Transcript greek mythology background

CLASSICAL GREEK
MYTHOLOGY BACKGROUND
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Ancient Greece & Greek Society
Sources of Greek Mythology
Period of Greek Mythology
Characteristics of Greek Mythology
Greek & Roman Mythology
ANCIENT GREECE AND THE
GREEK SOCIETY
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Human History
Society
Culture
Politics
Economy
HUMAN HISTORY IN GREECE
 45,000-40,000 BC: Homo sapiens sapiens first moves
out of Africa into southwestern Asia and Europe
 20,000 BC: Human habitation begins in southeastern
Greece
 10,000-8,000 BC: Beginning of agriculture and
permanent settlements
 4,500-2,000 BC: Indo-European peoples move into
Europe
 1,500 BC: Greeks (Mycenaeans) are a linguistically
identifiable group
CULTURE IN ANCIENT GREECE
 950-750 BC: Greeks adopted the Phoenician
alphabet
750-500 BC: Writing down of oral literature
such as Odyssey and Iliad
776 BC: First Olympic Games, to be held every
four years, in honour of Zeus
700 BC: Greeks began to write down the myths
 Religion as the core of all community activities
ANCIENT GREEK SOCIETY
 A patriarchal society
 Social stratification
The rich elite
Free people
Slaves
Rulers, priests, soldiers, craftsmen, farmers
Monogamy was a rule
Nuclear family structure the most common form
POLITICS IN ANCIENT GREECE
 750 BC: Greek city-states (polis) beginning to organise
(Athens, Sparta etc.)
 750-500 BC: Greek colonies formed all around the
Mediterranean Sea region
 Polis included fortified urban centre + the small
settlements in the countryside
 A protector or patron god/goddess for each polis
(Athena for Athens)
 Only free men had political rights
 Forms of oligarchy, tyranny and democracy observed
ECONOMY IN ANCIENT GREECE
 An agricultural society
 Olive
 Wine
 Grains
Livestock
Fishing
 A trading society
Trade colonies in Spain, N. Africa, Black Sea Coast
 Advanced handicrafts
Metallurgy
Pottery
Textile
SOURCES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY
• Apollodoros: Author of The Library the earliest
collection of myths.
• Homer: Author of the epic poems Odyssey and
Iliad. Stories that originate in the Trojan War.
• Hesiod: Author of Theogony, Works and Days,
the Catalogue of Women.
• Ovid: Roman author of Metamorphoses.
• Virgil: Roman author of the epic work Aeneid.
PERIOD OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY
• “The times before recorded history began and
beyond reliable oral tradition, in the para-history
(Dowden, 1992).”
• Trojan War (circa 1240-1230 BC) is the only link
between Greek mythology and factual “history.”
CHARACTERISTICS OF GREEK
MYTHOLOGY
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Includes gods, goddesses, demi-gods, and mortals
Explains natural phenomena
Includes magic and superhuman powers
Gods and goddesses often appear in disguise and
interfere with the lives of the mortals
• Gods and goddesses are anthropomorphic (humanshaped) and they have human emotions
• Very often gods and goddesses are involved in incest and
adultery, almost to the point of moral corruption
Adapted from www.danbury.k12.ct.us/midweb/bms/Clusters/BMS61/gammytc.htm
GREEK & ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
• Romans were also a pagan society with a polytheistic
religion, but their beliefs were not as systematised as
those of the Greek.
• No definite personification of gods. Gods were hardly
more than a “those that are above” (Hamilton, 1940).
• Romans were influenced by Greek culture and changed
their deities to resemble their Greek counterparts.
• Romans also changed the characters of some Greek
deities in their own version.