Classical Mythology Emily Jennings
Where and When Myths Come From
Art, oratory, texts.
What we see myth as
o a system: always gains sense in its relativity of previous myths retelling of
old ideas. Gains meaning from what came from before and what came after
o always myth: every place had own stories. Greek mythology is national
comes from all of Greece
o How do myths cluster?:
good communication and shared culture
share myths and make sense to eachother
Get in the archaic age
Neolithic Age 30000-2000 BC
Early Bronze Age 2900-2000 BC
Minoan -2000-1400BC
Mycenaean Age 1600-1200 BC
High cultural achievement
Backdrop of a lot of myths (eg. Agamemnon from Mycenae)
Heroes transmitted from this era, changed and obscured over time into Archaic and
Classical Age
Disrupted by destruction that lead to the Dark Ages
Dark Age 1100-750
Fall of Mycenaean age beginning of writing again
Trojan wars (if real) around this time ending Mycenaean Age—Dorian invasion
Archaic age 750-500 BC
Good communication and shared culture for myth cluster
Must be ways for myths to travel
o Oral transmission of the myths: anybody can do this
the people who are important to study are poets and epic poets: their
stuff eventually gets written down
homer: Iliad and Odyssey 750-700
beginning of the composition of myths
o not true, no idea what came first
Cyclic poets: like homer, write epic poetry, not famous not
much of their work survives, but people wrote ―reviews‖ Call cyclic poets because all myths associated with one
place called cycle: every myth written about Troy is
part of the Trojan cycle.
Poets who talk about Thebes: Oedipus comes from Thebes part
of Thebian cycle
Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Catalogue of Women
Catalogue of women: ―or like‖
o women getting raped, had sex with, bore
children with etc the gods and who they begot
o Poem that used mythic women to pull together
mythology of Greece. Catalogue
o Aristocratic families liked to link their families
to mythological families or gods. Justifies
control of space
Turns mythology into para-history:
history that unfolds alongside REAL
history
Theogony: creation of Gods
o Aren’t really that important, small portion of
myth
Classical age 500-336BC
Hellenistic Age 323- 145BC
Roman Age 145
Myth exists in Art
Greek world: vases and pottery, painting on buildings but paint does not survive to us.
Artistic representations in Mycenaean age don’t understand their language that
well, because we don’t know what they really refer to
Geometric age of art
o Pottery that focuses on geometric forms not telling stories of mythology. We
don’t get anything
Representational pictures after geometric age
o Mid 7 century BC
o Identifiable, we can pick out myths on them
Myths in art aren’t narration. We cannot represent Troy on a single pot, so you pick one moment.
Ajax and Achilles serene moment of brotherhood, although no narration System of mythology. Know of their bond, when Achilles dies, Ajax seeks to avenge
him
Archaic age
Decorative Near eastern motifs influenced
o Get sphinxes
Only one sphinx in greek mythology, Oedipus solves the riddle
Time when the greeks spreading into black sea
Heracles becomes super popular
Classical Age: associated with Athens and Democracy
Theseus becomes the new Heracles
Athens before 500BC Heracles associated with tyrants
o Represents what democracy is opposed to
o Theseus associated with creating democracy
Classical period democratic treatment of myth
Kinds of ways people are writing them
o Mythographers write myths
Rise of literacy
Compile stories, collect them, give access to people to read
In turn mythographers gave rise to 5 century resource tragedy
o Tragic poets: Escolas, Sophocles, Euripides (some tragedians)
Present at festivals: compose 3 tragedies and a short satyr play…
drawn from mythology
Epic poets, mythographers and tragedians main source
What comes between us and them
Hellenistic Age 336-Roman Era
Really smart, and liked to show it
o Poetry that would reference obscure portions of myth to show they knew it all
o Liked to make poetry that came off as reference books
o Liked poetry that sorted mythology into categories
Metomorphoses changing
Catatasterisms idea of changing into a star
o Hellenistic resources often didn’t survive
Just fragments or we get references to them
Works we get references from are Roman works 2 c. Paulsanius description of Greece in 10 books.
References to local myths and authors.
Roman age continues and adopts greek myths
Face lift! Change names
Greek Zeus, latin Jupiter etc
Ovid is a roman text, using the roman names of Greek Gods. Memorize the names of each god
How people use myth differently. What is myth Emily Jennings
How does myth reflect the times?: (paragraph questions?)
How do ancient representations of Heracles represent the ancient Greeks?
What does Disney’s Hercules tell us about our culture?
Oedipus
Laius told by Apollo not to have any kids. Kid will kill him and
Tries to abide but gets drunk
Oedipus raised in Corinth as a royal son. Hears rumours that he isn’t the son. He asks
Apollo, and Apollo says you’re going to kill your dad and marry your mom. He runs
away thinking Corinthians mom and dad
Meets Laius gets angry and kills him not knowing its his dad. Continues to Thebes,
meets the sphinx, solves the riddle. People give his mother (unaware) as a prize. They
get married, lots of kids.
Eventually finds out and is horrified. Talks to mom, but she’s committed suicide.
Oedipus says he cant go to hades so he removes his eyeballs and gets banished from
Thebes.
Ends up in Athens and becomes protector.
** Greek humans should not commit incest (Gods can do it but humans should not)
Oedipus in Vegetable form
Myth does not tell us lessons any more. Myth for entertainment, myth for consumption
We don’t really interact with Greece as well. We don’t understand as well as we do Rome—calls
them senators, but those did not exist in Greece
We have to relate to Greece through Rome
Olympiaganza
Knowing myth in our society makes you smart
Part of a classical education
When you can understand references
****Myth is a tool. It is a product in art and literature and reflects the culture and
times of its production. It tells us more about ourselves than the actual myth
Myth is a lie
Does not reflect the truth. Powerful and inspires us to believe. But it is not the truth. It’s a lie that
we want to believe. Not fact, but goes beyond fact in ability to connect us to a deeper truth Muthos myth
meaning of the word has shifted
1800 gay= happy, now= sexual orientation
muthos did not mean false, it referred to ―what is spoken‖
o reading homer in Greek, Achilles speech is a ―muthos‖. It is what is said not
the content.
o Logos. Means speech, comes to mean rational thought: truth. Associated with
prose. What you use in which to write rational thought.
o Greeks started to look at myths as not true, so they associated the poetry and
content of poetry with lies.
o Muthos=poetry=lies. Logos=prose=truth
Types of Stories (Classification of Myths)
Saga: saga is Icelandic and means myth supposed to have a basis in history. Like the Trojan war
or most hero-based myths
Belief in myths there is a small nugget of truth
Para-history
Legend: eg. Saint George slays the Dragon
Legend brought back from Crusaders
Stories about Saints. Comes from latin term: worth reading, important to read.
Reading about them might make you a better Christian. Now the term is used for
myths or stories with only a little bit of truth or history.
o ** what is the difference between Saga and Legend?
Folktale: term invented from German word. Folktake is defined by its content.
It is a folktale if it contains a type, stock, or standard figure ie wicked witch, evil step
mother etc. The most common type is the every man. An everyman is someone who
can stand in for anybody. Not special, normal.
Greek myth is generally not a folktale
Fairy Tale: ie Cinderella
Variant of a folk-take but have fairies
Wont find them in Greek myth because there aren’t fairies
** when we think of folk-tales and fairy tales, we don’t consider them important, they are just as
important.
Myth: does not fall into any of the other categories
Usually involves gods or a clear religious element, even a philosophical purpose There is a de-evolution with myth
Associated with religious ritual and that is its function
The myth becomes history
The history becomes folk tale
The folk tale is used for art or literature
o How we get that folk tales and fairy tales are less important
o Conception that myth is on a higher plane
***For the purpose of this course, consider all non-historical stories as myth
Meet our text: Ovid
Roman poet, named Publius Ovidius Naso
Born March 20 43 BC
From Sulmo, ninety miles from Rome
Studied law but then liked poetry.
43 BC, Imperial Roman: not writing in republic, writing at the beginning of empire at the time of
Augustus.
When Ovid writes, he cannot write what he wants. He has to write what Augustus has
asked him to write
Just like Horace, Vergil, Tibullus, Propertius etc.
Ovid’s works:
Amores
Heroides
o Finds jilted woman, pretends he’s her, and writes letter to the person who
jilted her
Ars Amoris
o How to get chicks
Remedia Amoris
o Cure for love
Fastii
o Important how it deals with myth
Metamorphoses
o Epic poem! Something more serious (not that good at being serious, keeps
diverting myth into love escapades)
Tristia
o Sad things. Sad poem o Must have done something wrong when he wrote metamorphoses and got
exiled in 8AD. Says he tried to destroy metamorphoses but it was already
published
Afterlife of the Metamorphoses
Ovid was criticized for the morality of his work, its treatment of the gods etc
After the first century AD he had a large following of poets. He is a very good poet.
When Roman poetry rediscovered, Ovid had a huge following (esp. 12AD)
th
Only in the 19 century did Ovid ―go out of style‖
o Ovid is coming back though
The Metamorphoses Preface
Of bodies changed to various forms I sing….
...
Deduced from nature’s birth to Caesar’s times. what time period he will cover
For Ovid not just how bodies change, he is interested in change in genera. All change. Birth of
the Cosmos, he says the earth changes from one thing to another it is a pattern. Start from
something great, we will get worse and worse and worse, but then we will get the golden age
again at ―our time‖. He is saying we have come full circle, Augustus is the golden age.
The Metamorphoses’ Plan and Tone
Explains origins
Formal change
Flux of the universe
how gods decisions affects people. What it means to be a human when gods can do anything
fundamental instability of human experience
the change in him, from an Elegiac to Epic poet, a change that is not consistent in the writing.
Books 1-6 look for human helplessness
6-11 how human beings are victims of own stupidity.
12-15 dealing with Troy, Rome and the apotheosis of Roman heroes
Praising Augustus. The ancestors of Augustus will bet gods etc. The Ways We Talk About Myth-Theories Emily Jennings
RATIONALISM
Greeks tried to make sense of myths
Myths need to be explained rationally (women turning into trees)
Xenophanes 6th c BC
o Humans make up gods to look like humans
o He attacks the existence of gods = get rid of gods because they don't make
sense
Plato 5th c philosopher
o Myth doesn't make sense = why are gods immoral, strange things happen
often
o Myth teaches bad things (gods rape, gods kill)
o Myth is a tool to educate
o Plato created his own myth of Atlantis
o Plato created the myth of Er
Journey in the after life = moral people are rewarded after life
Reincarnation
ALLEGORY
Carnal of truth
Saying something in a different way
Takes a myth and turn it into something more acceptable
o Daphne turns into a tree when she rejects Apollo = represents virginity,
abstinence
Parallel to the culture that the myth is being told to (Daphne demonstrates ancient
Greek's view of women)
o Turning into a tree represents inaccessibility
Interpreting a myth is the same as retelling a myth
TYPES OF ALLEGORY
1. Physical allegory
Earth, air, water, fire
Defines the world
Theagenes 6th BC
Rationalize the war of gods
Gods represent physical elements (Poseidon sea = water, Apollo sun = fire)
Myths address cosmological and scientific grounds Tool for stoic philosophers = how elements were given birth to
o Misinterpreted allegory = example of etymology = roots of words
o Cronus = Titan
o Chronos = allegorical man representing time (father time)
2. Historical allegory
Finding history within myth
Euhemerus
o Euhemerism = history of noble men and kings = confused and turned into
myths
All myths start of from historical accounts during the Hellenistic age
Parian marble of Greek chronology of mythical kings
o Palaiphtus
Myth is a disease of language = think of the telephone game
Overtime myths being passed down started to not make sense
3. Moral allegory
Judgment of Paris
o Hera represents philosophical principle
o Athena represents
o Aphrodite represents amorous principle
o Paris chose Aphrodite and began Trojan war = wrong choices have
consequences
Zeus as swan rapes Lita
o Swan represents power
MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE APPROACHES
Medieval = recycle myth in the Christian world
Ovid moralized
Interpretations of the racy stories in Ovid
o Christian cannot condone rape, sex, etc. = revisions and reinterpretations
o Story of Daphne turns into a botanical story about mixing elements to make
nature Myth has profound symbolic truth concerning the spiritual realm
Not much diff than allegory
What truths can we find in myths by twisting it around to fit within Christian
ideology
o Myths are like distorted bible stores (battle of Troy = battle of Jericho)
o Myth is a tool that Christian use as an allegorical truth
THEORIES OF ENLIGHTENMENT 1650-1800 AD
Arrogant time period
Myths are symbolic of a primitive past and lesser minds
Bernard Fontenelle 1657-1757 = de l'origine des fables
Myths are represented by primitive times
Arrogance due to exploration of natives
o They are superior
Giambattista Vico 1668-1754
Myths have three cycles of movement
Age of gods = primitive, nature is divine
Age of heroes = gods separated from men, institution, heroes are personified gods
Age of man = reason replaces instinctive imagination from which myth comes,
philosophy replaces myth
o Myth is part of early culture
Other evolutionary model of myth
Relic of savagery
Anthropology
Psychology
Social sciences
THE ROMANTIC APPROACHES 1800-1840 AD
Turn to myth as answer to eternal truth
Emotional side to eternal truth = as expressed in poetry, music, art
Evolution
Friedrich Creuzer 1771-1858 Myth is absolute truth that Aryans have
o But as Aryans spread throughout the world, the truth became obscure
Myth is rational abstract but becomes confused concrete stories when in text
Priests handed myths down to generations = confusions, diff variations of mythology
Johann Bachofen 1815-1887
Believes in blissful age when women ruled = matriarchy
o Evolutionary idea
Nomadic phase = lawless, people moved everywhere = Aphrodite
Institutional phase = laws, established cities = Demeter
Apollonian phase = Rome patriarchy, rationalism, individualism = Apollo
ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY
Myth was some sort of intellectual backwardness
Myth is primitive thinking
Understanding cultural origins of myth
Edward Tylor 1832-1917
Animism = everything and everyone has a soul, soul is anima
Myth and religion is the reason of the idea of a soul
James Frazer 1854-1941
Wrote golden bough
o Renewal of king/priest through sacrifices for the sake of fertility
o Fertility rights can be challenged by anyone with a golden bough
o Myths share religious beliefs, symbols, practices, periodic sacrifices
Malinowski 1914-1918
Myth is not a proof of science
Myth does not have an evolution to rationality
Myth is a justification or charter for the way things are = charter theory of myth
LINGUISTIC THEORY
If you make myth to be universal, it will fail
Max Mueller 1823-1900 prof fav Solar mythology
Myth reduction = myth is a disease of language = carries on palaiphtus theory
Myth is an allegory on opposition of light and dark
Andrew Lang
Attacks mueller
Proves mueller is an allegory himself and does not exist
Indo european language
Aryans are the first to speak this
Common language = common culture = common patterns = related myths
connection through speaking the same language
Georges Dumezil 1898-
Classes
Rulers
Warriors = Athena
Priest
Producer = Aphrodite human fertility, Demeter food fertility
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
Psych = understand being and psyche
Myths stem from what humans share as a species and not culturally
Sigmund Freud 1856-1939
Myths reflect human unconsciousness
Myths are the collective and recurring dream of a race
Oedipus complex = detest father, covet mother
Synthesizes diff elements and cultures and puts it in one long narrative
o He does not understand that myth are representative of specific time and
culture
Carl Jung 1875-1961
Expands freudian theory with analytical psych
Myths are collectively organized to make sense STRUCTURALIST THEORIES
Meaning is not conveyed by the content of the myth
o It doesn't matter that Apollo is chasing Daphne
o What matters is the contrast between Apollo's desire for sex and Daphne not
wanting it
Contrast is key = binary oppositions = life and death, male and fem, in
and out, citizen and outsider
It ignores cultural uniqueness like psychological theory
Claude Levi Strauss 1908-2009 Paris school of criticism
CONTEXTUAL APPROACH
Focus on culture
When and where a myth is told parallels with culture
Associated with feminism (Demeter and Persephone myth depicts women's role in
society = mothers, marriage)
Find deep seeded truth within myth
o Every myth tells us about the culture or approach that makes
o Myth is a tool Cosmogony and Theogony Emily Jennings
What we find in Hesiod theogony
Difference between cosmogony and theogony
Cosmogony: birth of cosmos
Theogony: birth of the gods
Hesiod’s Theogony
o How the world came to be. How it came to be that Zeus is king of the gods
o Not just explaining where the gods came from, explaining the entire world.
Just as much a cosmogony
o poem that praises Zeus. How does it reinforce Zeus. In order to explain why
he is a supreme god, why he will not lose his power
The greek version of events does not come from nothing. Part of an interrelated set of events
from the near east
Chaos (a separation of 2 things.) (FAMILY EXPLAINS SPACE)
||
Gaea (Mother Earth);
Tartarus (the other world);
Eros (different ideas of where his birth came from: Hesiod says he is a pre-Zeus innate sexual
power. One who can use his power over Zeus. Is he a grandson or comes before Zeus? Zeus
always taken over by Zeus aka LOVES SEX);
Principle movement of world. Why do things come into sexual contact? Gaea comes
right out of Chaos. Once Eros shows up, Gaea has Sex with Uranos and then the next
generation
Gaea
||
Pontus, Ourea, Uranus (didn’t want his children to be born)
Uranus=Gaea
o Cyclopes (helped Zeus take power)
o Hecatonchires (hundred handers, helped Zeus take power. Like Zeus’
Mercenaries)
o Titans
Hyperion—Titan of the Sun (FAMILY EXPLAINS TIME)
Son Helios, daughter Seline (moon), daughter aos (dawn)
Rhea Cronos
Sea was where the unexpected place happen
Gaea=Pontus (Sea God)
||
Monsters: ** Greeks took their monsters from other ideology
Harpies (snatchers) from Egyptian mythology, male, benevolent
o female! come and snatch you to death
Greek men who wrote myth, females were misunderstood, lots of
female monsters. They were afraid of women’s power
Sphinx—Egyptian sign of power of pharaoh, male, benevolent
o female, dangerous. Terrorized Thebes until Oedipus solved the riddle
** how to make Greek Monsters: Lots of same body parts, mix and match body parts etc.
What happens with titans
Uranus will not get off of Gaea (the Earth)
No space in which Zeus can rule over mortal realm
Succession myth
Cronos separates earth and sky
He makes a space for mortals
o Cuts off Uranus’ gentles
o Cant keep having sex with Gaea if doesn’t have the parts
o Uranus is Casterated, man parts fly through the sky
From these blood bits, get:
GIANTS huge powerful and full of violence
Representation of what you get when you have kin killing kin
Erynes/ FURES
Deities of Revenge
Family injurs family
APHRODITE
How could she be a daughter of Zeus and have the power to
make him chase after women? Same as Eros
Personification of human sexual desire
Springs from the testicles of Uranus
Born from the foam
Hesiod gives false etymology of her name o Aphrodite born in ocean
o Terrifying, so we connect her with the sea. Like
another monster
Cronos: is a succession myth
o Cronos is terrified and thinks he will be taken over by his son.
Eats his children when they pop out of Rhea
Rhea goes to Gaea for advice.
Gaea is the first fertility. Supports the Youngest (Cronos and
then Zeus)
Hides Zeus on Crete and helps him take over. Gaea supports
principle of change and youth
When Zeus takes over, he is a trickster god, Cronos like an ogre. Eats
a rock and thinks its his kid. Succession myth, always clever trickster
taking over from stupid ogre.
Hesiod does not say how Zeus took over. Other sources do.
Gets help from Matis (cleverness)
Gave Cronos stuff to puke up kids/the stone
Same stone as that at Delphi
Zeus reign not secure: Gaea always instigator of change
o Threat will be taken over by son
Titanomachy battle with the titans
First threat to Zeus’ reign, is when Gaea tries to instigate change (not supporting
youngest anymore)
Gets titans: embodiments of all powers in nature
Zeus must be clever and a statesmen: enlists help from Hundred hangers, and
Cyclopes ultimate weapon thunderbolt. Does not rely on brute force and more
clever
Typhoeomachy battle with Typhon
Typhon Zeus smites him.
o Hymn to Zeus. Does not want to represent Zeus being beaten down
Pseudo-Apollodorus 2 Century
o Find obscure variants of myth like the hellenists
Gaea=Tartarus Typhon Zeus chased Typhon, typhon cut power out of Zeus’s hands
and feet
Hermes renewed Zeus’ power by putting sinews back
Zeus first gets beaten
Short tale in Ovid
o Doesn’t talk much about birth of the cosmos or the birth of the gods
Metamorphoses about human beings. He wants to focus on human
suffering and human woes
***THEREFORE
myth tools. Reflect reason as to why the story is being told
Gigantomachy War with the Giants –Last threat
Giants children of Gaea and Uranus
Gaea’s threat to Zeus’ reign
Zeus wins by using a prophesy
o If he gets the help of the mortals, he can win with battle
Herecules helps him defeat the giants
**if you make a timeline of all of myth, will not work. Trying to put it all together cannot work.
That is why herecules can pop up in the Gigantomachy
How Zeus deals with the threat of Gaea: succession myth
How Zeus came to STAY in power why never gets taken over
o Zeus would have to be stupid and tricked by a cleverer person.
o Zeus marries Metis (cleverness himself)
Prophecy says his kids with metis. Instead eats metis so cleverness is
his and his alone.
RECAP
*Older gods ogre/dragons
Uranus (ogre)
Cronos (clever to overthrow Uranus/Stupid when Zeus overthrows)
Zeus (eats cleverness)
*Greek understanding women have crucial role in human succession. Fear of women is a main
theme and why the ambivalence of the female= monsters *Family conflict driving myth in greek mythology
*Theogony gradual shift from original unity to plurality to divinities in Zeus’ reign
*Zeus reign over the female reign= patriarchy emerges. Confirms Zeus’ place in the cosmos.
Justifies every greek male’s place in his household. Leading man is the head of the Household
because Zeus is the head of his household.
THEREFORE Zeus is the father of all the gods and MAN
HOW MORTALS CAME TO BE
Aetion story that explains the origin of something
Eg origin of animal sacrifice
Ovid 1. 76-86
o Prometheus makes man
o Means fore-thinking
Name actually meant thief
o
Hesiod there is nothing good about women to Hesiod. His world sucked and he
blamed women
o Pandora
o Ages of man
o Prometheus is central
o Prometheus is a trickster god.
―Zeus played along and wasn’t really tricked by Prometheus‖ hymn
to Zeus so confusion in text
that is why they burnt bones and fats to the gods
stole fire in fennel stock (fennel fire resistant)
Zeus angry and so decided to punish men woman
Pandora made of mud she is sheer guile
tricking you by looking pretty
o like Zeus was tricked into taking the pretty thing
that has no substance, same with MEN
o Pandora comes with a Jar. Women carry water in Jars. Women connected to
containers Membrane for foetus. The womb is a jar, women carry jars, Pandora
brings a jar.
Fertility rite sacrifice of a plant in a jar
A jar doesn’t work but you put food in it.
a lot of virgins who run around with a Jar or a basket
Symbolism for asking for raping from god.
Hope is in the jar. Hope is in the womb.
Prometheus
Set on a rock, and eagle of Zeus will come eat his liver. Because he is immortal, liver
will regrow and will happen all over again.
Aeschylus—Prometheus Bound: one of the first tragedians
o Prometheus brings all the gifts of culture to man kind
Aka, all the tings that separate from men and animals.
Arts and crafts, sacrifice etc.
th
Told at the height of culture in 5 century Athens. Philosophy, drama,
art etc.
Story of the Ages
Hesiod: Works and Days
5 races: Near eastern version of ages. Needs Heroes. Cannot put in gold and silver age, because
there is no strife. Cannot have them post iron age. Decreasing value.
Gold
o Best: rule of Cronos (Saturn in Ovid)
o Perpetual spring
o No strife
Silver
o People who died became immortal spirits
Bronze
o People died and went to hades
Heroes
o Decreasing value, but better than bronze age.
o Heroes sent to a special place when they died.
o Ages of heroes doesn’t really fit scheme.
Iron Age
o Hesiod’s age o For him, women are terrible. But he hates his world. He wishes he was one of
the heroes, or he had been born after.
Somehow will have a cycle
o Product of time… radical change
Greek movement not by choice. Poor farmers told they have to leave
or have to be slaves
o Probably why Hesiod is a grump
Ovid
Gold, silver, bronze, iron, GOLD Augustus.
o Like the idea that there would by a cycle, suggests Augustan age is the new
Golden age.
Universal Flood
Story is pre-biblical
Earliest example from Sumer 3 millennium BC
o Enki the clever god. All the gods of Sumer decide they don’t like mankind.
o Enki wants to save the pius human Ziusudra.
Semetic text 1700 BC
o Men are too loud so they will kill them
o Try plague famine etc but then decide there would have to be a flood
o Enlil (god) saves Ea in a big boat.
o Gods realized there would be more humans so devised infant death
Ovid’s recount
How the gods can wipe out mankind in a whim.
Lycaon represents evil and wickedness
o Zeus visits Lycaon, says he’s a god, and Lycaon comes to kill Zeus in the
night.
o Zeus decides to flood the world
o Deucalion and Phyrra saved because they are Pius and connected to clever
trickster god Prometheus
Prometheus is Deucalion’s father
Throw stones as bones, and the stones turn into man and women
Have a son named Hellen eponym for Greece
He has Dorus, Aeolus and unimportant son who has Ion. Dorus
eponym for Dorians, Aeolus eponym for Aeolians , and Ion for
the Ionians Prominent themes
*origins of man in some way related to the earth. Earth is fertility being so it makes sense they
come from the earth
*Greek term for people=Laos, stone=Laas
Humans like agriculture. They spring from the ground
*artisan gods who make things
*takes multiple ages for it to work
*separation is a very important theme
separation of space in theogony
if the earth made man, and earth made gods, why are they not the same?
o See this in the 4 or 5 ages. Degeneration of human kind
Pandora completes divide
o Gods don’t NEED to procreate but do. Men HAVE to
TEST
4 pages.
1 page fill in the blank
o spelling extremely important in this section
proper name or term
nd
2 page 8 multiple choice questions
o identify term by definition in there etc
rd
3 page short answer
o short, full sentences, grammar. Aka a sentence or two.
th
4 page paragraph question. Format, grammar and spelling.
o One paragraph, no choice.
o Need a topic sentence, then follow up with 3 proofs. End with a concluding
sentence.
Focus on myths of ages, birth of cosmos etc.
Expect you to understand the theories. GET THE NOTES The Gods Emily Jennings
How do the gods fit under Zeus’ rule? Why are they not a threat?
Aetion= explains the origins of something
Aetiology= study of aetions
Anthropomorphism= form like a human gods like humans, and have the shape of humans
Have human features but have something special that makes them different
The gods have lots in common with the humans
Head of a household
Political system
They have sex (distinctly human characteristic)
Don’t need to have sex, but they do. And its not like human sex
They eat and have food but it is different=ambrosia
Humans have wine, gods have nectar
Also gods eat but don’t poop
Gods’ blood not like human blood, its called ichor.
Why are gods different?
They don’t die
Things that are serious to men are not serious to the gods
Infidelity
The 12 Olympians not a set in stone 12
Zeus
Sky god.
Anax/Basileus= Greek words for King
Strongest god, that is why he is in charge.
Attributes: Aegis ―goat skin‖, lightning bolt, justice (dike), xenia (relationship
between a guest and host)
Subject to the fates difficult relationship
Zeus is a lover. 115 lovers
o Europa
carrying a basket (aka ready for the plucking), Zeus comes up in the
shape of a bull. Convinces Europa to get on his back, and he stole her
away to crete
o Leda and the Swan Married, but Zeus turns into swan and rapes her
o Danae
Zeus turns into a golden shower
o Callisto
Virgin follower of artemis. Zeus turns himself into artemis and rapes
her. Hera turns her into a bear, then her son becomes a hunter and tries
to kill her. Zeus turns them into constellation.
o Ganymede
Justification for why human Greek males enjoyed other boys
If Zeus does it then it is natural
God Wives
o Metis ―cleverness‖
Athena pops out of his head
o Themis
The fates Moerae, and Horae (the seasons)
o Eurynome
The 3 graces
o Mnemosyne ―memory‖
The 9 muses
Inspire poets to sing
Dione, a titanness or Oceanid alternate birth of aphrodite
o Aphrodite?
Hera
Hera
Mother Goddess/fertility goddess
Feminine of Hero?
Goddess of marriage/woman’s fertility
o Perfect match for Zeus
o Cannot help overthrow Zeus because she stands for marriage
o Never attacks Zeus, she goes after his lovers. SHE HAS TO
Adultery a threat to marriage therefore very opposed to it.
Associated with cows
HERA IS MORE THAN AN EARTH GODDESS
Poseidon
Master of movement of earth and sea. Called the shaker of the earth. Lord of the
Deep, God of Earthquakes, Horses Shows up in the Mycenaean period. Posis means lord.
Nather of Neleus, grandfather of Nestor; pylos
Married to Amphitrite
A lot like Zeus, powerful, rapes a lot of women etc
Hades
Refer to hades as pluto=wealth
Don’t like mentioning hades because talking about the underworld is a bad omen
Not many myths with him
The way we perceive hades is VERY different than how the greeks did
o We see him like satan/the devil: bad relationship with god, stuck in hell,
kicked out of olympia
o From Christian stories, we have put the idea of his hatred of Zeus onto him
He has a wife, but no kids. Because he is the god of the dead.
Hestia
Goddess of the hearth
Her fire is the heart of rome
Only has one myth she goes to Zeus and asks him to free her from having to get
married, and to stay with him and tend the hearth. He agrees. She is the perfect
woman to the greek mind. She is not seen, she is not talked about.
Athena
Daughter of Zeus. Pops out of his head after he eats Metis
No real mother so always subservient to Zeus. No one to divide loyalty
Mistress of the city of Athens
Athens was not named after her, she was probably named after Athens
Mycenaean area
Virgin, but there is no danger of her having sex
o Manish goddess goddess of warfare
o Only one story of someone who tries to rape her, comes too soon, and sperm
on her leg becomes king of Athens.
Parthenon house of the virgin
Protector of cities where men acted
Represented by owl and olive tree.
Protects crafts like weaving (female—ovid story of arachne) and carpentry
Shown wearing armour
Protector of heroes—always helping odysseus, built the argo for Jason so he could get
the golden fleece Associated with wisdom, tactical and logical side of war
Dionysus (next class)
Apollo
Son of Zeus and Leto, twin of Artemis
Doesn’t show up in Mycenaean period, associated with Lycia
Delos. Born there, rooted it. Richest and most celebrated shrine in Greece. No body
lives on Delos. No one can be born, and no one can die on Delos. Cult site
Delphi politically powerful site. Leaders would ask what they should do. Apollo
turned into dolphin (delphis) to pick his priests on a ship. Aetion for why Delphi is
called that way.
o Oracle
Pythia head priestess. Sits in tripod, she babbles answer to question,
and the male priest interprets it.
Personal questions, community questions, political questions.
Oracles responses legendary for being obscure
By the end of the dark age, he is a greek god
Great son for Zeus
o on the cusp of manhood
o never old enough to establish his own household
has a lover named Cassandra
tricks him into getting prophetic powers
doesn’t get to have sex or kids or marriage
associated with the sun. his sister associated with the moon. Stand in for Helios and
Selene
always has a bow for plague
plays lyre musical instrument epic poets used. Music of the elite
o Apollo associated with the elite class
Said to be the leader of the muses
Artemis
Ephesus one of the seven wonders of the world
Twin sister of Apollo, daughter of zeus and leto
Called a potnia theron which means mistress of the animals.
Goddess of the hunt
Makes everyone fertile
Associated with death through childbirth Greek myth she is a virgin. Associated with the wild because she hasn’t learned to be
subservient to a husband.
Always in danger of having sex. Always on the brink of having sex
o Virginity threatened, so has to respond with force
Aphrodite
Overwhelming power of human sexual attraction
Scholars thing she is a distortion of eastern fertility goddesses.
Myth makes it clear that she is associated with the east.
12 century worshiped in pathos. Cult cite in Kythera
Prostitution: woman became priestesses. High born women come to be ―priestesses‖
but pimped themselves out. Corinth here too. Prostitution worship
Name is not greek origin. Hesiod says from foam, but it’s a false etymology
Power over zeus Aphrodite can make him fall in love with 115 women
In the end zeus takes over her powers because hes tired of it. He makes her fall in
love with a mortal (anchisesaeneas) which shames her. She is under the power of
the man who is penetrating. Penetration make them in power. Confuses the roles
because she is under the power of the mortal being.
Children
o Eros
o Hermaphroditus
Child from hermes—pretty boy and a rambunctious nymph likes him,
she tackles him and prays they never be separated. That’s how we get
hermaphrodite
o Priapus
Hermes or Dionysus father
Fertility god of the garden: dirty little gnome
Popular with the romans
Known for having a large erect phallus
Ares
Roman mars
Son of Zeus and Hera
NOT THE GOD OF WAR
Incarnation of blood lust. His name probably means curser
Shows up in Mycenaean period
God of bloodlust, bad side of war
Not worshiped, don’t want him in warfare 3 kids but not married
o personify him
o son panic, daughter harmonia what you get when you unite love and war,
Hephaestus
Son of potentially just Hera. That’s why he is a gimp
Connected to volcano, fire, and Cyclopes
Name used in literature as fire
God of smiths
o God of male crafts
o Greeks look down on people who work with their hands.
o Hephaestus object of ridicule, not the kind of god you look up to
Married to Aphrodite
They don’t have any children. Cannot have a kid with goddess who
embodies sex
Aphrodite is having an affair with ares
Hermes
Roman Mercury
Son of Zeus and Maia
God of trail markers, herma=pile of stones
Hermes= turns away evil. Mark the limits of the land
Hermes god of travellers and god who crosses boundaries. God of shepherds and
flocks
Patron of thieves
Mischievous god
political opposite of Apollo. God of the class below the elites
slayer of argos
god of merchants—they have to travel and cross boundaries
Get the term merchant from Hermes—Mercury
Psychopompos guy who escorts souls to the underworld. Leads persephone back
Herald and messenger god.
o Good son for zeus, heralds have to obey their master
o Hermes 2 kids
Autolycus (maybe odysseus’ father), and pan (inspires you with
irrational fear—panic
Moerae= the 3 Fates
Spin the thread of fate Clotho=spinner
Lachesis= apportioner
Atropos= cuts the thread
Whether they are a daughter of Zeus or came before him
The fates have power over Zeus
Cannot disturb the natural order
RECAP
Goddesses are all connected to fertility: Hestia life of house, artemis abundance of wild animals
and birth, hera fertility and marriage. Athena is weird, but she is still connected to women
because she is the goddess of women
***this is how the greek men saw the goddesses, all male reflections Emily Jennings Divine/Hero Myth Emily Jennings
Introduction to heroic myth
Humans are protagonists not the gods
Narrative about the events in the human, not divine, past
Hero
o Homer: noble-born male who’s alive
Elite, not necessarily nice
Not a morally superior being
Hero because aristocratic, stronger than men
Usually a danger to society. Presenting a danger to the standard
way society functions
o Later/modern: noble figure from the distant past
Will sacrifice of himself in order to preserve the greater good
For the next week a hero is the protagonist
Tombs of Heroes
Object of hero cults
o Heroa
Bonze age earthen mounds
o Sema
Cults and tumuli of Alyattes, Achilles, Theusu
Would provide gifts, blessings etc to those who came to ask
Oedipus will provide benefits if he is able to be buried in Athens
Athenian propaganda
**how a hero accepts death
Tumuli cults date from the Iron age
Associated with the popularization of the heroic myth via writing
No heroes in Egyptian and semitic myth—don’t need the negotiation with death, their afterlife is
awesome
Gilgamesh
Real king in the city Sumerian story
The great hero of Mesopotamia
Oldest literary epic
Not a good king, arrogant and abuses people o Takes brides on wedding night and says he has the right to take their virginity
Enkidu the Wildman sent to stop Gilgamesh
o G sends whore to trap Enkidu
o Enkidu not wild anymore, his understanding has broadened culture of
society
Enkidu attacks Gilgamesh, g wins but g and en realise each others strength so
bonding
Gilgamesh and Ishtar
Ishtar mother goddess. She things Gilgamesh is nice looking so she invites him to
come to her bed
G rejects her terribly
o She is angry because he says things that shouldn’t be said to a goddess
o Sends bull of heaven lots of holes in the ground
Epic bull fight, Enkidu will win with Gilgamesh
o Gods send dream to enkidu, enkidu dies of sickness
His punishment for being arrogant
Gilgameshs punishment, b/c he is responsible for the death
Gilgamesh goes on a heroes journey to become immortal
LEARN THE PATH OF THE HEROES JOURNEY
Every stage of the path
The hero caught between nature and culture
The quest for knowledge about death could not be Egyptian
o They knew the answers no fear
Understandable …. Pp
Folktale motifs and heroic myths
Partly divine birth
Miraculous birth and childhood
Great strength is a benefit and menace
A friend
Falls under enemy’s power of spell
Breaks a taboo
Is tempted
Responsible for friends’ death
The quest Help from gods
Return home
Rewarded for efforts
Great funeral
Myths of the Argive Plain
Perseus
Descendant of Io
Aegyptus and brother Danaaus
50 sons, 50 daughters.
Didn’t want to get married so women all except 1 killed their husbands
The survivor and his wife are the beginning of the line of argos
Springs and the Dangers of Women
Women bury the heads of husbands at Lerna (where Hercules will fight hydra)
Heads of the 50 suitors match the 50 springs of lerna
Lyceus (the one spared) in Argos after Danaus
His son Abas has twins
Acrisius rules in Argos
Proetus rules in Tiryns
Acrisius has a daughter Danae but wants sons
o Danae locked up because he was told his male heir will kill him
o Zeus comes as a golden shower and impregnates her
o Perseus is the son. Danae and Perseus locked up
o Set adrift in a box, Perseus raised by a fisherman
o Will go after the gorgons
Magical help
Helmet of invisibility, sharp sword, and Athena guided his hand
Gorgons
Power to turn humans into stone. The evil eye, same idea as gargoyle
Need an evil eye to turn away another evil eye. APOTROPAIC
Stheno
Euryale
Medusa (the only mortal gorgon) o Priestess of Athena, Poseidon rapes her in the temple so she is turned into a
gorgon
Perseus and Andromeda
A variant has perseus returning to Seriphos after a few adventures
Monster comes for Andromeda
Monster is Ceto not the Kraken. That is a Germanic mythical sea monster
Saves Andromeda and will get married to Perseus
A already had finance, but Perseus turns everyone to stone at his marriage feast
Perseus stays for a year (not on the quest) with Andromeda and has a son
Perseus kills grandpa
Swaps Agos for Tyrans, founds Mycenae
Perseus and Andromeda will be turned into constellations
The Death of Acrisius
Foretold death of his grandfather
Competing unrecognised in athletic competition
Throws discus, winds come up and hits Acrisius and he dies.
A hero is dangerous even if he doesn’t mean to be
Perseus and Folktale
Nearly a child’s fairy tale
Partly divine birth, miraculous birth (born from golden shower)
Great strength, threat and menace
No motif of friend or no threat of enemy’s power, not break taboo, not tempted, not
responsible for friends death: story of Perseus as we have it is designed for children.
Focused on the quest, neglects elements that deal with negotiation between life and
death
Does have quest, help from the gods
Return home, rewarded with kingdom and wife
Danai the mother
Prohibition
Cannot marry
Seclusion
Locked away
Violation of Prohibition
Shower Threat of punishment or death
Set adrift in a box
Liberation
Save by Dictys Odd Heroes Emily Jennings
Oedipus
Thebian Cycle
Thebes
Cadmus and the Dragon (Europa is his sister)
o Cadmus settled in Thebes when he couldn’t find his sister
o Follow the cow with the special mark and found your city where she rests
(Boetia)
o Sends men to a spring, and a dragon lives there
Eats his men
Cadmus alone with no help founding his city. Must beat the dragon
Lots of dragon fighting motif in divine myth
Cadmus kills the dragon
Dragon is a servant of Ares. Athena tells Cadmus to pull out
his teeth and plant half of them in the soil. The Spartoy (sewn
men) come out of the soil eastern motif
These men fight eachother and whoever wins gets to be
part of the elite houses of Thebes
Since Cadmus kills dragon, he has to serve Ares for 8
years.
It is prophesized that Cadmus will become a snake at
the end of his life
o Gets Thebes for killing the snake, and Harmonia Ares and Aprodite’s kid
Gets a gift from Aphrodite from Hephaestus (the one Aphrodite
cheated on)
Cursed necklace
Action
Pantheus
o Ripped apart by his mother
Melacartes
o Ino and Achomas
Protecting Dionysus and Hera drives
them mad.
Oedipus
o Cadmus from the East, and goes back to the East. Goes to Ileria
o Becomes a king there, and prophecy fulfilled
Amphion and Zethus (twins) o Building of the walls of thebes second foundation myth, bizarre because
already found
o Polydorus takes over after Pantheus ripped apart form mother
He dies, wife’s father takes over
Rule of the city determined by the female line in Thebes
Reflection of the time perhaps
o Antiope, Daughter of Nycteus (who took over from Polydorus) is raped
Nycteus banishes her, but is so ashamed so he commits suicide.
His brother Lycus takes over and steals Antiope and drags her back to
thebes
On the way, birth to sons Amphion and Zethus in the
wilderness, left in a bush and taken care of by a shepherd
MIRACULOUS CHILDHOOD MOTIF
Antiope is tortured daily by DIRCE (antonym) wife of Lycus
Escapes and comes upon her twins
Return to thebes and kills dirce, and tossed into a
spring. Important spring in thebes called Dircyon spring
Twins take over
o Amphion=musition
o Zethis=cattleman
Common motif in twins, opposite
personalities, come together and one
whole person
Twins usually either exceptionally close,
or they are at war with eachother
Ie Romulus and Remus (war)
At peace with eachother
Establish walls of Thebes
Zethus marries Thebe
Amphion marries Niove
o Tells Lito that twins are not as good as having
14 children
Apollo and Artemis kill all her 14
children
Founding of thebes
One near eastern, modeled adter Cosmic dragon combat o Brought by immigrants or original founders
o Mesopotamian cylinder seals found in Thebes in excavation.
Put on letters to show where letter coming from. King or City
like a ring seal, made of clay
2500-1300BC. Found together suggesting some sort of treasure trove
ancient version of safe?
Left behind when Mycenaean people destroyed
Think about Thebes in Eastern terms
Cadmus’ name means ―from the east‖
o Phoinikia grammatia
Writing connected to Thebes. Writing from the east, Cadmus from
east, so 1+1=3 and Cadmus brought writing
False connection. Writing before Cadmus came to Greece
Local and more like a folktale
o Twins with opposing characters, wicked stepmom, ―just in time‖ escape
** Thebes difficult to excavate, don’t know much about structure of thebes
Oedipus the King
Labdacus (another unnoticed son of Polydorys)
o His son Laius flees to Thebes to Elis (King Pelopos)
Awkward melding of the myths
Chrysippus
Violates host code. Guest friendship cursed
Rapes Host’s son
o Curse will affect Oedipus and his children. Will
destroy himself and thebes
An Oracle’s message: ―your son will kill you and marry your wife‖
o Laius and Jocasta mutilate the feet of the child and give him to a shepherd to
expose on the mountain
Shepherd doesn’t want to kill him so King Polybus in Corinth adopted
him.
Called him ―swollen food‖ false reason for his name
Oedipus finds out from his friends he isn’t related to Corinth
Delphi tells him he will kill his father and marry his mother
o Kills his dad on the way to Thebes
Meets up with Sphinx, solves the riddle o No one can answer, and the sphinx eats them
o Defines hero Oedipus, hero of intellect
Solves the riddle
Man
Answer also Oedipus: crawls when feet driven through with a
stake. Man he walks, and blinds himself so needs to use a cane
Cautionary tale, can be everyman
Has many kids by mom
o Polynices, Antigone, 2 more
**** SOPHOCLES ACCOUNT movement driven by Oedipus’ questioning, discovering who
he is
Plague because of the murder of Laius
Oedipus curses murderer (Ironic)
o Must be banished
Teiresias accused Odedipus of killing Laius
o Doesn’t believe, but acknowledges he isn’t related to Corinth
Jocasta tries to say it is false. Gives him the details that it was some random person on
a cross roads
o What Oedipus needs to put 2+2 together
Messenger arrives from Corinth, Polybus not real father of Oedius
o Same shepherd who received Oedipus from the mountain where he was left
o Reveals of Oedipus he comes from Thebes
ELATED because he thought he is the son of a god, something like
that. Build up of excitement, thinks things will go great
Jocasta however has realized who he was
Truth comes out. Truth is terrible
o Greek mindset
No happy endings, the truth is terrifying
Oedipus found discrepancy between who he is and who he thinks he is
o Any Greek would do this
o Oedipus does not have a flaw that leads to his downfall
That is what makes the story so powerful. Oedipus did nothing wrong,
he did everything he was supposed to do. But the truth was powerful
and destructive
Sons do not help him, and fight over who can rule thebes
o Oedipus curses them With a sword they will sunder the binding ties of kingship
Will fight to the death
Seven against Thebes
Next instalment of the Theban cycle
Oedipus: Heroic Sufferer of truth or victim of curiosity?
He is both. Trying heroically like any greek would do to find out who he really is.
He is also curious because he is an intellectual
OEDIPUS not like other COSMIC HEROES
o Not of divine birth
o Overthrows father but creates disorder not order
Accounts of Oedipus
In Homer’s version, Oedipus continues as king after the truth is discovered
Sophocles, he blinds himself and eventually is exiled
What made Sophocles’ account an ideal tragedy
When he discovers the truth, when fate changes
VOCAB
Anagnorisis= recognition
Where the hero discovers the truth
Peripateia=reversal
Reversal of stature occurs
o Oedipus the king, to Oedipus the blind man, beggar, exile
Pharmakos=healing
He acts as a sacrificial figure. Takes blame onto himself and when he leaves, the
plague does too
Seven against Thebes
Eteocles and Polynices rule in alternative years
Etocles renegates
Poly in exile
o Goes to Argos
Motif of a friend Tydeus
Adrastus will restore the two to their kingdoms
Great leaders summoned Amphiaraus is a prophet. He knew that all but Adrastus
will die, but convinced to go because his Wife was
bribed by the necklace of Harmonia
Tydeus at Thebes (best friend)
o Herald mission, tries to negotiate with Eteocles to step down
o Pins all their champions in wrestling
One guy who comes in in enemy territory and can beat everyone
Thebians angry and attempted to ambush him
Tydeus kills everybody but one.
Epic and folktale motif figure
Will have horrendous death. All but Adrastus will have
horrendous death
Seven Gates of Thebes
Prophecy delivered that if one of the lead families sacrifices themselves. Menoeceus
does that (sewn men)
o Adrastus,
o Amphiaraus prophet who knows they will die
decides to run away but before he is killed, zeus swallos him in the
earth
Zeus fond of Seers. There is a spot near thebes where Amphiarus gives
oracles
o Capaneus
Arrogant man. Says he can take down Thebes by himself. Even zeus
cant stop him. Climbs walls, and struck down by lightening of zeus.
o Hippomedon
Does what all good epic heroes do. Aka fights a river.
Idea of swollen river symbolises epic poetry, hellenistics talk about
springs
Taking on epic poetry himself
Beaten down by the river
o Polynices
o Tydeus
So many bodies piled up around him that he cant move anymore, so he
is killed
Athena goes to give him immortality
Does something horrendous so Athena has to abandon him He hates his body, Tydeus kills the guy who killed him.
Asks to have head cut off He is eating the mans brains
Violated taboo. Can no longer get immortality, Athena
discusted and will leave
o Parthenopeus
Means ―face of a maiden‖
Wants to prove himself as a real warrior. Just dies lol
Eteocles and whatever kill eachother with same blow
Sophocles Antigone next stage of story
Creon now riles thebes forbids the burial of Polynices (died attacking thebes)
o Attackers left on battlefield to be eaten by birds
Big no no, should not leave people out
Antigone angry, because she is the sister of both Eteocles and P
Caught and banishes her to be outside in the city territory
Buried alive and will be wife of Hades
Haemon (antigones fiancé and Creon’s son, menoceus’
brother) doesn’t think a good iea
Tireseus the prophet says big mistake, the kids will be cursed
o Creon relents, goes to bury poly.
o Antigone already hanged herself in the cave
o Haemon tries to kill Creon, but fails. Then he kills himself
o His wife will learn her son is dead, so kills herself
o Creon comes back with no family
Revenge of the Parthenos
Play is a circle of oposites
o Male/female
o Living/dead
Obligation to dead brother not to living people of thebes, not Creon
o Humans/Gods
Always somewhere
o Politically
Antigony is conservative and creon is progressive
o Philosophically
Creon advocates nomos: city
Antigone only cares about bloodlines o Gender roles
Antigone is the untamed virgin ehich no civic power can stop
Unmarried women always dangerous
The Epigoni
10 years later the 7s sons will attack Thebes again
will be successful, will wipe out thebes
end of family line
Alcaeon son of Eriphyle and Amphiarus, avenges his father;s death by killing mother
Ordered to do so by dather before seven against thebes
He is driven insane and killed himself.
Never will survive blood guilt
JASON
Argonautica apolonius of rhodes
Aeolus
o Athamas+Nephele
Prixus (son)
Daughter helle
o Athamus will mary Ino daughter of Cadmus
2 sons. Ino concerned Phrixus his first born will take over when Ath
dies
arranges trap to have stepson killed
parches grain
intercepts messenger to Delphi
bribes him to say phrixus must be sacrificed
athamus about to sacrifice phrixus. Golden ram appears
and they escape, fly eastword.
o Helle falls off ram into sea. Sea known as the
Hellespont the sea of Helle, origin of that
name
o Phryxus flies to Colchis where Aeetes is king,
related ot son god
Receives Phrixus, gives him the golden
ram. A. sacrifices ram to Apollo. Golden
fleece.
Athamas’ neice (tyro) 2 sons by Poseidon
o pelias who will become king in lolchus
2 sons by mortal Cretheus
o Aeson and Pheres
Important not connected to gods, this is the family line that Jason
comes from
Pelias imprisons Aeson, but Aeson is supposed to be king.
o Aeson’s wife has Jason
Raised by Chiron the centaur
Associated with raising heroes
Raises Achilles
o P. warned to beware of man with one sandal.
Jason at river
Hera there pretending to be old woman
o Wants to destroy Pelias because he doesn’t honour her
o Have Jason to get fleece, gets medea and she will be death of Pelias
What would you do if you knew someone wanted to kill you asked by Pelias to
Jason
o Jason says he would send him to get the golden fleece.
o Jason gets sent to get fleece
Built Argo, built by Argus and Athena, goddess of carpentry
Said to be first ship ever.
Bow from Dodona, site of Zeus where the trees speak
prophesies. Putting prophetic beam on the ship. Argo said to be
able to speak and make prophesies by itself
Athena adds this beam.
Gets best sailors of the day
Justice league of the ancent day
Herakles and Hylas, Meleager, the Boreads (can fly, important
role), Orpheus (sing so beautifully, can make trees and rocks
come towards him), Peleus (will be father of Achilles), Mopsus
(great prophet), Telamon, Tipys (helmsman, steers the boat.
Need him to go to the edge of the world)
Jason is not special.
What defines him is leadership ability Odd Heroes pt2 Emily Jennings
Argonautica Apollonius of Rhodes
Love poem
Passion
Hellenistic poem
Women of Lemnos
Earlier killed their men for refusing them
o Argonauts service the sex-starved women
They get caught in a world of sex and women
Danger to epic quest
Heracles shamed they had been caught up in sleeping with women
o Heracles preserves the company of his boyfriend
o Samocles
Cysicus must be nice to strangers
When they leave, storm blows them back to Samocles
Cyzicus killed by Jason after unknowing battle
Heracles and Hylas
Hylas kidnapped by nymphs of the spring
Heracles searches for him but cant find him
How Heracles left the Argonaut
Twins encourage Argonaut to leave without them
o Heracles will take revenge
Early Advenures
Amycus
o Always wins fighting
o Until he meets Polydecues
Leto and swan is mother
Phineus and Harpies (snatchers)
King Phineus famous seer
Blabber mouth. Likes to tell the secrets, doesn’t guard what he knows about the future
o Zeus mad about this. Zeus usually likes seers but apparently not Phineus
Violating job
Zeus sends harpies. Will snatch his food and drink every time he
eats/drinks. Sometimes would leave some so he would live Harpies fly
o Boreades twins can fly so they go fight the harpies
o Chase harpies to the end of the earth
Eternal chase
Symplegades the clashing rocks
Argo talked to Phineus so they know what to do
Send a dove into the rocks, if the dove gets through, so will they
Only a small bit of the dove’s tail feathers shorn off, but unharmed
o That’s what happened to argo
o End of the symplegades being crashing rocks because of prophesy
Medea and the Golden Fleece
M. daughter of meets, first sees Jason
o Aphrodite sends eros so she falls inlove
o Aeetes expecting stranger who will be his downfall
Gives Jason tasks
Yolk firebreathing bulls
Medea gives him ointments to protect him from flames,
and rocks so he can throw it to the warriors that sprout
instead of killing him
Jason cannot do things by himself, he is a very different
kind of hero (if that’s what he is)
Jason gets the fleece with the help of Medea
Run away
o Aeetes in persuit
o Medea kills her brother
Zeus angry
Wrath of zeus will not cease unless Circe (related by blood to Circe)
purifies her
Media epitome of the ―other‖
Does things you should not do
To her family
Libya
Pick up the Argo and carry it out of the desert
Meet nymphs of Hesperides, signifying fringe of society
Heracles is there Triton helps them
o God of the sea
Talus of Crete
o Gigantic bronze being that has been given to Europa who was kidnapped and
taken to Crete by Zeus
o Beat him by unplugging him
Poem stops as they’ve left Crete, end of the Argonautica
The Deflated hero
What we should call Jason.
The hero who cant do anything by himself.
Myth may be evidence for Bronze Age travel into the Black Sea
o Travel expanding territory eastwards
Folktale evidence:
The quest
Raised by magical animal
Traveling to magical lands completing impossible tasks
Marriage is the reward, but didn’t get kingship
When Jason comes back, his family has been killed and Pelias wont let him be king
The Death of Pelias
Comes home, has revenge in a twisted way
Pelias rejects jason’s claim that he can be king
o Media takes it into her hands to fix problem
o Tricks Pelias’ daughters into killing him
Can renew Pelias, make him young again
Chop him up and put him in the pot, like Medina did to the lamb
Pretends she forgot something, but isn’t believed
o Exiled even though Pelias out of the way
Jason and Media in Corinth
Have 2 sons
Jason realized he will always be an outsider
o Ditch Media and marries king’s daughter
o Background of this story is the Peloponnesian war
Glauce is the daughter of the king Creon
Creon banishes media o Jason tries to reason with Medea that he is just leaving her because of sons
Medea burns king and daughter alive with a gift to Glauce
Medea agonizes and the only way to take True revenge on Jason is to remove all hope
for the future
o She kills their sons
o Escapes on a chariot pulled by Dragons, gift from grandfather Helios the
sungod
Other
Woman what every greek males fears
Foreigner
Part divine
Irrational
Dangerous
Jason will die inglorious death as an old man sitting on the Argo
o Talking beam falls down and kills him
Medina will cure Aegeus (King of Athens) from his inability to have children
o Will have children together
o Will be founder of medians
Ie Persians
Greatest foreign enemy to the Athenians
Medea: Sorceress and Wife
Greek withches, like circe and Medea often beautiful and seductive
Social comment on the state of women
Opening lines from Euripides, sympathetic description of what it means to be women
Kills kids, bad woman
Calydonian Boar Hunt (just before Trojan war)
Aetolian myth
Heroes on the boar hunt are the same group of heroes as Argo
Meleager comes back from Argo, land being plagued by giant boar
o Son of Oemeus and Althaea
o When the log is consumed the child will die
o Mother takes log and hides it
Artemis not honoured by Oemeus. Sends boars
Heroes come to hunt boar
o Atalanta= woman she wants to be on the hunt o Boar brought down by Atalanta, Meleager, and Amphiaraus
Award of the pelt to Atalanta
o Meleager wants to sleep with Atalanta
Uncles also on the hunt, they don’t think woman should get award on the hunt, let
alone on the hunt at all
o Prevertes the hunt by her presence
Meleager kills uncles, brothers of mother who is hiding log that decides when he dies
o She burns it, murdered by mother because he shed kindred blood
Atalanta returns home, wants to stay unmarried
o Race of Atalanta: will marry anyone who wins
o Melanion wins the race with the help of Apples of the Hesperides
o Excited about marriage, will consummate in temple of Zeus
VIOLATION, saw what happened to medusa and poseidon
Zeus turned them into lions
Infamous for how they have sex, and no customs about when
and where. Fitting animals
Heroic myth:
hunt=sacrifice. Ritual initiation by hunting.
By allowing Atalanta to come on the hunt, pervert hunter and society
Designed for society to be protected by these people
Hunters/soldiers dangerous for society
Theseus
Latecomer
o When stories of him arrived
o Not early like Heracles in Mycenaean age
Myths confused and pale
o Doubling up of names
o Story of family is confused
Becomes artificaial hero
o Tyrants used Theseus to symbolise own advancements to Athens
o PROPAGANDA KEY THEME FOR THESEUS
Myths modeled on Heracles
Unique hero: political
o Athenian, used by Athenians over and over again for own political agendas Cecrops, Erichthonius, and the Daughters of Cecrops
Three different versions of the origins of Athenians
o Descendant of Athena
o From the earth
o Descended from Cecrops
Institution of monogamous marriage, proper worship of gods
Erichthonius born when Hephaestus tried o have sex with Athena
o Got junk on her leg, Athena wipes it and throws it to the ground
o Man of wool and earth
o Given in concealed basket to the daughters of cecrops (aglauros, herse,
pandrosus)
Told not to look into he basket, but they do and go crazy, jumping off
the acropolis to kill themselves
Reflects festival of dew carriers
Festival of Dew Carriers
Yearly ritual of the Arrhephoria in late march
2 lived on the acropolis
wove a robe for statue of Athena
sent at night to aphrodites grove with baskets to return with a mysterious object
o Associated with promise of new life
o Womens initiation into sexual maturity
Early legends of Athens
In another myth , the daughters don’t die.
Hermes lusts after Herse and at first aglaurus agrees to act as a go between for gold
Athena afflicts something
Hermes turns Aglaurus into stone
Herse becomes pregnant with a con Cephalus
o Cephalus marries Procris, a daughter of Erechthonius, soon givin way to
jealousy
To test her loyalty to him, he approaches in disguise
o Offers her more and more of a reward to sleep with him to see if she will ever
give in
Eventually she will agree to sleep with him, proving she was always
disloyal Banashed to crete where Minos will lust after her
Cursed by his wife so he cannot have sex. Can only produce scorpions
and spiders
Procris gices him an herbal remedy, and in thanks, minos gives her
dog who catches everything, and spear that matches
Procris afraid of Minos’ wife, so she goes to Athens in disguise as a boy. Cephalus
lusts after the boys gifts
She is convinced Cephalus is seeing his goddess lover Eos, a forest nymph of the
breeze
o She is jealous and spies on him
He is saying breeze, breeze.
Realises she is stupid and jumps out form bush, he throws
spear that never misses, and killed by the gift she gives him
Cephalus forced into exile by Areopagus and flees tot Thebes
o Only for murder trial
Thebes being plagued by fox that can never be caught
Zeus turns them to stone
Procne and Tereys
Pandion is a son of Erichthonius and has 2 daughters and 2 sons
Pandion is a king of Athens
Tereus helps, Pandion gives Procne as a gift
P and T have son Itys
Procne wants Philomela
o Terys raped her, cut out her tongue, locked her in the woods
o Philomela weaves and Procne understands story
o Procne comes to hang out
Kill Itys, and serve him to his father. Then, they tell him he ate their
son
All turned into birds
Aeteon for Birds
The Begetting of Theseus
Aegeus king of Athens has no sons
o He is a son of Pandeon, II and brother is Pallas
o Pallas has 50 sons, Aegeus wants one DelphiL do not open the wine skins until you return home
o Doesn’t understand
o Goes to Troezen, Pittheus understands prophesy
o Sends daughter to Aethra
o Poseidon also gets involved
Modelled after Heracles
Aethra goes to island after sleeping with Aegeus, and then gets raped by Poseidon
o Reflecting myths of Heracles
o Set up as a counter to Heracles
Aegeus hides a sword and a Sandal under a rock
o Son will have to get them to be king
Theseus will have to face 6 labours (IMPORTANT)
o Periphetes, the clubber
Son of Hephaestus who liked to bash people with clubs.
Theseus kills him
o Sinis the pinebender
Giant, son of Poseidon
Grab trees, pull them down, attatch people and either fling, or get
ripped apart
Attaches sinis to the tree and flings him
o Cormmyonian sow
Lamest of labouts
Sow ravaging land
Theseus kills it
o Sciron
Have people wash his feet on a clif
When they bent down, he would kick them off the ciff and be eaten by
the giant turtle
o Circyon
Crushes people to death during wrestling battle
Theseus crushes him
o Procrustes
Liked symmetry. When guests would visit, he had a big bed, and a
small bed
If the guest was big, he would be on the small bed, and cut off extras
If small, would stretch them out Kills him by inflicting same punishment. Doesn’t say which bed first
**Theseus always reverses the tortures by the labourers
Arrival in Athens
Medea is in Athens
o Female antagonist
o Aegeus under a spell by Medea, doesn’t recognise his son
o Sends h
More
Less
