Exam 1 Flashcards
What is a myth?
Derived from greek mythos= “word” or “story”
How did Homer use Myths?
denote a forceful or extended speech
How did Herodotus use myth?
implausible story
How did Thucydides use myth?
distinguished the truth of history from mythical
How did Plato use myth?
untrustworthy tale or lie
What was Aristotle’s tale on history and myth?
Poetry is more philosophical/serious than history: myths give truth while history gives facts
What is the provisional definition of myth?
myth is a traditional tale with secondary, partial reference to something of collective importance
What are some characteristics of myths?
- No Greek myth is told the same way twice
- Myths evolved orally: Greeks didn’t have anything akin to written text
- myths preformed and constantly re-interpreted by poets
Who were the Epic literary sources of myths?
Homer, Hesiod, Homeric Hymns
What is Aoidoi and when was it largely dispersed?
“To sing”
early 5th century BCE
Who were the choral lyric literary sources of myths?
Stesichorus and Pindar
Who were the tragedy literary sources of myths?
Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides
What are mythographers?
author who wrote with intention to explain myth fragments
What are the different types of mythographers?
Genealogists and Hellenistic mythographers
What are the different types of Hellenistic mythographers?
Scholiasts and Collections
What are scholiast Hellenistic mythographers?
scholars who wrote notes “scholia” usually in the form of marginal commentaries to canonical literary works
What are some material culture of myth?
vase paintings
statues
votive offerings
mosaics and frescoes
coins
jewlery
Who were the Milesians?
Aristotle and Anaximander
What did Aristotle do in his works?
first to inquire into causes/principles of natural world and phenomenon
What did Aristotle believe was the first principle of all things?
Thales claimed water
What did Anaximander do in his works?
held the infinite was capable of transformation into hot, cold, wet, and dry elements
What did Anaximander believe was the first principle of nature?
Air
What is an allegory?
saying something in a different way/saying something different from what appears to be said
Who was the first person to use allegorical methods?
Theagenes of Rhegium
What is stoicism?
Philosophical school founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium
What did stoics do?
wielded physical allegory and etymology as tools that could be used to explain myth
What is historical allegory?
maintained that myth was a distortion of real historical events- myths as a result of misunderstandings of explainable events
What is euhemerism?
thesis that the gods were originally human
What is moral allegory?
interprets myth as enigmatic mode of expressing ethical doctrines
