chapter 12 lecture one of two myths of death ©2012 pearson education inc
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 12Lecture One of Two
Myths of Death
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Myths of Death
• Greeks mostly believed in a life after death, but it was a bleak vision
• It evolved and changed over time.
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THE GREEK VIEW OF DEATH
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The Greek View of Death
• Not a “natural process” for the Greeks– Life ended from some violent intervention
• Hades (“the unseen one”)– Pluto (Dis)– Euphemisms: Polydemôn; Polyxenos
• Individuals continued as an eidolon – Breath (anemos > anima) psychê
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The Greek View of Death
• The recently dead had to be satisfied with rituals– Morning, noise, even food
• Invited to parties: the anthesteria• Some ghosts are beneficent, others
malevolent• Hermes led them to their place of rest
(psychopompus)
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ODYSSEUS’S JOURNEY TO DEATH’S REALM
Homer's Odyssey, book 11
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Odysseus’s Journey
• Must get advice from the deceased Tiresias– Was once a woman; knew which enjoyed sex
more
• Journey across the Ocean• Blood sacrifice (vampirism) • Elpenor
– The fate of the unburied
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Perspective 12.1Modern vampires emanate from Serbian folklore, though tales of supernatural beings drinking blood from the living are attested in every culture.
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Private Collection; Roger Perrin / The Bridgeman Art Library International
Odysseus’s Journey
• Catalog of Noble Women• Achilles
– “Better to be a peon . . .”
• The arbitrators of the underworld– Minos, Rhadymanthus, Aeacus
• The illustrious evil– Tityus, Tantalus, Sisyphus
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Fig. 12.1Odysseus and the ghost of Elpenor.
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Photograph © 2011 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Odysseus’s Journey
• Heracles’s eidolon• Elysium
– Menelaüs
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Fig. 12.2The tortures of the damned: Sisyphus, Orion, Tityus and the Danaïds.
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Photo Vatican Museums
End
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