"Achilles: The Making of a Hero," Maurizio, Chapter 10

• Key Names & Terms:
  • background: 5 traits, Hero cult, Hero shrine, Cleomedes, 4 key conventions of epic
  • Heracles, Zeus, Hera, Megara, Heracles's labors, Alcestis, Admetus, Deianira, Nessus, Hyllus
  • Theseus, Aegeus, Poseidon, Minotaur, Ariadne, Hippolytus, Phaedra
  • Oedipus, Jocasta, Laius, Sphinx, Antigone, Colonus
  • Homer, The Iliad, Achilles, Thetis, Priam, Hector, anger
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Ishtar, Utnapishtim
  • Vergil, the Aeneid, Aeneas, Venus, Anchises, Pallas, Turnus

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

"Medea: The Making of a Heroine," Maurizio, Ch 11:

• Key Names and terms:
  • background: 5 traits, Charilla, Heroine Shrine, Keres, Poene
  • Helen, Zeus, Leda, Menelaus, Hermione
  • Clytemnestra, Leda, Tyndareus, Agamemnon, Erinyes
  • Hecuba, Priam, Hector, Cassandra
  • Euripides, Medea, Ovid, Metamorphoses, Medea, Aeëtes, Cruesa, Jason, Hera Acraia
  • Antigone, Creon, Haemon, 2 brothers

Odysseus and Quest Heroes

• Key Names & Terms:
  • Ovid, the Metamorphoses, Perseus, Danaë, Dictys, Gorgon, Medusa, Andromeda, Pegasus
  • Bellerophon, Chimaera, Pegasus
  • Apollonius, the Argonautica, Jason, Golden Fleece, Argo, Aeëtes, Medea, Apsyrtus
  • Homer, the Odyssey, Odysseus, Penelope, Polyphemus, Circe, Scylla, Sirens, Agamemnon, Achilles
  • the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, Uruk, Enkidu, Utnapishtim
  • Vergil, the Aeneid, Aeneas, Anchises, Romulus, Augustus

Iphigeneia and new Heroines

• Key Names & Terms:
  • Tyrannicides
  • Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis, Iphigenia among the Taurians, Iphigenia, Orestes, Agamemnon, Artemis
  • Apuleius, The Golden Ass, Amor, Psyche, Venus
  • Thecla, Paul

The Movie Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

• Key Names & Terms: Everett (Ulysses), Pete, Delmar, Big Dan T, Pappy O'Daniel (Menelaus), Homer Stokes, Tommy, "Baby Face" George Nelson, Penny, Sirens, the sheriff
• the script of the movie (click here)

Reminder: The only acceptable answers for the fill-in-the-blank questions are the names/terms/etc listed above.

Possible Essay Questions:

Unless the topic specifically says so, use only the primary material (i.e. the actual stories) in Maurizio's Classical Mythology in Context, Disney's Hercules, and the Coen brothers' Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

• 5 Traits of a Heroine: Maurizio, in her Chapter 11, lists 5 traits of a heroine.
  • Source Material: For Meg: Disney's Hercules.
  • Prompt: How does Meg fulfill them? If she doesn't fulfill one (or more), demonstrate why for each she doesn't fulfill.


• 5 Traits of a Hero: Maurizio, in her Chapter 10, lists 5 traits of a hero.
  • Source Material: For Hercules: Disney's Hercules.
  • Prompt: How does Hercules fulfill them? If he doesn't fulfill one (or more), demonstrate why for each he doesn't fulfill.


• The Doctor's Companion:
  • Source material: Their audition material consists of the movies for Meg and Penny, the primary source material in Maurizio for Circe (Ch 12), Iphigenia (Ch 13), and Thecla (Ch 13), and the secondary material in Maurizio for Psyche (Ch13). If you need extra source material, you may use the secondary source material in Maurizio's Chapter 13 for Circe & Iphigenia.
  • Prompt: You are the casting director for the show Doctor Who and, with the departure of the current companion, you need to narrow down the possible canditates whom you will present to Steven Moffat for consideration. If you've never watched the show, here is a BBCAmerica article about the top 10 companions that does a good job describing the characteristics of a good companion (click here). Make sure you have good argumentation with solid facts to back up your arguments.
    • 2 from the following: Circe, Iphigenia, Psyche, Thecla, Meg, & Penny.


• The Doctor:
  • Source material: Their audition material consists of the movies for Hercules and Everett, the primary source material in Maurizio for Odysseus (Ch 12), Aeneas (Ch12), and Gilgamesh (Ch 12), and the secondary material in Maurizio for Amor (Ch13). If you need extra source material, you may use the primary and secondary source material in Maurizio's Chapter 10 & 12 for Aeneas and Gilgamesh, and the secondary source material in Maurizio's Ch 12 for Odysseus.
  • Prompt: You are the casting director for the show Doctor Who and you need to narrow down the possible canditates for the role of the Doctor (we are assuming that the current doctor, Peter Capaldi, is leaving the show). You will present these to Steven Moffat for consideration. In case you've never watched the show, here are some of the essential qualities of the Doctor: extremely smart, very versatile (good at doing many different types of things), very persuasive, an effective liar (e.g. he never reveals his name, and can produce credentials "proving" he has just about any job title or position or name), very adverse to killing (prefers talking first and mediating wherever possible), likes exploring and trying out new things, places, etc., is a moral being but sometimes needs to be "grounded" by the companion. Make sure you have good argumentation with solid facts to back up your arguments.
    • 2 from the following: Odysseus, Aeneas, Gilgamesh, Amor, Hercules (movie), & Everett.