01 - Part 1 - Thematic Study - Myth and Religion (2)

Introduction to Myth and Religion

The GCSE in Classical Civilisation includes a Thematic Study, offering an examination of Greece and Rome through literature and visual/material culture. Students will compare Greek and Roman ideas, societies, and the impact of cultural contexts on the theme studied. The Myth and Religion option is supported by this textbook.

Exam Overview (J199/11)

The Thematic Study assessment constitutes 50% of the GCSE, with a 1 hour 30 mins exam worth 90 marks. Assessment Objectives include:

  • 58 marks for AO1: Knowledge and understanding of literature, visual/material culture, sources reflecting cultural contexts, and source interpretations.

  • 32 marks for AO2: Analysing, interpreting, and evaluating literature and visual/material culture with reasoned arguments.

The paper is divided into three sections:

  • Section A: Greece (30 marks).

  • Section B: Rome (30 marks).

  • Section C: Greece and Rome (30 marks), involving cultural comparisons.

Introduction to Myth and Religion

Myth and religion provide an engaging study of the ancient Greek and Roman world. Focus is primarily on the city of Rome, with references to other 'Roman' cities such as Pompeii. The study includes myths of gods, heroes (e.g., Heracles/Hercules), the founding of Athens and Rome, symbols of power, and the underworld.

Religion in everyday life is explored through temples, sacrifice, festivals, death, and afterlife beliefs. Material remains, including temples and artworks, offer opportunities for study.

Topic Overview: 1.1 The Gods

This section examines the Greek and Roman pantheon, focusing on the twelve Olympian gods, Dionysus/Bacchus, and Hades/Pluto. It explains their unique skills and typical representations (iconography).

Prescribed Source:

  • Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 1-104, 301-474

Credit is given for studying extra sources.

The comparative aspect involves comparing and contrasting Greek and Roman gods and their appeal to each civilization.

Introduction to Greek and Roman Religion

The relationship between Greeks/Romans and their gods may seem strange. Key features to understand:

  • Hiera and Religio: No single word for 'religion'. Greeks used hiera ('holy affairs'), Romans religio ('correct worship of state gods'). Religion was about action, not just faith; worship involved sacrifices and offerings.

  • Polytheism: Belief in many gods/goddesses, each with unique skills. Focus on the twelve Olympians.

  • Anthropomorphism: Gods looked/acted like humans, making them relatable. This explained the relationship: gods were honored/revered, capable of human emotions.

  • Epithets: Words/phrases describing a god's quality/skill. E.g., Zeus Horkios ('keeper of oaths'), Poseidon Enosichthon ('earth-shaker').

Greece: The Gods

Hundreds of gods existed, but the chief gods were the Olympians, believed to live on Mount Olympus (in northeastern Greece, also in the clouds). Hades was an exception, living in the underworld.

Zeus

After defeating his father Cronos, Zeus became king of the gods, dividing the earth with his brothers. He took the skies and heavens, Poseidon the seas, and Hades the underworld. Despite being married to Hera, Zeus had many children with other women, both human and divine. Zeus was seen as the keeper of justice, god of the skies, and the fate of men. He was typically represented as a bearded man wielding a lightning bolt, holding an eagle, or seated on a throne with a sceptre.

Titans

The Titans preceded the Olympians. Cronus castrated his father Uranus to become king. Uranus prophesied Cronus' children would rise against him, so Cronos swallowed them. Rhea hid Zeus, who later freed his siblings and waged war against Cronus and the Titans. The Olympians won, imprisoning hostile Titans in Tartarus. Atlas was tasked with holding up the heavens, and Prometheus avoided punishment through cooperation.

Homer's Iliad and Odyssey

The Iliad and the Odyssey are the two oldest epics attributed to Homer, possibly first written around 700 BC. The Iliad centers on the tenth year of the war between the Greeks and Trojans, focusing on the wrath of Achilles, and ends with the battle between Achilles and Hector. The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus's ten-year journey home after the Greeks defeated the Trojans, facing monsters, witches, giants, and gods.

Poseidon

Poseidon, brother of Zeus and god of the seas, was important for sailors. He sided with the Greeks in the Iliad because the Trojans never paid him for helping build their city. In the Odyssey, Poseidon relentlessly pursued Odysseus for blinding Polyphemus. Poseidon also contested for Athens against Athena. In art, Poseidon was typically represented as a bearded man holding a trident.

Hades

Hades ruled the underworld. His abduction of Persephone is described in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, leading to Hades acquiring Persephone as his wife. In art, Hades is represented with a cornucopia, showing links with his wife and mother-in-law.

Hera

Hera was the wife of Zeus, queen of the gods, responsible for marriage, women, childbirth, and the family. She is represented as a powerful, independent goddess who is not to be crossed. In Homer's Iliad, Hera opposes the Trojans. She spent much of her time taking revenge on Zeus's children and the women who bore them. In art, Hera is typically represented wearing a diadem.

Athena

Athena was the goddess of war and wisdom. Zeus swallowed the goddess Metis, who was pregnant with Athena, after Metis gave him the prophecy that her next child would be leader of the gods. Zeus developed a headache, and Hephaistos struck him on the head with a hammer, causing Athena to spring out as an adult woman. As goddess of wisdom she was depicted with an owl, and depicted with a helmet, spear and the aegis as goddess of war and military intelligence. Athena was victorious against Poseidon in a contest to win possession of Athens. One common epithet for her was Parthenos ('the virgin'), from which the Parthenon took its name.

Demeter

Demeter, sister of Zeus, was the goddess of agriculture and the harvest. One of the best insights to Demeter comes from the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, in which she loses her daughter Persephone to Hades. Demeter was held in particularly high regard by the Greeks at Eleusis, where she had a Mystery Cult dedicated to her known as the Eleusinian Mysteries. In art, Demeter is depicted wearing a diadem and holding a bundle of wheat, grain, or flowers.

Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 1-104, 301-474

  • Date: uncertain, 7th-6th century BC (debated, see p. 125)

  • Author: attributed to Homer

  • Genre: poetry

  • Protagonists: Demeter, Persephone, and Hades

  • Significance: provides an insight into what the Greeks thought the relationships between the gods and men was like

Eleusinian Mysteries

The Eleusinian Mysteries were a set of secret rituals that took place in the town of Eleusis near Athens. The mysteries were linked to Demeter and her daughter Persephone, and are discussed in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (lines 470-479). Mystery cults were popular as they offered salvation after death, something that traditional Greek religion did not.

Hestia

Hestia was the goddess of the home and hearth. Hestia was vital to the Greeks as they were a civilization without electricity or central heating. Hestia's importance extended outside the home, as her fire came to be a symbol of the security of the city. Although rarely depicted in art, Hestia is shown with a veiled head.

Hephaistos

Hephaistos was the god of metalworking, fire and craftsmen. According to the Iliad, Hephaistos was the son of Zeus and Hera. However, the poet Hesiod states that he was the son of Hera who bore him alone in revenge for Zeus giving birth to Athena alone. Hephaistos also walked with a limp. In art, Hephaistos is often depicted with a hammer.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty. According to the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, no human or god could resist the influence of Aphrodite (Homeric Hymns, 5, 9--44), with the exception of Athena, Hestia and Artemis. In art Aphrodite can be depicted in various ways, one of which shows her rising from a sea shell. In sculpture she is usually depicted naked.

Artemis

Artemis was the goddess of hunting, wildlife, and childbirth. As twin sister of Apollo, she was associated with the moon. In art, she was depicted with a bow and arrow, and with wild animals.

Apollo

Apollo was the god of music and the arts, education, archery, and prophecies. As twin brother to Artemis, he was associated with the sun. In art, Apollo was depicted with his bow and arrow, and lyre. Unlike the other gods, Apollo was depicted in eternal youth.

Hermes

Hermes was the god of travel and trade, and messenger of the gods. Hermes is depicted in art with his traveller's cap, caduceus and winged sandals.

Ares

Ares was the god of war. In the Homeric Hymns Ares is seen as a god who gives men the courage to stand their ground in order to uphold peace. In the Iliad he is described as a merciless killer. Like Athena, Ares is depicted in art wearing his armour.

Dionysus

Dionysus was the god of wine and theatre. As son of Zeus and the Theban mortal Semele, Dionysus attracted the wrath of Hera, which forced Zeus to hide him from her. As Dionysus was the son of both a god and a mortal he was seen as an outsider and therefore not one of the original Olympians. Dionysus received a great following from the Greeks. In art, Dionysus is depicted with a thyrsus, vines and an animal skin. In addition, he is often depicted with his companions, the maenads and satyrs.

Rome: The Gods

Before Rome was founded, Italy was inhabited by various tribes, including the Etruscans. Prolonged exposure to the Etruscans led to the Romans adopting and adapting several aspects of Etruscan culture, namely temple design and divination. Another influence on the Etruscans and Romans were the Greeks. Rome borrowed and adapted the religious ideas of the Greeks. By 270 BC, when the whole of Magna Graecia came under Roman control, Greek religion and mythology were having a major influence on Roman religious ideology.

Jupiter

As the king of the gods and controller of the skies, Jupiter was equated with the Greek Zeus. The name Jupiter comes from Jov pater 'Father Jove', showing the Roman links with the Etruscans, who worshipped Jove as a sky god. Jupiter's major temple was the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, 'Jupiter the Best and Greatest', which stood on the Capitoline Hill. Like the Greek god Zeus (see Figure 1.2), Jupiter was typically represented as a bearded man wielding a lightning bolt.

Neptune

Neptune was the brother of Jupiter and god of the seas, earthquakes and storms. Like the Greek Poseidon, Neptune was also linked with horses. With the Romans always looking to expand throughout the Mediterranean, Neptune became an increasingly important god to Roman sailors, traders and travelers. In art, like Poseidon (see Figure 1.3), he was typically represented as a bearded man holding a trident.

Pluto

Pluto was the brother of Jupiter and Neptune, and god of the underworld. In literature Pluto makes a brief appearance in the story of Orpheus and Eurydice in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Due to his position beneath the earth he was not often represented in Roman art. However, the myth of Proserpina's abduction at the hands of Pluto was a popular decoration for Roman sarcophagi.

Juno

Juno was the wife of Jupiter, queen of the gods and responsible for marriage, women, childbirth and the family. Juno was equated with the Greek goddess Hera. Like Hera, Juno was a powerful and wrathful goddess. In the opening of Virgil's Aeneid Juno takes revenge on the Trojan Aeneas, destroying his ships and killing many of his men. In art Juno is typically represented wearing a diadem, holding a sceptre or accompanied by a peacock.

Ceres

Ceres was the goddess of the harvest and grain. Ceres was incredibly important to the Roman plebs as they relied on grain, and by extension bread, for their survival. In art Ceres, is depicted wearing a diadem and holding a bundle of wheat, grain or flowers.

Vesta

Vesta was the goddess of the hearth and fire. She was one of the most important goddesses to both the family and the state. As a state goddess Vesta had her own priesthood and temple complex. Vesta's flame symbolized the security of the state. Although rarely depicted in art, Vesta is shown with a veiled head.

Vulcan

Vulcan was the god of metalworking, fire and craftsmen. He had a festival called the Vulcanalia each year in Rome. In art, Vulcan is depicted with a hammer.

Venus

Venus was the goddess of love and beauty. She was particularly important to the Romans as she was the mother of their ancestral founder Aeneas. The Roman emperor Augustus linked his own family to Venus, and utilized her symbols in his art. In art Venus can be depicted in various ways, but in sculpture she is usually depicted naked or accompanied by her son Cupid.

Minerva

Minerva was the goddess of war and wisdom. Although Minerva was a goddess of war, it appears that the Romans more closely associated war with Mars. As goddess of wisdom Minerva was frequently depicted with an owl, whereas as goddess of war and military intelligence she was depicted with a helmet, spear and the aegis

Diana

Diana was the goddess of hunting, childbirth and the moon. Diana had a temple and shrine on the Aventine Hill. The temple was dedicated by the sixth king of Rome Servius Tullius. As a goddess of hunting, in art she was depicted with a bow and arrow

Apollo

Apollo was the god of music and the arts, education, archery and prophecies. As god of the arts Apollo was popular among sculptors and poets. After the battle of Actium Apollo was a god favored by the Roman emperor Augustus. Apollo was often depicted with his lyre in eternal youth.

Mercury

Mercury was the god of travel and trade, and messenger of the gods. Since the Roman Empire extended from Britain to Syria and from Germany to Egypt, Mercury was very important for the protection of travelers. In art Mercury is depicted with his traveler's cap, caduceus, and winged sandals.

Mars

Mars was the god of war. However, in early Roman history he was also associated with agriculture. The area just outside Rome was known as the Campus Martius, 'Field of Mars', and was traditionally where the army would assemble to train and before going to war. Mars was also the father of Romulus, the founder of Rome and so enjoyed great favour among the Romans. In art Mars is depicted wearing his armour.

Bacchus

Bacchus was the god of wine and theatre. The Romans equated him with the Greek god Dionysus. Around 200 BC the Bacchanalia was introduced to Rome from Greece. As a mystery cult what happened in it was meant to be kept secret. Therefore we are not completely sure what happened however, the fact that cult members met in private was met by fierce opposition from the Roman state and around 186 BC the cult was banned. In art Bacchus is depicted with a thyrsus, vines and an animal skin. In addition, like Dionysus he is often depicted with his companions, the maenads and satyrs.