AP Summer Assignment 2018-2019 1. Read Homer's The Iliad translated by Robert Fagles 2. Read Albert Camus' The Stranger 3. Study the List of Greek Names, their stories, and their place within the Greek Pantheon. 4. Download the following instructional materials: o o o o o o The Iliad Vocabulary Greek Mythology Allusions Crafting Strong Titles Introductory Strategies Rubric for Writing about Literature Know the genre conventions of tragedy, and the tragic hero according to Aristotle in his work, "Poetics" 5. Upon return, you will have an in class essay. This will allow you the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of the text and on demand writing skills. The questions (each block will have a different question) will be a Free Response, Open Ended question from the AP Exam. You may access examples of these questions, from 1999 to the present, in the College Board web site. https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-english-literature-and-composition/exam The first day of class, we will review the AP Rubric and writing strategies, which includes the following instructional materials: Crafting Strong Titles and Introductory Strategies. All of these items are included with this summer assignment, if you want to examine them in advance. 6. You will also take a series of multiple-choice tests. The first one will be on The Iliad Vocab and the reading. The next ones will be on Greek Mythology Allusions (the List of Greek Names). These tests are 20 questions multiple choice tests once a week. Since the tests are 20 questions, you will be tested on the first 20 words on the list, starting with Acheron River and ending with Calliope. The next text will cover the next 20 words after Calliope and so on. 7. The first week of class, bring The Iliad so we may review it on a deeper level 8. The third week of class we will address Existentialism and apply it to The Stranger. At that time we will review and discuss The Stranger with non- fictional, supplemental readings. 9. The first novel you will read is Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoevsky. I have the Norton edition. You can find this text at any bookstore or library. Any translation or publication will do, it is always interesting to compare and contrast translations, however if you have a different translation (other than the Norton), your pages will not match mine. 10. In addition to studying the Greek Allusions: List of Greek Names it is recommended (although not required) that you read Edith Hamilton s Mythology.
The Iliad: Vocab and Context The following vocabulary will help place the Iliad in context and help you understand the work better. Genre Conventions for the Heroic Epic The following seven terms are genre conventions for the heroic epic. On a separate sheet of paper, write a though definition of each term, provide an example of each genre convention from The Iliad. Epic Similes Epic Repetition Flashbacks Heroic Epithets Invocation of the Muse Medias Res Elevated Language On a separate sheet of paper, write a through definition of each word, then use the word in a sentence that makes it relevant to The Iliad. Anthropomorphic Achaeans Argives Kleos Aristiea moria Danaans Ilion Rhapsodos Dactylic hexameter Hubris Catharsis Hamartia
Introductory Strategies Features of a good introduction: Introductions need to catch the attention of the reader The main purpose of an introduction is to present and frame a writer s thesis announcing what the essay will illustrate. Many instructors like to see the thesis as the last sentence in the introductory paragraph Your introduction like the essay itself depends on your situation: What are you writing about, who are you writing to, what is your purpose? If your situation is formal, such as addressing the board of trustees at your school for money to increase the media center holdings, your introduction is likely to be serious and direct. Your introduction reveals your voice right away-the sound of your personality that you want to project. If your essay is humorous, your introduction should convey a humorous tone or attitude toward your subject. Opening Lines or Hooks: Start with a dramatic incident or a vivid, detailed description Such as the description of a concentration camp for an essay on Maus I or I Start by explaining the thesis Ironically, at one point everyone feels alone in a crowd of people, left out or like they do not belong. Start with a historical review The history of genocide suggests all cultures experience xenophobia as a form of patriotism. Start with a question or a problem Is too much imagination a bad thing? (essay on Amanda or Laura in Menagerie) Start with a contrast It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Start with a quotation: If all art is useless as Oscar Wilde says, then Holden from Catcher in The Rye teaches us nothing. Start with an idea to be refuted. Introductions to Avoid: Definitions from a dictionary According to Webster s Dictionary Explicitly declaring what you will do: In this essay, I will Apologies or Disclaimers I m not really an expert on this but Dean Memering, William Palmer, Discovering Arguments. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2007
Rubric for Writing about Literature In Class Essay 8-9: These well-written essays use topics appropriate to the assignment and explain their ideas convincingly. Superior papers contain a strong thesis, are specific in their references, and are free of plot summary not relevant to the topic. Writer goes beyond the obvious. In their analysis, writers will discuss how the author uses the literary elements in the work (for example, diction, imagery, character, pace, irony, point of view, and tone). The essay need not be without flaws, but it demonstrates the writer s ability to discuss a literary work with insight and understanding and to control a wide range of the elements of effective composition. 6-7: These essays demonstrate the writer s ability to analyze a literary work, but they reveal a more limited understanding than do papers in the 8 range. They also discuss appropriate topics and ideas but are less developed, less perceptive or less specific than 8 papers. They deal accurately with the use of literary devices (diction, tone, and so forth) in the work, but are less effective of less thorough than 8 papers. They deal with the question, but with less maturity and control than the top papers. Generally, 7 essays present a more developed analysis and a more consistent command of the elements of composition than essays scored 6. 5: Superficiality characterizes these essays. They choose suitable topics or literary elements, but the explanation of the topics is vague or over-simplified but accurate. Their discussion of meaning may be pedestrian, mechanical or inadequately related to the chosen scene. Typically, these essays reveal simplistic thinking and/or immature writing. They usually demonstrate inconsistent control over the elements of composition and are not as well conceived, organized or developed as the upper half papers. The writing however is sufficient to convey the writer s thoughts, but these essays are not as well conceived and as developed as upper-level papers. 3-4: These lower-half essays may choose an acceptable topic or thesis, but fail to explain how supporting material develops the topic. Their analysis is likely to be unpersuasive, perfunctory, or underdeveloped or misguided. The meaning they deduce may be inaccurate or insubstantial and not clearly related to the thesis. Part of the assignment may be omitted altogether. Typically, these essays contain significant misinterpretations of the question or the work they discuss. They may also contain little, if any, supporting evidence, and practice paraphrase and plot summary at the expense of analysis. The writing may convey the writer s ideas, but it reveals weak control over such elements as organization, language or mechanics. 1-2: These essays compound the weakness of essays in the 3-4 range. They seriously misread the play, novel, or poem, or feebly respond to the question. In addition, they are poorly written on several counts, including many distraction errors in grammar, and mechanics. Although the writer may have made some effort to answer the question, the views presented have little clarity or coherence. Essays that are especially inexact, vacuous, ill-organized, illogically argued and/or mechanically unsound should be scored a 2 to 1.
Crafting Strong Titles Most people don t take their titles seriously enough. You usually can tell a lot about an essay by the time you ve read the title. It is your advertisement to your reader about the general worthiness of what you ve written. If you re lazy about your title, this can send the unintentional message that you ve been lazy in some way about your whole essay. In other words, a dull title can mistakenly tell your reader that you re not particularly proud of what you ve written, and that it isn t really worth his or her time to read it. You may or may not intend this, and your essay may or may not be brilliant, but either way, a lifeless title suggests an equally lifeless essay. Get in the practice of asking a lot of your title, and when you can t generate one that fulfills your high expectations, take that as a sign that there may actually be something still lacking within the essay itself. A good title should do at least three jobs: 1. Declare the topic in some way 2. Say, "READ ME!" 3. Suggest a worthwhile task to accomplish If your title doesn t do these three things, your reader might suspect that the essay doesn t either. The title is the moment when you announce that you re writing to real people and you want to be read. You can think of titles in terms of degrees of excellence. The lowest degree is no title at all (but you would never turn in an essay without a title, so we can skip that one). One step up are titles that just declare a topic: "Prayer in School," "Seat Belts," "Friendship," and the like. The broader the topic, the less satisfactory the title. A mutant form of the topic title is the description which tells you what kind of essay it is: "A Review of the Smokehouse Restaurant," "Character Sketch of Tom Russo." You can t rest until you reach the next level, where the title both indicates the topic and implies the thesis or task. The following are just a few possibilities for formatting your title, and may be combined as you wish: 1. The Question: "Orville Redenbacher: Man or Myth?" "Is Martha Stewart Living?" 2. The "Why" Title: "Why I Hate Advertising" "Why Romance Novels Sap Your Brain" 3. The Declarative: "Broccoli is Best" "Kill Your Television"
4. Playing with Language: "In the Long Run" (an essay on jogging and exercise fads) "A Gamble for Better Education" (an essay arguing that the state should institute a lottery to help fund public education) "China Syndrome" (a phrase referring to nuclear power plant disasters for an essay on the poisonous food at a local Chinese restaurant) 5. Pun, or use of a well-known phrase, film, or current event: "Yes, Virginia, Leisure Is a Good Thing" "Kissing Gertrude Stein" "Read My Lips: The History of Ventriloquism in the United States" "Got Milk? Lactose Intolerance and Today s College Student" 6. The Colon Title: Colon titles can sometimes lean towards being a little bit long, and even a little bit stuffy, but they do get the job done, and sometimes with a lot of flair. A good colon title can tell a lot about your essay, and be very engaging for the reader. You can create a colon title by writing a phrase that hooks and implies the thesis, putting in a colon, and then writing a phrase that declares the topic, or elaborates on the phrase in the first part of the title. Here are some more examples, in addition to the ones used to illustrate #5 above: Venereal Disease: Images of Sickness in Hamlet Television: The Glamour Medium Women of the Cloth: Spinsters and Seamstresses in Renaissance England
Greek Allusions: List of Greek Names For the full backstories and context, read Edith Hamilton s Mythology (suggested reading) Acheron River (The River of Pain): the river of woe that one must cross to get into the Underworld. Charon tends it. River into Hades. Those not buried properly are doomed to wander its banks forever. Achilles: Son of Thetis (a goddess) and Peleus. Zeus and Athena watch over him during the Trojan War. Patroclus was his lover. Vulnerable point is his heel (the Achilles heel). Mom dipped him into the river Styx to see if he is more god than mortal and in doing so, he received a protective coating from the river. Actaeon: He walked in on Artemis bathing in a forest while hunting one day, she got angry, turned him into a deer, and his own pack of hunting dogs ate/killed him. Aegeus: An Athenian king whose son was Theseus. He almost let Medea kill his son (previously unknown) until he recognized the sword and shoes he had put in a cave many years before, only able to be reclaimed when Theseus was ready. Minos, the ruler of Crete, sent his son Androgeus to Aegeus, who sent him on a mission to kill a dangerous bull, who instead killed Androgeus. Minos exacted a fee of seven youths and seven ladies every nine years for the Minotaur. These youths and maidens were placed in the labyrinth. Theseus killed the minotaur with the help of Ariadne. When Theseus returned from his mission, he forgot to sail the black flag that signaled victory, and, thinking his son dead, Aegeus jumped off of a cliff. The Aegean is named after him. Aeneas: One of Aphrodite s sons. Escaped Troy after the Trojan War thanks to Aphrodite. Held to be the real founder of Rome. Left Dido, who killed herself shortly after. Traveled through the underworld. Agamemnon: High king of Myncene. Agememnon's wife, Clytemnestra, plotted to kill him upon his return from the Trojan War. Aegisthus and Clytemnestra poisoned his wine during the first welcome back feast, and he died. Clytemnestra was fueled either to hide her affair, or because Agamemnon had killed their daughter as a sacrifice to the gods to help with the war effort (for winds so the sails could fill and move the boats). He is one of two sons of Atreus, and the commander of the Greek forces at Troy. He was the most prosperous from the Trojan war. Orestes avenged him with encouragement from his sister, Electra. Ajax: A Greek hero and a giant. Ajax carried Achilles' body from the battle but Odysseus got Achilles' arms. Ajax went mad and slaughtered livestock, thinking they were chieftains, mainly Menelaus and Agamemnon. So he killed himself, and got a burial instead of a funeral pyre. He killed a lot of people in the Trojan War. Amazons: A nation of female warriors, "men-haters", who fought against the Greeks in the Trojan War. Stealing the girdle of Hippolyta (queen of the Amazons) was one of Hercules 12 labors. Aphrodite (Venus): Daughter of Zeus and Dione; also said to have sprung from the Foam of the sea (Aphros=foam). The Goddess of Love and Beauty. She took the side of the Trojans in the Trojan War. Hephaestus wife.
Antigone: Oedipus daughter who took care of him when he was expelled from Thebes. She was executed after she disobeyed Creon and buried her brother, Polyneices. The Last of the royal family of Thebes, the House of Oedipus, was gone. Apollo (Phoebus): Son of Zeus and Leto the most Greek of all Gods. He is a master musician who delights Olympus ; the Archer-God; the Healer; God of Light; God of Truth; purifier. He also served as a link between Heaven and Delphi. He is the leader of the muses. He resides over the Oracle for 6 months. Ares: God of war (offensive and violent aspects of war); lover of Aphrodite; Son of Zeus and Hera. Ariadne: Minos daughter. She fell in love with Theseus, an Athenian prince. He took her towards Athens, but they had to stop on an island and either Theseus left her or she died. Either way, she never made it to Athens. She helped him kill the Minotaur by giving him a knife and a spool of thread before he entered the labyrinth. Arachne: Arachne challenged Minerva/Athena to a contest of weaving. She was a simple peasant girl. She tied with Athena, who beat her with a shuttle; Arachne hanged herself. Athena felt badly and so turned her into a spider, and her skill in weaving was left to her. Argonauts: Hercules, Orpheus (the master musician), Castor and Pollux, Achilles father (Peleus), and many other. Led by Jason on the Argo. All drank the peerless elixir of valor. Argus: The giant with one hundred eyes who was tricked into sleep by Hermes, who killed him. Hera s lackey. Artemis (Diana): The Lady of Wild Things, Huntman-in-chief to the Gods. Fierce and revengeful. Apollo s twin sister. daughter of Zeus and Leto. One of the three maiden goddesses of Olympus. Lover of woods and the wild chase over the mountain. She is a virgin and so are her followers. Atalanta: Mortal athletic woman. Wanted to sail on the Argo, took part in the Calydonian boar hunt, married a man, Hippomenes, who beat her in a foot race, and changed into lionesses because Hippomenes forgot to honor Aphrodite. Bacchus (Dionysus): Son of Zeus and Semele (Thebes). Hera made Semele wish to see Zeus in his full glory, upon which she bursts into flames and died. Zeus nursed him for the remaining period of gestation and afterwards nymphs. God of wine and debauchery. He resides over the oracle for six months of the year sharing the duty with Apollo, who resides over it the other six months of the year. Cadmus: Curse of Cadmus: Cadmus killed a dragon whom Ares loved very much and was cursed with ill luck forever after. Oedipus is his grandson. Calliope: Muse of epic poetry Calypso: Virtually held Odysseus prisoner for a few years. Nymph who lived in Ethopia. Cassandra: One of Priam s daughters, a prophetess. Apollo had loved her and given her the power to foretell the future. Later he turned her against her because she refused his love, and although he could not take his divine gift back, he made it so that no one ever believed her. She foretold Troy s down fall.
Castor and Pollux (Polydeuces): Said to live half of their time on Earth, half in heaven. Leda s sons and are usually represented as gods, the special protectors of sailors. Zeus is their father as he seduced Leda when he was a swan (they were born in an egg). Centaurs: Half man, half horse, and for the most part they were savage creatures, more like beasts than men. One of them, however, Chiron, was known everywhere for his goodness and his wisdom. They followed Bacchus as representing debauchery. Cerberus: The three headed, dragon tailed dog, who permits all spirits to enter Hades, but none to return (except for Odysseus and Orpheus) Ceres (Demeter):The Goddess of the Corn, wheat or harvest. Her daughter, Persephone, went into the underworld by Hades force for six months (or three months) of the year. When Persephone is in the underworld, Ceres is sad and that is why there is winter. She attended at Tantalus house where he served human flesh (his son s shoulder Pelops). She was the only god to eat a bit of human flesh. Charon: An aged boatman who ferries the souls of the dead across the water to the farther bank, where stands the adamantine gate to Tartarus. Charon will receive into his boat only the souls of those upon whose lips the passage of a coin which was placed when they died. Charybdis: Once a nymph, Zeus changed her into a monster after she took so much land for her father he became enraged. She takes form as a huge bladder of a creature whose face was all mouth with flippers; swallows huge amounts of water three times a day before belching them back out again, creating whirlpools. One of these whirlpools was a major obstacle for Odysseus on his travels back to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Chimaera: A lion in front, a serpent behind, a goat in between. It can breathe fire. Circe: A most beautiful and dangerous witch. She changed Odysseus men into animals/pigs. Odysseus, with help from Hermes, changed them back. Then he spent a few years with Circe. She helped him get through the Underworld. Clio: Muse of history. Clytemnestra: Killed Agamemnon after he killed their daughter, IIphigenia (before the Trojan War) after the Trojan War. Leda and Zeus daughter, born in an egg. Creon: Ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus. He had three children: Menoeceus, Megara, and Haimon with Eurydice. Descendent of Cadmus and of the Spartoi. Executed sentencing upon Antigone. Cupid: Aphrodite s son. Makes his home in men s hearts, but not in every heart, for where there is hardness he departs. his greatest glory is that he cannot do wrong nor allow it; force never comes near him. For all men serve him of their own free will. Sometimes portrayed as a child, or Aphrodite s companion. Either a mischievous boy or much much worse. Has a relationship with the mortal Psyche Cupid s Roman name Eros is where we get the word erotic
Cyclops: Each had only one enormous eye, as round and big as a wheel, in the middle of the forehead. Nobody is the Cyclops who captured Odysseus and his men. He ate many of them until Odysseus blinded him and escaped. Daedalus: The man who invented the Labyrinth. Icarus father. He was imprisoned their by King Minos after he learned Daedalus had given Theseus the way out. Danae: Bore Perseus by Zeus after she was locked up in a tower because of a prophesy that foretold her father, Acrisus, death by his son. Her father shipped off Perseus and Danae in a chest, on the sea to the fisherman Dictys. Danaids: Fifty of them, all daughters of Danaüs. Fled from their cousins hands in marriage to Argos. 49 of 50 killed their grooms. The other, Hypermnestra, did not kill her husband, as her sisters and father commanded. Her father imprisoned her. The Danaids must forever fill jars riddled with holes as punishment. Delphi: Under towering Parnassus, where Apollo s oracle was, The Oracle of Delphi plays an important part in mythology. Castalia was its sacred spring, Cephissus its river. Greek s center of the world, a place of pilgrimage. No other shrine rivaled it. Dido: Dido founded Carthage. She got romantically involved with Aeneas and provided him with all she could all of her wealth, city, and property was open to him. He left her when Zeus commanded him to, so he could found Rome, and killed herself with her sister, Anna s, knife. Diomedes: champion of the Trojan War. He was an Argive. One of the greatest heroes of the Argives. Dionysus: see Bacchus Echo: The fairest nymph, and a favorite of Artemis. Fell in love with Narcissus, who denied her. She haunts caves and echoey places. She gossiped to Hera about Zeus s extra marital affairs so Hera cursed her: you can only repeat what others say. Electra: Agamemnon and Clytemnestra s daughter. Orestes sister, she encouraged and pushed him to kill their mother to avenge their father. Elysian Fields: Where the epic heroes go after death in Hades. The street Champs Elysees in Paris France translates to The Elysian Fields. Eris: Ares sister, Discord. Eros: See Cupid. Europa: Daughter of the King of Sidon. Zeus absconded with her when he was a white flying bull. She fell off the flying bull over Europe which is named after her. Her brother is Cadmus. Her sons were made famous men and judges of the dead. Europe is named after her.
Eurydice: Married to Orpheus, she died shortly after from a snake bite. He went to the Underworld to get her back with the caveat that he could not look back. He got her up to the end of the cavern, and then he looked at her, sending her back to Hades. Euterpe: Muse of lyric poetry. Fates: Spinners: Moirae in Greek, parcae in Latin. Give to men at birth evil and good to have. They were three, Clotho, the Spinner, who spun the thread of life; Lachesis, the Disposer of Lots, who assigned to each man his destiny;atropos, she who could not be turned, who carried the shears and cut the thread at death. Gorgons: Also earth-dwellers. There were three, and two of them were immortal. They were dragonlike creatures with wings, whose look turned men to stone. Phorcys, son of the Sea and the Earth, was their father. Medusa was one of them. They had one eye they shared between them. Galatea: The Cyclops Polyphemus was in love with her. She was a sea nymph. Hades (Pluto): One of the three major gods. The god of the Underworld. His Queen is Persephone. He s one of the three who divided the universe with Zeus and Poseidon. He had a far famed cap or helmet which made whoever wore it invisible. He was King of the Dead. Hecate: Artemis is identified with Hevate. Selene in the sky, Artemis on Earth, Hecate in the lower world and in the world avocet when it is wrapped in darkness. Hecate was the Goddess of the Dark of the Moon, the black nights when the moon is hidden. Hector: The Champion of Troy, son of Priam. Killed Patroclus. Paris brother. Son of Priam and Hecuba. Achilles killed him. Hecuba: Priam s queen. Hector s mother. She had nineteen children. With the god Apollo, Hecuba had a son named Troilus. Helen: The fairest woman in the world was Helen, the daughter of Zeus and Leda, sister of Castor and Pollux. Married to Menelaus, king of Sparta. Paris stole her away thanks to Aphrodite. The face that launched a thousand ships. Hephaestus (Vulcan): God of fire, the lame son of Zeus and Hera, sometimes of Hera alone. Married to Aphrodite. Hera: Zeus wife and sister. The Titans Ocean and Tethys brought her up. She was the protector of marriage, and married women were her peculiar care. Punished women Zeus was involved with. She is the gracious protector of heroes and the inspirer of heroic deeds. Heracles: The son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus. Famed for his extraordinary strength, courage, ingenuity, and sexual prowess with both men and women, and used his wits on several occasions. He is associated with a club and lion cape. Hermes (Mercury): Zeus was his father and Atlas daughter Maia, his mother. He was graceful and swift of motion. On his feet were winged sandals, and on his hat too. He was the shrewdest and most cunning. He was also the solemn guide of the dead and travelers. God of Commerce and Market. Master Thief.
Hyacinth: Apollo s favorite companion and lover, who he killed during a discus throwing competition. He was turned into a flower. Hestia (Vesta): She was Zeus s sister, and like Athena and Artemis a virgin goddess. She has no distinct personality and she lays no part in the myths. She was the Goddess of the Hearth, the symbol of the home, around which the newborn child must be carried before it could be received into the family. Hydra: A creature with nine heads called the Hydra which lived in a swamp in Lerna. One of the heads was immortal and the others almost as bad, inasmuch as when one was chopped off, two grew up instead. Hercules killed the Hydra with the help of his nephew, Iolaus who sealed up the necks of the Hydra after Hercules decapitated them. Icarus: Deadelus son. He flew too close to the sun when they were escaping from the Labyrinth, and his wax wings (that Deadelus created) melted, sending him to a watery death. Iphigenia: The daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, she was sacrificed to Artemis for the winds to blow so the Greek ships could sail. This prompted her mother, Clytemnestra, to later kill Agamemnon. Iris: The Goddess of the Rainbow and a messenger of the gods, in the Iliad the only messenger. Hermes appears first in that capacity in the Odyssey, but he does not take Iris place. Janus: the two faced god. Iago from Shakespeare s Othello swears to Janus. Jason: Leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcus. He was married to the sorceress Medea, and considered to be on par with Heracles and Odysseus, epic heroes. Jocasta: Mother and wife of Oedipus. She bore him four children, two girls, including Antigone. She hanged herself and Oedipus gouged out his eyes. Laocoon: He and his two sons were suspicious of the Trojan horse, so they warned the Trojans and were summarily ignored. The famous line, I fear the Greeks even when they bear gifts is spoken when Laocoon sees the large wooden horse. Two serpents, sent by Poseidon or Athena, and killed Laocoon and his two sons. Leda: Wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. She bore him two mortals, Castor and Clytemnestra. Zeus in the form of a swan bore Pollux and Helen, the heroine of Troy. They were immortal. Lethe River: The River of forgetfulness that runs through Hades. The dead would wash themselves with this water to forget their lives when they entered Hades. Lucifer: Ceyx s father. Lucifer, the light-bearer, the star that brings in the day, and he had a bright gladness. Medea: Daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children. She killed them and then fed them to an unknowing Jason to get her revenge on him for divorcing her.
Medusa: One of the three Gorgons. Perseus killed her, and thereafter used her head as a weapon until giving it to Athena to place on her shield. Her gaze could turn men to stone. Menelaus: A king of Ancient Sparta, the son of Atreus and Aerope. He was key in The Iliad. He won Helen as a wife from Tyndareus, who was then stolen by Paris. We will read The Menelaiad by John Barth in class this year which is told from his cynical (yet humorous) point of view. Mentor: The Ithican that Odysseus trusted most. Midas: The land of roses. Wished whatever he touched would become gold _ Bacchus granted him the goal. Apollo changed Midas ears into those of a donkey s. Minos: One of three judges of the dead, born to Zeus and Europa. He ruled the Minoan Civilization on Crete. His son was the Minotaur. Minotaur: The Minotaur, Asterion, was a monster, half bull, half human, the offspring of Minos wife Pasiphaë and a wonderfully beautiful bull. Morpheus: The son of the old God of Sleep, skilled in assuming the form of any and every human being. He has noiseless wings. The drug morphine is named after him! Narcissus: One of the most beautiful lads in the land, he attracted Echo (a nymph), and, so enamored with his own reflection, he fell into the river upon which he gazed. The gods took pity and turned him into a new species of flower, the Narcissus. Nausiccaa: A princess who helped Odysseus she was the one who helped him out when he emerged naked from the forest. Nemesis: The goddess of anger. Usually translated as Righteous Anger. Nestor: An old war hero in the Iliad/Trojan War, he served as war counselor to the Argives. Niobe: Equated herself to Leta in beauty, made fun of her for only having two kids. Artemis and Apollo killed all of them and she was turned into stone, a stone statue. Odysseus (Ulysses): Son of Laertes, ruler of Ithaca. Famed for being clever and witty. Fought in the Iliad for 10 years, then took 10 years to return to Ithaca, This epic is The Odyssey. His wife Penelope, remained true to him, although she had many suitors, for the entire 20 years. As long as she remained true, she would remain young. The Odyssey is an extremely important work with many allusions that are main threads in our cultural fabric. O Brother Where Art Thou by the Coen brothers is based on The Odyssey. Oedipus: Son of Jocasta and Laius. He murdered Laius by accident over the right of ways of their respective chariots. Married his mother, had four children with her, found out about his patricide and incest, and he gouged his eyes out. We will read this short play in class. Olympia: Site of the ancient Olympic Games. Olympus: Home of the gods
Orestes: Cytemnestra and Agamemnon s son. He murdered Cytemnestra and Aegilses because they killed Agamemnon. Since matricide is not condoned by the gods, they sent the furies to torture him. The furies chased him around the world for many years until the gods had a vote on whether they should call off the furies and forgive Orestes. The vote was a tie but Athena cast the deciding vote forgiving Orestes. This story is told in the Orestes Trilogy or the Oresteia. Orion: He was a young man of gigantic stature and great beauty, and a mighty hunter. He cleared Chios of wild beasts for its princess hand in marriage. The king lept putting it off, Orion insulted Merope drunkenly, Dionysus put him in a deep sleep, and Oenopion blinded him. Then Hank went as Far East as Lemnos, and he regained his site, and entered the service of Artemis. Artemis killed him. He got put into the stars as a constellation. Orpheus: A master musician and Theraces prince. He followed Eurydice into the Underworld after she died from a snake bite. Many songs, albums, bands have been named after Orpheus. Pallas Athena Minerva: The daughter of Zeus. She sprang from Zeus head. gray-eyed or flashing-eyed. She was the chief of the three virgin goddesses. Embodiment of wisdom, reason, purity. Pan: The chief of the lesser gods of earth. He was Hermes son. Part animal with a goat s horns, goat s hooves, and the goatherd s companion. He was always in love with one nymph or another, but always rejected because of his ugliness. Pandora: The first woman. She opened the famous Pandora s Box and let out all disease, sickness, death and loss. But at the very bottom of the box was hope. Her husband is Epimetheus, who is Prometheus brother. Paris: Paris judged which of Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera is the most beautiful. Paris judged in favor of love; Aphrodite the fairest, and was promised Helen in return. He also fought in the Trojan War. Priam s and Hecuba s son, Hector s brother. Parnassus: A mountain. Persephone: Demeter s only daughter. She was abducted by Hades, ate a pomegranate, and the number of seeds she ate determines how long she stays in the underworld. She had to stay half the year or a quarter of the year (depending on which myth one subscribes to) in Hades. Perseus: Founder of the Mycenae and the Perseid dynasty. He defeated the Gorgons and a other monsters. He also claimed Andromeda, having rescued her from a sea monster. Polyneices: Son of Oedipus and Jocasta. He fought with his brother, Eteocles for the rule of their kingdom, and died. Antigone was his sister. Creon said he was a traitor and passed the edict that no one could give him a proper burial. Poseidon (Neptune): He was the ruler of the sea, Zeus and Hades brother and second only to Zeus in eminence. Poseidon had a splendid palace beneath the sea, but he was more often to be found in Olympus.
Prometheus: A Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of human-kind known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals. Zeus then punished him for his crime by having him bound to a rock while a great eagle ate his liver every day only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day. After many years, Hercules saves him. Proteus: Sometimes said to be Poseidon s son, sometimes his attendant. He had he power both of foretelling the future and of changing his shape at will. If one can hold on to him while he changes and morphs into things like, a bear, a plant, water, then he has to answer any question the person asks. This is where we get the word protean, which means to change shape. Book IV of the Odyssey tells the tale of how Menelaus holds onto him to find out what happened to his comrades. Psyche: This is a myth that feminist have used as symbolic of female lack of voice and the power of the male eye. Cupid fell in love with her, Aphrodite didn t approve, and so Cupid stopped working until she relented. Psyche has to do various tasks, go to the Underworld, etc. Pygmalion: He made a statue that no mortal woman, Galatea, could rival in beauty, and Venus turned her into a real woman. George Bernard Shaw s play, Pygmalion, is based on this myth. My Fair Lady, the musical, is based on Pygmalion by Shaw. Scylla: A nymph, who Glaucus (half-man half-fish). Circe fell in love with Glaucus, and so turned Scylla with serpents and fierce dogs heads. Sirens: Lived on an island in the Sea. They had enchanting voices and their singing lured sailors to their death. It was not known what they looked life, for no one who saw them ever returned. Sphinx: A creature shaped like a winged lion, but with the breast and face of a woman. She lay in wait for the wayfarers along the road to Thebes and whomever she seized them, she asks them a riddle, What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, three legs in the evening? No one could answer but Oedipus. Stenor: Herald of the Greek forces. Styx River: The river of the unbreakable oath by which the gods swear and the river in which Achilles was dipped in as a baby. See Achilles. Sisyphus: Has to push a stone uphill because he once betrayed a secret of Zeus. The stone keeps rolling back down. His task is eternal; his efforts are futile. We will read Camus Myth of Sisyphus in class. Tantalus: A son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto.He gave the gods his son cut up into soup. Demeter ate some, and was furious. He is now stuck in the underworld, every time he reaches for the grapes they pull out of his way. Every time he bends down to drink water, it descends until he can t reach it. We get the word tantalize from his name. Theseus: His father was Aegeus, a king of Athens, who accepted only once he was able to roll back a stone which held his birthright. On his way to Athens, he became a hero by killing thieves and bandits in the way he killed others. He promised to marry Ariadne after he got out of the Labyrinth which housed the Minotaur. He killed the Minotaur with his bare fists. He left Ariadne on an island after she was seasick
and died. Before he left Athens, he promised his father he would sail a black flag if he had won. He forgot, and Aegeus threw himself off of a cliff. Tiresias: A blind prophet of Thebes, famous for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. He is a prominent figure in Oedipus. Zeus: First born among Poseidon, Hades, and himself/the divine gods of Olympus. Impregnated hundreds of women. Married to Hera. Bore Athena from his head. Not omnipotent or omniscient. Throws lightening bolt.