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Greek Mythology
Myth
-traditional story concerning some hero or event
with or without a verifiable basis of fact
-Deities or demigods.
-Explains some human or natural event. Ex. Why
the sun rises.
Plan Part I: Greek Myth
1. Basic Beliefs
Major written works:
2. Theogony- Hesiod
3.The Illiad- Homer
4.The Odyssey – Homer
Ancient Greeks believed (part 1 of 2)
• Mankind was weak and Gods were powerful.
They controlled nature. Gods punished excess.
• Rituals adapted from Egyptians or were
exaggerated heroes.
• Each city had a god that watched over them
and worship was a part of life.
Ancient Greeks believed (part 2 of 2)
• Sacrifices of animals made the gods happy.
• Learn about gods through poetry, songs,
stories
• Gods resembled humans and showed extreme
feelings.
Theogony summary
• http://youtu.be/o2zYc71i32I
• Cartoon Overview of Greek Gods
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJC
m8W5RZes
The Trojan War: The Illiad
• Eris (discord) not invited. Creates
golden apple for the “fairest.”
• Hera (motherhood) , Aphrodite
(love), Athena (hunt/ intelligence)
fight over it.
• Zeus chooses Paris of Troy. Paris
picks Aphrodite. Aphrodite ‘gives’
Helen, wife of Menelaus (Sparta).
• Paris captures Helen.
“The Judgement of Paris”
• Menelaus gathers her suitors. Odysseus (Ithica)
pretends to be insane.
• Agamemnon (King of Sparta) sacrifices his
daughter.
• Achilles pouts over woman and bf Patroclus is
killed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr4ObNAVM
7U
• Hector (Prince of Troy) killed and desecrated.
Odysseus acts insane.
• Paris kills Achilles with arrow to heel.
• Odysseus’ Trojan horse.
• Priam is killed, Cassandra (Apollo’s priest) raped, Priam’s
daughter sacrificed.
• Menelaus takes Helen and Trojan woman divided up by
Greeks.
• When he returns home, Agamemnon is killed by his wife for
daughter’s sacrifice.
Odesseus: The Odyssey
• http://youtu.be/PglAFdKSJ_M
• http://youtu.be/BCXRxD85Xc0
• 12 ships Lotus flower-- looses will to go home
• Cyclops (posidon’s son)- blind and sheep (“Nobody has
blinded me”)
• Aeolus’ wind (just as they see Ithica…)
• Circe turns them to pigs– Directions: Land of dead*
• Sirens– six headed monster– whirlpool
• Sacred cows. Massive storm kills them all.
• Calypso’s island.
• Odysseus murders Penelope’s suitors
Hades: As witnessed by Odysseus
• 8th C. BCE. Grey and dreary world.
• Shadows/ shades his mother, Agamemnon, Achilles.
• Want to be remembered by living
• Achilles “rather be a landless slave on earth then a King
in the underworld”
• Did develop over time: 4th C. BCE Elysium and Tartarus
Some References we will see in class.
• Poe’s “The Raven,” Raven sits on Pallas Athena’s bust and
goes to Hades’ Plutonian shore.
• Hamlet– Players act out Hecuba (Priam’s wife) and he
wonders how the actor can express so much for someone
he didn’t really know while he must be quiet.
• “Myth of Sisyphus”– absurdists use Greek myth as premise
for philosophy
• Ondaatje references Odysseus’ brush with sirens in “To a
Sad Daughter”
Ancient Greek Mythology
Works Cited
“Greek Mythology” Greek Mythology. Colorado
University. N.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
“Myth” Dictionary.com n.d. n.d. Web.
“The History of the Trojan War.” Mortal Women
of the Trojan War. Stanford.edu. N.d. Web. 10
Dec. 2014.