CMLT316 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Chariot Racing, Eurystheus, Teleboans
3 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Class 17: Icarus, Orpheus, and Hercales
The Hero’s Struggle
● A hero: exceptional, famous, risk taking
● Deprived of these things from society
○ Safety
○ Stability
○ Community
○ Love, marriage, children
Daedalus and Icarus
● Daedalus from Athens
● Exiled to Crete for killing his nephew Perdicas (jealous bc Perdicas invented the saw)
● Eventually wanted to leave Crete, but Minos wouldn’t let him
● Designed wings so he and his song could fly off the island
● The golden mean: important ancient notion
○ Follow prudent council
○ Know your place in life
○ Fortune favors the bold
○ Julius Caesar: ‘the die has been cast’
Orpheus
● From Thrace
● Son of Oeagrus (king) OR Apollo and the Muse Calliope
● Anti-hero, doesn’t use strength at all
● Lover, not a fighter
● Married Naiad nymph Eurydice
○ Daughter of Poseidon
Orpheus: Pathetic Fallacy
● His music was so powerful that animals and even the earth itself could be moved by it
● Pathetic fallacy: the animal and physical world cares about us humans and responds to
us
Orpheus and Eurydice
● Eurydice bit by a snake and dies
○ Youthism
● Orpheus, grieving, attempts to go to the underworld to bring her back
● Convinces Hades and Persephone through music
● The hitch: he must go ahead of her and cannot look back
● He of course does
● People should never be able to come back from the dead
● Elements:
○ Snake bite killed Eurydice (chthonic powers)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Exiled to crete for killing his nephew perdicas (jealous bc perdicas invented the saw) Eventually wanted to leave crete, but minos wouldn"t let him. Designed wings so he and his song could fly off the island. Julius caesar: the die has been cast". Son of oeagrus (king) or apollo and the muse calliope. His music was so powerful that animals and even the earth itself could be moved by it. Pathetic fallacy: the animal and physical world cares about us humans and responds to us. Eurydice bit by a snake and dies. Orpheus, grieving, attempts to go to the underworld to bring her back. The hitch: he must go ahead of her and cannot look back. People should never be able to come back from the dead. Orpheus a different type of hero - achieving quest through beauty, not violence. Orpheus gets emo and sets himself apart from society.
