Download Intro to Myth CN

#3OurMYTHOLOGY
connection to stories
WHAT IS A MYTH?
• A traditional story rooted in primitive folk beliefs of cultures
• Uses the supernatural to interpret natural events
• Explains the culture’s view of the universe and the nature of
humanity
WHAT IS GREEK MYTHOLOGY?
• The people of ancient Greece shared stories (myths) about
the gods, goddesses, and heroes in which they believed.
• Each god or goddess was worshipped as a deity and ruled
over certain areas of the Greeks’ lives.
• These exciting stories explained natural phenomena that could
not be explained by science.
WHY SHOULD WE STUDY
GREEK MYTHOLOGY?
• They tell timeless themes
about life that are both
exciting and true
• The Ancient Greek culture
has been kept alive by the
oral and later written stories
handed down through
thousands of years.
• Modern plays, novels,
television programs, movies
and even advertisements
refer to Greek gods,
goddesses, heroes and their
stories.
IN THE BEGINNING...
• …was Chaos (shapeless nothingness)
• Chaos had two children:
• Night (darkness)
• Erebus (death)
• “All was black, empty, silent, endless.”
• Mysteriously, Love was born of darkness and death.
AND THEN...
• When Love was born, order and beauty began to flourish.
• Love created Light and Day.
• Earth was created.
• She was the solid ground, but also a personality.
• The Earth bore Heaven to cover her and be a home for
the gods.
THE FIRST PARENTS
• Mother Earth = Gaea (Gaia)
• Father Heaven = Ouranos (Uranus)
• They had three kinds of children:
• Three monsters with 100 hands and 50 heads
• Three Cyclopes
• The Titans
• These were the first characters that had the appearance
of life, although it was unlike any life known to man.
THE TITANS (THE ELDER GODS)
There were many of them.
Enormous size, incredible strength
Cronos (Saturn): Ruler of the titans
Rhea: Wife of Cronos
…and many more
THE PRINCIPAL GODS
• Cronos and Rhea were
parents of…
• Other Olympians include…
• Athena (Minerva)
• Ares (Mars)
• Hephaestus (Vulcan)
• Zeus (Jupiter, Jove)
• Hebe (Juventas)
• Poseidon (Neptune)
• Apollo (Apollo)
• Hades (Pluto)
• Hera (Juno)
• Hestia (Vesta)
• Demeter (Ceres)
• Artemis (Diana)
• Hermes (Mercury)
• Aphrodite (Venus)
• Dionysus (Bacchus)
• Persephone
HELIOS
One of the Titans
Personification of the Sun
Drove the chariot of the
sun across the sky on a
daily basis
ZEUS
• Roman Name:
Jupiter (also Jove)
• Supreme god of the
Olympians.
• Fathered many
characters in
mythology
POSEIDON
• Roman Name:
Neptune
• God of the Seas
and Waters
• “The Earthshaker”
HADES
• Roman Name:
Pluto
• God of the
Underworld/
Dead
• Kidnapped
Persephone
HERMES
• Roman name: Mercury
• Patron of Travellers
• Messenger of the Gods
• Escorts souls to
afterlife
HERA
• Roman Name: Juno
• Wife of Zeus
• Protector of marriage
and married women
• One of the three
goddesses in the
contest of beauty
decided by Paris
ATHENA
• Roman Name: Minerva
• Goddess of Wisdom and
War
• Sprang from Zeus’s
head
• One of the three
goddesses in the
contest of beauty
decided by Paris
APHRODITE
• Roman name: Venus
• Goddess of Love and
Beauty
• Married to Hephaestus,
the lame and ugly god of
the forge
• One of the three
goddesses in the contest
of beauty decided by
Paris
NYMPHS
• Spiritual maidens who animate
local nature
• Enchants through song and dance
In The Odyssey,
• Calypso tries to keep Odysseus on
her island to make him her
immortal husband
• Circe known for her magic, potions,
and herbs
THE SIRENS
• Beautiful but
dangerous creatures
• Lured sailors with
their beautiful
voices to their doom
• Their ships would
crash on rocks
THE CYCLOPES
• Gigantic one-eyed
monsters
• Polyphemus is the
most known
(Odyssey)
• Homer states they are
sons of Poseidon
FAMILY TREE
SUMMARY FOR #3 INTRO TO MYTH
• Something that is becoming clear to me about
mythology…
• I can relate to mythology because…