Introduction to Classical Mythology

Dr. Michael BroderUniversity of South Carolina

April 12, 2012

Extra Credit Opportunity TODAY

• Dr. Joy Connolly, Professor of Classics at New York University, delivers the Annual Classics Lecture:

Telephonic Politics: the Case of the Roman Republic

Thursday, April 124:00 PM

Wardlaw 126A reception will follow the lecture

• A 2-page report gets you credit for up to 2 Daily Writes, depending on how complete and comprehensive the report is

Daily Write #22: ReviewCompare Aeneas’s journey to the underworld in Aeneid 6.237-755 to other underworld journeys we have read about, such as that of Odysseus in Book 11 of Homer’s Odyssey, that of Persephone in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, or those in Euripides’s Herakles and Alkestis (where they are implied more than dramatized). Feel free to discuss whichever similarities and/or differences seem most striking to you. Do not feel obligated to discuss all of the texts listed above; you may choose to discuss one, two, or more as you see fit and as time allows.

Make sure you answer all parts of the question and make sure your answer shows familiarity with

the text.

Daily Write #22: Review• Similarities (Odysseus and Aeneas)

– Both seek knowledge of their destiny– Both meet deceased parents and friends

and fallen comrades in arms– Both meet a dead crew member who

asks for burial so his shade/soul can find rest in Hades• Odysseus > Elpenor (fell of Circe’s roof)• Aeneas > Palinurus (helmsman, fell of ship at

sea)

Daily Write #22: Review• Differences (Odysseus vs. Aeneas)

– Vergil’s description is more detailed than Homer’s– Vergil’s underworld is more complex and varied

• Limbo• Tartarus• Blessed Groves

– Vergil’s underworld reflects contemporary philosophical ideas about death, the underworld, and the afterlife

• Reincarnation of souls into new bodies– Golden bough versus blood ritual– Aeneas meets Charon– Aeneas travels with the Sibyl, woman who gained

prophetic powers from Apollo

Daily Write #23• In Heroides 1, “Penelope to Ulysses,”

the Roman poet Ovid shows Penelope caught between fear and anger about the long absence of Odysseus. How does Ovid’s portrayal of Penelope compare to that of Homer in the Odyssey? How is Ovid’s Penelope similar to that of Homer? How is she different? Why do you think Ovid chose to portray Penelope the way that he does?

Definition of “Empire”• A nation-state (like Rome) having

military, political, and economic control over other nations, territories, or peoples beyond its borders

• The territory of such a political unit (like the Roman provinces in Europe, North African, and the Middle East)

• Empire is not a form of government– It describes the relationship between a

sovereign nation-state and its subject territories

Forms of Government in the Roman Empire

Principate versus Dominate

Definition of “Principate”

• Form of government in the Roman Empire from 27 BCE to 284 CE

• Rule by a leading citizen: the princeps or emperor

• The Roman Principate retained the outward form of republican government, including the senate and respect for individual rights

• In practice, however, the Roman Principate was an authoritarian form of government, with the princeps / emperor as sole ruler

What happened in 284 CE?

• The emperor Diocletian came to power and instituted a new phase of Roman government, called the Dominate

• The Dominate did not maintain the illusion of republican forms of government such as the senate and respect for the rights of individual citizens

• Instead, it recognized openly that Rome was a monarchy with a sole ruler who had unlimited power and authority (the emperor)

How did the Roman Dominate end?

• In 285 CE, the emperor Diocletian divided the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern halves– The Eastern Roman Empire became the

Byzantine Empire with its capital in Constantinople (modern day Turkey)

• In 476 CE, Odoacer, chieftain of the Germanic tribes, becomes the ruler of Rome, deposing the Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus– This marked the end of the Western Roman

Empire and the Roman Dominate– Also marked the beginning of the Middle Ages

or Medieval Europe

Anchises’ Revelation inAeneid Book 6

“Come, I will now explain what glory will pursue the children of Dardanus,

what descendants await you of the Italian race, illustrious spirits to march onwards in our name, and I will teach

you your destiny.”

The Future Race: The Alban Kings

“See that boy, who leans on a headless spear, he is fated to hold a place nearest

the light, first to rise to the upper air, sharing Italian blood, Silvius, of Alban

name, your last-born son, who your wife Lavinia, late in your old age, will give birth to in the wood, a king and the

father of kings,through whom our race will rule in Alba Longa.”

The Future Race:Romulus and the Caesars

“Yes, and a child of Mars will join his grandfather to accompany him, Romulus,

whom his mother Ilia will bear, of Assaracus’s line…. Now direct your eyes

here, gaze at this people, your own Romans. Here is Caesar, and all the offspring of Iulus

destined to live under the pole of heaven. This is the man, this is him, whom you so

often hear promised you, Augustus Caesar, son of the Deified, who will make a Golden Age again in the fields where Saturn once

reigned, and extend the empire beyond the Libyans and the Indians.”

Nine Muses: Daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne

(Memory)• Hellenistic scholars and poets assigned specific areas

of creativity to each of the nine muses:– Calliope: Epic Poetry– Clio: History– Erato: Lyric poetry, love poetry, erotic poetry– Euterpe: Song and Elegiac Poetry– Melpomene: Tragedy– Polyhymnia: Hymns– Terpsichore: Dance– Thalia: Comedy– Urania: Astronomy

Thanks to your fellow student, Kelli Kemmerer, for suggesting we cover the nine muses in class and

providing the list above.

Heroides 1: Identification

• Author = Ovid– Roman– 43 BCE – 18 CE

• Title = Heroides 1 (Penelope to Ulysses)

• Genre– Elegiac poem = verse form: elegiac couplets– Epistolary poem = narrative form: letter

Extra Credit Opportunity TODAY

• Dr. Joy Connolly, Professor of Classics at New York University, delivers the Annual Classics Lecture:

Telephonic Politics: the Case of the Roman Republic

Thursday, April 124:00 PM

Wardlaw 126A reception will follow the lecture

• A 2-page report gets you credit for up to 2 Daily Writes, depending on how complete and comprehensive the report is

Upcoming Assigments• 4/12—Ovid, Heroides 1 (Penelope

to Ulysses), in ACM, pp. 306-9• 4/17—The Tale of Cupid and

Psyche, 3-28• 4/19—The Tale of Cupid and

Psyche, 28-54

Introduction to Classical Mythology

Dr. Michael BroderUniversity of South Carolina

April 12, 2012