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Mythology
Classical Mythology – belonging
to the Greek and Roman traditions
Myths
• Mythos – the Greek word that refers to the
spoken word or speech; denotes a tale, story, or
narrative, different from the historic tale, which is
called logos and is regarded as verifiable.
• Have connections with all aspects of human life
and experience; they refer to the origins and the
nature of the universe, the gods and mankind;
they claim to reveal historical facts or may
describe psychological truths; make emotional
valuations and concern themselves with moral,
physical, or ontological issues; convey beliefs,
superstitions, rituals, literary images, social
ideas; use symbols and allegories as well as
reason, philosophy, and ethical values.
Main Myths
• Divine – consist of tales referring to the
gods, such as the creation of the world,
the origin of the gods.
• Heroic – related to kingdoms on earth,
heroes, and heroines,; events in these
tales are normally located in real
geographical places such as Mycenae or
Rhodes
Myth Foundations
• Found in divine presence; heroic linked to
divine through three devices
– Divine intervention in human affairs
– Any kind of reference to the gods or to
someone related to them
– Genealogy establishing descent from the
gods
Myth Characteristics
• Touches on any field of human life and
experience
• Perceived as a single all-embracing tale which is
assumed to have been delivered to men by the
gods, being in virtue of that circumstance both
true and sacred.
• Neither to be believed nor to be disbelieved,
– Belief is in the realm of religion, magic, and
superstition
– Disbelief belongs to the profane view, which is alien to
the myths
Myth Definitions
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Prose narratives which in the society in which they are told, are considered
to be truthful accounts of what happened in the remote past
Mistaken explanations of phenomena, whether of human life or of external
nature
Story of the deeds of supernatural beings
Result of the working of naïve imagination upon the facts of experience
Pre-scientific and imaginative attempt to explain some phenomenon, real or
supposed, which excites the curiosity of the myth-maker
Explanation of some natural process made in a period when such
explanations were religious and magical rather than scientific
Reduction to narrative shorthand of ritual mime performed on public
festivals; recorded pictorially on temple walls, vases, etc.
Entertaining stories in their own right, full of human and supernatural
characters to like or despise, exploits to admire or fear, events to follow with
interest and suspense. They help explain the natural world
Terms
• Fairy Tale – simple story; supernatural beings; benefit of children;
simple message: “good guy always wins”
• Fable – animals act like and talk like humans in order to tell
message. Aesop’s Fables – tortoise and the hare= slow, sure, and
steady can win a race
• Parable – objects and people are used in a story to tell message;
Bible
• Legend – actual event in the past is exaggerated; becomes a
legend: Daniel Boone killed a bear when he was only three
• Myth - helps explain unexplainable event; creation of universe, why
volcanoes erupt, how evil started, how fire came about. Eventually,
humanity could explain many myths scientifically.
• Science Fiction – present-day myths; stories about science that
have not yet been explained. “Ender’s Game”
• Epic – a long story-poem; adventures of a hero, who displays
superhuman strength, skill, or cunning. “Beowulf”
• Folk Tale – fictional story, most often told orally, that tells a timeless
story about traditions and beliefs of a group. Similar to fairy tales.
Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel
The Epic Hero
• Reflects the values and ideas of his
culture or society
• Struggles for values and ideas that are
important to the culture or society
• Fights against values and ideas that the
culture or society rejects
• Helped/hindered by divine beings
• Seeks revenge in the end for injustices
and wrongs committed against him, his
family, and his society
Epic Hero Traits
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Excels in skill, strength, and courage
Succeeds in war and adventure
Values honor and glory
Usually has a guide
Battles demons or monsters
Generous to his followers; ruthless to his enemies
Man of action
Accepts challenges and sometimes invites problems
Sometimes makes rash decisions and takes unnecessary risks
Meets monsters and temptations
Encounters women who tempt him
Descends into darkness (often the underworld)
Achieves his goal
Greek Mythology
• Common outlook on life
• Form the richest collection of stories in Western
culture, outside of the Bible
• Greeks cherished life and believed in living it to
the fullest degree, since death was an inevitable
fact.
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Pursued fame with astonishing energy.
Tough, restless, ambitious, hard living
Imaginative, feisty, and vengeful
Admired strength, beauty, and intelligence
Man was the measure of all things
Olympian gods
Mirrored Greek qualities
quarrelsome, unforgiving, enjoyed fighting and banqueting.
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Zeus – supreme deity; grand dispenser of justice
Hera – wife and sister of Zeus; jealous; vindictive; goddess of marriage and childbirth
Poseidon – brother of Zeus; god of the sea, horses; moody
Demeter – sister of Zeus; goddess of vegetation and fertility; mother of Persephone
(kidnapped by Hades); creation of the seasons
Apollo – son of Zeus; god of light, intelligence, healing, arts. Most important shrine at
Delphi
Artemis – Apollo’s twin sister; goddess of chastity, moon
Aphrodite – goddess of love and beauty; born of the sea-foam or daughter of Zeus;
represents power of attraction that binds people together
Athena – goddess of wisdom, guardian of Athens, warrior who sprang fully armed
from the head of Zeus after he swallowed the Titaness Metis
Hestia – goddess of the family and peace
Ares – son of Zeus and Hera; bully, coward; disliked by parents
Hermes – messenger of the gods; conductor of souls to the netherworld; god of
sleep; clever, god of commerce and thievery; guided men on journeys; depicted with
helmet and winged sandals
Hades – god of the underworld; region of the dead; abducted Persephone and made
her his queen. (six months of the year)
Titans
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Gaea – the earth; she and son, Uranus, produced the Titans; Titans – old gods taken
over by the Olympian gods
Cronus – chief titan; overthrew father; married sister, Rhea; produced Olympian gods
Rhea – sister and wife to Cronus; saved Zeus from being eaten by Cronus;
substituted with a stone.
Oceanus and Tethys; produced the rivers and the 3,000 ocean nymphs
Hyperion – Titan of light, father of the sun, moon, and dawn
Mnemosyne – Titanesse of memory; mother of the muses
Themis – Titanesse of justice and order; gave birth to the fates and the seasons
Prometheus – wisest Titan; “forethought”; created mankind; gave man fire; best part
of sacrificial animals; chained to Caucasus Mtns. Eagle feeds on his liver daily.
Epimetheus – stupid Titan; “afterthought”’ accepted gift of Pandora;
Pandor’s Box – unleashed all the evils of the world on mankind. Pandora – first
woman. Curiosity of women bring evil to the world. Beauty and evil together within
women.
Atlas – for warring against Zeus, was forced to bear the vault of the heavens upon his
shoulders at the edge of the world.
Other gods
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Cyclopes – one-eyed monsters; children of Gaea and Uranus; helped Zeus against
the Titans
Giants – created by Uranus’ blood when Cronus mutilated him
Furies – pursued and punished sinners; sprang from the blood of Uranus
Pan – son of Hermes; god of flocks; musician; pursued various nymphs; rejected for
his ugliness
Iris – goddess of the rainbow
Satyrs – men with horses’ haunches and tails; two-legged
Centaurs – savage beasts; half-horse and half-man; four-legged
Sirens – sisters who sat on the rocks by the sea and lured sailors to their deaths by
singing to them.
Helios – sun god
Proteus – son of Poseidon; ability to prophesy and to change his shape at will
Triton – trumpeter of the sea; depicted blowing a large conch shell
Fates – three goddesses who determine the lives of mortals
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Clotho wove the thread of life
Lachesis measured it out
Atropos cut it off with her scissors of death
Mythology Vocabulary
Word or Phrase
Modern Definition
Reference to Mythology
Pandora’s Box
Unpredictable “can of worms”
that releases many problems
Out of curiosity, Pandora
opened a box and released all
human ills; hope remained
Titanic
Having great magnitude,
force, or power
From the Titans; had
enormous strength
Cornucopia
Curved goat’s horn
overflowing with fruit, ears of
corn; abundance
Plutus – son of Jason and
Ceres; god of wealth; shape
of Venus’s basket
Phoenix
Legendary bird; lived 500
years ago; burned itself to
ashes on a pyre; rose alive
from ashes to live another
period; symbol of immortality
Egyptian mythology
The Midas Touch
Everything a person does is
successful, especially
concerning money
Legendary king given the
power of turning everything to
gold with a touch
Mythology Vocabulary
Word or Phrase
Modern Definition
Reference to Mythology
Nemesis
One that inflicts vengeance
Greek goddess of vengeance
Olympian
A being of lofty and superior
attainments
The Olympian gods who were
powerful, beautiful, etc.
Jovial
Good-humor
Relates to Jove (Jupiter); his
characteristics
Typhoon
Tropical cyclone in
Philippines or China Sea
Father of the winds; typhon a monster with a tremendous
voice; father of Cerberus (3headed dog; guards the gates
of Hades) and the sphinx
Narcissist
In love with his/her own body;
egocentric
Narcissus; beautiful youth
who falls in love with his own
reflection and is changed into
the narcissus flower
Mythology Vocabulary
Word or Phrase
Modern Definition
Reference to Mythology
Chronic
Marked by a long duration or
frequent recurrence;
constantly troubling
Greek – Chronos
Roman – Chronus; father of
Zeus; personification of time
Achilles’ heel
A vulnerable point
Achilles – weak point – his
heel; shot in the heel by Paris
with an arrow, guided by
Apollo
Labyrinth
Maze, something extremely
complex
Greek – Labyrinthos;
minotaur lived in the labyrinth
– impossible to escape
Volcano
A vent in the crust of the
earth; molten rock and steam
exit
Roman – vulcan; god of fire
and warmth; ugly god,
created beautiful art; injured
by Zeus ( his father) when he
defended Hera in a quarrel
Mythology Vocabulary
Word or Phrase
Modern Definition
Reference to Mythology
Calliope
Musical keyboard; looks like
an organ
Greek Kalliope; muse of
heroic poetry; mother of
Orpheus; beautiful voice
Herculean
Extraordinary strength or
power
Hercules; task that could only
be accomplished by Hercules
Chimerical
Imaginary
Fantastically improbable;
pure fancy
Chimaira; fire-breathing shemonster; lion’s head, goat’s
body, serpent’s tail; imaginary
monster with incongruous
parts
Atlas
One who bears a heavy
burden; bone at the top of our
spinal chord; holds up our
head
Titan-Atlas; fought Zeus and
was forced to support the
heavens on his shoulders
Arachniphobia
Fear of spiders
Greek – arachne – spider;
phobos – fear
Arachne was a beautiful
princess who wove beautiful
tapestries. Challenged Athena
to a contest and lost;
humiliated, tried to hang
herself, but Athena prevented
it by changing her into a
spider
Allusions
• Reference to a historical, literary, Biblical,
mythological, or other well-known person
or event.
• Used to enrich an idea and are designed
to have a specific effect on the reader
Allusion Example
• I thought to myself, “Beware of Greeks
bearing gifts”, when my opponent gave me
a present.
– Story: Trojan war; the Greeks gave a wooden
horse to the Trojans as a gift of reconciliation;
soldiers were hidden inside ready to attack
– Meaning: the speaker is being cautious about
accepting something that doesn’t make sense
and that might not be a pleasant surprise