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Chapter 3
Lecture One of Two
The Development of Classical Myth
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The Development of Classical Myth
• Features of Greek myth appear in primordial
past.
• How did myth begin and develop in the
historical periods?
• Where do we look for evidence of their
earliest origins, and how do we assess it?
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THE BEGINNINGS OF GREEK MYTH
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Figure 3.1
Fertility idol from Çatal
Hüyük . Neolithic fertility
idols are found throughout
southeast Europe and the
Near East.
Museum of Anatolian Civilization, Ankara, Turkey
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Figure 3.2
Cycladic fertility idol.
The N. P. Goulandris Foundation, Museum
of Cycladic Art, Athens; author’s photo
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The Beginnings of Greek Myth
• Potnia Thērōn
• Is she Artemis?
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Figure 3.3
Artemis as the Potnia Thērōn.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence
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The Beginnings of Greek Myth
• Indo-European myths
• Linguistic analysis
– Zeus and Jupiter < Dy –
– The Indo-Europeans worshipped a sky god?
• Comparative Analysis
– “twin”
– good versus evil?
– social dichotomy?
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The Beginnings of Greek Myth
• Writing as a method of transmission
• Linear B tablets
– Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Artemis, Hermes,
Enyalius, Paean, Eileithyia, Dionysus, Potnia.
• Myths mostly transmitted orally by aoidoi
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The Beginnings of Greek Myth
• Songs performed for entertainment by bards
– Homer’s Demodocus
• Dactylic hexameter
• Rhythmic patterns and stock phrases
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Figure 3.4
An aoidos singing a song, represented
by random letters.
Chazen Museum of Art, Univesity of Wisconsin-Madison
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THE INFLUENCE OF
NEAR EASTERN MYTH
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Near Eastern Myth
• Non-Indo-European Mesopotamian sources of
Greek myth
• Greek myths of cosmic origins come from
Near Eastern sources
• Mesopotamian myths known only by report
until recently
• Cuneiform script decoded in the 19th century
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Sumerian Myth
THE INFLUENCE OF
NEAR EASTERN MYTH
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Sumerian Myth
• Sumerians the earliest people in Mesopotamia
(4000 B.C.)
• First full-fledged cities
• Each city had protective deity
– “Lived” on the ziggurat
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World Religions Photo Library/Alamy
Figure 3.6
Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu.
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Sumerian Myth
• Myths preserved on tablets and seals
– cuneiform (wedge shaped)
• Seal Impressions
– Gilgamesh/Enkidu cylinder seal
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Figure 3.5
A cuneiform tablet.
British Museum, London; © The Trustees of the British
Museum / Art Resource, New York
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© Bettmann/CORBIS. All Rights Reserved
Figure 3.7
Akkadian seal-impression.
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Sumerian Myth
An
Sky God | Supreme
Inanna
Queen of Heaven | Sex and War
Enlil
Lord of the Storm | Tablets of Destiny
Enki
Lord of Earth | Sweet Ground Water |
Trickster God
One of Many Names for Mother Earth
Ki
Ereshkigal Queen of the Underworld
Utu
Sun God
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Figure 3.8
Mesopotamian terracotta relief.
Scala/Art Resource, New York
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Sumerian Myth
• Deities are anthropomorphic but indistinct
– Hard to tell often who’s been represented
• Filled with human emotions and motivations
• Important in the Epic of Gilgamesh
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Semitic Myth
THE INFLUENCE OF
NEAR EASTERN MYTH
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Semitic Myth
• Semites
– Modern term < Biblical “Schem”
– Arrive in Mesopotamia in 2000 BC
– Designates linguistic group
• Sargon the Akkadian (2340 BC)
• Adopted Sumerian culture
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Semitic Myth
Sumerian
Akkadian/Bablyonian
Domain
An
Anu
Sky
Inanna
Isthar
Sex; War
Enlil
Enlil or Marduk
Storms
Enki
Ea
Fresh Water; Wisdom; Magic
Ki
-----
Earth
Ereshkigal
-----
Death
Utu
Shamash
Sun
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Semitic Myth
• Hammurabi (1750 BC)
– Semitic Babylonians
– Empire in Mesopotamia
• The Ennuma Elish
– “When on high . . .”
– Creation account
– Cult hymn
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Semitic Myth
• Hebrews
– Abraham (2000 BC?)
• Migrated to Canaan and then to Egypt
• Moses (1200 BC)
– Monotheism (from Egyptian period of Akhenaten
1400 BC?)
– Yahweh
– The Exodus and Ten Commandments
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Semitic Myth
• Invasion of Canaan
– Battles with the Canaanites and the Philistines
• Kingdom of David and Solomon (1000 BC)
• Babylonian Exile (586–536)
– Nebuchadnezzar
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Semitic Myth
• Collected their written and oral traditions
• Completed around AD 90
• Wrote with the “Phoenician alphabet”
– syllabary of twenty-two signs without vowel signs
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Semitic Myth
• Easier than cuneiform but still difficult
– Hence the prestige of readers (the rabbi)
• Adapted into Arabic script and ultimately into
the Greek alphabet
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Other Sources
THE INFLUENCE OF
NEAR EASTERN MYTH
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Other Sources
• Hittites (1600–1200 BC)
– Central modern-day Turkey
– Non-Semitic
– Inherited and modified Babylonian myths
• Egypt
– Had few myths
– Mostly proverbs, hymns, and clever short stories
– Connected narratives come from Greek sources (Osiris and
Isis)
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End
©2012 Pearson Education Inc.