CLA 2323 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Modern Dance, Xenophanes, Ancient Greek Religion

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Classical Studies
• Course: CLA 2323
• Professor: Efharis Kostala

Document Summary

If not, how were these tales agreed on: how were the myths handed down in ancient greece, including in an era without writing (1200 800. Why are there sometimes several different versions: how to explain the phenomenon of the greek heroes? (our word hero comes from greek h ros, plural h r es, meaning protector . ) Specifically, here"s the question: most world mythologies tell stories mainly about gods, but greek mythology statistically talks mainly about humans. In the myths that have come down to us, tales of heroes heracles, theseus, etc. outnumber tales purely of the gods, at a 5-to-1 ratio. The real-life greeks worshipped their twelve olympian gods as being universal principles: zeus for justice, athena for wisdom, apollo for harmony and poetry, etc. Yet in myths, individual gods appear as characters who might act selfishly, cruelly, or childishly. As the greek philosopher xenophanes complained, circa 530 bc, homer and.