CMLT316 Lecture 1: CMLT316 Full Course Lecture
14 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
2/9
Theogony: creation/origin of the gods
cosmogony:creation/origin of the universe
Cosmology: metaphysical statement about the order of the universe
3 generations as universe becomes stable
Chaos
Nyx
Erebos
Gaia: earth mother
Ouranos (+gaia=12 titans, 3 cyclopes,100 hand monsters)
Ourea
Pontos
Tartaros:underworld
Eros:desire
Kronos+Rhea (titans)=hestia, hera, demeter, hades, poseidon, zeus
zeus+metis/thetis(titans)=fates+muses
Zeus conceives apollo, artemis, ares, athena
Hera conceived Hephaistos
1. Near Eastern Influences
a. Hans Gustav Güterbock: Indo European (central turkey)
b. Francis Cornford: some text from syria
Similarities to hesiod's-mythology common part of culture of mediterranean
3 major groups: hittites, mesopotamia (sumerians, babylonians), phoenicians
Clear influence in hesiod & homer’s writings
●1400-1200 BCE:mycenaeans contacts hittites & west semitic peoples
●1000 (iron age/dark ages): greeks on euboea trading with the levant
●800-700 BCE (late geometric/early archaic): Greeks colonize mediterranean,
intensification of trade
Greek Alphabet: ca 800 BCE
2. Theogony: An Oral Poem
Hesiod repeats himself like a million times to make a point
3. Key Characters in the Poem
Zeus: top god
creates(?) mt olympus
a slut thats bad at marriage (invents marriage)
Marries his sister Hera, he’s a bitch to her-unloyal
Hera has a son by herself to retaliate
Gaia: mother earth
Fertility goddess
Mates with her son ouranos
Super important to creation of primary olympians
Mentor to zeus
Muses: daughters of zeus
Tender, sweet delicate
Dance
Invoke them at beginning of epics
2/14
Hesiod’s “Works and Days”
Concerned with humans: teaching Perses to live in this world zeus made
Boundaries of relationship between gods and men
●2 main “myths”
○5 ages of man
○Prometheus and pandora
Who Was Hesiod?
Son of a seaman merchant
Lived in Ascra, right by Mt. Helikon
peasant , farmer
The 5 Ages
Gold: created by olympians “perfect age” lived like gods, don’t grow old, good
times roll, no women-died out after 1 generation
Silver: created by olympians, long childhood (100 years), died right after childhood,
Women, reproduction, stupid, ignored gods, destroyed by zeus
Bronze: created by zeus, only fight each other, destructive, too busy fighting to
farm, don’t sacrifice to gods
Heroes: made by zeus + other gods, demigods (half god half human) heroes of greek
epics, justice, noble, lots of effort for gods-involved
Iron: Hesiod’s time
Fatal flaw in each age
Why Life is Hard
All zeus and prometheus’s faults
Prometheus: gives gods the shitty parts of animal sacrafice; pisses off zeus
Zeus takes away fire to punish people-prometheus steals it back
Zeus gives pandora to peoples-oh shit
Shes pretty but doesnt do anything- has jar of evils and lets them all into world
Traps hope inside- people have hope
WHY IS HOPE IN PANDORA’S JAR OF EVILS?
2/16
OLYMPIANS: Zeus, Hera, Demeter, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Ares, Dionysos, Athene, Apollo,
Artemis, Hermes, Aphrodite
ZEUS
●God of sky
●Goes back to Indo-European gods
●Born on Crete
●Weapon: thunderbolt
○Communicates through lightning strikes
●Mature, long beard
●Sits on throne holding scepter, olive crown
●Bull, eagle
●Aegis: goat skin with magic properties- protection
●Anxious about being overthrown by children
●nike:victory
HERA
●Oldest daughter of Kronos
●Zeus’s sister wife
●Born of Samos
●Queen of the gods
○Frequently holds scepter, wears crown (polos)
●Iris:rainbow messenger
●Goddess of marriage and married life
●Not warm and fuzzy: kind of a bitch
ZEUS AND HERA IN THE ILIAD
●Hera was angry with Zeus- borrows desire from aphrodite and sleep from sleep and
tricks Zeus with them
●Sex-zeus falls asleep?
○Hera’s a bitch?
○Battle? Sexuality is weapon.yes
MEET THE GODS PART 2
Hephaistos
●Hera’s parthenogenesis birth in response to Zeus making Athene
●Creates golden throne for hera after thrown off olympus
○Rigged with chains so she can’t get up lol
Document Summary
Theogony : (cid:272)(cid:409)eation/o(cid:409)i(cid:311)in o(cid:310) the (cid:311)ods (cid:272)osmogony :(cid:272)(cid:409)eation/o(cid:409)i(cid:311)in o(cid:310) the uni(cid:461)e(cid:409)se. Cosmology : metaph(cid:468)si(cid:272)al statement a(cid:271)out the o(cid:409)de(cid:409) o(cid:310) the uni(cid:461)e(cid:409)se (cid:530) (cid:311)ene(cid:409)ations as uni(cid:461)e(cid:409)se (cid:271)e(cid:272)omes sta(cid:271)le. K(cid:409)onos+rhea (cid:614)titans(cid:615)=hestia, he(cid:409)a, demete(cid:409), hades, poseidon, zeus zeus+metis/thetis(cid:614)titans(cid:615)=(cid:310)ates+muses. Nea(cid:409) easte(cid:409)n in(cid:310)luen(cid:272)es: hans gusta(cid:461) g te(cid:409)(cid:271)o(cid:272)k: indo eu(cid:409)opean (cid:614)(cid:272)ent(cid:409)al tu(cid:409)ke(cid:468)(cid:615) (cid:271). Simila(cid:409)ities to hesiod"s-m(cid:468)tholo(cid:311)(cid:468) (cid:272)ommon pa(cid:409)t o(cid:310) (cid:272)ultu(cid:409)e o(cid:310) medite(cid:409)(cid:409)anean (cid:530) majo(cid:409) (cid:311)(cid:409)oups: hittites, mesopotamia (cid:614)sume(cid:409)ians, (cid:271)a(cid:271)(cid:468)lonians(cid:615), phoeni(cid:272)ians. (cid:528)(cid:531)(cid:527)(cid:527)-(cid:528)(cid:529)(cid:527)(cid:527) bce:m(cid:468)(cid:272)enaeans (cid:272)onta(cid:272)ts hittites & (cid:462)est semiti(cid:272) peoples. (cid:528)(cid:527)(cid:527)(cid:527) (cid:614)i(cid:409)on a(cid:311)e/da(cid:409)k a(cid:311)es(cid:615): (cid:311)(cid:409)eeks on eu(cid:271)oea t(cid:409)adin(cid:311) (cid:462)ith the le(cid:461)ant. (cid:535)(cid:527)(cid:527)-(cid:534)(cid:527)(cid:527) bce (cid:614)late (cid:311)eomet(cid:409)i(cid:272)/ea(cid:409)l(cid:468) a(cid:409)(cid:272)hai(cid:272)(cid:615): g(cid:409)eeks (cid:272)olonize medite(cid:409)(cid:409)anean, intensi(cid:310)i(cid:272)ation o(cid:310) t(cid:409)ade. Hesiod (cid:409)epeats himsel(cid:310) like a million times to make a point (cid:530). Zeus: top (cid:311)od (cid:272)(cid:409)eates(cid:614)? (cid:615) mt ol(cid:468)mpus a slut thats (cid:271)ad at ma(cid:409)(cid:409)ia(cid:311)e (cid:614)in(cid:461)ents ma(cid:409)(cid:409)ia(cid:311)e(cid:615) Ma(cid:409)(cid:409)ies his siste(cid:409) he(cid:409)a, he"s a (cid:271)it(cid:272)h to he(cid:409)-unlo(cid:468)al. He(cid:409)a has a son (cid:271)(cid:468) he(cid:409)sel(cid:310) to (cid:409)etaliate. Con(cid:272)e(cid:409)ned (cid:462)ith humans: tea(cid:272)hin(cid:311) pe(cid:409)ses to li(cid:461)e in this (cid:462)o(cid:409)ld zeus made.
