I need help in mythology class

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Tunyyno1989

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QUESTION 1

  • Define and discuss the significance of Hesiod. Your response needs to be at least one-two complete paragraphs.

QUESTION 2

Define and discuss the significance of Prometheus. Your response needs to be at least 1-2 complete paragraphs.

QUESTION 3

Define and discuss the significance of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Your response should be one-two complete paragraphs.

QUESTION 4

  • Define and discuss the significance of Aphrodite and The Adonia. Your response should be at least one-two complete paragraphs.

QUESTION 5

  • Define and discuss the significance of Haphaestus.. Your response needs to be at least one - two complete paragraphs.

QUESTION 6

1.

Define and discuss the significance of Dionysius. Your response needs to be at least one - two complete paragraphs.

QUESTION 7

  • Discuss the elements of Hades' interactions with the dead in the underworld. Consider the geography of the underworld and the true role of Hades. How are concepts of Tartarus (for the ancient Greeks) equivalent to contemporary notions of hell in YOUR opinion?



Your response must contain at least 3-4 well-developed paragraphs. All work must be in complete sentences and properly cited.

QUESTION 8

Examine how Hermes attained the many attributes he was given over a long period of time. In your response consider how he became associated with messengers, travel, protector, medicine and TRICKSTER. What role does Apollo play in Hermes story line?

Your response must be at least 3-4 well developed paragraphs. All work must contain full sentences and proper citations.

*Please NO OUTSIDE SOURCES.

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Chapter 2 Creation Stories • Reflect understanding of how the world works • Set ethical, social, and religious patterns for a society • Provide explanations of the order of a society 2.1 Prometheus (seated) molds human beings out of clay and water. Marble sarcophagus. Third century CE. Museum Capitoline, Rome, Italy. Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY, ART74681. Hesiod’s Theogony ( Theos (GODS) AND GONOS (OFFSPRING) • A Theogony is a collection of stories about the nature of the cosmos and represents the fundamental vision or worldview of a particular people or culture. • All societies old enough to have created a cosmogony create a story to support and transmit their views. • Purpose: • • • • • to explain the origins of the universe (creation myth) Account of the genealogy of the Greek pantheon Origins of the social structure Explain the relationships between humans, deities, nature and the cosmos As sacred stories they recreate a primordial age before written history and provide a narrative context for religious rituals and beliefs. • Hesiod b. ca 700 BCE in Boeotia. Ancient Poets and The Muses • The Muses were invoked at the beginning of poems and hymns • Homer begins the Iliad with a nod to the muses and credits them throughout his epics. • Hesiod creates their domain, definition and credits them for his inspiration for Theogony • Their early entry into the pantheon of Olympus supports their importance. Gaia or Gaea • 1. From Chaos comes Night and Erebus • 2. One of the Protogenos (primeval divinity) of earth as a primal element that emerged at the dawn of creation, along with air, sea and sky. • 2. Gaia (GE) The great mother of all: the gods are descended from her union with Uranus (the sky), Pontos (the sea) and Gigantes from her mating with Tartarus (hell pit) and mortal creatures come from her earthly flesh. • Uranus and Gaia – Titans, Cyclopes and Hecatonchires • Titans: They give birth to twelve sons and six daughters. He locked them in Gaia’s belly. Gaia suffered immense pain and asker her all her Titan sons to rebel. • Four of them (the sentinels) and their brother at the center castrated Uranus. His blood fell producing the avenging Erinyes( Furies) and the Gigantes. • Uranus prophesized that the fall of the Titans would happen like his. Pattern is repeated in generational conflict among succeeding generations of deities. (Cronus – Rhea) • Cyclopes (Brontes Thunder, Steropes Lightening and Arges Bright • Hecatonchires: Cottus, Briareus, and Gyes (hundred arms and hands) The Late Bronze Age: Mycenae Mycenae was an important Bronze Age settlement in Greece It was a fortified settlement, probably the home of the king (wanax), located on a hilltop b a 2.3a Plan of Mycenae’s Citadel. 2.3b Ruins of Mycenae today. © Florin Stana/Shutterstock 194965928. The Iron Age: Ascra • The Iron Age is named after its use of iron for tools and weapons • Few records remain from this period • Hesiod’s Works and Days was composed at the end of this period • Takes place in Ascra, on Mount Helicon in Boetia • Hesiod’s description of Ascra is backed up by the archeological record • Kings have lost central authority • Most residents are small, independent farmers The Archaic Period and Panhellenism • Hellenic identity developed during the Archaic Period • Maintained by Panhellenic sanctuaries and festivals • Oral performances of works by Homer and Hesiod developed a shared understanding of gods and goddesses • Led to a gradual homogenization of belief and worship • Local variations on the traits and worship of gods remained The Theogony • Hesiod was instrumental in shaping Panhellenic ideas of the gods • Theogony was a collection of oral poems • Hymns • Catalogues • Dramatic Tales • Described the Greek understanding of the creation of the universe Table 2.1 Hymns • Meant to be recited aloud • Primary purpose is prayer to and praise of the gods • Hesiod’s hymn to the Muses praises them for inspiring his poetry • Hymn to Hecate presents her as a protective goddess 2.7 A Muse plays a lyre atop Mount Helicon. Attic red figure (white ground), Lekythos. Achilles Painter, c. 445 BCE. Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glypothek München, Photograph by Renate Kühling, S80 Beazley Archive Number: 213977. Catalogues • Genealogies of the gods • Designed to be recited aloud • Describes creation as a genealogy of the earliest gods • Presents two methods of procreation: spontaneous and within marriage 2.8 Strife (Eris). Interior of a black figure cup. Nikosthenes, c. 540–530 BCE. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu, California, 86.AE.169. Dramatic Tales • The dramatic tales describe how Zeus came to rule creation • He imprisons chaotic gods • Institutes marriage to control female reproduction • Creates order and justice 2.9 Zeus defeats Typhoeus. Chalcidian black-figure hydria, c. 540 BCE. Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glypothek München. Photograph by Renate Kühling, 596. Prometheus and Pandora • Addresses both the institution of marriage and the ideal of order in society • Prometheus steals fire to benefit humanity, his creation • Zeus punishes them by sending them Pandora • Beautiful but deceitful; represented women 2.10 The creation of Pandora with Epimetheus, Hermes, and Zeus. Red-figure krater. Fifth century BCE. Ashmolean Museum / The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY, AA566705. The Social World Shapes Myth • Bronislaw Malinowski placed myths within social context • Only social context can explain the function of a myth for its society • Myths can be ‘charters’: practical guides about how to behave for the people who hear them 2.11 Pig figure. Wood, paint, and fiber. Early to mid-twentieth century. Papua New Guinea, Prince Alexander Mountains, Middle Sepik River. Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY, ART500336. Creation Stories from the Levant • Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation story, may have influenced Greek oral poetry • Depicts the Gods as fighting the forces of chaos • Genesis is distinguished by the Hebrew’s monotheistic beliefs and focus on the creation of humanity • It also emphasizes the creation of order 2.12 Illuminated medieval manuscript of Genesis 1 from the Hebrew Bible. The Xanten Bible. Germany, thirteenth to fourteenth century CE. Spencer Collection. The New York Public Library / Art Resource, NY, ART497620. The Twelve Olympians: Zeus, Hera, and Their Children Zeus’ Establishment as Supreme God Zeus—sky Poseidon — sea Hades — underworld Pantheon of Gods Zeus (Jupiter) Hera (Juno) Poseidon (Neptune) Hades (Pluto) Hestia (Vesta) Hephaestus (Vulcan) Ares (Mars) Apollo Artemis (Diana) Demeter (Ceres) Aphrodite (Venus) Athena (Minerva) Hermes (Mercury) Dionysus (Bacchus) Canonical twelve (with removal of Hades and Hestia) Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth and Its Fire A goddess of chastity Hearth/sacred fire Hestia (“hearth”) Familytribe city state Transmission of fire First-born of Cronus and Rhea The Twelve Olympians Zeus Amorous nature Image of father, husband, and lover Justice and virtue Moral order of the universe The cloud-gatherer “Bright” Thunder/lightening Aegis/eagle/oak Tales of Zeus’ subordination Zeus and Hera Hieros Gamos Hera: consort and queen Stern, vengeful Women/marriage/childbirth Peacock Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia Elis Olympic Games, 776 B. C. Connection with Heracles Pelops and Hippodamia Temple of Zeus West pediment: Lapiths and Centaurs Ixion impregnates the nephele (“cloud”) that Zeus had fashioned to resemble his wife, Hera Ixion’s punishment on the wheel Nephele gives birth to Centaurus, the father of the race of centaurs Chiron: wise, gentle tutor to heroes Violent and lustful nature typical of centaurs Lapiths, a Thessalian tribe Pirithoüs, Lapith chieftain and a son of Ixion Wedding of Pirithoüs and Hippodamia The Twelve Olympians East pediment: race of Pelops and Oenomaüs Metopes: Twelve Labors of Heracles Cult image of Zeus carved by Pheidias Oracles at Olympia and Dodona Whispering oaks of Dodona Priestess and tripod Oracles and prophets Trophonius Melampus Amphiaraüs Tiresias Children of Zeus and Hera Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth Hebe: cupbearer to gods Ganymede Hephaestus, divine artisan God of fire and forge Lame Return of Hephaestus Consort of Aphrodite Her adultery with Ares Ares, god of war Cult partner: Aphrodite Thrace Eros Brutality of war The Twelve Olympians Other Children of Zeus The Nine Muses Mnemosyne (“memory”) Patrons of literature and the arts Pieria/Mt. Helicon “Reminders” Calliope (epic) Clio (history or lyre playing) Euterpe (lyric or tragedy and flute playing) Melpomene (tragedy or lyre playing) Terpsichore (choral dancing or flute playing) Erato (love poetry or hymns to gods and lyre playing) Polyhymnia (sacred music or dancing) Urania (astronomy) Thalia (comedy) The Three Fates Children of Zeus and Themis Moirai (Greek) or Parcae (Latin) Clotho (“spinner”) Lachesis (“apportioner”) Atropos (“inflexible”) Luck or Fortune (Tyche) Necessity (Ananke) Nature of Myth What is Myth? • Mythology allows you to take a journey into an exciting and mysterious world. • In our travels we will encounter gods, heroes, monsters, exotic places occasionally, eat popcorn! • For pure story value, myth has no match • Enriches your understanding of literary and artistic works through the ages What is Myth • You will see that you have entered a living tradition as we continue to incorporate mythological themes into our culture today. – – – – – – – The very stories have overtones of meaning Achilles Helen Hercules Ulysses Daedalus Medea Multitude of Genres • All of these areas are rich in myth and the stories themselves transcend time in each one • Poetry • Drama • Novelist • Film • Sculpture • Mosaic • Canvas Levels of Meaning in Myth • We will not be satisfied to tell and retell these stories for their own sake • But we will consider what their meaning in their own time, in ages past, and the present. • What message dot they convey about the people who created them? Did they know they were timeless? Myth as Story • I. Myths are stories, legends, folklore. • In every culture, from time immemorial people have told stories – a. Of these, perhaps the most captivating have been sacred stores handed down as part of ‘religion’ – b. Narratives that explain and define the acts of nations and rulers – c. Usually these accounts are so old that their origins are shrouded in mystery Myth as Sacred Story • D. For us, part of their appeal is their evocation some lost era in which members of the communities lives were guided by the stories they held sacred. Myth Entertainment as Education • As Northrop Frye puts it “the stories of mythology are charged with a special seriousness and importance” – Consider for example: Prometheus • Storytellers made their living as a teacher of sorts. • Even secular tales included values and perspectives that enlighten the audience. Myth Fact or Fiction? • Many consider myth as false stories told by primitive people to explain the nature of the universe before scientific explanations entered the scene • BUT we must consider that their purpose was NOT scientific but to integrate human nature, nature around them, the cosmos and the very investigation of death! • As students of myth we will see that mythological stories reveal the core of human nature as seen by those untrained in psychology! Or were they! Understanding Myth • Some of the pleasure gained from an examination of myth comes from an appreciation of the literary style in which it was written • In many cases the story is so old that they did not use the written word to ‘record’ the myth they stored it within a living mind with an active memory. • Therefore: one of the ways we can glean the most from the is to look at who studies it and why. Who Studies Myth? • Scientists • To reexamine the way the universe works – For example: a myth explains a journey taken by hero that includes astronomy, geography, geology, botany, zoology – Star charts – Navigation – Ancient Disasters Historians • As I love to point out the last five letters of history spell ‘story’, thus, myth provides unique insight into particular peoples, areas, events. • Myth enlightens the historian with social norms, religious beliefs, battles, language, customs, ceremonies, art and architecture. How Should We Read Myth? • Remember that it was first an oral composition • It will contain elements of repetition or words or phrases and an abundance of names and titles that reflects formulaic structure • In some cases it is poetic in another language and difficult to translate • The story teller has constructed the tale to conform to his world and his specific audience. • Thus, our first readings regarding Homer and Hesiod reflect their reshaped stories from time immemorial to form them into unified works that correspond to the world as they saw it in 800 BCE. Ancient Greece and Rome Myth in Art Myth of Dirce Hercules at Rest Apollo in Bronze Drunken Faun Drunken Faun Roman Hercules as a Babe Farenese Collection – Dirce Hermes at Rest Hercules Myth and Literature: Sacred Space Location, Location: Sanctuaries  Kato Symi on Crete Costal view of Sanctuary Kato Symi Bronze Age Sanctuary at Kato Symi Continuity on Crete  Hearth Temples from LMIIC/LHIIIC  Bench temples such as the one shown here  Crete witnessed a gradual evolution  Cult practice that determined form  Small rooms filled with objects placed in  Conjunction with the Megarons Cave of Dictaean Zeus  Just as Kato Symi, continuous votive offerings were left at the cave of the birthplace of Zeus. Also a votive sample: Bronze 8th century Nature of Cult Worship: Dark Ages Two Views  Francois de Polignac: Early cult worship in the LBA was based on sacred practices, not on sacred space.  For de Polignac, lack of sacred architecture in mainland Greece supports his thesis.  A. Marzarakis-Ainian suggests that temple plans are based on the ‘large house’ development in the LBA and the house of the basileis was the model for the later temple.  Either theory could have some credence; nonetheless the standard format in the Archaic Age of altars, votive, temenos and temple come on stage in the 9th century. Again Crete Provides the Evolutionary Model Karphi Bench Settlement and Sanctuary Bronze Goddess Votive Early Double Votive Headed Bull Symbol Samian Heraion Votive Offerings  Often termed: a gift to a god by a mortal  Once dedicated it becomes the property of the god kept within the te ne mos of the god  Outward visible signs, sometimes of wealth, but always of piety  Votive objects:  Bronze statues; marble statues, columns, entire ships, vases, vessels with perfume and oil;  Thus we can divide votives into two categories  1. Personal items: pyxides, spindle whorls, dress pins (women); men: arms  2. Purpose made votives: terracotta figurines, bronze horses, imitation cakes Demeter and Kore Bronze Horse Votives Significance of Tripods  Use: bronze cauldron for special sacrificial pieces of meat or incense; usually      considered as part of the Prizes in funeral games in Homer; given by Achilles to the winner of the games at the funeral of Patroclus Award desired by both Hercules and Apollo at Delphi Often considered prizes in athletic competition at Olympia If they were previously part of elite exchange in the Dark Ages their significance increases as an exchange network with the divine. Also, those with an orientalising aspect were exchanged among cultures along the coast of Asia Minor Over time they became part of the cult equipment at major temples; but during the LBA they are found at megaron turned sanctuary throughout mainland Greece. Tripods – Bronze Age to Classical Examples: ornamental, practical, votive and coin. Samian Heraion Example: Samian Heraion and Apollo’s Thermon  We return again to this example.  Hera’s temple on Samos was first part of the great house of the local basileis in the 12th century  Votive offerings and the tenemos appear in the 9th century and the entire complex becomes ‘sacred space’  As sacred space expanded so did the temple structure. Apollo – Thermon Evolution of Temple Structure and Purpose  Addition of Decorative Temple Structure with painted tiles on the merotope      with myth and inscriptions, anteflexes in the shape of human heads (pp 161). Sanctuary of Apollo was the site of meeting place of the Aetolian League The location of additional temples at one location appears throughout the Peloponnese and later mainland Greece (Olympia and Delphi for example). At this time art historians and anthropologists insert the term ‘Doric’ style, language and cultural group. Unified scholarship has determined that the Doric style is not derived from a wooded prototype but an ingenious synthesis of wooden models expressed in stone. It is apparent that a certain architectural style had emerged: No one would mistake a temple for an expanded large house by the middle of the 6th century BCE. Defining Doric  The scholastic debate continues regarding the origins and true impact of Doric style, language and culture.  Doric and Ionic Greek are dialects of the same language with very little difference. Doric is mainland, Ionic has an island origin.  Over a slow period of time there is a change in grave dress and dress on sculpture and relief with long bronze pins to fasten cloaks, and peplos (empire waist) appears. In Legend this type of dress is associated with the Hera kleida i Hera kleida i  The Hera kleida i are the dark age descendents of Herakles and the other heroes of the Trojan War. Spartans speak Doric Greek and claim descent from Herakles. Doric Greek is also part of Crete so you can see how the mix of legend and reality make everyone crazy.  But we cannot deny archaeologically, that with the Doric changes came the Age Age of Iron and the technology to support it. Iron is worked from smelting, Bronze from Molding. Olympia: Stadium, Worship, Architecture Temple at Samos Nature of Sanctuaries During the Classical Period  Temenos: area of land reserved for the god, can be defined by a wall, boundary       stones, grove outlines and even shoreline. Altar space Wells and springs, Stoas Attending buildings: for cult equipment, called ‘treasuries’ Wide array of votives Temples only became separate entities from houses during the Archaic Age. Growth of Treasuries in Classical Period Frieze from Merotope at Delphi The Nature of the Gods and Greek Religion Anthropomorphism and Divine Hierarchy • Human form and character but shape changing is part of their character as intimate part of nature. • Olympian Deities live on Mt. Olympus in ‘human conditions’ • Eat ambrosia, have emotions, • Earth deities (primordial) aka Chthonic are literal (like earth) • Demigods (children of Gods and Humans) and Age of Heroes • Heroes are often demigods, honored • Achilles, Hercules • Remember “Age of Heroes” • World of nature is itself is full of divinity The presence of the divine can be seen in the woods, the mountain, sacred springs. Strong figures such as eagles Beautiful nymphs (fairy like beings) – Oceanids, Muses and Nereids Zeus: Attributes • Attributes: father, husband, brother, lover, sky god. Upholds the order of the universe Keeps Oaths Susceptible to the wiles of the feminine Supreme deity – view of poets and philosophers Hesiod: stern, punishing Zeus Xenophanes: argues that gods an NOT anthropomorphic Aeschylus: Agamemnon How the Ancient Greeks interpreted their gods: Plays and Philosophy • Gods in the myths do not love humans. • Not omnipotent (all powerful) • Not omniscient (all knowing) • But they do show interest in their children, and those who have a special ability that the deity prizes, such as the relationship between Athena and Odysseus. • Not interested in finite life of man beyond entertainment • Prometheus: is he friend of man or a mischievous opponent of Zeus? • SO – their anthropomorphic treatment of the gods is tied to BEING HUMAN. • They don’t love their gods either, they RESPECT, FEAR, and PRAISE ( HOPING ) FOR FAVORS • But monotheism and polytheism are not mutually exclusive. Just a matter of personal experience! Greek Humanism: possibilities of humankind, that man ultimately determines his progress • Protagoras (5th century philosopher) “Man is the measure of all things” • Sophocles (5th century playwright) Antigone “Wonders are many but none is more wonderful than man…” • Achilles Odyssey belies his choice for glory over the long life when Odysseus encounters him in the gloom of the underworld. • Concept of fate: can only be seen dimly • • • • Man faces tragedy and the overcoming of that is irony of life That man can affect the outcome of his life to a certain extent ‘ Hope is the essence of man Realization of mortality gives man a depth that the gods will never know. Myth, Religion, and Philosophy Clearing up Misconceptions: • Although the ancients did not have a Biblical text familiar to western JudeoChristian tradition they had the same elements that all religions have: • Sacred Text: The Greeks had sacred text – Homer and Hesiod works contained the hymns, narratives, poetry that told their stories of creation and their deities • Sacred Space: Places in geography that denoted the activities of those deities • Sacred Time: Specific events in their own interpretation of chronology. • Devoted priests and priestesses: lives devoted to serving specific gods and goddesses • Consequences for evil actions vs the life of virtue. The Influence of Myth on Herodotus: Father of History (5th century BCE) “Text in Context” • Another factor that provides insight into the view of ancient myth is the blending of myth and history. Herodotus was a product of the Homeric view of the pathos of the tragic/noble life AND the Theogony of Hesiod set his interpretation of religion • Must remember that the worldview for ancient Greeks was set into place with Homer. The nature of the human condition, the concept of the heroic life, the idea that oracle of Apollo at Delphi was a function of religion, and that the gods were capricious, powerful and terrible. • But the dignity of man is encapsulated in the exchange between Achilles and Priam in the last book of the Iliad Chapter 24. • The concept of turning an historical person into a mythical character – done by playwrights and historians and considered part of their shared worldview. Myth as Religion • The gods of the Greeks, at least until the rise of a more philosophical mode of thought, are not transcendent, as is the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. In the myths, the world is not divided into the spiritual and the physical, or what is apart from the world and what is a part of the world. They do not stand outside; they did not set creation in motion; they are born into the world, and though they are immortal, they function within the world. • Zeus is bound by the limits set by the Fates; if he saves Sarpedon, as he has the power to do, he moves beyond the limits and other gods will do the same as Hera points out: (lliad, Book 16: 470-495) The world of the Gods • In the myths there is no spiritual and physical divide. Even the psyche (soul) of human beings is a physical entity, less substantial, more tenuous than the body, but a physical entity nonetheless. The gods do not live a qualitatively different existence, but a quantitatively different one. The form and faculty of the gods are writ on a larger canvas, their limits extended beyond the human, but not beyond the world, not limitless. • Gods do not care for humanity in general. • The gods in myths do not show unqualified love for humanity. They are not interested in our general redemption. Indeed, this can have no meaning here. They are fellow creatures with us. And redemption, whatever that might mean in this context, is impossible. Human beings are finite; they will die, and though a certain god entertains the notion to spare someone from death or to immortalize a human being, generally for the vast majority of humanity they do nothing. Gods certainly do show love, as they show hatred, towards particular individuals. But this is usually for some reason beyond our mere humanity. The gods generally seem to favor their own kin, the children they have had with mortal men or women. Or they favor a particular individual because he or she evinces qualities that a particular god or goddess most prizes, as Athena favors Odysseus. • How the Greeks see their gods. • The Greeks see the gods through this very realistic human prism. Their anthropomorphic treatment of the gods is intimately tied to their humanism in general. Human beings generally do not feel unqualified love for the gods either. Particular human beings may favor particular gods. But it is not the love returned to a loving god. The Greeks respect the power of the gods; they praise them and ask for favors; they fear them. They stand closer to the view of God in the Hebrew Scriptures. And more than anything the presence of the gods informs an appreciation of the limits of human beings and within those limits what human beings can achieve Tragedy • Sophocles’ Antigone, which begins: “Wonders are many but none is more wonderful than man.” It is a soaring flight of praise for human achievement, a deep expression of awe at how human beings have tried and succeeded in insulating themselves from the terrors of the world, but it is also arises out of a deeply melancholy contemplation of our finiteness. • As the chorus sings this song at a point in the play of growing apprehension, the song itself arises out of this apprehension and settles at the end into a recognition of the one thing humans cannot insulate themselves against, death. This is the tragic mode. Duality • For the Greeks the world is divided between culture and barbarism, civilization and nature. In one sense, the gods and man are on one side of this divide and so they share the same appearance and general faculties and way of living. The natural world is on the other, and so the Greeks never seem to be tempted to theriomorphism or the worship of animals or gods in animal form. The association of the Greek gods with particular animals seems to be of a different order. Most scholars do not believe that Zeus was originally worshipped in the form of an eagle, or Hera in the form of a peacock. We really don’t know what’s behind these animal associations. Perhaps it is meant to qualify the relationship of the gods to the natural world. Binary Opposites: Primeval and Human Reflections • The gods are human in form; they live in human communities. In one sense, they seem opposed to the natural world. But perhaps the Greeks felt there was something of the natural world about them, something of the terror, the inscrutability. Maybe it is a holdover from a time when the gods themselves weren’t so neatly divided into Olympian and chthonian aspect. This seems to be a major fault line in Greek religious thought, this division of the divine world into Olympian and chthonian, a binary opposition between high and low, intellect and body, reason and passion. This is an exaggeration, but it serves to highlight this distinction. The gods live in a hierarchy of roles and functions, and they guard those prerogatives, jealously. Herodotus • Herodotus. Herodotean themes are the themes of Greek tragic literature: fate, the gods, and guilty mortals, who by their actions try to avoid their destiny, only to further its fulfillment. Most significantly, Croesus, like Oedipus, can learn through sin and suffering to triumph against adversity and win reconciliation with the gods. There is not a single Greek tragedy that does not echo either implicitly or explicitly the admonition of Solon, “Never count a person happy, until dead,” with its twofold connotation: the happiness of human life cannot be judged until the entire span of that life has been lived, and death is to be preferred to the vicissitudes of life. Herodotus, like most Greek writers and artists, takes his philosophy from Homer. In the last book of the Iliad (see MLS, Chapter 19), Priam, the great king of Troy, comes alone as a humble suppliant to the Greek hero Achilles in order to beg for the body of his son Hector, whom Achilles has killed. In the course of their interview, Achilles, who has also suffered much because of the death of his beloved Patroclus, divulges his conclusions about human existence Iliad 24 • No human action is without chilling grief. For thus the gods have spun out for wretched mortals the fate of living in distress, while they live without care. Two jars sit on the doorsill of Zeus, filled with gifts that he bestows, one jar of evils, the other of blessing. When Zeus who delights in the thunder takes from both and mixes the bad with the good, a human being at one time encounters evil, at another good. But the one to whom Zeus gives only troubles from the jar of sorrows, this one he makes an object of abuse, to be driven by cruel misery over the divine earth Croesus on the Pyre. Attic red-figure amphora by Myson, ca. 500 B.C.; height 23 in. Croesus sits enthroned, wreathed, and holding his scepter. In his right hand he pours a libation from a phiale. An attendant, dressed (like Croesus) as a Greek and not as a Persian, lights the pyre. This is the earliest known version, in art or literature, of the story, and its narrative is similar to that of the poet Bacchylides, whose poem was written in 468 B.C., about thirty years before Herodotus’ narrative. In this version, Croesus voluntarily erects the pyre to burn himself and his family rather than submit to loss of freedom. This is consistent with his elaborate dress and throne, with the ritual libation to Zeus and Apollo, and with the non-Persian attendant. Like Herodotus’ Croesus he is saved by a rainstorm, but he is then rewarded for his piety toward Apollo by being transported, with his family, to the land of the Hyperboreans. This scene was painted about fifty years after the capture of Sardis in 546 B.C.—a remarkable example of the transformation of an historical person into a mythical figure. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY) Nature of Sacrifice • The Sacrifice • • • Significance of sacrifice Portrait of sacrifice in Homer (Odyssey 3.430–463) Reconstruction of a sacrifice • • • • Sacrifice and community Sacrificial animal Sacrificial procedure • Animal brought within the tenemos (“sacred precinct”) • Procession to altar • Music • Water for purification • Young maid with basket containing barley cakes and knife • Scattering of barley • Priest cuts lock of hair • Stunning blow • Cutting the throat • The ritual cry (ololuge) • Altar splashed with blood • Butchering of animal • Thighbones wrapped in fat • Internal organs roasted • Roasting for main meal Meaning of the sacrifice Preparation for Sacrifice. Red-figure krater, attributed to the Kleophon painter or his school, ca. 425 B.C.; height: 42.3 cm. The scene depicts a ram led to the sacrifice. In the center is the altar, splashed with blood. The older, bearded male near the altar officiates. He is washing his hands, perhaps in preparation to sprinkle the animal to assure its consent. The young man opposite him holds the water basin and the kanoun (a sacrificial basket to carry grain offerings or other necessary items). Between the two is a bukranion (bull skull), a common motif in sacrificial ritual. On the left are an auletes (flute player) and a youth leading the animal. To the right another bearded male stands, perhaps another priest or attendant. (© Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) A Sacrifice to Apollo. Red-figure Attic krater, ca. 430 B.C.; height: 33 cm. The vase presents a typical scene after the killing of the sacrificial animal. Parts of the carcass have been cut up and roasted on spits. The altar stands in the center, with logs laid on top for the fi re. On the far right stands Apollo, to whom the sacrifice is offered, in which he partakes in some way. He holds a laurel branch. A laurel tree also stands behind the altar. The older, bearded male near the altar officiates. What he is holding is uncertain; it has been identified as one of the internal organs, perhaps the heart. On either side of him are two youths. The one on the left is roasting the splanchna (internal organs) on spits held over the fi re on the altar. These were cut up, divided among the participants, and eaten immediately. The youth on the right holds in his right hand an oinochoe (wine jug) and in his left a kanoun (sacrificial basket). (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY/© Artres) Lecture/Chapter 3 Essential Slides Zeus and Hera • Zeus was the center of Greek mythology, responsible for maintaining order in the cosmos. • Hera, his sister and wife represents challenges to his decrees • The personalities of the Greek gods are variable • They are not good models for human behavior 3.1 Heracles (left) kills the eagle eating Prometheus’s liver. Detail from a black-figure krater with lid. Nettos Painter, c. 610 BCE. National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece. Gianni Dagli Orti / The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY, AA389426. Cosmic Order: Thunder and Lightning • Zeus is called ‘father of gods and mortals’ as a symbol of his divine authority • He is responsible for maintaining cosmic order • As a sky-god, he is associated with thunder and lightning, his weapons • He was worshiped on mountaintops • Greeks prayed to him for rain and storms to water crops 3.2 Zeus with a thunderbolt. Corinthian, bronze statuette. Circa 530–520 BCE. Glyptothek, Munich, Germany. © Vanni Archive / Art Resource, NY, ART382686. Road to Power The Titanomachy • • • • • Zeus causes Cronus to regurgitate his siblings Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon join with Zeus against Cronus. Zeus aided by his siblings, plus two Titans: Prometheus and Themis PLUS the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes Cronus and the rest of the Titans took up the battle from Mt. Othyrs. But as Zeus was given the thunder and lightening he triumphed. • Atlas led the battle due to Cronus advanced age. As you know he was punished for his part by being sentenced to hold up the sky, or in some accounts the earth shoulders, while the rest of the Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus. Pergamum Altar: Berlin Creation of Mortals and the Ages • Zeus, Prometheus and even Athena enter the story. • Ovid’s account provides mankind with a slightly loftier version. • Ovid: four ages, Gold, silver, bronze, and iron. • Hesiod adds an Age of Heroes between Bronze and Iron Ages in Works and Days • Gold: Cronus was king living as gods, but earth covered them up • Silver: Beings were senseless and did not worship the immortal gods, the earth covered them up • Bronze: warriors made by Zeus who adored Ares thus when they fought they ended up in dark of Hades • Heroes: Godlike race of heroic men (also called demi-gods) they died in Thebes, Troy and other legendary places. At their deaths they inhabit the Island of the Blessed • Iron: for Hesiod the saddest time of all HIS where man toil and disharmony reigns! Zeus and Hera Map 3.1 Zeus and Hera in Greece Human Order: Justice • Zeus was responsible for judging human actions • He paid close attention to the actions of princes • Used his power over weather and storms to punish those who did not act justly • Zeus Meilichius (Mild One) was worshiped in Athens to ensure a successful harvest 3.3 Votive relief for Zeus Meilichius. Circa fourth century BCE. bpk, Berlin/Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany / Ingrid Geske / Art Resource, NY, ART358210. Refuses to Bend • Prometheus refused to bend to the authority of Zeus in Aeschylus’ great plays Prometheus Unbound and Prometheus Fire bringer (in fragments) • His speech captures his defiance • Do you think I will crouch before your Gods. –so new- and tremble? I am far from that. Hasten away, back on the road you came. You shall learn nothing that you ask of me. • Prometheus will express his bitterness for he and his mother supported Zeus and his only reward is torment. It is typical of the tyrant to forget and turn against his former allies. Zeus needs to mature. We will see this maturation when Hercules is allowed to free him Prometheus as Culture Hero • Not only is he Fire bringer but the inventor of the useful arts. Introducing man to astronomy, architecture, mathematics, writing, animal husbandry, navigation and medicine. • Often considered as the creator of man out of earth and water. • His story has captured the imagination of artists, poets and dramatists. Divine Order: Kingship • Zeus has supreme power over the Olympic gods, but is constrained by his obligation to lead by example • His obligations to the other gods sometimes prevent him from answering human prayers 3.4 Sarpedon, Zeus’s son, is lifted by Hypnos and Thanatos in the presence of Hermes. Red-figure calyx-krater. Euphronius Painter, c. 515 BCE. National Museum of the Villa Giulia, Rome, Italy. Scala/Minestero per I Beni e le Attivita culturali/Art Resource, NY, ART407274. Violence and Grace • Zeus is seen as a god who uses violence, but who also gives grace to humanity • The suffering caused by Zeus’ violence is the only way humanity can learn • In myth, Zeus impregnates Leda in the form of a swan 3.5 Leda and the Swan. Marble relief. Fifth to fourth century BCE. Greek National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece. Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY, AA389421. Leda and the Swan • The story of Leda is sometimes depicted as rape, sometimes as seduction • Either story suggests that humanity cannot escape the will of Zeus, whether he uses violence or awe to get what he wants 3.6 Leda and the Swan. Marble Statue. Roman copy (second century CE) after a Greek original attributed to Timotheos, c. 370 BCE. Yale University Art Gallery / Art Resource, NY, ART325369. Hera • The marriage of Zeus and Hera is characterized by Hera’s fidelity and Zeus’ philandering • Hera is depicted as subject to Zeus’ rule • Her defining characteristic is her anger over his infidelity 3.7 Colossal limestone head from the cult statue of Hera in the Heraion of Olympia. 580 BCE. Archaeological Museum, Olympia, Greece. Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY, ART105413. Goddess of Heroes • Hera’s temple at Argos reflected the importance of her cult • They celebrated the Hecatombaia in her honor every year • She protected the power of Argos and its heroes • She also protected women and children as a fertility goddess 3.8 Model of a temple dedicated to Hera, from Argos. Temple date is c. 700 BCE. National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece. Nimatallah / Art Resource, NY, ART85617. Goddess of Fertility and Protection • Hera had a large and wealthy temple at Samos, off the coast of Turkey • Visitors from all over the Near East attended her festivals • The rituals there associate her with fertility and the natural world • Her role as a fertility goddess may have been limited in later centuries to fertility in marriage 3.9 Three women in long dresses with two crouching lions. Base of a marble basin from Hera’s temple on Samos, Greece. Seventh century BCE. Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany. Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY, ART204850. Divine Consort of Zeus • Hera may have originally been worshiped independently of Zeus • As they became associated as husband and wife her cult became less independent • This may be reflected in her hostility toward Zeus in many myths 3.10 The marriage of Zeus and Hera. Metope from temple E at Selinunte. Fifth century BCE. National Archaeological Museum in Palermo, Italy. Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY, ART200891. Zeus and Prometheus Bound • Prometheus Bound, a play by Aeschylus, depicts Zeus’ cruelty toward both Prometheus and humanity • Written and performed in Athens in the 5th century BCE • With the rise of democracy and defeat of Persia, Athens was at its most wealthy and powerful • The play reflects questions about Zeus’ role as king 3.11 Zeus is accompanied by the dead, hundred-eyed Argos, who guarded Io and was killed by Hermes. Red-figured Attic stamnos, terracotta. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY, ART21449. Prometheus in Myth • Fire • The quality of life improved as each facet of this marvelous gift of fire was discovered: light, warmth, cooking, healing and the ability to smelt metal. • Hero: The sacrificial hero who risked all to help the race of men. As a Titan he could see his fate he chose to give the gift anyway. • Trickster- twice outwitted Zeus preventing mans’ demise and stealing fire. Pandora: First Woman?? • In the beginning there were only men according to Hesiod. Before her the world was populated by a generic crowd of males who were nameless. • Despite the use of the term ‘male’ that until the arrival of Pandora humanity was essentially composed of asexual indistinguishable humans. • Then came woman. Pandora: Archetype • AS the archetype of femininity she introduces the first individual. • Natural descendent of erotic heritage that began with primordial Eros. • As with Aphrodite Pandora embodies the ultimate stage in the development of the sensual world. Pandora as Punishment • • • • • Pandora is made to carry the feminine responsibility for human misery Yet she first appears as an innocent and inexperienced maiden Hesiod uses the ‘beautiful but dangerous’ motif. Pandora brings desire, for good and evil, for art and madness, lust and death. For from her is the race of women and female kind: of her is the deadly race and tribe of women who live amongst mortal men to their great trouble, no helpmeets in hateful poverty, but only in wealth... • Zeus who thunders on high made women to be an evil to mortal men, with a nature to do evil. • And he gave them a second evil to be the price for the good they had: whoever avoids marriage and the sorrows that women cause, and will not wed, reaches deadly old age without anyone to tend his years... Hesiod Theogony • Io, Zeus and Prometheus • Io is a pivotal figure in Prometheus Bound and the story of Prometheus’ misery and the final reconciliation between Zeus and Prometheus. • Io was a priestess of Hera, with whom Zeus wanted to dally. Finally after harrying her to the ends of the earth and threatening her father Io is turned into a cow by Hera. • She wandered the earth in her own misery hounded by a gadfly and guarded by Argus with the hundred eyes. • Prometheus foretells conception of Epaphus with just the touch of Zeus not the rape of the past. • He foretells the generations of Io, with the birth of Hercules who will come full circle with the role Hercules plays in the release of Prometheus Universal Questions Shape Myth 3.12 Chart of Indo-European Languages. Universal Questions Shape Myth Modern scholars approach myths in two ways • They study them within their unique historical contexts • They study the shared features of myths from several societies Wendy Doniger attempts to bridge these two approaches with her studies of Hindu myths • Argues that scholars must use a variety of approaches to myths in order to understand the shared experiences behind them • Uses historical linguistics to draw out similarities in myths from IndoEuropean-speaking cultures Succession Myths • Near Eastern Parallels to the Hesiod’s and Ovid’s account. • Enuma Elish • • • • Marduk and Tiamat Kingship in Heaven Creation, Succession, Flood, Descent to underworld, Hero-Kings Zeus’ birth and conflict • Infancy in seclusion • Divine child • Obstacles to overcome. Levant: Flood Stories • In the Ancient Near East, floods were considered sacred • They were signs of divine displeasure or favor • The Epic of Gilgamesh tells the story of humanity being saved from a flood by Utnapishtim, who was told by the god Ea to build a boat • The Babylonian Epic of Atrahasis tells a similar story 3.13 The Flood and Noah’s Ark. The ark is at the top of the image; drowned people, giants, and animals float in the waters below. From the Ashburnham Pentateuch (Pentateuch of Tours). Northern Africa, Spain, or Italy. Circa fifth to sixth century CE. NAL 2334 Folio9. Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF), Paris, France. © BnF, Dist. RMNGrand Palais / Art Resource, NY, ART488780. The Ancient Near East A Greek myth depicting Zeus as the destroyer of humanity and Prometheus as its savior has many similarities with Near Eastern flood myths In the flood story from the Hebrew Bible, there is no other god to save them Map 3.2 Floods and Flood Stories in the Ancient Near East Leda and the Swan in Modernist Poetry • Modern artist Marie Laurencin conceived of the encounter between Leda and the swan as a gentle seduction • Similar to the retelling of the story in “Leda” by modernist H.D. • In contrast, William Butler Yeats depicts the encounter as a violent rape 3.14 Leda and the Swan, 1923. Marie Laurencin (1883–1956). Oil on canvas, 26½ × 32 inches (67.3 × 81.3 cm). The Philadelphia Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY, ART318651. © Fondation Foujita / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris 2015.
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Running head: MYTHOLOGY CLASS QUESTIONS AND ANSWER

Mythology Class Questions and Answers
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MYTHOLOGY CLASS QUESTIONS AND ANSWER

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Mythology Class Questions and Answers
Define and discuss the significance of Hesiod.
Hesiod is one of the compilations of the records of the Iron Age that were used to explain
the some of the myths and origins of the era. Although this information were documented after
the demise of the legend, it is a useful account of the social structure and the type of interactions
between humans and the deities they served. Also, Hesiod’s Works and Days consist of details
on how the people of the Ascra made Iron into productivity tools and weapons for their survival
(Maurizio, 2015) .
One of the significance of Hesiod to the Iron Age was the description of the events that
occurred during the period including how the Kings lost the control of the governed due to their
dispersion into small and independent farmlands. Also, the historical accounts documented by
Hesiod was not just important for developing the shared understanding of the deities but led to
the homogenization of the belief system and worship used by their followers ((Maurizio, 2015).
Finally, Works and Days by Hesiod served as the source of the preservation of the traits and
identities of the several gods worshipped by the locals.
Define and discuss the significance of Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus was the deity that stole fire for the benefit of humans
that were considered his creation. In the myth about this deity, his concern was to free humanity
from the bondage of the institution of marriage that Zeus created for the control of female
reproduction and maintenance of order and justice in the society. Although this was a good
method for propagating the human race, other gods including Prometheus questioned this motive
and way of life. Aside from the importance of his role in freeing humanity from Zeus,

MYTHOLOGY CLASS QUESTIONS A...


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