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Notes from Hamilton’s Mythology WHO WROTE DOWN THE STORIES WE HAVE TODAY 1. Most come from Latin poet Ovid, Metamorphosis, who wrote during the reign of Augustus—good storyteller but he treated them as nonsense a. Other Roman poets – Virgil, Horace, Catullus 2. Greek writers: Homer – Illiad and the Odyssey (1000 B.C.) 3. Hesiod – poor farmer a. 8th or 9th century b. famous poem Theogony about mythology: creation of the universe and generations of the gods 4. Homeric hymns poems written to honor various gods a. 33 poems b. written in 4th or 5th cent. Athens 5. Pindar’s Odes, greatest Greek lyric poet 6. Playwrites a. Aeschylus b. Sophocles c. Euripedes d. Aristophanes 1 THE GODS AND CREATION (from the Theogony) I. THE GODS a. Greeks believed universe created the gods i. Heaven and earth are the first parents (personification) ii. Titans were their children iii. Gods were their grandchildren II. THE TITANS a. CRONIS/SATURN i. Ruled until dethroned by Zeus b. OCEAN i. River that encircled the earth ii. Married to Tethys c. HYPERION i. Father of the sun, moon and dawn d. MNEMOSYNE i. Means memory e. THEMIS – justice f. IAPETUS i. Father of Atlas (carried the world on his shoulders) and Prometheus (savior of mankind) 2 III. 12 GREAT OLYMPIANS a. Olympus was their home i. Sometimes associated with Mt. Olympus in Thessaly, Greece ii. Illiad – first top most peak, but later its common to the sea, the dead and the heavens iii. Entrance to it protected by the seasons iv. Gods lived there and feasted on nectar and listened to Apollo’s lyre—abode of perfect blessedness b. Made up a divine family i. ZEUS/JUPITER (drew lots with his brothers for their share of the universe) 1. Supreme ruler, but not omnipotent or omniscient (can be tricked) 2. Demanded sacrifices from men and right action 3. Breastplate – aegis, bird –eagle, treeoak ii. HERA/JUNO 1. Zeus’ wife and sister 2. Jealous 3. Cow and peacock sacred to her, loved the city Argos iii. POSEIDON/NEPTUNE 1. Ruler of the sea, Zeus’ brother 2. Gave first horse to man 3. Carried a trident, connected to bulls and horses 3 iv. HADES/ PLUTO 1. Other brother of Zeus 2. God of the underworld and ruler of the dead 3. Also god of precious metals hidden in earth 4. Had a cap or helmet that made him invisible, rarely left the underworld 5. Dark, but not evil, and just 6. Wife Persephone whom he carried from earth and made queen of the lower world v. PALLAS ATHENA/MINERVA 1. Daughter of Zeus alone 2. Born full-grown in full armour, she sprang from Zeus’ head 3. Initially fierce in the Illiad, but only towards enemies 4. Zeus’ favorite child 5. Embodies wisdom, purity, reason 6. Olive was her tree, owl her bird, Athens her special city vi. PHOEBUS APOLLO (same name in Roman) 1. Son of Zeus and Leto 2. “Most Greek of the gods” – beautiful, musician, plays the lyre, lord of the silver bow, God of light and truth 3. laurel is his tree, sacred creatures are the cow and the dolphin 4 vii. ARTEMIS (DIANA) 1. Apollo’s twin sister 2. One of three maiden goddess of Olympus 3. Lady of wild things, huntsmen in chief 4. Later identified with Hecate as goddess of three forms – Selene in the sky, Artemis on earth, Hecate in the lower world 5. Most vividly stands for uncertainty between good and evil 6. Sacred to her are the cypress and the deer viii. APHRODITE (VENUS) 1. Another of the maiden goddesses 2. Goddess of Love and Beauty 3. In the Illiad daughter of Zeus and Done, but later described as springing from the foam of the sea 4. Wife of Hephaestus/Vulcan – lame and ugly god 5. Myrtle was her tree, the dove usually her bird ix. HERMES/MERCURY 1. Father Zeus, mother Maia (daughter of Atlas) 2. Wore winged sandals, low crowned hat, magic wand 5 3. Zeus’ messenger – most cunning, Master Thief x. ARES/MARS 1. God of war xi. HEPHAESTUS (VULCAN and MULCIBER) 4. God of fire, son of Zeus and Hera or just Hera 5. Only god who was ugly 6. Kindly, peace loving xii. HESTIA/VESTA 7. Zeus sister 8. Third virgin goddess 9. Goddess of the hearth IV. SOME LESSER GODS a. EROS (CUPID) i. God of love, often represented as blindfolded b. HEBE – goddess of youth c. IRIS – goddess of the rainbow d. GRACES – daughters of Zeus and Eurynome (child of Titan/Ocean) i. AGLAIA (splendor) ii. EUPHROSYNE (mirth) iii. THALIA (good cheer) 6 iv. Usually companions to the 9 Muses – queens of song at banquets e. GODS OF THE WATERS i. POSEIDON 1. Son Titron was trumpeter of the sea ii. OCEAN, a Titan iii. PONTUS – deep sea, son of mother Earth and father NEREUS, a sea-god himself called the Old Man of the Sea f. THE UNDERWORLD—shadowy place i. Ruled by Hades ii. Guarded by CEREBUS 1. 3 headed, dragon tailed dog iii. When you arrive you go through 3 judges, Rhadmanthus, Minos, and Aecus, who pass sentence 1. Bad go the everlasting torment 2. Good go to Elysian Fields iv. rivers separate underworld from the world a. Phlegethon – river of fire b. Styx – river of unbreakable oath by which only gods swear c. Lethe – river of forgetfulness iv. Pluto’s palace also down there somewhere v. Also in the underworld – Furies who punish evildoers and Sleep and Death g. LESSER GODS OF EARTH -- most famous i. Goddess of Corn (Demeter) 7 1. Daughter of Cronus and Rhea 2. Festival of the Harvest 3. Daughter Persephone -- seasons ii. God of the Vine (Bacchus) 1. Born in Thebes 2. Only god with mortal parents 3. God of wine – double nature CREATION MYTHS “First there was Chaos, the vast immeasurable abyss, Outrageous s a sea, dark, wasteful, wild.” Milton I. Began with chaos a. Unbroken darkness b. Night was the child of Chaos, as was Erebus, where Death dwells II. Then by some marvel, mysteriously, a. . . . Black-winged Night Into the bosom of Erebus Laid a wind-born egg, and as the seasons rolled Forth sprang Love, the longed for, shining, with wings of Gold. Aristophenes III. Creation of the earth then just happened a. Earth was solid ground and a personality b. Heaven too acted like a person 8 c. Mother Earth (Gaea) and Father Heaven (Ouranos) -- acted like monsters, huge strength and force i. 3 had the name Cyclopes (wheel eyed) ii. Last came the Titans iii. Three had 100 hands and 50 heads d. Heaven was a poor father i. Hated the last three and imprisoned them in a secret place in earth ii. Left Cyclopes and Titans at large iii. Earth upset at Heaven asked her children for help, and only the Titan Cronus responded, who laid in wait and wounded him badly. The Giants the 4th race of monsters sprang from his blood, as did the Erinyes (the Furies) who punshed sinners e. From then on Cronus/Saturn ruled with his sister queen Rhea (Ops in Latin) i. Finally 1 son Zeus rebelled ii. Cronus had learned that one of his sons was destined to dethrone him so he swallowed them at birth. But Rhea hid her 6th child Zeus by having him secretly taken to Crete when she gave Cronus a stone wrapped in a blanket to swallow. Later, Zeus with his grandmother’s Earth’s help, forced his father to disgorge his siblings. There was a war between Cronus and Zeus 9 and the siblings and the Titans lost because Zeus released the 100 handed monsters and because Prometheus sided with Zeus. Zeus punished his enemies – Atlas had to carry the world on his back. Later, the Giants rebelled, but Zeus had the help of Hercules, his son. STORIES OF CREATION OF MAN 1. Prometheus, name means forethought, was wise, but his brother Epimethus, name means afterthought, was scatterbrained. He gave all good things in the universe to the animals, and then, when he realized there was nothing left for men, asked his brother to fix it. Prometheus fashioned them in a better shape, upright, and then he went up to the heavens and came back with a torch to bring them fire. 2. Another story is that the gods created men. First, like the golden race, they lived like gods without sorrow or pain. The gods then experimented with other metals, silver race that had little intelligence and kept hurting each other. Then came brass race, strong and violent, so they destroyed each other. Then came a race who had glorious wars and had adventures. Last, was the iron race, that live in evil times and whose natures 10 are part evil, and each generation is worse than the next, until they are so bad Zeus will destroy them, unless the common people overtake their oppressive rulers. Under both stories there were only men, no women, for a long time. In the Prometheus story, Prometheus had men eat all the best food and animal meat when they did sacrifices, and the gods only got the worse cuts. Zeus got angry with that, and made men a lovely thing to look at, a shy maiden, and the gods gave her beautiful gifts, like a crown of gold, and silvery rainments, and she was called Pandora, the “gift of all.” From her comes the race of women, with the evil women bring to men. She also had the bad trait of curiosity – so Pandora’s box story where she opened the forbidden box with many gifts, that flew away, and only Hope remained. Zeus knew fate also decreed that a son would dethrone him, and only Prometheus knew which son that would be. He sent his messenger Hermes to find out the name, but Prometheus wouldn’t tell. So Zeus had his body bound and an eagle picked at him daily, and still he wouldn’t tell. Eventually Hercules slew the eagle and Prometheus was released. 11 3. Third creation story begins with the Deluge. Men were evil so Zeus decided to destroy the earth. He and his brother the God for the Sea sent the flood for 9 days and nights to destroy mankind. Only 1 mountain cap Parnassus was not covered, and the only survivors were Deucalion, Prometheus’ son, and Pyrrha, his niece and the daughter of Epimethus and Pandora. They were pious worshipers of the gods. They heard a voice that said “Veil you heads and cast behind you the bones of your mother.” Deucalion interpreted that to mean that they should throw behind them the stones of mother Earth, and they did, and they emerged as in human race as the Stone People, a hard enduring race. 12