Pantheon of the Gods Flashcards
Descendants of chaos
gaia (earth, fertility mother)
eros (love)
tartarus (depths of earth/ punishment)
erebus (deep darkness and shadows)
nyx (night)
decendents of erebus and nyx
hemera (day) and aether (light)
Descendents of gaia, Descendents of chaos
uranus (sky), ourea (mountains), and pontus (sea)
Next generation decendents of gaia and uranus
12 titans
cyclopes (3 single eyes giants)
hecatonchires (300 handed creatures)
after they were born, uranus locked the hecatonchires and cyclopes in the belly of the earth.
=> fear of children overthrowing fathers, hatred between children and fathers.
Gaias 6 sons
Cronus* (time) Oceanus* (oceans) Iapetos^ (mortality) Hyperion^ (light) Crius^ (constellations) Coeus^ (intellect)
Gaias 6 daugters
Rhea* (fertility) Tethys (fresh water) Mnemosyne* (memory) Theia* (sight) Themis* (divine law and order) Phoebe (oracle of Delphi)
descendants of cronus and rhea
many!
descendants of oceanus and tethys
oceanids
descendants of hyperion and theia
parents of Helios (the sun), Selene (the moon), and Eos (the dawn).
descendants of coeus and thoebe
leto (mother of apollo
mnemosyne
mother of the Muses, patron goddesses of poets.
Themis
= mother of spring-time Horai (seasons) and death-bringing Mourai (the Fates).
Sons of lapetos
Atlas = held the sky aloft, personified the quality of endurance.
Prometheus = god of forethought and crafty counsel – he also moulded mankind out of clay (as we shall see in Ovid).
Epimetheus = god of hindsight, his name literally
means ‘after-thinking’, and therefore stands as the contrast to his brother Prometheus.
Menoetius = name means ‘doomed might’, and generally thought of as the god of violent anger/rash action (although not definitive).
atlas
held the sky aloft, personified the quality of endurance
prometheus
god of forethought and crafty counsel – he also moulded mankind out of clay (as we shall see in Ovid).
epimetheus
god of hindsight, his name literally means ‘after-thinking’, and therefore stands as the contrast to his brother Prometheus.
menoetius
name means ‘doomed might’, and generally thought of as the god of violent anger/rash action (although not definitive).
Castration of uranus
Uranus hated his children (the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes).
Gaia asks her Titan children for help after being
continually sexually violated by Uranus.
Cronus steps up!
Hyperion, Crius, Coeus, and Iapetus posted at the four corners of the earth to hold the sky up.
Cronus (in the centre of the earth) castrates Uranus with an adamantine sickle just as he was about to lay with Gaia….. OUCH!!!
After Uranus’ defeat, he fled, never to be seen again – the six brothers were released from Gaia’s belly (although they were then eventually locked back up in Tarturus).
The ‘heaven’ (Uranus) was thus kept in its place ‘above’ the earth (Gaia) from this point forward.
The birth of aphrodite (Castration of Uranus)
Contact of Uranus’ penis with the sea.
A “foam” was created upon contact…
Aphrodite appears!
Hesiod’s story (187-192) – “And as soon as he had cut off the members with flint and cast them from the land into the sea, they were swept away over the main for a long time, and a white foam spread around the immortal flesh, and in it grew there a maiden.”
NOTE: this is not the only origin story of Aphrodite
Descendants of Cronus and Rhea
Hesatia
Demeter
hera
Hades
Poseidon
Zeus
The birth of zeusRhea presenting a stone, meant to be Zeus, to her partner Cronus
Uranus and Gaia prophesized that one of Cronus’ sons would eventually depose all of the Titans.
Cronus took to EATING each one of his offspring as they were born.
Rhea contrived a plan with the help of her parents to hide the birth of her new son (Zeus) Cronus.
She went to Crete to give birth.
When Rhea had given birth to Zeus, she gave Cronus a stone wrapped in baby’s clothes for him to eat instead.
Zeus was then hidden in a cave and allowed to reach maturity from his unwitting father.
Main sources for the titanomachy
Our main source for the Titanomachy story is Hesiod’s Theogony.
Ancient sources also suggest that there was a full epic written about the event, (called the Titanomachia) but this is now lost to us.
beginning of the titanomachy
Zeus has reached adulthood – now what?
He masquerades as a cup-bearer for the unsuspecting Cronus in order to gain a position of access and trust.
With the help of Metis (= one of the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys), he gives Cronus a potion involving a mixture of mustard and wine = causes Cronus to vomit out all of his other children.
Now that all the six brothers and sisters are free, it is GAME ON!
Titans vs olympians
the titanomachy
The Titans
Based on Mount Othyrs.
Led by Cronus – but Atlas is another very important figure.
Joined by all other Titans, with a couple of exceptions….
The Olympians
Based on Mount Olympus.
Led by Zeus.
Joined by his brothers and sisters – Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon.
Defections – Themis and her son Prometheus do not side with their fellow Titans.
Hecatonchires and Cyclopes – released.
Ending of the titanomachy
Zeus and his allies triumph.
Titans are imprisoned in Tarturus, with the Hecatonchires acting as guards.
Division of the world between Zeus (sky/heavens), Poseidon (sea), and Hades (underworld) BUT Zeus is top dog!
Special punishment for Atlas because he sided with the Titans = has to ‘hold up the sky’ (left – ‘Farnese Atlas’, Naples National Archaeological Museum).
Zeus and Hera
Brother and sister – but also husband and wife!
Seduction - Pausanius, Description of Greece, 2.17.4 = “They explain the presence of a cuckoo seated on the sceptre [of Hera] by the story of when Zeus was in love with Hera, and, in her maidenhood, he changed himself into this bird, and she caught it to be her pet”
The ultimate love/hate relationship.
the 12 olympian gods
Demeter Hera Poseidon Zeus Hephaistos Apollo Artemis Hermes Dionysus Athene Ares Aphrodite
Often exclude Hades and Hestia
Zeus
Complex guy!
Tumultuous rise to power – Titanomachy.
“Supreme leader”
BUT note Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 5.31-52 – he is not “all powerful”.
Had famous religious sanctuaries dedicated to him at Olympia and Dodora.
Zeus symbols and sttributes
Lightening bolt. Royal sceptre. A throne – guarded by four winged spirits: Kratos (strength), Zelos (rivalry), Nike (victory), and Bia (force). Usually a mature man. Long robe (chiton) and cloak (himaton). Wreath of olive leaves.
Ganymede
symbol and attributes of Zeus
Trojan prince who was carried off to heaven by Zeus (eagle).
Appointed a cup-bearer of the gods.
In art – depicted as a handsome youth always. In scenes of his abduction, he holds a rooster (a lover’s gift), a hoop (a boy’s toy), or a lyre. When portrayed as the cup-bearer, he pours nectar from a jug.
Homer Iliad 20.230-34
“And to Tros [lord of the Trojans] in turn there were born three sons unfaulted, Ilos, Assarakos, and godlike Ganymede who was the loveliest born of the race of mortals, and therefore the gods caught him away to themselves to be Zeus’ wine pourer, for the sake of his beauty, so he might be amongst the immortals”.
Hera
Queen of the Gods!
Mainly associated with women and marriage.
Always depicted as a beautiful woman.
Holds lotus-tipped sceptre, sometimes accompanied by a peacock.
Myths often involve jealousy and persecution of Zeus’ objects of desire (can you blame her?!)
The children of zeus and hera(together and separately!)
Zeus and Hera had four children together…..
Outside of the Pantheon:
Hebe – goddess of youth, cup-bearer, went on to become the wife of Heracles.
Eilethyia – goddess of childbirth.
In the Pantheon crew:
Ares
Hephaestus (?)
Ares and Hephaestus could not be more different…..
Ares
God of WAR!
Usually dressed like a standard Greek warrior (which makes it hard to identify him).
Symbols = peaked helmet, shield, spear, sword (sometimes).
EITHER a mature, bearded warrior armed for battle, OR a nude, beardless youth with a helm and spear?!
Hephaestus
HUGE contrast to his brother Ares.
love triangle with his wife? aphrodite and ares
He is lame: Iliad 20.37 = “He went the way of these in the pride of his great strength limping, and yet his shrunken legs moved lightly beneath him”/ Odyssey 8.267 “I am a cripple from birth”.
Some stories say he was created without Zeus in a sort of immaculate conception (just the product of Hera) BUT the Homeric texts seem to refer to Hera AND Zeus as his parents.
Banished from Olympus as a baby because of his lame-ness, but he was saved and looked after by the marine divinities Thetis and Eurynome – despite this, he was still always faithful and good with Hera.
Contentious relationship with his parents - Also tossed from Olympus for siding with Hera in one the many Hera-Zeus showdowns – Iliad 1.590-611.
How did Hephaestus get back to Olympus after his initial banishment?
Dionysus brings hephaestus back to olympus – Pausanius, Description of greece, 1.20.3
“One of the legends is that Hephaestus, when he was born, was thrown down by Hera. In revenge, he sent as a gift a golden chair with invisible fetters. When Hera sat down she was held fast, and Hephaestus refused to listen to any other of the gods save Dionysus – in him he reposed the fullest trust – and after making him drunk, Dionysus brought him to heaven”
Hephaestus: Symbols and Attributes
God of the fire and metallurgy.
Famously forged the shield of Achilles
Iliad 18.477-549
“First of all he forged a shield that was huge and heavy,
Elaborating it about, and threw it a shining
Triple rim that glittered, and the shield strap was a cast of silver.
There were five folds composing the shield itself, and upon it
He elaborated many things in his skills and craftsmanship.”
descendants of ares and aphrodite
Phoebus – ‘Fear’
Deimos – ‘Terror’
Harmonia – ‘Harmony’
Adrestia – “she who cannot be escaped”, goddess of revolt
The Erotes – a collection of winged gods associated with love and sexuality, the most famous of which is Eros (= Cupid!).
Zeus’ children with otherwoman besides hera
many! but 4 key
athena
hermes
apollo
artimis
Athena
Goddess of wisdom and good counsel. Associated with heroic endeavours. Weaving, pottery, and other crafts. Depicted as a stately woman armed with a shield and spear, a long robe, crested helm, and the aegis. Green-eyed (or bright-eyed).
Birth of athena
Born out of Zeus’ head?!? Background = another prophecy about a child being more powerful than their father – another case of someone deciding to eat a person to solve a problem?! As you do!
Hesiod, Theogony 929ff.
“But he [Zeus] seized her [Metis] with his hands and put her in his belly for fear that she might bring something stronger than his thunderbolt. Therefore Zeus did swallow her down suddenly. But she straightaway conceived Pallas Athena, and the father of men and gods gave birth by way of his head…arrayed in arms of war”
Athena and connections to Athens
Competition between Athena and Poseidon for the land – Zeus acts as judge.
Athena – creates the first olive tree.
Poseidon – brings water to the plains.
Athena wins – hence, ATHENS!
Plato, Menexenis 237c: “Our country [Athens] is deserving of praise, not only from us but from all men, on many grounds, but first and foremost because she is god-beloved. The strife of the gods who contended over her and their judgement testify to the truth of our statement”.
Famous Athena Myth = Weaving contest with arachne
Arachne claims she can weave better than athena. athena then turned her into a spider. where the terms arachnid comes from
Her attention turned
To the undoing of Maeonian Arachne,
Who (it was said) accepted praise that set her
Above the goddess in the art of weaving,
A girl renowned not for her place of birth
Not for her family, but for her art”
Hermes
Son of Zeus and Maia.
Father of Pan.
Messenger to the gods.
Guide to the Underworld.
God of…. Herds and flocks. Travellers and hospitality. Roads and trader. Thievery and cunning. Heralds and diplomacy. Language and writing. Athletic contests. Astronomy and astrolog
Symbols of Hermes
Herald’s wand – kerykeion. Sometimes armed with a small sword. Knee-length robe, short cloak, and a brimmed traveller’s hat. Winged boots. Herma – boundary markers
Hermes’ Inclusion in the Pantheon
Summary of the Homeric Hymn to Hermes from Apollodorus:
conflict with apollo. as a baby stole a calf from apollow and made the first lyre from a tortoise shell
“Though he was laid out in swaddling clothes with her winnowing basket for a cradle, he escaped and made his way to Pieria, where he stole some cattle from Apollo…
Outside the cave, he found a tortoise feeding. He cleaned it out, and stretched across the shell strings made from the cattle he has sacrificed, and when he had thus devised a lyre he also invented a plectrum…
When Apollo heard the lyre, he exchanged the cattle for that…
And Zeus made Hermes his personal herald and messenger of the gods beneath the earth.”
Artemis
Goddess of hunting, wilderness, wild animals.
Goddess of childbirth.
Daughter of Zeus and Leto.
Twin of Apollo.
Usually depicted as a young girl – a beautiful virgin goddess.
Sacred animal – deer.
symbols and attributes of artemis
Most distinctive symbol – bow and arrows.
Sometimes seen with a quiver, pair of hunting spears, torch, lyre, or water jug.
Clothes – knee-length girl’s robe OR a full-length woman’s robe, with a cloak, headgear, and occasionally a pelt of a deer on her shoulders.
Artemis and actaeon
Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.30
actaeon is hunting with his dogs and comes across artemis and his nymphs naked. He watches and she gets angry and transfroms him into a stag and has him torn apart by his own dogs
“…Actaeon, who was reared by Kheiron and trained as a huntsman, but was later eaten up on Kithairon by his own dogs [because] he saw Artemis bathing. They say that the goddess changed him on the spot into a deer, and drove his fifty hunting dogs into a frenzy so that they unintentionally ate him.”
Apollo
God of prophecy & divination.
Patron of music & the arts - leader of the Muses.
Famous shrine and oracle at Delphi.
Also called Phoebus Apollo - “the shining one” – association with the Sun-god.
Represents both violence and restraint – he is a healer, but also a bringer of plague.
Contrast with Dionysus – rational vs. irrational.
Apollos amorous adventures
Daphne
Daphne (Ovid Met. 1.452ff.) – loved by Apollo and hounded mercilessly by him until she grew exhausted and cried out for help from Gaia. She was transformed into a laurel tree.
Apollos amorous adventures
hyacinthus
Hyacinthus – a beautiful Spartan prince and lover of Apollo (but also admired by the west wind Zephyrus, the north wind Boreas, and a mortal man called Thamyris). One day, Apollo and Hyacinthus were playing a game of quoit but, during this friendly competition, Hyacinthus was killed by a discuss – perhaps accidentally, or perhaps because Zephyrus blew it in his direction on purpose. In his devastation, Apollo created the Hyacinth flower to remember his lover; and, eventually, he resurrected him and gave him immortality. The Spartan festival of Hyacinthia (in the spring time) was originally a festival that started with mourning for the boy, but it eventually morphed into a celebration of Apollo in general.
Apollos amorous adventures
cyparissus
Cyparissus (Ovid Met. 106ff.) – Cyparissus’ favourite companion was a stag, but he accidentally killed it hunting one day. The boy’s grief turned him into a cypress tree (=classical symbol of mourning).
Apollos amorous adventures
coronis
Coronis was a princess of the Thessalian kingdom of Phlegyantis and loved by Apollo.
Whilst pregnant with his child, she committed adultery with a man name Iskys. When Apollo found out, he asked Artemis to kill Coronis, which she did.
Apollo did feel some remorse and recovered the child from Coronis’ womb – grew up to be Asclepius = Greek god of medicine (continuing his father’s connection to healing and disease).
Asclepius was trained in healing with the centaur Chiron.
Asclepius went on to marry Epione – the goddess of soothing, and they had many children together, all of which were associated with aspects of medicine, healing, and recuperation.
Demeter
Demeter(Hades & Persephone, Gian-Lorenzo Bernini (1621-1622))
Goddess of Agriculture (wheat, grain, bread).
Presided over the Elysium Mystery Cults – blessed afterlife.
Depicted as a mature woman, often wearing a crown or bearing sheaves of wheat or a cornucopia (horn of plenty) and a torch.
The main myth we associate with Demeter actually relates to her AND her daughter Persephone, and a “relationship” with Hades (god of the Underworld).
The story of the abduction of Persephone by Hades is also termed the Rape of Persephone.
The Rape of Persephone
Story is briefly mentioned in Hesiod’s Theogony, but told in detail in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter:
It is said that Zeus permitted Hades, who was in love with Persephone, to abduct her – because Demeter was unlikely to allow her daughter to go to the underworld.
Persephone was gathering flowers in a field when Hades abducted her.
When Demeter found out her daughter was missing, she scorched the earth and (in her role as goddess of agriculture) forbade the earth to produce – as long as her daughter was not returned to her, her grief would now allow anything to grow.
Helios, the sun god (who sees everything), told Demeter what had happened – so she knew it was Hades.
Eventually, Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone because he was being pressed by the cries of the hungry people.
Hades final Trick in the story of Demeter and Persephone
BUT Hades had one final trick….
He did comply with Zeus’ request to return Persephone, but, first, he tricked her into eating some pomegranate seeds.
Persephone was released from the underworld by Hermes, who had been sent to retrieve her BUT because she had tasted food in the underworld, she was obliged to spend half of her time there, with the other half of the year with the gods above.
This is how Persephone ends up with the dual role = goddess of spring BUT also of the un-dead = related to rebirth and recycling of the ages.
Dionysus
Olympian god of wine, vegetation, pleasure, festivity, madness, and ‘wild frenzy’.
Depicted as either an older bearded god, or effeminate long-haired youth.
Attributes include the thyrsos (a pine-cone tipped staff), a drinking cup, and a crown of ivy.
Also referred to as Bacchus.
Famous for the way he ‘possesses’ his followers.
Dionyssu Birth and Origin Story
Son of Zeus and Semele of Thebes (daughter of Cadmus).
Hera tricked Semele into asking Zeus to appear before her in his full glory.
Bound by oath, the god was forced to comply and the heat of his lightening bolts consumed her.
Zeus recovered their unborn child from her body, sewed him up in his thigh, and carried him to term.
Dionysus was then entrusted to the care of the elderly satyr Sellenos and the Nymphs of Nysa; and later to the care of his aunt Ino, Semele’s sister, and her husband Athamas.
Hera’s jealously continued – she drove Ino and Athamus mad, causing them to kill both their children and themselves.
Nature of Dionysus & His Retinue
Female followers = referred to as Bacchae or Maenads –a mysterious cult that came to be associated with sexual ‘freedom’.
Festival of the Bacchanalia celebrated in Rome (said to be based on earlier Greek versions related to Dionysus – orgiastic cult rituals appear to have begun in Thrace)
In Livy’s account, the Bacchic mysteries were originally restricted to women and held only three times a year, they eventually became ‘corrupted’ and basically became an excuse for drunken, disinhibited men and women of all ages and social classes to cavort in a sexual free-for-all five times a month.
Satyrs were also a key part of Dionysus’ retinue = male nature spirits with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. Believed to inhabit remote locales, such as woodlands, mountains, and pastures.
Dionysus and Ariadne
Ariadne is the daugter of king minus of crete, and assisted thesesis in his quest to slay the minotaur. Her and thesesis fled to the island of maxus. Thesesis abandoned her. Dionysus discovers her on the beach sleeping.
Dionysus & Ariadne – from Catullus 64:
“But from another part of the quilt, Bacchus, in the glory of his youth, has been flying about, along with his troop of Satyrs and his attendants from Mount Nysa, looking for you Ariadne, and inflamed by your love. The Maenads have raved for Bacchus dispersedly, with frenzied mind! The Maenads are throwing back their heads! Some of them were shaking spears with a covered tip, some were tossing about the limbs of a bullock which had been torn apart, some were wrapping themselves with twisted serpents, and some were honouring esoteric icons with hollow wicker boxes, icons about which the uninitiated long to hear; others were beating tomtoms with long palms or producing tinny, clangorous sounds with polished bronze; for many, horns blasted harsh sounding, booming bass sounds; and an outlandish pipe made a strident shriek and played a dreadful song”.
Bacchae of Euripides
Bacchae – written in 410BCE. Key Characters/Place Thebes Cadmus, grandfather of Pentheus (king of thebes) retired Agave, sister of Semele Pentheus, son of Agave Dionysus – new god – being badmouthed by Agave and Semele!
Tiresias, priest of traditional religion Euripides, Bacchae 215-247 Pentheus as an adversary of the ‘new’ god Dionysus Euripides, Bacchae 714-774 Pentheus as sacrificial victim Euripides, Bacchae 811-846 Torn to bits by Agave Euripides, Bacchae 1084-1152
read story// see slides (slide 15,pantheon pt 2)
Hestia
Virgin goddess of the hearth and the home.
Associated with the sacrificial flame.
First-born child of Rhea and Cronus.
Modestly-veiled woman, sometimes holding a flowered branch.
Aphrodite:
Orgins and Attributes
Origins:
Castration of Uranus.
Zeus & Dione.
Nature & Appearance of Aphrodite
Beauty, love, Marriage.
Always depicted as a beautiful (and often nude) woman – and her attributes include a dove, apple, scallop shell, and a mirror.
Importance of Praxiteles’ work – Aphrodite of Knidos (4th century BCE).
Aphrodite and Anchises
Anchises = member of the royal family of Troy.
Mortal lover of Aphrodite/Venus.
Son = Aeneas – the proto-founder of Rome (= provides the city with divine ancestry).
Union described in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite.
Euripides Hippolytus
Artemis vs aphrodite fight to the death (but they cant die)
Hippolytus, devotee of Artemis Aphrodite angry Euripides, Hippolytus 10-25 Phaedra Euripides, Hippolytus 412-430 Phaedra kills herself and accuses Hippolytus of rape Theseus exiles Hippolytus, not believing his story. Hippolytus dies.
See slides (slide 21, pantheon part 2)
Poseidon
God of the sea earthquakes, floods, droughts, and horses
Most distinctive attribute = trident – a three-pronged fishing spear.
Stern character – rough, unkempt, called ‘the earthshaker’.
Rides a hippocampus – half horse/half fish creature.
Depicted as a mature man in art – either clothed in a robe or depicted nude with a cloak draped loosely over his arms. Often crowned with a wreath of wild celery or a simple headband.
Often angry! Contest with Athena/ HATES Odysseus!
Poseidon sex life
Poseidon sure got around – like his brother Zeus!
He had lovers of both sexes, and fathered both mortal and immortal children.
His consort was Amphitrite, a nymph – had a son = Triton.
Fathered many heroes, including, it was said, Theseus.
Tried to sleep with both Hestia and Thetis – he did sleep with Demeter but only through an act of sexual assault.
Similarly, he also raped Medusa – on the floor of the temple of Athena – who was then punished by Athena (why her not him?! Victim blaming occurs A LOT in Greek myth) and turned into a monster.
Key sea Deities
oceanus
trition
proteus
nereus
nereids
Oceanus
Oceanus – the stream of Ocean
Oceanids –kids; river gods
triton
son of Poseidon &Amphitrite
blew on a shell – trumpeter
Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.330-347
proteus
old man of the sea
Foretell future
Change shape at will
Nereus
another old man of the sea
nereids
3 important:
Thetis, Galatea, Amphitrite
Beautiful
Thetis
Goddess of the sea - leader of the fiftyNereids.
Like many other sea gods, she possessed the gift of prophesy and power to change her shape at will.
Because of a prophecy that she was destined to bear a son greater than his father, Zeus had her marry a mortal man. Peleus, the chosen groom, was instructed to ambush her on the beach, and not release his grasp of the struggling goddess as she metamorphosed into a host of shapes.
The couple were afterwards married in a ceremony attended by all the gods of heaven. She bore a son, the celebrated hero – Achilles – so we will come in to contact with both Thetis and Achilles a lot more soon!
Galatea
Galatea = often depicted in art as a beautiful woman riding side-saddle on the back of a sea-monster or a fish-tailed god.
Story of Acis and Galatea:
Polyphemus = a Cyclops, and the son of Poseiodon – falls in love with Galatea.
Offers Galatea gifts and sings her songs.
BUT he is rejected because Galatea is in love with Acis.
In a jealous rage, Polyphemus kills Acis by crushing him with a huge rock.
Amphitrite
Pursued by Poseidon but initially reluctant to wed
.
Hid with Atlas but the dolphin-god Delphin tracks her down.
Eventually marries Poseidon and they have a son – Triton, the merman
Tritan is often depicted blowing on conch shell.
Amphitrite regularly depicted alongside Poseidon riding in his hippocampus.
Children of the sea
Scylla ans charydbis
iris
harpies
graeae
gorgons
scylla and charydbis
Scylla – terrible monster -
transformation at hands of Amphitrite or Circe (both because of jealousy of some sort) - Straits of Messina identified as real life location?
Charybdis – Whirlpool
“between Scylla and Charybdis” – idiom for being forced to choose between two equally dangerous situations
iris
Iris (rainbow) – beautiful, married to Zephrys (god of the west wind).
harpies
Harpies (snatchers) – half-human/half-bird – vicious, cruel, and violent.
graeae
Graeae (old women) – ‘the grey sisters’ - daughters of the sea-deities Phorcys and Ceto and sisters to the Gorgons. Took the form of old, grey-haired women.
gorgons
Gorgons - Stheno, Euryale, Medusa - three sisters who had hair made of living, venomous snakes as a well as a horrifying visage that would turn those who looked at them into stone. Traditionally, Stheno and Euryale were immortal but Medusa was not and she was slain by Perseus (more on this in heroes week!).
When the blood that spurted from Medusa’s neck made contact with the sea – Pegasus (flying horse!) and Chrysaor were born = sons of Medusa and Poseidon, effectively.
Hades: God of the Underworld
Eldest son of Cronus and Rhea – but the last to be regurgitated by his father, because they came back up in reverse order… naturally!
‘King of the Dead’.
Presided over funeral rites and defended the right of the dead to a due and proper burial.
Assumption that Underworld = inherently ‘evil’.
For the Greeks, Hades was seen more as a ‘balance’ to Zeus.
Hades: Symbols and Attributes
Depicted as a dark-bearded, regal god.
Often accompanied by his three-headed guard dog – Cerberus (‘the hound of Hades’) – who guards the gates of the underworld to prevent the dead from living.
Example of classical reception with Cerberus – the three-headed guard dog Fluffy in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is clearly inspired by the mythical creature.
Mythical narratives – primarily the Demeter/Persephone story.
Cereberus
Cerberus is usually described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from multiple parts of his body.
Cerberus primarily known as the Twelfth and final labour of the hero Heracles (which we will be looking at during heroes week!).
The characters and Characters of the underworld
Rivers: Styx (hate), Acheron (woe), Cocytus (wailing), Lethe (forgetfulness), Phlegethon (fire).
Hades and Persephone.
Hermes Psychopompus.
Charon the ferryman – must pay him!
Cerberus.
3 judges: Minos, Rhadamanthys, Aeacus
Furies: Allecto, Megaera, Tisiphone
Where to the dead go
Tarturus – BAD!
Asphodel Fields/Meadows – indifferent.
Elysium/Elysian Fields – GOOD!
The sinners
(In)famous inhabitants of Tarturus: Tityros. Ixion. Sisyphus (right – Titian, 1548-9) Tantulus (please ignore my passing reference in the audio to the House of Atreus – I switched the order of some content after I had recorded – so you have not missed anything – we will cover this later in the semester!) Danaids.
Tityros
attempted to rape lito at the beheist of hera
slain by artemis and apollo
stretched out in tarturus and had two vultures his liver which grew back each day
Ixion
lusted for hera after being invited to olympus by zeus
blasted by a thunderbolt from olympus
stuck in a hamsterwheel on fire (wheel of misfortune)
Sisyphus
was too full of himself
had to roll a huge boudler up a hill, which would roll down and become almost crushed by it
tantulus
served his son paelops as a sacrifice to the gods.
had to kit under a fruit tree. with fruit and water always out of reach
where the phrase tantalizing comes from
Danaids
the 50 daughters of denais.
murdered their husbands on their wedding night
had to carry water on a seive
Sources for classical accounts of creation
Classical Accounts of Creation: Homer - not much to say Hesiod - Theogony and Works & Days Bitter (?) perspective on life 1st Greek account of creation Muses important to him Ovid - Metamorphoses Homeric Hymns Even Aristophanes
Some recurring themes/events
Incest, incest, and more incest
Kids hating their fathers & a father hating his kids
The younger generations replacing the older
The ages of man/ humanity
4 or 5 ages Ovid: 4 Metamorphoses 1.126ff. Hesiod: 5 (heroes) Hesiod, Works and Days 106ff.
Gold
Best
Cronus (Saturn) king
Free of toils
Silver Olympians in charge Childhood long adult life short Not respectful of Olympians
Bronze Made by Olympians Violent & quite strong Everything bronze When dead went to Hades
Heroes
Demigods
Events @ Thebes & Troy
humans go to the elysian fields after death
Iron Life is hard Good mixed with evil Little concern for family Justice lacking
The story of Promethesus and the transition from the golden to the silver age
REMEMBER: Zeus fears being overthrown!
Prometheus is:
Son of Iapetus (Titan) & Clymene
Quarrel between gods & men Prometheus settles (?) things – at Mecone. (told by Hesiod in the theogony)
He butchers ox & divvies up the pieces: Bones fat Meat stomach Zeus to choose He picks fat Zeus gets pissed no more fire & grain Prometheus gives humans fire & grain anyway
Pandora and the jar
Prometheus’ fault: (he gave humanity fire)
Hesiod, Theogony 570-616; Works & Days 47-105.
1st woman (v. similar to Christian ‘Eve’ in terms of moral connotations – unfortunately!)
Hephaestus’ creation. (first woman)
Athena’s role. (dresses in the jewelry, gown and veil)
Hermes’ role. (shameful mind and deceitful nature)
Pandora means “all gifts”.
Pandora’s jar:
Do not open! (burdens and toil and sickness)
Thesises warns Epimetheus to not accept anything from zeus. He accepts anyways and jar is opened.
“Hope alone remained within”.
Prometheus bound
Zeus vs. Prometheus For all that he did Prometheus is punished Bound by chains high up in mountains Eagle of Zeus chomps on liver It regenerates
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound Characterization of Hephaestus Zeus as tyrant Prometheus’ gifts to mankind (also gave them medicine, maths, metallurgy and agriculture) Grumpy pants! Justifiably? Prometheus Bound 442-506 Prometheus Bound 1076-1093
