Transcript Greek Creation Myth

Greek Creation Myth
The Rise of Zeus
The Family Tree
Uranus
(The Sky)
Gaia
(The Earth)
Dawn of Time
Cronos
Rhea
Titans
Hades
Poseidon
ZEUS
Olympians
Cronos
• After overthrowing his
father, Cronos receives a
prophecy he will be
overthrown by his son
• To avoid this, Cronos
devours his children as
they are born
Rhea
• After Cronos
swallows their first
five children, his
wife Rhea hides their
next child—Zeus—
and gives Cronos a
stone swaddled in a
blanket. Zeus
survives unknown to
Cronos.
Zeus Overthrows Cronos
• When Zeus is grown, he
comes back and poisons
Cronos, causing him to
vomit up his siblings
• Zeus overthrows Cronos
with their help and
becomes most powerful
god
Sound Familiar?
• Prophecy: A child will overthrow his
father/god/king
• He plots to kill the child
• Child miraculously survives
• Comes back to take power
• Moses and Pharaoh
• Jesus and Herod
• Luke Skywalker and Vader
• Harry Potter and Voldemort
• Etc., etc.
Greek Creation Clip
• Clash of the Gods—Zeus
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQQe
-jRihNI&feature=related
– 3:55 to 8:20, 13:30 and on
Also Watch For
• Realistic Human
Nature
• Mythology explains
what science can’t
• A connection
between man and
nature
• Unavoidable Fate
Man’s Connection
to Nature
“Through [Mythology], we can retrace the path from
civilized man who lives so far from nature, to man who
lived in close companionship with nature; and the real
interest of the myths is that they lead us back to a time
when the world was young and people had a connection
with the earth, with trees and seas and flowers and hills,
unlike anything we ourselves can feel.”
—Edith Hamilton
Nature Personified
“Angry” Sea → Poseidon’s Rage
Winter → Demeter’s Sorrow
Earth and Sky → Uranus and Gaia
Man and Nature Co-mingle
• All things are alive and imbued with feeling
– Pyramus and Thisbe → mulberry tree
– Baucis & Philemon → two trees from one trunk
– Pirates in “Dionysus” → Dolphins
– Orpheus → Nightingales
Two Great Gods of Earth
Nourishment
Suffering
Home on Earth
Demeter
Grain
Loses Daughter
Persephone
Eleusis
Dionysus
Wine
Loses mother
Semele and wife
Ariadne
Nysa
Christ-Like?
Dionysus
• Teaches man how to
make wine
• Pentheus puts him on
trial as son of god
(Zeus)
• Torn apart by Titans
but rose again
Jesus
• First miracle: Water
to wine at wedding
• Pontius Pilate puts
him on trial as son of
God
• Crucified by the
Romans but rises on
3rd day
Heaven a “Pleasantly
Familiar Place”
“Human gods naturally made heaven a pleasantly
familiar place… That is the miracle of Greek
mythology—a humanized world, men freed from the
paralyzing fear of an omnipotent Unknown… A
familiar local habitation gave reality to all the
mythical beings.”
—Edith Hamilton
Gods are Human in their Flaws
Zeus → womanizer
Hera → jealous, spiteful
Hephaestus → ugly
Ares → unlikeable
Dionysus → cruel,
drunken side
• Etc., etc.
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“Familiar Habitations”
• Crete: Theseus kills
Minotaur, Zeus
hides Europa
• Thebes: Dionysus
kills Pentheus,
Hercules born
• Argos: Danae
births Perseus
Fate Unavoidable
• Prophecies always come true
in Mythology, despite the
odds
– Cronos overthrown by son Zeus
– King Acrisius killed by
grandson Perseus
– Theseus will draw his father
Aegeus’s sword
Perseus
PART I: King Acrisius traps
daughter Danae, but she still
bears son Perseus to Zeus.
PART II: Polydectes wants Perseus
out of the way to marry Danae, and
challenges him to kill Medusa hoping
he gets himself killed.
PART III: Perseus kills Medusa with help
of gods and comes back in time to stop the
wedding. He fulfills prophecy by killing
Acrisius, who is there as a guest.
Argos
Sephiros
Gray
Sisters
Doppa
Sephiros
Medusa’s
Lair
Nymphs
of West
Perseus’
Travels
Compare/Contrast
Myth
Movie
• King Acrisius is
Danae’s father
• Perseus kills Medusa
to have wedding
present for Polydectes
• Perseus turns Atlas to
stone
• END: Saves Danae
from marrying
Polydectes
• King Acrisius is
Danae’s husband
• Perseus kills Medusa
so he can kill the
Kraken
• Perseus turns Kraken
to stone
• BEGINNING: Danae
dies on the sea
What Do
Changes Say?
• Birthright no longer a favored idea
– Perseus not proud to be Zeus’ son
• Fate no longer a popular idea
– Perseus does not die as predicted; Fate of
killing his grandfather completely removed
• Now we want one-dimensional characters
– Hades thrown into story as a villain; Kraken
goes from minor to major part
God of what?
Relation to
other gods
Brief
Description
Zeus
Sky, Thunder,
Olympus
Son of Cronos;
Hades and
Poseidon his
brothers; Hera
his wife/sister
Cheats on wife
Hera
Marriage
Wife/sister of
Zeus
Jealous; spends
time punishing
Zeus’ children
and mistresses
Poseidon
Sea
Brother of Zeus
and Hades
Deals with
Rejection from
Demeter, city of
Athens, and
drawing lots
God of what?
Relation to
other gods
Brief
Description
Hades
Underworld,
wealth
Brother to Zeus
and Poseidon;
marries
Persephone
Violent, hates
change,
unpopular; but
deals fairly with
the dead
Athene
City,
Civilization,
intellectual
activities,
Weaving
Daughter of
Zeus and Metis;
sprung from
Zeus’ head
Battle Goddess;
turns Arachne
to Spider
Apollo
Truth, Light,
Sun, music,
poetry, math,
medicine
Father → Zeus
Kills Python at
Mother → Leto
Delphi and
Twin → Artemis claims oracle for
his own
God of what?
Artemis
Hunt, Moon,
Wild Things
Relation to
other gods
Brief
Description
Father → Zeus
Mother → Leto
Twin → Apollo
Huntress,
chaste,
demanding, has
violent side
Aphrodite
Love, Beauty,
Desire
Married to
Hephaestus;
Born out of sea
from remains of
Uranus
Toys with men
Hermes
Commerce,
Travelers,
Thieves
Father → Zeus
Mother → Maia
Zeus’
messenger;
steals Apollo’s
cattle; invents
the lyre
Half-brother to
Apollo
God of what?
Ares
War
Hephaestus Fire; smiths
and
tradesmen
Hestia
Hearth,
Home,
Family
Relation to
other gods
Brief
Description
Son of Zeus
and Hera
Unlikeable;
appears little
in myths
Son of Zeus
and Hera;
marries
Aphrodite
Only Ugly
God; Hera
cruel to him
Sister of Zeus
Appears
little; gives
up place to
Dionysus
Arion
Narcissus