Final

• Themes


  • Magic (Jason + Perseus)
  • Girl as helper (Athena)
  • Single Survivor (Normally the Hero)
• Hero characteristics/story line


  • Extraordinary - Only Child
  • Demi-God
  • Braver, Stronger, Better looking
  • Maybe abandoned at birth
  • At least one Ally
  • The Hero kills his Enemy at the end
  • The Hero is rewarded
• Ally


  Normally a god/goddess. Athena is usually depicted as this person
• Faded deity


  Gods that are not well remembered or were never worshiped
• Typical Reward for the Hero


  Power or Marriage
• Zeus transforms himself into a bull and kidnapped Europa and took her to the island of Creet
• Cadmos' quest


  1. King told him to find his sister Europa

  2. He went to Delphi and asked where he could find her

  3. The Pythia told him to follow the cow with circles on each flank

  4. Where this cow lays down is where he must create the foundation of his city

  5. He sacrified the cow to Athene as she was a city goddess
• Cadmus sent his company to find water, they found a fountain dedicated to Ares guarded by dragon "drakon"
• Cadmus killed the dragon, as it died it said "One day Cadmus will turn into a dragon/serpant"
• Athena told Cadmus to pull out the dragon's teeth and plant half of them
• The warriors grew from the planted teeth began to threaten Cadmus and he threw rock at them making them fight one another
• Spartoi


  Only 5 remain, they are called the Spartoi, which means Sown men
• Ares was enraged at Cadmus as he had married Harmonia and so he made him be his for one divine year.
• Harmonia got a wedding gift from her mother Aphrodite, a golden neckless made by Hephaistos
• Cadmus and Harmonia's daughters

  • Semele: the mother of Dionysos
  • Agave: Pentheus
  • Autonoë: Actaeon
  • Ino: Driven mad by Hera;killed all her children and killed herself
• Laius and Jocasta never had children and he went to the Phythia asked if he will ever has a son; it said that Apollo will give him a son and he will kill him
• They abandoned the child by Thebes and gave him to a shepherd, who felt pity on the child and gave him to another shepherd. Who then took him to his king and Queen, Polybus and Merope, and they named him Oedipus
• Oedipus was told by the Pythia "Don't go home as you will kill your father and marry your mother"
• Oedipus came to a crossroads and there was another chariot. An old man stuck him with a whip so Oedipus took the whip and hit the man who died when he hit the road
• The city was in uproar as their king was dead and their was Sphinx who blocked the road and posed the riddle. "What walks on 4 feet, then 2 feet, then 3 feet" Answer: Human being
• Creon said that the one who can answer the riddle will marry the queen and become the king of Thebes
• Sphinx was so mad that someone answer the riddle and throws himself off a Clift
• There is plague and famine in Thebes, a plague sent by Apollo. It was there because the person who murdered the king was not caught
• Oedipus sent an announcement saying when this man was found he would exile and would be hated by all mortals
• A messenger went to Thebes and told Oedipus that his father had died and that they wanted him to be king. Oedipus said that he couldn't as the prophesy still said that he would marry his mother. The messenger then told him that he need not to worry as they were not his true parents.
• Trojan Horse


  A giant wooden horse built by the Greeks to infiltrate Troy during the Trojan War.
• Abduction of Helen


  There was an apple thrown by Eris that said "for the fairest". Paris was the judge and 3 goddess offered him different things. Hera promised him to make him King of Europe and Asia. Then, Athena offered him wisdom and skill in war. Finally, Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman on Earth. He chose Aphrodite as she said she would give him the most beautiful woman alive (Helen). When Paris took Helen it Sparked the Trojan war.
• Achilles' Heel


  Thetis took little Achilles to the river Styx and dunked him in it. she held him by his left heel and so that was the only part of his body that was mortal which left him vulnerable there
• Jocasta


  • Hung herself when she realized she had married her son Oedipus
• Oedipus


  1. Finds his mother after she hung herself

  2. Takes a broach

  3. Stabs out his eyes
• Oedipus complex


  When a boy hates his father because he sees his father as a competitor for his mother's affection
• Something extraordinary about Oedipus is him being abandoned
• Oedipus at Colonus


  • Years after being exiled but not alone, his daughters Antigone and Ismene accompanied him
  • As he approaches Colonus they all dislike him and do not want him there
  • The king Theseus comes out and welcomes Oedipus due to him having a prophecy that wherever Oedipus was buried his spirit would protect his city
• Oedipus had two sons Eteocles and Polynices
• Oedipus cursed his sons


  They would kill one another during battle
• Eteocles became king while his brother Polynices went to Argos which was ruled by Adrastos
• A year went by, and Eteocles refused to let his brother Polynices rule
• Amphiaraus


  • He was a prophet and knew that Polynices was going to fail and die and refused to join his cause
  • But his wife insisted he went with Polynices
  • During battle the two brothers Eteocles and Polynices killed each other
  • Amphiaraus and Adrastos fled in Amphiaraus' chariot
  • As they were fleeing the ground opened up before them and Amphiaraus drove his chariot directly into the underworld
• Antigone


  • Struggles against authority
  • No one stepped up to rule Thebes so Creon became king
  • He ordered that anyone who attacked Thebes was not to be buried because they were traitors
  • Antigone was told by the gods to bury her brother Polynices
  • She gives her brother a symbolic burial
  • Creon finds out Polynices was buried and orders Antigone to be brought forward
  • He put Antigone into a cave that she could not get out of and was left to starve
  • Creon is told that the gods will punish him because he punished Antigone but when he opened the cave Antigone was dead
• The Quest for the Golden Fleece

  • Athamos was married to Nephele, cloud
  • They had two children Phrixus and Helle
  • Nephele left her husband because she didn't like that he was mortal
  • Athamos remarried to Ino who hated Phrixus and Helle
  • Ino causes a Phamon to hopefully have Phrixus killed
  • Athamos sent messengers to Delphi for answers but Ino had the messenger intercepted
  • Right before he could kill them Helle came down and took them away on a Ram with a golden fleece on its back
  • Helle fell off when they were crossing the Black Sea and drowned
  • Phrixus sacrificed the Ram and gave the fleece to Aeetes who hung it on an oak tree in a grove sacred to Ares which was guarded by a dragon that never slept
  • Cretheus was the new king, married to Leda
  • Leda had two sons Aeson who was the son of Cretheus, and Pelias whose father was Poseidon
  • Pelias took the throne and put Aeson into prison
  • Aeson's wife sent her son Jason to be raised by Cheiron
  • Jason decided to go and claim the throne
  • When walking there, he came across a river that was in flood and helped a scared woman cross, losing one sandal
  • As Jason approached the palace Pelias was scared because he heard a prophecy saying beware of the man with one sandal
  • Pelias says he will only give up the throne if Jason goes on a quest to Colchis to get the golden fleece