Greek Mythology: Gods, Goddesses, and the Origin of the Olympians - Prof. Eva Marie Stehle, Study notes of Classical Literature

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Homer - Greek, before Roman Ovid  thought to be blind because he put a blind singer in his works, thought to be a reflection of himself  no original form of a myth (no definitive version because oral tradition) Greek Gods  Olympian: ZPDD 5HA  ZPDD: Zeus, Poseidon, Dionysus, Demeter 5H: Hades, Hermes, Hephaestus, Hera, Hestia 5A: Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis, Apollo 1st Generation of Olympians Zeus King of the gods/god of air Jupiter Poseidon God of the sea Neptune Hades God of the underworld Pluto, Dis Demeter Goddess of the grain, harvest Ceres Hera Goddess of marriage, birth Juno Hestia Goddess of the hearth Vesta  The gods divide the world, the goddesses are of culture 2nd Generation of Olympians Aphrodite Goddess of Love Venus Athena Goddess of war and wisdom Minerva Apollo God of music and prophecy (poets and prophets) Apollo Artemis Goddess of the hunt Diana Ares God of war Mars Hermes Messenger god, god of travellers, thieves, and merchants (Boundary crosser) Mercury Hephaestus God of fire Vulcan Dionysus God of wine, madness, and theatre Liber, Bacchus  Anthropomorphism (anthropos = human being, morphe = shape)  The gods were incredibly beautiful, human-shaped, with human emotions  Envisioning the non-human in human form  Lived on Mt. Olympus (because originally Zeus was a mountain God; Mt. Olympus is also the highest mountain in Greece.) Once the Greeks became more familiar with the area, the gods were moved into the sky and Mt. Olympus was also existent in the sky. Muses  Nymphs - anthropomorphic view of nature  Inspire poets  Reflect oral tradition - Homer, Hesiod, Orpheus (son of a muse)  Beautiful young virgin goddesses Homer  Probably a myth himself  Iliad  Odyssey  Both were very different, so it seems unlikely that they were by the same author  Oral poets begin by invoking a muse to say that their songs were true Hesiod  name attached to stories about wisdom and the birth of the world  Works and Days  Theogeny (Birth of Gods)  Always emphasizes Zeus Why Muses?  Myth was handed down through oral tradition o Claimed truth o Included accounts of the gods  Muses authorize the singer's "myth" o Mythos - authoritative speech  Muses give bards freedom to create new versions "tellings" of inherited stories (they could say that the muses were lying to another bard and their version is true) Theogeny  pg. 27-28 o Helicon (or Parnassus) is where the Muses are - needs a lot of authority because he's telling a story about the birth of the world (From Babylon) o Zeus is the core of the world, but he wasn't until Hesiod emphasized him o Muses are singers  pg. 29-30 o name Hesiod (the Greek says "me, Hesiod") o The Muses can tell lies like truths o All humans are "evil oafs, nothing but bellies" o Only knew things when they receive new from Gods o Receives a Laurel branch - associated with prophecy, and the breath of a divine voice --> Hesiod is like a muse himself  Chaos gives birth by itself  Hesiod's changes o Chaos - unshaped space o Gaia gives birth to Ouranos o Tartarus o Eros o Not bodies (Enuma Elish) but sex (Greeks) o Anxiety on the part of the Greek man that he will be relaced by his son o Cronus cuts off his father's PENIS and becomes king. Aphrodite grows FROM THE COCK THROWN IN THE OCEAN. (the chicken of the sea. HAAHAHAHAHA)  Aphrodite - sex continues to be important  sexual love and desire drives the rest of procreation  The sky was on top of the Earth so the children couldn't get out (they were continually having sex) until Ouranos was castrated.  Kronos swallowed all his children and rhea prayed to her parents to release them  Zeus is afraid of having sons with Hera because he doesn't want to be overthrown  Zeus is the only ,male who can create. In previous generations the male tries to take the power of creation from the female (male dominance in Greek society)  Enuma Elish o "God" is simply a supernatural being. Tiamat and Apsu are not worshipped. o Tiamat and Apsu (~Gaia and Ouranos)  Sexual reproduction  Ea (grandson) kills Apsu, makes him into the underworld, builds his palace on him. o Ea and wife (~Kronos and Rhea)  sexual reproduction, one son (Marduk)  Makes a constellation appear by speaking o Marduk (~Zeus)  Proclaimed king of the gods  Kills Tiamat, fashions earth and sky from her body  Speak and fashions o From female power to male power. Hesiod's changes  Hesiod's story is the "Succession Myth"  Chaos comes into being, gives birth alone to darkness and night.  Gaia comes into being, gives birth alone to Ouranos (sky) o Gaia and Ouranos have children  Tartarus comes into being  Eros comes into being  Not bodies but sex, because sex is dangerous  Don't need a male to give birth  Hecatoncheires (hundred-hands)  Gaia and Kronos together punish Ouranos o not killed but becomes a place (the sky)  His blood and semen o Erinyes (Furies), Giants, Nymphs  The Furies punish people who violate familial piety o Aphrodite  Zeus defeats Kronos, not Gaia (the original female)  Zeus does not make the cosmos  Overall o mother and son vs. father o sexual relations o fully anthropomorphic conception of cosmos  Abstractions - Justice, memory, etc. o Organizing myths Populating the Cosmos  Night - Fates, death, sleep, dreams, blame, lies, Nemesis, deceit, love, strife, etc.  Sea gods and numphs  Monsters from hero myths  Rivers, son, moon, winds  Hecate (local goddess)  Marduk and Zeus are both storm gods Zeus and Typhoeus  Zeus is always fighting off threats, unlike Marduk who is king forever  Typhoeus - near east monster who is a child of Gaia Battle of Gods and giants - Gaia birth giants, she doesn't fully accept Zeus as ruler Birth of Athena  first wife of Zeus is Metis  Zeus swallows his wife to control her and gives birth from his head Hera and Zeus  Hera is his wife ("the wife")  Pulling the veil aside - "I am desirable" Seduction on Mt. Ida  Book 13 - Zeus and Poseidon - Homer knows a story where water is the beginning o fraternal rivalry - Zeus favors the Trojans and the other gods favor the Greeks so they're mad at him  Book 14 - Deception of Zeus o Hera dresses in a sash that Aphrodite gives her o Zeus desires her more than any other woman he's ever slept with o Sacred marriage motif when Zeus and Hera have sex  Book 15 - Quarrels  In Hesiod, Zeus is the supreme god and populates the universe with tons of women  In Homer, Zeus is always fending off threats. Zeus's 8 Olympian children Wife Child(ren) Metis Athena Leto Apollo and Artemis Hera Ares Hera (sometimes Hera alone) Hephaistos Maia Hermes Semele Dionysus (Dione) Aphrodite  The word "Metis" means cunning intelligence  Athena killed a Gorgon and wears it as a breastplate - the aegis