Patriarchal

PatriarchalAdj.

Pertaining to a society organized around the idea that men hold all the power—they are in complete control

OPPOSITE: matriarchal

Noun: patriarchy

Ancient Greece was a patriarchal society in which the men had all the power.

polytheism

• Noun

• Religious belief in more than one god

• Adj: polytheistic

• Greek mythology is based on polytheism-the belief in many gods

Monotheism

• Noun

• Religious belief in one God

• Adj: monotheistic

• Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all monotheistic.

Anthropomorphism

• (anthros=human; morph=form): the giving of non-human beings human traits or characteristics

• Adj: anthropomorphic

• The Greek gods and goddesses are anthropomorphic and had traits such as anger, jealousy, etc.

Hubris

• Noun

• Excessive pride

• Adj: hubristic

• The Greeks felt that hubris was a great sin and would always bring punishment from the gods.

Xenia

• Noun

• Greek word for the guest-host relationship; hospitality xenos: Greek word meaning guest, host, friend, stranger, foreigner

• Xenophobia: fear of foreigners

• In ancient Greek culture, one of the most important relationships was that of the host to his guest, called xenia.

in medeas res

• In middle of the action

• The Odyssey and The Illiad both begin “in medeas res” or in the middle of the story rather that 1st to last chronological order.

What?

• Greek myths are ancient (very old) stories that were first told by the Greek people and later my the Romans-they are stories about the Greek gods, heroes, and people.

When?

• The Greek people developed a written alphabet in around the 8century BC – before that these myths were developed and told orally by people and traveling poets or bards – dating back over 3000 years.

How?

• First for a very long time – hundred of years – these stories were told orally – parents to children, bards to groups of people for entertainment. Later (from the 8c BC) they were written down.

Why?

• The Greeks told these myths for 3 main reasons

• For entertainment

• To explain things in nature or the world which they could not understand

• To teach moral lesson to the people of their society

Where?

• Ancient Greece is more or less in the same area as Greech is today.

The Creation

• Taken from Hesiod’s Theogony c. 800BC – same time as Homer’s The Illiad.

4 Primordial Entities

• Chaos – gap, a “yawning”

• Gaia – earth

• Tartaros – Underworld

• Eros – Sexual love, desire

Chaos birthed

• Night and Erebos (the gloomy darkness of Tartaros)

• Night and Erebos made (Ether and ) Day

Gaia birthed

• Ourano (sky) and Pontos (sea) and Mountains

• The earth takes shape

Gaia and Ouranos mate and have 12 children

• First a series of monsters, then the 12 Titans, including: The Sun, Moon, River oceanos. Ouranos doesn’t allow the children to be born he pushes them back into Gaia – she is angry and plots with her youngest son Cronos to get revenge. She creates a sickle, Cronos cuts off Ourano’s genitals. Gaia throws his genitals into Pontos (The Sea)

Aphrodite is born (Venus)

• Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual desire, is born from the foam that springs up around them. Ouranos then retreats and becomes the dome of the sky.

Same pattern repeats itself in next generation of gods

• Cronos marries sister Rheia and they have 6 children:

• Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.

• Cronos allows his children to be born, but once they are born, he swallows each one.

• Rheia seeks her revenge – she tricks him by substituting a stone wrapped in a blanket for the youngest child - Zeus

CONT.

• Cronos doesn’t notice and Zeus is sent secretly to the island of Crete til he grows and comes back to avenge his father.

Zeus overthrows his father Cronos

• Zeus returns and overcomes Ouranos, makes him spit up the other children (gods cannot die) – these and several of their children become the gods/goddesses of Mt. Olympus – The Olympians

10 year war between the Olympians and the Titans

• The Titans (led by Cronos) and the Olympians (led by Zeus) battle and the Olympians are finally victorious – they will now be the gods forever (as the Greeks thought)

The Olympian Gods

• Zeus – shares his power with his brothers

• Poseidon – god of the seas (Neptune)

• Hades – god of the Underworld (Tartaros/Pluto)

• Zeus – god of the earth and sky (Jupiter)

Zeus’s SISTERS

• Hera – goddess of marriage (Juno)

• Hestia – goddess of the Hearth/home (Vesta)

• Demeter – goddess of grain and agriculture (Ceres)

Zeus oversees justice and Xenia

• Xenia – extremely important concept to the Greeks – host/guest relationship. To the Greeks, this was central to life – you must be a generous and gracious host to your guests.

“Baucis and Philemon”

• One myth which provides a good example of this is “The Mysterious Visitors”

hubris

• Excessive pride – The Greeks felt this was a terrible sin, always punished by the gods

Apollo’s maxims

• Carved on his temple at Delphi and central precepts to the Greek culture

“Gnothi sauton”

• Know yourself – know your limits – you’re only a human

“meden agan”

• Nothing in excess – don’t challenge the gods by appearing to have “too much”

Niobe, a queen of Thebes

• Good example of hubris – she was a queen of Thebes and had 14 children and boasted that she was superior to Leto – mother of Apollo and Artemis (father is Zeus) – she said they should build her a temple and worship her instead – Apollo shot and killed 7 sons, Artemis shot her 7 daughters – she failed to remember these 2 all-important maxims

“Minerva (Athena) and Arcahne”

• Another example of hubris can be seen in the myth called “The Weaving Contest”

Gods/goddesses cont.

• Demeter – goddess of grain and agriculture

• Persephone – Demeter’s daughter

• Hades- god of Tartaros, the underworld

• “The Kidnapping” Here’s a story that shows what happened with these 3 gods.

Athena (Minerva)

• Goddess of wisdom, handicrafts, battle – protectress of civilized life, goddess of the city (Athens gets its name from her)

• Mother was Metis, a minor goddess – fated to bear a son who will (again!) overthrow his father – so Zeus (in a new twist on an old theme!) swallows Metis – the child already concieved is born out of Zeus’s head – this is Athena

Athena Cont.

• She’s one of these virgin goddesses (also Artemis and Hestia

Apollo

• Along with his twin sister Artemis, Apollo is the son of Zeus and the goddess Leto.

• Apollo is the god of youth, medicine, music, prophecy, and rationality/moderation but also of sudden death for me and plagues

Artemis (Diana)

• Associated with wilderness and wild – huntress, patron of wild animals, protector of young and all species.

• She’s a virgin goddess.

Hermes (Mercury)

• Mother is Maia (minor goddess) father is Zeus.

• Called the “messenger god” – also god of merchants, thieves, beggars, travelers, and tricksters. Also- he escorts the dead to Tartaros (Hades)