CMLT316 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Trojan War, Cup-Bearer, Lightning
31 May 2018
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Class 6: Hephaestus and Ares
Zeus and Ganymede
● Ganymede a young man from Troy (son of Troios, Troy’s first king)
● Zeus kidnaps Ganymede (an eagle is sent; visits him in a whirlwind)
● Ganymede becomes his “cup-bearer”
Porphyrion (one of the giants) and Hera
● Tried to rape Hera
● In some versions, because of Zeus’ encouragement
● Struck down by Zeus’ thunderbolt in his attempt
Ixion and Hera
● Mortal that tried to have sex with Hera
● Hera replaced herself with a cloud, leading Ixion to think he was successful
● Ixion punished to eternal torture
Key Theme in Myths
● “Unnatural” or abnormal behavior and appearances (one often suggests the other)
● Characters often over or under value social norms and values
● Leads to problems for character
● Myths try to resolve problem (punishment of offenders, positive solution is found)
Hephaestus (Vulcan)
● Son of Zeus and Hera ?
● The ‘lame’ god
● Often depicted with blacksmith’s hammer and/or tongs
● Inventor/craftman god
● Builder of bronze palace on Olympus
● Zeus’ lightning
● Shield of Achilles
● ‘Robot’ (bronze) women, dogs, giant
● Pandora
● Backwards bent feet (some depictions)
● From Lemnos
Hephaestus Story One
● Hera angry that Zeus produced Athena “all by himself”
● Tried to create Hephaestus in a similar way
● He came out ‘imperfect’
● Hera casts him down to earth
Hephaestus Story Two
● Zeus and Hera both produced Hephaestus
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Document Summary
Ganymede a young man from troy (son of troios, troy"s first king) Zeus kidnaps ganymede (an eagle is sent; visits him in a whirlwind) Struck down by zeus" thunderbolt in his attempt. Mortal that tried to have sex with hera. Hera replaced herself with a cloud, leading ixion to think he was successful. Unnatural or abnormal behavior and appearances (one often suggests the other) Characters often over or under value social norms and values. Myths try to resolve problem (punishment of offenders, positive solution is found) Often depicted with blacksmith"s hammer and/or tongs. Hera angry that zeus produced athena all by himself . Tried to create hephaestus in a similar way. Hephaestus intervened between zeus and hera during a fight. Gods plead with hephaestus to return to olympus to free hera (story one) He refuses, so dionysus is sent to persuade him . Giants otus and ephialtes once trapped him in a bronze jar for 13 months.
