Lecture 2 Flashcards
Which 2 works of Hesiod survived and what were they about?
The Theogony: about origin of the universe and ascension of Zeus to the ‘king of gods’
Works and Days: An account of the fall of man from a golden age to one of iron
Who were the beginning entities?
Gaea: Earth Tartarus: Sub-Earth bad place like hell Uranos: Personification of the sky Pontus: The sea Fates: 3 sisters who decide fates of human being, determine length of life thread, cut life of thread, spin life thread
Who were the important offspring of Gaea and Uranos?
Iapetus: his sons are prometheus
Rhea: Mother of Olympian Gods
Cronos: Father of Olympian Gods
What do the Cyclopes do?
craftsmith, welders, and handymen
Who were the Hecantonheires?
hundred-hand monsters
Define Succession Myth
Old generation fearing that they would be overthrown by the new generation
How did Cronos overthrow Uranos?
- Uranos fears his children so he keeps stuffing them back up Gaea
- Gaea wants revenge so she convinces her Titan children to fight back, gives Cronos earth based sickle
- Cronos Castrates Uranos
- Aphrodite rises from severed junk in Ocean
- Giants, Furies, and Nymphs rise from his spilled blood
Who were the first gen Olympians?
Hestia: harth/fireplace Demeter: Represents Earth Hera: Goddess of marriage/childbirth Hades: God of the underworld Poisedon: Sea/Ocean God Zeus: God of the sky
How did Zeus overthrow Cronos?
- Cronos warned by Uranos to beware his children so Cronos eats them
- Rhea warned by Gaea hides Zeus on the island of Crete
- Cronos eats a stone instead of Zeus
- Zeus is taken care of by nymphs, fed milk by goat Amalthea and honey from bee melissa
- Metis(“cleverness”) gives Cronos something that causes him to vomit so he throws up the stone
- This leads to war between Olympians and Titans (Titanomachy)
- With the help of Cyclopes and Hecantonheires, the Olympians, led by Zeus, defeat the titans
- Zeus banishes Titans to Tartarus except for the women who were neutral and Epimetheus, Prometheus and Atlas
Who is Typhoeus and what happened to him?
- Youngest son of Gaea and Tartaros
- Gods so fearful of him that they went to Egpyt and disguised themselves as animals to avoid him
- Zeus fights him and defeats him
- first instance of dragon motif
How is Athena born?
- Zeus escapes succession myth
- He marries Metis (human intelligence) and impregnates her
- he swallows her, gets a bad headache and then his head is split with an axe and Athena is birthed
What is the Gigantomachy?
- Giants urged by Gaea to attack Olympians
- Olympians defeat Giants
- World is split between Zeus, Poisedon and Hades
What was the Punishment of Prometheus?
- Prometheus creates humans
- At Mekone Prometheus trick Zeus into choosing nonedible animal parts to eat
- Thus Zeus withhold fire from them, Prometheus is chained to a rock where a crow eats his intestine every day and mankind is given Pandora
What is the story of Pandora?
- Gods create her very desirable
- Zeus presents her to Epimetheus as a gift
- Her jar is opened releasing all evil into the world and all good flys up to heaven
What were the works of Ovid?
Art of Love and Metamorphoses
