Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Classical Mythology
Flashcards regarding myth's as drama and the Odyssey
113
Other
Undergraduate 1
12/14/2008

Additional Other Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Achilles
Definition
Hero of Troy. In the Odyssey he is seen in Hades wishing he was still alive.
Term
Admetus
Definition
The husband in Euripides Alcestis who is allowed not to die, provided someone else volunteers in his place. Tries to hide the fact that his wife died when Heracles comes to visit.
Term
Aeaea
Definition
The island where Circe lives, and where she turned Odysseus’ crew into pigs.
Term
Aegeus
Definition
King of Athens and the father of Theseus. In Euripides’ Medea, he tells her that she can have asylum in Athens because he believes she can help him produce an heir. This gives her a place to escape to.
Term
Aegisthus
Definition
He was the lover of Clymnestra, and he helped her kill her husband Agamemnon. He was eventually killed by Orestes, an event much discussed in the Odyssey around Telemachus.
Term
Aeolus
Definition
The king of the winds. He gave Odysseus a bag containing all the ill winds to allow him to go home quickly. When Odysseus returns, Aeolus sends him away, saying that Odysseus must have angered a major god.
Term
Aeschylus
Definition
A playwright and contemporary of Sophocles and Euripides. He wrote Prometheus Bound and the Orestia trilogy, detailing the death of Agamemnon and the revenge extracted by his son.
Term
Agamemnon
Definition
The leader of the Greeks at Troy who is murdered by his wife and his lover when he returns home, but avenged by his son. Odysseus sees him in the underworld, and he warns him to not trust women and to be cautious of Penelope.
Term
Ajax
Definition
A Greek warrior at Troy, who Odysseus sees but does not talk to in the underworld. He is still angry that Odysseus won Achilles’ armor and he himself is possibly guilty of rape while at Troy.
Term
Alcestis
Definition
The wife of Admetus who dies in his place in the Euripides play. She is brought back to life when Heracles assaults death to get her back, although she can’t speak initially.
Term
Alcinous
Definition
The father of Nausicaa and the husband of Arete. He sends Odysseus back to Ithaca with lots of gifts on his fastest ship.
Term
Anticelia
Definition
Odysseus’ mother who died grieving for him. She tells him about his family who are still alive. They try and fail to embrace.
Term
Antigone
Definition
Daughter of Jocasta and Oedipus, she is executed by Creon for trying to bury her brother, Polyneices, whose body had been left outside in the Sophocles play.
Term
Aphrodite
Definition
In Euripides’ Hippolytus, she drives Phaedra mad with lust for her stepson who ignores and refuses to honor Aphrodite, goddess of love, by not marrying.
Term
Apollo
Definition
Olympian god who gets death to give Admetus an extension on life, if someone will take his place.
Term
Arete
Definition
Nausicaa’s mother and the true power in Phaiacia.
Term
Artemis
Definition
In Hippolytus, she is the patron and friend of the main character. She sets things right with Theseus and his son, while promising to get revenge on Aphrodite.
Term
Athena
Definition
The goddess of wisdom and Odysseus’ main patron.
Term
Bacchae/Bacchants
Definition
Followers of Bacchus, they tend to be drunk and frolicking in nature. They can also commit unbelievably violent acts, like in the play of the same name where they rip Pentheus apart.
Term
Bacchus
Definition
God of wine. He incites his followers to great merriment or great violence. Associated with wild women and satyrs, he is the son of Zeus and Semele, technically making him Theban royalty and a god.
Term
Bromius
Definition
Another name for Bacchus, often used in Euripides’ Bacchae. It means Thunderer, signifying his link to Zeus.
Term
Cadmus
Definition
The brother of Europa, who founded Thebes after he couldn’t find her. He battled a snake/dragon and eventually was turned into one with his wife after he abandoned his tragic city.
Term
Calypso
Definition
The “concealer.” She was a nymph/goddess who saved Odysseus from drowning and kept him on her island for 7 years.
Term
Cattle of the Sun
Definition
Odysseus’ men ate them, angering Apollo who had Zeus destroy their ships, killing everyone except Odysseus.
Term
Charybdis
Definition
The whirlpool across from Scylla that sucks everything in, or alternatively spits everything out later on.
Term
Cicones
Definition
Allies of the Trojans who Odysseus and company attack shortly after leaving Troy. After pillaging them, the Greeks leave and heavy storms eventually drive them to the Cyclopes’ island.
Term
Circe
Definition
A sorceress who transforms some of Odysseus’ men into pigs. She tries to trick Odysseus but is overcome by the moly. She becomes his lover and advises him to speak with Teiresias in the Underworld.
Term
City Dionysia
Definition
A theater competition and religious festival which Sophocles and Euripides participated in. There would be 3 tragedies and then a fourth “satyr” play (like a comedy) upon which the playwrights would be judged.
Term
Clytemnestra
Definition
The wife of Agamemnon and lover of Aegisthus. She kills Agamemnon when he returns from Troy with Cassandra, but is ultimately killed by her own son Orestes
Term
Corinth
Definition
The setting of the play Medea ruled by Creon, whose daughter Glauce will marry Jason.
Term
Creon (Corinth)
Definition
The king of Corinth in Euripides’ Medea. He is the father of Glauce, Jason’s new wife. Medea kills him as well.
Term
Creon (Thebes)
Definition
Jocasta’s brother who becomes king after Oedipus leaves and his sons kill each other. He forbids the burial of Polyneices in the Sophocles’ play Antigone, and his hubris leads to the death of Antigone, Ismene, his son Haemon, and his wife.
Term
Cyclopes
Definition
A one eyed giant monster. In the Odyssey, one of these creatures eats some of the Greeks and is blinded in retaliation by Odysseus. Unfortunately, his father is Poseidon, so he has a curse placed on Odysseus.
Term
Death
Definition
In Euripides’ Alcestis Death takes the title character in place of her husband Admetus, because Apollo was able to offer his friend that deal. Heracles attacks Death, forcing him to allow Alcestis to return to life.
Term
Dionysus
Definition
Son of Zeus and Semele, a Theban princess. He is the god of wine and his followers are euphoric and capable of great destruction. In Euripides’ Bacchae he arranges for the death of Pentheus, because he doesn’t believe Dionysus is a god
Term
Elpenor
Definition
He got drunk and fell to his death from Circe’s roof. Odysseus sees him in the Underworld and promises to return to the island to give him a proper burial.
Term
Eteocles
Definition
The son of Oedipus who became king of Thebes when his father left, he killed/ was killed by his brother Polyneices in battle for control of the city. His uncle Creon deemed him a true champion of Thebes and buried him with great honors.
Term
Eumaius
Definition
The swineherd who takes the disguised Odysseus in when he returns to Ithaca. He later helps his master kill the suitors.
Term
Euripides
Definition
A Greek playwright who wrote Medea, The Bacchae, Alcestis, and Hippolytus. His tragedies almost always came in second place to Sophocles in the City Dionysia.
Term
Eurycleia
Definition
She was Odysseus’ nurse who recognized him as she washed his feet due to the scar on his thigh. She identified the maids who had remained loyal to Penelope and which ones had consorted with the suitors.
Term
Eurydice
Definition
She was Creon of Corinth’s wife. She kills herself in Antigone when she learns her son Haemon had done the same.
Term
Haemon
Definition
The son of Creon and Antigone’s fiancé. He tries to reason with his father about her punishment, creating a rift between the two which would lead to his suicide so he could be with Antigone.
Term
Helen
Definition
Helen of Troy. In the Odysseus, Telemachus meets her and her husband Menelaus in Sparta. She tells stories about Odysseus and confirms Telemachus’ identity as his son by recognizing him.
Term
Heracles
Definition
The greatest of the Greek heroes. In Alcestis, he stays at Admetus’ house and has a good time, until he learns why everyone is in mourning. He then goes to the tomb and attacks Death, forcing Death to allow Alcestis to return with him.
Term
Hermes
Definition
The messenger god who warns Odysseus about Circe, and gives him the moly so he can overcome her. He also tells the nymph Calypso she must let Odysseus return home. He appears in the final book as a psychopomp leading the slain suitors into the underworld where they see the Trojan War heroes.
Term
Hippolytus
Definition
The son of Theseus and the title character in the Euripides’ play. He scorns love and marriage, favoring Artemis over Aphrodite. In retaliation, Aphrodite causes his stepmother to fall in love with him. He rejects her but agrees to keep the whole thing a secret, which eventually leads to his father banishing and cursing him.
Term
Homer
Definition
The poet who composed the Odyssey and the Iliad. He was an oral artist.
Term
Ino
Definition
In The Bacchae, she is an aunt of Pentheus and Bacchus. She helps Pentheus’ mother rip him apart in their frenzy.
Term
Ismene
Definition
Antigone’s sister. She tries to dissuade Antigone from burying her brother’s body against Creon’s decree. After Antigone is caught, Ismene tries to say she was involved as well. Antigone tells her not to bother, while Creon winds up sentencing her to death.
Term
Ithaca
Definition
Odysseus’ home, the one place he is trying to get to during the entire course of the Odyssey.
Term
Jason
Definition
Medea’s husband who leaves her to marry Glauce the Corinthian princess. Medea kills their children in order to punish him for leaving her.
Term
Jocasta
Definition
Oedipus’ mother and wife. She kills herself when she realizes the truth.
Term
Laertes
Definition
Odysseus’ father who lives alone in his vineyard, grieving the loss of his son. Odysseus tests him when he returns. Laertes kills the father of the suitor Antonius, right before Athena tells the Ithacans to stop fighting.
Term
Laestrygonians
Definition
A race of giant cannibals who attack and kill a large number of Odysseus’ men before he encounters the Cyclopes.
Term
Lotus-Eaters
Definition
People who eat the lotus lose all memory of home, instead focusing themselves entirely on staying on the island and eating the fruit. A few of Odysseus’ men do eat it.
Term
Maenads
Definition
These are the same as the Bacchae, the female followers of Bacchus.
Term
Medea
Definition
A witch and the wife of Jason. She kills her children, his new wife and her father to punish Jason for leaving her. She then flees to Athens.
Term
Menelaus
Definition
The husband of Helen and king of Sparta. He hosts Telemachus and instinctively realizes he is Odysseus’ son, confirming his identity.
Term
Mentes
Definition
He was the king of the Cicones who were attacked by Odysseus immediately after leaving Troy.
Term
Moly
Definition
An herb and its root that Hermes gives to Odysseus to protect him from Circe’s bewitchment.
Term
Agave
Definition
In the Bacchae, she is the mother of Pentheus and the aunt of the god Dionysus. Driven into a frenzy by the god, she and her sisters tear Pentheus apart, which she doesn’t realize until the end of the play.
Term
Eumelus
Definition
Son of admetus, led pherae in the trojan war on the greek side
Term
Odysseus
Definition
metis, nostos, homophrosyne
Term
Oedipus
Definition
King of Thebes. Killed his father Lauis and married his mother Jocasta. Uncovered this truth while investigating the cause of a plague on Thebes.
Term
Orestes
Definition
son of Agamemnon who avenged his father murder, by killing Clytemnestra (mother) and his mother’s lover. Used as a comparison for Telemachus (Penelope plagued by suitors).
Term
Penelope
Definition
metis, trick of the loom, the bridal bed
Term
Pentheus
Definition
King of Thebes, he banned the worship of Dionysus (his cousin) because he doubted his divine lineage. Lured into watching Maenads during a Bacchic frenzy and eventually pulled apart by his mother Agave.
Term
Pericles (on women)-
Definition
???
Term
Phaedra
Definition
Wife of Theseus, step-mother to hippolytus, made to fall in love with Step-son by Aphrodite who was punishing hippolytus for only worshiping Artemis. Kills herself, makes it look like Hippolytus’ fault.
Term
Phaiacia
Definition
another name for Scheria. A nation of shipbuilders. Lead by King Alcinoos.
Term
Pherae
Definition
Home of Admetus and Alcestis.
Term
Pheres
Definition
Father of Admetus. Refuses to die for his son, saying that life is precious no matter what age you are.
Term
Polyneices
Definition
Son of Oedipus, killed in a bid to take over Thebes from his brother. Creon declares that he is not to be buried, as he is a traitor. Antigone disobeys this order and is subsequently sentenced to death by starvation.
Term
Polyphemus
Definition
The Cyclops who held Odysseus and his men captive. Blinded with a sharpened log. Odysseus leads his men out of the cave by lashing them to the bellies of sheep. Son of Poseidon, calls curse upon Odyssesus.
Term
Poseidon
Definition
Father of Polyphemus, tries to prevent Odysseus from getting home.
Term
Scheria
Definition
Also known as Phaeacia. Odysseus lands hear after his raft is destroyed. He recounts much of his story over a banquet with King Alcinoos. They are regarded as having the fastest ships and take Odysseus back to Ithaca. Their ship is turned to stone by Poseidon because of this.
Term
Scylla
Definition
Six headed monster who eats six of Odysseus’ men. Odyessus doesn’t tell them about this. The other option is the whirlpool Charybdis.
Term
Semele
Definition
Aunt to Pentheus, and mother of Dionysus. She is seduced by Zeus, but is later killed after Hera tricks her into asking Zeus to reveal himself in his true form.
Term
Sirens
Definition
Their song makes men forget about their journeys and steer towards the song, where they are shipwrecked. Odysseus puts wax in his men’s ears so they can’t hear the song and has them tie him to the fast so he can hear it.
Term
Sisyphus
Definition
Oedipal criminal, encountered by Odysseus in Tartaros, continually pushing a boulder up a hill.
Term
Sophocles
Definition
Famous Greek tragedy writer. Wrote Antigone and Oedipus the King. Almost always beat Euripides in the City Dionysia.
Term
Sparta
Definition
Telemachus’ second stop after talking to Nestor. He is entertained by Menelaus and Helen who recognize him as Odysseus’ son.
Term
Suitors
Definition
The group of men wh
Term
Tantalus
Definition
First husband of Clytemnestra, killed by Agamemnon.
Term
Teiresias
Definition
Blind prophet. Oedipus asks consults him about the killing of Lauis. He is reluctant to reveal the answer but Oedipus provokes him until revealing the truth. Odysseus meets him in the underworld and he gives him advice about the rest of his journey, specifically about the cattle of Helios.
Term
Telemachus
Definition
Son of Odysseus
Term
The Nurse
Definition
Discovers bad secret, ends up making situation worse. Think Hippolytus.
Term
Thebes
Definition
The quintessential “tragic city”. The Bacchae, Oedipus the King, and Antigone all take place here. Founded by Cadmus.
Term
Theseus
Definition
Father of Hippolytus, bans Hippolytus and calls down a curse upon him (via Poseidon) after Phaedra blames Hippolytus for her death.
Term
Thrinakia
Definition
Island home to Helios’ cattle. Where Odysseus’ men betray
Term
Tityos
Definition
Oedipal criminal who tried to rape Leto. Streteched out and has his liver eaten
Term
Troezen
Definition
Setting of Hippolytus
Term
Zeus
Definition
Orders Calypso to let Odysseus go, bars Poseidon from out right killing Odysseus, and destroys the ship when they eat the cattle
Term
“bride of death”
Definition
Antigone, buried in her wedding dress (engaged to Haemon).
Term
“Ode to Man”
Definition
“There are many wondrous things and yet nothing is more wondrous than man" First stasmos of Antigone.
Term
Choregos
Definition
a wealthy Athenian citizen who assumed the public duty of financing and paying the expenses of the preparation of the chorus and other aspects of dramatic production that were not covered by the state.
Term
Entheos
Definition
possession by a god.
Term
Enthousiasmos
Definition
the manifestation of the possession by a god., e.g. Dionysus’ possession of the Maenads.
Term
Homophagia
Definition
act of eating raw flesh, closely associated with Dionysus. Usually preceded by sparagmos.
Term
Homophrosyne
Definition
the concept of charecteristics shared by two or more people. Most obvious with Penelope and Odysseus and even Telemachus to a lesser extent.
Term
In media res-
Definition
A story which begins in the middle of the action. (Odyssey starts on Calypso’s island)
Term
Katabasis
Definition
A journey “downwards”, usually to the underworld. Shown in book 11 “Nekuia”, of the Odyssey, where Odysseus travels to the Underworld to speak with Teiresias.
Term
Locus amoenus
Definition
term meaning pleasant place, usually one which offers safety from danger. Usually represented as a lawn or valley (think Eden).
Term
Metis
Definition
knowledge, perhaps Odysseus’ strongest trait, also shared by Penelope. Evidenced by the trick of the loom and by the escape from Polyphemus.
Term
Nekuia
Definition
a journey to the Underworld. Undertaken by Odysseus to consult Teiresias about how to return to Ithaca. Also the name of the 11h book of the Odyssey.
Term
Nostalgia
Definition
pain or sadness related to longing for the past.
Term
Nostos
Definition
a homecoming, the central theme of the Odyssey
Term
Polutropos
Definition
Greek word with know clearly defined meaning, but could mean anything from ‘many ways’ or ‘many handed’ to ‘multiple skills’.
Term
Sophrosyne
Definition
self-control and moderation.
Term
Sparagmos
Definition
A Dionysian ritual of sacrificing a live animal (or humans) by pulling it into pieces. Usually followed by homophagia. Pentheus killed by Sparagmos.
Term
Sparagmos
Definition
A Dionysian ritual of sacrificing a live animal (or humans) by pulling it into pieces. Usually followed by homophagia. Pentheus killed by Sparagmos.
Term
Thyrsus
Definition
the staff carried by followers of Dionysus (Bacchus) covered in Ivy and leaves, and topped with a pine cone.
Term
Xenia
Definition
hospitality, an important part of Greek culture to show hospitality to traveling guests.
Supporting users have an ad free experience!