Mythology objectives:

Using Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, the student will•Know the purpose of myths.•Know the requirements of myths.•Know the types of myths•Know characteristics of Greek gods.•Know key Greek gods and mythology related terms.

•Greek streaming music

Edith Hamilton’s Mythology

Purpose of Myths:1. Explain origin(s) of world/man2. Explain nature3. Explain ways of gods to man4. Entertainment

Temple of Apollo

Requirements for a myth:1. Narrative2. Imaginative, clever, inventive (may explain an event that

wasn’t understood or a “scientific principle.”

3. Involves super-human beings4. Usually improbable or absurd5. Often has a moral6. Part of the past of a group or race of people

Types of myths: 1. Historical: Built around an event that actually or supposedly happened (ex. Trojan Wars).2. Religious: Told about a god or goddess to explain a religious practice3. Explanatory: Explain things/events that are not understood; most myths fall into this group4. Amusing: Told “just for fun;” aesthetic myths.5. Allegorical: “symbolic;” things may represent vices and virtues; reader is to put himself in the place of the person in the myth.

•Gods and Heroes in the Greek World (01:12) •Discovery Channel School. 2004.Discovery Education. 4 January 2009<http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/>

Title of the Myth:__________________________________Summary of the Myth:    Characters:•Gods/Goddesses? •Demigods? •Mortals? •Mythological Creatures? Type of Myth: Explanatory? _____ Amusing? _____Etc?_____If explanatory, what does it explain? ____________________Does it have a moral?_____________________________  

Greek myths: Man is at the center of the universe. However, not as dark a picture as previous religions (pagan, nature) with horrors—human sacrifices

Greek gods in man’s image, yet mortal with extra powers—traces of magic witches, demons, ghosts, astrology as before

•Greek Mythology and the Role of the Gods in Human Destiny (01:46) Greek Mythology and the Role of the Gods in Human Destiny. Discovery Channel School. 1997.Discovery Education. 4 January 2009<http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/>

Greeks began with Homer’s The Iliad (1000 B.C.) then The Odyssey (ch. 3). Later Herodotus, Hesiod (Ch. 4), Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Socrates (ch. 5), Aristotle, and Plato (ch. 6).

PowerPoint assignment: 1. Minimum of ten slides (not including title).2. Pictures (when possible) and as much info as

possible (biography; works).3. Information in size 364. Keep noises to a minimum5. Cite sources on every page in notes

History Channel Greek Gods and Goddesses 1/9History Channel - Greek Gods and Goddesses 1/9

Titans are the giant sons and daughters of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth).

Twelve Titan Gods and Goddesses:Oceanus and Tethys,Hyperion and Theia,Coeus and Phoebe,

Cronus and Rhea—parents of ZeusMnemosyne, Themis,Crius, Iapetus

Children of Hyperion:Eos, Helios, Selene Daughters of Coeus:Leto and Asteria Sons of Iapetus:Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, Menoetius

The 12 Titans gods, also known as the elder gods, who ruled the Earth before the Olympians overthrew them. The ruler of the Titans was Cronus who was dethroned by his son Zeus. Most of the Titans fought with Cronus against Zeus and were punished by being banished to Tartarus.

•Some Common Figures from Greek Mythology (01:03) Some Common Figures from Greek Mythology. Aims Multimedia. 1990.Discovery Education. 4 January 2009<http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/>

Zeus• Roman name: Jupiter • Chief of the Olympians • god of. . . • -. . .the sky • -. . .justice, law and order • -. . .strangers and travelers• Other facts: Rhea hid him from Cronus to keep from

being eaten; he overthrew Cronus; constantly unfaithful to Hera

• YOUTUBE Zeus

• The stone itself (which may have been a copy) has a carving of a knotted net covering its surface, and has a hollow centre, which widens towards its base (illustrated, to the right).

• The Omphalos at Delphi came to be identified as the stone which Rhea wrapped in swaddling clothes, pretending it was Zeus. This was to deceive Cronus, his father, who swallowed his children so they could not grow up and depose him as he had deposed his own father, Uranus.

• Omphalos stones were said to allow direct communication with the gods.

• Christian destroyed the site in the 4th century at the order of Emperors Theodosius and Arcadius

Hera• Roman name: Juno

• Wife of Zeus

• Terribly jealous

• goddess of. . .

• -. . .motherhood

• -. . .wives

Poseidon

• Roman name: Neptune • Zeus’s brother • Cranky and ill tempered • god of. . . • -. . .the sea (trident is symbol)• -. . .earthquakes • -. . .represents bulls and horses• Zeus’ brother• YOUTUBE Poseidon

Hades

• Roman name: Pluto

• god of. . .

• -. . .the underworld

• He is not death. He does not kill anyone. He simply watches over the dead.

• He carried wife, Persephone, away and made her queen of the underworld

Athena• Roman name: Minerva • Zeus’s daughter (but not Hera’s) Sprung from his

head; his favorite• goddess of. . . • -. . .wisdom • -. . .intelligent warfare• Athens is her city• Parthenon is her temple• Created olive tree• Owl (wisdom) is her symbol

The Parthenon is the most important and characteristic monument of the ancient Greek civilization and still remains its international symbol. It was dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the patron goddess of Athens. It was built between 447 and 438 BC. and its sculptural decoration was completed in 432 BC.

Apollo

• Roman name: Phoebus Apollo • Twin brother of Artemis • god of. . . • -. . .light/truth • -. . .prophecy • -. . .music (lyre)• -. . .medicine • -. . .archery• YOUTUBE Apollo

Artemis

• Roman name: Diana

• Twin sister of Apollo

• goddess of. . .

• -. . .the hunt (deer sacred to her)

• -. . .chastity

Hephaestus

• Roman name: Vulcan

• Hera’s crippled son; only ugly/lame god

• Married to Aphrodite

• Blacksmith of the gods/god of fire

• Vulcan-Birmingham

Aphrodite

• Roman name: Venus

• Married to Hephaestus

• goddess of. . .

• -. . .love/beauty

• -. . .desire

• Sprung from foam and sea

The Rock of Aphrodite is a few kilometres to the west of Pissouri village, Cyprus. Legend has it that Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, rose from the waves in this spot. Blown by the wind, Aphrodite's first stop was on the island of Cythera, but this was such a tiny island that Aphrodite kept moving and eventually got to Cyprus, where she began living in Paphos.

Ares

• Roman name: Mars

• Son of Zeus and Hera

• god of. . .

• -. . .mindless war

• Not as important to Greeks as the Romans

Hestia

• Roman name: Vesta

• Daughter of Zeus and Hera

• Goddess of the hearth, of the right ordering of domesticity and the family

• Each city had a public hearth sacred to her; where the fire never went out

• In Rome, fire cared for by six virgin priestess called Vestals.

Hermes

• Roman name: Mercury • Tricky and sneaky/cunning • Messenger of the gods • god of. . . • -. . .thieves and deceivers

• WORKSHEETS NOW

Other gods!

Eros

• Roman name: Cupid

• Son of Aphrodite

• Helps people fall in love with each other

Persephone

• Roman name: Proserpine

• Daughter of Zeus and Demeter

• Becomes the queen of the underworld

• goddess of. . .

• -. . .Spring

Pan

• Roman name: Pan

• Associated with Dionysus

• Has goat ears and legs

• god of. . .

• -. . .shepherds and flocks

• YouTube Pan Dance

Terms to know:

Mt. Olympus: home of the gods

•Mount Olympus and the Gods of Greek Mythology (02:20) Mount Olympus and the Gods of Greek Mythology. Discovery Channel School. 1997.Discovery Education. 4 January 2009<http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/>

Elysian Fields:or sometimes Elysian plains, were the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous (test).

Elysium, also known as the Elysian Fields, in Greek mythology was a pre-Hellenic paradise, a land of perfect peace and happiness. In the works of Homer, Elysium was a land at the farthest and westernmost edge of the world to which the great heroes were carried, body and soul, and made immortal.

Charon: and boatman ferries souls of dead across water to gate to TartarusHe only accepts the dead which are buried or burned with the proper rites, and if they pay him an obolus (coin) for their passage. For that reason a corpse had always an obolus 1 placed under the tongue.

• Charon, Athenian red figure lekythosC5th B.C., Rhode Island School of Design

Tartarus—Underworld; lower region of the dead.Tartarus is the lowest region of the world, as far below earth as earth is from heaven. According to the Greek poet Hesiod, a bronze anvil falling from heaven would take nine days and nights to reach earth, and an object would take the same amount of time to fall from earth into Tartarus. Tartarus is described as a dank, gloomy pit, surrounded by a wall of bronze, and beyond that a three-fold layer of night. While Hades is the main realm of the dead in Greek mythology, Tartarus also contains a number of characters. In early stories, it is primarily the prison for defeated gods; the Titans were condemned to Tartarus after losing their battle against the Olympian gods. However, in later myths Tartarus becomes a place of punishment for sinners. It resembles Hell and is the opposite of Elysium, the afterlife for the blessed. When the hero Aeneas visits the underworld, he looks into Tartarus and sees the torments inflicted on characters such as the Titans, Tityos, Otus and Ephialtes, and the Lapiths. Rhadymanthus (and, in some versions, his brother Minos) judges the dead and assigns punishment.

Cerberus: Three headed dragon tailed dog who permits all spirits to ENTER but none to return.He was overcome several times:Hercules' final labour was to capture Cerberus, which he did by wrestling it into submission. Orpheus used his musical skills to lull Cerberus to sleep. Hermes put him to sleep with water from the river Lethe. In Roman mythology, the Sybil of Cumae lulled Cerberus to sleep with drugged honeycakes in order to permit Aeneas fuller entry to the underworld. In a Greek tale, Psyche also lulled Cerberus to sleep with drugged honeycakes. In The Inferno, Cerberus punishes the gluttons and is passed by Virgil and Dante due to Virgil throwing him a body part of one of Cerberus' victims.

Heracles and threatened Cerberus, Attic black-figure neck-amphora, ca. 540 BC

Styx river: river which separates underworld from the world above; Styx it is said winds around Hades (hell or the underworld are other names) nine times. Its name comes from the Greek word stugein which means hate. This river was so respected by the gods of Greek mythology that they would take life binding oaths just by mentioning its name. If a god gave his oath upon the river Styx and failed to keep his word, Zeus forced that god to drink from the river itself. The water is said to be so foul that the god would lose his/her voice for nine years.

It is thought that Charon, the old ferry man who ferries the dead onto the underworld, crosses the river Styx, but this is a misconception. Charon crosses the river Acheron where also Cerebus stands his eternal guard.

Thetis dipping Achilles in the Styx River, Daumier 1842

Where is the REAL river Styx?

• There are five rivers that separate Hades from the world of the living, they are:

• Acheron - the river of woe; • Cocytus - the river of lamentation; • Phlegethon - the river of fire; • Lethe - the river of forgetfulness; • Styx - the river of hate.

Delphi: Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and it was a major site for the worship of the god Apollo. People came from all over Greece and beyond to have their questions about the future answered by the Pythia, the priestess of Apollo. And her answers, usually cryptic, could determine the course of everything from when a farmer planted his seedlings, to when an empire declared war. Arguments over the correct interpretation of an oracle were common, but the oracle was always happy to give another prophecy if more gold was provided. A good example is the famous incident before the Battle of Salamis when the Pythia first predicted doom and later predicted that a 'wooden wall' (interpreted by the Athenians to mean their ships) would save them.

Julian the Apostate (331/332– - 26 June 363), a Roman emperor, tried to revive classical Greek culture in the mid 4th century AD. He is said to have consulted the Oracle of Delphi. The Pythia responded with the following oracle:Tell to the king that the carven hall is fallen in decay;Apollo has no chapel left, no prophesying bay,No talking spring. The stream is dry that had so much to say.This was probably the last advice from the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle said that the time to revive classical Greek culture has passed, Apollo is dead. Some say that the reason for this answer was that there was no “narcotic” gas coming anymore from the ground in Delphi that was used to set the Pythia in trance. Today scientists believe that the gas contained ethylene that in low concentrations produce trancelike states.Plutarch said that the pneuma smelled like sweet perfume. He also describes how in his times the emission was weak and irregular, the cause, in his opinion, of the weakening influence of the Delphic oracle in world affairs. He suggested that either the vital essence had run out or that heavy rains had diluted it or a earthquake four centuries earlier had partially blocked its vent.

Differences between Roman and Greek gods!