Classical Mythology Test Guide
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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, 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
Know:
· How classical legends transfer to film
· The characteristics of heroic legends and heroes (Perseus, Jason, Theseus, Cephalus, Meleager)
· Marriage patterns – wedding customs
· How myths ratify or authenticate religious and social structures
· How myths reflect family relations – mother/daughter, husband/wife
· Gender roles and relations in classical myth
Know particular stories and characters from Ovid assignments:
Tales from
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
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
Consider the following general topics:
· Ovid’s variations on love and familial relations
· Positive examples of love and faithfulness among the myths
· Hercules’ qualities as the definitive hero
· Overall impressions of Ovid’s work
· Trojan War – how different from modern warfare
· Returns – difficulties for homecoming warriors then and now
· Composition of Odyssey – why Homer begins where he does
· Why has the Odyssey survived?
Know particular stories from Ovid and class:
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, Orpheus and Eurydice
Orpheus’ tales: Ganymede, Apollo and Hyacinthus;
Venus’ punishment of women of
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: Books I-IV
Helen, by Rossetti 1863
Odyssey, Books 5-16
General
Considerations:
Folks to know:
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 – death of Elpenor; trip
to the underworld and encounters with the dead, 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.
Odyssey, Books 17 – 24
General Considerations:
Folks/Creatures to
know:
Eurycleia (aged servant of
Penelope), Melanthios (goatherd, ally of suitors),
Tales:
Odysseus, disguised, goes to his house with Eumaeus; they encounter Melanthios
on the way; Odysseus’ old dog,