Introduction to Classical Mythology

Dr. Michael Broder

University of South Carolina

April 3, 2012

Daily Write: Grading Criteria

• Engage with the question– If the question relates to a passage from the

text, make sure to comment on the passage– If the question relates to a quote from a

scholarly article, make sure to comment on the quote

– Make sure to address all part of the question

• Show knowledge of the text– Use examples from the text to illustrate your

pointsNow that we are well into the second half of the course, I am holding you to

a higher standard for your Daily Writes.

Daily Write #19: Review

Idyll 11, by Theocritus (c. 275 BCE), is a poem in which the Cyclops Polyphemus appeals to the Sea Nymph Galateia, with whom he is in love. Where have we met Polyphemus before? Compare the Polyphemus of Idyll 11 to the Polyphemus you remember from that other mythological text (make sure to include the title and author of that other text). How is he similar? How is he different? Why do you think Theocritus chose to write about Polyphemus? Why do you think Theocritus chose to give Polyphemus the kind of character and personality he has in this poem?

Daily Write #19: Review

• How do they compare?– Homer’s Polyphemus is nasty and brutish– Theocritus’s Polyphemus is gentle and cultivated, a poet

• Why do you think Theocritus chose to write about Polyphemus?– The make a new use of a traditional mythological figure– Humor, irony, entertainment value of reversing the

traditional role– Polyphemus fits in with Theocritus’s rustic themes

• Why do you think Theocritus chose to give Polyphemus the kind of character and personality he has in this poem?– To show the reader another side of Polyphemus– To show the reader the human side of monsters– To demonstrate that not even monsters can resist Eros

Daily Write #20

Why do you think Lucretius begins On the Workings of the Universe by invoking Venus? Which goddesss (or goddesses) have you seen invoked at the beginnings of poems before (e.g., Hesiod, Homer)? Which Greek goddess is Venus the Roman equivalent of? Why is Venus a fitting goddess to invoke at the beginning of this poem?

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

shows familiarity with the text.

Classical Multiculturalism

• Hellenic Culture• Hellenistic Culture• Roman Culture

Hellenic Culture

• Greek culture from 750-323 BCE– 750 BCE = Homer– 323 BCE = Death of Alexander the

Great

Athens was the cultural center of Hellenic Greece

• Panathenaea, festival where the Homeric epics were recited

• Dionysia, festival where the tragedies and comedies were performed

• Birthplace of democratic form of government

• Birthplace or home of most of the great poets and historians

• Birthplace of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the first great philosophers

Major Hellenic Genres and Authors

• Epic poetry– Homer (c. 750 BCE)– Hesiod (c. 700 BCE)– Homeric Hymns (c. 650 BCE – c. 525

BCE)• Lyric poetry

– Semonides (c. 650 BCE)– Sappho (c. 620–c. 570 BCE)– Simonides (c. 556 -468 BCE)– Xenophanes (c. 570 – c.475 BCE)– Pindar (c. 522–443 BCE)

Major Hellenic Genres and Authors

• Historiography– Herodotus (c. 480-c. 420 BCE)– Thucydides (c. 460-c. 400 BCE)

• Tragic Poetry– Aeschylus (c. 525-456 BCE)– Sophocles (c. 496-406 BCE)– Euripides (c. 480-406 BCE)

• Comic Poetry– Aristophanes (c. 446 BC – c. 386 BCE)

• Philosophical dialogue– Plato (c. 469-399 BCE)

Hellenistic Culture

• Greek culture from 323-31 BCE• Begins in 323 BCE – death of Alexander the

Great• Ends in 31 BCE – Augustus Caesar defeats

Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium• Extends Greek culture from Greece to the

rest of the Mediterranean World– Europe– North Africa– Middle East– Southwest Asia

Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE)

• Macedonian King who conquered the entire Mediterranean World

• Founded the city of Alexandria at the mouth of the Nile River in Egypt

• After his death, his generals split his empire up into several kingdoms encompassing– Europe– North Africa– Middle East– Southwest Asia

The Ptolemies in Egypt

• The most powerful of the successor kingdoms was the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt– Ruled by the descendants of a Macedonian

General known as Ptolemy I– His descendants are known as the Ptolemies– Their capital was in Alexandria

• The last of the Ptolemies was Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE)

• The defeat of Cleopatra by the Roman general August Caesar in 31 BCE marks the end of the Hellenistic Period

Hellenistic Culture

• Centered in the city of Alexandria in Egypt

• New forms of poetry• New schools of philosophy• New religious movements• Advances in art, architecture,

science, and medicine

Hellenistic (Alexandrian) Poetry

• Alexandrian poets used mythological narratives in new ways

• Alexandrian poets were interested in short poems that described the everyday life of ordinary people

• Alexandrian poetry offered an alternative to– Epic, which focused on mythological gods,

heroes, and heroic adventures– Tragedy, in which characters from myth

stood in for all of humanity

Theocritus

• Born in Sicily around 275 BCE• Lived in Alexandria during the

reign of Ptolemy II (283-246 BCE)• Invented a new genre of poetry:

bucolic or pastoral– Pastor = Latin for shepherd– Also called bucolic poetry

• Greek boukolos = cowherd

Pastoral Poetry

• Pastoral poetry features the everyday life of herdsmen and the world they live in

• Often idealizes the life of herdsman, representing them as virtuous men living a simple life untouched by the complications and vices associated with city life

Theocritus’s Idylls

• The beginning of the pastoral tradition in poetry

• The word idyll comes from the Greek eidyllion = “little picture”

Idyll 11

• Represents figures from mythology– The Cyclops Polyphemus– The nymph Galateia

• Shows these figures in the pastoral world of herdsman– Polyphemus is a shepherd, as in Homer

• Theocritus’s Polyphemus is very different from Homer’s– He is gentle, civilized, and lives a simple life– He plays the syrinx, a kind of flute

associated with the shepherd god Pan– He composes poetry and sings songs

Roman Culture (300 BCE – 200 CE)

• Livius Andronicus (c. 280 – c. 200 BCE.), earliest Roman poet known by name

• Death of Marcus Aurelius (180 CE)• Rome was highly influenced by

Greek civilization and culture– Poetry– Mythology– Philosophy

Philosophical Schools of the Hellenistic Period

• Epicureanism– Based on teachings of Epicurus (341–

270 BCE)

• Stoicism– Based on teachings of Zeno (c. 334 – c.

262 BCE)

• Cynicism– Based on teachings of Diogenes (c. 412

- 323 BCE)

All rejected the vices of wealth and power and embraced the Socratic

values of wisdom and virtue

Lucretius (c. 94 – c. 55 BCE)

• Adherent of Epicureanism• Wrote On the Workings of the

Universe to explain the major tenets of Epicurus

• NOTE: The original Latin title of this poem is De Rerum Natura– Not required to know this, but thought

some of you might be interested, in case you come across it in other classes, reading, etc

Fundamental Tenets of Epicureanism

• Atomism– Everything in the universe can be broken down

into atoms, the smallest units of existence– Everything in the universe comes from the

endless combination and recombination of atoms• Gods exist, but they care nothing for human

beings• The good life for human beings requires

seeking pleasure and avoiding pain• Pleasure means the absence of pain

– Pleasure does not mean gratifying the senses with food, drink, sex, and entertainment

– Pleasure comes from wisdom and virtue, not wealth and power

On the Workings of the Universe

• Begins with invocation of Venus• Seeks to dispel false ideas about

gods• Attributes much human suffering to

false religious beliefs• Seeks rational explanations for the

development of religion• Shows the inability of Hellenistic

philosophy to completely escape mythology

Why Venus?

• Venus is the Roman name for Aphrodite• Mother of Aeneas, Trojan hero who

escaped the fall of Troy and led the survivors to Italy where his descendants founded Rome

• Patron goddess of Rome• Goddess of sexual reproduction• She makes a good mythological symbol

for Epicurean theory of atomism

Upcoming Assigments

• 4/5—READ: Vergil, from The Aeneid, in ACM, pp. 410-20

• 4/10—READ: Vergil, from The Aeneid, in ACM, pp. 421-30

Introduction to Classical Mythology

Dr. Michael Broder

University of South Carolina

April 3, 2012