AHSS 2210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Oedipus The King, Mircea Eliade, Woolly Mammoth
18 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Classical mythology Intro Ch 1-2
Week 1
January 11th 2017
TERMINOLOGY (ch1)
classical mythology refers to the myths told by the Greeks and the Romans
circa (around) 800 BC-AD 476
→ Awno Domini (AD) and before christ (BC)
classical mythology the study of
classical mythology muthos
myth: primarily concerned with the gods and the relations with mortals
the Greeks were polytheists
sagas/legends: containing a kernel of historical truth and focusing upon the adventure of a hero
Greek religion is separate from myths, it was about rituals (mircea eliade)
Myths = stories, religion = practice
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO GREEK MYTHOLOGY (ch2)
Periodisation
1. prehistory <3000 BC
2. bronze age 3000-1000 BC
3. dark age 1000-800 BC
4. archaic period 800 (776)-480 BC
5. classical period 480-323 BC
6. hellenistic period 323-30 BC
1. ca 35000 years ago human sapiens migrated from Africa and spread out to Greece
theory that because of the skull of the wooly mammoth and created the cyclops
fertile crescent (events outside of Greece) ca 10000 BC
Neolithic Revolution (started in modern day Iraq)
→ achievements domesticated plants, livestock
Neolithic Migration ca 7000 BC
→ Greeks got out of the way cavemen, settled down
Neolithic Athens ca 5000 BC
2. Bronze emerged in ca 3000 BC (copper and tin combined)
→ civilization emerged and spread
→ the Greeks believed that all of these myths happened in this period, along with the legends of the
heros
→ Separation of civilization
I. minoans ca 3000-1600 BC (in Crete) /// Sir Arthur Evans found the remains of the lost
civilization of the bronze age and named them after the supreme mythical King Minos (read
Dante), at the palace of Knosseos, he found their fascination with bulls, and snake goddesses. ///
They faded off possibly bc of a volcanic eruption at 1645 BC
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
