CMLT316 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Aegisthus, Euripides, Aeschylus
3 Jun 2018
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Class 22: The Age of Heroes - The Mycenaean Cycle
Mycenaean Cycle (The House of Atreus)
● Story groupings:
○ Tantalus and Pelops
○ Pelops and Hippodameia
○ Atreus and Thyestes
○ Agamemnon and Clytemnestra
○ Orestes, Electra and Clytemnestra
● Legendary Greek story beginning with Tantalus
● Attended a ‘pot luck’ banquet with the gods
● Perhaps as a test of their omnipotence, he cut up his son Pelops in a stew and served it
● Tantalus: cursed in Tartarus to be “tantalized” with food for eternity
● Gods took pity on Pelops and restored him, replacing his missing shoulder with one of
ivory
● Not only restored, but reborn
● Very handsome, Poseidon took a fancy to him and gifted him divine horses and taught
him to chariot race
● Another foundation myth
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Class 22: the age of heroes - the mycenaean cycle. Attended a pot luck" banquet with the gods. Perhaps as a test of their omnipotence, he cut up his son pelops in a stew and served it. Tantalus: cursed in tartarus to be tantalized with food for eternity. Gods took pity on pelops and restored him, replacing his missing shoulder with one of ivory. Very handsome, poseidon took a fancy to him and gifted him divine horses and taught him to chariot race. Pelops races oenomaeus (king of elis) for hippodameia"s hand in marriage. Pelops + hippodameia = thyestes and atreus. Sons quarrelled over kingdom after death of father. Oracle: he who rules has the golden ram . Thyestes tricks brother atreus out of the ram (seduces his wife) Atreus kicked out of mycenae by brother thyestes. Atreus eventually regains throne and thyestes is sent into exile. Atreus invites thyestes back to make up .
