Greek Heroes

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Greek Heroes

• Jason, Perseus, Theseus and Hercules

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The Quest for the Golden Fleece

• Also known as the Jason and the Argonauts myth

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Characters

• Jason protagonist rightful heir to a kingdom.
• Hera protector goddess, later asks Aphrodite to
  get her son, Cupid, to shoot an arrow of love
  into Medea so she can fall in love with him and
  help him on his quest for the golden fleece.
• Pelias antagonist Jasons uncle who overthrows
  Jasons dad for the kingdom he does not want
  Jason to take over as king.

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More Characters

• King Aeetes King of Colchis, where the golden
  fleece is kept Medeas father.
• Medea a witch, who falls in love with and helps
  Jason.
• Argonauts Jasons crew.
• Argo Jasons ship.
• Phrixus saved by the ram with the golden
  fleece sacrificed the ram and gave the fleece to
  King Aetes. Phrixus marries one of Aetes
  daughters. Phrixus uncle was Jasons dad.

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Plot

• Hermes sends the golden ram to save the young
  Phrixus and Helle from evil. As they escape,
  Helle falls off Phrixus lives and prospers,
  later marries one of King Aeetes daughters.
• Jason, the son of Phrixus uncle, returns to
  Greece years later in search of his birthright.
  He comes to town wearing one sandal, fulfilling a
  prophecy.
• Pelias, who overthrew and killed Jasons dad,
  serves as king.

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Plot

• Pelias tells Jason he can have the kingdom if he
  brings back the golden fleece. Jason agrees to
  set out on the quest.
• He gets a ship, the Argo, and a crew, the
  Argonauts, which include Hercules, Achilles
  father and Orpheus, the master musician.

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Plot

• During one of their stops, they lose Hercules,
  who stays behind to find his friend Hylas, who
  was captured by a nymph.
• They continue on and find Phineus, a blind
  prophet who is being tantalized by the Harpies,
  smelly, winged creatures who destroy food.
• Jason and crew sail successfully through the
  clashing rocks.

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Plot

• Finally, they arrive in Colchis, where Cupid
  makes Medea fall in love with Jason and King
  Aeetes tells Jason he can get the golden fleece,
  but must first yoke two bulls with bronze feet,
  plant dragons teeth and fight the soldiers that
  grow from them.
• Medea gives him magical oil that will protect him
  and advice about throwing a rock in the center of
  the soldiers, which will make them turn on and
  fight each other.

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Plot

• Later, she sings the serpent to sleep so Jason
  can get the fleece.
• Jason leaves for home with Medea by his side.
  Medea kills her brother during the escape, chops
  off his limbs and scatters them in the sea to
  divert her father, who is following them.
• Wanting to help Jason, Medea destroys Pelias by
  tricking his daughters into chopping him up and
  placing the parts in boiling water in hopes of
  making Pelias young again. Medea is supposed to
  say words of magic and restore the king to
  eternal youth, but she never does and the king
  remains murdered by his daughters.

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Plot

• Later, Jason exiles Medea so he can marry someone
  else.
• Medea kills the new wife by giving her a robe
  anointed with poison, which burns her flesh and
  kills her.
• Medea then kills her own sons because she doesnt
  want them to have a life of slavery. She escapes
  in a chariot drawn by dragons. Jason never takes
  the blame.

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Themes

• Betrayal
• Ambition
• Destiny
• Disappointment
• Evilness
• Bravery
• Loyalty
• Friendship
• Death

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Perseus

• The hero who beheads the gorgon, Medusa

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Characters

• Perseus protagonist son of Zeus and Danae a
  hero marries Andromeda
• Danae ---- Perseus mother Acrisius daughter
• King Acrisius --- Perseus grandfather wants his
  grandson dead.
• Zeus --- Perseus father
• Athena gives Perseus her aegis
• Hermes gives Perseus sword

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Characters

• Medusa only mortal gorgon snaky hair if you
  look into her eyes,shell turn you to stone
  beheaded by Perseus.
• Gray Sisters give Perseus directions to the
  Hyperboreans
• Hyperboreans the nymphs of the North, give
  Perseus the winged sandals, magical wallet and a
  cap of invisibility

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Characters

• Andromeda Princess that was going to be
  sacrificed to a sea serpent until she is saved by
  Perseus. She later becomes Perseus wife.

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Plot

• King Acrisius receives a prediction from the
  oracle, which tells him that a male relative will
  kill him.
• He tries to ensure that there will be no male
  relatives by locking Danae in a bronze house
  built underground.
• Zeus visits her in rays of gold and Perseus is
  born

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Plot

• King Acrisius cant kill his daughter and
  grandson (gods frown upon murder) so he puts them
  in a chest and sends them to sea.
• They are saved and raised by a fisherman and his
  wife
• Years later, King Polydectes falls in love with
  Danae, but does not want Perseus

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Plot

• Perseus doesnt know this he just wants to
  impress everyone by getting his mother and the
  king a great wedding gift, the head of Medusa
• With the help of Hermes, Athena, the Gray Women
  who help him find the nymphs of the North
  (Hyperboreans), he achieves this goal.

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Plot

• He travels to the island of the Gorgons and
  fights and kills Medusa, the only mortal one.
• On his way home he travels by Ethiopia, where he
  sees the lovely Andromeda chained to a rock to be
  sacrificed to the sea serpent
• He saves her and marries her

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Plot

• When he gets home, he shows Medusas head to
  Polydectes and his followers, turning them all to
  stone
• After that he, his wife and mother set out to
  find Acrisius to make amends

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Plot

• On the way home Perseus participates in a
  sporting event, where he throws a discus, which
  flies off course and just happens to kill
  Acrisiushence, the prophecy is fulfilled
• Perseus lives happily ever after with Andromeda.

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Themes

• Destiny
• Determination
• Love
• Good versus evil
• Revenge

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Theseus

• The minotaur and the labyrinth myth

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Characters

• Theseusprotagonist greatest Athenian hero
  intelligent established the first peoples
  government
• King Aegeus--- Theseus father committed suicide
  by jumping off a cliff into the sea (Aegean Sea)
• Ariadne --- King Minos daughter falls in love
  with Theseus gives him a ball of yarn to help
  mark his way through the labyrinth

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Characters

• King Minos --- antagonist mean king of Crete who
  constructed the labyrinth with the Minotaur
• Minotaur creature that is half bull and half
  man lives in the center of the labyrinth
• Hippolytus Theseus son with Amazon warrior
  Hippolyta follower of Artemis rejects Phaedra
  fatally wounded in a sea monster/chariot accident

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Characters

• Phaedra Theseus wife Ariadnes sister under
  Aphrodites spell, Phaedra fell in love with
  Hippolytus she later kills herself because he
  would not return her love.
• Medea tried to poison Theseus when he first
  arrived in Athens.

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Important term

• Labyrinth a maze.
• In the Theseus myth, the labyrinth was created by
  the architect, Daedalus it housed a minotaur in
  the center. The minotaur killed all who got lost
  in the maze.
• Every nine years, 7 young men and 7 young women
  from Athens were sent to Crete to be place in the
  labyrinth as a sacrifice to the minotaur. King
  Minos demands this or he will destroy Athens.
  Hes angry because his son, while visiting
  Athens, was killed in a horrible hunting accident.

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Plot

• Theseus retrieves the shoes and sword from under
  a huge stone, making him worthy to seek out his
  father, King Aegeus.
• During his travels, he meets up with many evil
  people and deals with them under the rule of
  doing unto others as they do unto you. Theseus
  punishes evildoers the same way they tortured
  their victims. (See later slide for three
  examples)
• Theseus meets his father, hears about King Minos
  sacrifices in Crete and decides to travel to
  Crete to kill the minotaur and save the young
  Athenians.

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Plot

• When he arrives in Crete, the kings daughter,
  Ariadne falls in love with Theseus. She gives him
  a ball of yarn, which he uses to leave a trail as
  he works his way through the labyrinth.
• Theseus kills the Minotaur and follows the yarn
  back out to safety.
• On his way home he abandons Ariadne (Shes later
  comforted by, and becomes romantically involved
  with, Dionysus). He also forgets to change the
  black sail to a white one for the voyage home, as
  he originally promised his father. Changing the
  sail color will show that he is alive and was
  successful in killing the Minotaur

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Plot

• King Aegeus sees the black sail, thinks Theseus
  is dead and jumps off a cliff to drown in the
  waters below (Aegean Sea)
• Theseus becomes king. Since he does not want to
  rule, he establishes the first peoples
  government he stays on as commander-in-chief of
  the army.
• Later, his son, Hippolytus, reunites with
  Theseus, who has since married Ariadnes sister,
  Phaedra.

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Plot

• Phaedra is manipulated by Aphrodite to love
  Hippolytus, who ignores her. She then kills
  herself.
• Theseus returns after an adventure to find
  Phaedras body and a letter that blames
  Hippolytus. Theseus banishes Hippolytus and calls
  upon Poseidon to curse his son.
• On his way out of the kingdom, Hippolytus
  chariot is attacked by a sea monster Hippolytus
  is fatally injured (he dies from his injuries)

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Plot

• During his final moments of life, Hippolytus
  explains to Theseus that he never did anything
  wrong. Artemis appears to confirm his story.
  Hippolytus dies.
• Theseus is banished from Athens and is later
  killed by a king.
• After his death, the Athenians forgive Theseus
  and honor his memory.

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Additional information

• Hercules is Theseus cousin. Hercules saves
  Theseus from the Underworld when he pulls him out
  of the Chair of Forgetfulness. (Theseus was
  placed there when he accompanied a friend to the
  Underworldthe friend wanted to kidnap
  Persephone.
• Among Theseus adventures were serving aboard the
  Argo in the quest for the Golden Fleece and the
  trip to the Underworld.

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Three examples of punishments

• The pine tree punishmentperson was tied to two
  pine trees and flung into the air (bodies split
  in half).
• The iron bedstretched to fit, or chopped off to
  fit.
• Kicked off a cliff after washing someones feet.

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Themes

• Intelligence
• Justice
• Trust
• Bravery
• Forgetfulness
• Broken promises
• Suicide

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Hercules

• Greatest Greek Hero

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Characters

• Hercules (Roman name)/ Heracles (Greek names) ---
  Greatest Greek hero
• Zeus --- Hercules father
• Hera ---- antagonist Zeus wife who wants to
  punish/kill Hercules sends two snakes to him
• Alcmena --- Hercules mortal mother
• Amphitryon --- Alcmenas husband

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Characters

• Eurystheus--- Hercules cousin who gives him the
  12 labors he wants Hercules to fail
• Theseus --- Hercules cousin and friend who
  remains loyal even after everyone else abandons
  him
• Iphicles --- Hercules mortal twin brother son
  of Alcmena and Amphitryon.

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12 Labors of Hercules

• 1. Kill lion of Nemea
• 2. Kill hydra
• 3. Bring back alive the stag with gold horns
• 4. Capture the great boar
• 5. Clean Augean stables
• 6. Drive away Stymphalian birds

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12 Labors of Hercules

• 7. Fetch the savage bull from Crete
• 8. Get the man-eating mares of King Diomedes
• 9. Bring back girdle of Hippolyta
• 10. Bring back the cattle of Geryon
• 11. Bring back the golden apples of the
  Hesperides
• 12. Bring Cerberus up from Hades also rescued
  Theseus from the chair of forgetfulness

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Plot

• From the time Hercules was born, he was cursed by
  Hera, who looked at him as a symbol of her
  husbands infidelity.
• Hera wanted to kill Hercules and sent snakes to
  him when he was eighteen months old, but he
  killed them.
• Under Heras influence, Hercules killed his wife,
  Megara and their sons.

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Plot

• Because of his actions, he was sent away from
  Greece his cousin Theseus took him in.
• To atone (make up) for his sins, he visited an
  oracle, who recommended he see Eurystheus, his
  cousin, who recommended the 12 labors, hoping
  Hercules would fail.

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Plot

• After he completed the 12 labors and undertook
  other adventures, he remarried (Deianira).
• When Deianira worried he would be unfaithful to
  her, she anointed his cloak with the blood of the
  river centaur Nessus when Hercules puts on the
  cloak, he immediately his flesh begins burning.

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Plot

• When he could not take the torment anymore, he
  built a funeral pyre and killed himself. As he
  died, the gods took pity on him and changed him
  into a god. He was then taken to Mount Olympus,
  where he made amends with Hera, married her
  daughter Hebe (goddess of youth) and lived a
  happy life as a god.

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Themes

• Impulsiveness
• Bravery
• Loyalty/Friendship
• Guilt
• Determination
• Loss