Download CLA204 Lecture 4 Notes The Olympians Zeus Hera

CLA204 Lecture 4 Notes
The Olympians
→ Zeus
→ Hera
→ Poseidon
→ Athena
→ Apollo
→ Artemis
→ Aphrodite
→ Hermes
→ Demeter
→ Dionysus
→ Hephaistos
→ Ares
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poetic authority
- Aphrodite from Ouranos (Hesiod) – but seen in Parthenon as if she is
the daughter of Zeus
- Aphrodite by Zeus + Dione (Homer)
homonyms – gods of the same name – 3 well known Zeus, 5 of Aphrodite
epic cycles
- Homer – Trojan cycle
- Oedipus – Theban legendary cycle
- Argonauts epic cycle
- Herakles epic cycle
hymns associated with Homer – Homeric Hymns
short poems at beginning of religious festivals of Greeks – about the god –
brief introduction to god
longer hymns – Dionysus, Demeter, Apollo, Hermes, Aphrodite – 7th/6th c. BCE
Hesiod – Theogony, Catalogue of Women
Theogony – textbook of Greek mythology
- powers of the universe introduced
- genealogies
- birth of gods
Epic Epithets
- epithets – fixed description of gods and heroes
- in Homeric and Hesiodic poetry
- from Homer’s epic poem:
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cloud-gathering Zeus
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dark-haired Poseidon
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white-armed Hera
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cow-eyed Hera
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golden Aphrodite
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laughter-loving Aphrodite
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Apollo of the silver bow
- visual responders used epithets in art, poetry
- Greeks – Homer/Hesiod
- genealogies of gods – gave their epithets
Zeus
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(Roman, Jupiter)
Roman – Diespiter/Juppiter
Germanic – Tues-day
Latin – deus “god”, dies “day”
Greek – eudia “fair weather”
sky father – day – well lit sky – highest god
common epithets – cloud gatherer, dark-clouded, thunderer on high, hurler of
thunderbolts
actually storm god, god of clouds, weather god
Near Eastern sky gods
one of the most important Greek gods
ancient Greek month was named after him
associated particularly with mountain gods
high mountains – Mt. Lycaon in Arcadia, Mt. Ida near Troy, Mt. Olympos in
Thessaly
highest mountain in Thessaly – Mt. Olympos – where all the gods live
(because Zeus lives there in the clouds – by extension all the other gods live
there with him)
direct epiphany is lightning
everywhere lightning strikes – temple built
lightning, Zeus Kataibates – “Zeus Descending”
thunderbolt – Semele – mother of Dionysus
weapon of Zeus – thunderbolt – always wins over his enemies
strongest of gods – nothing can seriously threaten him – despite scheming,
disobedience
had to fight for power – ease of power/strength not always the case –
Titanomachy
father of gods and men
intimately connected with bull and bull sacrifice
visual – enthroned – scepter in hand
anax/basileus – “king”
eagle is Zeus’ animal
bull – abducts Europa in bull form
Cretan theogony – Kouretes (“youth”) – hid infant Zeus from Kronos – loudly
played to drown out infant’s cries
Zeus as Kouros – “youth”
Zeus – Kronos – ultimate warrior/youth
Threats to Zeus’ Rule
- wives
- Metis
- Thetis (fated to bear son more powerful than father) – married off to
Peleus – Achilles (son)
- monsters
- Typhoeus – threw into Tartarus, Mt. Etna (volcano – monstrous fire)
- Gigantes – “giants” – Gigantomachy fought in single combat (one giant
vs. one god(
Zeus and Women
- 115 women counted
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deceptions to obtain goals
Leda and swan
Danaë and golden rain
Europa and bull
Io transformed into cow
Callisto into she-bear
Alcmena – Zeus disguises as her husband (Ampitryton)
Zeus’ Children
- great, powerful gods as children
- Apollo and Artemis by Leto
- Hermes by Maia
- Persephone by Demeter
- Dionysos by Semele
- Athena by Metis
- Ares, Hebe, Eileithyia by Hera
- immortal children born to mortal mothers – Helen, Polydeuces (Roman,
Pollux) by Leda
- generally – children born to mortal women are mortal
- Heracles by Alcmene
- Castor (twin of immortal Pollux) by Leda
- Perseus by Danaë
- Minos and Rhadamnthys by Europe
- Aiakos (Roman, Aeacus) by Aigina (Roman, Aegina)
- Arcas by Callisto
- Zethos and Amphion (founders of Thebes) by Antiope
- Epaphos (Roman, Epaphus) by Io
- can recognize children of Zeus – exceptional, beautiful, etc.
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Zeus – extreme patriarchal figure
dominant male – all freedom
sexual conquering – inexhaustible potency
male abduction – Ganymede – abducts in form of eagle
all gods rise in presence of Zeus
nod shakes Mt. Olympos
act of swallowing Metis – union of power and wisdom
“planning mind of Zeus” – Iliad – plan stronger than that of any man – plans
of men are used to fulfil Zeus’ master plans
kings – in Homer – nourished by Zeus
city, council – presence, guarantor – Zeus Polieus epithet
all law comes from Zeus
justice comes from Zeus – not to say that Zeus is just
Themis – name means “that which is established by law”, “ordinance” – first
wife of Zeus
epithets
- Zeus Polieus – polis, “city”
- Zeus Boulaios – “counsellor”
- Dikê – “justice”
- Zeus Xenios – guardian of hospitality
- Hikesios – guardian of suppliants
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Hera
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- Horkios – guardian of oaths
Panhellenes – “all Greeks” – Olympia
Troy – Hera and Athena hated Troy – Zeus did not hate, but Trojans were
always breaking oaths – therefore destruction of Troy warranted
(Roman, Juno)
queen of gods
name not etymologically clear
Hora – “season”
sanctuary between Argos and Mycenae – Argeia – in the Argolid
Hera Argeia – “Argive Hera” – reference to Hera of the sanctuary
second sanctuary – temple – Samos – island in Aegean Sea – around 800 BCE
associated with cow – parallel with Zeus/bull
bo-opis – “cow-eyed”
Meter – “mother” – great goddess (like Artemis)
cult image – high crown of great goddess – polos – also great woven robe –
peplos
earliest and most important temples to Hera – older than those of Zeus
old temple surpassed by temple in 6 BCE – great temple
Temple of Hera – Paestum – around 550 BCE – two of four temples at
Paestum were to Hera
while worship very high (many temples) – role in myth is diminished – loss of
status in myth
plays the wounded, jealous wife – jealousy, strife in marriage – does not
willingly submit to Zeus – in myth
uniquely well matched to Zeus
sleeps in the arms of the great Zeus – attribution of importance in myth
goddess of weddings, marriage
wedding month – Gamelion – sacrifices made to Hera
month June – comes from Juno
thought of as joiner, fulfiller
Hippodameia and Pelops – huge festival for Hera to celebrate their marriage
(grandparents of Menelaus, Agamemnon)
sees through all of Zeus’ escapades
dangerous, malicious, implacable in rage
greatest capacity for evil/violence
violent toward son Hephaistos (no father) – so outraged by misshapenness
that she hurls him to earth – Hephaistos gets back at her – ensnares her to
throne
children
- Ares – “war”
- Hebe – blossom of “youth”
- Eileithyia – goddess of childbirth
- Hephaistos, Typhaon
- stepmother of Herakles
- Dionysus
- persecutes Semele, Ino
Poseidon (Roman, Neptune)
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grandfather of Nestor, father of Neleus
worshipped as king in Poseidonia (modern Paestum)
attributed father of Theseus
battle between Eleusis and Athens – King Eumolpos backed by Poseidon
(Eleusis)
Erechtheus – ancestral king of Athens
Erechtheion – Erectheus’ temple
god of the sea
description of Poseidon – Homer’s Iliad
earthshaker – Hesiod
god of the earthquake
shatters rocks with trident – hurls then to sea
trident – symbol of power – weapon
trident – Poseidon tries to destroy Odysseus – wave to smash raft to pieces
and kill him
popularity amongst sea-faring Greeks
fish, dolphins, hippocamps (Poseidon’s horses)
also bull god
Taureos – “of the bull” – Theseus, Hippolytus
Theseus – invoke Poseidon’s power – bull from sea
tamer of horses, rescuer of ships
Poseidon Hippios – “of the horse”
“horsy” Poseidon – horseman
chariot over sea – hippocamps – horses with fish feet/tails
ancient myth – direct father of horse, spilled semen or rocks which horse
sprang from – other myth – Poseidon + monster = horse
Medusa – Pegasus sprang from head when beheaded by Perseus
connected with power – energy of horses – unbridled raw power –
earthquakes, sea storms
spring at Lerna – Amymone (daughter of Danaos) turns into spring while
escaping him
Athena (Roman, Minerva)
- Parthenon – “Maiden’s Apartment”
- Pallas Athene – Pallas of Athens
- Mistress of Athens – Atana potinija – modern scholars think she may be
named after Athens
- pallas – maiden, weapon brandishing (perhaps)
- Hera Argeia – “Hera of Argos”
- hê theos – “the goddess”
- city goddess – Athene Polias – “of the city” – Athene Poliouchos – from Greek
polis “city”
- armed maiden – valiant and untouchable
- similarity to battle goddess Ishtar – Near Eastern myth
- palladion – statuette of Athena
- aegis – emblem of Athena – breastplate with face of Gorgon and snaky hair –
inspires terror – possibly made of goat skin – goat – monster – Gorgon –
Athena killed it – symbol of warrior power
- unsettling myths – Kos – skinned and killed giant Pallas – put on his skin –
claimed also that Pallas was her father
- Athena Ergane – “worker of wool” – weaving – mostly battle scenes
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Panathenaia Festival – peplos – woven robe
importance of goddess of war – planning and strategy
invented ship – Argo – first ship
Trojan War – Trojan Horse
olive tree sacred to Athena – watched over olive trees in general
patron of Greek heroes – close to protégés
bridled horse – built chariot
cunning intelligence – scheming – stands beside Odysseus
owl – Athens’s animal
Diomedes, Achilles, Odysseus, Perseus – enemy of Trojan Hector
Metis – “cunning intelligence”, tricks, etc. – reinterpreted as Phronesis –
“morally responsible reason”
unique bond with father – born from head of father – patricide (head is split
open) – goes back to Pallas myth – there is a violence to Athena
violence of virginity – no contact with womb – born not from mother but from
father
almost becomes mother of ancestral king of Athens – Hephaistos tries to rape
her – she wipes semen from leg – Erichthonios/Erechtheus born from ground
(Gaia)
Apollo
- most Greek of all gods
- two great centres associated with Apollo
- Delos – known as birthplace – Apollo Delios – “Delian Apollo”
- Dephi – oracle of gods – Apollo Pythios – “Pythian Apollo”
- iconographically – youthful god
- first temple in Delos – Artemis ~700 BCE
- temple at Delphi ~ 8 c. BCE, no earlier
- relatively new Greek god
- omphalos (Theogony 496-500) at Delphi
- Apollo Lykeios – “Lycian Apollo” – conjecture that Apollo was imported to
Greece from Asia Minor – Lycia Asia Minor
- on Trojan side in Trojan War – against Greeks
- regarded as ephebe – youth on threshold of manhood
- Apollo Akersekomas – “with unshorn hair” – youth – hair still long, no beard
- cult hymn – Paean – hymn of healing
- weapon – bow and arrow – not god of hunters, arrows signify plague/illness –
god of sickness and health
- god of healing but also of plague/sickness
- singers/storytellers – musical instruments – phorminx, lyre, etc. – Muses
- often regarded as leader of the Muses – Apollo Mousagetes
- musician with gods
- god of poetry, song, music
- strikes from a distance – “striking from afar” – Apollo Hekatebolos – for
example, the killing of Niobe
- birth is his first epiphany – mother roams world to find a place to give birth
- from 5th c. BCE onward – radiance, sun god
- Achilles – dies by Apollo’s arrow – Achilles’ son dies by Apollo as well
- hymns of Apollo – about young boys, teenage girls
- music competition – laurel wreath to winner
- laurel – Daphne turned into laurel tree
Artemis (Roman, Diana)
- seems to originate in Asia Minor as well
- Artemis of Ephesus – most widely known identity – Great Goddess of Asia
Minor
- Great Goddess – Kybele (Roman, Cybele)
- mistress of animals - key to her nature
- mistress of whole of wild nature – wild creature
- belongs in nature not culture
- goddess of the hunt
- huntress – triumphantly kills her prey – bow and arrow
- Apollo – on battlefield, plague/sickness – Artemis – huntress
- Homer – Artemis as young girl – no place in battlefield – humiliated
- wears chiton – short tunic
- goddess in company of nymphs – violent, virgin
- goddess of open countryside – beyond village and towns
- not virginity as asexuality of Athena – erotic, challenging virgin feature
- her arrows – kill women in childbirth – who are fulfilling womanly destiny
- comes to women in childbirth – relief, sometimes death
- most famous myth of Greek sacrifice – Iphigeneia
- Agamemnon kills stag in sacred grove – Artemis demands that Iphigeneia
(daughter) be sacrificed (opening of Trojan War) – at last moment, switched
- Iphigeneia – becomes “sacred” – Artemis – nymph
- like Achilles to Apollo – similarity
Aphrodite (Roman, Venus)
- Semitic goddess (Ishtar – Astarte)
- incense altars, dove sacrifices
- connection with garden and the sea – Near Eastern and Greek
- Homer alludes that Aphrodite outdid Hera, Athena – abduction of Helen –
outbreak of Trojan War – Paris, apple of discord
- focus of early Homeric Hymn – sought out herdsman Anchises (Trojan prince
and shepherd) in Troy
- Phrygian mother goddess – Anatolian Great Mother (Kybele/Cybele)
- slight similarity to Artemis and strong similarity to Phrygian mother – mistress
of animals – under her power, the animals forget their fierceness – sexualism
- Hesiodic Aphrodite – daughter of Ouranos – more dangerous
- Homeric Aphrodite – daughter of Zeus and Dione – laughter loving, golden –
tamed
- philommeides – “laughter loving”
- philommedes – “to her belong male genitals”
- Aphrodite Ourania (from Ouranos) – celestial love
- Aphrodite Pandemos – responsible for physical sexuality, prostitution
- Venus Genetrix – “the Mother”, “ancestral mother” – in Rome
- Aphrodite of Knidos – getting ready to take a bath – semi-naked/naked
- unabashed sexuality
- sometimes sublimated to celestial kind of love