CLA204H1 Lecture : March 2 Lecture
Document Summary
Thebes and troy: greatest heroic cycles of greek myth. Two main families of heroic myth (hesiod, wd) Troy and thebes dominate the mythological tradition, esp. Thebes as anti-athens, stories define greek identity; thebes and athens were great rivals. Main themes: parricide, infanticide, incest, madness, appearance and reality, loyalty to family vs. state. Zeus (as bull) abducts europa from phoenicia (apollodorus l1); he flies her off to crete on his back. Cadmus (with brothers phoenix, cilix) sent to find her by father agenor. Cadmus told by apollo to abandon his search and instead to follow a cow with a marking and once there, found a city; ---phoenix founds phoenicia, cilix founds cilicia. Europa gives birth from zeus to minos, radamanthes (judge of hades), sarpedon (killed in troy) Cadmus sacrifices cow and sends men to get water from the spring of ares. Cadmus takes teeth, sows them in the ground, his men are all killed; teeth turn into men who create.
