Transcript File

Written by Homer
Written Approximately 1200 B.C.
Translated from Greek by Robert Fitzgerald
Why Mythology?
• “A myth is an eternal mirror in which we see ourselves.” -J.F. Bierlein, Parallel Myths
• Myths may be defined as the events, conditions, deeds
outside ordinary human life; it provides models of human
behavior or universal conditions. –Octavio Paz, The
Labyrinth of Solitude
• “…. Myths evolved because people needed a way to explain
where fire came from and why there was evil in the world.” –
Sharon Creech, Walk Two Moons
• “Contemporary man has rationalized the myths, but he has
not been able to destroy them.”– Tom Wolfe
• Myths are the glue that holds societies, communities,
tribes, and nations together.
“Hey, Mrs. Smith, I have a question to ask you”,
said an inquisitive ninth grade student named Emily.
“I want to know why students have to study
mythology! I mean it has nothing to do with real life.
When will I ever have to know who the gods and
goddesses are when trying to get a job? Mrs.Smith,
does any of it truly matter?”
My response to Emily was simple yet powerful. “Well,
Emily, there are three different reasons people learn.
One is purely to graduate from school and move on
with life. That’s the least important one. The second
is just to succeed in everyday life. The most
important reason people learn is to spiritually uplift,
to motivate , and to help us find purpose in our lives.
The study of mythology does all of these things.”
Mythology Matters…..
• Literary allusions
• The characters represent human
qualities, the virtues and flaws that
• A Myth is a traditional story from a particular culture
•Comes from the Greek word “mythos” meaning
• It usually explains a belief of that culture, a ritual of the culture, an
emotion, or a mysterious natural phenomenon
• A Myth deals with humans and the unknown or, humans and gods.
*Types of myths: Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, Native American
*Topics of Myths include: nature, creation, semi-historical.
*Ancient Greek mythology is the influential and richest type. One will
find its influence in literature, sculpture, and painting.
*The earliest sources of Greek mythical tales are the works of the
poets Hesiod and Homer.
The Olympians
12 immortals who dwelt in a palace on Mount
Olympus (can you identify them all)
Zeus / Jupiter
• Title/Duty: King of the
gods/god of air, sky, rain,
heavens, earth, weather,
justice
• Symbols: eagle, oak tree
• Uses Thunderbolts as his
weapon
• Son of Cronos and Rhea
• Most powerful Olympian
• Personality: fatherly, just
King, dislikes liars or people
who break
promises, could be revengeful,
carefree at times,
unpredictable in his judgments
Jupiter is
so named
because it
is so big – it
is the “King
of Planets”
Hera / Juno
• Queen of the gods
• name is usually taken to be
a Greek word for lady or
protectress
• Title/Duty: protector of
marriage
• Wife/sister of Zeus
• Symbols: cow, peacock
• Personality: Jealous of
Zeus’ affairs, motherly,
heartlessly torture women
involved with Zeus,
beautiful
No planet, but
there is an
asteroid named
after her plus a
city in Alaska
Pallas Athena / Minerva
• Title/Duty: Goddess of wisdom
and defensive war, Odysseus’
protector
• Symbols: owl, olive tree
• Daughter of Zeus and Metis
(Titan) – she popped out of his head
after he swallowed the pregnant
Metis
• She carries a shield with Medusa’s
head on it
• Personality: finds pleasure in
peace rather than battle, even
tempered ,compassionate to those
who seek wisdom self-sufficient
Minerva was a tiny
robot designed by
the Japanese to
land on an
asteroid, but got
lost in space.
Poseidon / Neptune
• Title/Duty: God of the
sea and earthquakes
• Symbols: trident, horse,
dolphins
• Trident is weapon
• Amphitrite is his wife
• Zeus’ brother
• Son of Cronos and Rhea
• 2nd most powerful
• Personality: gruff, quick
to anger, resentful of
Zeus’ reign
Neptune is
so named
because
the blue
looks like
water
Hades / Pluto
• Title/Duty: God of the
Underworld and Wealth
• King of the dead but he is not
Death, oversees punishments
of the dead
• Symbols: Cerebrus, cypress
tree
• Zeus’ brother
• Son of Cronos and Rhea
• Has a helmet that makes the
wearer invisible
• Persephone (Spring) is his wife
• 3rd most powerful
• Personality: Not evil, unpitying,
rarely let anyone who enters
the Underworld leave
Demeter / Ceres
• Daughter of Cronos and Rhea
• Symbols: wheat, cornucopia
• Title/ Duty: Goddess of
vegetation
• Had powers of growth and
resurrection
• Her daughter is Persephone
• Personality: kind, gentle,
nurturing
The asteroid Ceres was the first
asteroid ever discovered and is
one of the largest (about the size
of Texas). It almost became a
designated as a planet
Artemis / Diana
• Apollo’s Twin sister
• Title/Duty: Goddess
of the hunt, moon
goddess, goddess of
• Symbols: crescent
moon, bow and arrow
• Virgin goddess
• Personality:
protective &
defensive, loves
nothing more than
hunting
The
Artemis
navigation
satellite
Apollo/ Phoebus
• Title/ Duty: God of truth,
light, poetry, music,
archery, prophecy, youth,
light and healing
• Symbols: golden lyre, laurel
wreath, crow, dolphin, silver
bow
• Sun god in some myths
(Helios is the sun god in
other myths)
• Son of Zeus and Leto
• Wolves, cattle, dolphins, and
crows are sacred to him
• Personality:
Apollo
asteroids are
near-earth
asteroids
Hermes / Mercury
The Hermes Asteroid
• Title/Duty: Messenger
god and the god of
thieves & commerce ($)
• Personality: trickster,
impulsive, friendly
• Very fast
• Symbols: winged cap &
sandals, staff (magic
wand), bag of money
• Son of Zeus and Maia
• Loves Aphrodite
• Greeks believed he
guided souls to Hades
Mercury revolves around the sun so fast, it
was named for the messenger god. One year
is faster than one day on Mercury
Hephaestus / Vulcan
• Title/Duty: God of fire and the forge,
blacksmiths, metalworkers, craftsmen
• Symbols: forge, anvil, quail, volcano
• Son of Zeus and Hera
• Ugly
• Lame because he was thrown off Mt. Olympus for
interfering with a fight between Hera and Zeus
• Husband to Aphrodite
• Personality:
Aphrodite / Venus
• Title/ Duty: Goddess
of beauty and love
• Symbols: dove,
sparrow, rose
• Mother of Eros/Cupid
• Wife of
Hephaestus/Vulcan
but lover of
Ares/Mars and other
guys
• Born from the
foam/blood in the sea
caused by the attack
of Cronos/ Saturn on
Uranus
• Personality: Can make
anyone love her
(Vain??
”
Venus is so named
because it is a
beautiful planet
and can be easily
seen with just the
eye
Ares / Mars
• Son of Zeus and Hera, but
both dislike him
• Title/Duty: God of War
• Symbols: dogs, vultures, spear
& shield
• The Romans glorify him, but
the Greeks make him out to be
a coward
• He has three children with
Aphrodite: Phobos (panic) and
Deimos (fear) are twins
• Personality: Brave and strong
argumentative, impulsive,
bloodthirsty, and destructive
Mars
and its
moons,
Phobos
and
Deimos
Hestia / Vesta
• Zeus’ sister – Oldest of the
original gods
• Title/Duty: Goddess of the
hearth and home
• Symbols: hearth, fire
• Gave up her spot on Mt. Olympus
for Dionysus
• Worshipped daily
• Invented the art of building
houses
• A virgin priestesses served her
for 30 year time periods
• Not very active in Greek
mythology
• Personality: kindest, most
virtuous, and most charitable of
the Olympians
Asteroid Vesta
Where was ancient Greece? Greece
is a country in Europe.
Greece
When and where was ancient Greece?
BC AD
0
1000 BC –
323 BC:
Ancient
Greece
3100 BC – 1069 BC:
Ancient Egypt
7901060s:
The Viking
Age
55 BC 400 AD:
Roman
Britain
1666: The
Great Fire
of London
Greek Contributions
 The Greeks invented the
crane.
 This is a catapult that the
Greeks invented. It could
throw 300 lb. stones at
walls/buildings.
How have the ancient Greeks influenced our buildings?
Look at buildings in your area or in pictures. Can you spot
any of these Ancient Greek features?
capitals
columns
cornices
a pediment
A look inside the Greek Alphabet. Compare and
contrast this to our own English alphabet. What do
you notice?
What similarities are there between ancient Greek schools and our
school?
At school we learn reading, writing and math. We
also learn singing and musical instruments.
Only children from rich families can go to school,
because you have to pay.
Girls don’t usually go to school, they are mostly
educated at home.
We start school at the age of seven and stay
until we are about fourteen.
After school most children learn a job or trade.
The richer ones might go to Athens to study with
a philosopher.
Socrates 470-399 B.C.
•
•
•
Socrates was a philosopher of
Ancient Greece.
A philosopher is someone who
tries to explain the nature of
life
Socrates thought people could
learn best by asking questions.
This method of questioning is
still called the Socratic
method. He also thought that
philosophers could study
human behavior to learn how
to improve society.
The Death of Socrates
•
The trial of Socrates was based on two
charges: corrupting the youth and
impiety (immorality and sin). More
specifically, Socrates’ accusers cited
two ‘impious’ acts: ‘failing to
acknowledge the gods that the city
acknowledges’ and ‘introducing new
deities.’ 501 chosen jurors voted to
convict him.
•
Socrates was ultimately sentenced to
death by drinking a hemlock-based
liquid. A well-known account of the
trial was given by one of Socrates’
student, Plato.
•
The trial is one of the most famous of
all time. Whether Socrates was
punished unjustly is a thought-provoking
and contested issue, which to this day
inspires discussions about the nature
and meaning of justice.
Plato
428-348 B.C.
 Plato was a student of
Socrates.
 Plato later teaches Aristotle.
 He started a school called
The Academy.
 Plato’s writing took the form
of a dialogue between
teacher and student.
 Wrote Plato’s Republicproved one of the most
intellectually and historically
influential works of
philosophy and political
theory.
Aristotle
384-322 B.C.
 Aristotle taught Alexander
the Great.
 His writings cover many
subjects, including physics,
poetry, theater, music,
logic, rhetoric, politics,
government, ethics,
biology, and zoology.
 He wrote The Poetics-offers
an account of what he calls
poetry, drama and comedies,
tragedy, satires, lyric poetry,
and epic poetry.
An Epic is a long narrative poem on a serious subject.
• Tells about the adventures of a hero and covers a vast amount
of territory.
•embodies the values of the cultures it is written for
•The Iliad and the Odyssey were used in schools to teach Greek
virtues.
•Values: honor, bravery, hospitality, intelligence, respect for
the gods, loyalty to home and family
•Major faults: disrespect for the gods, lack of hospitality,
excessive pride “hubris”
• Iliad is primary model for epic of war
• Odyssey is primary model for epic of the long journey
•Begins in medias res (Latin for “it begins in the
middle of things”), then flashes back to explain
action leading up to that point
•Begins with an invocation (calling upon a god for
inspiration) or prayer to a god or gods
•Always begins with a statement of theme
The Muses
• The Muses preside over the arts and sciences, inspire
all artists, especially poets, philosophers, and
musicians.
• Their name denotes “memory” or “a reminder,” since
in the poets relied on their memories when telling
these stories
• The nine Muses are
the daughters of the
Zeus and of Mnemosyne
(ni-mos-a-nē), the goddess
of memory
The Nine Muses
• Calliope (ka-lī-ō-pē)
– the muse of epic poetry
• Clio (kl-ī-ō)
– the muse of love poetry
• Polyhymnia (pol-ē-him-nē-a)
– the muse of history
• Euterpe (yoo-tur-pē)
– the muse of music
• Melpomene (mel-pom-e-nē)
– the muse of tragedy
• Terpsichore
• Erato (er-e-tō)
(turp-sic-u-rē)
– the muse of dancing
– the muse of sacred poetry
• Urania (yoo-rā-nē-a)
– the muse of astronomy
• Thalia (the-lī-a)
– the muse of comedy
Characteristics of an Epic
• Involves an epic question
– The opening lines of the poem that state the theme
• A physically impressive hero of national or historical
importance
• A vast setting involving not only of the known world
but also the underworld
• Action such as a quest or journey requiring
superhuman ability and courage
• Evidence of supernatural forces
• Singer “rapsode” of tales/ from the island Chios
•historians and classicists can only speculate about the life of this
man (details are few)
•thought to be blind, but describes events as a seeing person
. We do not even know the century in which he lived, and it is
difficult to say with absolute certainty that the same poet
composed both works.
•All historians/entertainers of Homer’s time did not write their
stories/facts down.
•The Greeks hailed him as their greatest poet, as well as their
first. Although the Greeks recognized other poets who composed
in Greek before Homer, no texts from these earlier poets
survived.
This
Homer
Not This
Homer…
Rhapsodes
• None of these stories were written
down. Each storyteller would have
had to memorize the entire work
and told it in such a way that it
would be part performance.
• Homer was a model for a class of
storytellers called rhapsodes
• Known as “singers of tales,” they
were the historians and
entertainers as well as mythmakers
• They did not memorize the story
word for word but knew the basic
story and improvised on the spot,
following a basic rhythm of the
words.
• There is a great deal of repetition
in the stories, which makes it a bit
simpler to tell.
Now, close your eyes and envision this as I read the following to
you!
•
•
The banquet is over and the fire has collapsed to a bed of embers.
Amid bursts of laughter and boisterous conversation, serving maids
clear the remains of bread and meat from the long wooden table.
From his place at the head of the table, the lord of the hall signals
to a man holding a stringed instrument starts to play while the
guests shift their attention and slowly ease their talk. Then he
begins to sing. Chanting rhythmically, occasionally touching the
strings of his lyre, he sings of gods, heroes, and monsters; of love,
war, travel, death, and homecoming. A stillness upon the hall and the
listeners fall under the spell of his words. The singer of tales is
working his magic.
This is an example of what it would be like to hear the tales of
Homer and other storyteller’s.
•Sequel to the Iliad (900 and 700 BC)
• The Iliad focuses on the days toward the end of the Trojan War (mid
1200s BC)
• The Odyssey focuses on one of the soldiers that fought in the Trojan War
returning home 20 years after the war—Odysseus .
• The Iliad and the Odyssey together were considered sacred to the Greeks—
much like the Bible to many people today.
• Both books were not originally written down but were recited orally
•2 ways they were presented : sung with musical accompaniment
•Both contain Homeric similes & epithets
The Odyssey is comprised of 11,300 lines and divided into 24 books
(It would take 20-25 hours to recite!!!)
•The Judgment of Paris- The Golden Apple Contest
•Spartan King Menelaus’ wife Helen (the face that launched a thousand
ships) left him for the young Prince Paris of Troy.
•Greeks attacked Troy
•Agamemnon, brother of Menelaus, led the siege.
• Odysseus (main character in the Odyssey) was another hero of
the war.
• Odysseus was known not only for being a strong hero, but also
for being a wise/smart hero.
• Another Greek hero, Achilles, died in the final year of the war “Achilles
Heel”
•Trojan Horse & Greek forces were victorious!
How did it start?
• Eris, goddess of discord, was not invited to a wedding
banquet on Mt. Olympus.
• Into the banquet hall, Eris tossed a golden apple
inscribed “For the Fairest.”
• Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite asked Zeus to decide
who deserved the apple.
• Zeus would not choose. (He’s no fool!)
• Zeus says Paris is an excellent judge of beauty, and
refers the goddesses to him.
The Judgment of Paris
• Paris was the son of King Priam of Troy.
• He was rather weak and cowardly.
• Priam had sent him away from Troy because an
oracle prophesied that he would be the ruin of the
city.
• When the goddesses appeared to him, they each
offered him a bribe:
– Athena would make him a great warrior.
– Hera would make him ruler of Europe and Asia.
– Aphrodite would give him the most beautiful woman in
the world.
Whom did he choose?
• Paris gave the apple
to Aphrodite.
• She then took Paris
to Helen, the most
beautiful woman in
the world.
• Hera and Athena,
however, vowed
revenge.
Helen
• Helen was a daughter of Zeus.
• She was the wife of Menelaus.
• Menelaus was the brother of the Greek
King, Agamemnon.
• See the problem?
Paris takes Helen
The Greeks Respond
• Menelaus asks all of Greece to help.
• Greek armies set off across the sea to lay siege
to Troy and leave it in ashes.
• And so begins the Trojan War.
• Helen is often referred to as “The Face that
Launched a Thousand Ships.”
The Fall of Troy
• They wait until the Trojans are asleep, and
then they come out and slaughter them.
• The Trojan War is ended.
• The Greeks won.
• The Trojans lost.
• Odysseus is the greatest hero remaining
alive…but now he has to get home…
Where’s Troy?
• Troy is across the
Aegean Sea from
Greece.
• Troy was also called
Ilium, Ilion, and Ilios.
• A well-walled city with
broad streets and
beautiful palaces…until
the Trojan War.
•Wife: Penelope
Son: Telemachus
Kingdom: Ithaca
•Great soldier of the war
• Originally tried to get out of going to the war—pretended he was crazy
• Came up with the wooden-horse trick that lead to Troy’s collapse.
• The Odyssey is the account of Odysseus’ journey home after the war.
• (1)Story in Ithaca about Odysseus’
wife and son as they await his return.
•(2)Tale of Odysseus’ wanderings
during the ten years following the
Trojan War.
•(3)Odysseus returns to Ithaca and
joins forces with his son, Telemachus,
to destroy their enemies.
Motifs in The Odyssey
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hospitality
Respect for the Gods
The Importance of Lineage (family)
Loyalty
Pride and Honor
Self-discipline in resisting temptation
The Importance of Leadership
Revenge, Justice, & Reconciliation
Fate
Edith Hamilton
• an American educator and author who was
“recognized
as the greatest woman Classicist”.
• Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes is a
book written by Hamilton, published in 1942.
• It retells stories of Greek, Roman, and Norse
mythology drawn from several classical sources.
• The book has become one of the most powerful and
critically-acclaimed books of the Western world.
2 Film Allusions
• 2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science
fiction film directed by Stanley Kubrick (A
Clockwork Orange, Doctor Strangeglove). The
movie is about creation by design- computers and
their part in them- computers that can
misfunction and cause destruction.
• O’ Brother Where Art Thou? The film is a 2000
adventure story directed by brothers Joel and
Ethan Cohen (The Big Lebowski, No Country for
Old Men, Fargo,etc).Set in 1934 Mississippi
during the Great Depression, the film's story is a
modern satire loosely based on Homer’s epic
poem.