lecture 7 - zeus, hera, poseidon, and hades

the six children of Cronos and Rhea

zeus, hera, poseidon, demeter, hades, and (kinda) aphrodite

zeus, the father of gods and men (roots)

greek = zeus; germanic = tiu (sky); indic = Dyaus pitar (father sky); roman = Jupiter; Indo-European = di (“shine”)

epithets of zeus

Cloud-gathering, loud-thundering, wide-seeing, god of justice (dikē), Lord of host and guest, and Guest-friendship (xenia)

moirai/parcae (the fates)

[the product of themis and zeus] Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos

Clotho of the fates

the spinner — makes the thread of life

Lachesis of the fates

the apportioner — measures the thread of life

Atropos of the fates

she who cannot be turned aside — cuts the thread of life

the graces

[the product of zeus and eurynomê] personify the feminine qualities that make young girls attractive to men — usually accompany Aphrodite

the muses

[the produce of zeus and mnemosynê] inspire poets and musicians

who are europa, ganymede, and leda

three mortal consorts of zeus

europa

zeus came to her as a bull and wisked her off to Crete where she had 3 kids by him; etiology for Europe

ganymede

an adolescent boy who Zeus lusted after — came to him as an eagle and wisked him off to Olympus where he gave him eternal life/youth and appointed him the gods’ cupbearer

leda

a bride who Zeus seduced as a swan — she became pregnant by both her husband and Zeus and had two sets of twins (one immortal and one mortal)

Hera, queen of heaven

“ruler” or “lady”; goddess of marriage and fertility

epithets of hera

ox-eyed and cow-eyed

children of hera

Ares and Hephaestus

temples of hera

temples at Argos, Samos, and Olympia

poseidon, lord of the sea (root)

posis = lord; second part = unclear (could be wheat)

why would they associate poseidon with wheat?

Poseidon was originally thought to be the god of land earthquakes but when Inod-Europeans traveled to Greece by sea, they changed Poseidon to the water god

epithet of poseidon

earth-shaker (also holds a trident)

temples of poseidon

coastal temples on Isthmus and at Cape Sounio

hades, king of the underworld (root)

H = un; -ades = seen (unseen or “invisible“)

anthropormorphism

human characteristics and attributes to the non-human gods

nymphe

young women