Transcript File

Ancient Greece
Sophocles
and
Antigone
What Are Myths?
 Myths are stories,
often with imaginative
characters and violent
plots.
 Greek and Roman
myths contain gods
and goddesses,
human characters, and
other fantastic
creatures.
What are the Purposes of Myths?
 To explain how man got
here (Creation Myths)
 To explain good and evil
(why there is suffering in
the world)
 To teach moral lessons
 To explain human behavior
(understand about
love/jealousy, etc.
Mythological Explanations
 Mythological
explanations are not
logical or scientific,
and they require a
different kind of
thinking than you are
used to.
 Remember these
stories are thousands
of years old.
How are Greek and Roman
Myths Related?
 There are many similarities between the
personalities in Greek Myths and those
in Roman myths, which came later.
 Often the only differences are in the
names given to the figures.
The Way the Ancient Greeks saw the World
The Gods
Zeus/Jupiter
 King of the gods
 Rules over Mt.
Olympus
 God of power, sky,
thunder, rain, law
 Married to Hera,
unfaithful to his
marriage
 Symbols:
thunderbolt, eagle
Hera/Juno
 Queen of the gods
 Wife and sister to
Zeus
 Patron of marriage
and women
 Jealous of Zeus’
infidelities
 Symbol: peacock
 Related word: June
Poseidon/Neptune
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King of the sea
Brother of Zeus
Implacable god
Causes storms, and
cause people to drown
 Created the horse,
seahorse, octopus
 Symbols: trident, bull,
horse, dolphin
Hades/Pluto
 King of the underworld
(Tartarus)
 Death
 Greedy; hoards peoples’
souls
 God of wealth
 Brother of Zeus
 Married Persephone the
spring goddess
 Symbols: staff, helmet of
invisibility
Demeter/Ceres
 Goddess of the earth,
life, plants (grains)
 Sister of Zeus
 Mother of Persephone
(spring goddess)
 Symbols: corn, sheaf
of grain
 Related word: cereal
Persephone
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Spring goddess
Daughter of Zeus and Demeter
Queen of the underworld (Tartarus)
She spends six months with Hades and six
months with Demeter thus being responsible for
seasonal changes
Athena/Minerva
 Grey-eyed
 Born from Zeus’ head
 Goddess of
intelligence/wisdom,
strategy, war
(defense), peace
 Symbols: Athens,
olive tree, owl
Aphrodite/Venus
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Goddess of Love/Beauty
Son is Eros/Cupid
Married to Hephaestus
Born from the sea
Symbols: Dove, swan,
sparrow
 Related word:
aphrodisiac
Eros/Cupid
 Son of Aphrodite and
possibly Ares
 God of love
 Shoots gold arrows
for love, lead arrows
for indifference
 Youngest of the gods
 Related word: erotic
Apollo
 God of the sun
 Golden god
 Son of Zeus and
Leto (nymph)
 God of music
 Symbols: lyre,
sun
 Related word:
lyric
Artemis/Diana
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Virgin goddess
Many names
Huntress with bow
Silver
Moon
Wild beasts
Symbols: moon, bow and
arrow, deer
Ares/Mars
 God of war (offensive)
 Son of Zeus and Hera
 Symbols: all weapons,
vulture, dog
 Related words: marital,
March
Eris
 Eris is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. She is the
goddess of discord. In addition to her main activity
of sowing discord, she frequently accompanies her
brother Ares to battles. On these occasions she
rides his chariot and brings her son Strife.
 Eris is unpopular and frequently snubbed as a guest
by the other gods and mankind. This was not always
a safe thing to do. The most dramatic example being
the Trojan War, which was an indirect result of not
inviting Eris to a wedding.
Hephaestus/Vulcan
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Son of Zeus and Hera
Lame
Ugly
God of the forge, smith,
handiwork, volcanoes
 Symbols: anvil,
hammer
 Related word: volcano
Hermes/Mercury
 Son of Zeus
and Maia
 Messenger god
 God of thieves,
messages, travelers,
luck
 Symbols: caduceus,
winged sandals and
hat
Dionysus/Bacchus
 God of wine, poetry,
song, theater
 God of happiness
due to intoxication
 Sometimes his
followers became
violent when drunk
 Symbols: grapes
Hestia/Vesta
 Goddess of the hearth,
home, domestic life
 Virgin
 Stays at home
 Does not approve of
Aphrodite
 Greeks had hearths blazing
constantly to worship Hestia
Ancient Greece
Climate
 Hot and dry in summer
 Cool and wet in winter
 Comparable to
Southern California
Greece Divided
 Polis: City and
farmland around it
 Each polis had its own
government, army,
navy, and god or
goddess
 Example: Athens
honored Athena, the
goddess of wisdom
Greek Enemies
 The Spartans!
Superstition
 The Greeks believed
in:
– Star-reading
– Interpreting dreams
– Examining the entrails
of an animal
– Flight patterns of birds
– Soothsayers
– Oracles
More Superstition
 The Greeks believed
that the spirit of a dead
person could only enter
Hades after the body
had been purified and
buried. Until the proper
rites were performed,
the person hovered at
the gate of
Hades…neither dead or
alive
The Oracles
 An oracle was a
response given to
individuals who came
to a special place to
ask a question of a
god or hero. The
question had to be
submitted by a priest
or priestess.
Dodona
 Zeus’ oracle
 The oldest oracle
known
 The gods spoke
through the rustling of
leaves or doves
Delphi
 Apollo’s oracle
 Priestesses were said
to become intoxicated
by vapor from the
earth
Epidaurus
 Asclepius’ oracle
 Mostly consulted for
medical questions
 Patients were required
to sleep in a building
near the temple, where
they were visited by a
dream and woke up
cured
Lebadeia
 Trophonius’ oracle
 A bizarre ritual—spend
the night in a narrow
underground chamber
Oropus
 Amphiaraus’ oracle
 Similar to Trophonius
 A hero was swallowed
up by the ground
 The spot became an
oracle
 Located between
Athens and Thebes
Bura
 Hercules’ oracle
 Is now under the sea
 Involved the throwing
of dice
Women and Marriage
 Marriage was the
transfer from one
master (the father), to
another (her man)
 Being unmarried was
not a choice but a
misfortune
Women and Marriage
 Being unmarried
brought shame to the
girl’s father is she were
too ugly, or he not rich
enough to buy her a
man
 Women married at age
13 or 14
 Men married around
age 30
Sophocles
Sophocles
 An Athenian from
Colonus
 He was from a rich
family
 He won prizes for
wrestling and music
 At 16 he was chosen
to lead the boys’ choir
A Popular Guy
 Sophocles was
exceptionally good
looking
 He acted as well as
wrote plays
 He gave up acting
because of a weak
voice
 Everyone liked him
More Sophocles
 He had two sons by
different marriages
 He was deeply
religious
 Born around 496 BC
 Died around 406 BC
 Death: he either died
choking on a grape or
was reading Antigone
Sophocles’ Success
 Wrote 123 plays
 Won 24 victories
– 96 of his plays won 1st
prize (the plays were
always produced in
fours)
Sophocles’ Plays
 7 plays survived
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Ajax
Antigone
Oedipus the King
Trachiniae
Electra
Philoctetes
Oedipus at Colonus
The Bee
 Sophocles was called
“the bee” because his
verse sounded like
honey
Oedipus
 “There once lived a man called Oedipus Rex
 You must have heard about his odd complex.
 His name appears in Freud’s index
 Because he loved his mother…”
Tom Lehrer
Oedipus
 Laius, ruler of Thebes,
is told that his son will
kill him.
 Laius and his wife try
to sacrifice the baby,
but a slave takes pity
on him…
Oedipus Lives!
 Oedipus is taken to the
other side of the
mountain to Corinth
 He is given to Polybus,
the king of Corinth
 He is called “Oedipus”
because it means
“swollen foot” (his
deformity)
18 Years Later
 Oedipus decides to
seek out his true family
 He travels to Apollo’s
oracle.
 He is told that he will
kill his father and sleep
with his mother
Oedipus Flees
 He leaves Corinth and
goes to Thebes—
thinking that he is
moving further away
from his true father
 He meets his father
where the “three roads
meet”
Murder!
 Oedipus gets in an
argument with his
“real” father (he
doesn’t know it’s his
dad)
 Oedipus kills him
The Riddle of the Sphinx
 Thebes is terrorized by
the Sphinx (body of a
lioness, head of a
woman, winged)
 She destroys all who
cannot solve her riddle
The Riddle
 Which animal has one
voice, but two, three,
or four feet, being
slowest on three?
 Man!
Oedipus Saves Thebes
 Oedipus answers the
riddle
 He is named ruler of
Thebes
 He gets to marry
Jocasta (his mother)
as a reward
 He does not realize
that she is his mom!
Incest!
 Oedipus and Jocasta
have 4 children
 A plague begins to kill
all living things
 Plagues are caused by
sin
 Only a god can reveal
the cause of the
plague…
Plague!
 Oedipus sends his
brother-in-law, Creon,
to the oracle at Delphi
 The plague is being
caused by an
unpunished murder—
the murder of Laius.
 Oedipus puts a curse
on the killer (himself)
The Truth
 Teiresias (a
soothsayer) and Creon
tell Oedipus that he is
the one who killed
Laius
 Oedipus refuses to
believe them
Nonsense
 Jocasta tells Oedipus
that the oracles are
nonsense
 She tells of the oracle
who told her and Laius
that their son would kill
him and how it didn’t
come true…or did it?
Jocasta
 Oedipus receives a
message that Polybus,
his adopted father, has
died
 Jocasta recognizes the
messenger as the man
who was supposed to
kill Oedipus
 She figures out the
truth!
Jocasta
 Jocasta flees, but
Oedipus doesn’t
understand why
 He learns the truth and
runs after her
 It’s too late; she’s
already hanged herself
Shame
 Oedipus takes the
shoulder pins out of
Jocasta’s dress and
blinds himself
 Creon becomes ruler
 Oedipus says goodbye
to his dauthers
 He must await the
god’s punishment
Interpretations
 In Greek law, the ACT
counted, not the
MOTIVE
 Murdering Laius
wasn’t really a crime; it
was any Greek’s duty
to harm an enemy.
Oedipus thought Laius
was an enemy
because he insulted
him
Interpretations
 Family was everything
in Greece
 The worst crime: to kill
your father
 The second worst
crime: to sleep with
your mother
 Oedipus committed
both crimes
Oedipus to Antigone
 Oedipus is thrown out
of Thebes
 Antigone (his
daughter) goes to help
guide him
 Nobody wants
Oedipus around to
taint their soil when he
dies. Colonus takes
him.
Oedipus’ Family
 Oedipus’ other
daughter, Ismene, tells
him that his two sons,
Eteocles and
Polynices, have fought
over who gets to rule
Thebes.
 Polynices asks for
Oedipus’ blessing
Curses
 Oedipus curses the
two boys, saying that
they will end up killing
each other
 Oedipus dies
 Ismene and Antigone
return to Thebes.
 Eteocles rules Thebes
Battle
 Polynices returns to
Thebes and battles his
brother, Eteocles.
 They end up killing
each other
 Creon becomes king
 The play Antigone
begins…
The End?
 Sources: www.users.globalnet.co.uk
 www.masconoment.org