Transcript Greek Mythology 2x

Chapter 8
Section 3
Notes
Greek Mythology and
Literature
1
2
Myths Explain the World
 Ancient
Greeks were polytheistic
 Used myths about their gods to explain
natural or historical events
 (religion
explains what they do not
understand)
3
Greek Gods
 Greeks
did not have scientific
understanding of



Thunder
Earthquakes
Volcanic eruptions
 Believed
gods caused such events
 They created myths to explain why the gods
caused these events.
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Zeus
King of the gods of Mount
Olympus
5
Hera
Queen of the gods
Sister and Wife of Zeus
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Poseidon
god of the seas
brother of Zeus
7
Hades
god of the underworld
brother of Zeus
8
Hermes
the messenger god
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 Demeter
– goddess of agriculture
 Hestia – goddess of the hearth
 Athena – goddess of wisdom
 Apollo – god of the sun
 Artemis – goddess of the moon
 Ares – god of war
 Aphrodite – goddess of love
 Hephaestus – god of metalworking
 Dionysus – god of celebration
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Gods and Mythology
 Greeks
thought the gods caused
natural disasters
 Also felt they caused daily events



Sunrise and sunset
Seasons changing
Built temples to keep the gods
happy
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Heroes and Mythology
 Not
all myths were about gods
 Some were about heroes
 Each city had a favorite hero
 Most Famous was Hercules

Killed the hydra
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Homer and Epic Poetry
 Homer
wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey
 The Iliad is the story of the last years of the
Trojan War
 The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus’
journey home from the Trojan War and
the challenges he faced
13
Lyric Poetry
 Poems
that were set to music
 Called Lyric poetry because the music
was played on a lyre
 Sappho was the most famous female
lyrical poet of all Greece
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Fables
 Fables
are stories that teach a lesson or give advice
how to live
 Aesop was famous for his fables (even today)
 The main characters are usually animals and they
live and behave like humans
 The Boy Who Cried Wolf
 The Ants and the Grasshopper
 The Tortoise and the Hare
15
Greek Literature Lives
 Much
of the literature produced by the
Ancient Greeks is still popular today
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Language
 Many
of our words come from the Greeks
 Many places in world are named for
figures in Greek Mythology
 Greek mythology has inspired artist for
hundreds of years
 Trojans have roots in mythology