Odysseus (Ch 20)

Etymology: Unknown. Ep. Polytropos "of many twists and turns".
Origin: King of Ithica, husband of Penelope, father of Telemachus. Son of Laertes and Anticlia.
Claim to Fame: Cunning, Trojan Horse, Katabasis (mortal descent into hell)
Literature: Vergil's Aeneid, Homer's Odyssey, Homer's Illiad

Nostos ("Homecoming")

After 10 years of fighting at Troy alongside Achilles, it takes him 10 years to return home to Ithaca to his faithful wife and growing son.

1. Cicones, Thracian tribe allied with the Trojans
Odysseus sacks the city of the Cicones at Ismarus, but spares Apollo's priest Maron in exchange for 12 amphorae of wine. Six men from each of his ships are slaughtered as reinforcements arrive and they must flee.

2. Lotus-Eaters, North Africa
As they were rounding the tip of the Peloponnesus, the wind blows them off course to the land of the lotus-eaters, where one taste of their fruit is to attain blissful, apathetic oblivion. Odysseus resists the temptations to be relieved of all wants, desires, and passions in life through eternal sleep, and forces his men back to the ships to continue on home.

3. Polyphemus, one-eyed giant, son of Poseidon
Odysseus is captured by the giant Polyphemus, who kills and eats his six of his men before imprisoning them in his cave. They drug him with the 12 amphorae of wine, and while he is sleeping Odysseus blinds him with a burning stick, whispering to him that his name is "nobody" so the other cyclopes could not charge him. To escape, Odysseus and his surviving crew tie themselves to the bellies of the giant's sheep, so when he took them out to graze the prisoners were left undiscovered. As they sail away, Odysseus accidentally reveals his name, earning the wrath of Poseidon by the wrongdoing of his son.

4. Aeolus, keeper of the winds
They stop of the island of Aeolus, and befriend its inhabitant so that he gives Odysseus a leather bag containing the winds that will blow them home safely. Unfortunately just as they are almost in view of Ithaca Odysseus falls asleep and the mischievous crew open the bag, blowing them all back to Aeolus' island. This time, they cannot convince Aeolus to aid them again, so they turn to the seas once more.

5. Laestrygones, cannibalistic tribe
Captured by cannibals, 11 of Odysseus' 12 ships are destroyed and the men are devoured. Odysseus and his own ship's crew is all that remains.

6. Circe, sorceress, daughter of Helius. Island of Aeaea.
Odysseus and his crew are welcomed by Circe, and while he stays behind with the ship, they are all transformed into swine. Hermes intervenes, giving Odysseus the herb "moly" (antidote to her witchcraft), and Odysseus seduces Circe into transforming his men back into humans and letting them go. He first convinces her to reveal the means by which he can learn how to get home, several warnings for the jounrey ahead, and attains instructions to perform Nekuia ("spirit summoning") to consult the spirit of the dead seer Tiresias.

7. Katabasis, kata "down" + basis "going" (Homer's Odyssey Book 11, "Book of the Dead")
In the far west, Odysseus performs the rituals of Nekuia to summon the spirit of Tiresias. As instructed by Circe, Odysseus sacrificed an unfertile heifer and black sheep as well as pour a libation of honey, wine, milk, water, and blood to replenish the dead and convince Erebus to release several shades:
- Anticlia (mother), who died of a broken heart waiting for her son. Odysseus attempts three times to embrace her, but passes through her shade
- Elpenor (comrade at arms), who died of a drunken escapade and was left unburied and unwept. Cursed for 100 years.
- Achilles (comrade at arms), who died of Paris' divine arrow, asserts "it's better a slave on earth than King of the Dead"
- Ajax (comrade at arms), who died of suicide at the incomprehension of losing a wager to Odysseus, turns his back and refuses to speak.
- Tiresias (seer), who died of old age, is given blood in exchange for the knowledge that will return Odysseus alone to Ithica, where he must face Penelope's suitors before he can attain his rightful place.

8. Sirens, women who lure ships to rocks said to hold intellectual/sexual secrets = femme fatale
Eager to hear their song, Odysseus orders his men to tie him to the mast of the ship (by no means untie him) and plug their own ears with wax so they can safely pass. Like Prometheus, Odysseus succeeds in overcoming temptation with foresight.

9. Scylla and Charybdis, straits of Messina (Sicily and Italy)
To negotiate the violent rocks and whirlpools, Odysseus adheres to the side of the strait associated with Scylla. Six of his men are consumed by her. They also pass safely through Planctae ("clashing rocks"), the Mediterranean Sea/ Black Sea passage connection.

10. Cattle of Thrinacia, island of Helius
Warned by Circe not to touch the cattle, Odysseus's crew disobeys, earning the wrath of Helius as enacted by Zeus's thunderbolt. Everyone drowns but Odysseus, who avoids Charybdis, clinging to the wreckage of his ship.

11. Calypso ("concealer"), sea-nymph and daughter of Atlas

Imprisons Odysseus on the island of Ogygia for 7 years. Although she nourishes him back to health as well as promises him immortality, Odysseus cannot justify (a) not returning to his family and kingdom, and (b) having his name left unspoken due to his concealment. He petitions Zeus, who sends Hermes to sanction his release.

12. Phaeacians, peaceful seafaring tribe, Scheria

Odysseus' raft is shipwrecked by Poseidon near the isle of the Scheria but Leucothea and Athena help him ashore. He is discovered by the princess Nausicaa, daughter of Alcinous and Arete, who earns his stays at their court through the retelling of his adventures. He shows prowess in a number of contests, and is sent home to Ithica with magical intervention.

Poseidon, angered by the Phaeacian's intervention, turns their ships to stone.

Arrival at Ithica

Since Telemachus is too young to be eligible for the throne, Peripheron Penelope ("circumspect") is harassed by a number of suitors intending to steal it from Odysseus.

- Telemacheus travels to Pylos to visit King Nestor, and Sparta to visit King Menalaus, to discover whether Odysseus still lives.
- Meanwhile, Penelope promises she shall pick a suitor once she is finished weaving her husbands shround (each night she undoes the days work to start over in the morning)

Disguised as a begger, Athena directs Odysseus to Eumaeus, the swine herd who kept Odysseus' faithful dog, Argus. The dog recognises his master and drops dead, affirming his identity as the lost king to Eumaeus and Telemachus. Similarly, an old nurse of his (Euryclea, characterized by her gashed thigh) washes his feet as a charity to a beggar, but upon recognizing them, she recognizes her king.

He arranges a meeting with Penelope on the claim he has seen Odysseus, dropping hints at his true identity by commenting on the fact she is not wearing a certain brooch (a gift from Odysseus, long ago).
In response to her suspicion of the stranger at court Penelope arranges an archery contest for the suitors, whereby they must string her husbands bow and shoot through 12 axeheads. Each one fails, until the beggar is given a turn, whereby Odysseus enacts his vengeance through his dramatic reveal.

• Father and son slaughters Antinoos (main suitor) and the rest, sparing only Medon (herald) and Phemius (bard). 
• The 12 Servant-girls that taunted the beggar at court as well as slept with the suitors were charged with cleaning up the bloodshed, then were hanged for their disloyalty. 
• Goat-herd Melanthius was mutilated and killed for violating Xenia.

Having been sent away during the bloodshed, Penelope enacts one last test for the stranger by asking Nurse Euryclea to move her marriage bed, which only few know that it is actually hand-carved out of a living, rooted olive tree. Odysseus' outrage at this order confirms his identity as it is a secret symbol of their tryst. Athena then consummates Odysseus's return and he obtains his rightful place as ruler of Ithica.

Oedipus (Ch 17)

Etymology: Oedipus, "swollen foot"
Origin: Born to Laius + Jocasta of Thebes, raised by Polybus + Merope of Corinth.
Claim to Fame: Defeats Sphinx. Kills his father, marries his mother.
Literature: Sophocles' Theban Trilogy (Oedipus Rex/Tyrannus, Antigone, Oedipus at Colonus), Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound (Seven Against Thebes)

Precedents

Laius, the great-grandson of Cadmus, breaks Xenia (guest-host relationship) by abducting and raping Pelop's son Chrysippus, and thus his lineage is cursed. Laius returns to Thebes, ascends the throne, and marries Jocasta.He learns of an oracle that proclaims he is destined to die at the hands of his own son, asserting the curse placed upon him by Pelops, so when his son Oedipus is born he is abandoned on Mt. Cithaeron with spikes driven through both ankles (not only is his death likely, his spirit is anchored to one place).
Tiresias, the Theban seer, makes the mistake of striking two snakes that are copulating, and is thus changed into a woman for 7 years. Interested in his experience, Jupiter questions Tiresias if it is man or woman that obtains more pleasure from sex. He agrees with Jupiter that women derives more pleasure, and is struck blind by an enraged Juno. To compensate he is granted the gift of prophecy, despite his physical blindness.

Oedipus Tyrannus

Oedipus is rescued by a Corinthian shepard and delivered to Polybus and Merope (rulers of Corinth), where he receives his name. As he matures, he is mocked for being adopted, so he seeks information of his true parents from the Delphic Oracle, who responds instead that he is fated to kill his father and marry his mother. Under the conception that Polybus and Merope are his parents, he vows never to return home and wanders to Thebes instead.
He encounters a regal procession at a crossroads, whereby he is driven off the road and is struck by a man in a chariot. Unbeknownst to Oedipus, this man is his father Laius (King of Thebes), so when he slaughters all but one (the shepard that saved him as a child) of the offending party he fulfills the first half of the Oracles prophecy.
He continues on into the city, where he meets the Sphinx ("strangler", part lion part eagle) that devours those that cannot answer her riddle (Q: What creature is quadruped, biped, and triped? A: Man. Four-legged as an infant, two-legged as an adult, with a cane as an elder). Because the Sphinx commits suicide, Oedipus is the saviour of the city, and therefore becomes King of Thebes with Jocasta as his wife - who bears him 4 children, Antigone (f.), Ismene (f.), Polyneices (m.), and Eteocles (m.).
A plague strikes Thebes because Laius' murder has never been solved. Ironically, Oedipus becomes the object of his own curse when he vows to uproot and avenge the killer, ignoring Tiresias' warning hint. A messenger from Corinth arrives, bearing news of the death of King Polybus and the ascension of Oedipus to the throne. The truth is revealed that Oedipus was not his biological son, while Oedipus forces the nature of his true parentage out of the messenger and a Theban attendant, Jocasta retreats into the palace to hang herself. In grief, Oedipus blinds himself and commits to self-imposed exile in Colonus, as led by his daughter Antigone.

Oedipus at Colonus

The inhabitants of Colonus reject Oedipus because his reputation precedes him. Theseus (King of Athens) resolves the situation and allows his exile due a the prophecy that states the city possessing the bones of Oedipus cannot be taken, but Oedipus mysteriously disappears into the Grove of Eumenides (Eryines).

Seven Against Thebes

The sons of Oedipus are cursed by their father to die by each others hands, as forseen by the seer Tiresias. While Eteocles ascends the throne, Polyneices is exiled from Thebes but manages to steal the robe and necklace of Harmonia (wife of Cadmus). He uses the necklace to win over 6 allies that declare war on Thebes, to no avail. The seven gates are defended by seven heroes, and the brothers kill each other to fulfill the prophecy. Only Amphiarus (seer) and Adrastas are saved, either swallowed by the earth or saved by the divine steed Arion, and Thebes is momentarily left without a ruler.

Antigone

After the deaths of the brothers, Creon (evil uncle of Antigone) becomes King of Thebes and dictates that Polyneices the Traitor must be denied burial while Eteocles will be given full funeral honors. At her uncle's hubris (damning her brother as a wandering spirit), Antigone takes matters into her own hands and sprinkles dust on her brother's corpse as a symbolic burial. She is thus sentenced imprisonment without food and water, and commits suicide by hanging. Her berothed as well as mother also kill themselves.

Dionysus (Ch 13)

Etymology and Epithets:
     (g.) Dionysus,  Dio (connection to I.E. Sky God) + nysus ("son of")
     (l.) Bacchus
     Dionysus Lysios, "the deliverer", empowers one with a state of total irresponsibility, group identity
Domain: Thrace, Phrygia (Asia Minor/Modern Turkey/Near East) and/or a party
Genealogy: Zeus + Semele
Claim to Fame: God of wine (grapes, fermentation), drunkenness, madness, ecstasy, fertility  
     (complement to Magna Mater figure, whereby she is "dry earth" he is "fluid earth"). Constant
     assertion of divinity, always an outsider, wild cult following
Iconography: Grapes, cantheros, ivy, panther skin, thyrsus (pole wrapped with ivy, topped with
     pinecone), satyrs, fauns, sileni, usually bearded, maenads.
Literature: Euripedes' Bacchae, Homeric Hymn to Dionysus

Myths

I. Birth - (Preface) Zeus + Persephone = Zagreus, but Hera has the titans dismember and devour the child. Athena manages to rescue the heart and gives it to Zeus, who swallows it before destroying the Titans. Becomes the foundation for Orphic Religion, whereby humans are believed to be born from the ashes of Titans, a harsh savage race, but posses within them the divine spark due to cannibalism.
Zeus then disguises himself as a mortal and sleeps with Semele, daughter of King Cadmus and Harmonia. Hera tries to trick her into revealing Zeus's "godhood", who complies and fries her to a crisp as he unleashes thunderbolts. Her unborn child, Dionysus, is rescued by Hermes, brought to Zeus, sewn into his thigh for gestation, and is born a second time, whereby he is raised by the Nymphs of Nyssa in the Far East.

II. Maturity - After inventing viticulture in Nyssa in the East, Dionysus is driven mad by Hera, and wanders throughout the Egypt, Syria, and Phrygia in search of a cure. He is cured by Cibele, and during his stay in Phrygia he picks up cross-dressing (associated with Eastern cultures) as well as his own entourage. Newly supported, he begins to push socially established boundaries.

Primarily characterized by orgiastic worship and Thiasus, a wild group of followers (Ekstasis, "standing outside oneself"; Enthousiasmos, "having the god within" = god in, reason out, loss of identity.)

     Thiasus:

     - Satyrs: Half man, half goat/horse ("Faun" in latin)

     - Sileni: drunken followers

     - Maenads: "mad women", clad in leopard skins and snake headbands, wielding thyrsus.

     - Bacchae/Bacchantes: the original groupies (human)

     Rituals:

     - Satyrs chasing Maenads (promotion of sexual licentiousness and violence)

     - Sparagamos, "tearing" apart of live flesh

     - Omophagy, "eating raw flesh" while still alive

     - Animal sacrifice (ie. rabbits, squirrels, dogs, etc)

IV. Midas and the Golden Touch - King Midas of Phrygia captures Silenus, the lead Sileni of the Thiasus famed for his tall tales. For his return, Dionysus grants Midas one wish. King Midas's golden touch becomes a gift and a curse, as he can no longer eat, drink, or touch those he loves, so he washes it out in the Pactolus River, which now flows with gold.

V. Resistance to Dionysus:
1. Dionysus and his Thiasus are prevented passage through Thrace by Lycurgus (King of Thrace), so Zeus drives the king blind/mad.
2. Proetids, daughter of Proetus (King of Argos) refuse the new religion of Dionysus along with the women of Argos. Dionysus plagues them with a nasty itch that can only be soothed by wild behavior, shouting, and dancing.
3. Dionysus is abducted and bound by sailors, who think he is a mere mortal. When the bonds miraculously fall off, they still refuse to acknowledge his divinity, so the ship starts to flow with wine and creep with ivy. Dionysus transforms into a lion and the crew jumps into the sea, becoming dolphins.
4. Upon Dionysus' return to Thebes, his divinity is rejected by Pentheus, King of Thebes, his own cousin, despite the warnings of Cadmus (former king) and seer Tiresias. As a result, the women of Thebes are driven to insanity, and wander about Mt. Citharon behaving badly. Pentheus has a mysterious stranger arrested, who thwarts his imprisonment and drives Pentheus insane with double vision, loss of identity, and the curiosity to spy on the maddened women of Thebes. Naturally, he is caught and torn to pieces, head mounted on a stake and paraded through Thebes by his own mother. Thebes regains their senses and realize the legitimate power of Dionysus, affirming him as their deity.