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.

Artemis (Ch 10)

Etymology and Epithets:
     (g.) Artemis
     (l.) Diana
     Potnia Theron, "mistress of the animals"
     Kourotrophos, "protector/destroyer of the young" (See Niobe)
     Phoebe, "bright", "shining" (alike to Phoebus, her brother)
     Identified with Selene ("cold/white/chaste") Hecate (Chthonian deity of crossroads, ghosts,
     and black magic) and the Magna Mater fertility goddess.
Domain: Ambiguous non-hellenic origin with significant Asia Minor connections to fertility deity.  
     Temple of Artemis at Ephesus once one of seven wonders of the world.
Genealogy: Zeus + Leto. Sister to Apollo.
Claim to Fame: Goddess of nature, animals, hunting, eternal virginity, childbirth, chase. Parthanos.
     Original femme fatal: hunts and destroys, then returns home to dance and flirt with the nymphs.
Iconography: the moon, small woodland animals, newborns, archers bow, constellations
Literature: Homeric Hymn to Apollo, Ovid's Metamorphosis, Euripedes' Hippolytus

Myth

I. Birth: Born on Ortygia/Delos "Quail Island" on Mt. Cynthia, then assists with the birth of her brother.
II. Tears of Niobe: Niobe, Queen of Thebes, boasts she is more deserving of honor than Leto because she has given birth to 14 Niobids (7 sons, 7 daughters). Leto hears this slander, and Zeus invokes the wrath of Apollo and Artemis who slay all 14 niobids mercilessly. Zeus manages to save Niobe, and transforms her into a rocky crag in Phrygia known for its streaming of tears down the rock face.
III. Actaeon: A wandering hunter, Actaeon, stumbles upon a glade on Mt. Cithaeron where Diana and her attendants are bathing unaware. Artemis transforms the peeping-tom into a stag and sics his own hounds on him, which tear him apart limb from limb.
III. Callisto: One of Diana's favourite attendents Callisto (from Calliste, "most beautiful") is seduced and impregnated by Jupiter. As a result she is exiled along with her newborn child, Arcas, but transformed into constellations: Callisto into a Ursa Major (bear), and Arcas/Arctophylax/Arcturus/Bootes into Ursa Minor.
IV. Orion (Sirius, "dog"): A hunter and worshipper of Artemis from the island of Chios, Orion persues Merope (daughter of Oenopion, King of Chios). Her father gets Orion drunk and blinds him when he is passed out, forcing him to wander East where Helius restores his site. He then tries to rape Artemis, who sics a scorpion (Scorpius) on him and stings him to death. The two are preserved as constellations in the heavens.
V. Hippolytus (chaste devotee of Artemis): Aphrodite causes his step mother, Phaedra, to fall in love with him. She reveals her secret only to a nurse, who forces her to come clean with her son-in-law. Hippolytus haughtily rejects Phaedra, who is so hurt she commits suicide and leaves a note falsely accusing Hippolytus of rape (Potiphar's Wife motif). His father, Theseus calls down a curse, whereby his son will be killed by a "bull from the sea". In his dying hour, Artemis appears to Hippolytus and promises a cult in his honor, whereby virgins will cut their hair and lament his death, then enact vengeance on Aphrodite's favourites.