CLA 2323 Study Guide - Summer 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Zeus, Poseidon, Heracles
12 Oct 2018
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CLA 2323
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
CLA 2323: Greek Mythology
Week 1: Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Course Introduction & Lecture 1: The Land of Greece
• This course will take a contextual approach
o Thinking of mythology of one aspect of living culture at the time
▪ What did people hear/see?
▪ What do the stories say?
• It can be viewed as a distorted mirror of life in Ancient Greece
• By studying myths, we can get a basic understanding of life for Ancient Greeks
• Greeks saw their Gods as some more distant and other closer to humans
• Three of the gods considered "friendly" to humans were: Athena, Demeter, and Dionysus
o Athena: Goddess of wisdom, technology (not metalwork, but weaving), she gave a gift of an
olive tree to Athens
o Demeter: Goddess of harvest, wheat,
o Dionysus: God of wine, grapes
▪ Each of these gods overlap in resources (agricultural resources)
• These weren't just staples of diet, but very valuable product to trade and export
• The fortune of Athens was based partly on its supreme quality of olive oil
• Greeks were always hungry, and having wheat was very important to them
• The Gods aren't just a collection of spoiled personalities, but were figures of religious superiority
and patrons of resources
Map Quiz
• Maps: 2 blank maps with land and water features
• 10 minutes to fill in the map as best you can
o Indicate name
• Study form is map in textbook
o Athens, Thebes, Miocene
The Land of Greece
• Ancient Greece roughly corresponds with current land
• Ancient Greece, like modern Greece, is a jagged peninsula going eastward into Mediterranean
• It is close to Italy (west) and Asia minor (Turkey - east)
• Not very far from north Africa
• The country amounts to a peninsula that's a series of mountains that form a spine, running up the
middle of the country
o These are an extension of the balkan range
• The mountains continue south eastward
• Islands are underwater mountains
o Continuity, geographically, southeastward toward Turkey
• Rhodes and Cree were important Greek islands
• Parts of Greek history, this whole eastern coast was Greek
o Sizeable Greek habitations in west Turkey
• In a country like this, it was easy to get across to the east
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o You could island hop easily
• There was always a tradition of continuity b/w Ancient Greece and Asia minor
• The Greeks from the earliest times were called sea ferries
o Poseidon
o Narius
o Prodius
o Tridan
▪ Certain gods were thought to be protectors of sea travellers (like Athena)
• The reliance on the sea is mirrored on the important aspects it takes in Greek mythology
• Mountains of Greece had many strong effects on Greek history
o Greece has some fertile land (only about 20%)
o Another 10% is marginal hillside settings that can support grapes and some wheat
o Greece does not have a lot of farmland
▪ This has a big effect on its history
• Cities who shared a farming plane often went to war
o People went hungry, pressure on rulers to conquer farming plane
• Athena (and other two) were revered because of their ability to influence crop fertility
o Gift of grain was very appreciated
• Often the Greeks grew Barley because wheat is hard to grow
o Less tasty, but easier to grow
• Other crops include olives and grapes
• Fruit trees included figs, pomegranates and pears
• Diet could all be supplemented by fishing
o People did not eat a lot of meat
• The mountains also were thought to be the habitation of the Gods
• The home of the Gods was considered to be Mount Olympus
o A huge complex of mountains
• Many individual gods were associated with different mountains
• Greeks believed in minor deities known as nymphs - young women, semi-divine, non-human
characters who embody the sanctity of purity (i.e. Mountains, streams, woods)
• The mountains also contributed to history and culture because they contained a lot of limestone
• Limestone is abundant in Greece and has some very special features
o Can be a good building material
o In its compressed form, geologically, is known as "marble"
o The mountains yielded marble
▪ Marble is revered as a structural building material, statue foundations, etc.
• Natural limestone in the ground is soft (for a rock), which allows it to be carved
o It also allows for cave formations
o Greeks saw caves as sanctified locations
▪ "Inside the earth"
• Zeus was believed to be born inside a cave
o Other gods like Hermes were the same
• At bottom of Greek peninsula, there were a series of caves
o Greeks believed this was the entrance to the underworld
▪ If you wanted to, you could enter these caves and eventually reach the underworld
• Limestone is also porous
o When it rains, rainwater runs through caves (straight down)
o AG and MG do not have big rivers
find more resources at oneclass.com
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