Myth and Literature

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English 119 0001 myth and literature

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Myth and Literature Exam One: Part II Essay Questions Directions Bring a typed 12 pt. font: document to class with your name on it to turn in at 11:30 AM Part II: Select ANY TWO Questions from the list below. For EACH response three-four full paragraphs. For an outstanding response, I expect 4-5 well developed paragraphs. All work must contain full sentence and proper citation (Maurizio p#) or (Jones, Lecture) Don’t forget you must answer two questions!! Although this is a ‘take home’ exam in the sense that you don’t have to sit in class and respond to the questions without access to notes, text or lectures on BB. BUT this does not that you can use other resources on the internet to look up information regarding the important characters or concepts in ANY of the questions. ALL INFORMATION NEEDED FOR THE EXAM IS CONTAINED IN BOTH TEXTS (WILKINSON AND SIMPSON), YOUR LECTURE NOTES, AND POWER-POINTS. I am the instructor NOT WIKEPEDIA!! Yes, you will have to find the lectures that address the topic and combine that with notes and text that address the question and then discuss the topic in your own words and understand; and lastly, you will have to combine text and lecture to develop a response to the Essay Questions. I have taught this course for many years and I will know if any responses are PLAGARIZED (taken from sources outside of those you are to use for the exam) Repeat of Directions: Part II: Select ANY TWO Questions from the list below. For EACH response three-four full paragraphs. For an outstanding response, I expect 4-5 well developed paragraphs. All work must contain full sentence and proper citation (Maurizio p#) or (Jones, Lecture) Don’t forget you must answer two questions!! 1. Discuss how Pandora is the archetype for the feminine in the Ancient World. How is she associated with the ‘beautiful but dangerous’ motif? 2. How do relationships between Aphrodite and two of her mortal lovers: Adonis and Anchises reflect how Greek gods view mortals? Consider various elements of the stories in your response. 3. According to the lecture “Nature of Myth” how are to read and study myth? In your response consider the role of storytellers and oral presentation as well. 4. Discuss elements of Hades interactions with the dead in the Underworld. As you have already noted that Tartarus is somewhat equivalent to contemporary notions of hell, how much do YOU think ancient concepts of the underworld are still reflected today? 5. Examine how Hermes attainted the many attributes he was associated with him over a long period of time. In your response consider how he became associated with these attributes, messenger, medicine, travel, protector, medicine and Trickster. Discuss also the role Apollo plays in Hermes story line. 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, mythological locations. • 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 • Novels/Short Stories • 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 messages do 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 – 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” • 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 Chapter 5 Classical Mythology in Context History Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares Love and Strife • There are two stories of Aphrodite’s birth: she is either the daughter of Zeus and Dione, or produced when Uranus was castrated by Cronus • Her title of Philommedes represents her association with sexual desire unmitigated by social consideration • It can also be translated as ‘laughter-loving’ 5.2 Birth of Aphrodite. Detail of the Ludovisi Throne. Greek marble relief. Circa 460–450 BCE. Museo Nazionale Romano (Palazzo Altemps), Rome, Italy. Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY, ART58590. Duality of Aphrodite: Two natures • Aphrodite Urania (celestial Aphrodite): sprung from Uranus alone – with only heavenly attributes: aka Celestial • Aphrodite Pandemos (of the people – common) Aphrodite and Eros • Aphrodite and Eros are associated with desire and romance • Eros is either Aphrodite’s son or companion • Their behavior is fickle, representing the nature of desire • They are also associated with conflict and violence, as in Sophocles’ Antigone 5.1 Eros playfully blindfolds a woman. Attic red-figure skyphos. Workshop of the Ilioupersis Painter, c. 375–350 BCE. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island. RISD Museum Appropriation Fund, 25.089. Marriage and Love • Brides prayed to Aphrodite before their wedding day • Aphrodite is often depicted with Harmonia (Harmony), Peitho (Persuasion), and the Erotes (Eros, Longing, and Desire) • Their winged nature indicates that the emotions Aphrodite inspires are impossible to restrain • In Greek myths, the desire inspired by Aphrodite disrupts marriage more often than it sustains it 5.3 Aphrodite surrounded by Erotes and an attendant holding a swan. Detail from a red-figure lekythos (oil flask). Circa late fifth century BCE. Gianni Dagli Orti / The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY, AA393928. Humor and Laughter • Among the gods, Aphrodite is often connected with humor • Aphrodite’s adulterous relationship with Ares gets her laughed at, but also represents the dangerous consequences of infidelity • The myth of Aphrodite and Adonis furthered her association with laughter, as represented in the Adonia, a festival celebrated only by women 5.4 Paris leads Helen by the wrist, while Aphrodite adjusts her hair. Red-figured skyphos. Circa fifth century BCE. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA / Francis Bartlett Donation / Bridgeman Images, BST487717. Civic Harmony • Aphrodite, with Peitho (Persuasion)played a traditional role in the establishment and governance of cities • Governance of cities required persuasion in courts and assemblies • Aristotle compared the bonds of husbands and wives with the bonds among citizens • She was worshiped as Aphrodite Pandemos in Athens for her role as a unifier • She was frequently worshiped in ports and harbors, anywhere where cooperation was necessary Hephaestus • Aphrodite’s husband was Hephaestus, the god of metallurgy • He has few sanctuaries and festivals and was rarely worshiped • Hephaestus was unique among the gods because of his lameness • He was associated with fire and volcanoes, and manufacturing and technology • Hephaestus is an unlikely husband for Aphrodite, the most beautiful of the gods, and was frequently laughed at 5.5 The Return of Hephaestus to Olympus. Red-figured stamnos. Group of Polygnotus, c. 440 BCE. bpk, Berlin / Antikensammlung, Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, Kassel, Germany/ Art Resource, NY, ART497600. Ares • Ares is a war god, the son of Zeus and Hera • He and Aphrodite have three children: Deimos (Terror), Phobos (Fear) and Harmonia (Harmony) • He represents aggression and destruction rather than courage or strategy • His affair with Aphrodite represents the dangers of powerful emotions like lust and aggression 5.6 Ares and Aphrodite. Marble votive relief. Circa late fifth century BCE. bpk, Berlin/Museo Archeologico, Venice, Italy/Alfredo Dagli Orti/Art Resource, NY, ART332617. Eros • Eros was either Aphrodite’s son or her companion • He is the animating force that propels all creatures to reproduce and thrive • He is shown with arrows which were believed to induce love • Aphrodite and Eros attracted the attention of many philosophers, who treated them as metaphors to explain passion, love, and lust 5.7 Eros in the role of archer. Red-figure lekythos, c. 500–480 BCE. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas / Art Resource, NY, ART334291. Eros: • Symbolism: male counterpart of Aphrodite • Of course he has a dual aspect to his birth: He is referred to as an early cosmic deity in Hesiod or his parents could be Ares and Aphrodite • Often depicted as an attendant of Aphrodite • Attributes: May represent all aspects of desire and love, also the god of male homosexuality. • Shown often as a very handsome young man – the model for masculine beauty in the Classical Period (500-400BCE) From Eros to Cupid • In Classical Athens, Eros was depicted as an adolescent boy • He represented a social practice wherein older men developed sexual relationships with younger men, which was thought to benefit their development into mature citizens • Later he was transformed into a group of infants • By Roman times, infant Cupids had little association with Eros’ role as a god of desire 5.8 Eros chases Atalanta. Detail from a red-figure lekythos. Attributed to Douris, c. 500 BCE. Cleveland Museum of Art, OH, USA / Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund / Bridgeman Images, CVL1761955. Classical Mythology in Context Theory Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares Priapus: Son of Aphrodite • Parentage unknown: Pan, Hermes, Dionysus, Adonis or even Zeus • Male fertility symbol, in Archaic to Classical Period (700-400BCE) • Later Roman Empire often referred to in comedy and used for sign of fertility Symposia • Symposia were usually held in private homes in specially designed dining and party areas. The guests (from as few as 3 or 4 to as many as 12 or 20) reclined on couches arranged in a circle. An entire service of ornamental cups, bowls, plates, and vases were set out for the occasion. After dinner, amid hearty servings of wine, the guests would converse, engage in song contests, enjoy the professional entertainment, or, as in the case of Plato’s The Symposium, compose speeches or deliver mock orations. Aristophanes: Concept of Eros • Amusing and wise he explains that there were three sexes, but Zeus decided to cut them in two: men who love women and women who love men. He further cut some human women who love women, and men who were cut further loved other men. • Thus like our ancestors, we pursue our other half in the longing to become whole once again. • Eros is the yearning desire of lover and beloved to become the one person in life and death. How Myths Challenge Social Norms • Anthropologists have discovered that men and women often participated in and interpreted social practices differently, especially in sex-segregated societies like ancient Greece • Classicist John J. Winkler tries to explore how individual women might use myths and rituals like the Adonia to criticize social norms • He suggests that the laughter associated with the Adonia may have represented women laughing at male impotence Aphrodite and Adonis • Most textual evidence from ancient Greece was 5.10 accompanied by Eros and a woman. written by men, and therefore is not a reliable Red-figured aryballesque-lekythos. Circa 410 BCE. Louvre Museum, Paris, depiction of the lives of women France. © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY, ART433916. Cupid and Psyche • Best of the story is told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses . • Not Platonic relationship • Motif of: mysterious bridegroom, taboo of identification, hostile mother figure, jealous sisters, heroine’s forgetfulness, impossible labors done only with divine assistance, descent into Hades and of course the triumph of romantic love. • All of these are present in the tale. (told on pp. 219-221)/ Classical Mythology in Context Comparison Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares Nature and Appearance of Aphrodite • Cyprus and Cythera are the two islands associated with her. Both islands claim her throughout antiquity and temples are found on both. • Cypriot Aphrodite and Cythera the violet crowned are the common names you will see with her. • Attendants of Aphrodite • Graces (or Charities) personification of loveliness. • Horae (Hours) ultimately the four seasons Ishtar and Aphrodite • Aphrodite was associated with the island of Cyprus, the place of her birth, where the Phoenician goddess Astarte was also worshiped • Over time the traits of these goddess blended in a process called syncretism • Statues of Aphrodite from Cyprus closely resemble those of Astarte 5.11 Cypriot Aphrodite-Astarte. Terracotta figurine. Anonymous. Circa late seventh century BCE. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA / Bridgeman Images, BST1762524. Ishtar and Aphrodite • Astarte shares many attributes with the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, which are then transferred to Aphrodite • Both are associated with fertility, sexuality, war, and the sea, both have a male consort who dies • Both have powers which are contained by or associated with their clothing 5.12 Cypro-Archaic Astarte II. Terracotta figurines. Circa 600–480 BCE. Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY, ART500335. Classical Mythology in Context Reception Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares Bust of Sappho – Kerakomykos Sappho and The Lyric/Melic Age • Sappho – Home is Mytilene (Lesbos) • The bookish schoolmistress • The Tenth Muse • The 20th century Sappho the lesbian and feminist figurehead • There is Sappho the beautiful and tragic • She has been the inspiration of philosophers and pornographers • Clerics and Popes banned her and Catullus honored her in his life and poetry • Actually women in the poetry of Sappho existed in very social world, a world devoid of men, until the moment of marriage. • In these spaces women shared intimate and lonely times together sharing bonds that were only available to them not between men and women. What Sappho does is give life and language to this period. Pygmalion • Ovid will tell the well-known story of the sculptor who desired a pure woman; unlike the women of Cyprus. • He sculpted a beautiful marble statue and prayed to Aphrodite at her festival • When he returned home his beautiful statue had come to life to honor his loyalty and piety. Pygmalion in Hollywood • Ovid tells the story of Pygmalion, a sculptor who is disgusted by prostitution associated with the worship of Aphrodite • Instead of a real woman, Pygmalion creates a statue of a beautiful woman and falls in love with it • Aphrodite brings the statue to life, and Pygmalion marries her • The tale of Pygmalion has been a popular theme in contemporary cinema, and has been used to consider both social questions and questions of romance and desire • Pygmalion ensures his own emotional autonomy by loving an object, not a woman Pygmalion in Hollywood • George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion attempted to lampoon the British class system rather than the romantic foibles of his lead character • Pretty Woman focuses instead on the romantic relationship between the two characters and the potential for Vivian to redeem Edward from being emotionally dead 5.13 Playbill from George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, 1940. Everett Collection. MSDPYGM EC001. • In Lars and the Real Girl, Lars’ relationship with a doll leads to real relationships that eventu Unrequited Love: Aphrodite and Adonis • Adonis: son of the incestuous relationship between Cinyras and Myrrha. • Lover of Aphrodite who is killed in a boar hunt his blood become the anemone • He represents the archetype of the dying and rising consort of a mothergoddess/fertility deity • Has origins in Asia Minor with matching myths for Astarte. Ceremonial worship with the singing of dirges and wailing. • Persephone and Inanna: Adonis was kept in a box for Persephone to guard but she can’t resist keeping him so Zeus settles it with seasonal resurrection. Cybele and Attis Myth of the Great Mother and her consort Cybele originally a bisexual deity Her severed organs were transplanted and Became Attis He loved another but Cybele was so jealous She drove him mad. In his madness he Castrated himself. Cybele repents and Zeus allows the body of Attis to never decay. Archetype of a vegetation rebirth celebrated In Spring. Aphrodite and Mortal Men • Adonis becomes and anemone and Anchises becomes the father of Aeneas. • Zeus’ revenge is to have Aphrodite fall in love with a human as she has bragged about her power over the other deities regarding their love lives • In the story of Anchises exemplifies the short life span of humans in the view of the gods. He will grow old and frail as she never ages. Their love produces the Trojan Hero Aeneas and founder of the later Romans. …if you could live on as you are now, and if you could be called my husband, then grief would not cloud my anxious heart. ..soon you will be enveloped by pitiless old age…and is despised by the gods.” (p. 209)
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How do relationships between Aphrodite and two of her mortal lovers: Adonis and
Anchises reflect how Greek gods view mortals? Consider various elements of the stories in
your response.
Aphrodite, as the goddess of love, has a special power over mortals and gods alike. As
the emotion is shared by both entities, Aphrodite can meddle almost equally in their desires. One
particular boast by the goddess about her ability to intervene with the gods’ love lives leads her
to receive a very specific form of punishment. A goddess herself, her own love affairs often
involved other deities. Aphrodite only has two exceptions to this pattern: Adonis and Anchises.
This was her punishment. With both men bound to death, by the very nature of their existence,
they were destined to cause great suffering for the goddess. Though they both perish, their deaths
are significantly different; Aphrodite, despite being an immortal being, has to learn to deal with
these events. In making this Aphrodite’s punishment, two important aspects of the Grecian
cosmology become evidence: the perception of the gods towards mortals and the significance of
death as part of the human condition.
Adonis, the better-known lover of Aphrodite, is described as a particularly good-looking,
young man. The result of an incestuous relationship between father and daughter, Adonis is a
controversial figure from birth, but, his life will be mostly shaped by his romantic relationship to
Aphrodite. Variations of the myth pose Adonis as either being inclined or disinterested in the
goddess. In either scenario, though, the fate that Adonis faces is the same. He embarks on a hunt
where he encounters a wild boar that is actually Ares in disguise. Adonis, a mere mortal, is
unable to match the skills and strength of the god, and perishes in the encounter. Aphrodite is
crushed by his death, despite knowing in advance that such was to be the result of the en...


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