CLA 2323 Lecture 4: Week 2 - Session 2
19 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
CLA 2323: Greek Mythology
Week 2: Thursday, May 10, 2018
Midterm Review
Up to "civilization versus chaos"
oBuxton readings
Part 1 short answer: 4 sentences
Part 2 long answer: 2 paragraphs
o10 sentences
Demeter (p. 72-73)
Goddess of agriculture, wheat, harvest
oTeaches agriculture to humans, through the agency of a hero, named Triptolemos
("three battles")
An example of a hero whose service is not military
He is the first farmer
He teaches agriculture to other humans
She is the goddess of grain (wheat and barley)
oShe is also the goddess of "corn", meaning "grain" (don't take it literally)
Greeks had no corn on the cob - no maize
She is a beloved goddess of the Greeks, especially in the countryside
o"Demetrios" is an adjectival form of Demeter
She has one beautiful myth about her: "the Homeric Hymn to Demeter"
oStory of hymn is summarized in pages above
Daughter is Persephone
oImagined as a teenage girl (16-18 years old)
oOne day the earth opens up to reveal Hades (her uncle, and the Lord of the Underworld)
Hades captures her onto his carriage, and returns to the underworld
The hymn described the frantic grief of Demeter in trying to find her daughter
oDemeter's symbol is the torch: she wandered the earth, looking for Persephone day and
night
She is desperate with grief
In her wanderings, she comes to a town outside of Athens called Eleusis
At this point, she is disguised as an old woman, sitting and crying near the
palace of the king
The wife of the king comes out and tries to comfort her
Demeter is hired to be the nanny of the young prince
To console herself from the loss of her own child, she accepts
oIn disguise, she is well treated and comes to love the baby and its family
oTo reward them, she decides to grant the baby immortality
Secretly, at night, she anoints the child with ambrosia (the food of the gods) to
be made immortal
She has to stick the baby in the fireplace to burn away his mortal parts
oAs she is doing this, the queen comes in and interrupts Demeter
oDemeter then reveals herself as the goddess, declaring that her own temple will be in
this town and there will be a sacred shrine
pg. 1
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Part of the myth was trying to explain why such a shrine existed in this city
oDemeter withdraws into the newly-built temple, and stops functioning as goddess of
agriculture
Crops stop growing across the world, because she is in mourning
Crisis as humanity faces starvation
Appeals are made to Zeus - who doesn't approve when the natural order of
things are interrupted
oZeus knows what's happened, and tells Hades to return Persephone to Demeter (unless
she has eaten food in the underworld)
As Hades held her, he forced her to eat the seed of a pomegranate
Because of this, she "accepts" his hospitality and is bound to him
oZeus makes an arrangement: Persephone will live for 4 months every year in the
underworld, and the remainder with her mother
Persephone embodies both maiden and wife simultaneously
Time in underworld is winter
The Phoenicians of Lebanon
Phoenicians were traders
They were an Iron Age people who spoke in Lebanon, speaking a language similar to Ancient
Hebrew
oThis was not Indo-European
Language spoken in Mesopotamia
oHebrew and Phoenician were very similar
Phoenicians are spoken as trade partners of Israelites in Hebrew Bible
Many ancient Phoenician cities remain as inhabited Lebanese cities
Best seafarers of ancient world
Phoenicians are depicted as wearing red robes
They didn't call themselves Phoenicians, but "Phoinikes" (Foy-nick-ayes, or "the red people")
oThe red is significant: Phoenicians were great merchants and traders, and most popular
product was color-fast, red dye that was an object of marvel in ancient world
Color could range from orange to purple
Very expensive to purchase
Luxury item for the rich
Bright colours like these were only attained via special processing and hard work
Colour was made by special process: boiling hundreds of sea snails
oAs creatures boiled, their natural dye was drawn out into the water, and from there it
was processed
oDye was used to stain strips/threads of wool, which would be sewn into clothing
Dye was exported as a weaving done in clothing (i.e. Sheets, curtains), not in
little bottles
Red and purple eventually became associated with the rich and royalty
oThe colour purple was associated with emperors and kings for this reason
At a certain point in Roman empire, only emperor was allowed to wear purple
These people had shipping stations throughout the Mediterranean, stretching as far as Spain
Most famous Phoenician city is in Tunisia (north Africa)
oBecame an enemy of the Greeks and the Romans
Phoenicians traded to Egypt, Spain, Greece
pg. 2
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
