Transcript intro to greek myth

Intro to Greek
Mythology
The Elements
and Purposes of Myth
Phaeton
Myth Defined
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Greek Mythos=“discourse” or “speech”
Literary definition: a story rooted in oral
literature that, for a group of people,
explains the world around them;
Elements of Greek Myth
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Interaction between gods and humans
Gods as hypertrophied (abnormally large)
humans
Gods as flawed beings
Supernatural beings and monsters
Larger-than-life godly “superheroes”
Purposes of Myth
Herakles
Myths Explain Natural Occurrences
Examples?
 Creation of Earth and Heaven
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Thunder and lightning
 Zeus
Earthquakes
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Poseidon
Seasons
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Gaea and Ouranos
Persephone & Demeter
Sun rises
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Helios’ chariot
Myths Explain Fundamental
Philosophical Questions
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Early Greeks as protophilosophers (first)
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Attempting to answer
fundamental questions
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Where did we come
from?
Who created the
universe?
Is there life after
death?
To explain is to control
Comfort in knowing
Myths Explain Culture and Institutions
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Why women
couldn’t vote
To explain is to control
 Athena and Poseidon both want to rule and protect Athens
 Contest—Greatest Gift
 Poseidon=saltwater well (useless)
 Athena=olive tree (olive, wood, oil)
 Men vote for Poseidon, women for Athena
 Athena wins
 Poseidon floods the Attic plain
 Athenians blame the women, take away vote
Myths as Means to Instruct
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Myths often relay a
message or moral
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Teach cultural
traditions, values
Icarus—life has limits
 Narcissus and the
dangers of pride and
self love
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Myths to Explain History
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A biased version of
history—their version
Reinforce Greek culture
and power
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Trojan War
Gave tellers sense of
identity, sense of place
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Founding of Rome
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Founded by sons of Mars
Myths to Entertain
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Entertainment in an oral
culture
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Before written language =
stories
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Blood, sex, human emotions like
jealousy
The Heroes
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Herakles, Odysseus, Theseus,
Jason
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Stronger, smarter, more handsome
than mere mortals
Nobility in humanity
Humans are better than gods
Myths to Promote Cultural Supremacy
and Civil Order
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Persuasion
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Greek superiority over nonGreeks
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Other as “barbarians”
Religion: Cult & Ritual
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Maintained order
Gave people reason to be
loyal to a city
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Temples and sacrifices
Feared retribution of the
gods
Apollo’s Temple at Delphi
Why Study Myth?
Knowing characters and stories from mythology helps you
“get” more of the world you live in: movies, books, video
games, product advertising, etc.
To Understand Literature and Art
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Mythical allusions and
references
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Keats and the
Romantics
Shakespeare and
many others
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“Like Hyperion to a
satyr” (Hamlet)
The Simpsons!
Brueghel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (1555)
Because There Is Truth in Myth
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Universal truths
Stories about the
human condition
Because Myths Establish
Archetypes and Mythic Patterns
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Greek characters, places, themes have
influenced (consciously or not) Western
literature and art
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Journeys to the underworld
Serpent figures
Temptresses
Finding connecting patterns
Because Myth Influences Our
Language
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Word origins
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volcano
Herculean
aphrodisiac
music
atlas
tantalize
erotic
narcissism
Because Mythology is a Part of
Our Cultural Literacy
E.D. Hirsch
--founded the Core Knowledge
Foundation in 1986, and published The
Dictionary of Cultural Literacy[1] in 1988.
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Knowledge of myths makes
us literate
Enriches our understanding of
the Western world
Empowering
Shared culture
photo: http://bubosblog.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html
Check For Understanding
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Use your iBrainstorm app on iPad
Create a new project (yellow i in upper
left; touch +)
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Project Name: Firstname Myth Purposes
Add 8 sticky notes
Type one purpose on each note
 Save this project AND Email it (upper right) to me
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[email protected]