Exam 2

• Syncretism

  • The amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought
  • Christmas= mix of religions
  • Holidays in December= winter solstice, winter ending
  • Mixed God/Goddess names, dates, etc as people interacted
• Tantalus, son of Zeus and nymph Pluoto, killed his son Pelops and tried to feed him to the gods
• Only Demeter took a bite of the flesh
• Tantalus is in Tartarus, standing in water with fruit he can never drink or eat
• Tantalize means to torment or tease someone with the sign or promise of something unobtainable
• He is not punished for killing his son, but for testing the gods and thinking they wouldn't know
• Cannibalism was practiced by Neanderthals and Homo antecessor
• Homo sapiens may have eaten Neanderthals
• Many butchered human bones found in archaeological digs suggest cannibalism was part of ritual sacrifice and funeral rites, as well as during war and famine
• Pelops was put back together by the gods
• Pelops had an ivory shoulder
• Pelops is worshipped and given sacrifice at the Olympic festival
• The southern Greek mainland is called Peloponnese
• The Peloponnesian War was between Athens and Sparta
• Pelops and Hippodamia were involved in a story where her father, Oenomaus, races suitors to death
• Oenomaus decorated his palace with the heads of the suitors
• Pelops cheated in a race against Oenomaus, which was accepted in Greek society
• Pelops and Poseidon were lovers in another version of the story
• Pederasty, involving an older successful male and a younger male, was a practice in society
• Poseidon helped Pelops win a race by giving him a golden chariot and tireless winged horses
• Pelops won a race by bribing Oenomaus' charioteer, Myrtilus, and causing Oenomaus to crash and die
• Pelops left with Myrtilus and Hippodamia after winning the race
• A curse began due to Myrtilus' actions, leading to his death by being thrown off a cliff by Pelops
• Myrtilus thought he could have sex with Hippodamia, leading to the curse
• Curse of the House of Atreus: Atreus and Thyestes

  • Quarrel over who would be king of Mycenae
  • Oracle decrees rulers should be a son of Pelops
  • Whomever possess the golden fleece (used to pan for gold in river and left golden) of a ram should be king
  • Atreus had the fleece
  • Thyestes is having sex w/ Atreus wife Aerope
• Curse of the House of Atreus: Atreus and Thyestes

  • King Atreus
  • Eventually figures out the only way Thyestes could've got his fleece was if he was sleeping with his wife
  • Got fleece from wife and crowned but gods disapproved and Zeus rose sun in east, Atreus had banned Thyestes after made king
  • Invites Thyestes and his sons back to Mycenae
  • Atreus kills Thyestes sons, cooks them, and feeds them to Thyestes
  • Thyestes realizes he has eaten his sons and goes into exile
  • Thyestean Feast/Banquet= a banquet at which human flesh is served
• The Curse of the House of Atreus

  • Prolicide (Tantalus= killing one's children)
  • Cannibalism
  • Murder (Myrtilus)
  • Adultery (Thyestes and Aerope_
  • Nepocide (Atreus kills Thyestes sons, killing of nephews)
  • Rape/incest (Thyestes and Pelopia)
  • Thyestes sleeps or rapes his daughter (depends on source) b/c an oracle advised him to, some stories say it was unknowingly done
  • Curses= thought to be an explanation of bad genes
• The Curse of the House of Atreus: Helen of Troy

  • Daughter of Zeus and Leda
  • Leda married to Tynarus- Zeus
  • Leda and the Swan
  • Zeus takes the form of a swan and seduces or rapes Leda
  • Leda givens birth to Helen, Clymnestra, and the Discouri-Castor and Pollux
• • Leba and the Swan (W.B Yeats 1928)

  The broken wall, the burning roof and tower (Fall of Troy)

  And Agamemnon dead. (Fall of Troy)
• Leba and the Swan (W.B Yeats 1928):

  • Hymen- greek god of marriage
  • Flexible barrier on a woman's vagina
  • A lot of value on cuz women used to be property
• Helen

  • Most beautiful girl in the world
  • Abducted by Theseus who wants to have sex with a daughter of Zeus b/f he dies
  • Theseus goes w/ Pirithous to Hades to kidnap Persephone
  • Gets caught in forgetfulness and Hercules rescues
  • Some: gives birth and is given to sis to keep virginity safe
  • Castor and Pollux rescue Helen
  • Gets a shit ton of suitors, all warlords
  • Others will get pissed off
  • Might makes right (end of this)
• • Helen: Odysseus
  • Brought no gifts
  • Offers t solve the problem for Tyndareus in exchange for his niece/wife Penelope
  • Each suitor has to swear to support and fight for whomever Tyndareus selects, should anyone try to do him wrong
• • Helen: Menelaus for the win
  • Wealthy
  • Powerful, esp through his bro Agamemmnon (Sparta)
  • 2nd most powerful man
  • Not good looking
  • Helen has no say
  • Has Hermione
• Thetis wedding

  • Thetis forced to marry a human b/c no god will touch her due to the prohecy
  • Son was said to beat Zeus
  • Nereid (sea nymph) daughter of Nereus and Doris, granddaughter of Tethys (Titan daughter of Uranus and Gaia, married of Oceanus)
  • Peleus is her groom
  • He was w/ Hercules in several quests
  • Was an Argonaut
  • Myth as social charter= using myth to defend social customs
• Thetis wedding (Start of Troy War)

  • Big party
  • But no one invites Eris (goddess of discord)
  • Eris walks in and throws an apple on the table
  • For the fairest inscribed on it
  • Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all reach for it
  • They turn to Zeus and ask him to decide who gets the apple
  • Makes Paris choose
• Paris is the son of Priam, the ruler of Troy, and Hekabe
• Hekabe dreamed that her child, Paris, would be a firebrand that would consume all of Troy
• Seer Aesacus foretold that Paris would be the destruction of Troy and urged Priam and Hekabe to kill him
• Priam and Hekabe couldn't bring themselves to kill Paris as it was considered the worst thing to lose a child
• Priam and Hekabe give Paris to Agelas, a shepherd, who leaves Paris exposed on Mount Ida expecting him to die