CLT3378 Final Exam Study Guide Credit: Stephen J. Esposito ! ! 1!CLT3378: Ancient Mythology East & West Final Exam Study Guide TABLE OF CONTENTS “Oedipus” Lecture Outline ……………………………………………………………… 2 “Oedipus” Key Terms ………………………………………………………………….. 12 “From Paleontology to Mythology” Lecture Outline (TA’s Lecture) …………………. 15 “From Paleontology to Mythology” Key Terms ………………………………………. 20 Rig Veda Lecture Outline ………………………………………………………….….... 20 Rig Veda Key Terms ………………………………………………………………….... 28 “Chinese Creation and the Flood” Lecture Outline ……………………………….….... 30 “Chinese Creation and the Flood” Key Terms ……………………………………........ 36 “Norse Creation and Afterlife” Lecture Outline ……………………………………….. 38 “Norse Creation and Afterlife” Key Terms ……………………………………………. 49 Prose Edda Background Reading Key Terms ………………………………………..... 53 “Ragnarok” Lecture Outline ………………………………………………………….... 53 “Ragnarok” Key Terms ………………………………………………………………... 60 “Egyptian Creation” Lecture Outline …………………………………………………... 62 “Egyptian Creation” Key Terms ……………………………………………………….. 69 “Egyptian Afterlife” Lecture Outline …………………………………………………... 72 “Egyptian Afterlife” Key Terms ……………………………………………………….. 78 “Mesopotamian Afterlife” Lecture Outline ……………………………………………. 80 “Mesopotamian Afterlife” Key Terms …………………………………………………. 86 “Ruler Cult in Ancient Greece” ………………………………………………………... 88 “Ruler Cult in Ancient Greece” Key Terms …………………………………………… 90CLT3378 Final Exam Study Guide Credit: Stephen J. Esposito ! ! 2! OEDIPUS ABOUT OEDIPUS I. Oedipus is a Greek Hero (has two mortal parents) II. Laios and Jocasta 1. king and queen of Thebes 2. they had no children III. Delphic oracle says to Laios: 1. son by Jocasta will kill father, Laios They ask the oracle what they can do to have children, and the oracle says that the son will kill the father. (oracle answers in riddles) IV. Delphic oracle = oracle of Apollo at Delphi 1. At Delphi, there was a priestess that supposedly became possessed by Apollo, and she would say what Apollo is saying in reply to a certain question. 2. In literature, responses from oracles tend to be riddling. V. Sometime later, Laios gets drunk; he forces himself on his wife Jocasta and sheCLT3378 Final Exam Study Guide Credit: Stephen J. Esposito ! ! 3!becomes pregnant (she becomes pregnant with Oedipus). VI. the baby is born, Laios wants to do away with this child 1. Laios pierces the baby's ankles with metal pins “In ancient times, they would "expose" the baby by taking them out somewhere and leaving them (such as the wilderness, a mountain top, etc.) and at that point it would be up to the Gods to decide if they save the baby or not once the person who brought the baby there leaves the baby.” - Branscome VII. Laios gives the baby to a shepherd to expose on a mountain. VIII. shepherd gives baby to Merope and Polybos (Polybos = King of Corinth). IX. Merope names baby "Oedipus" (-oed = swollen and -pous = foot) X. As a young man, Oedipus is taunted by other children saying that he is illegitimate and that he is adopted. XI. Oedipus goes to the Delphic oracle to ask if he is adopted. 1. The delphic oracle answers with a riddle saying "You will kill your father andCLT3378 Final Exam Study Guide Credit: Stephen J. Esposito ! ! 4!marry your mother." XII. Oedipus leaves Corinth to save his "parents" (who are not really his true parents) so that he may not marry his mother or kill his father as the Oracle said.. XIII. At a crossroads: Oedipus kills an old man (who is his father, Laios) and he also kills all of Laios’ servants but one. One manages to get away. Oedipus cannot cross the road because the old man (King Laios) is being carried by his servants and they are blocking the road as they move forward. As Oedipus goes around them to cross them, the haughty King Laios whacks Oedipus on the back with a stick. This is what sets Oedipus off in order to make him kill the servants and the king. XIV. Oedipus keeps on travelling, and he eventually reaches Thebes. 1. Creon is the King of Thebes. (It must take a while for Oedipus to get to Thebes, because the servant that was left alive by Oedipus said that Laios was killed by a "band of robbers"). XV. There are sphinxes that begin to terrorize Thebes. XVI. Sphinxes = monsters from Near Eastern myths XVII. Sphinxes have the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird.CLT3378 Final Exam Study Guide Credit: Stephen J. Esposito ! ! 5!The sphinx poses a riddle to all that come toward Thebes: "What has one voice, but four legs, then two legs, then three legs?" (The answer is man, or a human being) XIX. If you cannot answer the riddle, the sphinx will eat you.. But the sphinx says that if someone can solve the riddle, the sphinx will leave. XX. Oedipus solves the riddle. XXI. Sphinx jumps to her death. 1. So Oedipus has solved the riddle, killed the sphinx, and solved the problem that was plaguing Thebes. XXII. Creon rewards Oedipus: kingship to Oedipus and Jocasta as a wife. XIII. Oedipus and Jocasta get married and have children. 1. sons= Eteocles, Polyneices 2. daughters= Antigone, and Ismene ARISTOTLE ON SOPHOCLES’ OEDIPUS THE KING I. Athenian tragedian Sophocles (c. 496-406 BCE) 1. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays; we have 7CLT3378 Final Exam Study Guide Credit: Stephen J. Esposito ! ! 6! 2. Oedipus the King = c. 420s BCE II. philosopher Aristotle (384-322) 1. in Poetics (literary criticism) 2. Oedipus the King as a model tragedy III. hamartia Aristotle doesn't define exactly what hamartia is… But 1. most scholars now think that
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