Greek and Roman Mythology mid-term

Bronze Age

• (circa 3300 - 1150 BCE)

• widespread use of bronze

• rise of Mesopotamian civilization

• Early civilizations: This era saw the rise of the Minoan civilization on Crete (c. 2000–1450 BCE) and the Mycenaean civilization on mainland Greece (c. 1600–1100 BCE).

• Palace culture: Both societies built large palatial centers (like Knossos and Mycenae) that acted as political, religious, and economic hubs.

• Writing systems: The Minoans used Linear A, and the Mycenaeans used Linear B, an early form of Greek writing.

• Trade and warfare: Widespread trade across the Aegean and Mediterranean, but also frequent warfare and fortification building.

• Collapse: Around 1100 BCE, these civilizations collapsed—possibly due to invasions, natural disasters, or internal strife—leading to the Greek Dark Ages.

Dark Ages

• (circa 1100 - 800 BCE)

• social collapse, economic decline → trojan war (though it may be late bronze ages)

• Loss of writing and culture: The Linear B script disappeared, and most palace centers were abandoned.

• Population decline: Fewer settlements and less trade led to economic and cultural stagnation.

• Oral tradition: Epic poetry like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey was composed and passed down orally, preserving Greek heroic ideals.

• Iron replaces bronze: The introduction of iron tools and weapons marked slow technological recovery.

• End of isolation: By around 800 BCE, trade and contact with the Near East resumed, leading to new artistic and cultural growth.

Archaic

• (circa 800 - 480 BCE)

• developments in Greek politics, economics, and warfare → athens become prominent 

• Rise of the polis: Independent city-states (poleis) such as Athens, Sparta, and Corinth emerged as central political units.

• Colonization: Greeks established colonies across the Mediterranean and Black Sea, spreading culture and trade.

• Development of democracy: In Athens, early democratic reforms by Solon and Cleisthenes began reshaping governance.

• Cultural revival: The Greek alphabet (adapted from the Phoenicians) was developed, and art and sculpture became more realistic.

• Persian threat: The period ended with the Persian Wars (starting in 490 BCE), marking the transition to the Classical Age.

Classical

• (480 - 323 BCE)

• persian war, death of Alexander the Great (spreaded Athean culture) → key development of Athean culture

• Golden Age of Greece: Following victory over Persia, Athens flourished under Pericles, building the Parthenon and fostering philosophy and drama.

• Philosophy and arts: Thinkers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and playwrights like Sophocles and Euripides, defined Western thought and culture.

• Peloponnesian War: A long conflict (431–404 BCE) between Athens and Sparta weakened Greece politically and militarily.

• Science and innovation: Advances in mathematics (Pythagoras, Euclid) and history (Herodotus, Thucydides) emerged.

• End of the era: The Classical Age concluded with the death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE), who had united Greece and conquered a vast empire.

Hellenistic

• (323 - 30 BCE)

• greek culture reached its peak → progress in arts, theatre, agriculture

• conquest of rome

• greek becomes a lingua franca

• After Alexander’s death: His empire fragmented into successor kingdoms—notably the Ptolemaic (Egypt), Seleucid (Asia), and Antigonid (Macedonia) empires.

• Spread of Greek culture: Greek language and culture blended with Egyptian, Persian, and Asian traditions—this is Hellenization.

• New centers of learning: Alexandria in Egypt became a hub of science, philosophy, and art (home to the Library of Alexandria).

• Art and philosophy: Art became more emotional and realistic; philosophies like Stoicism and Epicureanism emerged.

• End of independence: The Romans conquered Greece by 146 BCE and finally absorbed the last Hellenistic kingdom (Egypt) in 30 BCE, marking the rise of Roman rule.

Prometheus

• “fore-thinker” → concerned with gods having too much power, so he steals fire and delivers them to mortals → fire can be used as a tool

• Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create pandora (first woman created by him) → punish humanity after Prometheus stole fire

• Chained to the Caucasus Mountains by Zeus, representing eternal suffering for challenging divine authority

• Prometheus becomes a symbol of self-sacrifice for human freedom

• Prometheus symbolizes human progress and defiance against divine authority, representing humanity’s quest for enlightenment and independence

• The fire he stole acts as a spark of human advancement because fire distinguished humans from animals which allowed them to forge tools and cook food

• Prometheus tricked Zeus by giving him bones and fats, which is why humans burn bones and fats as a sacrifice to the gods now, keeping the meat for themselves

Pandora

• “all-gifted” 

• pandora’s jar → when you open it all evil (suffering, disease) comes out except hope stays

• After Prometheus stole fire, Pandora is created out of rage, it shows how women are used as punishment and shows that females cannot be trusted

• Women are a constructed being, made by men showing how they are man-made 

• Hesiod describes women as “beautiful evil” → necessary for reproduction but a source of deceit and burden, which is why Pandora brings hope, she is destructive yet redemptive 

• Cultural expression of male anxiety about the female role and serves as a warning against female independence

Creation Myths (Yoruba)

• greeks accepted and exchanged stories

• The Yoruba creation myth tells about how the world and humanity came to be through actions of divine beings called Orisha who serve Olodumare/Olorun, the supreme God

• Olorun/Olodumare sends Obatala creator of humanity to help him form earth

• Obtala asked Orunmila (orisha who knows future) what he should do to prepare for mission

• Orunmila brought out a sacred tray and sprinkled powder of baobab roots on his and tossed 16 palm kernals onto the tray and studied the marks, did it 8 times. He told Obatala to prepare gold, sand, palm nuts, and maize and to get sacred egg carrying the personalities of all the orishas

• As the sand spread, dry land emerged, forming first solid ground called Ife which is regarded to Yorubans as cradle of humanity

Divine myths

• stories of gods, goddesses, often explains world origin, origins of the universe, to explain the unexplained

• takes place in a timeless, divine setting before humans existed

• Serves as the foundation of religious belief systems, explains the unexplained

• Reflects the values and worldview of the culture

  • theogony or the Birth of Athena

Legends myths

• stories of heroic mortals

  • achilles (iliad)

  • herkales 

• Heroic mortals often possess divine ancestry or superhuman traits

• Emphasizes bravery, honor, and leadership

Folktale myths

• Folktales are old allegorical stories that are passed down orally to entertain and teach  lessons about everyday life

• Transmitted orally through generations → Sirens, Odyssey, Pandora

• very old allegorical story

• character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance.

Golden Age

• godlike, blessed life, death like sleep, holy spirits, life of abundance 

• Ruled by Cronus (before Zeus): This was a peaceful and divine era under Cronus’ reign.

• Humans lived like gods: They enjoyed lives free from sorrow, toil, or old age.

• No need for labor: The earth produced everything they needed spontaneously.

• Death was gentle: People simply fell asleep and became guardian spirits after death.

• Moral perfection: It was an age of justice, harmony, and abundance — a model for all later ages.

Silver Age

• long lives, people were violent, witless, relied on mothers
  Ruled by Zeus: Came after Cronus’ fall and was less noble than the Golden Age.

• Long childhoods: People stayed as children for a hundred years before quickly aging and dying.

• Foolish and disrespectful: They refused to honor the gods properly.

• Zeus destroyed them: Their impiety led to their downfall.

• Spirits of the underworld: After death, they became blessed spirits of the underworld rather than protectors of the living.

Bronze Age (hesiod)

• Ash trees, warriors, strong with bronze, weapons, people fought each other

• Strong and warlike: Humans were fierce, violent, and obsessed with warfare.

• Made of ash trees: Their bodies and weapons were forged from bronze, symbolizing strength and brutality.

• No agriculture or peace: They lived for battle, not for farming or community life.

• Self-destruction: Their love of violence led them to destroy each other.

• Souls went to Hades: They left no legacy of honor, only destruction.

Heroes Age

• just and noble, demi-gods who die fighting in legendary wars, afterlife at the Isle of the Blessed

• A brief return to nobility: Unlike the Bronze Age, this era produced just and noble heroes.

• Includes mythic figures: Heroes like those of Thebes and Troy (e.g., Achilles, Odysseus) lived in this age.

• Valor and honor: Men were more righteous and courageous, driven by glory rather than greed.

• Divine ancestry: Many heroes were children of gods and mortals.

• Rewarded after death: Some were sent to the Isles of the Blessed to live in eternal peace.

Iron Age

• miserable, troubled lifes, argumentative, no one got along, selfish → leads to gods abandoning humanity 

• Hesiod’s own time: He believed he lived in this age — the worst of all.

• Hardship and toil: Life is full of labor, injustice, and suffering.

• Moral decline: Humans lie, cheat, and neglect justice and the gods.

• Family breakdown: Even kin betray one another; trust and honor are gone.

• Future destruction: Hesiod predicts Zeus will eventually destroy this corrupt generation too.

Odyssey Summary 

• Odysseus been gone for 20 years, he is trapped on the island of Ogygia with the goddess Calypso, who wants to keep him forever. In Ithaca, his home is overrun by suitors courting his wife Penelope and consuming his wealth. Telemachus is encouraged by Athena to seek news of Odysseus. 

• World in crisis and disorder, Ithaca has no king or no justice, mortals are lost between divine control and human helplessness , the Gods still have power from above

• His absence creates a vacuum where human values collapse

• The first 5 books creates two parallel worlds, the world of Odysseus’s absence where disorder, memory and divine manipulation

• The world of Odysseus’s journey where endurance, intelligence, and divine aid begin to restore balance

Iliad 16-18 Summary

• (16) Patroclus begs for Achilles’ armor if Achilles doesn’t want to fight → Achilles doesn’t want to fight, so gives armor → Achilles sends out Myrmidon soldiers to help Patroclus → prays to Zeus that Patroclus will return and the ships will return unharmed → Zeus will only grant one of these wishes

• (16) Because he is wearing Achilles’ armor, the Trojans retreat → Patroclus fights → Zeus wants to save son Sarpedon, but Hera stops him because the gods would look down on him, so he doesn’t → Sarpedon dies and they fight over his armor → Hector tries to retrieve it

• (16) Zeus kills Patroclus and gives Hector temporary cowardice and Hector leads → Patroclus pursues Trojans to gates of Troy → Poet explains that the city might have fallen if Apollo had not driven Patroclus back to the gates → Apollo persuades Hector to charge Patroclus but Patroclus kills Cebriones → fight over his armor → Apollo wounds Patroclus and Hector kills Patroclus → Hector taunts Patroclus, but Patrocleus foretells his death

• (17) Fight breaks out over Patroclus’ body, Euphorbus (Trojan who speared him first), tries to get the armor, but is killed by Menelaus → Menelaus enlists Great Ajax who forces Hector to back down and prevents the body from being removed or desecrated → Zeus gives Hector great power because of his impending death → Ajax and Menelaus summons more Achaeans to help them, force Trojans to run for city’s walls → Aeneas, invigorated by Apollo rallies men but unable to take corpse 

• (17) Automedon kills Trojan and strips him of armor to ease the grief of Patroclus’ spirit after Hector tries to kill him → Athena, disguised as a phoenix, gives strength to Menelaus, while Apollo, disguised as Trojan, gives encouragement to Hector → Zeus moves the battle in the Trojans’ favor but allows Menelaus and Meriones to carry away Patroclus’ body

• (18) Achilles loses control after hearing about death of Patroclus → he cries and Thetis hears him → he tells her what happened and shall avenge himself on Hector, even though he knows he is fated to die young if he chooses to be a warrior → Thetis gets Hephaestus to make him new armor → Iris sent by Hera tells him he  must make appearance on battlefield to scare the Trojans → cries and scares Trojans → each army holds an assembly to plan its next move → Polydamas urges comrades to retreat to the city, gains support from other Trojans because Athena robbed them of wit → Achaeans mourn for Patroclus → Achilles prepare for burial, won’t bury him until he kills Hector → Hephaestus makes armor

Iliad 22-24 Summary

• (22) Apollo reveals himself to Achilles, he has been deceived, wants to hurt Apollo but can’t → Hector is afraid to face Achilles → Athena tells Zeus to not save Hector → Athena disguises herself as Hector’s brother, Deiphobus, and tells him to face Achilles → Hector asks Achilles to an oath that the winner won’t desecrate the body → Achilles declines → Achilles throws spear and Athena gives it back, but when Hector throws spear he doesn’t see his brother → realizes that Athena duped him → Hector dies and Achilles doesn’t treat him with respect after he asks to treat his body nicely → Hector has moment of foresight and tells of how Paris and Apollo will kill Achilles → Achilles strips of his armor → mourning of Hector’s death 

• (23) Mourning of Patroclus’ death → Achilles sets out a funeral feast → Achilles will not bathe until he buries Patroclus → Patroclus’ ghost asks Achilles to bury him and reminds him that he will soon die → Achilles cuts his hair for Patroclus → Aphrodite and Apollo keeps animaks away from Hector’s body → Achilles prays to Boreas and Zephyrus → Achilles hosts funeral games in memory of his friend 

• (24) Achilles heaps abuse on Hector’s body → treatment of the body stresses the gods out, except Hera and Athena who hate Troy because Paris chose Aphrodite over them in a beauty contest → Zeus uses Iris to send message to Thetis to give Achilles a message → accept Priam’s ransom to return Hector’s body → Achilles meets Priam, Priam asks for pity → Achilles weeps → Achilles has Hector’s body prepared and wrapped, they eat together → Priam asks for 11 days of mourning, Achilles promises that he won’t attack → Hermes warns Priam of the dangers if others find him → Priam returns to Troy with the body → 9 days they mourn, 10th day cremation, and 11th day they bury, they honor Hector

Theogony

• Details the origin of Gods

• Muses taught Hesiod the art of singing

• Abyss borned Erebos and dark Night and Erebos and Night made Aether and Day

• Earth’s first child was Ouranos, starry heaven 

• Ouranos birthed Kronos who hated his father, believed that Gaia + Ouranos birthed monsters, so Ouranus stuffed children into Earth, so Kronos and Earth came up with a plan and Ouranos castrated Ouranos

• Ouranos’s genitalia created Aphrodite, love figure

• Kronos + Rhea created many Olympians, Kronos kept swallowing them because of a prophecy that he would be overthrown by one of his sons, so Rhea wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes to make it look like a baby and Kronos swallowed the rocks and vomited the offspring → children led rebellion and Zeus defeated him in a war between Titans and Olympians 

Works and Days

• Two kinds of strike, competitive strike and wasteful strife

  • Good Eris = stirs people to work hard and it motivates craftsmen to compete with others 

  • Wasteful Strife = creates malicious conflict, battle, and war, stirred by jealously and greed

• Hesiod tells of his brother Perses, who took more of the inheritance due to corrupt judges, he tells his brother to work harder rather than bribing judges

• Tells the story of Pandora → evil for mankind built by the Gods and Epimetheus (Prometheus’s brother) accepts → she released all curses except hope stays in the jar

• Tells about the 5 ages → Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroes, and Iron Age 

Agamemnon Summary + Points 

• In the play, the action in the play is interrupting the chorus

• Starts with the return of King Agamemnonn to Argos 10 years after the war at Troy. Before leaving for the war, Agamemnon had sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to appease the goddess Artemis and gain favorable winds for the Greek Fleet, which left his wife Clytemnestra vengeful. While he was away, she secretly took Agamemnon’s cousin Aegisthus as her lover and plotted revenge. When Agamemnon returns home with Cassandra, she welcomes both of them and persuades him to walk on the purple tapestry a sign of hubris. She murdeers both of them, claiming as justice for Iphigenia’s death. Clytemnestra and Aegisthus take control of the throne.

• The play explores how acts of vengeance perpetuate endless bloodshed. Clytemnestra’s murder of Agamemnon is a crime and a punishment, justice for Iphigenia’s sacrifice.

• Agamemnon’s decision to sacrifice his daughter for the sake of war victory shows the tension between state duty and family loyalty, a recurring moral dilemma in Greek tragedy 

• Agamemnon’s pride in walking on the purple tapestries symbolizes hubris, his arrogance invites divine retribution, illustrating the Greek belief that no mortal may overstep divine boundaries 

• Clytemenestra is one of the strongest female figures in Greek literature. Her manipulation, eloquence, and strategic planning challenge traditional gender roles, showing a woman who wields power through intellect and will. 

• While the play ends in chaos, the chorus reminds the audience that divine justice will eventually prevail

Structuralist Approach 

Structuralist Approach

• Structuralist scholars believed myths could only be understood by comparing them with other myths (or versions of the same myth) to find their essential patterns and meanings.

• This approach views myths as structured systems of meaning that reflect universal human patterns and specific cultural values, revealed through careful comparison, analysis of structure, and attention to context.

• Focused on the basic structure of stories — identifying recurring plot types (like the hero’s quest) and character roles (hero, villain, helper).

• Burkert also found that other myths — like Demeter’s withdrawal and Adonis’s story — could be seen as variations or inversions of the same fundamental narrative structure.

• Jean-Pierre Vernant expanded Lévi-Strauss’s ideas by emphasizing the specific cultural and linguistic context of each myth.

Ritualistic Approach

• Influenced by Darwin’s evolutionary theory and the study of so-called “primitive” societies, scholars proposed that ancient Greek religion shared early developmental traits with these cultures.

• They argued that myths evolved alongside rituals as a way for societies to make sense of practices inherited from earlier times.

• Smith suggested that myths were created to explain rituals, not the natural world.

• This suggested that myths and rituals had universal patterns repeated across human cultures.

• From Smith and Frazer’s evolutionary anthropology to Burkert’s biological reinterpretation, this tradition sees myth not just as storytelling but as a symbolic companion to human ritual and social behavior.

Narratological Approach

• Narratological scholars study the specific ways myths were told or shown, including the language, tone, structure, and performance context (e.g., at religious festivals).

• A myth only exists when narrated or represented—there is no single, “ideal” version of a myth like Medea or Demeter and Persephone, but many variations created by different storytellers and artists.

• Myths were often performed during festivals or rituals, and their impact depended on audience experience — how people reacted to hearing them within those sacred, social, or celebratory settings.

• Rather than searching for a universal “core” or “true” version, scholars like Calame and Johnston show how each telling of a myth performed social, emotional, and religious work, making the gods and their stories feel real to ancient Greek audiences.

• Like earlier scholars, narratologists see myth and ritual as connected, but they don’t assume one explains or originates from the other.

Homeric Question

• The Homeric question is about the authorship of the Odyssey and Iliad and whether Homer was one person or multiple people

• I believe that the differences in the Iliad and the Odyssey such as the narrative manner shows how there wasn’t necessarily one poet that produced both works, but multiple authors who worked together to compose the piece

• The themes of the Odyssey and Iliad are different, the Iliad focuses on the tragedy of the Trojan War, while the Odyssey is more adventurous 

• There are different portrayals of characters, like the Phoenicians seem to be admired in the Iliad more skilled, and portrayed negatively in the Odyssey, cunning 

• As well as that, the Odyssey is more episodic as it tells different series of adventures, while the Iliad focuses on one overarching plot during the Trojan War

• These differences in these works highlight that each poet shaped the epic form to express the values of his own time — one glorifying the tragic heroism of war, the other celebrating the resilience and intelligence of survival.

Pylos Project

An important artifact found in Pylos is the Griffin Warrior’s Tomb, discovered recently in 2015 near the Palace of Nestor in Pylos. Archaeologists found a carve agate sealstone called the Pylos Combat Agate and it depicts a detailed battle scene between a hero and his enemies. It reflects themes central to Greek Mythology like heroism, divine favor, and the human struggle for glory and honor, like Achilles or Heracles. The craftsmanship of the sealstone dates back to around 1450 BCE in the Bronze Ages, which shows that the Mycenaeans of Pylos had deep cultural connections to early Greek mythological traditions long before Homer’s epics were written. The discovery provides insight into how myths of warriors and gods shaped Greek identity and artistic expression before classical times

Pylos 

• Pylos is known as the kingdom of King Nestor, one of the wisest and oldest Greek Heroes in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. He was admired for his wisdom, diplomacy, and guidance to younger warriors

• Pylos represents a place of heroic virtue and moral leadership. Nestor’s palace was a symbol of order, peace, and tradition

• Nestor’s role as a counselor in the Trojan War links Pylos directly to one of the most important events in Greek mythology, his recollections of earlier wars and heroes in the Iliad  serve to connect past mythic generations with the present

• Telemachus travels to Pylos to seek news of his missing father and Nestor welcomes him with great hospitality 

• Discovery of Palace of Nestor connects mythology to tangible history, the palace and its artifacts provide evidence that Greek myths were rooted in real Bronze Age civilizations that influenced both Greek and Roman storytelling traditions

Zeus + Hera’s relationship

• Zeus and Hera’s relationship is complex and reflects both harmony and conflict found in both human and divine relationships. In the Iliad, Hera often challenges Zeus’s authority, most notably when she sides with the Greeks in the Trojan War while Zeus attempts to remain neutral, showing how divine unions are marked by struggle and emotion.

• Their relationship represents the highest form of divine rule, the union of king and queen of the gods, authority in both heaven and on earth

• Constant quarrels, over Zeus'‘s infedelities show that even Gods experience human emotions like jealously, anger, and pride. In Iliad, Hera’s anger toward Zeus humanizes the gods and mirrors emotional struggles found in human relationships

• Hera supports the Greeks while Zeus tries to remain neutral, but shows support for the Trojans, showing how divine conflicts influence mortal affairs 

• Their turbulent marriage serves as a mirror of human love and marriage filled with devotion, conflict, and compromise. 

Hesiod

• Hesiod’s Theogony was the first major attempt to organize the Greek Gods into a coherent genealogy by stating their origin and the succession of gods

• Through Works and Days, Hesiod introduces ethical lessons through myth. With the story of Pandora, it serves as an early reflection on human suffering, curiosity, and divine justice. He uses myth to explain why humans must endure hardship and strive through virtue

• Hesiod often incorporated himself in his works, most notably in Works and Days. He viewed himself as for the common man like an ordinary Greek farmer, this emphasis of hard work and fairness reflected social values of everyday Greeks. This transition made myth relevant to the common people

• Hesiod became the sourcebook for later poets, dramatists, and historians, influencing works from Aeschylus’s tragedices tragedies. His reflections on cosmic justice and divine order influenced early philosophers. His idea that Zeus rewards the just and punishes the corrupt anticipates the moral reasoning of philosophers like Plato’s belief of a rationally ordered universe. 

• Hesiod’s depiction of the Ages of Humanity became a key framework for later authors, which is seen in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The Romans adopted Hesiod’s moral tone and sense of decline, showing his influence beyond Greece.

Homer

• In the Iliad, Homer defines what it means to be a hero through Achilles’ conflict between personal glory and moral restraint. This is seen when Achilles chooses to stay to fight, even though he knows he is fated to young if he chooses to fight with the Greeks. Homer sets the standards for kleos and this idea of reputation and honor that is central to Greek identity, which is reflected in Greek ethics

• Homer portrays the gods as powerful yet falliable beings who interact constantly with mortals and thus creates a relationship between mortals and gods. This is seen in Book 1 of the Iliad when he debates intervening the Trojan War despite the pleas of the other Gods and in the Odyssey when Athena constantly helps Odysseus in his journey home to Ithaca by disguising herself 

• Homer’s epics provided a common cultural foundation across the Greek world. The odyssey emphasized universal themes of homecoming, loyalty, and perseverance seen when Odysseus talks about how there is nothing sweeter than a man’s own country in Book 9. These stories were always performed and recited throughout Greece, which helped unify the society

• Homer’s use of epic similes, formulaic repetitions, and in media res (in the middle of) storytelling became defining traits of Western epic poetry. He composed with dactylic hexameter which created rhythm suitable for oral performance, which is seen in other people’s work like Roman poets like Virgil who continued to use this meter to signal epic seriousness. 

• By the Classical Era, Homer was treated as a sacred teacher. Plato’s Republic frequently references Homer and shows Homer’s enduring role as the moral and cultural touchstone of the ancient world

Additional knowledge from the background readings

• Greek myths build upon other myths seen with repeated characters told in different myths and poems

• Roots of myths are grounded in story and narrative → derives from muthos which means word, fiction, purpose or thought

• It is the ability to persuade others that allows for myth to be culturally important; without that ability people would not believe myths or it would not be passed down for generations

• Myths were used to create friendly political relations and used in politics. The Persian King + Argos king remained neutral 

• Because myths were told orally, they were highly variable, which means that new details were constantly added

• Insulting the priest is insulting the deity, which is why in the beginning of the Iliad when

Succession vs Creation Myths

• Creation myths explain how the universe and the first beings came into existence before there were rulers or conflicts among Gods

• Ex: Hesiod begins with Chaos, from which Gaia, Tartarus, and Eros emerges

• From Gaia, we have Ouranos, Mountains, and Pontus which are the physical elements of the world 

• These myths are about the origins

• Succession muths tell the story of how power passes from one genration of gods to the next, often through violence, rebellion, or deception

• Ex: Ouranos imprisons his children and Kronos ends overthrowing up by castrating him. From then Kronos feared the same fate, so he swallows his children and Zeus and Rheia come up with a plan to trick and get the children back and overthrows Kronos

• Sucession myths the transitions of the transfer of power of the Gods and tells about who ends up ruling the world

Book 1 of the Iliad 

• The Iliad begins in the 10th year of the Trojan War, with a quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles. Apollo sends a plague on the Greek camp because Agamemnon refuses to return Chryseis, daughter of Apollo’s priest, Chryses. Agamemnon reluctantly gives Chryseis back, but he seizes Briseis as compensation

•  Achilles begs for his mother for help because Zeus owes Thetis, who promises to persuade zeus to punish the Greeks by giving the Trojans success until they realize how much they need Achilles. Zeus agrees to Thetis’s request

• The opening line declares how achilles’ rage is the driving force of the entire poem, his prsonal conflict becomes symbolic of human pride and the destructive power of anger.

• The heroic code in the Iliad is the unwritten set of values that guide how warriors behave, what they live for, and how they achieve honor and glory. In this poem, a man’s worth is measured by not peace or compassion, but skill in battle, and reputation among peers. In the Iliad, a man’s identity and immortality come through his reputation, this is seen when Achilles chooses to fight, even if it means death for him, because his death at least represents dying with honor. Dishonor is worth than death

• Gods are deeply involved in mortal affairs, Apollo is the one causing the plague, Thetis intervenes with Zeus and Hera’s jealously stirs divine conflict. 

• Achilles’ pride and sense of justice make him both noble and flawed. His choice to withdraw from battle reflects the tragic nature of human emotion, greatness mixed with self-destruction

• Book 1 launches the chain of events that define the Iliad, like the Greeks’ suffering, Achilles’ absense, Patroclus’ death, and Achilles’ return to combat

End of the Iliad

• The ending of the Iliad ends with its quiet release. When Priam kneels before Achilles and kisses the hands that killed his son, Achilles is overwhelmed by compassion

• By granting Priam Hector’s body, Achilles acknowledges a shared moral code beyond the battlefield, respect owed to all human beings, even enemies

• The scene emphasizes the universal human condition of mortality and loss. Both men are united in grief, one for his son and one for his friend.

• By focusing on pity instead of conquest, Homer suggests that true heroism lies not in killing, but in compassion

• The Iliad closes with Hector’s funeral, not with Troy’s fall or Achilles’ death. This deliberate choice shows that Homer’s epics is not about war’s outcome but about human cost. The reconciliation between Priam and Achilles provides a moment of peace 

Zeus

• Symbols: thunderbolt, eagle, scepter, throne.

• Clothing: often seated like a king, sometimes with a flowing beard.

• Scenes: shown with other gods (like Hera) or striking with his thunderbolt.

Hades

• Symbols: staff or scepter, sometimes a cornucopia, bowl, often shown with Persephone.

• Animals: sometimes has Cerberus, the three-headed dog.

• Scenes: underworld setting or abduction of Persephone.

Hestia

• Symbols: hearth, fire, sometimes holding a veil.

• Scenes: calm and domestic—rarely shown in action scenes.

Hera

• Symbols: peacock, diadem (crown), scepter.

• Scenes: often seated beside Zeus, shown as queenly or dignified.

Demeter 

• Symbols: grain, torches, cornucopia.

• Scenes: with Persephone or Triptolemus, representing agriculture and harvest.

Aphrodite 

• Symbols: dove, mirror, shell, Eros (Cupid) nearby.

• Scenes: often with Eros, Ares, or Pan; sensual or beauty-focused imagery.

Artemis 

• Symbols: bow and arrows, deer, crescent moon.

• Scenes: in forests, hunting scenes, or with nymphs.

Apollo

• Symbols: lyre, laurel wreath, bow, sun.

• Scenes: playing music, with the Muses or Pythia (Delphi).

Hephaestus 

• Symbols: hammer, anvil, tongs.

• Scenes: forging weapons, working at an anvil, sometimes limping or seated.

Dionysos 

• Symbols: grapevine, ivy, wine cup, thyrsus (staff with pinecone).

• Companions: satyrs and maenads.

• Scenes: revelry, theater, transformation, or with Ariadne.

Hestia

• Hestia is the goddess of the hearth, fire, and domestic life.

• In every home, the hearth fire was sacred to her — it represented warmth, safety, and unity within the household.

• Families would begin and end each day’s meals and rituals by offering a small sacrifice to Hestia.

• Each city-state in Greece had a public hearth dedicated to Hestia, usually in the prytaneion (town hall).

• This sacred fire symbolized the unity and continuity of the community.

• When new colonies were founded, settlers would carry a flame from the mother city’s hearth to light the new city’s fire — a powerful symbol of connection and shared identity.

• Hestia chose not to marry, rejecting suitors like Poseidon and Apollo.

• By remaining a virgin goddess, she represented inner balance, purity, and harmony, contrasting with the conflicts and passions of other Olympians.

• Her calm and gentle nature made her a symbol of domestic order and peace — the quiet foundation of Greek life.