Greek Mythology
3 Perspectives were: Religion
Literature
Science
· Creation, how the world came to be, to define cosmos; relationship between man and god(s).
· Answers to questions.
· Beginning of western thought -- man became centre of universe, revolution in thinking, man most important. Potential of Mankind first realized.
· Gods in Man's image.
Sources of Greek Mythology:
Date: Writer Works
1000 BC Homer The Iliad: epic poem on fall of Troy.
The Odyssey: epic poem, 10 years later. Odysseus.
900 BC Hesiod Works and Days
Theogony -- story of creation, generations of gods
800-400BC Homeric Hymns 33 poems in honour of the gods.
500 BC Pindar Lyric Poetry
| Aeschylus Tragic Drama
| Sophocles Tragic Drama
| Euripides Tragic Drama
| Aristophanes Comedy
| Herodotus First History
250 BC Plato Philosophy
0 Ovid (Roman Poet) The Metamorphoses
0 Virgil (Roman Poet) The Aeneid (Epic Poem)
Titans:
Heaven and Earth created them. They are also called Elder Gods.
Zeus was the child of a Titan.
Cronus (Saturn) ruled over Titans until son Zeus de-throned him.
Ocean: Lord of the River that encircles earth
Tethys: Ocean's wife
Hyperion: Father of Sun, Moon, Dawn
Mnemosyne: Memory
Themis: Justice
Iapetus: Famous for his sons -- Atlas, Prometheus, and Epimetheus.
Rhea: Wife to Cronus
12 Olympians:
1) Zeus - (Jupiter) Lord of sky, rain god, cloud gatherer, weapon: thunderbolt. Breastplate called Aegis. Supreme ruler, but not omniscient.
2) Poseidon - (Neptune) God of the sea, second most important, earthquake maker, creator of storms.
3) Hades (Pluto) Lord of the underworld, lord of dead, god of wealth. His wife is Persephone (Proserpina).
4) Hestia (Vesta) Zeus' sister. Goddess of hearth, home
5) Hera (Juno) Wife of Zeus - punished women for her husband's unfaithfulness. Protector of marriage.
6) Ares (Mars) God of war (Romans elevated Mars)
7) Athena (Minerva) Daughter of Zeus alone, by mind of Zeus. Virgin goddess of wisdom, reason, and purity.
8) Apollo - Son of Zeus and Leto. Master musician, archery, The Healer, god of light and truth, sometimes referred to as "Loxian Apollo" or “Phoebus Apollo”.
9) Aphrodite (Venus) goddess of beauty and love.
10) Hermes (Mercury) Son of Zeus and Maia, Zeus' messenger.
11) Artemis (Diana) Apollo's twin sister, moon goddess, huntress, assoc. with forests and outdoors, later assoc. with dark side of moon (Hecate)
12) Hephaestus (Vulcan) God of fire. Deformed son of Zeus and Hera. Workman of the gods -- weapons, etc.
Lesser Gods
Eros (Cupid) God of love, mischievous, blindfolded or blind.
Ganymede -handsome Trojan prince brought to Olympus by Zeus' eagle.
Hebe - Goddess of youth, daughter of Zeus and Hera. Cupbearer to gods.
Iris - Goddess of the rainbow (Messenger of gods in Iliad.)
3 Graces: Aglaia -Grace of Splendor
Euphrosyne- Grace of Mirth
Thalia - Grace of good cheer.
· Daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, triple incarnation of grace and beauty, and danced enchantingly for the gods at their feasts.
Gods of the Waters
Poseidon - lord and ruler of the sea
Ocean - lord of the river Ocean
Pontus - son of mother earth.
Nereus - Old man of the sea, married Doris, daughter of Ocean, had 50 daughters who were nymphs of the sea called Nereids.
Thetis, Achilles' mother was a Nereid, also, Poseidon's wife.
Triton - Trumpeter of sea. Son of Poseidon.
Proteus - Son of Poseidon or attendant of Poseidon, can foretell the future and change his shape at will.
Naiads - Water nymphs of brooks, springs and fountains.
Muses:
-Daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne
1) Clio - Muse of History
2) Urania -Muse of Astronomy
3) Melpomene - Muse of Tragedy
4) Thalia - Muse of Comedy
5) Terpsichore - Muse of dance
6) Calliope - Muse of epic poetry
7) Erato - Muse of love poetry
8) Polyhymnia - Muse of songs to the Gods
9) Euterpe - Muse of lyric poetry.
Underworld -- Hades
· Ruled by Hades (Pluto) and Persephone (Proserpine or Proserpina)
· In Iliad, located beneath secret places of earth.
· Odyssey - over edge of world, across Ocean.
· 2 divisions of Hades: Tartarus - deeper prison
Erebus -where dead go after they die.
· Later poets (after 900 BC) defined Hades as place where wicked punished, good rewarded.
· Virgil detailed structure of Hades.
· Acheron, river of woe pours into Cocytus, the river of lamentation. Boatman named Charon ferries souls across to farther bank. Receives into boat only souls of those whose passage money is placed on lips when they die. Proper burial or funeral pyre required. Cerberus, a three-headed, dragon-tailed dog stands on guard before the gate. He only allows souls in, not out.
· Arrival: souls brought before three judges: Rhadamanthus, Minos, Aeacus, who pass sentence, send wicked to torment, good to place of blessedness -- Elysian Fields,
· Three other rivers separate Hades from the other world: Phlegathon: River of fire, Styx: River of Unbreakable oath by which the gods swear, and Lethe: River of forgetfulness. Hades has a many-gated palace, surrounded by a wasteland.
Earth Gods
· Demeter (Ceres) Daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Festival in September for 9 days in her honour. Goddess of the corn, harvest. Held once every 5 years at temple or Eleusis -- mysteries enacted in ceremony.
· Dionysus (Bacchus) Child of Zeus, wine god, joy and sorrow, died terrible death, joyful resurrection with seasons, as regeneration of grape vines. Spring, festival of celebration, theatrical performances, sacred.
Lesser Earth Gods
Pan - Hermes' son, goat hooves and horns, pan flute, nymphs fall in love with music, but reject him.
Silenus - Pan's son or brother - not goat, jovial, fat old man, perpetually drunk. Teacher of Bacchus.
Castor and Pollux (also Helen) were children of Leda, wife of Tyndareus, and Zeus, who appeared to her in form of Swan. Castor in some stories not son of Zeus, but as a results of an appeal by his brother is granted divinity.
Sileni - half man, half horse
Satyrs - Goatmen - homes in wild places of the earth.
Oreads - Nymphs of the mountains
Dryads - Nymphs of the trees (sometimes called Hamadryads)
Winds:
Aeolus - king of winds
Boreas - North wind.
Zephyr - The West wind
Notus - South wind
Eurus - East Wind
Other Beings:
Centaur - Savage, wild creatures, half horse. Centaur noted for wisdom: Chiron
Gorgons - dragon-like winged creatures whose look turned men to stone.
Graiae - three gray women with one eye amongst the three of them, live on farther bank of Ocean.
Sirens - Enchanting voices, live on an island in the sea, lure sailors to their deaths.
The three fates - No home in heaven or earth, greater than power of Zeus.
Clotho - The spinner. Spins the thread of Life.
Lachesis - Dispenser of destinies.
Atropos - Carried the shears that cut the thread of life.
Myths:
The Creation of the World
At first, there was Chaos: black, silent, and endless. Then two children were born to Chaos: Night and Erebus. Love was born of darkness and death. Love created light and day. Earth rose up, and bore starry Heaven, who was equal to herself. The first creatures with the appearance of life were children of Mother Earth, Gaea, and Father Heaven, Ouranos. They were monsters of overwhelming strength. There were three monsters with 100 hands and 50 heads, three others called cyclopes, (singular: cyclops) each with one giant eye.
Then the Titans, who had tremendous strength and size were born. They were not purely destructive. Father Heaven let the creatures at large, but imprisoned 50 headed monsters at a secret place in the earth. Mother Earth became angry, and appealed to the Titans for help to set her children free. Cronus responded by wounding Heaven, from whose blood sprang a race of giants, and snake- haired Erinyes (the Furies), whose eyes wept tears of blood. They could not be banished from earth as long as there was sin in the world. They pursued and punished sin.
Cronus was the lord of the Universe for untold ages, but learned that one son was destined by fate to dethrone him. Cronus decided to swallow his children when they were born. When his sixth child was born, his wife Rhea wrapped a stone in cloth and fed it to Cronus, then smuggled son Zeus to Crete to escape father. Zeus grew up, and was told the story by Gaea and his mother. He planned to make Cronus disgorge gods.
Once free, the siblings were angry with their father and plot with Zeus to destroy him. An intergenerational war develops between the Titans and their children. Prometheus (a Titan) was on Zeus's side. Zeus conquered the Titans, released 100 handed monsters, who had special powers, to help him win. The war nearly destroyed the Universe. As punishment, Zeus bound Tartarus in chains, and condemned Atlas to bear the weight of the earth on his shoulders. Mother Earth gave birth to Typhon, a fiery monster who fought against Zeus. Hercules helped to put down rebellion of Giants. Giants were hurled down to where Tartarus was chained -- beginning of underworld.
Creation
· Job of creation delegated to Prometheus, Epimetheus.
· Epimetheus made creatures, but all great gifts given to animals-- strength, swiftness, etc. Nothing left to give to the great creation of Man.
· Prometheus created Man in image of gods -- no permission from Zeus.
· Went to sun in Heaven to light torch for fire, representing truth, knowledge, and wisdom, and greater protection for Mankind. Zeus thought he had given away too much, and was jealous.
Creation (Alternate Story)
· Gods created man
· first was golden race who lived without toil or pain -- pure spirits.
· second race was of silver. They were unintelligent, and destroyed each other out of stupidity. Their spirits perished at death.
· third race was of brass. They were terrible and strong -- so warlike, they destroyed each other.
· fourth race was of god-like heroes who had glorious adventures. They departed to the isles of the blessed.
· The fifth race was the Ironmen -- the present race. They were evil, and never rested from toil and sorrow. A time will come when they have grown so wicked that they will worship power, and reverence for the good will cease to be. At last, when no man is angry at wrongdoing, or is ashamed by the misery of others, Zeus will destroy them. Yet, even then, something may be done to save them if the common people arise and put down the evil rulers that oppress them.
Creation of Women and The Struggle Between Zeus and Prometheus
· Creation of women was a result of Zeus' anger for Prometheus.
· 3 reasons for anger: Prometheus had stolen fire
· Men had originally been giving the good parts of animals as sacrifices. Prometheus advised man to take good meat and sacrifice fat and bone. (He had given man the power to think for himself.)
· Zeus was afraid that a child of his would destroy him. He wanted Prometheus to tell him which woman would be its mother so he could avoid her. Prometheus wouldn't tell him.
· Revenge - Zeus created great evil for Man - Pandora - beautiful disaster who created race of women. In one version Pandora opens the box because she is disobedient. In another story she opens it because of her curiosity. Pandora was accepted as a gift from Zeus by Epimetheus. She opened the box -- plagues, sorrow and mischief for mankind. Too late, she closed the box -- only one good thing: Hope -- man's comfort in misfortune. Zeus attempted to get even with man, Prometheus' creation.
· Zeus' servants Force and Violence took Prometheus to mountain, chained him to rock, Zeus sent Hermes to get info., but Prometheus knew what he would say before he said it. Blood-red eagle ate his liver every day, to punish and extract info.
· Prometheus didn't tell. Zeus gave up. Wise centaur Chiron offered to die in place of Prometheus so Zeus could save face. Prometheus unbound. Considered great rebel against injustice.
Prometheus and the Eagle, 6th Century BC in the Vatican Museum
K. Clark, River East Collegiate Page 9