Exam 1 CLT3370

logos

attempts to relate to what actually happened, discredits other versions.
setting is own time or recent, historical setting

mythos

author does not assume responsibility for accuracy, ignores alternate versions.
setting: distant past (greece, edges of world)
usually has a specific monster

who wrote both mythos and logos?

Sophocles

how were myths transmitted?

oral tradition

divine myth

gods and goddesses are the central characters of the myth.
mortals either don't exist or aren't included
setting: mt. olympus

aetiology

explanations of origins

legends

setting: earth (centered around Greece)
mortals involved
center characters: hercules, achilles, etc.

folktale

people and animals were central characters
motifs: abandoned at birth, journey, monsters involved

in what age are most stories set?

the Bronze Age

Dark Age of Greece

1150-750 BC: lost knowledge of writing, went back to coil pottery, isolated in villages (break up into dialects because of this)

The Archaic period

750-480 BC: development of the alphabet and writing

the Classical period

480-323 BC: apex of greek civilization
defeat of the Persians, democracy, and the parthenon

the Bronze Age

3000-1150 BC

Hellenistic Period

323-30 BC: stories becoming collected into one volume

epic poetry

orally composed, content could vary

dactylic hexameter

a specific meter with six dactyls (on long syllable followed by two short ones) per line; Homer used this meter in The Odyssey

Homer

ancient Greek epic poet who is believed to have written the Iliad and the Odyssey (circa 850 BC)

Hesiod

wrote theogony (explains birth of the gods and origins of the universe), works and days (how to be a good farmer)

Hesiodic Corpus

catalogue of women: famous women who slept with gods and war heroes
shield of Heracles: Hesiod wrote an epic about his shield

lyric poetry

shorter than epics
were odes, hymns, paeans, dithyrambs, etc.
played onto the lyre

tragedy

almost always set in mythological times
told known stories differently
three main tragedians:
aeschylus - the oresteia
Sophocles - theban plays
euripides - Medea, Alcestis, Bacchae, etc.

Alexandria (library)

Where was the largest library of ancient times located, wanted every volume of every greek work

Alexandrian poets

Apollonius of Rhodes: writes first epic poem, argonautika, written in centuries
tells the story of Jason and the argonauts

Augustan Age poets

Virgil and Ovid

Virgil - the Aeneid

tries to be roman homer

Ovid - Metamorphoses

greatest source since Hesiod, wrote in hexameter

the plastic arts

used bronze that was remelted to make pagan statues, copies of greek originals
athenian style: black figure; red figure

creation myths

succession, gender roles, family conflict, zeus establishes patriarchal system

cosmogony

A theory of the origin of the universe

theogony

explains the origins of the gods and their rise to power

Chaos

in the beginning, there was chaos
chaos produces gaea

Gaea

goddess of the earth
flat disc

Tartarus

orb/ semi-sphere under gaea
underworld

Eros

Cupid, love and lust
Aphrodite's son

Nyx (Night) - Erebus (Darkness)

both birthed from chaos

Moerae (fates)

referred to as daughters of zeus
what the fates put in motion cannot be done

Nemesis (retribution)

Uranus (sky)

Born from Gaea

the Titans

children of Gaea and Uranus
six male, six female

the cyclopes, craftsmen and metallurgists

forge weapons of many of the gods

The Hecatonchires (100 Hands)

partook in the early god wars

Cronus

youngest of the titans

Oceanus and Tethys

Oceanus wraps around gaea
Tethys is Oceanus's wives

Oceanids

children of Oceanus

Hyperion

titan
father of sun, moon, and dawn

Helios

God of the sun

Selene

Goddess of the moon

Eos

Goddess of the dawn

Phaeton

oceanid
son of Helios and Clymene
convinces his father to drive the chariot
gets killed by Zeus

Erinyes (Furies)

born from Uranus's blood after Cronus castrated him
drive people mad from killing their family

Giants "earthborn ones"

aid in the battles of the gods

Aphrodite ("the foam born")

born from Uranus's castrated genitalia that was thrown into the sea
goddess of sexual love
DESTRUCTIVE sexual power

sphinx

descendant of Gaea and Pontus
female, deadly

Cerberus

descendant of Gaea and Pontus
fifty (or 3) headed dog who guards gates of the underworld

chimera

descendant of Gaea and Pontus
monster with lion's body, snake's tail, and goat's head growing out of its back
buried under a mountain
people think rock fires is where chimera is buried

hydra

descendant of Gaea and Pontus
multi-headed serpent

key principles of oral composition

the compositional triad:
1. memorized passages recited on command
2. use of formulaic building blocks (standard phrases and line fillers)
3. ability to improvise spontaneously

Milman Parry

he speculated that non-literate poets used formulas to compose without writing

the Succession Myth (Uranus v Cronus, Cronus v Zeus, roles of Gaea and Rhea)

cronus vs zeus
cronus eats his children to not be overthrown
rhea deceives him, zeus rises to power

birth of Zeus

Concealed on Crete by Rhea, who gave Cronus a stone to swallow instead

Omphalos

Delphi is said to be the navel of Gaea

Amalthea and Melissa

nourish Zeus when in hiding (Melissa provides Honey)

The Corybantes (or Curetes)

hide Zeus's cries

titanomachy

Battle between the Titans and Olympians.
olympians win, claim themselves as rulers of the universe

Typhoeus/Typhon

waist up human, waist down snakes
sent by his mother Gaea to defeat Zeus
killed by Zeus
buried under mount Etna

Metis

Zeus's first wife
"cleverness"
eats metis, cleverness is within him

Athena

goddess of wisdom and war
virgin goddess
birthed from Zeus's head (because he ate Metis)

division of power between Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades

Zeus has the heavens
Poseidon has the sea
Hades has the underworld
Olympus and Gaea open to all

Atlas

condemned by Zeus to live at the end of the world, holds up the heavens
symbol of strength and power

gigantomachy

a mythical ancient Greek war between the Giants and the Olympian gods

Heracles

mortal son of Zeus
prophecy says mortal has to join the Olympians for victory (Heracles)
marries Hebe

creation of mortals

Prometheus mixed earth and water and molded man in image of gods
they become his "favorite thing"

the trick at Mecone

Prometheus gives humans the better parts of the feast
Zeus takes fire from mankind, Prometheus steals it

punishment of Prometheus

Zeus binds him to a stake on earth, and every day, one of his eagles eats Prometheus's liver

Pandora

first woman created by Zeus; opens a box full of evil things that are now on the earth; given to Epimetheus

Epimetheus

the brother of Prometheus. Prometheus is smart, he is foolish. He was warned not to accept the pandora box from the gods.

Hephaestus

crafted Pandora
Athena gives her weaving skills
Aphrodite givers her sexual allure
Hermes gives her bad morals

Hermes

Messenger of the gods; gives pandora bad morals

five races (ages) of man

golden race, silver race, bronze race, race of heroes, and the iron race

golden race

blessed and happy until death
become guardian spirits after death
earth produced food freely

silver race

violent and impious
underground spirits after death
food produced freely

age of heroes

more noble than the bronze race
race of Achilles, Theseus, etc.
Trojan war, seven against Thebes, etc.
go to Isle of the Blessed after death (special place in the underworld)

iron race

Hesiod's age
toil and sorrow
familial discord
lies, evil, shamelessness

bronze race

born from ash trees
warlike, strong, violent
use of bronze (some say they were made of)
first to go to realm of hades after death

flood myths

enlil disturbed by the noises people made, floods the earth
ea goes to atrhasis
tells him to build a boat, storm gets flooded for 7 days and night

lycaon

King of Arcadia that tested Zeus by trying to serve him cooked human flesh. Zeus turned him into a wolf
Zeus floods the Earth to restart

Deucalion and Pyrrha

the son of Prometheus. With his wife Pyrrha he survived a flood sent by Zeus to punish human wickedness; they were then instructed to throwstones over their shoulders and these turned into humans to repopulate the world.

Hellen

son of Deucalion and Pyrrha
gives the name "hellenes" to the greeks

Aeolus, Dorus, Xuthus

sons of hellen
the progenitors of the dialects of the greek languages

Themis

affair with eus
children (The Fates): Clotho (spinner)
Lachesis (apportioner)
Atropos (unyielding)
Eurydome (an oceanid)

horae

goddesses of the seasons (summer, autumn, winter, spring)

Mnemosyne

Goddess of Memory

nine muses

The nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who had the power to inspire artists, poets, singers, and writers.

heraion (argos, samos, olympia)

argos: site of the temple argive heraion
samos: birthplace of hera

Anthropormorphism

Assigning human characteristics to nonhuman beings or things.

Eileithyia, Hebe, Ares

Elie: goddess of childbirth, present for it
Hebe: personified youth
Ares: god of war

Poseidon

- known as the "earth shaker"
- on/off relationship with humans
- sides with the Greeks in the trojan war

Amphitrite

- married to Poseidon
- goddess of the sea
- nereid

Triton

- Son of Poseidon and Amphitrite
- guardian deity that sailors look to for calm sailing
- carried a twisted conch shell that when he blew, calmed the waves

Hades (helmet)

- king of the dead, "unseen"
- given a helmet of invisibility by the cyclops, some heroes wear it
- also "pluto," dangerous to call by name
- in command of functionaries and monsters