Medusa 2008

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Medusa Exam 2008:  The Houses of Atreus and Cadmus

 

Tantalus

·        son of Zeus, king in Phrygia on Mt. Sipylus

·        father of Pelops and Niobe

·        a favorite of the Olympian gods, even dined with them

·        committed ‘hubris’ (= excessive pride)

·        different versions of his hubristic crime: 

o       revealed the secrets of the gods to other mortals, secrets which they had revealed during dinner with him;

o       stole nectar & ambrosia from the gods and gave some to his friends;

o       (most popular version) killed his son Pelops & served him as a meal to the gods

·        2 versions of his punishment in Tartarus: 

o       forced to sit under a huge stone which was always on the point of falling & crushing him;

o       (most popular version) forced to be ever-hungry & ever-thirsty – stood in water which he could never drink, and above him was fruit-filled branch which was always just out of his reach

·        the English word ‘tantalize’ (to tease by keeping something much desired out of reach) is from his famous punishment in Tartarus

 

Pelops

·        son of Tantalus

·        killed by his father Tantalus & served as a dish to the gods: 

o       none of the gods ate the meal, except Demeter;

o       Demeter, who was worried about her missing daughter Persephone and was very hungry, ate his shoulder;

o       the gods put him back together, replaced his missing shoulder with ivory, and restored him to life

·        Hippodamia, daughter of Oenomaus, a king near Olympia: 

o       Oenomaus heard a prophecy that he would be killed by his son-in-law;

o       to avoid the prophecy, Oenomaus demanded that potential suitors compete in a chariot race with him;

o       if the suitor wins, he marries his daughter Hippodamia;

o       if the suitor loses, he is beheaded by Oenomaus;

o       Oenomaus had very fast and divine horses given to him by his father Ares;

o       all suitors until Pelops had lost the race & their lives

·        Pelops & Hippodamia fall in love

·        Myrtilus, the driver of Oenomaus’ chariot, is bribed: 

o       one version of bribe – Myrtilus, who is in love with Hippodamia, gets one night with her;

o       second version of bribe – Pelops offered Myrtilus a huge treasure

·        Myrtilus puts wax lynch pins in the wheels of the chariot of Oenomaus, who dies in the resulting accident (thus fulfilling the prophecy)

·        death of Myrtilus:  thrown into sea by Pelops, who either denied him the night with his wife Hippodamia or refused to pay him the treasure

·        curse of Myrtilus:  as he died, Myrtilus cursed the House of Pelops, and this is often seen as the reason for the tragedies which befall Atreus & his family

·        Pelops & his wife Hippodamia had the sons Atreus and Thyestes

·        Pelops and Herakles are both associated with the founding of the Olympic Games in honor of Zeus – one legend says that the Olympic Games began as funeral games in honor of Oenomaus, the father of Hippodamia

 

Atreus & Thyestes

·        sons of Pelops & Hippodamia

·        known for their hatred of one another, for their crimes against one another

·        they killed their half-brother Chrysippus, were banished by Pelops

·        the brothers are welcomed by Eurystheus (the task-master of Herakles), king of Mycenae

·        2 contests for the throne of Mycenae when Eurystheus died: 

o       produce a golden fleece (Thyestes had stolen one from Atreus and thus won)

o       produce miracle (Atreus, with the help of Zeus, had the sun set in the east and thus won the kingship

·        Thyestes has affair with Atreus’ wife Aerope:

o       Atreus discovered it, tricked Thyestes into coming over for dinner

o       Atreus killed Thyestes’ sons, fed them to Thyestes

·        Aegisthus, the remaining son of Thyestes, grew up and killed Atreus to avenge his family; later, Aegisthus has an affair with Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon, the son of Atreus

 

 The House of Cadmus:  The City Thebes

 

Jupiter changed into bull with Europa:  children are Minos, Rhadamanthys, & Sarpedon – To have Europa, Jupiter changed himself into a gentle white bull.  When she climbed on the bull’s back for a ride, the bull leapt into the sea and swam from Tyre (in Phoenicia) to the island Crete.

 

Cadmus:

·        sister of Europa, founder of Thebes

·        sent by father to find his missing sister Europa: 

o       father – ‘don’t come back without her!’ 

o       Apollo commanded him to found city where white cow rests; all his men were killed by a serpent; 

o       Cadmus killed serpent;

o       by the order of Athena, Cadmus planted serpent’s teeth in the ground;

o       warriors sprang from the planted teeth and fought one another until 5 are left; 

o       the 5 remaining warriors were called ‘Spartoi’ (the planted men) and helped Cadmus to found his city

·        married Harmonia, the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, and with her had 4 daughters:  Autonoe, Agave, Ino, and Semele

·        2 important wedding presents:  a golden necklace made by Hephaestus and a robe woven by the Graces – both of these have an important role in the attack known as the ‘7 Agst Thebes’

·        at end of their lives, Cadmus & Harmonia were changed into serpents; both were permitted to enter the Elysian Fields

Semele killed by Hera’s trick – Zeus fell in love with Semele, and together they had Dionysus, the god of wine & freedom.  Hera, angry at the affair, tricked Semele into demanding to see Zeus in all his divine glory.  The divine radiance of Zeus in all his glory burnt Semele to a crisp.  Zeus saved the unborn baby, planted him in his thigh, and Dionysus later was born from Zeus’ thigh.

 

Actaeon (son of Autonoe) changed into a deer by Artemis – Actaeon was hunting with his hounds when he came upon a pool of water.  He went to get a drink and saw the virgin goddess Artemis bathing.  Angered, Artemis threw water upon him.  Actaeon was then changed into a deer and ripped apart by his own hunting hounds.

 

Pentheus, king of Thebes, killed by own mother & aunts – When Pentheus (son of Agave) refused to worship Bacchus, the god visited him as one of his priests and convinced him to observe the female worshippers in the mountains.  His mother Agave and aunts (Autonoe & Ino), in a Bacchic frenzy, mistook Pentheus for a wild boar and ripped him limb from limb.

 

Ino changed into sea goddess Leucothea, her son Melicerta into the god Palaemon:  To punish Ino (because Bacchus was the son of Jupiter by her sister Semele), Juno sent a madness upon her husband Athamas.  Thinking that he was hunting animals, Athamas killed their youngest son Learchus.  Ino, carrying her son Melicerta, jumped off a cliff to escape her crazed husband, and the god Neptune transformed them into the gods Leucothea and Palaemon. 

 

Cadmus & his wife Harmonia into snakes:  Cadmus had founded the city Thebes with men who were transformed from dragon’s teeth into warriors.  In old age, Cadmus and his wife were themselves changed into snakes