Heroic
Myths:
- Intro
& Gilgamesh:Powell,
Chapter
12:
- Key Names & Terms: hero,
Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Utnapishtim, Ishtar, Siduri
- sample questions at
his web site: click
here
- Heracles:Powell,
Chapter
14:
- Key Names &
Terms:
Heracles, Alcmena, Eurystheus, Amphitryon, Megara, Nemean lion, Hydra,
Ceryneian deer, Erymanthian boar,
Chiron, Augeas, Cretan bull, horses of Diomedes,
Admetus, Alcestis, Hippolyta, Geryon, apples of the Hesperides,
Antaeus, Cerberus, Omphale, Deianira,
Nessus, Philoctetes
- Hercules, the movie:
- key names
& terms: Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Hades, Pain, Panic, the fates,
Hercules, Alcmene, Amphitryon, Phil, Pegasus, Meg, the
titans, the cyclops, Thebes, "go the distance", "true hero"
- web site for script (click
here)
- Theseus:
Powell,
Chapter
15-16:
- Key Names &
Terms: Aegeus, Theseus, Procrustes, Medea, Minos, Minotaur,
Ariadne, Hippolytus, Phaedra, Pirithoüs, Centaurs,
- sample questions at
his web site: click
here (Ch15);
and
here
(Ch
16)
- Oedipus:
Powell,
Chapter
17:
- Key Names & Terms:
Cadmus, Europa, Harmonia, Sparti, Laius, Jocasta, Oedipus, Creon,
Polynices, Haemon, Antigone, Eteocles, Ismene,
- sample questions at
his web site: click
here
- Jason:
Powell,
Chapter
18:
- Key Names &
Terms: Pelias, Jason, Chiron, Argo, Lemnos, Phineus, Aeëtes,
Medea, Apsyrtus, Creon
Possible
Essay Questions:
- Essay
Question:
(minimum
400
words
long)
- We recently
looked at several other theories of myth interpretation, one of which
was Malinowski's Charter Theory. In your essay, first succinctly
state what the theory is, then apply it to the Greek myth of Heracles
(as given in Powell) and to the Disney myth of Hercules (as in the
movie Hercules) [since you
can't cover all that is possible for both in your essay, pick what you
consider the most significant]. In your conclusion discuss one of the
significant similarities and one of the significant differences.
- Based on character (as
opposed to particular heroic deeds), which of
these 4 Greek heroes--Oedipus, Heracles, Theseus, Jason--is most like
Disney's Hercules and which least like? Restrict your information on
these heroes to the material given in Powell. [if doing 2 essays, make
sure you cover different heroes in your essays as much as possible] For the movie, either use your memory or the
script (click
here).
- Argue whether the view of the
male/female relationship as evidenced in Disney's movie Hercules is changed all that much
from the Greek view as evidenced in the readings for this section in
Powell (if you did
paper 4, exclude Ovid and Catullus from your source material).