CLA204H1F L2, Sept 20, 2012 o One generation of gods fights fierce battle against old &
Warm-up eventually defeats them
o renewal
Gigantomachy (natural forces: volcanoes, winds)
comes from titanomachy
long, drawn out btwn zeus and other olympian gods and
monsters (produced by gaia)
Representative battle: Zeus and typhoeus (a kind of earth-
born dragon-man)
o Typhoeus = Source of winds that bring bad weather
o Other giants imprisoned in volcanoes
Represent theat to power of zeus & potential for another
overthrow
More importantly, representations strong underlying power of
domination & triumph of civilization over savagery
o Gods defeating volcanoes, storms suppress, control
Salvador Dal
1933 (some elements reconstructed 1970) Civilization vs savagery; wild nature vs divine order
"Retrospective Bust of a Woman"
New York, MoMA 301.1992
Ink wells, food The Creation of Mortals and the Five Ages
Rarely 1 right answer No single dominant story about creation of mankind
Describing surrealist sculpture in general, on what a sculpture o Trying to fill gap
like this is meant to do o Zeus ? Zeus w help of other gods? Prometheus?
Sculpture useless, wastes bread decline vs evolution, advancement, progress
Gives tangible form to sexist idea MoMA: presents the o In all accounts from antiquity, no trace of evolution or
woman as an object to be consumed biological advancement
Parallel btwn what surrealist sculpture does & what myths do o Humanity fully developed perfect at outset; then went
o Useless, doesnt do anything by itself, just an entertaining thru decline as morals, qualities, skills, strengths
story deteriorated
o Developed in order to give material tangent existence to The five ages, according to Hesiod: - fullest, most influential,
ideas by equating them w physical forms shows logic, way of thinking in stories
o Fantasies that border on delirious o Gold: ease, abundance, prosperity, happiness
Ex. Cutting off the skys genitalia No laws
o Think about the msgs & lurking fantasies in myths At death, fell asleep; no old age
Then became benevolent spitirs that roamed the
Zeus, the Titans, and the creation(s) of mortals earth protect ppl from harm
o Silver: inferior, immature, short & wretched adulthood;
Zeus defeats Cronus
Dealing w before the dawn of time neglectful of the gods
Zeus grows up quickly Ppl took 100yrs to mature
Zeus makes chronus throw up siblings Ppl foolish
Zeus became tired of them these ppl sent to the
Titanomachy 10 yrs
Zeus and siblings; cyclopes, hunder-handers(at end) vs titans underworld
Gaia tells zeus that if he releases 100handers from their prison o Bronze: warlike, powerful, aggressive, violent
then hell win Ppl lived in bronze house
Devoted to war and killing each other
Defeat of titans & imprisonment of them in tartaus
Hundrd-handers as their guards (too monstrous to be allowed destroy everything & themselves
to remain on the earth) o Heroes: still warlike, but more just and noble & god-like
myth of succession? Eventually destroy themselves too Living in the time of greek legend (e. Iliad, odyssey, o Prometheus hides meat and innards in the hide and
Jason and Argonauts) wrapped the bones in the fat
Rewarded in afterlife Zeus saw thru the scam, but chose the bones anyway
o Iron: constant toil, sorrow, lack of justice o Zeus always knows things, knows things will go badly for
What Hesiod thinks he is living in, not happy about mortals because of this
this Zeus enraged because there is trickery & deceit on earth:
He mightve been depressed o He presides over a world where justice is not dominant
Ppl suffer from old age, not getting along w each o Takes fire away from mortals (or doesnt give it to them
other, evils in first place)
Era w/o any kind of just bhvr among mankind Prometheus then steals fire back, hiding it in a fennel stalk
Dark, pessimistic view Conseqs for mortals, sent by zeus: evils
Ages just die off, then the gods create the next one o Women, or
Ages kept getting worse colours Hesiods story of humanity o Lonely old age
o Bitter about life, longing for good old days Humans must choose one of these evils
Idolizes golden age of past compared to fallen stage of presen Tells us about Hesiod
o Paradise view of origin of humanity
Consistently an inditement of how far astray contemporary
humanity had gone What Prometheus does
o Dark & revealing view of current humanity Myths about Prometheus explain the ritual of sacrifice, the
o Myth gives narrative form to ages of ppl, increases origin of fire
understanding about present day world has fallen apart o What we do, why we do it
o Gives hesiods ideas a tangible form Prometheus as archetype of the divine trickster
Glimpse of nature of the gods?
Prometheus o Took supreme interest in medaling in affairs of humanity
o Consistently the gods are thought to be caring about
humans
Pandora: is hope something evil?
o She is an evil sent to humanity
o One of the evils in Pandoras jar was Hope or is it eft in
the jar because it isnt evil?
Prometheus, the benefactor of mortals (maybe?)
o Loves humanity, but zeus is in charge
o Zeus never behaves haphazardly, always does things for a
reason
Laconian BF Kylix o Doubt about involvement of gods & involvement of Titans
Prometheus and Atlas in Hesiods own world
Unknown
Ca. 550 BC o Prometheus himself not entirely a good thing dark
Vatican, Museo Gregoriano Etrusco
Prometheus Bound undertone
Titan, very clever
Aeschylus, Prometheus bound
Zeus ies Prometheus to a rock
To punish him, zeus sends terrifying bird to eat his liver every Gives glimpse of thinking about Prometheus 300yrs later (later
day classical)
Eventually Prometheu
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