MesopotamiaEpic Of Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh: Sumerian king, 2/3 god, 1/3 man Humbaba: monster guards forest Lugulbanda: Gilgamesh’s dad Ninsun: Gilgamesh’s mom Enkidu: friend/counterpart/alter ego, created by Aruru Ishtar: goddess of love-Evil kingship=create Enkidu-Search for immortality, wisdom-Nature overcome hairy innocent animal w/Hunter & sex w/prostitute-2 dreams: meteor can’t be lifted, strange axe-Further civilizing (marriage, clothes, hunting), wrestling-Enkidu bored & Gilgamesh wants glory-Gilgamesh asleep, battle & winds, 7 cedars-Humbaba begs, killed-Gilgamesh refuses Ishtar, angry-Bull terrorizes Uruk, defeated-Enkidu’s dream: Anu= one must die, Ellil= chooses Enkidu, Shamash= defends Enkidu-Curses hunter & Shamhat (harlot) but retracts & praises-Flood, then stay awake for 7 days, plant, immortality through deedsScandanavia/NorseBeowulf: Beowulf: strongest warrior to defeat Grendel, king of Geatland Hrothgar: king of Danes Grendel: devil that devours ppl, chaotic-Hall Heorot destroyed by Grendel b/c loud partying-Beowulf sent to destroy-Destroys & takes arm-Grendel avenged by big mother-Beowulf goes undersea to kill w/sword, takes head-Battles dragon & diesRagnarok:Gylfi: King of Sweden, Christian Fenrir: wolf, escapes bonds, killed by Vidar Serpent: comes to land, killed by Thor, kills Thor Surt & Hyrm: giant Loki: trickster, kills/killed by Heimdall Sons of Muspell: ride in to war Hel: goddess of underworld Odin: god of war, killed by Fenrir Heimdall: god of dawn blows horn for gods to assemble Garm: Hel’s hound-Prophecy of Voluspa-Winter w/o summer, civil war, murder of father/son, incest, devour sun & moon, eq’s, flood-Warnings, troops gather, Pagan gods prepare, battle-Fire destroys earth-Rebirth: younger gods survive, Baldr returns, Lif (life) & Lerftrasir (life yearner) survive, new population from them, sun’s child survives-Convo over, hall disappearsGreeceOdyssey: Odysseus: goes to underworld to get prophecy b/c messed w/gods, journey home to Ithaca Tiresias: blind prophet, warns Odysseus Antikleia: Odysseus’s mother-Performs ritual of animal sacrifice to attract shades w/blood-Meets gloomy Elpenor, Antikleia, Agamemnon (w/warning), Achilles (unhappy but ex-cited about son fighting for Greeks), Ajax (refuses to talk b/c lost Achilles’s armor to him)-Sees Minos the judge & Orion the Hunter, Heracles (hell & heaven), Theseus-Tormented sinners: tityus, tantalus, sisyphus-Tells shades about life aboveThe Myth of Er: Er: Pamphilian, dies in battle Orpheus: swan, hates womenAjax: avoids human life Agamemnon: eagle-Body doesn’t decompose for 10 days-Revives on his funeral pyre & tell of afterlife, messenger of what sees & hears-Good souls to right, bad to left, souls know each other & share experiences-Souls wait in meadow for 8 days, journey to column of light-Order of Whorls (8 circles)= colored like rainbow, sirens, music, 3 fates (past, present, future)-Souls choose daimon, order by lot, choice of lives (human/animal)-Plain of forgetfulness, stream of oblivionHomeric Hymn to Demeter: Demeter: goddess of agriculture/fertility mother of Persephone, wife of Zeus Persephone: marries uncle Hades Hades: god of underworld Triptolemus: son of Celeus, taught rites-Persephone taken by Hades while playing-Demeter withholds fertility, raises child of Eleusis, gives immortality but unable-Persephone returns but eats pomegranate, can stay 2/3 home, 1/3 w/Hades -Thesmophoria: 3 day festival, form of cult of Demeter, seclusion of men, fast/feastRomeOrpheus & Eurydice: Orpheus: greatest musician on lyre Eurydice: Orpheus’s wife, bitten by snake-Orpheus goes to underworld to get Eurydice back by playing music as ritual, felt bad for him-Pluto says Orpheus can’t look back & she disappears again-Ignores women lovers who try to kill him & he diesAeneid: Aeneas: Trojan, founded Roman ppl Anchises: father Sibyl: guide Golden Bough-Sees River Acheron Charon (ferryman), unburied ppl @ shore, minos the judge, those who died too soon, fields of mourning-Tartarus (judge expiation of wrongs, sinners) -Elysian Fields (heroes, fortunate, Rome future, gates of sleep: Horn= true shades, Ivory= false dreams)-Sibyl calls on Aeneas to make prayer to Apollo-Aeneas asks for entrance to kingdom & promises temple, Sibyl urges him to continue-Aeneas visits father for info, enters underworld thru cave @ Lake Avernus-Sibyl asks for golden bough & funeral of Aeneas’s companion-^^enter underworld together, meets ghosts, ask about deaths-Challenged by CharonFranceThe Myth of Sisyphus: Sisyphus: absurd hero, scorn gods, hates death, revolt-Futile & hopeless labor, attempt to enchain death so nobody dies-Knows fate yet persists & scorns-Personal choice to continue rolling rock up mtn to roll down again, persists in rebellionEgyptIsis & Osiris: Isis: throne, fertility, goddess of life & death Osiris: underworld, dies, dismembered, eternal life Anubis: child of Nephthys & Osiris, exposed, protector of gods Horus: has sex w/ dead Osiris-Isis ruled while Osiris away, instituted marriage, taught Osiris agriculture-Hears Osiris dead, goes to Byblos-Nurses baby to make immortal, can’t-Demands coffin & leaves, leaves ritual behind-Reassembles Osiris’s parts but prob w/male member, mummifiesNative AmericaThe Black Elk Speaks:Black Elk: great vision @ 9-Voice came, legs hurt, couldn’t walk, became sick, limbs swelled-2 men from sky: grandfathers are calling you-Got up to come & picked up by cloud-Directed by bay horse-12 horses (white, sorrel, buckskins) turn into animals & flee-Council of Grandfathers: powers of world (4 directions, sky, earth)-Great vision: power to make live (water cup) & destroy (bow)-Given white wing of cleansing-Addressed by grandfathers w/songs: thunder nation, metamorphoses, peace pipe, sprouting stick-Walk along road to see 4 generations-5th old man (sky) turns to eagle-6th (earth) gets younger & turns into himself-Black Elk attacks & kills blue man-Killed turtle ended drought-People follow him-Ascent of 4 hills: 1st= peaceful, 2nd= eagle, 3rd= people do own things, forebode fu-ture ills, nation’s hoop broken, 4th= will be bad-Dark & Storm come as 4th hill ascends-Power songs, returns riding bay horse-Revives weak stallion & spreads across earth-Horses stand in circle, 4 virgins w/4 gifts, dance, flaming rainbow-Tree shelters world, give sacred herb, return to 6 grandfathersArabiaThe Tale of Buluqiya: Persian King Shahryar/Hasib:
View Full Document
Unlocking...