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Essential Element: Part I

Theban SagaAt the beginning of the course, we discussed three classes of myth:

myth dealing primarily with the gods, saga focusing on the actions of

mortal (often semi-divine) heroes, and folktale. It will be clear already

from our examination of the myths about the gods that these

categories overlap a great deal myths about the gods do not deal only

with the gods, nor do sagas involving particular heroes avoid the gods

or elements of folktale. Saga, as we will see, often has some historical

connection to geographical areas important in the late Bronze Age, and

it is notable that there are cycles of myths that all focus on the same

area or family. We will therefore first be dividing our study of saga into

broad geographical groups, focusing on Thebes and the Mycenae.

These sagas contain a great number of characters and can quickly

become overwhelming in a course that focuses on more than just one

set of myths. The following therefore provides a distillation of what

you will find in the textbook on the Theban saga and is intended to

indicate the focus of what you should know about this saga. This

should help you organize your thoughts as you read through the

primary sources and descriptions in the textbook.

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Essential Element: Part II

Foundation of ThebesThe Greek city of Thebes is located in Boeotia, to the northwest of

Athens. We have already looked at the myth of Europa, whom Zeus

abducts from the Near East in the form of bull and takes off to Crete.

Thebes is founded by Europas brother, Cadmus, who is sent in search

of his sister by his father. He went to Delphi to seek the advice of the

oracle of Apollo which told him to forget about Europa but to follow a

bull and, wherever it should lie down, to found a city. The cow lead him

to Boeotia, where he founded Cadmeia which later became Thebes.

When Cadmus arrives at the location of Thebes, however, he has to

sacrifice the cow. In order to do so, he tries to

draw water from a spring in the vicinity, but a

snake of Ares guards the water. The snake kills

many of Cadmus men, but Cadmus eventually

defeats the beast (see image 1). Athena advises

him to sow the teeth of the serpent into the ground. When he does so,

armed men (called Spartoi) grow up out of the earth and fight each

other until only 5 are left. From these, the myth says, were descended

the Thebans. Cadmus is eventually given Harmonia, the daughter of

Ares and Aphrodite as a bride. Cadmus and Harmonia have four

daughters - Ino, Semele, Agave and Autonoe.

This myth links the origins of Thebes to the Near East, through its

foundation by Cadmus, but also to native Greek soil, through the birth

of Theban forefathers also from the soil, an allegory perhaps for

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historical immigration, strife, and cultural mixing. We have already

seen that the killing of a snake is a motif in foundation myths, such as

in the foundation of Delphi by Apollo, and we will encounter the motif

of sowing teeth into the earth again in the journey of Jason and the

Argonauts.

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Essential Element: Part III

OedipusA central figure in the Theban saga is Oedipus, one of the most well

known figures from Classical myth. Pentheus (whom we encountered

already in the myth of Dionysus visit to Thebes), the grandson of

Cadmus, is the next king of Thebes. When he died at the hands of his

mother Agave, Labdacus became king, who also died because of his

disregard for Dionysus. His son was Laius, the father of Oedipus.

Laius, however, was an infant when Labdacus died and therefore

Lycus, a great-great-uncle of Laius became king for twenty years. After

various family intrigues, Laius eventually returns from exile in Elis,

where he had been taken in by Pelops (whom we will encounter in the

Mycenaean saga). However, Laius cursed his lineage by abducting

Pelops son Chrysippus, with whom he was in love. Laius learned of the

curse from the oracle of Apollo which told him that he was destined to

be killed by his son.

Laius and his wife Jocasta have a son which they expose on Mt.

Cithaeron, having pierced his ankles so that he could not walk. The

exposure of unwanted children is a common motif in Classical

mythology, as the salvation and raising of exposed children by

shepherds or animals (one thinks of the more modern Jungle Book by

Kipling). A servant was made to take the baby to the mountains, but he

pitied Oedipus and gave him to a Corinthian shepherd, who brought

Oedipus back to the rulers of Corinth Polybus and Merope. They

named him Oedipus (which in Greek means swell-foot) and brought

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him up as their son. However, when grown, Oedipus is made to suspect

that he is not their real son, having been taunted by another. He goes to

Delphi to learn the truth and is told that he is destined to murder his

father and lie in bed with his mother. For this reason he does not

return to Corinth but goes onto Thebes; where he unwittingly fulfils

the prophecy. On his way there, he was blocked by a man, Laius - in

anger Oedipus slew him. Try as he did, Laius could not avoid the fate

prophesied at Delphi.

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Essential Element: Part IV

OedipusWhen he finally arrives at Thebes, Oedipus delivers the city from a

curse. The Sphinx (the strangler), a monster which had the face of a

woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird, had been sent by

Hera. The Sphinx came to Thebes and asked all Thebans a riddle it had

learned from the Muses. Whoever answered incorrectly was savagely

killed. The riddle is the following

What creature walks upon four feet in the morning, upon two feet at

noon, and upon three feet in the evening?

The answer, of course, is a human in our different stages of ageing

(including a cane to make the three feet in old age). When Oedipus

arrives he confronts the Sphinx and solves the riddle (see images 1-2).

Creon, Jocastas brother, had

offered the throne to

whomever could solve the

riddle and Oedipus becomes

the king of Thebes, therefore

again unwittingly taking his mother Jocasta as his wife.

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Essential Element: Part V

Oedipus' BlindnessThe Difficulty ofKnowledge

Oedipus lives at Thebes in ignorance for some time, and has two sons,

Polynices and Eteocles, and two daughters, Antigone and Ismene, with

Jocasta. However, a plague comes upon Thebes. Oedipus sends Creon

to consult the oracle at Delphi which tells him that he must rid the land

of a pollution. Oedipus vows to do so, unaware that he is the pollution.

The truth is revealed by the death of Oedipus father in Corinth,

Polybus. A messenger, the same shepherd to whom Oedipus was given

long ago, comes to give the news. He reveals that Oedipus was not the

real son of Polybus, and it is discovered that he is the son of Jocasta.

When Jocasta realizes this, she hangs herself. Oedipus is a bit slower

to understand, but he in turn blinds himself by poking out his eyes with

pins.

The Oedipus myth has been made famous by the psychoanalytical

theories of Sigmund Freud, who termed what he saw as an innate

desire of young men to sleep with their mothers the Oedipus Complex

after this myth. On another level, however, this myth is more about the

difficulty of knowledge. The apparently clever Oedipus, who solves the

Sphinxs riddle, is ironically at first is unable to see the truth before

him, and when he does understand his situation, he takes his physical

sight. The various versions of this myth play with this motif of

recognition and understanding, especially the most famous account of

the myth by Sophocles in his tragedy Oedipus Tyrannus. The myth also

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reflects upon divine will, expressed to humans through the oracle at

Delphi, and the impossibility of avoiding this. Concepts of fate and

human freedom are central to various religious and philosophical

schools of thought and are questions with which we all must grapple in

some way in our lives. The myth of Oedipus helps us to explore such

questions, even as it gives no certain answers.

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Essential Element: Part I

Pelops The mythological family history begins with the ancestors of Atreus

Tantalus and Pelops. Pelops is the son of Tantalus and famously

cooked by his father. The story goes that Tantalus invites the gods to a

banquet and prepares his son as a dish. The gods understand the

deception, except for Demeter, who eats a piece of his shoulder (her

revulsion afterward can be connected to her role as a civilizing

goddess, who is also linked in some myths and religious texts with

bringing an end to cannibalism amongst humans). Pelops is eventually

restored to life, his shoulder replaced by a marble shoulder, and in

some versions Pelops is taken away by Poseidon, as his lover. Tantalus,

as we have already encountered in the Essential Element on the

underworld, is given an eternal punishment in the afterlife for

deceiving them. This myth on the one hand links the house of Atreus

strongly to the gods, and on the other hand exemplifies the hubris and

curse that will follow the family throughout its generations.

After he is restored to life, Pelops leaves Asia Minor to go to Elis in the

Peloponnese (named after Pelops) in order to win the hand of

Hippodamia, the daughter of king Oenomaus. In order to win

Hippodamia, he has to defeat the king in a chariot race. Thirteen

suitors fail before he wins, and when the king

caught a suitor, he killed him. In order to win,

Pelops is said in different versions of the myth

either to have had help from Poseidon, or to have

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bribed Oenomauscharioteer Myrtilus to take the

linchpins from the wheels of the Oenomaus chariot. King Oenomaus

crashes and dies during the pursuit (see image 1).

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Essential Element: Part II

The Curse of the House of AtreusThe charioteer Myrtilus thought that Pelops would be given

Hippodamia to sleep with on the first night as a prize. When this does

not happen, he tries to rape her, but Pelops discovers the rape and

throws Myrtilus off a cliff. Myrtilus curses Pelops and his descendants

as he falls to his death. A curse on the house of Atreus has already been

brought about by the actions of Tantalus (actions which we see echoed

in later generations), but here we have in mythology also an explicit

curse brought upon the family for Pelops actions. It seems often to be

the case in mythology that qualities, good and bad, run in families.

Pelops becomes king in place of Oenomaus and has sons with

Hippodamia, Atreus and Thyestes. The curse passes on to this

generation and the two brothers fight over who should get the kingdom

of Mycenae which was said by an oracle to be for a son of Pelops. It is

decided that whoever of the sons obtains a ram with a golden fleece

will get the city. Pan brings the fleece to Atreus, but Thyestes steals it

by sleeping with Atreus wife Aerope, who gives it to Thyestes.

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Essential Element: Part III

Thyestes and Atreus

Thyestes therefore first becomes king at Mycenae, until Atreus later returns andbanishes Thyestes. Atreus also takes further revenge. He pretends at first to bereconciled with Thyestes and invites him back to Mycenae for a banquet incelebration. This, however, is a ruse. Atreus kills Thyestes sons (with the exception ofone son, Aegisthus) and feeds them to him. Thyestes does not notice the gruesomenature of the banquet until he has eaten, and curses Atreus (a natural reaction,surely!). Once again, we see the motif of cannibalism as well as the curse placed uponthe family.

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Essential Element: Part IV

Agamemnon and the Trojan WarThe above myths bring us to the generation of Agamemnon, who is the son of Atreus.Agamemnon becomes king of Mycenae and is married to Clytemnestra, with whomhe has three children: two daughters, Iphigenia and Electra, and one son, Orestes.The curse on the family of Atreus continues also in this generation. Agamemnon andthe Greeks go to war in order to revenge the fact that Helen, the wife ofAgamemnons brother Menelaus, has been taken away by Paris to Troy. The troopsgather in the bay at Aulis and the fleet is ready to sail, but the winds are too strong forthe fleet to go anywhere. Agamemnon is informed by a seer that the winds are beingcaused by Artemis, because two of Agamemnon's hawks attacked and ate a pregnanthare. In order to appease the goddess, Agamemon will have to make anothersacrifice, his own daughter Iphigenia. This is a difficult decision for the head-strongAgamemnon: does he sacrifice his daughter for the army and the sake of revenge? Inthe end he chooses to kill Iphigenia, the fleet set sail, and they take their revenge onTroy. For this sacrifice of his daughter, Clytemnestra is (understandably) furious withher husband.

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Essential Element: Part V

Agamemnon's Return Home Agamemnons return home after the Trojan War and his subsequent

downfall at the hands of his wife are famously presented in a trilogy of

plays by the Athenian playwright Aeschylus, in the fifth century BC.

Furious at her husbands actions, Clytemnestra has plotted with the one

remaining son of Thyestes, named Aegisthus, to murder Agamemnon

upon his return home. She welcomes Agamemnon kindly at first, but

then kills him together with Aegisthus when

Agamemnon is in the bath, by throwing a net over

him and stabbing him, or in some other versions

at a banquet (see image 1). Agamemnon has also

angered Clytemnestra by bringing home with him

from the war as a concubine the Trojan prophetess Cassandra, whom

Clytemnestra also kills (see image 2). The question of culpability and

blame is a complicated one in this mython the one hand,

Clytemnestra acts cruelly in killing her husband,

but is her reaction not also understandable given

the actions of her husband in killing their

daughter? The curse of previous generations is

also physically present in the myth, as the son of

Thyestes, Aegisthus, helps Clytemnestra to exact revenge on the son of

Atreus, Agamemnon. On the other hand, is Agamemnon entirely

culpable? The decision to sacrifice his daughter, or face shame in front

of the Greeks, was a demand of the goddess Artemis and one must

reflect on the role of divine will and the curse on the actions of all

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characters involved.

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Essential Element: Part VI

Orestes and ElectraClytemnestra and Aegisthus, after the murder of Agamemnon, gain

control of the throne of Mycenae (another switch in power that can be

traced back to the original struggle of Atreus and Thyestes). However,

Agaememnons son Orestes was away during the murder and, learning

of his fathers fate, returns to Mycenae to take revenge. With the help

of his sister Electra, he enters the palace and murders both Aegisthus

and his own mother Clytemnestra (see image 1).

The cycle of family revenge therefore continues,

as does the complicated nature of bringing

judgment on the justice of Orestes actions

matricide is a terrible prospect, but Orestes at

the same time avenges the honour of his cuckolded father. In

Aeschylus version of the myth, this question eventually comes before

the law courts of Athens. Upon killing his mother Orestes is pursued by

the Furies, who avenge parricide. Only he can see the grotesque divine

beings, at which point he flees, first seeking purification at the temple

of Apollo in Delphi (see image 2).In some versions

of the myth, such purification does exculpate him

from his guilt. Aeschylus version, in which the

goddess Athena eventually grants absolution to

Orestes by casting the final vote when the mortal

Athenian jury is deadlocked, instead explores the role of the fifth-

century Athenian courts in justice alongside divine punishment and

absolution. Electra also becomes a major character in later fifth-

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century tragedy, with two plays written about her by the playwrights

Sophocles and Euripides.

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Module14_Essential_Element_Part_IModule14_Essential_Element_Part_IIModule14_Essential_Element_Part_IIIModule14_Essential_Element_Part_IVModule14_Essential_Element_Part_VModule15_Essential_Element_Part_IModule15_Essential_Element_Part_IIModule15_Essential_Element_Part_IIIModule15_Essential_Element_Part_IVModule15_Essential_Element_Part_VModule15_Essential_Element_Part_VI