“He who cheats in smalls things, cheats in great things”

1-2) Two purposes of myth

3-4) The parents of Zeus

5-6) The Olympian twins

7 – The dwelling place of the gods

8-10) The first three powerful gods who divided the world among themselves

Myths- are believed to be sacred tales that were considered as truthful account in society they are told.

• Passed orally from one generation to another • Treasure of realities- a kaleidoscope which

reflects, illuminates his experiences fantasies, hopes, and fears

• Have continued to capture the imagination and the soul of man for thousands of years because they depict and reveal behavior and problems common to all human beings.

• Deal with people who could be alive today, reminding as that human nature has not changed throughout the long course of history.

• Reveal the nature of man; because we share that nature, we can identify with these individuals and respond to them. Some we admire, others we reject.

Two purposes of Myths

1. To explain• Explained man’s origins to the ancient Greeks• Described how the world and man were created and

what kind of order existed in the universe• Explained the existence of natural phenomena for which

modern man may or may not have acquired scientific explanations.

• Given a multitude of natural phenomena which he could neither understand nor control, man populated the invisible world with a multitude of immortal deities, created in his own image, each of whom controlled one aspect of the natural environment

• Polytheistic – the belief of one or more gods

Atheism, in a broad sense, is the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.[1] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[2] Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist.[3

Sam Harris

Bertrand Russell

Richard Dawkins

• Anthropomorphic-

described or thought of as having a human form or human attributes

2. To teach• Taught man how to behave• Conveyed moral directive• Examined the extent to which man is a victim of

circumstances and the extent to which he brings his destiny upon himself

• By examining the decisions human beings made and the consequences which resulted, the Greek myths supplied humankind with a gallery of models, both positive and negative.

• By learning from the mythical characters, who usually were so realistically presented, man imposed a meaningful pattern upon his life and upon his world.

The Titans• known as the elder gods• ruled the earth before the Olympians overthrew

them. • Cronus (ruler of the Titans) who was dethroned

by his son Zeus.

Gaea

Gaea

• the Earth goddess and first-born of Chaos•She mated with her son Uranus to produce the remaining Titans.

Uranus• was the sky god and first ruler• the son of Gaea, who created him without help.• became the husband of Gaea and together they

had many offsprings, including twelve of the Titans, and the Cyclopes.

• His rule ended when Cronus, encouraged by Gaea, castrated him. He either died from the wound or withdrew from earth.

Cronus

• the ruling Titan who came to power by castrating his Father Uranus.

• His wife was Rhea. Their offsprings were the first of the Olympians. To insure his safety Cronus ate each of the children as they were born.

Rhea

• wife of Cronus.

• tricked Cronus by giving him a rock, which he taught a child, thus saving her son Zeus.

Zeus/Jupiter Hera/Juno

Ares/Mars Aphrodite/Venus

Poseidon/Neptune Athena/Minerva

Hades/Pluto Demeter

Artemis/Diana Apollo

Hermes/Mercury Hephaestus/Vulcan

DionysusHestia

The Judgment of Paris

 

Thetis the sea nymph and King Peleus a mortal king are celebrating their wedding day. All the gods and goddesses are invited to join their matrimonial celebration. However, they have forgotten to invite the goddess of Strife, Eris. She revenges herself by conjuring a golden apple at the wedding banquet; Inscribed is: “To the most beautiful goddess”. The goddesses Athena, Hera and Aphrodite all claim to be the most beautiful. The party turns to be a bedlam and the goddesses decide to find a judge to determine who is the most beautiful. They ask Zeus to give his judgment but refuses and he assigns a mortal prince to judge and settle the conflict. He assigns Paris, prince of Troy who is said to have a good taste when it comes to women. Each goddess tries to persuade the prince and bribe him. Hera offers him rule over Asia, Athena offers him military power and skills in battle, Aphrodite offers him the most beautiful woman in the world – Helen, Paris’ object of desire. Because of this, he chooses Aphrodite and gives the golden apple to her. Helen, soon falls under the influence of Aphrodite and agrees to elope with Paris to Troy. Menelaus, extremely angered by the course of actions calls upon the Greeks to help him return his wife back to Sparta since the Trojans refuse to return Helen.