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| Lec. 9. Iliad. Greatest hero of the Achaeans, son of Peleus and Thetis. Argues with Agamemnon and sits out much of the fighting in the Iliad, because his honor has been insulted. Kills Hector in book 22. |
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| Lec. 14. Odyssey bk. 10. King who lives on floating island with his 6 daughter and 6 sons. Gives Odysseus a bag of winds to aid him in his passage home. |
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| Lec. 9. Iliad; also Odyssey books 1-4; Aeschylus' Oresteia. Leader of the Achaeans (Greeks) at Troy, argues with Achilles. Father of Orestes. Murdered when he returns home by Aegisthus and his wife Clytemnestra (Aegisthus murders him in the Odyssey; Clytemnestra in Aeschylus' Agamemnon which we'll read later in the course). |
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| Lec. 13. course reader ("Greeks on Myth"). An ancient myth theory used by the Presocratics (eg. Theagenes, Metrodorus) and the Stoics to rationalize and interpret the hidden meaning behind myth |
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| Lec. 12. Odyssey bk. 5. Goddess who inhabits island of Ogygia and who detains Odysseus there for a number of years. |
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| Lec. 15. Odyssey 12. Immortal cattle of Helios whom Tiresias warns Odysseus not to eat, on any account. His men fall victim to their hunger and eat the cattle. The gods punish Odysseus' crew with a storm, killing all of them (except Odysseus) at sea. |
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| Lec. 14. Odyssey book 10. Immortal daughter of Helios. Lives on an island visited by Odysseus and turns some of his men into pigs. She then sleeps with Odysseus and he lives with her for a year. |
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| Lec. 11. In the Odyssey, left under the charge of a poet by husband Agamemnon when he went to war, but still seduced by Aegisthus (Od. 3.255-300, p.36). In Aeschylus' Agamemnon, kills Agamemnon upon his return from war and is in turn killed by Orestes. Alternative spelling: Clytaemestra. |
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| Lec. 13. Od. 8. Blind bard among the Phaeacians on Scheria. Sings at the feast set up to honor the stranger Odysseus. See further Song of Ares and Aphrodite. |
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| Lec. 11. Odyssey 4. Sea goddess. Daughter of Proteus (although she, like Telemachus in book 1, isn't entirely sure of this). Aids Menelaus in his journey home. |
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| Lec. 15. Od 10-12. Member of Odysseus' crew who falls from the roof of Circe's house at the end of book 10, whom Odysseus meets in the underworld, and whom he buries on Aeaea at the beginning of book 12 |
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| Lec. 9. Iliad. Greatest hero of the Trojans, the tragedy of his death closes the Iliad. Brother of Paris, killed by Achilles. |
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| Lec. 11. Odyssey 4. Wife of Menelaus. Telemachus visits her in Sparta in the Telemachy. Known for her wiles as well as her beauty. |
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| Lec. 9. Iliad; Theogony; Works and Days; Odyssey; Lame smith god of the Olympians, makes the Olympians laugh at the end of Iliad I. |
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| Lec. 9. Iliad; Odyssey; Oral poet, composer of Iliad and Odyssey. Active in about the 8th century BCE (much about him is unknown). See further Muses, epic. |
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| Lec. 10. Iliad, Odyssey. Greek word meaning fame, honor, reputation. a marker of heroic status. |
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| Lec. 14. Odyssey book 10. Fantastic giant people who spear Odysseus' men like fish when they pull into their harbor. |
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| Lec. 14. Odyssey 9. Group of people who feed Odysseus' crew the lotus, which causes them to forget their homeland. |
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| Lec. 11. Odyssey book 4. Brother of Agamemnon, husband of Helen. Telemachus visits him in book 4 of the Odyssey and Menelaus tells him about his nostos via Egypt. |
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| Lec. 14. course reader ("Greeks on Myth". Allegorist from the 5th c. BCE who believed that the gods in Homer represented different parts of the human body and that the heroes represented different elements of the universe (sun, moon, etc.). |
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| Lec. 12. Odyssey book 6. Phaeacian princess who is told in a dream by Athena to wash her clothes at the river in preparation for marriage. There she meets Odysseus. |
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| Lec. 11. Odyssey book 3. Oldest of the Greek heroes who fought at Troy. Telemachus visits him in Pylos in Od. 3 |
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| Lec. 10. Odyssey. 'homecoming' (we get our word nostalgia, homesickness from this word). Word used to describe the returns of the Greek heroes from Troy after the city has been captured. The story of Odysseus' nostos to Ithaca is told in the first 12 books of the Odyssey, but in many ways his true nostos, his real return home, does not take place until the very end of the poem. |
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| Lec. 12. Hero of Homer's Odyssey. Marked by his cunning, cleverness, and ability to endure pain and suffering. Favorite of Athena. |
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| Lec. 11. Wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus. She is under increasing pressure to marry one of the suitors. See further Linda Pastan "At the Loom," "Rereading the Odyssey in Middle Age". |
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| Lec. 12. Odyssey books 6-13. Somewhat fantastic and otherworldy race of people who are nevertheless human. They entertain Odysseus and escort him back to Ithaca. |
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| Lec. 10. Oral poet (bard) in Odyssey who sings to keep the suitors entertained (book 1). |
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| Lec. 14. Odyssey bk 9. Cyclops, son of Poseidon, who traps Odysseus in his cave and eats several of his men. Curses Odysseus when he finds out his name. |
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| Lec. 13. Odyssey; God of the sea, brother of Zeus and Hades. Develops a hatred of Odysseus during his nostos. |
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| Lec. 11. Odyssey 4; Old man of the Sea who can change into many shapes at will. Father of Eidothea |
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| Lec. 9. Iliad. Son of Zeus who dies in book 16 of the Iliad. Zeus is torn over whether to save his son or whether to let him die as fate has appointed. |
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| Lec. 12. 19th-century archaeologist who discovered the site of Troy using Homer's texts as his guide. |
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| Lec. 15. Odyssey 12. monsters whom Odysseus and his crew must pass by (and Odysseus must pass again after losing his crew). Scylla lives high up in a cliff on a rock face and eats several members of Odysseus' crew; Charybdis is a whirlpool who sucks everything down into herself and eventually spits it all back out. |
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| Lec. 15. Odyssey 12. Figures who sing alluringly to Odysseus and try to tempt him to pull in and listen to his song. Circe warns Odysseus that no- one who pulls in to the island ever leaves, which is why he fills his crews' ears with wax and has himself bound to the mast. |
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| Lec. 13. Od. 8. The adulterous affair between Ares and Aphrodite, and their capture by Aphrodite's husband Hephaestus, is told by Demodocus in book 8 of the Odyssey. Some ancient Greeks tried to rationalize this story though allegory. |
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| Lec. 14. Philosophers from the Hellenistic and Roman periods who continued the tradition of allegorizing Greek myth, especially through etymology (the meaning of words, or in this case, mostly the names of gods). |
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| Lec. 10. Odyssey 1-4. Son of Odysseus and Penelope, just reaching age of manhood when Odyssey opens. |
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| Lec. 10. Odyssey. A name given to the first four books of the Odyssey, because Odysseus does not appear until book 5. The Telemachy can be thought of as a 'mini-Odyssey' - Telemachus' wanderings to different areas of Greece in search of news (more accurately the kleos) of his father. |
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| Lec. 9. Iliad; Theogony. Daughter of Nereus (old man of the sea), an immortal who is married to the mortal man Peleus and who gives birth to Achilles. |
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| Lec. 15. Odyssey 11. Prophet whom Odysseus meets in the Underworld and who gives him advice on his journey home. |
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| Lec. 13. Odyssey. Ancient Greek practice of guest-friendship. |
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| Lec. 14. course reader ("Greeks on Myth"). Presocratic philosopher who criticized Homer and Hesiod for their portrayal of the gods (too immoral, too anthropomorphic). |
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