Lecture 5 Flashcards
Athena/Minerva
- goddess of wisdom and crafts
- attributes: helmet, spear, owl, aegis
- strong connection with olives
- shares aegis symbol with Zeus
- born out of Zeus’ head because he ate her mother when she was pregnant
- Nike (god of victory) bursts out with her
- never gets married and preserves virginity
- says she will always side with men
- biggest sanctuary is in Athens in the Acropolis called the Parthenon
Apollo
- epithet=radiant
- god of sun, music, healing/medicine, sudden death in men, prophecy, self-control
- attributes: bow and arrows, lyre, tripod
Artemis/Diana
- goddess of the hunt, moon, childbirth
- attributes: bow and arrow, animals
- through linear b evidence, seems to be related to Potnia Theron: Mistress of Animals, involved in human fertility and animal fertility
Hermes/Mercury
- messenger of the gods
- attributes: winged sandals, travelers hat, caduceus (special staff that resembles that of symbol of medicine today)
- often travels between the earth and underworld
- provided good luck to travelers
Ithyphallic figures
-rectangular in shape with Hermes’ head at the top as an old man and has an erect penis on the rectangular base
Homeric Hymn to Hermes
- instances of Hermes’ amoral acts
- steals Apollo’s cows
- hurts the turtle-calls it a plaything then cuts it up
- lies directly to Zeus
- steals fire and gives it to man and sacrifices cows with the fire he stole
Why do they let Hermes stay in the pantheon?
- Zeus laughs at him and since he’s the god of Justice he doesn’t seem to care the others don’t either
- Hermes defends himself saying he was just born yesterday lying directly to Zeus who knows the truth
- Relatable: lots of people lie and cheat
- Etiology: this myth explains amorality
- good things come from amoral acts, ends justify the means
- Hermes doesn’t threaten Zeus because he’s Zeus’ child. Some childlike precociousness is okay and not a threat. Doesn’t want titans (Prometheus) to do anything to threaten Zeus.
- no hell in Greek system, everything is on a spectrum, allows for all the bad stuff that happens in life to not pose a threat to the gods
Hephaestus/Vulcan
- god of the forge, blacksmith god
- attributes: tools, fire, volcanoes
- only physically imperfect god (crippled)
- according to Hesiod, he’s the child of only Hera
- disabilities in Greek myth are seen as humorous at best and at worst as a reason to kill someone
Aphrodite/Venus
- goddess of love, beauty, lust
- attributes: dove, mirror, jewelry
- Hephaestus’ wife
- born for castration of Ouranos
- cannot have a female goddess that threatens Zeus’ power so myth shifted with time
- Eros gradually throughout time becomes Aphrodite’s child Cupid
Ares/Mars
- god of war, warriors, bloodlust
- attributes: weapons
- often portrayed as dumb
- often depicted in heroic nudity
Heroic nudity
- male nudity for the Greeks shows heroism.
- athletes also depicted nude
Dionysus/Bacchus/Bromius/Liber
- god of wine and altered states of being (dark animal drives)
- attributes: grapevine, cup, panthers, Thyrsus (very special staff with pinecone on top)
- has own collection of worshippers (maenad, and satyr)
Maenad
-female worshippers mad with his power
Satyr
bring out animalistic nature of people (part human/part animal) men with big beards, long hair, usually nude, large phalluses, tails and often chase the maenads around
Homeric Hymn to Demeter
- persephone-daughter of Demeter is taken by Hades with Zeus’ permission to be his wife
- Demeter searches and is very angry no one is telling her what happened to Persephone
- shuts down plants so humans can’t sacrifice which is an issue for the gods
- Persephone at a pomegranate seed and isn’t allowed to come home forever so they reach an agreement aht she can go back 2/3 of the year and is in the underworld for 1/3 of the year
- explanation of the seasons
Etiological myth
-explains the origins of natural, social, or psychological phenomena
Homeric Hymn to Demeter (2)
-demeter asks as a wet nurse for baby in Eleusis
-sticks the baby in the fire at night and feeds it food of the gods thus making it immoral trying to replace Persephone
-mother catches her so baby will never be immortal
-to make peace, Demeter tels them to build ehr a temple
-shows misunderstanding between humans and gods
mystery cult (religious system) explained by this hymn as well (specifically the worship of Hades, Demeter and Persephone)
