UNIT 04

The Mask of Agamemnon

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HISTORICAL FACT

The Mediterranean World, 600 BC

Final Exam Essay Questions

1. Compare the "adventure hero" as exemplified by Heracles with the “civic hero” as exemplified by Oedipus or with the "Homeric hero" as exemplified by Achilles. Pay particular attention to the hero's values and the public affairs content of his stories.

2. Legend, by nature, often contains a kernel of historical fact. Prove this by citing and commenting on one example each from the Theban cycle, the Trojan War, and the Nostoi. How and why was historical fact passed on in this manner?

The Hero and the City

“Action Heroes” = measured by HEROMETER• Heracles (of Argos)• Theseus (of Athens)

“Homeric Heroes” = measured by ARETE and KLEOS at WAR• Agamemnon (of Mycenae/Argos)• Hector (of Troy)• Achilles (of Phthia)

“Civic Heroes” = we see them as kings or queens at HOME• Clytemnestra (of Mycenae/Argos)• Penelope and Odysseus (of Ithaca)• Oedipus (of Thebes)

Map of Greece (detail)

Founding of Cadmeia (Thebes)

• Cadmus was the son of Agenor, king of Tyre. • Searching for his sister Europa, whom Zeus, disguised as a bull,

had carried to Crete, Cadmus came to Delphi to ask Apollo for advice.

• Apollo told him to follow a divinely sent cow until she lay down. • Cadmus followed the cow to Boeotia, sacrificed her, and in the

process killed a serpent, child of Ares. Cadmus is told that he too will become a serpent.

• Athena told Cadmus to sow the serpent's teeth. The men sprung from the teeth fought one another until only 5 remained. The noble families of Thebes were descended from these 5 "Spartoi," or "sown men."

House of CadmusCadmus and Harmonia• After serving as slave to Ares for one year, Cadmus married

Harmonia, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. • Cadmus and Harmonia introduce writing. This is logical, since he is

from Tyre and since the Greeks adopted their writing from the Phoenicians.

• Eventually Cadmus and Harmonia were turned into serpents

Daughters of Cadmus and Harmonia: • Ino: Married Athamas, plotted against Phrixus, eventually leapt into

the sea and became the goddess Leucothea. • Semele: impregnated by Zeus, mother of Dionysus. • Autonoe: mother of Actaeon, turned into a stag by Artemis • Agave: mother of Pentheus.

House of Labdacus

• Labdacus founded a new dynasty: His son, Laius, was the father of Oedipus.

• Lycus, descended from a Spartoi, reigned before Laius. Lycus' brother, Nycteus, had a daughter, Antiope.

• Antiope bore twins to Zeus: Amphion and Zethus,• Amphion married Niobe (of the 7 sons and 7 daughters) and built

the walls of Thebes. • Zethus married Thebe, who gave her name to the newly walled

city. • After the deaths of Zethus and Thebe, Laius returned from exile• By abducting Pelops‘s son, Laius brought a curse on himself. • Laius learned from the Delphic oracle that he would be killed by his

son • Laius and his wife Jocasta had their son exposed on Mt. Cithaeron

after he was born

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The Oracle and the Riddle

Oeddie’s story (continued)• Baby found by Corinthian shepherd; named “Swellfoot” (Oedipus)• Raised as son of King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth• Friends taunted him as a bastard, went to oracle which said "marry

his mother and kill his father. • Decides never to return to Corinth• Gets road rage and kills some random old chariot driver dude

Meanwhile in Thebes• Sphinx sits on hill by Thebes posing riddle "what goes on 4 legs in

morning, 2 @ midday, and 3 in the evening?“• Laius went to consult oracle, but gets killed en route • Creon, brother of Laius’s widow Jocasta, announces that whoever

answers Sphinx’s riddle gets to marry Jocasta and become king

Oedipus Rex

• Oedipus and Jocasta had boys Polynices & Eteocles, girls Antigone & Ismene.

• Oedipus rules for 20 years, loved by all. But a plague comes.• Tiresias, blind prophet, tells truth but Oedipus alleges conspiracy. • Old Corinthian messenger announces Polybus’s death • Oedipus is relieved – thinks he has shaken off the oracle’s prophecy• Old Corinthian messenger admits he personally discovered Baby

Swellfoot• Jocasta hangs herself in bedroom; Oedipus blinds himself• ARTI MANTHANO

Seven Against Thebes

Problems with the succession to Oedipus• Eteocles rules first, for one year• Polynices went to Argos and married king Adrastus' daughter.• Eteocles refuses to step down

Polynices and the other Six of the Seven Against Thebes• Adrastus, king of Argos • Tydeus, friend of Polynices • Capaneus, killed by a thunderbolt from Zeus. • Hippomedon, fell in battle• Parthenopaeus, fell in battle • Amphiaraus, Polynices bribed his prophetess wife with the

necklace of Harmonia to convince her husband to join.

Sophocles’s Antigone

• In Sophocles‘s play Antigone, Creon, brother of Jocasta, ruled Thebes after the death of Eteocles.

• Creon decreed that the body of Polyneices could not be buried or given any funeral rites.

• His sister Antigone claimed that this was a sin against the gods and defied Creon's law.

• Creon locked her in a tomb. • Teiresias warned Creon to release her, but it was too late; she had

hanged herself. • His son Haemon, who had been engaged to Antigone, killed

himself, as did Haemon's mother, when she learned of his death.

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HISTORICAL FACT

Theban Saga – Rest of the Story

Sophocles‘s Oedipus at Colonus,• Oedipus eventually took refuge in Athens, where he was received

by Theseus. • At Colonus (suburb of Athens) Oeddie is received into the heavens

The Suppliant Women • In Euripides’s play The Suppliant Women, the mothers of the

Seven against Thebes beg Theseus to help bury their sons. • Eventually Theseus agreed, and Theseus returned from Thebes

with the bodies

Tiresias• Weird sex change results in gift of prophecy• Advises Odysseus (among others) even after his death

House of Atreus

• Pelops (son of Tantalus): last seen being served as soup to the gods

• Wins wife Hippodamia in chariot race given by father King Oenomaus of Pisa

• Pelops has Myrtilus take out wheel pins, causing the king’s death • Myrtilus (a bastard son of Hermes) thought he got Hippodamia. • Pelops pushes him down wall, incurring a mighty curse• Myrtilus curses Pelops’ entire family. • Sons of Pelops and Hippodamia = Atreus and Thyestes

Competition for Mycenae

• Golden ram from sky will be given to next king of Mycenae (replacing Eurystheus)

• Zeus sends the ram to Atreus • Atreus's wife Aerope lets his brother Thyestes have the ram while

Atreus was asleep. • Next morning Thyestes shows off the ram; the sun rose and sat

backwards. (total eclipse of the Sun)• Atreus serves Thyestes Thyestes’ own children for supper • Thyestes marries his own daughter Pelopia and has a son

Aegistheus. • Atreus marries Pelopia and takes Aegistheus as his own son. • Later, Aegistheus finds out the truth and kills Atreus. • Agamemnon and Menelaus (sons of Atreus and Aerope) flee to

Sparta.

House of Tyndareus

Leda and the Swan• Leda, wife of Tyndareus of Sparta, raped by Zeus in form of a swan.• Leda also has sex with Tyndareus the same night. Leda lays two

eggs. • Mortal egg: Castor and Clytemnestra • Immortal egg: Pollux and Helen

Children of Zeus and Leda• Castor dies; Pollux can’t stand it, so they share Pollux’s immortality • 1 day on Mt. Olympus, 1 day in Underworld. • Clytemnestra and Agamemnon have three children- Orestes,

Electra, Iphigenia • All Helen's suitors vow to honor her choice of husband = Menelaus.

Wedding of Peleus and Thetis

• All the deities invited except for Eris (discord) • Eris throws out golden apple inscribed "For the Fairest" • Hera, Athena, Aphrodite claim prize• Zeus is too smart to serve as judge • Prince Paris of Troy agrees to serve as judge; chooses Aphrodite; • Receives most beautiful woman in world, Helen as his prize • Helen is already married to King Menelaus of Sparta• Paris received as guest of Menelaus; • Helen is driven craaazy by Aphrodite; they steal treasures and flee.

ARETE and KLEOS

• kill daughter and obtain ARETE (virtue, manliness, measured in acts you do) and KLEOS (fame, only thing left after you die)

Gathering of the Greeks

Gathering at Aulis (minus two draft dodgers)• Odysseus, wife Penelope just had son Telemachus, fakes

madness by plowing fields w/salt • Achilles, mom dresses him up as a girl, sends him to Island of

Nubile Young Girls • Odysseus gets off boat and lays toys out • Achilles caught because he is the only one who reached for guy toy • Artemis holds winds back because of no sacrifice on her name.

Agamemnon’s Dilemma• Agamemnon is told to sacrafice daughter Iphigenia by Calchas (the

sea): two alternatives • Don’t kill daughter and be a loser, wimp • Gets Iphigenia to show up by claiming she will marry Achilles - and

sacrifices her.

The Greek Team

• Agamemnon = king of Mycenae-killed by wife and lover when returned home

• Menelaus = King of Sparta • Odysseus = King of Ithaca • Achilles = Greatest Greek hero, kills Hector, killed by Paris • Diomedes = best fighter/ thinker; wounded both Ares and Aphrodite

in combat • Nestor = wise old wind bag • Idomeneus = King of Crete • Philoctetes = Mighty Steerman/ Stinky foot • Ajax the Greater• Ajax the Lesser = raped Cassandra in Athena’s temple-- HUBRIS • Neoptolemus (a/k/a Pyrrhus) = Achilles son,

The Trojan Team

• Paris (son of King Priam and Hecuba of Troy)  = won Helen • Hector = brother of Paris, heir to throne, greatest Trojan hero, • Andromache = heroic wife of Hector, mother of Astyanax • Astyanax  = son of Hector and Andromache; thrown to his death

from the walls of Troy after it fell • Aeneas  = (son of Aphrodite and Anchises) eventually escaped

from Troy and founded Rome • Sarpedon  = illegitimate son of Zeus whom even Zeus could not

save • Helenus = son of Priam; prophet; third Mr. Helen • Priam  = aged king of Troy; hopes to leave it all to Hector • Cassandra = 100% accurate prophetess whom nobody ever

believes

The Divine SideDeities on Greek Side • Athena = still mad at losing Judgment of Paris • Hera = still mad at losing Judgment of Paris • Poseidon = had been stiffed by King Priam's father in a business

deal

Deities on Trojan Side • Aphrodite  = winner in Judgement of Paris • Ares  = no particular reason, just likes to fight • Apollo = no particular reason, just likes to fight

Zeus

ILIAD = Th’ Wrath of Achilles

• Agamemnon takes Chryseis, daughter of Chryses (local priest of Apollo), as booty

• Apollo sends Cholera plague on camp; Agamemnon must return Chryseis

• If Agamemnon does not return her, the Greeks lose • If Agamemnon hands over his girl, he will be deprived of KLEOS

and ARETE points. • Achilles, tired of watching the plague, tells Agamemnon to give her

back. • Agamemnon says okay but takes Achilles’ slave girl Briseis • Achilles takes his men and retreats from war • Achilles's mother Thetis gets Zeus to let the Greeks get womped • Agamemnon and the Greeks spend next eight books getting

womped

ILIAD – Achilles’s Choice

• Agamemnon sends an embassy to persuade Achilles back • offers money, an apology, and his daughter’s hand • Phoenix, Ajax the Greater, and Odysseus all make speeches • Achilles explains that he has two fates to choose from • die young with ARETE • live long and die without ARETE (he picks this option)

ILIAD – Achilles vs. Hector

• Patroclus, friend of Achilles, allowed to borrow Achilles’ armor in hopes to gain on Greeks side

• Warned not to get too close to the walls of Troy. • Patroclus tries to go over wall (hubris) • Patroclus killed by Hector, who strips off armor of Achilles • Achilles enraged at the death of his friend and stolen armor by

Hector • Thetis gets Hephaestus to make new armor with scenes of both

peace and war on it • Achilles kills Hector, desecrates body by dragging it through town

(Hector pleaded for a proper burial).

ILIAD – Rest of the Story

• Zeus and Gods preserve Hector's body• Achilles gives body to Priam after shaking hands with him • Achilles knows he is going to die soon • Funeral games celebrated for Hector = anticipates Achilles's demise • Paris, assisted by Apollo, shot Achilles in heel. Ajax the Greater

brought body back. • Achilles’ armor given to Odysseus instead of Ajax. • Ajax the Greater driven mad, commits suicide. • Trojans winning by pushing Greeks back to boat

ILIAD – The Trojan Horse

• Sinon talks Trojans into bringing in the wooden horse in • Laocoon (priest of Apollo) disagrees but he and his sons are eaten

by snakes • When all are asleep, Greeks get out and open gates and sack the

city • Neoptolemus kills king Priam • Helen keeps Menelaus from killing her by flashing her breasts at

him

Nostos (pl. nostoi) = definition

NOSTOI: definition• nostos = Ancient Greek for "return voyage" • compare English word "nostalgia" (longing to go home) • popular "sequels" to the Iliad • also contain KERNELS OF HISTORICAL FACT

NOSTOI• Menelaus = got Helen back, on the way home, blown to Egypt, but

made it back later. • Nestor = Went over land--Homer probably could relate to him

because of old wind bag

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Legend by its very nature…

• Diomedes = returned to Argos, (wife unfaithful, not welcomed at home) wanders around the Mediterranean, finally ends in Italy, founds a few cities, worshipped as God after death.

• Idomeneus = hero of Crete. weather was bad, vows if saved will sacrifice first thing that approaches him when he has landed—his son. Miasma causes him to wander around the Mediterranean, finally ends in Italy, founds a few cities, worshipped as God after death.

• Philoctetes = not welcomed at home. founds Naples as he wanders around the Mediterranean, finally ends in Italy, founds a few cities, worshipped as God after death.

• Aeneas = son of Aphrodite and Anchises, wanders around the Mediterranean, finally ends in Italy, founds a few cities, worshipped as God after death.

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Agamemnon’s Nostos

Agamemnon (first play)• Agamemnon returns to Greece with his prize Cassandra. • Cassandra tells Agamemnon that his wife will kill him, then her• He walks into bath that Clytemnestra fixes for him, and gets killed • Clytemnestra incurs miasma along with her lover Aegisthus, but

what is Orestes to do?

The Liberation Bearers• Electra gets Orestes to kill Aegistheus and Clytemnestra• Orestes is promptly driven mad by the Furies

The Kindly Ones (third play)• Furies are prosecuting attorneys• Apollo the defense attorney• Jury tied, Athena rules for Orestes.

The Wanderings of Odysseus - I

• Island of the Ciconians = Sacked the city, taking booty, taking with them 12 jars of red wine. Lost men from every ship when escaping

• Lotus Eaters = blown to this island where everyone consumes the lotus-laced with drug

• Polyphemus Island = Ate herd of sheep, found Cyclops cave containing fruit and delicacies, Cyclops trapped opening w/ boulder and ate men every night. Odysseus got him drunk, blinded him, got away

• Aeolus Island = God of winds feasted men and gave him special bag containing deadly winds. Men jealous, open bag while asleep and are blown back to Aeolus Island.

• The Laestrygonians = Cannibals that ate all ships except Odysseus and his few crew. Quickly sailed away

• Circe = Daughter of Helius-turns men into pigs. He will sleep with her but first make an oath not to castrate him. Circe changes men back and they live on island for one year. He leaves with advice to talk to Tiresias in underworld,

Wanderings of Odysseus - II

• Underworld – has a nice katabasis and visits Tiresias• Sirens = beautiful women singing with enchanted voices. Entraps

sailors-they follow them and die on cliffs the women-birds perch on. Odysseus manages to listen to them sweetly singing

• Scylla and Charybdis = blocking the narrow straight they must pass through- on one side Scylla-monster w/ 12 feet, 6heads w/ 3 rows of teeth hidden in cave beneath sheer cliffs.

• Cattle of the Sun= Winds kept them from leaving-starving them to eat fish. Odysseus falls asleep and wakes to the smell of burnt meat

• Calypso = Finally he washes up on Ogygia. Sea nymph wanting him for herself promises him immortality-but he says no.

• Phaeacians = washes up on Scheria, found by Nausicaa, tells them of his adventures, and is sent home by Queen Arete

• Ithaca = returned to his home island by the Phaeacians

ODYSSEY – The Big Return• Goes to swineherd friend Eumaeus's house. • Son Telemachus is there and says whats happening at home:

suitors, murder plots • He disguises himself as beggar talks to Penelope saying her

husband is alive. • She recognizes him and immediately tells of contest she will hold for

her hand • whoever can string her husband’s old bow and shoot it thru 12

axeheads. • No one can and he does-then turns on suitors and kills them. • Penelope tells him to sleep on porch (test) on old bed-he gets mad,

she smiles and they go to bed.

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Where do we go from here?

Nov 18 Hour Exam 3 Returned

Nov 20 Blended Day

Nov 25 Introduction: Belief and Society (P 17; Oedipus Rex)

Nov 27 Thanksgiving Holiday

Dec 02 Blended Day

Dec 04 Legend By Its Very Nature… (P 19, 20; L 31-34)

Dec 09 Blended Day

Dec 11 Review and Wrap-Up (P 21; L 35-38)

Section 1 takes Hour Exam 4 at 11:00 am Thursday, Dec 18

Section 2 takes Hour Exam 4 at 11:00 am Tuesday, Dec 16