
Pandora. Her, being evil, opened the box of all things bad.
- Significance:
- explains the origins of evil evil was created from females
- from Pandora is the race of the female sex, the ruinous tribes of
women, a great affliction, who live with mortal men, helpmates
not in ruinous poverty but in excessive wealth women are
gold diggers
- [men] who avoid marriage arrives at grim old age lacking
anyone to look after him if you choose not to wed, youll die
alone
[but if men] does partake in marriage, and gets a good

wife, spends his life with bad competing constantly against
good
- (lecture 5, slide 26): Eva Prima Pandora on the art ties with
the biblical creation story since this can be interpreted as Eve as
the first Pandora
- contrast from the biblical creation story though
since females creation wasnt intended to be bad,
but in Hesiods creation story, the creation of
Pandora was a punishment to mankind
suffering from cycle of procreation: if we do not have women, we
cannot have procreation, and so the cycle of life will cease to exist
hope:
- Pandora opened the box and all evil escaped but hope
remained trapped inside
- is hope good or evil?
- unsure if Hesiod meant that hope is evil (one less
evil to worry about with it remaining in the box), or
if hope is good (its a hopeless world)
Prometheus
- role: trickster (tricked Zeus and the gods in the banquet)
and cultural god/hero
- Prometheus is the god of humanity: defending mankind
against Zeus wrath
Ovids Creation:
- very eclectic, so he chooses and picks material from different stories and
combines them
- from the Metamorphoses: a holier creature, of a loftier mind, fit master of the rest, was
lacking still the world and animals are already created, but something is lacking
(humans)
- man is divine/earthly, and nobly upright (humans can look up to the sky
while all other animals look down)
- Ovid is different from Hesiod because he did not account that males and females
are created differently
- Stages of Humanity (borrows from Hesiod, but with less detail; this is a
systematic degeneration):
- Gold: no wars; no ships (distinctively Roman since they thought it is
disrespectful of the gods to cut down trees); always spring in the Golden
Age; just and respectful to gods
- Silver: winter came and people have to build shelters and work the
ground; but people were still just and respectful to the gods
- Bronze: violent!
Iron: all evils straight broke out; people mined iron made weapons unjust
violence; they mined gold gave rise to greed and were even more unjust to
each other
Ovids creation story has giants (similar to Hesiods Typhosus (sp?)):
- symbolized chaos since these giants would try to take over the gods
- Zeus realized what was happening and so he defeats the giants and
buries them under the mountains causing the giants to bleed
- from the blood of the giants mixing with the mud, humans were formed!
- but werent humans already formed?
- can be interpreted that when the giants rose, all humans
were wiped out, and now they are being reformed from
giants blood
- giants embodied humanity in the Iron Age when everything was chaotic
and evil
because humans were so bad, the gods decided to destroy humans
- Zeus was going to use his lightning bolts, but the other gods said this fire
could reach Olympus
- so, they used a flood instead (again - biblical ties!)
- they had two survivors (Deucalion and Pyrrha) who were just and good, and they
survived in a boat; after the flood, they go to the temple of Themus (the goddess
of justice and order): Cast behind you your great mothers bones; they realized
their great mother is the Earth, so they threw stones behind them, and from
Deucalions stone came forth men (hence we are hard, we children of the earth
and in our lives of toil we prove our birth) aspiring: you can do it! since you
come from the very stones from the ground.
// Quiz one! Do by Saturday!
Midterm 1 \\
Online quiz opens tomorrow and closes on Saturday! Material is first two weeks of course
(including lectures and textbook readings, up to and including Lecture 5!)
The Gods (Lecture 6 Slides) NOT on Quiz 1
The Olympians
the most important of the Greek gods
the offspring of Rhea and Cronus (who were Titans)
a. Hestia (aka Vesta to the Romans) (Note: we SHOULD know Roman names as
well)
oldest of the offsprings of Rhea and Cronus
embodiment of the hearth in a household (family fire, where religious
ceremonies to the family will be held)
Hestia is not very important in mythology, but very important in religion
usually called upon first in public prayers
the one thing she is known for in mythological writings is her virginity!
in Homeric hymn to Aphrodite, author of hymn mentioned that there
are three goddesses NOT under the influence of Aphrodite (Hestia,
Athena, and Artemis), that is - they were virgins; but Hestia is unique
because she dedicated herself to virginity whereas the other two just
didnt have time for sex (Artemis was very busy with hunting, while
Athena was very busy with war).
Vestal virgins in Rome were very important and of high status special
priestess to Vesta; since Vesta not only embody the home but the
STATE, so these priestesses needed to preserve their virginities until
they were 40. Their virginities embody the purity of the state. These
Vestal virgins were buried alive if found out to have had sex.
b. Hades (aka Pluto to the Romans)
god of the underworld
very highly respected and important
feared but NOT evil
background:
three brothers gambled/chose which realm would be theirs, but
Hades was chosen to control the Underworld, the land of the
dead. He had a lot of subjects. (Zeus was given the sky, Poseidon
was given the sea, and the three shared the Earth, but Hades
doesnt really go up to the surface all that much in myths)
a lot of mentions of Hades in heroic stories when heroes go down
to the Underworld (common theme) and Hades confronts
them/they stand before Hades
Hades does briefly go up to Earth to take a wife (Persephone,
daughter of Zeus and Demeter)
c. Poseidon (aka Neptune to the Romans)

ruled the seas
recognized by his trident
**special lecture on Poseidon
d. Demeter (aka Ceres to the Romans)
fertility goddess associated with the grains that grow from the earth
Note that there are many fertility goddesses (like Aphrodite)
very important since she gives power to the ground to grow food
portrayed as a matronly person (page 11)
e. Hera (aka Juno to the Romans)
wife of Zeus
known for being shrewish (always nagging her husband), vindictive,
majestic, goddess of women (esp. as wives) and childbirth
in the Iliad, we see that Hera does not like some of Zeus decisions and
she opposes the will of her husband
pursues the illegitimate children of Zeus and tries to destroy them
she also goes after the maidens whom Zeus tried to have sex with /
successfully had sex with
worshipped in religion and was considered as a very powerful goddess
she is the goddess of women as wives; this is why she always pursued
the illegitimate children/partners of Zeus
f. Zeus (aka Jupiter/Jove to the Romans)
portrayal of Zeus in page 16
usually portrayed with a lightning bolt and his pet eagle (or vulture, or any
large powerful birds)
god of the sky and heavens
he is also the weather of god (when lightning strikes, people would try to
appease Zeus)
upheld the order of the universe (either natural world or humans) and
justice
also displays human failings (always yelling at Hera and threatening her
with violence, very impatient, disloyal, etc.)
sometimes, power of Zeus is portrayed to be very limited (eg. in Homeric
hymn, it was said that Aphrodites power is even greater than Zeus; or
when Zeus was shackled by Hera, Athena, and Poseidon)
the offspring of Zeus and...
a. Hera
Ares (aka Mars to the Romans)
god of war
but NOT that important to the Greeks, since the more powerful
god of war is Athena
represented the destructive side of war, while Athena represented
the positive side of war (so people revered her more than Ares)
for the Romans though, Mars was very important and also a
fertility god
Zeus even said: you are the most hateful to me, for strife and
wars and battles are always dear to you
portrayed with his weapons (pages 24 and 25)
Hephaestus
craftsman god: associated with Athena since she is the craftsman
goddess. Hephaestus is shown creating weapons and armour
while Athena is more domestic (weaving, etc.)
eg. Achilles needed armour, and his mother went to
Hephaestus for his armour which was said to be very
majestic
said to have an amazing workshop with magical tools
god of creative and destructive fire
destroyed things with the heat of fire
eg. Achilles was about to be swallowed up by river, and
Hera wanted to protect him. She called upon Hephaestus,
and Hephaestus surrounded Achilles with fire which
burned the river
very close to Hera one version of his birth said that she was born to
Hera ALONE and not with Zeus help; but most versions do say that hes
the offspring of Hera and Zeus. Regardless, he is very close to his mother
(tries to protect her from Zeus, etc.)
usually portrayed with tools (pages 27 - 29, 31); page 29 showed
him chaining Prometheus, and Hephaestus had to do this
because Zeus ordered him and no one else could make chains as
well as him
hes disabled! no other gods is portrayed as this
Greeks thought it is awful being a craftsman, but they
value crafts
in some circles where he was made alone by Hera, Zeus
threw him from Mt. Olympus and became disabled
married to Aphrodite
ironic and odd since Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty
and she is married to the god who was physically marred
Ares and Aphrodite were having an affair, and Hephaestus
created an elaborate trap which caught Ares and Aphrodite
in bed
Hebe
embodiment of youthful body (this is the literal translation of
hebe in Greek)
cup-bearer of the gods (serves them drinks) because she was so
beautiful
b. Leto:
theres another cup-bearer to the gods, Ganymede, a very

attractive Trojan prince. Zeus made him immortal and
made him the table servant of the gods. Ganymedes
father, Tros, came looking for him and Zeus pities him so
he sent Hermes to earth to tell Tros what happened and
give him horses in exchange
story brought up the issue/topic of sexuality in
Ancient Greece
normal sexuality in Ancient Greece: older men
can pursue young male teenagers and have a
sexual relationship with them as long as they are
the dominant figure (since male = dominant). The
younger man can engage in this sexual relationship
but not be too passive since this would be seen as
feminine = bad. Once the younger men reach
maturity (ie. grows a beard), they are no longer
attractive to older men and becomes heterosexual
thereafter and marries a women BUT, the cycle
continues because they can ogle younger men as
well.
married Heracles when he was made into a god
Eileithyia
goddess of childbirth: goes or does not go to births. If shes
present, kid is born. If not, bad things happen. Not very important
though in myths.
Apollo and Artemis (twins)
Apollo: inspires poetry and music like the muses (closely
associated to the muses)
Artemis (aka. Diana to the Romans): portrayed as an archer;
goddess of the hunt, and a virgin goddess
c. Metis:
Athena (aka Minerva to the Romans)
d. Dione:
Aphrodite (aka Venus to the Romans)
Hesiod has an alternate version of birth (from the genitals of
Uranus)
more on Aphrodite later.
e. Maia (mountain goddess):
Hermes (aka Mercury to the Romans)
more on Hermes later
f. Semele (the ONLY mortal consort of Zeus who produced a god):
Dionysus (aka. Bacchus and Liber to the Romans)
Liber means freedom; Dionysus was a god who set people free
from their inhibitions
god of alcohol
The full Olympian List:

(Hestia), (Hades), Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis,
Athena, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Dionysus
() since Hestia and Hades didnt really reside in Mt. Olympus
The Nature of the Gods
anthropomorphic (looks like humans, but perfect; acted like humans)
idealized (look like humans, but perfectly beautiful in every way (except for Hephaestus);
and very powerful)
immortal (biggest difference between humans and gods -- immortality)
heros struggle: wants to achieve immortality
conflict between his mortal side and his divine side
polytheistic (a lot of gods!)
development (ancient Greeks would wonder how one can create such beautiful
crafts, and they give the reason that theyre being inspired by a god, etc.)
hierarchy of gods
Olympian gods as the most important gods
Chthonic gods (like Hecate)
Heroic gods (like Heracles)
Minor gods/nymphs/etc.
today, religions are very monotheistic
fatalistic (Herodotus)
Herodotus wasnt able to completely separate himself from mythology (eg. Solon
and Croesus)
thought that the world worked in a certain way; he thought that if you got
too successful (ie. uninterrupted success), then the gods will become
jealous and gods will restore balance
Solon and Croesus: Solon was a wise man from Athens, and he leaves
Athens to travel the world; he meets Croesus and Croesus says to Solon:
whos the happiest person in the world?; and Solon thinks, and says that
its a guy named Thelus who died gloriously in battle; Croesus then asks
for who he thinks is the second happiest man, Solon still did not say that
its Croesus; eventually, Croesus kingdom was captured by another and
he died horribly
Polycrates: has a friend, Amasis (king of Egypt), and he tells Polycrates
that hes worried about him because hes too successful and if he
continues to be successful, the gods will be jealous; so Polycrates gets
rid of his signet ring and threw this on the ocean; a fisherman catches this
fish and says that its fit for the king, so the ring went back to him; Amasis
said hes cutting ties with Polycrates because clearly the gods have it out
for Polycrates; and Polycrates did go down.
eg. Achilles (fate laid out for him -- either he dies in battle or he becomes a god)
eg. Oedipus (before he was even born, he was prophesized to kill his father and
marry his mother even though he himself didnt do anything wrong to deserve his
fate but his father did; fate dominates you in Ancient Greek mythology)
Notes:
Read the appendix about gods and religion might be on the midterm
Poseidon and the Sea Deities (Lecture Slides 7)

Poseidon (Neptune to the Romans)
recognized by his trident; hes also a mature male with a full beard; and he has a chariot
of horses
character: very unpredictable, dangerous, and serious
Odysseus: Polyphemus (son of Poseidon) pursues Odysseus at the end of the
Trojan War
Argos: city of Argos has a temple of Hera (shes the main goddess); there was a
contest between Hera and Poseidon and Poseidon lost, so he dried up all the
rivers of Argos
Athens: he was also rejected to be the patron god of Athens, so he flooded the
lowlands of Athens
concerns:
the sea (hes the god of the sea) some people say he chose the sea while other says
that lots were cast; when people sail or go fishing, they make sacrifices to
Poseidon
earthquakes (hes also the god of earthquakes) one of his epithets is Earth Shaker;
some people say hes the god of uncontrollable natural forces
horses (hes the god of horses) one of his epithets is Poseidon Hippios where
Hippios means horse
horses were sacrificed to Poseidon
myth: he became enamored with Demeter (she was wandering the earth
looking for her daughter Persephone), and Poseidon started to chase her,
and she turns herself to a horse, Poseidon also turns himself into a horse,
and they produced the divine horse Ophion (sp?)
myth: he also mated with Medusa (when she was in horse form), and they
made Pegasus
he has a chariot of horses with fish tails
people wonder why hes associated with horses; some think that when
the Greeks came down from the north, they brought horses and the
people they conquered didnt have horses; and their main god was
Poseidon
patronage problems:
loses to Hera at Argos
loses to Athena at Athens and Troezen
loses to Helius at Corinth
loses to Apollo at Delphi
loses to Zeus at Aegina
loses to Dionysus at Naxos
why is he made the antagonist? maybe its because hes so destructive and
unpredictable and no one wants this god to be their patron
Other Sea Deities
Original Sea Deities
Pontus: Hesiod tells us there were the four primal elements; Pontus was produced by
Gaia asexually; Pontus is one of these four primal elements (the Sea)
Oceanus and Tethys (titans): Oceanus is the river who goes all the way around the
known world and he fathered many sea deities with his wife Tethys; became the parents
of Oceanids
Nereus (old man of the sea): offspring of Gaia and Pontus; considered very wise and
very benevolent; very mysterious; shapeshifter
Proteus; also known as the old man of sea similar to Nereus, just with different names
Triton: known as the son of Poseidon; original merman; he can calm or rouse the
waves with his conch shell
Later Generations
Nereids: offspring of Nereus and an Oceanid named Doris; pretty and benevolent sea
goddess
Amphitrite: became the wife of Poseidon, had the same dynamic as Hera and
Zeus (ie. Poseidon will cheat on Amphitrite, and Amphitrite will nag him, etc.)
Thetis: mother of Achilles; rescued Zeus when he was tied up by some of the
other gods; also the one who got Zeus to favour Achilles during the Trojan war
there was a prophecy which said that Thetis will produce a son more
powerful than his father; Zeus liked Thetis; Prometheus was keeping this
prophecy a secret, but Zeus eventually got it out of him; Zeus stayed
away from Thetis and married her to a mortal; and they produced Achilles
Galatea: beautiful and kindly
there was a story where she became the object of Polyphemus
affections; but she didnt like Polyphemus and liked Asus instead (a river
god); so when Polyphemus realized that Galatea didnt like him, he ripped
out the top of a mountain and threw it at Asus; Asus was crushed but his
blood became a river and so he became a river god
Oceanids:
3000 rivers (male Oceanids); Hesiod said that no one knows the name of all of
them, but the people who lived near the rivers
River Scamander: tried to kill Achilles
River Achelous: fought with Heracles over a woman, and Achelous was
changing shapes during the fight, and Heracles grabbed him by the horns
as Achelous was changing from a great serpent to a bull
3000 nymphs (female Oceanids); symbolized by the trees and the fields
Monsters:
offsprings of Phorcys and Ceto (they themselves are offsprings of Pontus and
Gaia; primal sea deities):
Graeae (old woman - one tooth and one eye shared between them)
Gorgons (heads of snakes and turns men to stone like Medusa and her
two sisters)
Ladon the Dragon (guarded the garden of Hesperides where Heracles
has to gather apples from)
offsprings of Poseidon and Medusa
Chrysaor and Pegasus; Pegasus isnt a typical monster since hes a
winged horse and not what we typically called a monster; but in Ancient
Greek a monster is something that is a mixture of two completely
different things
later descendants of various sea deities/monsters:
Geryon (has three bodies)
Cerberus (has three heads and has snakes as tails)
Echidna
Hydra (monster with nine heads, one of which was immortal; Heracles
has to deal with the Hydra)
Sphinx (Oedipus had to kill the Sphinx)
this furthers the claim that the sea is very unpredictable and changing all
the time
Athena (Lecture Slides 8)

Pallas Athena (Minerva): Intro
very often simply called Pallas and the Romans called her Minerva
most consistently positive of all the Olympian gods
some say that Athena isnt really a war goddess, but a goddess of victory
birth: sprang from Zeus head. Zeus was scared of the offspring of Metis so he
swallowed Metis and out came Athena from his head fully armoured
known for her military prowess, wisdom, and masculine virginity
portrayed as very masculine; often favours male over female, and this is probably
because she was born from no mother. Its usually said that she thinks more like Zeus
than any other god
one of the three virgin goddesses her virginity may hint that shes not subject to male power
Attributes
aegis (like a goat-skin bib) which hangs down in front of her and protects her (page 5 in
slides)
story said that she was given Medusas head (since she helped kill Medusa) and she put
this head on her aegis making it so much more powerful
she is also portrayed with a full armour (page 6 in slides)
Symbols
owl (for wisdom)

olive (domesticated form of the olive tree from Athens, where she was chosen as the
goddess of the city instead of Poseidon)
symbolizes her as a god of civilization and orderliness
Name
like mentioned before, another name for her is Pallas Athena

people think Pallas means maiden or she who brandishes a weapon
some people think Pallas is the name of a friend when she was younger, but she got
mad at Pallas and killed her. Athena was very distraught and so she took the name
Pallas to honour her
some people think Pallas is the name of a giant whom she killed. She skinned the giant
and made her aegis out of the giants skin. Giants are the symbol of chaos, and this is
very fitting since shes the goddess of civilization
some also called her Tritogenia (three named)
Nature
Military Prowess
panoply (item of warfare)

she was often found in battles
eg. Battles: versus Ares at Troy
She hated the Trojans and Ares took the Trojans side. So, she fought against
Ares. She picked up a huge rock and buries Ares, defeating him. Then, Aphrodite
comes to the battlefield (on the side of Ares, since shes Ares gf), and Athena
just defeats her. Shes badass
Intelligent War:
eg. restraining Achilles (since Achilles took Agamemnon's woman) when he was
about to kill Agamemnon, Athena grabs Achilles by his long hair and whispers in
his ear dont do it now, youll get your chance. In the end, youll end up better
off than if you lash out right now shes looking at the long term and
encouraging Achilles to be restrained and disciplined. Shes also associated with
the riches of war, since if youre restrained and intelligent, youll take a larger
plunder from your enemies
Wisdom
Domestic arts (since wisdom can also be gained from practical skills, like weaving):
eg. Arachne (young girl, not from a noble background). Shes very gifted at
weaving and shell weave amazing tapestries. However, she would always deny
Athenas hand in making her gifted. She said that if Athena is so great, why
doesnt she come down and challenge Arachne at weaving. So Athena came
down in the guise of an old woman, and said that Arachne should acknowledge
the goddess because she might be mad. Arachne started cursing Athena, and
Athena threw off her guise. They had a contest at weaving. Athena made a
wonderful tapestry portraying mortals challenging gods and losing. Arachne
made a tapestry portraying how disrespectful the gods were. Athena wins.
Athena beats up Arachne, and was so ashamed that she hangs herself. Athena
turned her into a spider so she could weave for a long time.
point: mortals should acknowledge skills came from gods
Non-domestic arts (arts practiced outside of the home, like carpentry):
eg. stories that she helped with making the Trojan horse, and the ship Argos
(which Jason used, Argonauts)
eg. people said shes also involved in horse training. Like when Pegasus (came
from Medusas severed neck, his father is Zeus in horse-form) was given to
Bellerophon. He tried to ride Pegasus, but couldnt. Athena then gave
Bellerophon a bridle and so he was able to ride Pegasus.
Patron of heroes (especially wise heroes)
she helped heroes more so than other gods
eg. Odysseus (known as a real trickster hero. he has a lot of wisdom (can get out
of traps, and turn tables on enemies by cleverness, sway kings because he
skillfully says things)). When Odysseus wanted to go home to Ithaca, he wanted

to lay low so he lied to Athena (who was in disguise as a shepherd boy). Athena
loved his lies and praised his cleverness, saying that youll have be a god to be
better than him at lying.
eg. Heracles (apples, was tricked by Atlas to carry heaven while Atlas gets the
apples, with the help of Athena he tricked Atlas into taking back heaven)
Masculine Virgin
shes a virgin
tied with Hephaestus. She asked him to make her new weapons. He became
enamored with her. He ejaculated on her leg. She wiped it off with cloth and
threw it on the ground, and out came Erichthonius.
defends the male
eg. Orestes: he was faced with a terrible situation since his mother Clytemnestra killed
their father Agamemnon (since he killed their daughter). Orestes was told he had to
avenge his father by Apollo, and this means that Orestes had to kill his mother, which he
eventually does after a long struggle. He sees the furies coming after him (who avenged
those murdered), so he ran to Apollo. Apollo distracted the furies and Orestes escaped,
telling him to go to Athens. Athena was presiding over the court case (if it was just for
him to kill his mother), and there was a tie. So, Athena had the tie-breaking vote and she
had the final say. So, Athena said that Orestes was innocent for killing his mother.
sided with the male even though she herself is female.
Civilization and Order
portrayed standing above the forces of chaos (slides 27 and 28)

eg. Parthenon
Parthenon was called the Parthenon because it literally means temple of the
virgin where the virgin is Athena.
on each end of the Parthenon there was a portrayal of her birth and her contest
with Poseidon
along the sides of the temple, there were panels of portrayals of Athena. In the outer
panels, there were interesting stories accounted on them. One panel showed the battle of
the giants and the gods (symbolizes the orderly presence of the god vs. the chaotic
presence of the giants and the god conquering chaos). One panel was the Centauromachy
(battle of the centaurs centaurs are the forces of anti-civilization. Again, symbolizes
the conquering of anti-civilization forces.).
There was a story of the Amazons (anti-society, since they would kill male children and
only keep females) invading Athens. The Amazons were defeated and this again
symbolizes the orderly forces winning over chaos and anti-civilizing forces.
sometimes Athena was called Athena Polias *** test question (Pallas Athena vs
Athena Polias) ***
in Ancient Greek, the word for organized city is polus
Athena Polias means that she inspired the city to be organized

in every Ancient Greek city, she would have a temple for her in the acropolis,
since shes the very heart of the city, protected the city, and made the city orderly
and organized
there was a story that said that the Greek will never capture Troy unless the statue of
Athena was taken from the Trojan acropolis (image of Athena was called the Palladium)
Trojans were very dedicated to Athena and said that if Athena was protecting the city,
the city would never fall.
Panathenaia: big festival in Athens. The most important religious event, they would make
a new dress for Athena, and they would take the ancient statue of Athena and
ceremoniously wash it and put the new dress on it (symbolized the Gigantomachy
where she slew the giants and wore their skin).
for the Romans, they would have a main temple in the city and always
worshipped the Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno, Minerva)
she also mourns for the war dead (slide 33) and symbolizes the war dead
Conclusion
how do you reconcile her diverse nature?

She took off her finely wrought robe and armed herself for grievous war
encapsulates her paradoxical nature. She was a very masculine goddess of
war, but she was female and is also a goddess of domestic arts
perhaps she encapsulates the best of both worlds
Midterm:
Up to Demeter!
Demeter will be covered in lecture on Wednesday
Notes from Aphrodite and Eros:
Who or what is Eros was a hot topic at Plato's Symposium! They have different
hypotheses on who or what Eros actually is. Examples are:
Aristophanes fable: Eros is merely the name for the desire and pursuit of a
whole
In the Golden age of humanity, people were actually double (four legs,
four arms, etc.) who were very strong and very accomplished; Zeus was
very angry at them cause they were so arrogant and so Zeus chopped
them in half; he turned their heads around so they could see their front
where they have been chopped so they wouldn't be arrogant again; but
when they were separated, they wanted to find their other halves again
(three types of humans in his story: male/male, male/female,
female/female); so they cling onto each other. Thus fable gave a hint at
their sexual orientation back then!
So Aristophanes said that Eros is the force which brings people back
together with their opposites so they can be whole again!
Diotimas allegory: son of Poverty and Resourcefulness ; the desire for what one
lacks and the ability to obtain it
Poverty and Resourcefulness were personified into minor gods
Aphrodite was having a party and invited Resourcefulness who was
drunk. Poverty was there as well to beg though she wasn't invited. But
Poverty saw that Resourcefulness was drunk and took advantage of him
and so Eros was conceived. That's why, based on this story, Eros is tied
with Aphrodite since he was apparently conceived on her birthday!
Artemis (Diana to the Romans)
Nature
Concerns
Hunting and wild animals
Both the protector of wild animals and yet inspires hunters to hunt
Sometimes called Mistress of the Beasts and so she is often featured with
animals
Also one of the goddesses of childbirth, along with Hera and Eileithyia (offspring of Hera
and Zeus)
This is probably because there was one mother goddess with many traits and
concerns, and other goddesses were just a spin off of this mother goddess
Goddess of virginity and young maidens
When young maidens leave home, they would make offerings to Artemis and
pray to her
She is also one of the most virginal goddesses - she's the most strident virgin
and she would only go hunting with young maidens - if they were found to have
had sex, they would be out of the hunting party!
She is the goddess of the Amazons ; though they weren't virgins in the least bit,
they are very independent from men!
Goddess of the moon
Selene (the original goddess of the moon) became closely connected to Artemis
and so people just said they're the same person! Also, apparently she was
Hecate in the Underworld while she's Selene in the living world
Character
Avoids males; always in female presence
Very contradictory - goes against the other gods wishes
Often identified as the twin of Apollo, an archer, very intelligent, but not a culture god
But Apollo is more famous tho! He's a cultural god
Very merciless, especially as killer of young girls
If a young girl fell sick and died in Ancient Greece, the Greeks would say that it
was Artemis doing
Eg. Iphigenia: King Agamemnon got all his men together to set sail to Troy, but
he gets adverse wind and so they can't sail. He asked his philosophers why this
is, and they said it's because Artemis was pissed off at home so he has to
sacrifice his daughter to appease Artemis. So he does.
Stories
Birth on Delos
Apollo and Artemis are the offsprings of Zeus and Leto (a Titan); she was having a hard
time finding a place to give birth since Hera was pursuing her. A story says that Hera
made sure no fixed place will be able to host Leto - so Leto went to a floating Island
Delos; another study suggests that Leto promised Delos that she would give birth to a
very powerful son and Delos will be given acknowledgement for this
Delos became a very important place where Greeks would go to for an annual festival
honouring Apollo and Artemis
On some stories, Artemis was born first and as the goddess of childbirth, she helped her
mom give birth to her twin Apollo
Niobe
She's a high Queen of Thebes
She got jealous because Thebes were worshipping Leto. She's questioning why Leto
was being worshipped when Leto only had two kids and Niobe had 14!
Leto went to her kids. Artemis and Apollo shot all 14 kids of Niobe (Artemis shot the
seven girls, and Apollo shot the seven boys)
DO NOT PISS OFF THE GODS.
Acteon
Young hunter
They were relaxing after hunting so many animals, and Acteon went walking through the
woods
He came across a clearing of Artemis bathing with her nymphs
The nymphs tried to hide Artemis naked body but the gods towered over the mortals so
Acteon saw her naked!
Artemis splashed him water and he turned into a stag
He ran away, but his hunting party went back to hunting
They hunted him down in stag form and killed him.
GG
Callisto and Arcas
Callisto was part of Artemis hunting party and Zeus was lusting after her
So Zeus disguised himself as Artemis and approached her !
He had his way with Callisto and she became pregnant. Callisto is very upset.
Callisto kept running with Artemis and her companions. But one day they stopped to
bathe and Artemis found out Callisto was pregnant! Artemis banished her.
Callistos child was named Arcas
She was wondering in the woods alone, and Hera transformed her into a bear as a form
of punishment
She wandered the woods as a bear for a long time and Arcas became a hunter
They saw each other in the woods, Arcas was gonna shoot her, but Zeus intervened!
He turned the two into constellations - Ursa Major and Ursa Minor
Happy ending! Somewhat.
Hippolytus
Son of Amazon Hippolyta
Virginal devotee of Artemis who shuns Aphrodite (he shuns women as Artemis shuns
men)
BAD IDEA
Aphrodite cursed him by making his stepmother fall in love with him
Stepmom hangs herself out of shame
She wrote a suicide note saying hippolytus raped her
Theseus, the dad, cursed him and Hippolytus was dragged by a chariot
But Artemis intervened and made Theseus and Hippolytus reconcile
He died in the end tho :(
Orion
Magnificent hunter
Because he was so great, he was made into a constellation!
Apollo
Apparently Apollo was the embodiment of what it means to be Greek (aesthetics and
rationality)
Nature
Attributes
Bow and lyre (inspired music and poetry)
He has a crow for a pet (very intelligent!)
Concerns
Truth: oracular god (Oracle of Delphi!)
Music and poetry
Recall that poetry apparently inspires the truth
Often associated with the Muses
Healing
Tied with his son Asclepius who is also a god of healing
Apollo (continuation)
embodied the Greek ideal of rationality and beauty

often contrasted with Dionysus
Shrines
Delos: the little island that could

major shrine of Apollo
because of Heras opposition of the birth of the divine twins, no land would
accept Leto; so Leto found an island and promised that it would get recognition if
it would host her
Delphi:
apparently this is the centre of the Earth; there exists this stone in Delphi which
they dubbed as the bellybutton of the world which marked the centre of the
Earth; this stone was said to be the stone that Kronos swallowed
story said that there was already a shrine at Delphi which was the shrine of
Themis where a huge serpent was located; Apollo slew this dragon.
Pythian Apollo is the name of Apollo as he is manifested in Delphi
Pyth serpent (like python!) Delphi
also called Apollo Delphinius; story: when Apollo slew the serpent at Delphi and
started to establish his temple there; he didnt have any priests! He saw this ship
sailing away and he hijacked it in the form of a dolphin. He brought the ship to
Delphi and made the people aboard the ship his first priests.
Delphi dolphin
oracles:
Pythia: prophetess of Apollo located inside the shrine of Apollo and was the one
who gave out oracles
ambiguity:
Croesus: not a Greek but a great believer of the oracle of Delphi; he was
concerned about a rising power in the East; he asked the oracle asking if
hes OK; oracle said that hell stay in his throne unless there is a mule on
the throne of Persia; but oracle meant mule == half breed!; the king of
Persia is Cyrus, who is half/half; Croesus asked again; oracle said that if
he crossed a river hell destroy a great empire; Croesus thought great
empire == Persia; hes obv. wrong; Croesus lost and as he was dying on
a burning pyre cried out to Apollo that he has been deceived by the
oracles; Apollo appeared and said Croesus should have been more
careful since these oracles are very ambiguous lol
Socrates: oracle said that Socrates is the wisest man in Athens; ironic
since Socrates admitted that he may be the wisest man in Athens since
hes the only one who knew that he doesnt know everything
Stories
Cassandra:
shes a Trojan princess whom Apollo fell in love with; she agrees to marry him,
but in the end changes her mind
BAD IDEA.
when she agreed to married him, he gave her the gift of prophetic insight shes always
right in her prophecies
so when she backed out, he cursed her by making sure no one ever believes her
example: Cassandra said that the Trojan horse was filled with Greek soldiers; but
no one believed her!
Sibyl:
prophetess of Apollo
Sibyl means, in general, prophetess of Apollo
there was a particularly important prophetess of Apollo in Cumae, Italy
apparently, the Cumaean Sibyl was loved by Apollo
she first accepted Apollos love so he gave her long life
but then, she rejected him
BAD IDEA
he didnt gave her vitality with her long life
she shrivelled up and turned into a cricket
Coronis and Asclepius:
Coronis was a lover of Apollo who cheated on him
Apollos crow came to Apollo to report this
so, he shot her with an arrow
he repented for his deed, so he tried to heal her
but even though he was the god of healing, he couldnt heal her
she was pregnant, so he took the baby and gave it to the centaur Chiron
Asclepius, the child, was so good at healing that the Greeks worshipped him as
the major god of healing
he was such a good healer that he raised Hippolytus from the dead
Zeus didnt like this
so Zeus killed him.
Daphne:
important story
daughter of river god Aeneus
Apollo loved her and chased her
Daphne didnt like this, so she asked her dad for help
she got turned into a laurel tree lol
Hyacinthus:
Hyacinthus died when Apollo threw a disc and hit him
note that Apollo is consistently rejected by his lovers
Marsyas the Satyr:
hes half human half goat
apparently, Athena invented the flute and noticed that when she played it, it
distorted her face, so she threw it away
Marsyas came upon the flute and liked it; he played it and was good at it
so he challenged Apollo to a contest
BAD IDEA.
Apollo played his lyre, Marsyas played his flute, and whoever is better got to do
whatever he wanted to the other
Apollo won and Marsyas was flayed (skinned alive)
as he was flayed, his bodily fluids became the source of a spring
DO NOT CHALLENGE GODS.
Apollo vs. Pan (and Midas)
Midas was wandering and he came across a musical contest between Apollo and
Pan (Pan is kind of like a satyr; he is the god of the countryside)
Pan is the god of the countryside, Apollo is the god of the civilization, so
very different! but both known for their music
Midas thought that Pan was the best, but Apollo won
Midas voiced his opinion on the verdict
BAD IDEA
Apollo gave Midas donkey ears so he wrapped his head in a turban his barber was the
only one who knew
he dug a hole on the ground and whispered his secret there; but in the spring
some plants grew and whispered his secret as the wind blew lol
Hermes (Mercury in Roman)

Attributes
wore a travellers cap (petasus), heralds wand (caduceus) since hes the messenger
god, and winged boots so he could fly!
Character
essence: mobility and mental agility (trickster god)

Hermes can be characterized by his role as a creator and crosser of boundaries and an
intermediary between two different worlds
Concerns
divine messenger:
he helps heroes; even more commonly than Athena
theres another goddess who is a messenger of the gods called Iris, but Hermes
is much more common
hes the divine messenger of Zeus
thieves, tricksters, merchants
hes a trickster god; very clever

he gave Pandora the character of a thief!
god of boundaries:
messenger of Zeus so he crosses the boundaries of heaven and earth
aka. Psychopompos: psycho which means soul or spirit and pompos means
parade so when people die, he marches their souls to Hades! he crosses the
boundaries between life and death
slide 11 shows him in the battle of Troy taking souls to the underworld
portrayed on these things called herms which are boundary markers
they were to protect house or field to keep any evil away
slide 13 shows these
also a symbol of fertility
he is not often violent; but is usually in the background and using trickery and cleverness
to get things done
known as Argeiphontes: killer of Argus, the only person he probably ever killed
Stories
birth:
Maia is mama
invents the lyre: when he was born, he saw a tortoise and made the soundbox of
the lyre out of this
he stole Apollos cattle; Apollo got mad and approached the baby Hermes
asking where his cattle was; Hermes tried to hide it but Apollo found out
anyways that he stole the cattle; so as retribution, he gave Apollo the lyre!
they become BFFs after this
Dionysus (aka Bacchus, and Liber to the Romans)
called Bacchus by the Romans, though its not necessarily a Roman name
but they did have a god already called Liber (god of freedom), so he was associated with
this god as well
Attributes
drinking cup -- always has one!

he has an ivy wreath on his head
often associated with thyrsus (wand) a phallic symbol since he is also the god of fertility
leopard/panther driving his chariot
Character
concerns:
vegetation, especially the vine

he IS a fertility god!
freedom
freedom from inhibitions (hes a drunk)
he is the god of wine
mysteries
interesting twist, though not necessarily logically connected
life/death with vegetation and fertility
incoming god:
hes the god who was on the outside, not being worshipped
when he came and demand worships, he was either received or rejected. Those
that received him were rewarded
two interpretations:
historical: it was universally accepted that he was an imported god (from
the East). When the Greeks heard about him, they started worshipping
him
his name was found in the Linear B text though (Mycenaeans!!)
psychological/cultural: Greeks were uncomfortable about Dionysus
because they value rationality and culture; while Dionysus is very
irrational and wild; so, Dionysus was portrayed as an outsider
immanent god:
hes among humans, unlike the other gods who were just on Mt. Olympus looking
down on Earth
dwelling within people possessing his worshippers
compared with Apollo:
order and rationality (Apollo) vs ecstasy and reckless abandon (Dionysus)
Stories
birth:
known as the twice-born god: there are two stories that developed about this:
mainstream/standard story: Zeus was having an affair with Semele, who
is a Theban princess; when Hera found out about Semele and Zeus, she
wanted to get Semele; so Hera disguised herself as an old woman and
approached Semele; she asked Semele about her love life, and Semele
confessed about Zeus; Semele asked Zeus to show her all of him in all
his glory; so Zeus did and he appeared in his firey glory and burned her;
but she was pregnant!; so Zeus got the child, sewed it to his own thigh as
a makeshift womb, and Dionysus arose from the thigh of Zeus
hence twice-born!
mystery version: to be continued next class!
The Afterlife / The Underworld

-
idea of The Underworld developed over time
Homers version of The Underworld

first account of The Underworld; was mentioned in the Odyssey by the minor goddess
Cersei. She tells Odysseus that if he wants to get home, he needs to go The Underworld
to consult a prophet (Tiresias) who had already died
location:
In this version, the entrance to The Underworld is across Oceanus (recall that
this is the river that wraps around the world) in the far north (Cimmerians), a
place where no one has ever gone to before.
He thinks its in the far north since thats where the sun doesnt shine
inhabitants:
witless shades:
spirits of their former selves who no longer have their mental capabilities
Tiresias:
according to the seer Tiresias, if you make a sacrifice and pour the blood
of your sacrifice and let these witless shades drink from it, then these
ghosts will regain their wits and you can talk to them
note that Teiresias is a ghost as well, but he was given the gift of wisdom
by Persephone which was why he was able to talk to Odysseus
Teiresias gives Odysseus essential information about The Underworld
(the dos and donts like, DO NOT touch the cattle even if youre hungry,
etc.)
Elpenor, the Unburied:
Elpenor was one of Odysseus men (sailors)
Elpenor got drunk and fell off a ladder (as he was coming down from the
roof of the witch Cerseis house) and broke his neck
so he died, but Odysseus and his men were in a rush to get to The
Underworld so they couldnt bury him!
he doesnt want to be forgotten and he wanted to be remembered as a
great sailor
so he asks Odysseus to go back to Cerseis island and bury his body
why is Elpenor not a witless shade? why didnt he have to drink blood in
order to speak?
probably because he was unburied and so didnt fully enter into
Hades (The Underworld) quite yet
Anticlea:
Odysseus mother
after Odysseus did the sacrifice and spilled the blood, he sees his
mothers soul longing for the blood
he was surprised because she left his mother alive but not he sees her
dead!
so he lets his mother be the first to drink the blood, and she gained her
wits and was so distraught to him
he asks her how shes here, and she said that she died of a broken heart
while waiting for him for twenty years! =(
he wanted to embrace his mother, but he couldnt since thats one of the
greatest chasms between the living and the dead the dead are just
empty spirits with no flesh and bone
Parade of famous women:
interesting how there was such an emphasis on women in The
Underworld by Hesiod
there was a parade of women from heroic families (women who had sex
with Zeus and created demigods)
Agamemnon:
the high king of Greeks at Troy!
Hesiod described Agamemnon in such pathetic terms:
no strength now from his arms who once wielded such great
swords, etc.
point: no strength from the dead! to be dead is to be weak!
Agamemnon also went on a misogynistic rant about his wife. He warns
Odysseus about women (saying that Odysseus should be tricky), but
praises his wife Penelope since shes a trustworthy woman and would not
stab Odysseus in the back
Achilles:
greatest hero of the Greeks at the Trojan war
Odysseus says that because Achilles was the greatest hero to the
Greeks, then Achilles should be glorified in The Underworld!
Achilles said that hed much rather be a slave in the living world than the
king of The Underworld
ironic: he was given a choice in The Illiad: either die young and be
glorified or live long but be normal he chose to die young!
hes rethinking his choice since now hes saying that theres
nothing glorious about dying and being dead
Achilles did have a son though, Neoptolemus, who gives him great joy
Achilles asks Odysseus about his son
Odysseus praised Neoptolemus for his great battle exploits
Others:
Ajax: had a falling out with Odysseus and committed suicide when
Odysseus swindled him; he was so ashamed of what he lost and killed
himself; he hated Odysseus in the living world AND in death.
Minos: one of the iconic kings; a king who judges justly
Orion: a great hunter; in The Underworld he was still hunting ghostly
animals and beings
point: pointless continuity! These souls just kept on doing what they were doing
when they were still alive though theres no point to it! theres no point in
being dead!
Homers version isnt about what it means to be DEAD, but what it means to LIVE
punishment for sinners:
in Hesiods version, there were some great sinners who were punished like
Tityus, Tantalus, and Sisyphus
purpose:
to describe the real underworld?
literary: to describe the pathos of human life (life ALWAYS ends in death)
enhance the heroic stature of Odysseus; made his journey home much more
impressive!!
Platos Version of The Underworld

background:
recall that Plato didnt even like myths since he didnt think the gods (with all of
their ungodly behaviour) shouldnt be worshipped
Platos Republic: he thinks that political constitutions reflects human souls; he
says that souls can only function well in a good city
premise:
the death and return of Er:
Socrates said that he will not tell a story like Odysseus journey, but he
will tell a story of a man called Er who died in war
justice:
in Platos account, there is justice in The Afterlife unlike Homers version!
So Er goes down to The Underworld and he sees that everyone was either going
down to the hole in the ground or a hole in the sky (ground == bad people, sky
== good people); the souls stayed there for 1000 years and were either
punished/rewarded tenfold
The Universe:
after the souls undergo the 1000 years reward/punishment, then the souls move
forward on their journey:
Shaft of Light: the souls see this shaft of light with cables protruding from
it which binds the universe together; it upholds the entire universe (Plato
is giving a vision of what the physical universe is like)
Spindle of Necessity: the souls then see the Spindle of Necessity (where
the cables from the Shaft of Light are connected to); the Spindle of
Necessity was manned by the three Fates (Clotho, who spins the thread
of life; Lachesis, who measures the thread of life; and Atropos, who cuts
the thread of life)
Reincarnation:
souls choose their next life!
souls drink from River Lethe which is a river of forgetfulness; they drink just the
right amount so they would forget their memories BUT they will remember the
important things
so after they drink from Lethe, they fly off to their next life
Themes:
Mythical: the incorporation of the Three Fates, etc.
Philosophical: Pythagorean themes of Music of the Spheres and Reincarnation
(ex. Ajas chose to be a lion when hes reincarnated, Agamemnon chose to be an
eagle since he hated people, etc.)
Mystical: recall the Orphic mystery religions (talks about how a person would have a
successful afterlife a person travels through the underworld, and purifying the soul,
etc.)
Moral: punishment and reward!; Plato says that EVERYTHING in your life is based on
moral choice -- you cannot blame Fate for anything; he even said that since were
reincarnated, how our current life is is affected by our past lives everything is a moral
choice!!
Continuation of The Afterlife

Vergils Version of the Underworld
Vergil is a Roman writer

he takes a lot of ideas from Homer and Plato in his version of The Underworld
interesting since Platos version tries to stay away from the tradition of the myths
ironic though, since with Vergil using Platos ideas, Platos views actually gets
mythicized
Background
account of The Underworld is very distinctly Roman:

a foundation story of Rome fitting Rome into the wider Mediterranean (Greek)
context
recall that Greeks said Romans were descended from heroes (but NOT
Odysseus -- they did not like him since he was tricky and playful and Romans
thought of themselves as straightforward; so Romans said theyre actually
descended from the enemies of the Greeks)
Geography of Hades (the Underworld)
Aeneas had to go down to Hell to see his father and he was led by the Cummaean Sibyl
(prophetess of Apollo)
Entrance to Hell (aka Vestibule of Hell):
very gloomy and dark
found shadowy images of monsters and shadowy embodiments of the ills of human
life, which are the diseases, old age, death, and (interestingly enough) sleep things that
afflict humanity
he also found monsters like the Chimera, Hydra, etc.
this is probably borrowed from Homers idea of the Underworld
River Acheron:
Charon the ferryman (so you can cross the river from the Entrance to Hades
proper)
Charon is a god, though hes old and grumpy
Charon did not like seeing Aeneas in Hades since he had taken other
mortals across the river before (like Heracles, Theseus, and Pirithous)
and they were always up to no good! For example, Heracles stole Hades
dog, and Theseus and Pirithous tried to capture Persephone!
the Sibyl defended Aeneas though and said that he has no ulterior
motives in The Underworld but to see his dad because of his divine
calling!
Vergil is saying that Romans morality is purer than Greeks sense of morality
(since Aeneas is more pious and honest than the other mortals who went down to
Hell)
Palinurus (steersman of one of Aeneas ship):
he died and was left unburied
he was wandering on the other side of the River Acheron wanting to get
in to Hades proper but was unable to!
This is very reminiscent of Elpenor (Odysseus unburied oarsman!!)
Nearer Hades:
Cerberus
the first thing they saw once they crossed the river is Cerberus (threeheaded dog)
Sybil threw him some food which has been drugged and he falls asleep
after he ate it!
the untimely dead:
these were those who died before their natural time, like the ones who
committed suicide (eg. Dido - Queen who Aeneas met on his travels and
killed herself, and Ajax), died of infancy, falsely accused and executed
Tartarus:
place of punishment for sinners
huge walled city with fortifications and triple walls
river Phlegethon encircled it (river of flames)
all evil people go here and punished
Aeneas does not go into Tartarus, but the Sybil tells him about it
Elysium:
place of peace and joy
a lot of Trojan heroes from the past are found here, including Aeneas father!
its called Elysium fields since its a huge grassy meadow where people are free
to do whatever they please in perfect peace and happiness
Aeneas father tells him how souls will get to Elysium:
for a 1000 years, people go through a purification process (some are
blown by wind, some are doused with water, and some are burned with
flames); then after 1000 years, they go into Elysium and here they are
further purified with bliss and happiness
people who were purified were those who did not commit evil deeds, but those
who were tainted with a physical body, since evil people were instead sent to
Tartarus!
Aeneas tries to embrace his father (just like how Odysseus tried to embrace his
mother in Homers version) three times, but was unable to: three times he
reached in vain as the phantom escaped his hands as light as a breeze
filled with pathos and even juxtaposition Elysium is a happy place for souls,
though there is still this huge divide between mortals and the dead
many souls from Elysium go to the river Lethe, drinks from this river, and is
reincarnated (just like Homers version)
Philosophy
Stoic elements in the description of the world:

Stoicism is the type of philosophy which was very popular during Vergils time
Orphic elements
recall that in Orphic religions, there was a huge emphasis on purifying souls in
order to achieve a good afterlife
Patriotism
Vergils account is very patriotic

contrast with Platos view which was very philosophical
the souls that Aeneas meets in the Underworld tell him of the great things Romans will
do in the future
so, if youre reading Vergils account, its like a recap of the great things that Romans
has done!
Note:
Dantes account of the descent into Hell (Dantes Inferno) takes in all these classical
ideas and molds them into one
Vergil was the soul who leads his soul through Hell, then Purgatorio, and finally Paradiso
where he sees a vision of god
Orpheus and Orphism

Orpheus
hes a hero though hes sometimes presented as a god

he has powers in the Underworld and there are different religions based on different
accounts of Orpheus!
attributes:
lyre and wild animals
The Myth
birth:
apparently hes born from one of the Muses (specifically Calliope who was in
charge of lyric music (music played from the lyre) which makes sense!) and
Oeagrus or Apollo (since hes inspired by music!)
descent to the Underworld:
reason: he was about to be married to Eurydice, BUT Eurydice was bitten by a

poisonous snake and died as she was walking through a meadow before her
marriage; Orpheus was devastated since he loved her =(
so, he goes down to The Underworld and stands before Persephone and
Hades and asked them to give Eurydice back. His reasoning: she was
gonna die anyway, so why not just let her stay living for a little longer
when theyre eventually gonna get her soul? He sang them a song about
this as his request.
apparently the Furies were so moved by his song and shed tears for the
first time ever
Hades and Persephone were also so moved that they felt forced to
release Eurydices soul
BUT, they made a bargain! They said that she will only live again if,
during the ascent back to Earth, he does NOT look at her. But of course
he does, since during their ascent, Eurydice was begging for him to look
at her but he wont! Eventually he does, which breaks the deal with
Hades, and so she floats back down to the Underworld looool.
significance:
power of music and song: he conquered the will of Hades and
Persephone through his music
knowledge of the mysteries
mourning and death:
of course, he mourns his wifes second death
Charon, the riverman, does not allow him to go back to the Underworld ever
again
so he goes back to the living Earth and he shuns women apparently hes the origins of
pederasty (the love of boys)
Maenads tried to kill him by throwing rocks and spheres at him, but he played his
music and the music warded off all the projectiles!
so the Maenads went even crazier and played their own music which drowned
out his music!
so eventually, they got to him and of course, they tore him from limb to limb
because thats what they do
Aftermath:
so his disembodied head (which apparently kept singing) and lyre (which kept
playing) were thrown into a river, which floated down to the Aegean sea and
reached the island of Lesbos
and there it becomes an Oracle
stories say that Apollo protected this head (since it prophesized)
some stories say that Dionysus was also so sad about his death (since recall
Orpheus was the one who sang about Dionysus) that he punished the Maenads
and turned them to trees
The Religion
Orpheus as a religious teacher:

its interesting that Orpheus was both involved with Apollo and Dionysus which
were two very different gods
mystery religion: revolved around the idea of Orpheus going down to the
underworld, knowing things, and teaching these things to others
emphasized purification
Orphic theogony:
recall theogony = creation of world
this is the story that spoke of Zagreus (Dionysus)!
this story was reminiscent of Hesiods, though with some changes
eg. Chronus (time) and Adrasteia (necessity or fate) were the
primeval elements, from Chronus arises Aether, Chaos, Erebus, and
Phanes (manifestation) appears from an egg Chronus made from
Aether, then Phanes created the whole world)
Theban Saga
-
apotheosis: heroes are turned into gods
Early History of Thebes

-
Europa and Cadmus

- Europa and Crete:
- Cadmus sees a cow unattended outside the temple of Apollo, so he
followed this cow
- The cow eventually laid down, and the place where it laid down was
where Cadmus established his city (Thebes)
- Cadmus and Thebes
- foundation of Thebes-Spartoi
- he planted snake teeth (snake is Ares son) on the ground and out
comes warriors! story says that Cadmus threw a stone in the
middle of the warriors and they started fighting over the stone
- these warriors are called Spartoi (NOT tied with Sparta)
- most killed each other off eventually though, except for five
- the five remaining Spartoi became the head of the aristocratic
families of Thebes
- Cadmus is a culture hero
- Greeks said that he brought writing, burial practice, and
architectural know-how to build cities!
- Greek culture stems from the East!
- family of Cadmus:
- wife is Harmonia! Recall that shes the offspring of Ares and
Aphrodite (so in many stories, shes actually considered a god)
- daughters: Semele, Agave, Autonoe, Ino
- recall that Semele is mother of Dionysus who was actually
burned to a crisp by Zeus!
- Agave is mother of Pentheus who got ripped to shreds
since Agave was driven crazy by Dionysus
- Autonoe was mother of Acteon (Acteon saw Artemis naked
and was turned into a stag and killed)
- Ino was driven insane
Royal Family of Thebes:

- Line of Lycus, son of Chthonius (Chthonius is one of the Spartoi - his name
means ground-y or soil-y)
- Lycus started as a regent but eventually took over kingship
- Antiope, Lycus niece, mates with Zeus and gets pregnant!
- Lycus doesnt believe her when she says that her baby daddy is
Zeus
- so she ran away from Thebes to the town of Sychion (sp?)

- she bore twins (Amphion and Zethus)
- Lycus didnt like this, so he exposed the illegitimate children!
Amphion and Zethus were raised by shepherds
- Amphion became a really good musician
- Zethus became really good with sheep
- the twins discovered their heritage and went to Thebes
- they killed Lycus since he was abusing their mother Antiope
- so, they ruled Thebes and it was said that they built the walls of
Thebes
- since Amphion was such a great musician, apparently the power
of his music moved the huge boulders and thus created the walls
of Thebes
the line stopped at the twins though, so kingship went to Labdacus, who
is the grandson of Cadmus
- Laius is the son of Labdacus
- Laius was whisked away to the town of Elus (northwest part of
Polypenesis (sp?))
- when his dad died, he went back to Thebes to take up his kingship
- but, he didnt treat his host in Elus well though (Pelops)
- Laius fell in love with Pelops son and took him away, so Pelops
cursed him!
- Laius son is Oedipus (UHOH)
Oedipus Rex
Sophocles version of Oedipus:

Oedipus Rex is a play of Sophocles
Laiuss wife Jocasta (sp?) was unable to have a son, and so they inquired the
oracle of Apollo
so Apollo said that they will have a child, but this child will kill you! This is
because of Pelops curse when Laius abducted his son
so when Oedipus was born, his father spikes him in his feet (Oedipus means
swell foot and not in the good way lol)
Laius gave his son to a servant to expose him to the cold
baby Oedipus was so cute, so servant gave him to a Corinthian merchant to take
him out of Thebes
this merchant gave him to the king and queen of Corinth (who were unable to
have kids)
they didnt tell him he was adopted (UHOH)
so he grew up thinking hes the prince of Corinth
at a party though, someone told him he wasnt the real son - that hes a bastard!
so Oedipus was obviously very disturbed by this, and he goes to the oracle of
Delphi
he was told by the oracle to not go home for he will kill his father and marry his
mother
but he thinks his home == Corinth
so he goes to Thebes!! (GG)
on his way to Thebes, he was met with a rude man in a chariot, so he kills this
dude
the guy he killed is his father =( so he is unknowingly fulfilling the prophecy
the town was being besieged by the Sphinx (who was sent as a curse to the
Thebes)
The Sphinx had a riddle, and if people didnt get this riddle right, the Sphinx
would eat somebody!
Oedipus came to town and asked the Sphinx to tell him the riddle
he solved the riddle!
so Sphinx threw itself off a cliff and died
Oedipus was then rewarded by getting the queen for his wife and becoming the
king of Thebes
and so, he fulfilled the prophecy of his fate D:
they have kids!
Eteocles and Polynices (his sons)
Antigone and Ismene (his daughters)
but then the truth is revealed
Oedipus was actually a really good king (people admired him, he was
very noble)
a curse descended on Thebes, and so they went to the oracle of Delphi to
ask why!
Apollo said its because the killer of Laius is alive and prospering in the
city of Thebes - that is, you havent rooted out the taint of blood among
you!
so they went to Tiresias the prophet; Oedipus asked him to say who the
person is!
Tiresias refused since he didnt want Oedipus to know! Oedipus was
pissed off at this.
But Oedipus eventually got it out of him and said that YOU (Oedipus) was
the cursed blood!
but by this time, no one believed him Tiresias!
a messenger from Corinth said that the king is dead and asked Oedipus to come
back home and be king
but Oedipus refused!
so this messenger revealed that he is the merchant who brought baby
Oedipus to the king and queen of Corinth
so everyone started putting two and two together and figured out that
Oedipus really is the lost prince of Thebes and that he fulfilled the curse
so Oedipus was exiled =(
significance:
fated and personal responsibility (Oedipus both accepted his

responsibility, but it was fated by the gods)
Oedipus in pursuit of the truth
eg. Tiresias refusal, but Oedipus insistence
his pursuit of the truth led him to find out that hes just one big
curse
this is noble, I guess, but really really sad
perhaps thats the point of life: admitting the truth despite what our
fate is
Oedipus at Colonus
another play by Sophocles on Oedipus

background:
Oedipus wanders around with Antigone (no one wanted to take him in since hes
a curse!). This wandering continues until hes an old man, and eventually they
made their way to Athenian territory
Eteocles and Polynices rejected him at first, but all of a sudden they discover that
they need him
this is because they had a fight on who should be the ruler of Thebes
they decided to rule Thebes year in/year out (one will rule, one will exile,
and switch)
Polynices raises heroes so he wouldnt have to switch, and these are the Seven
Against Thebes
Polynices and Eteocles were killed in battle over the throne of Thebes!
But before they fight, they learned a prophecy saying:
the son who gets the blessing of their father will rule Thebes
so they both tried to get in contact with Oedipus
but Oedipus said screw you to both his sons, so he curses the two! The
curse was that the two sons were going to die against each others hands
- which actually happens
Oedipus blessed his daughters for wandering with him
Oedipus came upon Colonus (an Athenian territory) which had a shrine to the
Furies
the Furies accept him
significance:
the curse becomes a blessing!
king of Athens at this time is Theseus; and Theseus does not kick out
Oedipus when it was his time to die
Oedipus has been apotheosized when he died he had become a god
and in fact, he becomes a blessing to the Athenians
Continuation of Theban saga //

Oedipus at Colonus (Sophocles version) continuation!
Significance
a curse becomes a blessing

curse: he was fated to be cursed
blessing: he seek the truth and when he found out that the truth was actually that he was
cursed, he took responsibility for it he was apotheosized!
an example of Athenian mythnapping
we tend to get our stories from the Athenians!
they told a lot of stories, and these stories from the Athenian perspective were
the ones who usually survive
prominence of the feminine
he curse his own sons who abandoned him but blessed his daughters who
wandered with him when he was banished
Antigone (Sophocles story of Oedipus daughter)

Background
death of the sons of Oedipus (Seven vs Thebes) and rule of Creon
Story
Creon vs Antigone (law vs. right)
Creon took over after Anteacles and Polyneices died
he said that Anteacles will be buried with honour (since he was the one ruling
Thebes when he died) and Polyneices will NOT be buried at all
Antigone secretly buried Polyneices at night since he was her brother!
Antigone goes against the king she broke the law to do what is right
her younger sister even said that while Antigone is right in doing this, younger sis
cant stand with her since its lawfully wrong to against the king! Because
Antigone is a woman, it is not her place to go against the male
In the end, Antigone lost against Creon and Creon decreed that she will be buried alive.
She was enclosed in a cave
Instead of waiting for herself to die, she took matters to her own hands and hung herself
Haemon, who was in love with Antigone and was the son of Creon, went to rescue her in
the cave but was too late. So he hung himself
Eurydice, mother of Haemon, wife of Creon, found out what happened to her son and so
she too killed herself
GG Creon
Significance
politics: setting of the Athenian democracy

Antigone as a masculine hero
feminine vs masculine
Seven Against Thebes
two major mythological cycles (series of stories):

Trojan War
Seven Against Thebes not as prominent as the Trojan War though, since there was no
Homer to write these series of stories
background:
Polyneices and Eteocles decided to rule one after the other (this is really idiotic)
so Polyneices want on exile and Eteocles ruled, but when Poly was gonna come
back, Eto rejected him!
So Poly went back to Argos (where he had been staying during his exile) and
asked Adrastus (king of Argos) help to take back Thebes (Poly married the
princess of Argos)
Adrastus heard of a prophecy that he wont die if they go to war, but everyone
else will. So of course he wanted to join the war against Thebes
Seven heroes from Argos each attacked the seven gates of Thebes which were
guarded by seven heroes of Thebes
but, Poly was unsuccessful (Argos was unsuccessful). Because, Tiresias heard a
prophecy that if one of the Spartois descendants sacrificed himself, then Thebes
will be successful. So, Creons son sacrificed himself and appeased Ares who
then sided with Thebes! (recall that the curse was started by Ares when his son,
a serpent, was killed)
The bros killed each other (Poly and Eto) and all of the Seven against Thebes
died
// Theban cycle of stories as portrayed by Sophocles

MYCENAEAN SAGA
similar to the Theban saga since its about a family

this is about the family in Mycenae
Intro
curse of the house of Atreus (Atreus was the father of Agamemnon)
Pelopiad (story of Pelops - note: this is a made up word!) first generation
Tantalus (Pelops father):

recall that Tantalus was punished in Hades
he was cursed for various crimes against the gods
one version: Tantalus heard secret of gods while he was eating with gods
(since they regularly had interaction) and told the secret to mortals!!
second version: Tantalus stole the food and drink of gods (ambrosia and
nectar) and gave this to more mortals
more famous version: Tantalus hosted gods for dinner and he fed them
meat, which was actually the meat of his son Pelops!! All of the gods
knew but Demeter, so she accidentally swallowed a piece! The gods
eventually put Pelops back together though, but he was missing a
shoulder piece that Demeter ate, so they made him a prosthetic.
Pelops:
very important figure
Peloponnesian literally means islands of Pelops
Hippodamia (Pelops wife):
name means tamer of horses
was the daughter of Oenomaus (king of Elias)
Oenomaus said that whoever wanted his daughters hand in marriage needs to
raise him on a chariot!
the catch: the challenger can go first, but they have to take Hippodamia
on the chariot with them
if the challenger loses, Oenomaus will kill them and behead them.
if the challenger wins, they get Hippodamias hand in marriage!
so they race, and Pelops won.
one version:
Poseidon was his lover, and Poseidon gave him winged horses and a
magical chariot which made him win the race
The Curse of Myrtilus (son of Hermes):
Myrtilus was the charioteer of Oenomaus
he struck a deal with Pelops. He will sabotage Oenomaus carriage if Myrtilus
can have sex with Hippodamia on the first night
So Myrtilus agreed, Pelops won the race, but Pelops did not honour his end of
the deal!
so, Pelops threw Myrtilus off a cliff
Myrtilus cursed Pelops
Atreus and Thyestes second generation
two sons of Pelops and Hippodamia

they hated each other!!
prophesied that one of the sons of Pelops will rule the city of Mycenae
the king will be the one with a golden fleeced ram
Atreus thought he would for sure win since Pan gave him a golden fleeced sheep
but, Thyestes seduced Atreus wife and wifey spilled secret of the golden sheep!
so Thyestes stole the sheep and he became king!
Zeus wanted Atreus to win, so eventually Atreus came back and cast out Thyestes
so Atreus won the kingship
Atreus sent a message to his brother asking for reconciliation
Thyestes agreed and went back to Mycenae
Thyestean Banquet:
Atreus served mystery meat in a welcome banquet for his bro
Thyestes ate the meat and it was well enjoyed!
but GG, mystery meat was actually Thyestes sons.
Agamemnon (son of Atreus) and Aegisthus (son of Thyestes) third generation
Agamemnon:
Clytemnestra (wife) and Iphigenia (daughter)
Agamemnon was stuck on shore by a contrary wind sent by Artemis
he asked a prophet Calchas what the problem was, and prophet said that
Artemis was pissed off and that the wind will not let out until he sacrifices
his daughter
so he does
he sends a message to wife saying its about time daughter gets married
to Achilles!
so wife lets daughter go
but Agamemnon kills his daughter
the wind let up, and his crew was able to go
Clytemnestra was obviously very distraught and pissed off at her husband
The Revenge of Clytemnestra and/or Aegisthus (archenemy of Agamemnon and his
cousin)
Clytemnestra gets with Aegisthus
Agamemnon comes home after ten-year war and Clytemnestra gave him a huge
welcome. She literally rolled up a red carpet for him to walk on
Agamemnon was suspicious, but Clytemnestra said that the great king of Troy had a red
carpet (symbology: blood red carpet his blood stepping on it stamps his death)
so battle of wills on whether or not to step on carpet
in the end she wins and he steps on carpet
so he goes into the house, and she draws him a bath
she enclosed him in a large towel after bath and was immobilized
she took an axe and chops him up
Clytemnestra comes across as an evil figure, but she did try to justify what shes
done saying that she has been abandoned (hence she needed to take a lover)
and avenging her daughter by killing her husband
very powerful woman, though disturbingly so in Greek culture since its not the
norm!
Clytemnestra does die in the end though
Electra and Orestes (Orestes is son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra)
Revenge on Clytemnestra
Orestes was put in a terrible position: his father was killed, so he had to avenge
his dad. But, it was his mom who killed the dad, and so he must kill her! Apollo
said that he has to kill Clytemnestra
to be continued ~
Notes
Opening this weekend: online quiz two! Thursday to Saturday.

Only up until Mycenaean saga (end of todays lecture)
Continuation of Mycenaean Saga //

Electra and Orestes (Orestes is the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon)
Revenge on Clytemnestra:
Orestes was instructed by Apollo to kill his mother for killing his father
And so he does kill Clytemnestra
Fate of Orestes (final play of Aeschylus called Eumenides)
after Orestes kills his mother, he sees a vision of horror which was the Furies
coming after him for killing his mother
so he runs away and goes into exile
eventually he ends up in Apollos temple
Apollo instructs him to go to Athens and go through a trial (Apollo puts the Furies
to sleep, but eventually chases Orestes to Athens)
Athena sets up a court case and chooses the best Athenian jury to judge the
case. Apollo speaks on behalf of Orestes while the Furies made up the
prosecution
There was a hung trial (50/50 on whether or not Orestes is guilty for killing his mother),
and Athena voted AGAINST the Furies, and so Orestes was declared innocent (since
apparently, loyalty lies with your father first than your mother very masculing POV)
the Furies (the vengeful ones) were furious and was about to trash Athens, and
Athena convinced them otherwise, so they became the Eumenides (goddesses
of blessings, the kindly ones)
significance:
before, manslaughter between families was settled via revenge (if you kill one of
my own, I will kill you) this was inspired by the Furies
but, this story shows the change in how murder was addressed instead of
revenge, murder (guilty vs not guilty) was decided via democracy/trial/law
Alternate account:
called Euripides Iphigenia in Tauris
the difference: Orestes wasnt saved after the trial; only some of the Furies were
pacified after the trial while others kept pursuing him
so. he goes to Apollo for help
Apollo tells him that he neds to get a statue of Artemis from Tauris (a foreign
land); and if he brings this statue back, the Furies will be appeased
the Taurians hated strangers though (they would sacrifice strangers to Artemis)
so, they brought Orestes to the priestess of Tauris which was Iphigenia!! his
sister
but isnt she supposed to be dead (she was sacrificed by Agamemnon), alternate story
Artemis snatched her away before being sacrificed, and was taken to Tauris
so, Iphigenia recognizes her brothers, and so they put a fast one over the
Taurians and in short, the brothers were able to get the statue
// Mycenean saga (also end of material for Quiz 2!!)

The Trojan Saga and the Iliad
The Trojan Saga is a series of stories, but the most famous story is the Iliad (very limited
account since the Iliad only spans over a couple of weeks while the Trojan Saga spans
years)
illustration on introductory slides (Achilles (left) vs. Hector (right))
since Achilles is very young while Hector is bearded and has a kid (Hector dies)
Judgement of Paris
Wedding of Thetis and Peleus

Zeus found out that Thetis will have a son that is greater than the father (Zeus
has an affair with Thetis); so, Zeus married her off to Peleus
their child is Achilles, who is greater than Peleus
so, during this wedding all of the gods and goddesses were invited except for
Eris (the goddess of strife)
but, she shows up anyway, and presents a wedding gift (a golden apple) to the
fairest
so, obviously the goddesses have a big fight over who the apple is for (Hera vs Aphrodite
vs Athena) they all want the apple to be for them since they want to be the fairest!
Zeus obviously didnt want to be the judge for this, so he decides Paris is the
judge (since hes a ladies man)
Paris
Paris is a Trojan prince and hes a hero
when Paris was born, his parents realized that they were going to expose him
(there was a prophecy saying that this child was going to cause the destruction of
Troy)
BUT, a bear saw him and nursed him, and a shepherd took him in; so he was
received back into Troy as a Prince
so, fast forward to the wedding, and he was given the duty of picking the fairest
the goddesses tried to bribe him:
Hera said hell rule all of Asia if shes chosen
Athena said shell give him wisdom and the ability to conquer anyone in
battle
Aphrodite said shell give him the most beautiful woman in the world
Paris, being crazy romantic, chose Aphrodite
so, Aphrodite arranged Paris to get together with Helen, the most beautiful
woman in the world
But Helen was married. GG.
Helen
birth: daughter of of Zeus and Leda (queen of Sparta)
Zeus knew that Leda was already married, so he came to her in a form of
a swan. So, Leda was so enamored with the swan and mated with it.
Leda produced two eggs: one egg has Zeus offsprings (Helen and
Polydeuces) and the other egg has Ledas husband's offsprings
(Clytemnestra and Castor)
brother: Polydeuces
half-siblings: Clytemnestra and Castor
Polydeuces and Castor became gods (Polydeuces was a great boxer, and Castor
was a great tamer of horses theyre actually really good friends, Romans
called them Castor and Polyps)
these two half brothers were known for protecting seafarers
Castor actually died, and theres a version of the story were
Polydeuces sacrificed his immortality to bring Castor back under
the deal that half of their time would be spend in Hades, and the
other half will be spent on Mt. Olympus
marriage and seduction:
she was married to Menelaus
so, a version said that a wraith of Helen went with Paris
. so they started a war over a WRAITH and not even the real Helen
why start a war over a female when they could just hand her over?
so, Herodotus tries to rationalize the Trojan War
they said that Greeks went to Troy since Troy controls a sea route
Leaders in the Trojan War
Priam, King of Troy

he became king of Troy due to Heracles overthrowing Laomedon (who built the
great wall of Troy)
Laomedon pissed off the gods (Apollo and Poseidon specifically)
Apollo sent a plague to Troy and Poseidon sent a sea monster to Troy
somehow, Laomedon cast off the plague, but the sea monster could not
be appeased unless Laomedon sacrifices his daughter
so Heracles comes in, and made a deal: if Laomedon gives him the
eternal horses (recall, Ganymede's father was given these horses when
Ganymede was taken by the gods), then he would defeat the sea
monster
so Heracles kills the sea monster, but Laomedon does not honour his end
of the deal
so, Heracles kills Laomedon and takes the horses for himself
Achilles kept on killing Priams sons one by one (apparently he had 50 sons, 19
from his main wife Hecuba)
Priam was so distraught when his fave son Hector dies in the hand of the
Achilles
Hector, the Protector
hes the defender of the city of Troy
some people say that in the Iliad, Hector is the hero most exalted
hugely tragic hero since he had such high hopes for Troy
but, throughout the Iliad, you know hes doomed and the city is doomed :(
family:
Andromache (wife) and Astyanax (baby son)
Andromache wanted him to stay behind the wall (she lost all of her family
to the Greeks), but being the protector, he wanted to fight in front of the
wall (really sad and domestic scene in the Iliad)
Hector prays to the gods to make his son (literally means ruler of the
city) a great ruler
this is so sad and pathetic since you know Troy will lose the war :(
character:
courageous but fatally foolhardy (he could have stayed behind the wall,
but NOPE, he said that hes fated to go out and fight for his city)
his bro said they should not fight at night and retreat behind the walls, but
noooope, he stayed in front of the wall fighting
so he dies.
funeral
Aeneas, Hope for the Future
has a heavy fate upon him
he was fated to live though (so few of the Trojan heroes did); so the gods saved
him
D)theLycians
Glaucus:exchangewithDiomedes
Chirpingeachotheruntiloneofthemsaidthattheirgreatancestorwas
BellerophonandtheotherguywaslikeSAMEMAN
Theythrewdowntheirspearsinthemiddleofwarbecausetheywereancestrally
relatedandexchangedgifts(maybeitwasarmour?)anditwasreallytouchy
feely
Diomedesyouaremyfriend,guestofdaysofgrandfatherslongago
Sapredon,sonofZues:
webetternotslackoff,weneedtofight!StalkingtoGlaucus
Doomedtodie:(
Theheroismoftheforemostleader.themostheroicleaderisalwaysinthe
forefrontofbattle
Histimeisupashefacesthegreeks
Zeusrealizeshissonisgoingtobekilledatthehandsofatropolisbutalsofate
decreesheddiesoHerawouldntlethimsaveSepredonothergodswillwantto
savetheirchildrentoo
ZeushadbloodyraintohonorhissonandApollotakeshisbodyfromthe
battlefield
Zeushadachancetostopfateishemorepowerfulthanfate?
DaughtersofPriam
Cassandra
princessoftroypleadswiththetrojansnottobringtrojanhorseintocity
andsaysitsfilledwithgreeksoldiersnoonebelievedher
Diedinhouseagamemnonasaslave
Verynoblefigure
Polyxena(seeEuripidesHecuba)
princessoftroywhathappenedtowomenonceTroywastakenover?
slaughterherontombofAchillestoappeasehisdeath
abraveandpositivecharacter!(insistsonbeingkilledratherbedead
thanaslaveTHATSnobility)
TherewerehesitanttokillherbutshewasalllikeKILLMEandsothey
did
sacrificeofavirginpopulartheme
Leaders
Agamemnon
Unopposablypowerful,butnotbestwarriororverynoble
KingswerecalledtheShepherdofthepeople
Ag.veryrarelylivesuptothis
Menelaus
BrotherofAg.andhusbandofHelen(becauseofthisheisboundforElysium)
BraveleaderincontrasttoParisandtheirduel
HegrabsParishelmetbutAphroditecutsthestrapandsavesParis,bringshim
tothebedroomtohavesexwithHelenbutHectorseeshimandwasalllikeyou
dumbassgotobattlefield
Nestor
Wiseadvisor
Couldn'tfightbecausehewastooold
Hegavegoodadvice
Ajax
TheStalwartdefender
Cf.Achilles,theoffensive(vsAjaxthedefence)
SecondbesttoAchilles
Cf.Odysseus(whoisbrains,whereasAjaxisbrawnsbrawnsvsbrains)
Suicidemakeshimatrulytragicfiguredishonouredandcrazy
Killingsheep,notarmy
Odysseus
Clevertrickster
Notenthusiasticaboutthewarbuthadswornonanoathtoprotectmenelaus(he
wantedtomarryHelenbutwasntchosen)
TriedtofakeinsanitybyploughinghislandlikecrazybutPolyamineswasmore
cleverandputOsnewborninfrontoftheploughtoseeifhewascrazyenough
tokillhisson,andOswervedthusprovinghewassane
Hethoughtofthetrojanhorseandhisclevernesshelpedwinthewar
Achilles:greatestwarrior
Questforimmortality:hismothertriestomakehimimmortalasababyatthe
riverstyx
Immortalitywaseventuallygainedbyeternalfame
Patroclus:Friendofthegreatwarrior
Backstory:exiledformurder,buttakeninbyPeleus:cleanedofbloodandguilt
byking(hekilledmanysoldiers,includingSapredon
ErastestoAchilleseromenos(pederasty)
Diomedes:balancedwarrior
ObeysAthena:woundsaresandaphroditeandapollo
FindsapoorreceptionwhenhegetshomebcofAphrodite(hiswifecheats)
TheIliad
Theme:wrathofAchilles
Originofwrath:disputebetweenAgamemnonandAchillesoverBriseispeople
chooseachilles
Smoulderingwrath:AchillessitsoutandGreeksSlaughtered,encouragedbyhismother
ZeusturnsbattlesagainstGreeks
AgamemnontriestosettlethedisputebyofferingBriseisbackandothersgiftsbut
AchilleswontfightandwantstosailbacktoGreece
DeathofPatroclusbringsAchillesbacktobattlefield
Outragedwrath:AchilleswouldeatHectorrawtoavengePatroclus
AchillesdefilesbodyofHectorandhiswrathisappeased
ThegodsarrangearansomofHsbodyandburyhim
Note:
Very detailed account of the Fall of Troy in the Aeneiad by Vergil
The Return and the Odyssey
Illustration shows Odysseus going through the island of the sirens

He wanted to be the only man who heard the song of the sirens and survived
So he plugged the ears of his sailors with wax and asked them to tie him up in a mast
with open ears
The Returns (Nostoi)
The Odyssey took ten years

Homer is the author, though we don't know if there's only one Homer since the accounts
are very different
Iliad (over a span of weeks) is about war (extols war) and the Odyssey is about going
home
Discussion whether or not Iliad is for war or against war. War is simply is
There were other epics written to fill in the gaps that the Iliad and the Odyssey did not fill
(about returns of other heroes) called the Nostoi (which literally means the Returns)
Agamemnon:
Was travelling with Ajax the Lesser
Athena is pissed off at Ajax since he raped Cassandra in the Temple of
Athena (she was a priestess of Athena)
So, Athena sent a storm which destroyed Ajaxs ships and some of
Agamemnon's since they were travelling together!
Ajax survived though and got to an island - he said: Not even the gods
could kill me! BAD IDEA. Poseidon took his trident and smashed the rock
Ajax was on and killed him
Agamemnon survived the storm that was for Ajax
Menelaus:
Did not leave with Agamemnon since they had a falling out
So he left with Nestor (Nestor got home easily since he's old and wise and knows
not to curse the gods - he lived in Paolos)
Menelaus did not get home so easily - he faced a storm and lost a lot of his ships
near Crete
He even got stranded in the islands of Pharos
Winds are against him (since gods are angry at him - he didn't make enough
sacrifices to the gods and goddesses when he left Troy)
Adothea (minor sea goddess) said that he needs to capture Proteus, her father
(old man of sea), to get info on how to get off the island
She said that Proteus liked sunning with the seals
So Menelaus and his men killed seals, wore their coat, and disguised as
seals! Luuul
Proteus comes sunbathing with them, and the men captures him
demanding info on how to appease the gods
Proteus told them how (sacrifice to Gods)
And he got home (after 7 years) and lived happily ever after with Helen in
Sparta (at least according to the Odyssey)
Diomedes
Had trouble getting home since he wounded Ares and Aphrodite in the battlefield
So when he got back to Argos, he found out wifey cheated on him (inspired by
Aphrodite)
His city turned against him!
He does NOT die tho - he just goes into exile to the far west to South Italy and
established a lot of cities there
Same thing happened to Idomeneus and Philoctetes
Neoptolemus:
son of Achilles
After war, grandma Thetis told him not to go back home via sea
So he travelled by land and ended up on the west of Greece to Epirus and
became a big shot there
He was eventually killed at Delphi though
He was honoured as a great hero (there was a heroic cult developed around
Delphi)
He wasn't a great guy though, but he WAS the son of Achilles
Alexander the Great said he was a descendant from Achilles (traced descent to
Neoptolemus) since his mom is from Epirus
The Odyssey
Theme:
Struggle of Odysseus to regain his home
Life is a battle (Iliad) and search for home (Odyssey)
Narrative Structure:
Telemacheia (books 1 to 4)
Telemachus, son of Odysseus, wondering where dad is since he's been
gone for 9 years after the 10 year war
There were a lot of suitors to Penelope saying Odysseus is never gonna
come home
Telemachus is also of age to become the next King, so suitors might kill
him!
Penelope asked Telemachus to find out where Odysseus is (he goes to
Hector and Nestor)
Calypso and Phaeacians (books 5 to 8)
Odysseus is on the shores of the island of Calypso (she's a minor

goddess/witch)
Every day he pines for home and his beloved wife Penelope
He sleeps with Calypso at night tho, who wants to turn him immortal!
He was on Calypsos Island for seven years
Finally the gods said it's time for him to go home so Calypso let's him go
Odysseus builds a raft and sails away (they do this when Poseidon was
gone, since Poseidon is pissed off at him)
Poseidon comes back though!! And sees Odysseus sailing away from
Calypso's Island
So the raft was destroyed, Odysseus barely survived, but thankfully he
ended up in the island of Phaeacians
Phaeacians treated him as an honoured guest, and they threw him a
banquet; Odysseus kept his identity a secret
This barb sang about a Trojan war and Odysseus cried
They wondered who he was to be crying about the story, and he admitted
he's Odysseus
So then he goes on and tells them aaaaallllll about his sufferings
Narration of Adventures (books 9 to 12)
Odysseus tell the Phaeacians about his adventures and sufferings
This is where all of the famous stories about Odysseus comes from (eg.
Cyclops, etc.)
Are these stories true tho? Odysseus is known to be a huuuuge liar!
Perhaps he's just telling stories to get the Phaeacians to honour him and
help him go home
Back on Ithaca (books 13 to 24)
Phaeacians helped him get back to Ithaca, his home!
He restored himself to his throne
Story:
Lotus Eaters
Lotus makes you forgetful of everything
His men didn't want to go home anymore after eating lotus from this
island
Polyphemus the Cyclops
Came into the island if the cyclops!
They found a cave with cheese and meat and other yummy food
His men wanted to leave but Odysseus wanted to wait for a guest gift
Cyclops came back to his cave, wasn't impressed, and killed some of
Odysseus men and ate them!!
Odysseus gave Cyclops very strong wine which made it drunk
So while drunk and asleep, Odysseus drove a stake through the cyclops
eye
He yelled and asked for help and said Nobody is killing me!! To the
other Cyclops (Odysseus said his name was Nobody) so they left him
alone
But Odysseus and his men were still trapped inside the cave tho even if
Cyclops was blinded
So when Cyclops was letting his sheep out, they strapped themselves on
the underside to leave the cave (Polyphemus was feeling the sheep
before letting them out)
Odysseus brags about escaping and Island and Polyphemus heard his
name, so he prayed to dad Poseidon to avenge him
That's why Odysseus took so freaking long to get home since Poseidon
was after him!
Island of Aeolus
Aeolus gave him a bag of winds
Island of Laestrygonians
Island of Circe
Minor goddess
Not a very good host
Feeds his men some food and turned them to pigs!
One man didn't eat the food and tells Odysseus what happens
Odysseus eats molly and was immune to Circes magic
So he threatens her and sleeps with her and she asks him to stay with
her
He said hell stay if she turns his men back to men from pigs!
After a year, he says he needs to get home and Circe said he needs to
see Tiresias , the dead prophet
Tiresias says not to eat the cattle of the Sun
Island of the Sun
They get stranded there
They go through aaaall their food and.. They eat the cattle of the Sun!!
So eventually they were able to leave the island
The sun God complains to Zeus since they ate his cattle and they were
just sailing away
So Zeus blasts their ships and all his men died
Only Odysseus survived
Calypso
He ends up back to the island of Calypso
Ithaca
He ends up home!!
But he was in trouble tho because of all of Penelope's suitors
So he had to be crafty about it ; Athena disguised him as an old man
He goes to Eumaeus first and asked what's going on in the kingdom
He reveals himself to Eumaeus
He also reveals himself to his son Telemachus
They hatch a plan to get rid of all of the suitors

Penelope has been delaying the suitors until they finally said she has to
choose
So Penelope said suitors will have a contest : string Odysseus old bow
and shoot through 12 axe heads
None of the suitors could do it
Old man at back said he wanted to try
And he revealed himself as Odysseus!!
He kills all the suitors
Penelope was still suspicious so she said that she will take out their bed
and lay it on the hallway for Odysseus to sleep on
Odysseus was angry since he knew their bed was carved from a live olive
tree - by taking out the bed, the tree would die
So Penelope knew
And they made sweet love
GG
Continuation of The Odyssey
Death:
Odysseus killed all of Penelopes suitors, and so the suitors family members went after
him for revenge!
Resolution:
So Odysseus gathered his followers, and the families of the suitors gathered
theirs and was about to have an epic fight
But, Athena and Zeus came down from Mt. Olympus and stood between the two
opposing parties and said that there is no fight to happen, and thats the end of it
Odysseus lived a long, happy life after this
The story of Odysseus death is not included in the Odyssey

Odysseus had a son with Circe and when this son grew up, he became a raider (pirate)
Telegonus, the son, came upon Odysseus land and raided
So they fought against Odysseus man, and Telegonus kills Odysseus
There was a prophecy saying that Odysseus will die peacefully from the sea from the sea
== son who is a pirate
// Odysseus and The Odyssey

Perseus
Another one of the famous heroes

A very important hero to the Greeks since hes mentioned so often
Illustration: Perseus holding the head of Medusa
Perseus is from the city of Argos
Intro
People have said that hes a different hero -- hes more of a folk hero than a saga hero
He has a magical birth
He has a lot of magical things given to him to help him (seems more like a
folktale, since in a saga, its more about the power of the hero that enables them
to do things and not magical gifts)
In sagas, heroes have conflicts with the feminine and feminine powers but, for
Perseus, his story is very reconciled with the female (hes helped by Athena, gets a wife
early on, Hera doesnt pursue him though hes a son of Zeus!!).
Perseus wears his dual nature more lightly
Birth and Childhood
Birth:
Miraculous / magical birth!
Acrisius, king of Argos, received a prophecy saying Danae (his daughter) will
have a son AND this son will kill him
So, Acrisius shuts off Danae in a tower to protect her from men who could
impregnate her
Buuuuut, Zeus makes an appearance lol
Zeus comes into Danae in a form of a golden shower over her bed
She was so enamored by this golden shower
And so, she gets pregnant.
She tried to hide the child (Perseus) from her father, but eventually Acrisius finds
out
Sooo, Acrisius exposes his daughter and Perseus to water (he locked them up in
a box in the sea) hoping they would die
But they didnt die! Because..
Seriphos:
Dictys (literally means net) was a fisherman
Dictys found the box that Danae and Perseus were in at sea
And so, he took care of them and took them to his island
King Polydectes saw Danae and wanted to marry her
So, Perseus became the protector of his mother
King Polydectes, in order to get rid of Perseus, hosted a banquet and demanded
his guests to bring an elaborate gift
Perseus was poor but didnt want to look cheap! So, Perseus said he will get him
something much better than any gifts - hell get Polydectes the head of Medusa!
And so starts Perseus quest.
Quest
He has two divine helpers: Athena and Hermes

He was given a sickle by Hermes
Monsters:
He had a lot of monsters he had to deal with even before he got to the Gorgons
First group: Graeae
These are the old women who were the offspring of Phorcys and Keto
(sea deities, which makes these women monsters)
These three women had one tooth and one eye shared amongst them
Perseus was told that he had to get info from the Graeae since he was
told that this info will help him with his quest
So, Perseus took the tooth and eye from the women and demanded they
tell him info. Of course, the Graeae didnt want to do this since Graeae
and Gorgons are sisters!
Eventually though, they told him where these nymphs were located who
will help him in his quest
Second group: Nymphs
They gave him: winged sandals, cap of invisibility, and kibisis (a pouch
that could fit anything)
Third group: Gorgons
He goes to the cave of the Gorgons and found them sleeping
There were three Gorgons but only one is mortal (Medusa), and so
Medusa was the only one whos actually killable
But, he cant look at her since he will turn to stone
So, he walks backward using the reflection on his shield
He cuts off Medusas head with the sickle
He puts the head on his kibisis
He put on his cap of invisibility so he wouldnt be seen
And last, he used his winged sandals to fly away from the cave of the
Gorgons
Medusa:
She was regarded as a minor god of the underworld (Chthonic god) yet
also very Olympian because from her severed neck came out Pegasus,
the winged horse, who had Olympian ties
Significance in a sense that this may the reversal of the castration of Ouranos
setting the record straight for the patriarchal power since now, a feminine figure
is the one whos getting castrated
Some thought that Perseus quest was symbolic of the descent into the
underworld
Returns
On his way back home, theres a lot of things that happened!

Andromeda and the sea monster:
Poseidon sent a sea monster since Cassiopeia bragged that shes more beautiful
than the sea goddesses
The king sent for a prophecy, and the prophecy said that the only way the sea
monster would be appeased is if the king sacrifices his daughter, Andromeda
Thats when Perseus comes along!
Perseus said that he will kill the sea monster if he can get Andromedas hand in
marriage
This is a big problem since Andromeda was promised to her uncle
So, Perseus, to avoid a fight, went to the uncle and said Hey! Do you want to
see whats in my bag?? He pulled out Medusas head and the uncle died
So yay, Perseus marries Andromeda
He goes back to the island of Seriphos
Danae was being pursued by Polydectes since Poly thought Perseus has died!
So when Perseus came back, he tricked Poly into looking into his bag where
Medusas head was and so the king turned to stone!
Perseus gave Medusas head to Athena and Athena put this head on her aegis
Perseus also returns all the magical gifts to the gods and to the nymphs
hes very easy with his divine gifts! Hes willing to give up his divinity and is
not so conflicted
Return to Argos
Acrisius heard Perseus was gonna come back and so goes into hiding
Perseus became king of Argos!
Perseus head up north to compete in some games
He throws a discus in a game, but the winds blew so strong and the discus went
awry
the discus hit an old man who is Acrisius! He died.
you CANNOT escape fate!!
But because Perseus killed someone (even accidentally), he was put into exile.
So, he went to Tiryns and exchanged kingship with his cousin who was king
there
So in the end, he ends up being king of Tiryns
Death
He was apotheosized and became a constellation with his wife Andromeda :)
// Perseus
Other Myths of Argos
Io
Inachus was a minor river god who had a son name Phoroneus
In myths of Argos, Phoroneus was the first man of Argos
He was the man who chose their patron god (Hera) and was a cultural hero
Hera vs Poseidon for patronity of Argos
Phoroneus chose Hera, so Poseidon dried up the rivers of Argos
Zeus and Io (Epaphus)
Inachus had a daughter as well named Io
She became the first priestess of Hera
Buuut, Zeus conceived a lust for her, which is terrible, since shes a priestess of
Hera!
Zeus wrapped himself in a cloud to make love with Io
But, Hera caught on to this, since it was a supposedly sunny day in Argos and
theres this random cloud on the ground
So, Zeus knowing that hes been caught, turned Io into a cow!!
A giant with many eyes was guarding Io because of Hera
Zeus felt terrible about this, so he sent Hermes to sing a song to this giant
(Argus) and all of its eyes fell asleep at once. Hermes cut off the giants head and
so Io was set free!
But she wandered the world as a cow :( And Hera sent this fly that kept on
gnawing at her
Eventually she was turned back to a human and gave birth to a son named
Epaphus
Daughters of Danaus
Offspring of Epaphus: Belus and Agenor
Offspring of Belus: Aegyptus and Danaus
Aegyptus and Danaus hated each other
Aegyptus and Danaus got into a contest and Aegyptus won he ruled and
named Egypt
Sons of Aegyptus and Daughter of Danaus
Aegyptus had fifty sons and Danaus had fifty daughters
Aegyptus though it would be natural to marry his fifty sons to his bros fifty
daughters
Danaus didnt like this though, so Danaus (on the wedding night) gave his
daughters a dagger!
So each of these daughters stabbed their husbands on their wedding
nights
Significance: dagger is phallic instead of the females being screwed,
it was the males!
The Danaids (Danaus daughters) became famous for their punishment in
Hades
They were punished in Hades by carrying water jugs with holes in
them
They were instructed to carry water somewhere, but was unable
to
This was repeated empty actions
One daughter didnt kill her husband, and so they lived a long happy life
and had kids!
One of these kids? Heracles!
// Other Myths of Argos

Heracles
Portrayal
Lion skin and a club

Stark contrast of Perseus while Perseus was very easy-going, Heracles was not and had so
many struggles
Birth
Parents: Amphitryon and Alcmena

Biological dad was Zeus though, but moms hubby is Amphitryon
Amphitryon was helping his uncle Electryon (king of Argos/Mycenae) and

Alcmena was the daughter of Electryon
Electryon was having trouble with the Teleboans (Pterelaus is their king).
Pterelaus went on a raid and stole all of Electryons cattle
Amphi was promised Alcmenas hand in marriage if Amphi can get the
cattle back
So Electyon and Amphi went to the Teleboans to get the cattle, but Amphi
accidentally kills Electryon
So, Amphi was exiled for this. Alcmena tells him to avenger her father. He
goes to Thebes.
In Thebes:
Amphitryon vs Pterelaus
Pterelaus had this golden lack of hair as long as this hair is intact,
Pterelaus is invulnerable
Ptere has a daughter Comaetho. Coma fell in love with Amphi and
killed her dad by cutting off his golden hair!
Amphi kills her in gratitude???
Amphi then goes back to Alcmena
Amphi goes back to his wife and demanded some love after so long
But Alcmena was like, We already had sex!
So they were confused and went to a prophet
Turns out Alcmena actually slept with Zeus who was in the guise of
Amphi!!
Alcmena was pregnant with twins (Heracles and Iphicles)
Continuation of Heracles //
Birth:
Son of Amphitryon and Alcmena (though really the son of Zeus and Alcmena, but
Amphitryon is the husband of Alcmena)
Brother of Iphicles
Adversity:
Birth:
Was destined to rule the world since Zeus is his dad; Zeus made a declaration of
this
So, Hera sabotages Heracles birthright
Hera delays the birth of Heracles, and sends Eileithyia (her daughter and
also a minor goddess of birthright) to speed up the birth of his cousin
Hera also sends two snakes to baby Heracles to kill him
Heracles grabs the two snakes by his hands and kills them
Early Exploits
Education:
His parents got him a lot of teachers to enhance his skills
He was terrible at music though, and has a music teacher called Linus
Linus was berating Heracles for being so bad at the lyre, that Heracles took
Linus lyre and clubs him in the head with it killing Linus
So, Heracles has to be exiled -- he left Thebes
Exile:
King Thespius took him in
Lion:
Thespius has a lion plaguing his countryside and he has 50 daughters -Heracles is interested in both!
Heracles killed the lion, and slept with all 50 of Thespius daughters (in
one night or over 50 nights, no one knows)
This could be interpreted as a portrayal of Heracles greatness OR
excessiveness
Megara:
King of Thebes gave Heracles his daughter Megara for helping him lead
an army to victory
Has three children with Megara
Hera was still pursuing him and turned him mad -- he killed his
children in madness :(
Story goes that he killed his eldest and middle child, and
Megara took the youngest and hid
Sooo, he took an arrow and shot both mother and son,
killing them both
Twelve Labours of Heracles
Madness of Heracles:
Famicide: had three children with Megara
Hera was still pursuing him and turned him mad -- he killed his children in
madness :(
Story goes that he killed his eldest and middle child, and Megara
took the youngest and hid
Sooo, he took an arrow and shot both mother and son, killing
them both
Cleansing and Expiation:
He was so sad when he woke from his madness and went back to
Thespiae
He went to Delphi and the oracle said that in order to cleanse himself, he
needs to serve his cousin (King of Mycenae) for twelve years (this is the
cousin who got Heracles birthright due to Heras intervention)
If he successfully completes these 12 years, he will be forgiven, his sins
will be atoned, and he will be immortal
Labours of Heracles:
His cousin, King Eurystheus, was trying to get Heracles killed with these twelve
labours
The labours concerned animals shows his savage nature and not his heroic nature
(since other heroes are fighting other heroes or doing magical quests) shows Heracles
primal nature
First labour: Nemean Lion
There was a region called Nemea and a lion was ravaging this region
The lion had a skin which was invulnerable to weapons
So, Heracles got a lion claw and used that to kill it
This first labour is so important since the Nemean Lion is where Heracles
got his attributes (lion skin + club)
Second labour: Lernaean Hydra
Eurystheus then sent him to kill this hydra (has nine heads, one is
immortal)
Heracles would cut one head off, but two would come back in place of
one!
He had his nephew with him who built a fire as Heracles would chop a head,
the nephew would burn the severed stump so the head wouldnt grow back. Since
the last head was immortal, he buries the hydra
Before burying the hydra, he bled it out and dipped his arrows in the
blood (which was poisonous) for his use
Third labour: Ceryneian Hind
A deer with golden horns that is sacred to Artemis
He was confronted by Artemis, so Heracles promised he would let the

deer go after showing to Eurystheus
Fourth labour: Erymanthian Boar
No one could deal with this boar
So, Heracles chased this boar to deep snow and when it was
immobilized, he netted it and brought it back to Eurystheus
Parergon: means side deed
There were a lot of stories of Heracles doing other things on his
way to/from a labour
So a paregon from the fourth labour: a story of him involving
centaurs Pholus and Chiron
Pholus was a wise, cultured centaurs who invited Heracles
on his way to the fourth labour
He offered Heracles some wine; but the other centaurs
smelled the wine and wondered who Pholus was giving his
win to
The centaurs saw Heracles and tried to kill him, so
Heracles shot them with the poisoned arrows
Some of these centaurs went to Chiron for protection, and
Chiron was wounded by one of the poisoned arrows of
Heracles (Chiron was immortal and was put in great pain
forever)
Pholus accidentally dropped an arrow on his foot and he
died
shows how dangerous Heracles is
Fifth labour: Augean Stables
Augeas was a king and hated cleaning these stables
So, Heracles was tasked with cleaning these stables in ONE DAY
Heracles diverted two rivers and washed the stables clean
Parergon:
Heracles either established or reestablished the Olympian games
Augeas ended up conquering the city when Augeas didnt give him cattle
Sixth labour: Stymphalian Birds
Stymphalia was this swampy region where birds were hiding
He took cymbals, went to the thicket they were hiding, clashed these
cymbals, and shot the birds as they flew from the thicket
Seventh labour: Cretan Bull
First six labours were in the Peloponnesus; next six labours are no longer
in that region
Cretan Bull was a divine bull given to King Minos given to him by
Poseidon
It escaped, so Heracles was tasked to get it back
He took the bull by the horns, threw it in the water, and rode it back to the
Peloponnesus back to his cousin
Eight labour: Mares of Diomedes

Diomedes was said to be a child of Ares and was evil
Not the same Diomedes from The Iliad
Mares would eat people and were wild and powerful
So, Heracles kills Diomedes and fed his flesh to the horses
This pacified the horses and so he was able to complete his labour
Parergon:
He was hosted by King Admetus
Admetus wife just died and Heracles came to him
King Admetus, being a gracious host, hosted Heracles and didnt
even tell Heracles his wife had died!
A servant told him that the Kings wife had died though
So, Heracles was mortified and went to the body of Alcestis and
waited for Death to arrive
Heracles fought with Thanatos (embodiment of Death) and WON
because hes a badass
Significance: there are a lot of heroes who struggles with
immortality but here we see Heracles beating Death so easily
Ninth labour: Girdle of Hippolyta
Hippolyta was the queen of the Amazons
Heracles actually became friends with Hippolyta and was going to take
the girdle peacefully
But, Hera came and cause trouble: she disguised herself as one of the
Amazons and told them he was there to kidnap Hippolyta
So, the Amazons came after Heracles and in the fight he kills Hippolyta
Tenth labour: Cattle of Geryon
Geryon lived on an island in Oceanus in the far, far west
Geryon was a three-bodied (or sometimes, three-headed) who had a twoheaded dog called Orpheus
Heracles was tasked to get Geryons cattle
Heracles used Apollos cup to float to the island of Geryon
He killed Geryon and Orpheus and took his cattle
Significance:
Far west is the entrance to the Underworld
Idea that the far west is the place of death
By conquering someone from the far west, Heracles was
symbolically conquering death
Victory over mortality
Parergon:
As he passes over Italy, he killed a giant called Cachus
Eleventh labour: Apples of the Hesperides
Garden also in the far west
The Hesperides were the daughter of the night/evening
There was a tree in this garden that hold the apples of immortality (tree of
life, similar to Garden of Eden)
The tree was guarded by a dragon called Ladon
Heracles kills this dragon
Some stories say Heracles does not know where the garden of
Hesperides is, so he goes to Atlas, the Titan who was holding up the sky
Atlas said that he knows exactly where the garden is (Heracles
doesnt), and asked Heracles to hold up the sky while Atlas gets
the apples
Atlas gets the apples and Heracles was left holding the sky
When Atlas comes back, he said he no longer wants to hold up
the sky
Heracles acted like he was fine with this, and asked Atlas to help
him shift the world a bit
Heracles tricked Atlas into getting the sky back and runs away
with the apples
Twelfth labour: Cerberus
He asked Hades if he could take Cerberus for a walk, and Hades agrees
as long as he uses no weapon
So, Heracles was able to take Cerberus back to his cousin and completes
his last and twelfth labour
Other Exploits
Hes the most famous hero and he had so many other exploits on top of his twelve
labours and their parergons
He was also famous for:
Destroying brigands
Sacking cities
Death
Was remarried to Deianira

When Heracles went down to The Underworld for his twelfth labour, he ran into a
lot of ghosts, all of these ghosts ran away from him except for one: Meleager (old
king of Caledon)
Heracles asks Meleager to tell him the story of his death, and he was moved
Meleager tells him he has a sister, Deianira
So, Heracles said hell marry his sister, Deianira
Achelous, a river god, wanted Deianiras hand in marriage too -- so they fought
as well
Heracles won, and got Deianira as his wife
Nessus:
On their way away from Caledon, they came across a centaur called Nessus on
the banks of a river
Nessus was not a civilized centaur at all, but told Heracles: You can cross the
river easily but your wife cant! So, put her on my back and I will help
So, Heracles crossed the river and saw Nessus running away with his wife!
Heracles shot Nessus killing him (arrows are poisoned)
But, as Nessus was dying, he tells Deianira that Heracles will lose his love for
her. In order for this to not be the case, Nessus said to use HIS blood to make a
love potion but his blood has been poisoned by the hydras blood
Iole:
Ioles father (Eurytus) set up an archery competition with Ioles hand in marriage
as the prize
Heracles won this contest but Iole refuses him
Eurytus has a son called Iphitus
Heracles killed Iphitus
He goes to Apollo for a prophecy but was refused since hes killed so many
people
So, Heracles gets Apollos sacred tripod
Zeus then comes down and breaks up the fight: Zeus told Apollo to give Heracles
a prophecy and Zeus told Apollo to give Heracles a prophecy (prophecy:
Heracles needs to go into slavery for a year)
Omphale:
He became Omphales slave for a year due to Apollos prophecy
Death:
After serving Omphale, he comes back to Iole and took her back to his home
Obviously, his WIFE Deianira was not pleased
Deianira made a red shirt soaked in Nessus blood
Heracles wore this shirt and died
Heracles became immortalized though (his soul went to Olympus) and there he
married Hebe, the embodiment of youthful beauty
Happy ending?
// Heracles
Theseus and Myths of Athens

Attribute
Sometimes portrayed with a club though this is very Heraclean

Probably to remind us that hes kind of similar to Heracles (especially the positive
things about Heracles) but at the same time, since he doesnt use it that often,
its also to remind us that hes not as primitive as Heracles since he is Athenian
Early Kings of Athens
Autochthony:
Comes from two Greek words: chthonic ground or earth and auto itself.
Thus, Autochthony from the grounds itself which stems from the Athenian belief
that they (the Athenians) sprung from the ground
Cecrops:
One of the first Athenian kings
Culture hero; has a lot of attributes as Cadmus (one of the first Theban king)
Said to have brought the Greeks the knowledge to build cities and
establish laws
Origins of the alphabet
Considered as autochthon sprung from the ground
He is portrayed with his bottom half as a snake
He was the one who chose the patron god of Athens he picked Athena over Poseidon
Thus, he is like Phoroneus from Argos (he did not pick Poseidon as the
patron god of Argos)
Erichthonius:
Birth: from the union of Hephaestus and Athena
Recall: he was born from Hephaestus semen that Athena cast on the
ground when Hephaestus was so enamored and ejaculated all over when
she requested for weapons
chthonic from the ground!
Local cultural hero:
Established the Panathenaia (games and tournaments in Athens)
Created the wooden statue of Athena which was very sacred to the
Athenians
Erechtheus:
Usually said to be the grandson of Erichthonius
Known for leading the Athenians in their first war (against Eleusis)
Recall that Eleusis eventually became part of Athens, so a lot of people
though Eleusis was a different city long ago and Athens eventually
conquered it
Ion:
Eumolpus (one of the Eleunisians) looked like they were going to win the
war, and so it was prophesied that Erechtheus will win the war if he
sacrificed his daughter(s)
So, he does. And Athens were victorious against Eleusis!
Erechtheus kills Eumolpus (who was a son of Poseidon) and so Poseidon
was extremely pissed off at him
In some versions, Poseidon went to Zeus and Zeus blasted
Erechtheus with his lightning bolt
In some version, Poseidon just stabbed Erechtheus with his
trident and drove him to the ground
Creusa was a daughter of Erechtheus (so shes a princess of Athens)

Apollo was so enamored with her and seduced her, and so she became
pregnant with a son called Ion
Creusa kept the child secret from her father, and exposed him when he
was born to die
Apollo intervened and told Hermes to save the child, and so Ion was
brought to Apollo and was raised by Apollo in his temple
So, Ion became a temple servant of Apollo!
Creusa eventually marries Xuthus (son of Hellen famous hero who didnt do much,
famous as a figurehead) after she had Ion
Xuthus and Creusa were unable to have a child
So, they went to Delphi to ask Apollo how to have a child
Xuthus was told by Apollo to greet the first person leaving the temple and
treat him as his son
So, Xuthus exited the temple and saw Ion
Xuthus greeted Ion as his son, and took Ion home to Creusa saying Ion is
now their son
Creusa was very suspicious and thought that Ion was actually an
illegitimate son of Xuthus
So of course, she tries to kill Ion!
Athena intervened and told Creusa that Ion was actually HER son
So, Ion became part of the Athenian royal line.. Again!
The Ionian Greeks thought that they were descended from Ion
Theseus
One of the most iconic Athenian heroes!

Birth:
Theseus father was Aegeus (great grandson of Erechtheus and was king of
Athens)
Aegeus has a brother named Pallas who has fifty sons and Aegeus had
ZERO sons
So of course, Aegeus went to Delphi and asked Apollo what he needed to

do to have a kid
Apollo then gave him a prophecy: Do not undo the wineskins mouth until
you return home
Recall that Apollos prophecies are very ambiguous this is one of
those!
This could be interpreted as the wineskins you take with you on
your journey shouldnt be opened
Aegus was so confused that he visited Pittheus, the king of
Troezen
Pittheus knew what it meant but didnt tell Aegeus!
What the prophecy meant was that Aegeus was to go home and
have sex with his wife
Soo, Pittheus wanted a grandson and got Aegus together with his
daughter, Aethra!
But Aegeus had to go home
Before leaving, he tells Aethra: once our child is born and hes strong
enough, tell him to look under this rock and find the sandals and sword
that Ive left him this will help Aegeus recognize him!
Theseus was born from Aethra
Alternate version: Aethra went to make an offering to Poseidon
after sleeping with Aegeus; on the way there, Poseidon raped her;
so, some versions say Theseus is actually a son of Poseidon
When Theseus was old enough, he was so strong that he was able to lift
the rock where Aegeus hid the sandals and sword, wore the equipment
he found, and started his journey to Athens to his father
Six Labours:
Theseus was given 6 labours (meant to imitate Heracles labours)
Heracles labours were against animals, Theseus were usually against mortals!
First labour: Periphetes/Corynetes (means the Clubber)
Periphetes had a large club that he would use to kill people
Theseus stole the club from Periphetes and used this club to kill him!
This is where Theseus got one of his attributes (the club)
Significance:
Shows that the Athenian hero was as great as Heracles
Apparently, the Athenian didnt really have a hero for themselves
who is as great and as popular as Heracles, so they started
making stories about Theseus to try and connect him with
Heracles
Second labour: Sinis (the pine-bender)
Sinis would bend the pines (trees) and attach people to them
Theseus did the same to Sinis he tied Sinis to the bent trees and let go of the
trees sending Sinis flying in different directions
Third labour: Sow of Crommyon
This sow was tamed by an evil person called Phaia and would ravage the
land
Theseus killed the sow and Phaia
Fourth labour: Sciron (and the giant turtle)
There was a robber (Sciron) who guarded the pass between Athenian
territory and the territory of Megara
The robber would harass any travellers (force them to wash his feet) on
this pass and kick them so they would fall in a chasm with a giant turtle at
the bottom of it waiting to eat them
So Theseus forced Sciron to wash his feet and kicked HIM to the chasm
to be eaten by the giant turtle
Fifth labour: Cercyon (the wrestler)
Cercyon (from Eleusis) was a very good wrestler and would kill people he
fought with
Cercyon and Theseus battled and Theseus beat him and killed him
Signifiance:
Cercyon was of the Eleusis royal family
This symbolized Athens beating Eleusis and Eleusis becoming an
Athenian territory
Sixth and final labour: Procrustes (the Stretcher)
Procrustes had this special bed that he would force people to sleep on
the bed
If they were too short for the bed, he would HAMMER the people on the
bed to make them fit (hence killing them)
If they were too tall for the bed, he would take a SAW and cut off their
excess bits (hence killing them too)
So, Theseus forced Procrustes onto this bed and killed him in the same
manner
Significance:
Justice and order (Theseus killing these anti-civilizing forces in the same
manner that these brigands killed other people!)
Compare with Heracles:
Theseus was orderly vs recklessness of Heracles
Theseus finally gets to Athens! At Athens:
Arrival:
He was nearly poisoned by Medea (the wife of king Aegeus) when she
realized that Theseus was a threat to her, since she knew that he was the
offspring of Aegeus and Aethra!
This put HER own son (Medas) under threat, since only one
person can be king
Medea convinced Aegeus that Theseus was a threat to his
kingship, so Aegeus hosted a banquet planning to poison
Theseus there
During the banquet, Theseus pulled out his sword to cut his meat
and Aegeus realized that Theseus is his son!
Medea had to flee for trying to kill Theseus
Bull of Marathon (Cretan Bull):
This bull was ravaging the Athenian territory
So of course, Theseus went out and killed this bull; he sacrificed the bull
to Zeus
Hecale was an old woman who hosted Theseus as he went out to kill the
Bull of Marathon
When he came back to Athens, he wanted to honour Hecale for hosting
him so nicely, but found out she died :(
Minotaur:
Androgeus, the son of Minos, came to Athens and competed in the
Panathenaea - he won most of the games!
This pissed off the Athens since a foreigner beat them
So Aegeus came to Androgeus to kill the Cretan Bull since he was sooo
great
Androgeus does.. And dies! Minos was super pissed off at Athens and
was going to war with them
So, Aegeus tried to appease Minos, and Minos said that every year,
Aegeus will have to send Minos seven Athenian boys and girls to be put
in the labyrinth of the Minotaur!
Theseus arrived at this time in Athens
He told Aegeus that HE will go to the labyrinth to kill the minotaur.
Theseus was sent to Minos
Ariadne, daughter of Minos, fell madly in love with him. She offered to
help him escape the labyrinth AND kill the minotaur
Ariadne gave him a ball of string so he can mark his way through the
labyrinth
Theseus was able to kill the minotaur and escape the labyrinth
Theseus took Ariadne home with him, and then abandoned her on an
island!
Recall Ariadnes story:
One version: she was eventually killed by Artemis
Second version: she was found on the island by Dionysus and
took her for his wife
Theseus became a king by a little mistake:
Aegeus said that in Theseus return, he was to change the black sails to
white sails. Theseus forgot to do this.
Aegeus, waiting on a cliff, saw the ships coming back but with BLACK
sails thinking Theseus has died!
So, Aegeus threw himself off a cliff and died (hence the Aegean Sea is
called that, since thats apparently where Aegeus committed suicide)
So Theseus became king when he came back
King:
Amazons:
Theseus was taken to the land of Amazons by Hermes
Theseus kidnaps Antiope and fathers Hippolytus
The Amazons were super pissed at Theseus for kidnapping their queen,
so they invaded Athens
The Amazons were defeated
This is a very famous story and was actually portrayed in the Parthenon
Symbolizes Athenian ideal of city orderliness and defeat of
barbaric culture (the Amazonians)
Continuation of Theseus and Myths of Athens \\

King
Pirithous:
Went with Theseus and did bro things together
He himself has divine descent (often said to be a son of Zeus)
Theseus and Pirithous both know that each other were trustworthy individuals
and became fast friends
Stories: Centaurs and Lapiths
This is so important that its portrayed in the Parthenon (its very
significant to Athenian self identity)
Divine wives:
Both decided that they needed divine wives since their first wives died
Helen was kidnapped from Sparta for Theseus
She wasnt old enough to marry Theseus though, and so he gave
Theseus to his mother to look after until shes old enough
Pirithous wanted to marry Persephone
Theseus said hell help in getting Persephone, and sparked his
katabasis (journey to underworld)
They of course werent successful since Persephone was already
married to Hades! Hades made them sit on these chairs which
made them stuck
Story: Heracles went down to get Cerberus and was able
to rescue Theseus but not Pirithous (he was stuck in the
underworld forever)
Champion of the oppressed:
Theseus is often portrayed as the champion of the oppressed
Eg. Oedipus was wandering Athenian territory with his daughter Antigone,
and Theseus received him! Oedipus died in Athenian territory and the
Athenians received a blessing (Theseus is very welcoming to the
oppressed)
Eg. Suppliant Women: The heroes who were against Thebes was not
allowed to be buried, so the women of the families of these heroes went
to Theseus in Athens and asked if their husbands can be buried. Theseus
threatened Thebes with war if they didnt bury the heroes, and so Thebes
did!
Death
Exile:
His cousin, Menestheus forced him out of the throne of Athens when he came
back from the underworld
The two brothers of Helen (Castor and Polydeuces) rescued her as well when he
was stuck in the underworld
So, he went to the island of Scyros and was hosted by King Lycomedes
Death:
His host, King Lycomedes, killed him
His body was buried in Scyros
Exhumation:
After the battle of Marathon (first big battle Athenians vs Persians), the rumour
was that the soldiers could see the ghost of Theseus leading them to victory
One of the most prominent Athenian generals received an oracle that he needed
to find the bones of Theseus and bring them back to Athens from Scyros
This general found the bones of a huge bronze age general and brought the
bones back to Athens where Theseus was deified
// Theseus
Other Myths of Athens
Daedalus
Athenian royalty but never ruled Athens; he was an inventor and a culture hero
His character was quite tainted
Reflected the idea that the Ancient Greeks admired craftsmen but they didnt
think it was a very noble pursuit to be a craftsman!
Daedalus murdered his nephew Perdix
Because, Perdix saw the skeleton of a fish and came up with the idea of the saw
When Daedalus saw the invention of the saw, he became jealous!
Story goes that Perdix was actually the apprentice of Daedalus
When he saw that Perdix invented something greater than Daedalus had ever
invented, he became so jealous that he pushed Perdix over a cliff
Myth: before hitting the ground, Perdix transformed into a partridge (in fact, this is
the scientific name for that bird)
Daedalus exile:
Because he killed someone, Daedalus went into exile to Crete
In Crete, he had a wife Pasiphae (Queen of Crete)
Pasiphae was supposed to sacrifice a bull, but was so enamored by it
So, she asked Daedalus to make a wooden bull so she could mate with it (??) created
the Minotaur!!
Daedalus created the Labyrinth to house the Minotaur
Icarus:
He wanted to escape Crete, so he made wax wings for him and his son Icarus
He said not to fly too high since the sun will melt the wax; and not to fly too low
since the waves will ruin the wings
But Icarus flew too high, so the wax wings melted and died in the sea
Daedalus was able to escape though!
// Other myths of Athens

Jason and Medea
Jason is a standard Greek hero but is the most pathetic

There are a lot of stories about him where he doesnt really come across very
well
Portrayal: he was swallowed by a serpent while on his quest to get the golden
fleece; Athena had to rescue him!
There are many stories where he is constantly helped by other people/gods
Spoiler alert! He dies. Apparently, he didnt have anywhere to go after his quest, so he
camped out underneath the side of his ship (the Argos), and a piece of the ship fell on
him and he dies! not a heroic death
The Golden Fleece
Nephele and Athamas

Athamas is the king and he marries a woman called Nephele (Nephele means cloud)
she is a minor goddess since shes the embodiment of the cloud; she is also very
unstable and flighty
Helle and Phrixus
Kids of Nephele and Athamas
After they had the kids, Nephele went back to the sky! Athamas was left alone
So, he marries Ino (one of the daughters of Cadmus)
She hated Helle and Phrixus
Ino orchestrated things so that Helle and Phrixus will be killed (especially Phrixus
since hes male and will be the king)
She parched all the seeds and they had a famine! They went to the oracle to ask
what to do with the famine, and she bribes the people who went to say that in
order to get rid of the famine, the two kids need to be killed!
Nephele was looking down at her children, and before they could be killed by Ino,
she snatched them! Via a flying golden ram
Helle fell off the ram and dies (Hellespont was named after her)
Phrixus escaped to Colchis
When Phrixus got to Colchi, he sacrificed the golden ram and gave the skin to
the King of Colchis (Etes)
Jason and Pelias
Aesons kingship:
Aesons kingship was taken away and Pelias became King
Jason had to leave when his uncle became king
Raised by Chiron
He was raised by the centaur Chiron
When he was twenty, he decided that he needed to go back to Iolchus and get
his kingship!
Return of the one-sandaled man:
When he was going to Iolchus, he came across a river which was in full flood
He noticed an old lady (Hera in disguise) trying to get across
He carried the old woman across the flooding river, and she was very grateful!
Hera then became the helper of Jason
weird! Shes usually the pursuer of heroes!
He lost a sandal while doing this though!
This is significant since Pelias received a prophecy saying to beware of the onesandaled man!
When Jason came to town, this is the first thing that Pelias noticed! So, he
wanted to kill Jason
Therefore, Pelias said that Jason can get a throne if he can get the golden fleece
Voyage of the Argo
Ship:
Made with help of Athena, with wood from Dodona

There was an oracle of Zeus in Dodono
This oracle was special, since apparently there was a rustling of the oak
trees and this was Zeus way of communication
The Argonauts are the sailors of the ship
Crew:
Originally from generation before Trojan War
Peleus (father of Achilles), Nauplius (father of Palamedes), Telamon
(father of Ajax the Greater), Meleager (famous hero of Caledon)
This places the story before the Trojan War!
Later version of the story had greater heroes as the crew (like Achilles, Heracles,
etc.)
Adventures:
Lemnos: Hypsypyle ruled after men were killed (men were killed by their wives
since the wives were cursed of smelling terribly due to a curse)
The Argonauts came upon this island, and stayed there for a year
Phineus and the Harpies:
King Phineus was blind and was being plagued by Harpies!
The Argonauts came along and hosted them generously
He told them about his problem, and they dealt with the Harpies
They had two sons of the god of the North Wind (Boreas) in their
crew and so they were able to fly and chase away the Harpies
Phineus was blind but also a prophet (reminiscent of Tiresias!)
He tells them everything they have to do to get to Colchis and get

the Golden Fleece
Medea
Shes a princess who fell in love with Jason

Aphrodite and/or Eros made Medea fall in love with Jason at the urging of
Athena, Hera, Artemis, etc (who were all helping Jason)
She helped Jason get the fleece
Medea is like a witch
King Itis told him he needed to accomplish certain tasks and he would give Jason
the fleece
Medea made a potion that made Jason invulnerable
(eg. He was able to yolk the fire-breathing bulls)
Jason was able to accomplish all of these tasks but Itis refused!
The fleece was guarded by a giant serpent, so Medea made an ointment
and drugged the serpent
Jason was able to get the fleece!
Jason was pursued by Itis!
So Medea helped: she cut his brother into pieces, and threw the pieces behind
the Argo as it was sailing away and pursued by Itis (her father) ships
This slowed down Itis since he had to pick up every piece so he could bury his
son!
Jason didnt do much its all Medea
At Iolchus, Jason presented the fleece to Pelias but Pelias refused to give him kingship
So, Medea helped!
Medea cut up a ram, throws the pieces into a pot with magical herbs, and the
ram jumps out young!
She does the same to Jasons dad (who was old) and made him young again!
She does this in front of Pelias daughters they wanted to do the same to their dad,
Pelias!
So, the daughters cut Pelias up, but Medea did not show them all of the steps
So, Pelias is dead.
They have to go to exile since they killed Pelias
They went to Corinth
At Corinth:
This is where Euripides' play Medea takes place
Jason and Medea arrive at Corinth, and the King was smitten with Jason
So, the King told Jason to dump Medea and marry his daughter
Medea was obviously pissed off at this, and so she ends up tricking Jason and
the King of Corinth which ended up in the death of the King, the daughter of the
King, and Medeas and Jason's sons
This play portrayed Medeas role as the dominant
Medea was able to get away with her deeds via flying serpents

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Historical Background (Lecture 1 Slides)

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- no one knows much about what happened - no writings

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Roman Era (30 BC onwards):

Read Chapters 1 and 2!

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What is Mythology? (Lecture 2 Slides)

mythos: word, speech, story (origin of the word myth)

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Jung: student of Freud, interpreted myths similar to Freud but he

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said that there are repeated patterns, but they changed as

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Online quiz opening on Thursday! Up to end of lecture today.

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whats the point?

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[but if men] does partake in marriage, and gets a good

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// Quiz one! Do by Saturday!

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c. Poseidon (aka Neptune to the Romans)

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theres another cup-bearer to the gods, Ganymede, a very

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The full Olympian List:

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Poseidon and the Sea Deities (Lecture Slides 7)

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Original Sea Deities

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Athena (Lecture Slides 8)