english 28 classical mythology introduction
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Classical Mythology
Greeks
• Once lived a savage, brutal, and ugly life.
• The myths – creation of great poets
• The Iliad – attributed to Homer– First written record of Greece– Contains the oldest Greek literature
• In Greece, man first realized what mankind was.
• The Greeks made their gods in their own image.
• Before, gods had no semblance of relaity
• Pre- Greek – worshipped sphinx ( a lion’s body with a woman’s face)
• In Egypt – god for them was a rigid figure, a woman with a cat’s head, suggesting inflexible, inhuman cruelty.
• All the art and all the though of Greece is centered in human beings.
• Human gods naturally made heaven a pleasantly familiar place.
• On earth, too, the deities was exceedingly and humanly attractive.
• The miracle of Greek mythology – a humanized world, men freed from the paralyzing fear of an omnipotent Unknown.
The terrifying irrational has NO PLACE in classical
mythology; same with Magic, witches (Circe and Medea are the only witches, but they are
young and of surpassing beauty – delightful, not horrible.), no astrology, magical priest, and even
ghosts.
The Greeks were NOT AFRAID of the dead.
The terrifying irrational has NO PLACE in classical
mythology; same with Magic, witches (Circe and Medea are the only witches, but they are
young and of surpassing beauty – delightful, not horrible.), no astrology, magical priest, and even
ghosts.
The Greeks were NOT AFRAID of the dead.
The early Greek mythologists transformed a world full of
fear to a world full of beauty.
The early Greek mythologists transformed a world full of
fear to a world full of beauty.
However, the gods often acted in a way no decent man or
woman would.
They could act cruelly or contemptibly.
However, the gods often acted in a way no decent man or
woman would.
They could act cruelly or contemptibly.
Other Dark Spots:There were beast-gods.
Satyrs – goat-men (wood-dwelling creature with the head and body of a man and the ears, horns, and legs of a goat
Centaur – half man, half horse (a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man joined to the body of a horse at its neck.
Other Dark Spots:There were beast-gods.
Satyrs – goat-men (wood-dwelling creature with the head and body of a man and the ears, horns, and legs of a goat
Centaur – half man, half horse (a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man joined to the body of a horse at its neck.
Mythical Monsters:Gorgon - monstrous woman with snakes for hair who turned those who looked at her into stone
Hydra - a monster that had nine heads and was killed by Heracles. When one head was cut off, another grew instantly in its place.
Chimaera - a female fire-breathing monster, typically represented as a combination of a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail
Mythical Monsters:Gorgon - monstrous woman with snakes for hair who turned those who looked at her into stone
Hydra - a monster that had nine heads and was killed by Heracles. When one head was cut off, another grew instantly in its place.
Chimaera - a female fire-breathing monster, typically represented as a combination of a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail
Greek Mythology – is largely made up of stories about gods and goddesses.
Myth – real myth has nothing to do with religion -An explanation of something in nature - it is an early science.
The Lesser Gods of Olympus
Eros – God of Love ( Cupid in Latin)
According to Hesiod – he is the “fairest of the deathless gods”
Plato – “Love – Eros – makes his home in men’s hearts, but not in every heart, for where there is hardness, he departs. His greatest glory is that he cannot do wrong nor allow it; force never comes near him. For all men serve him of their own free will. And he whom Love touches not walks in darkness.”
Eros – in other accounts he was not Aphrodite’s son, but merely her occasional companion. In the latter poem, he was her son and invariably a mischievous, naughty boy, or worse.
- Often represented as blindfolded
Anteros - avenger of slighted love; sometimes the one who opposes love
Himeros – LongingHumen – God of the Wedding Feast
The Lesser Gods of Olympus
Hebe – Goddess of Youth - daughter of Zeus and Hera- married to Hercules
Iris – Goddess of the Rainbow and a messenger of the gods, in the Iliad the only messenger.
The Lesser Gods of Olympus
Two Lovely Sisters – Muses and Graces
The Lesser Gods of Olympus
Graces: daughters of Zeus and Eurynome (child of the titan, Ocean)
1.Aglaia (Splendor)2.Euphrosyne (Mirth)3.Thalia (Good Cheer)
-Said to be always together, a triple incarnation of grace and beauty-Considered as “queens of song”-Danced enchantingly to Apollo’s lyre
Graces: daughters of Zeus and Eurynome (child of the titan, Ocean)
1.Aglaia (Splendor)2.Euphrosyne (Mirth)3.Thalia (Good Cheer)
-Said to be always together, a triple incarnation of grace and beauty-Considered as “queens of song”-Danced enchantingly to Apollo’s lyre
Two Lovely Sisters – Muses and Graces
The Lesser Gods of Olympus
Muses : nine in number; daughters Zeus and Mnemosyne or Memory
- Not distinguished from each other
- Are all of one mind, their hearts are set upon song and their spirit is free from care
- When they sing, men forget their dark thoughts and remembers not their troubles
Muses : nine in number; daughters Zeus and Mnemosyne or Memory
- Not distinguished from each other
- Are all of one mind, their hearts are set upon song and their spirit is free from care
- When they sing, men forget their dark thoughts and remembers not their troubles
1. Clio – Muse of History2. Urania – Muse of Astronomy3. Thalia – Muse of comedy4. Terpsichore – Muse of Dance5. Calliope – Muse of Epic
Poetry6. Erato – Muse of Love Poetry7. Polyhymnia – Muse of songs
to the gods8. Euterpe – Muse of Lyric
Poetry9. Melpomene – Muse of
Tragedy
1. Clio – Muse of History2. Urania – Muse of Astronomy3. Thalia – Muse of comedy4. Terpsichore – Muse of Dance5. Calliope – Muse of Epic
Poetry6. Erato – Muse of Love Poetry7. Polyhymnia – Muse of songs
to the gods8. Euterpe – Muse of Lyric
Poetry9. Melpomene – Muse of
Tragedy
Themis – Right or Divine Justice
Dike – Human Justice
Nemesis – Righteous Anger
The Lesser Gods of Olympus
Gods of the Waters
Poseidon – Lord and Ruler of the Sea (Mediterranean) and the Friendly Sea (Black Sea). Underground rivers were his.
Ocean – a Titan, Lord of the river Ocean, a great river encircling the earth. Tethys, Ocean’s wife; Oceanids, the nymphs of this great river, were their daughters; gods of all the rivers were their sons.
Poseidon – Lord and Ruler of the Sea (Mediterranean) and the Friendly Sea (Black Sea). Underground rivers were his.
Ocean – a Titan, Lord of the river Ocean, a great river encircling the earth. Tethys, Ocean’s wife; Oceanids, the nymphs of this great river, were their daughters; gods of all the rivers were their sons.
Gods of the Waters
Pontus – which means Deep Sea, son of Mother Earth and the father of Nereus, a sea-god
Nereus – the Old Man of the Sea ( the Mediterranean); wife is Doris, a daughter of Ocean
- had 50 lovely daughters, the nymphs of the Sea, called Nereids, one of whom Thetis, was the mother of Achilles. Poseidon’s wife, Amphitrite, was another.
Pontus – which means Deep Sea, son of Mother Earth and the father of Nereus, a sea-god
Nereus – the Old Man of the Sea ( the Mediterranean); wife is Doris, a daughter of Ocean
- had 50 lovely daughters, the nymphs of the Sea, called Nereids, one of whom Thetis, was the mother of Achilles. Poseidon’s wife, Amphitrite, was another.
Gods of the Waters
Naiads – water nymphs; dwelt in brooks and springs and fountains
Triton – trumpeter of the Sea; his trumpet was a great shell; son of Poseidon and Ampitrite.
Proteus – Poseidon’s son, sometimes his attendant; has power of foretelling and changing his shape at will.
Naiads – water nymphs; dwelt in brooks and springs and fountains
Triton – trumpeter of the Sea; his trumpet was a great shell; son of Poseidon and Ampitrite.
Proteus – Poseidon’s son, sometimes his attendant; has power of foretelling and changing his shape at will.
The Underworld
Hades or Pluto and his wife Persephone ruled the Underworld.
Underworld – lies beneath the secret places of the earth (in the Iliad)- The way to it leads over the edge of the world across Ocean (in the Odyssey).
Hades or Pluto and his wife Persephone ruled the Underworld.
Underworld – lies beneath the secret places of the earth (in the Iliad)- The way to it leads over the edge of the world across Ocean (in the Odyssey).
Two Main Divisions of Underworld
Tartarus - the prison of the Sons of Earth
Erebus – it is where the dead pass as soon as they die.
Three Judges:1.Rhadamanthus2.Minos3.Aeacus
- They pass sentence and send the wicked to everlasting torment and the good to a place of blessedness called the Elysian Fields.
Three other rivers:
1.Phlegethon – the river of fire2.Styx – the river of unbreakable oath by which the gods swear3.Lethe – the river of forgetfulness
The Erinyes (the Furies) – punish evildoers; pursue sinners on the earth
Sleep and Death- brothers
