Online Classical Mythology Test Guide
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Test 1 - Ovid, Books 1-3
Know:
Know particular stories and characters from Ovid assignments:
Beginnings: Creation, Four Ages of Man, Lycaon, Flood,
Deucalion & Pyrrha, Apollo & Daphne, Jove & Io, Argus, Syrinx, Phaethon (Earth’s
role), aftermath of Phaethon’s death, Jove and Callisto (in Arcady), raven and
Coronis and crow and Athena; Centaur, Chiron, Ocyrhoe; Mercury and Battus;
Mercury, Herse, Aglauros; house of the goddess Envy
Theban Tales: Europa, Cadmus and founding of Thebes in Boeotia; Acteon, Semele and Bacchus, Tiresias, Echo and Narcissus, Nemesis, Pentheus and Bacchus, Bacchus and the sailors
Test 2 Ovid, Books 4-6
Know:
· How does Shakespeare use the Pyramus and Thisbe story? Is he faithful to Ovid?
· What inspiration do musicians find in myth? (e.g., Genesis)
· What are necessary personal qualities for heroes like Perseus and Cadmus?
· How well do classical myths transfer to film? What is needed to make them 'visual' in movies?
· What are the roles of wives and mothers in ancient mythic families?
Know also the basic wind deities: Aeolus, Boreas, Zephyros, Notus, Eurus
What are the patterns of behavior for wooing and wedding in ancient myth?
Know particular stories and characters from Ovid assignments:
Continuation of Theban Tales: Daughters of Minyas—their tales: Pyramus and Thisbe, Mars and Venus, Sun-god (Helius or Apollo) and Leucothoe and Clytie (in Persia), Salmacis (in Asia)--, Athamas and Ino, Underworld’s sinners/rivers and Tisiphone; end of Cadmus
Tales from Argos: Perseus and characters –Danae, Acrisius, Polydectes (King
of Seriphos), Medusa (Gorgon sisters), Atlas,
Andromeda, Pegasus, Phineus, Cassiopeia
Minerva and the Muses-- 9 Daughters of Pierus challenge the Muses, Song of
Calliope—story of Ceres (Demeter) and daughter
Proserpina (Persephone), abducted by Pluto
(Hades), transformations of Ascalaphus and Sirens, story
of Arethusa, story of Minerva and Arachne
(in Lydia)
Assorted Royal Families-- Story of Niobe and Latona (Leto), birth of Apollo
and Diana, Marsyas, story of Tereus, Procne, and
Philomela, Pandion (Erectheus), King of
Athens, whose daughter Orithyia married Boreas, the north
wind
Test 3 - Ovid, Books 7-9
Consider the following general topics:
· Consider the story of Jason & the Golden Fleece and its connection to history
· Positive examples of love and faithfulness among the myths
· Hercules’ qualities as the definitive hero and his definitive 12 Labors
· Heroic patters (compare Jason, Theseus, Cephalus, Meleager, Hercules)
· Consider the use of myth as artistic inspiration (e.g. the myth of Icarus)
Consider the updating of myths - (Jason and Hercules on film)
Consider the reflections of history in myth (e.g., Minos and the Cretan sea empire)
Know particular stories from Ovid and class:
More stories of the Minyans:--Jason and Medea, Hecate, Aeetes, Phrixus and
Helle, Pelias, Aeson, Phineus, Clashing Rocks,
Argo, Argonauts
Stories from Athens-- Aegeus, Medea, Theseus; Minos (Europa’s son), King of
Crete, at war with Athens; Cephalus of Athens and Aeacus of Aegina, story of plague and
repopulation of Aegina—origins of Myrmidons (Ant-people), Cephalus
and Procris and Aurora (Eos, the Dawn)—story of
Laelaps, the hound and the magic javelin
Stories from Crete--story of Nisus and his daughter Scylla, story of Daedalus and his son Icarus
Finally on mainland Greece:--the Calydonian boar hunt – Meleager, Althea, Atalanta
Stories told to Theseus: Baucis and Philemon, Achelous’ duel with Hercules over Deianira, Horn of Plenty (Cornucopia), Heracles’ history (12 Labors—Nemean Lion, Lernean Hydra, Cerynean Stag, Erymantian Boar, Augean Stables, Stymphalian Birds, Cretan Bull, Mares of Diomedes, Girdle of Hippolyta, Cattle of Geryon, Apples of Hesperides, Theft of Cerberus—Eurystheus), Heracles’ death, Almena (H’s mother) tells tale of Heracles’ birth (Amphitryon), Iole; Iole tells story of her sister Dryope
Narrator’s tales: Caunus and Byblis, Iphis and Ianthe
Test 4 - Ovid, Books 10, 11 (First Tale) and Homer, Books 1-10
General Considerations:
Tennessee William's take on the Orpheus myth, Orpheus Descending
Character of Orpheus - Ovid's variations on love and family relations
Film and theatrical adaptations (of Orpheus and Pygmalion stories)
Causes and events leading up to the Trojan War
Role of Achilles in the Trojan War
Homecoming of the Greek victors - difficulties for returning warriors then and now
The Odyssey - Why does Homer begin the story where he does?
Folks to know:
Orpheus and Eurydice
Orpheus’ tales: Ganymede, Apollo and Hyacinthus; Venus’ punishment of women of Cyprus: turning girls into bulls or prostitutes, then stone; Pygmalion and Galatea, Cinyras (grandson of Pygmalion) and his daughter Myrrha, Adonis (son of Myrrha) loved by Venus; Venus’ tale of Atalanta; fate of Adonis
Narrator: Death of Orpheus
Odyssey, Homer
Trojan War – Back story
History of Troy (Tros, Ilus, Dardanus), Zeus and Leda and children (Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor, Polydeuces, wedding of Thetis and Peleus and their son (Achilles), competition for the Golden Apple tossed by Ate, competition for Helen, abduction of Helen
Trojan War – 10 Years
Trojan War – Aftermath
· Death of all Trojan men and enslavement of women, esp. royal household; death or exile of Greek kings on their return home.
Odyssey
Start of the story, scenes: Gods, Ithaca, Pylos,
Sparta or Lacedemon. Trojan War as seen by veterans years later
Characters: gods, Penelope, Telemachus, Mentor,
Antinoos, Nestor, Peisistratus; stories about
Aegisthus, Clytemnestra,
Agamemnon, & Orestes; Menelaus, Helen, Proteus, Calypso, Hermes, Zeus, Poseidon, Athene; Alcinoos and
his wife, Arete, and daughter, Nausicaa in the mystical city of Phaeacia;
Demodocos – Phaeacian singer, Aeolos, Polyphemus, Circe, Elpenor, Tiresias,
Eumaeus, Theoclymenus, Antinoos, Penelope
Scenes/Tales to know:
The cave of Calypso; Odysseus on his raft, shipwrecked in Phaeacia; encounter with the young girls and Nausicaa and entry into the city; banquets and athletic competitions – songs of the Trojan War and Odysseus’ response; Odysseus’ telling of his encounters since Troy: Cicones, Lotus-eaters; Cyclopes – Polyphemus and the pun, the curse; Aeolos and the winds, Laestrygonians, Circe on the island of Aiaia and her advice to Odysseus.
Test 5 Homer, Books 11-24
Odyssey, Books 17 – 24
Artistic inspiration of the last 14 books - poets and musicians
Folks/Creatures to know:
Eurycleia (aged servant of Penelope), Melanthios (goatherd, ally of suitors), Argos (O’s dog), Antinoos, Iros (Ithacan beggar), Melantho (Penelope’s maid, sympathetic to suitors and Eurymachos’ lover), Eurymachos (jokester among suitors), Laertes, Philoitios (herdsman of cattle)
Tales:
Odysseus' trip to the underworld and encounters with the dead, especially Elpenor, Tiresias’ predictions, parade of dead Greek warriors – Agamemnon, Achilles, Ajax --, sight of great sinners (Tityos, Tantalos, Sisyphos); back to Circe’s island and her further advice; Sirens, Scylla & Charybdis, Cattle of the Sun (sailors’ mistake); only Odysseus survives, drifting to Calypso’s island and Odysseus’ story to Phaecians ends; Phaecians return Odysseus to Ithaca and suffer Poseidon’s anger; Odysseus encounters Athene on Ithaca and she advises him; in disguise Odysseus visits his swineherd, Eumaeus; Athene also advises Telemachus to return to Ithaca; Eumaeus tells his own story; the reunion of Odysseus and his son; suitors plotting evil.
Odysseus, disguised, goes to his house with Eumaeus; they encounter Melanthios on the way; Odysseus’ old dog, Argos, recognizes him and dies; Antinoos strikes him with a stool, Ody. puts off a conversation with Penelope until evening; battle of the beggars, Penelope appears to the suitors, Odysseus and his son hide all weapons, Odysseus speaks to Penelope, Eurycleia recognizes him from scar, tale of how Odysseus got his scar and name, dreams through gates of horn or ivory, suitors driven witless by Athene, Theoclymenos’ vision and departure, contest of the bow, Odysseus reveals himself to loyal servants, slaughter of suitors, execution of disloyal maids, mutilation of Melanthios, reunion of Odysseus and Penelope (secret token by which she accepts him)—first night together, departure of suitors’ souls for Hades, visit to Laertes, reconciliation with suitors’ families.