Untitled Flashcards Set

CLAA06 Lecture Notes

Lecture 1: Introduction to the course and the nature of Greek and Roman myth

Key names and words:

Words:

• Divine Myth/True myth - About the Gods (and their relationships with men), Aetiological/Aitiological stories about religious practices

• Pantheon- Means all gods

• Anthropomorphic- Greek and roman gods were anthropomorphic (man-shaped), they looked and behaved like humans (petty,vindictive)

• Legend/Saga - Stories about humans (superhumans) - heroes, interference by the gods, some historical basis (reason or explanation (aetiological stories)

• Folktale motif - Stories of everyday people, magical elements (but not gods), many cultures have similar stories

• Aitiological/Etiological

• Indo european- The root of lots of languages in the world

• Linear B- The script (writing) of the mycenaean Greeks - writing an early form of the Greek language (also clay tablet)

• Cuneiform- Used as the script to write lots of different Near Eastern languages (sumerian, akkadian, hittite, hurrian). It is the writing on clay tablets

• Archaic Greek (800-500)- Before the first writing, these were stories orally composed (and recited), after the introduction of writing stories continued to be recited orally, but this was sometimes after memorizing the written text. 8th: Homer; The Iliad and Odyssey and Hesiod; Theogony and Works & Days. 7th - early 5th, Epic cycles (no longer survives) and Homeric Hymns, Early 5th Pindar

• Classical Greek (500-300) - tragic plays (aeschylus, sophocles and euripides), new genre of literature designed to be performed in front of a large audience, specifically written for the Athenian religious festival and dramatic competitions of the festival of the Dionysia, adaptations and re-workings of the pre-existing myths

• Hellenistic Greek (300-100)- Apollonious of Rhodes Argonautica (Alexandria, Egypt 3rd) and Apollodorus of AThens (athens, 2nd)

• Roman Imperial (BC-AD)- Beginning with Augustus, wholeheartedly admire and adapt Greek culture and artistic traditions, but in a Roman Style (roman attitudes to greek art and culture). Some works during this time were Virgils Aeneid (1st BC), Ovid’s Metamorphoses (1st BC), Pseudo-Apollodorus The library (probably 1st-2nd AD), and Pausanias Guide to Greece (2nd AD)

• BC/BCE - Minoan and mycenaean bronze age, early iron age, archaic, classical, hellenistic (greek world), Early rome and roman republic (roman world)

• AD/CE- Roman empire

Gods:

• Artemis/diana - goddess of the hunt and of wild animals. She was well known for her strict virginity

• Parents are Zeus and Leto and her concern is wild animals;maidenhood

Humans:

• Aktaion/Acteon, was a mortal hunter from Boeotia in Greece

• The myth is he caught sight of the goddess bathing (naked) and in punishment she turned him into a stag to be torn apart by his own hunting dogs

Places: 

• Ancient Greek World

• Hittite Empire

• Sumer/Sumerian Empire

• Mesopotamia

Key Source for the week:

• Who wrote this and when? Ovid in 1st BC

• What is the name of the work that the passage came from (it won’t be supplied in the exam) Metamorphoses

• What myth is being described? Aktaion seeing Artemis bathing and being turned into a stag and then being ripped apart by his hunting dogs

• What does this version tell us about the purpose of the author? This is a graphic and tragic version that dwells on Aktaions suffering and helplessness despite being innocent. It is told together with other stories about the transformation of humans at the hands of gods and shows the gods callousness in causing suffering for innocent humans

• What are the variations on the telling of the myth that existed in the ancient world? Callimachus (hellenistic poet 3rd) 5th Hymn- The Bath of pallas (Punished for an accident), Punished for arrogance (thinking hes better than a god), punished for lusting after someone he shouldn’t, rationalising the myth (the dogs were rabid, why people of Orchomenos in Greece make offering to Aktaion every year, ruined by the expense of looking after his hunting dogs)

Lecture 2: Creation of Gods and Humans

Key names and words:

Gods:

• Primordial Gods (some are also spatial regions, like gaia-earth): Chaos (void/chasm), Gaia/Ge (earth), Uranus (sky), Eros (sexual desire/attraction), Typhoeus/typhon (monster)

• Titans: Prometheus, Epimetheus, Cronus, Rhea, Atlas (the offspring (titians) of the first divine couple arent allowed to thrive. Their father, Uranus is worried that he will be overthrown, so he buries the competition keeping his children, the titans, in the earth, their mother. The cyclopes and hecatonchires are also banished to the depths of the earth. Finally his wife/mother Gaia and youngest son, Cronus conspire against him. Cronus will hide and un-man his father with a sickle. Cronus, having overthrown his father is now head of the titian gods

• Olympian Gods: Zeus, Aphrodite (the second divine couple-the titans cronus and rhea have their own children. The cycle starts again. The father, Cronus, fears that he will be overthrown, so he swallows his children (the olympians). Finally Rhea is tolf by her parents Uranus and gaia, how to outwit him. In place of her youngest son, Zeus, she gives him a roce to swallow, and hides zeus on the island of crete

Humans: 

• Pandora: zeus also sends another punishment to humans. The gods create pandora, the first woman. In the Works and Days the story of pandoras jar (or better known as box), is that pandora is created and married to epimetheus. She lets the evils of the world out of her jar, leaving only hope behind (a mixed blessing)

• Deucalion and Pyrrha (Zeus is disgusted by the the behaviour of humans of the iron age and wants to wipe them out. Deucalion is son of Prometheus and Pyrrha is daughter of Epimetheus. They are warned by prometheus that Zeus will send a flood, and so construct a box to float in (it doesn't contain all the animals of noahs Ark). They survive the flood and then repopulate the earth by taking the advice of Themis.

Places:

• Cyprus

• Mount Ida and Mount Dike in Crete

• Mount Olympus

• The Omphalos at Delphi

• Alter of Zeus at Pergamon

Words:

• Gigantomachy (the battle between gods and giants): Final battle, the gigantomachy- the battle between the olympian gods and giants (children of gaia). Not described by Hesiod, but often depicted in art and later classical authors. The hero Hercules (a son of Zeus) is crucial in this battle, fighting on the side of the olympians gods. The defeated giants are imprisoned under mountains, turning them into volcanoes. The gigantomachy represented a battle between civilization and disorder. This made it appropriate as a celebration of victory over enemies in this case of the Hellensitic kingdom of Pergamon over Celtic invaders called Galatians. Zeus has now disposed of the challengers to his reign. Oceanus encircles the earth. Atlas (a titian or giant) has to hold up the heavens in the far corners of the earth. The titans, the giants and typhon are imprisoned in tartarus or buried under mountains. The greek myth explain how the world is ordered

• Titanomachy: The battle between the gods and titians. Zeus must defeat his titian ancestors once and for all to eliminate any threat. He battles the titans (the titanomachy). On the advice of Gaia, he frees the cyclopes (brothers of titans who had been imprisoned in Tartarus) and seeks their help. They make him thunderbolt his particular weapon. He is also helped by Hecatonchiers, who hurl rocks and mountains with their hundred hands. After their defeat, most of the titans are imprisoned in tartarus

Key sources:

• Who wrote this and when? Hesiod and in 730-700 BC

• What is the name of the work that the passage came from? Theogony

• What is it talking about/describing? How the cosmos was created

• Who wrote this and when? Hesiod in 7th BC

• What is the name of the work that the passage came from? Works and Days

• What is it talking about/describing (you need to know the story and the wider myth context, so what led to the events being talked about in the passage)? The story of pandora

Lecture 3: Gods 1: (Some) Gods of Olympus

Key names and words:

Ancient Author:

• Homer- may not have been a single person (although ancient people believed it was). Refers to two stories the iliad and Odyssey, which were product of a long life of oral composition and performance when they were constantly changing. They weren’t written down (and therefore basically fixed) until the mid 8th century (around 750 BC) just after the Greek alphabet was invented

Gods and Goddesses:

• Zeus/Jupiter- name is actually Dios in Greek which means shining.heavenly. King or father of the gods (replacing uranus and then cronus). God of the sky, and of thunder and lighting, oaths and justice, law and order and the sacred duties of a host. His attribute is the thunderbolt and his symbol is the eagle. He marries several goddesses which are allegories of abstract ideas. Their children embody virtues that are powerful in the world of man:

• Metis (cleverness) - Athena

• Eurynome (wide dominion/rule) - 3 Graces

• Mnemosyne (memory)- 9 Muses

• Themis (laws of the universe)- 3 Horae (seasons) and (in some versions) 3 Moirae (fates) {NB the fates are sometimes children of Nyx and therefore older than Zeus}

• Hera/Juno- Married to zeus and is the mother/earth goddess, queen of the gods, powerful fertility goddess in origin, god of marriage and family values. Her symbol is the peacock. Her attendant is Iris (a messenger goddess and rainbow). She is best known as being the jealous and nagging wife of the philandering husband. She is vicious in her punishment of Zeus' other women and of offsprings (Hercules). Comic and tragic element to these stories, but also a real concern with monogamy and the dangers of adultery in Greek society, it would lead to inheritance problems

• Hephaistos/Vulcan- Son of hera on her own. Lame from birth, and cast out of Olympus by either Zeus or Hera. God of fire and the forge. Blacksmith of the gods. God of artisans and craftsmen (non-elites therefore an imperfect god). Made the houses of gods, the armour of Achilles and Pandora the first women. The forge of Hephaistos where he worked with the cyclopes, was thought to be under volcanoes. May have originally have been a local god of the island of Lemnos, which has an extinct volcano. In the iliad we have the version where he is cast out by Zeus and lands on the island of Lemnos. Here we see him as a peace-marker in unhappy family life, perhaps typical of Greek mariage. Zeus is the head of the household. Perhaps most famous is the story of Hephaistos catching his wife Aphrodite having an affair with Ares. Hesiod’s version of her is a powerful being, one of the ancient goddess but homer makes her a child of Zeus and shows her weak and frivolous nature. Aphrodite is not immune to her own power. Aphrodite and adonis (aphrodite falls in love with adonis. When he is killed by a boar she is inconsolable. Turns his blood into a flower, the anemone)

• Ares/Mars- God of war (blood lust), irrational and brutal (most hated by zeus), doesnt appear much in stories although known from linear B tablets. Has several different partners but most important is aphrodite. Their children are Phobos (panic) and Deimos (fear), Harmonia (harmony) and Eros according to some sources. He is not popular for worship by the Greeks, but was well-respected by the romans. His attributes are armour and sword

• Aphrodite/Venus- Goddess of love and sexual desire. An ancient goddess with two different origins stories according to Greek Myth. The first one is born from the sea foam (aphros) and the severed genitals of Uranus (according to Hesiod). The second is born from Zeus and Dione (according to homer). Doesn’t appear in Linear B but does have clear ties to Ancient near eastern fertility goddess. Her attributes are the goose and dove. Her companion is eros (son with ares according to some versions

• Eros/Cupid- Hesiod sees Eros as ancient primordial god. In homer he is a winged boy, child or aphrodite and ares. More fun and more mischievous. Armed with a bow and arrow to shoot the arrows of passionate desire at his victims. Usually the companion of aphrodite. One of the few stories about his (rather than aphrodite) tells of his love for psyche (this is a late version)

• Athena/Minerva- She is a virgin goddess and goddess of reason and wisdom, goddess of war and strategy and victory, protector of the city and its institutions, goddess of civilized skills and crafts. Some of her attributes are the owl, olive branch, hamlet, Aegis, breastplate with the head of the gorgon (her armour). The birth of athena was that Zeus swallowed Metis (to avoid the challenge to his succession) and so gave birth to his daughter himself), she sprang from his head fully formed and armed. Zeus’ favourite daughter and she wears his aegis

• Apollo- God of music,poetry, and the arts oracles/divination and plagues and healing. His son asclepius is god of medicine. Attributes are the bow, lyre, laurel wreath. Also the god of sun/light-combined with the titan helios. Companions are muses. Loves of apollo - cursed to catch the god’s eye. Daphne and apollo, daphne flees from the gods advances and is ‘saved’ by being turned into a laurel tree. Sybil and Cassandra, apollo gives them both the gift of prophecy, but curses them both too…sybil has immortality but also grows old and cassandra has the gift of prophecy but will never be believed. 

• Artemis/Diana- The virgin huntress, she takes on aspects usually reserved for men (like athena). But she is also a fertility goddess and a goddess of women and their life-stages and initiation ceremonies. From girl, to wife, a goddess of childbirth. She later takes over the functions of Selene (moon). Female counterpart of Apollo and embodies contradictions; a goddess of wild animals and also the goddess of the hunt. Her attributes are the bow and animal and her companion is nymphs. Punishment of humans and of companions (callisto the nymph took a vow of chastity, but was raped by Zeus. When artemis found out she was pregnant, she turned her into a bear, which she later killed, but her unborn son Arcas is saves. She becomes the constellation of stars called Ursa Major (great bear)

• Leto- Gives birth to apollo and artemis on Ortygia, because Hera has forbidden any other land to take her in. Ortygia is renamed to the island of Delos

• Metis- Mother of Athena

• Poseidon/Neptune- he is the god of the sea, earth-shaker. Found in linear B. His attribute is the trident (often hard to differentiate him from Zeus without it). Married to Nereid (see nymph) amphitrite, with son triton. The cosmos was divided between the three brothers (Zeus, Poseidon and Hades). Hes also associated with the land and strength and virility. In earliest incarnation Poseidon may have been the god of earth - association with earthquakes, bulls and horses

Places:

• Sanctuary of Athena, Akropolis, Athens

• Sanctuary of Zeus, Olympia

• Sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi

• Sanctuary of Hera, Argos

• Temple of Artemis, Ephesus

Words:

• Anthropomorphic- Gods were believed to be anthropomorphic, but also immortal. They looked and acted like humans

• Aetiological- Myths were usually aetiological.Explaining how the world worked and came to be-the cause for natural phenomena, or human behaviour including methods of worship

• Panhellenic- Apollo slays the python (dragon) which lives at Delphi (taking the epithet pythian apollo). He establishes a sanctuary with an Oracle delivered by the pythia priestess and panhellenic games

• Hieros Gamos- Zeus and Hera’s marriage is considered a holy marriage between the earth and the sky and their coupling brings about new growth on earth. This is the third generation of these “holy mariages” (after gaia and uranus and Rhea and Cronus)

• Epithet- show the different aspects of Athena’s worship

Key Sources:

• Who wrote this and when? Homer in 750 BC

• What is the name of the work that the passage came from? Odyssey

• What is it talking about/describing? How hephaestus caught his wife, aphrodite cheating on him with ares

• In what context was the story told and why this is relevant? In the context that cheating isnt good showing the values of the greeks

• Who wrote this and when? Homer in 750 BC

• What is the name of the work that the passage came from? Iliad book 1

• What is it talking about/describing? How Apollo made a plague happen

• What does this tell us about how the greeks interacted with and imagined their god? How they made sacrifices to the gods to gain there favour and if the god was pleased they would be helped out.

Lecture 4: Gods 2: Gods of Death and Rebirth

Key names and words:

Ancient literacy source:

• Homeric Hymns- these were not actually composed by “homer” (although people in the ancient world thought they were-hence the name). They were written in the same style of poetic metre (rhythm and line length) as the homeric epics. Poems to all the major gods composed over the course of 8th - 5th centuries BC. Had roots in religious prayers, but were careful poetic compositions, gathering together information on the gods. Performed publicly (recited or sung at religious festivals to an audience of both men and women). Homeris Hymn to Demeter is possibly in 7th BC and the hymn to hermes possibly late 6th or early 5th BC

• Euripides- he composed a tragedy in the late 5th century BC. Written to be performed at the city Dionysia in Athens. Won first prize in 405 BC after he had died. Tells us many myths of Dionysus. Tells how Dionysus violently introduces his worship to Thebes, where his mother was from, forcing them to acknowledge that he was the son of Zeus. He disguises himself as a priest and persuades Pentheus, his cousin and king Thebes, to spy on the religious rituals of his followers the maenads (including his aunts), with  tragic consequences. The play very self-consciously questions the nature of the god, and the contradiction in his worship between the benefits he gives and the terrible revenge he takes.

Gods and goddess:

• Dionysos/dionysus/Bacchus- God of wine, and male god of fertility. But also god of drama, and inspires religious ecstasy/mania. To the Greeks, Dionysus was a latecomer, not one of the original olympians. He travelled all over the East before coming to Olympus and becoming one of the 12 gods. He is an ancient god mentioned in linear b tablets. His attributes are ivy,  grapevine, leopard skin, thyrsos (pinecone on a staff), wine cup. His companions are maenads, satyrs, silenus, pan. He marries Ariadne when he discovers her abandoned on Naxos. His cult is the dionysiac mysteries which is an ecstatic religion related to the idea of fertility and rebirth. Part of a lot of other religious rituals and festivals (the great dionysia, athens). He is the child of zeus and semele (a mortal). Hera was very jealous. He was reborn from the thigh of zeus (twice born god). Brought up first by Ino (sister of semele) who is struck mad by Hera. Then Hermes delivers the child to the demi-god Nysos and nymphs of (mythical) Mount Nysa. Dionysus= Dios (zeus) + Nysos. He travels around the east,”selling” his cult. First a rustic god from the mountains of Thrace then he travels to Phrygia, Ephesus, Lebanon, crossing the Tigris and Euphrates in Persia, reaching as far as India, before coming back to Greece. He brings back eastern ways so panthers, dress, ecstatic rituals, like the eastern goddess Cybele. He seems to become equated with some eastern gods and takes on aspects of them in greek myth. It is only once he has finished his travels (and built up worship) that he joins the olympians. He even travels to the underworld to bring back his dead mother Semele and take her to Olympus. Followers of dionysus according to myth are maenads and bacchants/bacchae who were mortal females who are overcome with religious frenzy, satyrs (part human, part horse (ears and tail)), Silenus (an old satyr who nursed dionysus), Pan (roman versions are faunus and silvanus) a woodland god, son of hermes. Part human, part goat). There was a Dionysian mystery cult but the details are unknown (a secret only for the initiates) Worshippers believed that they could achieve immortality or reincarnation when they died. He is full of contradictions. He is god of wine and reveals and drunken abandon, as well as a god of untamed animals. But he is also the civillising god who teaches men to cultivate the vine (important part of greek economy) and make wine. He is also wild and vengeful god. Punishes all those who resist his worship. Dangerous, as is his wine when drunk undiluted (like barbarians). At once part of civilisation and of disorder in society - the “liberator”. Religious festival of the anthesteria- held in athens a ritual celebrating the new wine production and the marriage of dionysus and ariadne (the abandoned lover of the hero Theseus)

• Demeter/Ceres, is the goddess of fertility and grain and harvest. Presides over the very important mystery cult-the Eleusinian mysteries-associated with life, death and rebirth. Her attributes are ear of wheat and torch. Her daughter is persephone. While demeter mounts the loss of her daughter she leaves olympus and wanders the earth disguised as a mortal. She becomes a nursemaid to Demophoon in the place at Eleusis. Caring for the child she tries to make him immortal by burning away his mortality, but is stopped by his terrified mother. She reveals herself as a goddess and a sanctuary is built for her at Eleusis. This is an aetiological story explaining the cult and sanctuary of demeter at Eleusis.

• Persephone/kore- Her parents are zeus and demeter. She gets taken by hades. With Hekates help Demeter discovers the truth and goes into mourning. Demeter's power as a goddess is shown when she refuses to do her duties. Eventually zeus orders hades to release persephone to visit her mother, But she has eaten some pomegranate seeds in the underworld, so must return to the underworld for one third of the year. Aetiological story about seasons. The 2/3rds of the year she is above ground with demeter, is growing season, and the 1/3rd she is below with hades is the time of no growth. Hekate becomes the attendant of persephone in the underworld.

• Hades/pluto/dis- is ruler over the dead with his wife persephone (he  doesnt himself bring death that is thanatos). Brother of zeus and poseidon. Stays in the underworld, so not an olympian. Also god of the hidden wealth under the earth - both seeds and precious metals, which makes him lord of riches. His attribute is the cap of invisibility. The realm of the dead itself is often called Hades or Dis after the god (also known as rerbus “darkness of the underworld” who was son of chaos)

• Hermes/mercury- is the messenger and herald of gods. God of travellers, traders, heralds, boundaries. Also conducts the dead to Hades (psychopompos). A tricker - patron of thieves - see the homeric hymn where he steals the cattle of apollo. His attributes are the winged boots/sandals, travelers hat (petasos), herald's staff. Hermes is concerned with getting the honour that is his right as a god. If he isnt given it, then hell steal it. He is the trickers god- a folktale character who appears in myths and legends throughout the world.l

• Hecate

• Iris/arcus - personification of the rainbow daughter of thaumas (2nd generation of gods) and a nymph Elekta. She is a cupbearer of the gods on mount olympus (like ganymede). She is also a messenger god, specifically of hera. Her attributes are wings, a herald’s staff like hermes.

Other Characters:

• Semele- mother of dionysus

• Orpheus and Eurydice- In general mortals who went to Hades did not return - some notable exceptions (theseus, herakles). One more mortal who made it into and out of the underworld are them. The death of orpheus (torn apart by bacchae) 

• Tantalus- those who offend the gods are punished by him

• Cerberus- many-headed dog guarding hades

• Charon- Transports the souls of the dead across the rivers

• Hypnos- means sleep. Carries the dead to hades with the guidance of hermes

• Thanatos - Brings death to people

Places:

• Sanctuary of Demeter, Eleusis

• Sanctuary of Dionysus, Athens festivals: the dionysia festival

• The Eleusinian Mysteries words: Underworld

Words;

• Underworld- where the dead go, controlled by hades

• Elysium- Or the elysian fields are reversed for heroes from good families (not necessarily particularly good people)

• Tartaros- a dark abyss and prison in the underworld where the wicked and monsters are punished

• Reincarnation- the future heroes of rome

Key Sources: 

• Who wrote this and when? Euripides late 5th BC

• What is the nature of the work? A tragedy

• What is the name of the work that the passage came from? The Bacchae

• What is it talking about/describing? What will happen next? Tells how dionysus violently introduces his worship to thebes, where his mother was from, forcing them to acknowledge that he was the son of zeus. He disguises himself as a priest and persuades pentheus, his cousin and king of thebes, to spy on the religious rituals of his followers the maenads (including his aunts) with tragic consequences

• What does it tell us about the nature and life of the god? The play very self-consciously questions the nature of the god, and the contradiction in his worship between the benefits he gives and the terrible revenge he takes

• What is the name of this work, when was it composed and why? Homeric hymns to demeter possibly 7th BC

• What is the story being described? Persephone being taken away, demeter morning and eventually persephone visits her

• What information does this give us about the gods mentioned here? They mourn too

• What aspects of ancient Greek life and society are reflected in this story? The seasons

Lecture 6: Myth in Daily Greek Life (Myth, Religion, and History)

Key names and words:

Ancient Authors:

• Pindar- a poet from Boeotia writing in the early 5th century BC. Lyric poet. His choral songs would be performed to the lyre, together with dancing. They were not part of an oral tradition. He was commissioned by wealthy patrons to write victory odes celebrate their victories at panhellenic games, such as the olympian and pythian games. As well as flattering his patron, his poems also include stories of myth

• Pausanias- Geographer and travel writer of the 2nd century AD, writing in the roman empire (but greek by birth from asia minor, and writing in greek). Wrote the vast Guide to Greece, which gave detailed descriptions of some of the cities and sanctuaries of greece as they looked in his time, and included tales that he was told by the locals about the history and myths associated with each area, This was no longer designed to be performed to music, but rather was a written text to be read aloud

Terms:

• Libation- libations  were often poured for the CTONIC beings (gods of earth, the underworld, or the dead). to dionysos of the newly opened wine (from the previous years harvest)

• Sacrifice- usually done in temples and bulls would be sacrificed 

• Temenos- is a boundary and is essentials for a sanctuary

• Altar- is the outdoor of a sanctuary and is essential

• Temple- gods sit and talk while the mortals bring offerings

• Panathenaia/panathenaic Festival- presented a new robe (peplos) to the cult statue of the goddess athena on the acropolis. The greek states who were in the Delian league brought their tribute to athens during this festival. It was a chance to admire the wealth of athens and see the new buildings in the sanctuary of athena, which had remained ruined until the building program of pericles started in the mid 5th BC

• Panhellenic- means all greek. Famous for the olympic games which traditionally began in 776 BC

• Gigantomachy

• Centauromachy- the battle of the lapiths and the centaurs

• Amazonomachy- on the metopes a myth symbolizing greeks vs barbarian enemies. Greek heroes (including theseus of athens) defeat amazon warrior women (seen as being unnatural to greek eyes) from the east

Places:

• Sanctuary of apollo, Delphi

• Sanctuary of zeus, olympia

• Sanctuary of asclepius

• Epidaurus

• Altar of zeus, Pergamon

• Sanctuary of demeter at eleusis

• Parthenon temple, Acropolis

Gods,Heroes and Mortals:

• Pythia- the title of the high priestess of the temple of apollo in delphi

• Apollo

• Athena

• Asclepius- Son of apollo and mortal lapith princess of thessaly, coroins. Several different claims to birthplace- thessaly, messenia and later epidauros. Probably originated from a local hero cult, He is not originally immortal. Apollo is god of healing, but Asklwpios is more “human” and becomes more important for healing. His attributes are the dtaff of asclepius entwined with a snake to show his connection to apollo, the python-slayer. This is often confused with the caduecus (herald’s wand) of hermes

• Pelops- grandson of zeus. King of the peloponesse and a hero who was worshipped in olympia

• Oenomaius/oinomaios- king of the greek region pisa

• Centaurs- half man, half human

• Lapiths- a tribe of humans who lived in thessaly

• Herakles/hercules- demigod and one of the most famous heroes. Son of zeus and a mortal woman named alcmene

• Amazons- warrior women living northeast of greece

Key sources:

• When was the temple built? 472 - 456 BC

• What was the nature of the sanctuary? Religious center

• What myths does this decoration show? The battle of the lapiths and the centaurs, local myth about re-founding of the olympic games

• Why were they appropriate for the sanctuary? Because the battle showed oder defeating chaos and defeat plus peirithous was a son of zeus

• How do we know about their identification (who tell us)? Pausanias

• What is it and when and where was it built? The parthenon temple and built 447-432 BC

• What does its decoration show? The metopes all show myths where Greeks (or greek gods) defeat their uncivilized , barbarian enemies. This represents the greeks (especially athens) defeating their barbarian enemies, the persians

• What is its function? A house for the statue of athena parthenos, a statement of athenian power and pride, and a celebration of athenian victory over the persians

• What is its purpose (actual and symbolic) - think about the historical context?