The Nature of the Olympian Gods Flashcards
Conditions of being a hero
Extraordinary achievements and contributions, extreme behaviour, harmful heroes, to solve a crisis, related to identity
How many gods are there traditionally thought to be?
12 in the pantheon
Books by Hesiod
Theogony- birth of the gods, and Works and Days- when to perform certain agricultural tasks and how to lead a morally good life with advice on how to worship the gods
Sources for the nature of the gods
Homer, Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns- Thogony and the Homeric hymns frequently discussed the birth of the gods
Ways that Greeks shows their reciprocal relationship with the gods
sacrifice, votive offerings, libations, prayers
Zeus’ common epithets
Zeus Agoraios: ‘of the agora’, oversight over selling and buying goods
Zeus Phratrios
Zeus Philios: the god of individual and household well-being, prosperity and purification
Zeus Herkeios: ‘of the fence/courtyard’, protector of the families
Example of a bad hero
Cleomedes- disqualified from the Olympic Games for killing opponent. So angry he ripped down a school roof killing sixty children
Stafford anthropomorphism
‘a fundamental characteristic of the Greek pantheon’
Kearns hero cult
‘important feature of official religion’
Ekroth hero cult state
‘the importance of a hero for the internal development of a city could be enhanced when needed’
Ekroth hero cult personal
‘an intimate and original connection with a particular hero was far from necessary’
Example of god Panhellenic v. private
Apollo Agyeios was a household deity but Pythian Apollo was worshipped by Greeks all over the world at Delphi
Ekroth hero cult local
‘the prominence of heroes is even more apparent’
When were Homer and Hesiod active?
8th century
definition of votive offering
a dedication to a god by an individual as part of a ‘contract’ or vow made between mortal and deity
Mikalson reciprocal relationship
it is the honour which ‘a good subject owes to a good king’- both were deserving
Worshipping heroes
Heracles worshipped throughout Greece, most heroes were only worshipped at one specific location. Worshipped with rites very similar to each other, with an animal sacrifice at its centre and the common consumption of the sacrificial meat
Herakles
Unique as was born mortal, died and became a god and was worshipped as both hero and god. Hero-doctor Asclepius similarly worshipped throughout the Greek world and was perceived primarily as a god but of mortal descent
Redfield gods in epic
‘chief source of comedy’
Kirk
add variety
Griffin
‘really impressive gods’ who deserve to be worshipped
Allan
divine justice
