Transcript document

Hesiod, Mythical Chronology,
and the Greek Sacrifice
Ceremony
Sept. 5, 2012
Mythical Chronology
Creation of the world and the gods
Generational conflict among gods,
culminating with establishment of Zeus’
order on Mount Olympus
Creation of humanity; Ages of Man
Creation of rules governing proper
interactions of gods and humans 
sacrifice ceremony
Hesiod (ca. 700 BC)
Second-oldest (after Homer) Greek poet
Hesiod’s Poetry
2 major poems: Theogony, and Works
and Days
Theogony - “Birth/generation of the
gods”
Epic poems, composed and performed
orally
Mentions in W&D that he won a prize for
the Theogony at a funeral contest
Theogony: Outline
Lines 1-104: Hymn to the Muses
Remainder of poem – a sort of hymn to Zeus
Tells succession myths in chronological order,
culminating with kingship of Zeus
Interweaves genealogy of gods with succession
myths
Ends poem with a list of Zeus’ liaisons, and list
of goddesses who had relationships with
mortals
Hesiod’s Description of the
Muses
“I begin my song with the Helikonian
Muses whose domain is Helikon, the
great god-haunted mountain; their soft
feet move in the dance that rings the
violet-dark spring and the altar of mighty
Zeus… (they) raise enchanting voices to
exalt aegis-bearing Zeus and queenly
Hera…” (long list of other gods follows)
Mount Helicon and Valley of
the Muses
Muses’ Address to Hesiod
“Listen, you country
bumpkins, you potbellied blockheads,
we know how to tell
many lies that pass
for truth, and when
we wish, we know to
tell the truth itself.”
Inspiration of Hesiod
“So spoke Zeus’s daughters, masters of
word-craft, and from a laurel in full
bloom they plucked a branch, and gave it
to me as a staff, and then breathed into
me divine song, that I might spread the
fame of past and future, and commanded
me to hymn the race of the deathless
gods, but always begin and end my song
with them” (ll. 29-34)
Hymn to the Muses as Preface
to Theogony
Establishes superiority of gods (e.g., Muses) over
mortals
Civilization as gift from gods (e.g., Hesiod’s
poetic art is gift from Muses)
Character of gods ambivalent (e.g., Muses are
both kind and mean)
Gods (including Muses) want humans to know
the myths of their origins
Muses provide authority for Hesiod’s poem
Hesiod on Creation of the World
Chaos was born first and after it came
Gaia… and the misty Tartaros in the
depths of broad-pathed earth and Eros,
the fairest of the deathless gods…
Chaos gave birth to Erebos and black
Night… Gaia now first gave birth to
starry Ouranos, her match in size, to
encompass all of her, and be the firm seat
of all the blessed gods (ll. 116-128)
Similarities to Mesopotamian Creation
Myths
Repeated generational conflict, where
new gods have to defeat old ones
Use of monsters by older gods to fight
their battles
Castration/mutilation of older gods by
newer ones  results in birth of other
gods/natural phenomena
Zeus’ order in Theogony
His order is solidified by the generation
of children – other powerful gods who
support him, esp. Athena
Episode of Metis/Athena prevents
overthrow.
Initially still absent from this order are
gods in charge of civilization
Birth of Civilizing Institutions
Foundations of society: Zeus and Themis bear
the Horae (Lawfulness, Justice, Peace) and the
Fates (Spinner, Apportioner, Inescapable)
Foundations of fun in society: Next, Zeus and
Eurynome parent the Graces (Splendor,
Festivity, Abundance)
Next, Demeter + Zeus => Persephone.
Civilized pleasures and basic features of
human life: Zeus + Mnemosyne => Muses;
Zeus + Leto => Apollo and Artemis; Zeus +
Hera => Hebe (Youth), Ares, Eileithyia
(goddess of childbirth)
The Paradox of Zeus’ Order
Zeus overthrew his own father and the
previous order with violence, but the
product is civilization
Zeus himself fears being overthrown.
E.g., his treatment of Themis and Thetis
Problem: The Gods and
Morality issues
The many loves of Zeus (catalogue at the
end of Theogony): progeny necessary to
securing his order
Xenophanes (late 6th/early 5th c. BC) on the
gods’ behavior:
“Homer and Hesiod have attributed to the
gods all things that bring rebuke and blame
among men – stealing, adultery, deceit”
Rules of Behavior for Gods
Theogony 775-806 on consequences of
perjury for gods, if they swear a false
oath on the river Styx: a year-long coma,
and a 9-year exile from company of other
gods.
 Even gods have rules/laws.
Oath-taking is a method of trial as late as
5th-century Athens
The Significance of Sacrifice
Ritual: Establishes Order
How are humans supposed to
interact/communicate with the gods?
How did the current rules governing the
interactions of humans and gods come
about?
In what ways do humans differ from the
gods? In what ways are they
similar/related?
The Warka Vase
(ca. 3000 BC)
Sacrifice Ceremony – Greek BBQ
Greek sacrifice customs: humans roast
and eat the meat
The gods get the inedible/worthless parts
of the sacrificial carcass (fat and bones)
Fire necessary for sacrifice ceremony
Myths of origin of fire and origin of
sacrifice customs are connected:
Prometheus gave both to humans
Prometheus
Name means “Forethinker” – he is ahead
of his time, and shows too much initiative
for his own good.
Son of Iapetus, one of the 1st-generation
Titans  implicit resentment towards
Zeus’ order
Brothers: Epimetheus (Afterthinker),
Atlas, Menoitios.
Trickster figure/culture hero
Origins of the Greek Sacrifice
Prometheus and the sacrifice at Mekone
Aetiological myth (explains an existing
Greek custom by giving it a mythical
foundation). The custom is complex, so the
myth answers the puzzling questions:
Why are the gods offered bones and fat?
Why do humans get to eat the meat?
Prometheus and the First Sacrifice
“When the gods and mortal men were settling
their accounts at Mekone, Prometheus
cheerfully took a great ox, carved it up, and
set it before Zeus to trick his mind. He
placed meat, entrails, and fat within a hide
and covered them with the ox’s tripe, but
with guile he arranged the white bones of
the ox, covered them with glistening fat, and
laid them down as an offer…” (Hesiod,
Theogony ll. 535 ff.)
Significance of the Sacrifice
Ritual
Distinguishes man from both gods and
beasts, and shows the hierarchy (gods,
then men, then beasts)
Man cooks his meat, rather than eating it
raw
Man does not eat man
Gods do not eat cultivated food
Fire stands for technical expertise
Consequences of First Sacrifice
Instrumental in creating sacrifice procedure
that will henceforth be followed by all
humans. The procedure was ratified by
Zeus’ acceptance of that first sacrifice
Zeus is aware of the trick, but plays along
anyway  anger for the sacrifice
Paradox of the first sacrifice
Prometheus the Fire-Bringer
Zeus angry about sacrifice at Mekone 
hides fire from humans
Appropriate punishment: use of fire allows
the sacrifice to exist, but Zeus hated the first
sacrifice
No description of the sacrifice in Works and
Days; just a brief comment that P. had
somehow cheated Zeus.
Prometheus steals fire back from the fennelstalk
Zeus even more angry
Creation of Pandora
Pandora
Payback trick from the gods in response for
Prometheus’ trick with the sacrifice
Another aetiological myth: explains the reasons for
the origins of evils that humans have to bear; e.g.,
the origin of the suffering of childbirth
NO SUCH THING AS PANDORA’S BOX!!! It is
actually a pythos (jar)
Story of the jar in Works and Days; not mentioned
in Theogony
Pandora = Eve-equivalent in Greek myth
The Problem of Pandora
Origin of woman – punishment for man
from Zeus for the deceit of the first sacrifice
conducted by Prometheus 
When gods squabble, humans get caught in
the middle (cf. Demeter’s withholding of
crops from earth when punishing Zeus)
According to Works and Days, her name
designates the gifts of all the gods to her 
gift from the gods = BAD!
Alternate Versions of the Myth
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Theogony
Sacrifice at Mekone
Prometheus steals fire
Zeus orders the
creation of Pandora
Description of
Pandora
List of the horrors that
a wife and marriage
bring to a man’s life
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•
Works and Days
Prometheus steals fire
Zeus’ threat and
laughter
Zeus orders the
creation of Pandora
Pandora opens the jar,
and lets out all
sorrows; only Hope
remained inside
Prometheus as Culture-Bringer
Prometheus Bound ll. 447-506 – list of arts
that Prometheus taught humans:
• Sense (I.e., common sense)
• Building/architecture
• Agriculture; how to yoke animals
• Writing
• How to tame the horse; use of wagons/carts
• Ships
• Medicine
Prometheus in Later Myths
Later mythographers Apollodorus and
Pausanias tell how he molded the human
race out of clay  Prometheus as creator of
mankind
N.B. Theogony does NOT tell how humans
came into being. Hesiod is only concerned
with the origins of the gods
In Works and Days, Hesiod follows the
myth of Prometheus and Pandora with myth
of succession of human races
Interactions of Gods and Humans
Set rules/institutions through which humans
may reach the gods, and the gods may
respond
The myths about the establishment of these
rules/institutions, however, show that these
interactions are not founded on goodwill of
the gods
Gods highly concerned with getting their due
from humans – honor/respect, sacrifices
When humans do not fulfill their part of the
bargain, the relationship of gods and humans
gets ugly
Sophocles, Antigone
“The Ode to Man”
Chorus: Wonders are many, and none is more
wonderful than man; the power that crosses
the white sea, driven by the stormy southwind, making a path under surges that
threaten to engulf him; and Earth, the eldest
of the gods, the immortal, the unwearied,
doth he wear, turning the soil with the
offspring of horses, as the ploughs go to and
fro from year to year…
The Ode to Man: List of Achievements
Ploughing and working the earth
Hunting and capturing beasts of air, sea, and
land  “man excellent in wit”
Taming the horse with the yoke
“Speech and wind-swift thought, and all the
moods that mold a state (I.e., laws), hath he
taught himself”
Surviving adverse weather
Man is only powerless against Death
Cunning (metis) as most important quality
The Ode to Man: Cunning
“Cunning beyond fancy’s dream is the fertile
skill which brings him, now to evil, now to
good. When he honors the laws of the land,
and that justice which he hath sworn by the
gods to uphold, proudly stands his city: no
city hath he who, for his rashness, dwells
with sin. Never may he share my hearth,
never think my thoughts, who doth these
things!”