CLA204H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Potnia Theron, Homeric Hymns, Salmacis
Document Summary
Chapter 9: myths of the female deities aphrodite, artemis, and athena. Demeter is the force that makes grain sprout from the seed. Hestia is the life of the house where the fire burns and sustenance is prepared. Aphrodite is the horrific power of sexual attraction, indifferent to human happiness as it ensures the creation of a new generation. Artemis is the wealth of the wild. Only athena was no clear relationship w. fertility but her province is skill in female crafts, especially weaving in which. Greek women spent their entire lives when they were not rearing their children. Must remember everything in greek myth is created by greek males whose relationship w. the opposite sex was complex. Gaea was the female power who presided over the birth of the world, but demeter was the mother- goddess who oversaw the fruitfulness agriculture, especially wheat. Wherever wheat grew, her religion was strong eleusis near athens and sicily.
