HUM 102W Lecture Notes - Homeric Hymns, Nota Bene, Hieros Gamos
27 Mar 2014
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Document Summary
In most greek literature and culture, the myths related by hesiod, about the origin of the gods, play only a very limited role. The twelve olympian gods are the most powerful, so it"s best to concentrate on them. Again, if the number twelve does not appear in your particular text, then it"s not important. But the usual twelve are zeus, poseidon, hades, hera, demeter, (hestia is excluded), athena, apollo, artemis, hermes, hephaestus, ares, and dionysus (who replaces. When learning about greek gods, it"s especially important to take note of their epithets, the short descriptive phrases used in poetry to describe them when repetition of their names would get jarring. In this unit, we"ll look at the olympians with particular attention to how they are portrayed in the shorter homeric hymns. These accounts may not give the full story, but they should give you something like a mug shot, which will help you recognize them again.
