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
What are the differences between the Ages of Man as stated by Ovid and Hesiod?
Golden Age: beliefs similar
Silver Age: seasons introduced and people have to work(Ovid)
Weird immature people killed by Zeus (Hesiod)
Bronze Age: Immature people not entirely evil, worshipped gods (Ovid)
Ash people now created by Zeus and they kill themselves (Hesiod)
Age of Heroes:
- Doesn’t exist w/ Ovid
- Age was an exception to humanity’s decline where great heroes lived and fought
- Ovid tried to suppress this age because heroic lineage was used to justify leaders power
Iron Age:
- Final age of humanity that is to be destroyed by Zeus
- Exploitation of hard work and family relations disappear
- Man asks for too much of the earth for profit and war as well as people who are not buried properly end up stuck in purgatory (Ovid)
