Historical Cause Of The Trojan War

What was the historical cause of the Trojan War (probably), and what was the mythological cause?
Historical: Troy is a city that guards the entrance to the Black Sea, and so it’s likely that they were harassing the Greeks’ trade routes.
Mythical: Paris stole Helen from king Menelaos of Sparta. Menelaos was brother of Agamemnon of Mycenae.

One of the horrific acts committed in the “House of Atreus” (not the literal house, but the family that includes Atreus) was that he did what to Thyestes’ children?-
He chopped them up, put them in a stew and fed them to Thyestes

Eris B. Eros-
a.”strife” b.love

What was the Judgment of Paris? If you don’t know the story, you’ll miss a question.
The competition between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, in which Paris chooses Aphrodite so he can gain Helen as his wife.

Helen and Menelaos ruled over??
SPARTA

The rape of Helen particularly offended Zeus because it violated his rules of- hospitality

You’d better know about Philoctetes being abandoned on Lemnos .-
He was bitten by a snake and left behind because the bite caused him to stink and swear constantly

What did Lucretius think the sacrifice of Iphigenia demonstrated?-
the power of religion to make men do evil things

The Iliad does NOT tell the story of the Trojan Horse. .-
It tells of one incident in the 9th year of the war

What amateurish thing did Schliemann do at Troy? . .-
he didn’t realize cities are buried in layers, so he dug down indiscriminately

Milman Parry followed the Serbo-Croatian poets around and discovered what about their technique? This relates to the Homeric Question.-
They were improvising; Not telling the same story every night; A special poetic language was used; epithets used to give time kleos-recieving the respect that one has earned by one’s accomplishments and family connections; honor

The Greek word hubris refers to-a refusal to ask the gods for help

Ate- the personification of ruin, folly, and delusion

How did Odysseus try to get out of fighting the Trojan War?-
He pretended to be insance, plowing the seashore.

What did Thetis do to try to keep her son away from Troy?-
She dressed him up as a girl and placed him on the island of Scyros

According to Homer, the deciding factor in bringing about the death of Odysseus’ men was the following:-
their recklessness during the return home, particularly the fact that they ate the cattle of Hyperion/Helios the sun god

Why did Odysseus give Polyphemus Ismarian wine?-
In order to get him so drunk that he passes out and his men can attack

What animal did Odysseus use to escape from Polyphemus’ cave?-
The Sheep of Polyphemus

What made it possible for Polyphemus to curse Odysseus?
Remember in class I talked about the power of the name.- Odysseus reveals his name as his is taunting Polyphemus when they are sailing away from the island

Circe, after turning Odysseus’ men into swine, was temporarily able to “unman” Odysseus with- sex

What was the secret power of the Sirens’ song? Remember I called them “sycophants” in class.-
they sing songs that praise the listener and it makes them want to sail their ships into the rocks to try and hear it, which leads them to their doom

Over whom does king Aeolus rule on the island of Aeolia?-
The winds

What does Scylla look like?-
A hideous monster with 6 dogs coming out of her stomach

A typical motif of the “hero on a journey” is the idea that he must navigate through obstacles of desire and:-
fear

The literal meaning of nostalgia is ????? Think of the land of the Lotus-eaters.- the longing for a homecoming

What plant did the Lotus-eaters eat? (See how easy this class is?)-
The Lotus Plan Fruit (Date-Plum)

“Calypso” in Greek means ???? Remember I talked about the Apocalypse of John.-
To conceal..the concealer

Which of the following words best characterizes Penelope, wife of Odysseus?- faithful

Where did Penelope live?-
Ithica (the palce of Odysseus)

Which of the following sins did Clytemnestra NOT commit?-
driving Aegisthus to drown his own daughter

Which of the following did NOT accrue to (count toward) the guilt or demise of Agamemnon?-
sleeping with his own daughter Electra

I told you in class there’d be a question about Orestes. Whose death did he announce at Mycenae?
his own

Don’t forget Clytemnestra’s favorite toy –
her man-slaying ax.

Dike-
Justice.

lex talionis-
eye for an eye

the Furies execute-
the lex talionis

Complete this sentence in accordance with Greek thinking as expressed in the Agamemnon story: “Zeus has decreed that wisdom comes through . . .”-
Suffering

If you don’t know what mitigating and extenuating circumstances are, you must find out!!!-
conditions or happenings which do not excuse or justify criminal conduct, but are considered out of mercy or fairness in deciding the degree of the offense the prosecutor charges or influencing reduction of the penalty upon conviction.

The fact that Athena allocates to the Furies a special shrine in Athens at the end of the trial shows that
they still stand as the basis of all law

Though THIS woman NEVER appears in the Oresteia trilogy of Aeschylus, she is still part of the moral fiber of the plays (e.g., the chorus complains that her actions have brought the royal house of Mycenae into such a mess):

Helen

What god does Orestes claim ordered him to kill his mother?-
Apollo

The name Oedipus means
Swollen Foot; referring to the stake through his ankle

the oracle that Laius received was-
“You will have a child that will kill you and marry your wife

“exposure” means
left to die out in the elements

The irony of the Sphinx’s riddle for Oedipus was that-
although he gave the correct response, he did not fully comprehend it

The sphinx look like-
Wings of a Bird of Prey, Body of a Lion, Tallons of a Vulture, Tail of a Serpent and the Upper Body and Face of a Women

Oedipus would have been able to read which of the following sayings on the walls of Apollo’s oracle?
Know yourself

the old seer of Thebes
Tiresias

What makes it paradoxical that Oedipus is personally accountable in the myth for the events that took place around him?
the gods had decreed and predestined his fate long beforehand

What does the Solon story say about man’s “ephemeros” nature?
Man’s forturne can turn at any moment

Know the cities relevant to the Oedipus story.
Delphi(prophet), Corinth(where Oedipus raised), Thebes(his home originally and where he meets the sphinxs

What did Oedipus use to blind himself?
His mother/wife Jocatsa’s broaches for her dress

How did the “golden fleece” end up in Colchis?-
Phrixus and Helle jumped on the back of the flying golden ram that saved them from being sacrificed. He brought them to Asia

Jason and his fellow Argonauts had to sail through the Symplegades to get into the Black Sea. The Symplegades can best be described as . . . ???
clashing rocks

Why did Herakles leave the Argo and not finish the journey with Jason?
His boyfriend Hylas was caputured by a water nymph and he refused to stop searching for him

On the island of Lemnos, the Argonauts found women who ????-
Smelled bad/ were sex-crazed because they had killed all their men

Medea helped Jason in which ONE of the following tasks:
yoking the bronze-hoofed, fire-breathing bulls

When the rumor came to Iolcus that the Argo had sunk with all hands aboard, Pelias did WHAT to his brother?
he allowed him to drink poisonous Bull Blood to kill himself

Medea complains about the lot of women because
their happiness is totally dependent on men

What does Medea decide is her ultimate source of power against Jason?
Her ability to bear children; and carry on Jason’s line

In what way does Medea strike at Jason’s immortality?
She kills his living heirs; cutting off his family line; Has sons give poison robe and cap to Jason’s new wife

What did Lucretia do to start a revolution around 509 B.C. that brought about the overthrow of the kings’ rule at Rome?
she committed suicide in front of the Roman nobles

What is significant about the date 753 B.C.? the founding of Rome

What is the function of the “Flamen Dialis”? chief priest of Jupiter

Which of the following best describes the activities of the augurs at Rome?interpret the flight of birds

Which of the following best describes the activities of the haruspices at Rome? inspected the entrails of animals for signs from the gods

Which of the following was done during the Lupercalia?
young men struck the bellies of young girls with leather straps

Which one of these was NOT a Trojan?
Agamemnon

Which of these buildings or structures does not belong on the Acropolis of Athens?-
a stadium for athletic contests called the Stadia Dios

Which of these other items do not belong on the Acropolis of Athens?
a short pillar with a large statue of Poseidon’s trident on top of it.

What divinity had a large temple in the Athenian marketplace that still stands today and which is sometimes called, erroneously, the Theseion because it once housed the bones of Theseus.-
Hephaestus

What does Athena Parthenos wear on her head?
a helmet that includes horses

The Theater of Dionysus on the south slope of the Acropolis had machines that lowered the gods from above. It also had a low area for the chorus to dance and sing. What lone object stood in the chorus area?-