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Western University Classical Studies 2200 Study Guide 2
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This is a full study guide for UWO's Classical Studies 2200 Exam 2 (February Term Test).
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CLASSIC2200 February Term Test ReviewWeek 8: The Underworld
1. What is an Eschatology?
a. A story of life after death, during Archaic Period
2. What is the Underworld?
a. Final home for mortals, no light, substance or hope/joy
b. Enter at extreme/inaccessible regions of the world
i. Must cross river (Ex. Styx) – boundary of life/death
ii. No escape, Hermes is Psychopomp that leads spirits
c. Controlled by Hades, Charon is ferry-man
i. Cerberus guards the gates
d. Later myths reflect idea of something better after death
i. Mystery religions hope for blessed afterlife
3. What are the 2 types of recompense for heroes?
a. Timé: awarded while alive, honour/recognition (ex. Precious objects,
best portions of feast)
b. Kleos: awarded after death, fame/glory (ex. Songs, monuments) –
“like after death”
4. What is Tartarus?
a. Lower than the Underworld, for the most horrible criminals:
i. Tityus: son of Zeus, tried to rape Leto, killed by her children
tied to ground with vultures eating his liver
ii. Tantalus: son of Zeus, stole divine food, tried to trick them
with serving his son Pelops to them
Eternally tantalized by food and drink
iii. Sisyphus: tied up Thanatos (“death”) so no one dies; Ares
untied him and “killed” Sisyphus
Tricked Hades; told wife not to do funeral rites so he
couldn’t go to Underworld; stayed on Earth until old age
Punished with pushing rock up-hill only for it to roll
down
iv. Ixion: first to kill own kin (father-in-law)
No god could cure his miasma, Zeus did and invited him
to feast w/ gods; tried to rape Hera
a. Replaced with cloud, produced Kentauros
(Centaur)
Punished with wheel rolling over Underworld
5. The Odyssey Book 11
a. On journey home, told by witch Circe to speak with dead prophet
Tiresias at the edge of Underworld
, i. Chthonic sacrifice – pit in ground, ghosts drink blood to speak
ii. Spoke with Elpenor, his mother, Agamemnon, Ajax, Achilles,
and Heracles (not really b/c granted immortality)
6. Who is Gilgamesh?
a. Early hero from Mesopotamia, king of Uruk, “knew all things”
b. Human with some divine abilities (son of mortal Lugalbanda and
goddess Ninsun – conflicting identity)
c. Tames nature but violent and arrogant (sleeps with brides)
d. Gods make Enkidu from clay (“tamed” by woman)
i. Become companions, slays monster Humbaba
e. Insults goddess Ishtar, she punishes him by killing Enkidu
i. Grief = delays his burial, confronted with his mortality
7. What is Gilgamesh’s Quest After Enkidu’s Death?
a. Search for the secret of immortality, consults Utnapishtim but unable
to earn it, must accept his own mortality
b. Speaks with Siduri the wine-maker
c. Falls asleep and time passes without Enkidu’s proper burial (bread
decay shows nothing lasts forever, inevitable death)
i. Finally buries him when worm out of Enkidu’s nose
8. What is a Greek Hero?
a. Typical Features:
i. Divine and human parents, unusual birth story
ii. Threatened at birth, early display of divine powers
iii. Education/exile, quest and slaying opponent/monster
Divine assistance
iv. Return home, spiritually transformed
But unhappy/tragic domestic life, never able to settle
v. Strange/ironic death, undying fame (song/cult)
b. Seen as greater than regular humans, a model to look up to
i. But identity is conflicted (divine and mortal)
ii. Difficult to accept limits, challenge them and often commit
hubris (and divine punishment)
c. Seen as protector of civilization and culture, but can be also violent
and threaten it (Ex. Gilgamesh)
Week 9: Perseus and Heracles
1. Who is Perseus?
a. Descendant of Io and Zeus (refer to “Prometheus Bound”)
b. Son of Danae and Zeus (Zeus is father and great-great… grandfather)
, i. Her father Acrisius – prophecy that he would be destroyed if
daughter bore a son (common prophecy)
ii. Zeus impregnates her while locked in tower
iii. Father puts daughter and baby in wooden chest out to sea
No miasma incurred
Chest lands on Seriphos, rescued by Dictys
2. What is Perseus’ Quest?
a. Mother pursued by evil king Polydectes, offers him anything
i. Sent to get the head of Medusa (gorgon – animal-like female,
hair of snakes)
common theme of reptilian monsters, female creatures
threaten male order
b. Divine assistance by Athena – theme of needing to gain knowledge
from females (Athena does not threaten b/c virgin)
c. Advice from Graiae (3 hags that share 1 tooth and 1 eye)
i. Nymphs give him cap of invisibility, winged sandals and pouch
for the head
d. Borrows unbreakable sword from Hermes, uses reflection in it to
behead Medusa
i. Pegasus emerges from her body (thought to have previously
slept with Poseidon but punished and turned into gorgon)
3. Perseus’ Marriage
a. Marries Andromeda (daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus)
i. Cassiopeia’s hubris, Poseidon’s punishment and sacrifice of
Andromeda
ii. Perseus slays sea monster with medusa head, frees Andromeda
and claims her hand in marriage (but already betrothed – “bride
of death”)
4. Perseus’ Return Home
a. Turns Polydectes to stone with Medusa head, gives it to Athena to put
on her shield (symbol on aegis - cape)
b. Accidentally kills his grandfather with discus (fulfilling prophecy)
c. Becomes king and lives happily with Andromeda (rare)
i. Made into constellations when they die (catasterization)
5. What are the Elements of the “Girl’s Tragedy”? How does Danae fit this?
a. Prohibition
b. Seclusion
c. Violation of Prohibition
d. Threat of Punishment/Death
e. Liberation
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