Heroes and The Theban Saga PDF

Preview

Summary

Course notes for GRST 209 with Amber Porter...

Description

Oct 25. Lecture 11

Legends/Sagas and Heroes 





Legend/Saga o Stories about the great deeds of heroes and heroines  Either humans or demi-gods  Usually noble or have special abilities (the average man would be in a folktale not a legend) o Sometimes have a historical aspect to them and happen in the real world Heroön o Large tombs of heroes that would be where people could go to worship a hero of the past o Large “earthen mounds” Eastern influence on Greek myth o Gilgamesh, King of Uruk  Part of the readings

Heroic Motifs 

The hero’s birth and/or childhood is miraculous or extraordinary



He faces hardship from the beginning and must prove his worth



An enemy is often the source of his achievement 

Anyone who challenges the hero (god or human)



He has help from an ally – god or human (magical objects)



He faces seemingly impossible tasks – a quest/labours



Each conflict presents him with a physical, sexual, or spiritual challenge 

Sexual challenge would involve a hero resisting a dangerous female



He must not break a taboo, or a terrible price is demanded



He conquers death itself, usually by going on a quest to the underworld



He is rewarded with something of great value (e.g., marriage, political security, wealth, power)



Knowledge through suffering and spiritual enlightenment (literal or symbolic) 

Purification, rebirth, redemption, deification (becoming a god)

Oct 25. Lecture 11 Heroines     



Not the same as a male Royal and/or divine background Extraordinary beauty or have great power Mother and/or lover/wife of hero Great feats fueled by passionate devotion o Heroes are fueled by power o Heroines are fueled by their love for someone else (usually a hero) o Passionate devotion is usually to a husband or son Walter Burkert (Author) o heroine leaves home o she’s isolated o she’s made pregnant by a god o she suffers punishment or rejection o she is rescued and her son is born

Theban Foundation Myths 

Two Foundation myths o Cadmus and the Dragon  Zeus appears to Europa as a white bull  Abducts her and impregnates her  Europa is the sister of Cadmus  Cadmus goes the Oracle at Delphi  The oracle tells him to found a city  The oracle tells him to follow a cow until it lays down and that where he should create his city  He follows the cow and finds where it lays down, he is ready to sacrifice it  In order to do this he needs water and the only water around is a spring sacred to Ares which is protected by a serpent  Cadmus slays the monster and plants the teeth which grows some people, the Spartoi  Cadmus’ punishment for slaying Ares’ monster is becoming his servant for 8 years  After the 8 years, Ares rewards Cadmus with his daughter Harmonia, and the two become King and Queen of Cadmeia o Zethus and Amphion  A son of Cadmus marries into the fam  Sister-in-law is impregnated by Zeus  Twins born are Zethus and Amphion

Oct 25. Lecture 11  Zethus is a really smart guy and Amphion is a talented musician  She gives birth to them outside the city and they are raised by shepherds  The mom has an evil step-mother that causes her to give birth in secret  The mom is basically Cinderella  They later grow up to find out that their mother is an important woman  They avenge her  Amphion plays his lyre and the music is so good the stones move into place which creates the Wall of Thebes  Zethus marries Thebe; Amphion marries Niobe Oedipus 

   



 



Oedipus Tyrannus by Sophocles o Also Oedipus Rex o Basically both means King Cadmus’ great-grandson, Laius Laius has a wife named Jocasta Prophesy o Laius is told he’ll have a child that will grow up to kill him ‘Exposure’ o He decides the best way to avoid the prophesy was to “expose him” o This meant taking the child somewhere remote and leaving them there o They wouldn’t outright kill the child because it was taboo to spill you own blood o They would pin the baby’s feet to the ground to avoid ghosts King and Queen of Corinth o Laius decides he doesn’t want to kill the baby, so he gives the child to a shepherd o The shepherd takes the baby to the King and Queen of Corinth who couldn’t have a child o The kid grows up to be Oedipus o A rumour is started that Oedipus is not of Corinth o Oedipus goes to Delphi and the oracle tells him that when he goes to his home town he will kill his dad and marry his mom death of Laius o Oedipus makes his way to Thebes and kills the dad accidently the riddle of the Sphinx o Thebes is taken over by a sphinx o Creon says whoever can solve the riddle of the Sphinx gets to marry Jacosta o Oedipus solves the riddle Creon’s decree

Oct 25. Lecture 11



 

o Oedipus gets to marry his mom and becomes the King of Thebes o They have 4 kids together and all is lovely  children: Polynices, Eteocles, Ismene and Antigone Plague o The oracle tell Oedipus the plague effecting Thebes is because no one avenged Cadmus’ death o Oedipus then figures out it was him that killed Cadmus and The Jacosta is his mom Because of the taboo, Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus gouges his eyes out He then exiles himself in shame

Oedipus- General Themes / Questions  

“recognition” and “turning around” o Revelation and a plot twist Contrast between being and appearance o He appears to everyone as a good guy and good king but he actually killed the old king and married his mom o Free will or destiny

Psychoanalytic Theory 





Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) – psychoanalysis o subconscious o dreams o myths are the “collective and recurrent dreams of the race” o Oedipus Complex  The son gets love from his mom and so therefore he grows up to sexually be attracted to their mother and will see their father as competition  Basically all men subconsciously want to marry their mom and kill their dad Carl Jung (1875-1961) – Jungian theory o “collective unconscious”  We all share a collective unconscious mind  A collection of ideas that are passed down subconsciously o archetypes Erich Neumann (1905 – 1960) o Talks about what the dragon motif represents

(Oct 27) The Seven against Thebes 

Oedipus’ sons Eteocles and Polynices agree to rule Thebes in their fathers absence

Oct 25. Lecture 11 

*she spoke so fast*

Antigone 





Antigone by Sophocles o She goes back to Thebes after helping her blind father o Creon is the interim king o Creon’s decree says the body of Polynices can’t be buried because he betrayed the city o Antigone goes against this and went out after dark and to give her brother a proper burial o Creon hears about this and sees this as treason o He condemns Antigone to death  Plans to put her in a cave without food o On her way to the cave, she grabs a guards sword and kills herself  Antigone’s fiancé, Creon’s son, sees this and kills himself too General Themes/ Interpretations o Political  Conservative vs. progressive  Antigone is conservative because of her religious and family values  Creon is progressive because he is more political than religious  Overtones of history  Written by an Athenian playwright  Was written during a democratic revolution o During a change in Athens where they were moving away from family ties o Philosophical  Nomos (law) vs. Physis (nature)  Custom/law vs. nature  Anitgone cares more about nature and the family  Creon cares more about the city than the family o Untamed Female  Parthenos  Virgins were untamed and wild  Dangerous  Greeks thought of young women as dangerous because they are young and not tied down by men yet Structuralism and Opposites o Male/female

Oct 25. Lecture 11





o Young/old o State/family o Living/dead o Humans/gods Walter Burkert (b. 1931) o Structure is important but so is context  Original structuralism said binary is universal  He said no it needs context Feminist Theory o Underlying social realities of gender  Creon feeling like he has to assert his power (by taking power during the absence of a real king)...