Lecture 1:

Greek myth: A traditional story about the divine and heroic with an
importance in the community.
Many versions
Traditional (can be retold through generations, and can
apply to new circumstances)
Explains origins and causes (aetionaetiology)
o Aetion (cause), aetiology (cause of something)
Describes, justifies past events and authority
Educates (values, morals)
Entertains
Greece (geography)
Sea, islands, mountains
Major crops (olives, vines, cereals)
Hot dry summers with mild rainy winters
Limited agricultural and land resources.
Made up of independent communities, composed of small scale
farmers, seafaring, trade, and migration was prominent.
Chronological periods of Greece
Pre-history (stone age- bronze age) 3000-1100 BC
Iron or dark or geometric age (1100 750 BC)
Archaic (750-480 BC)
Classical (480-323 BC)
Hellenistic (320-30 BC)
Roman
Bronze Age:
Mycenaean civilization
o Highly organized palace economy
o Strong military character
o Greek speakers
o Chief god was Zeus (sky god)
The setting of many heroic myths.
Minoan civilization (Crete)
o Highly organized palace economy
o Artistic/love of nature
o Not Greek speakers
o Religion centered on earth (fertility) spirits, especially
female divinities.

Iron Age:
Colonization of Asia Minor (Coast of turkey). Contacts with near
east.
Introduction of the Greek alphabet. Adaptation from the
Phoenician alphabet.
Archaic Age:
Epic Poetry: lengthy narrative poems about the deeds of gods
and heroes
Homer (750 BC)
o Iliad
o Odyssey
Hesiod (700 BC)
o Theogony
o Works and Days
Homeric Hymns: A collection of 33 poems.
Large scale colonization of the coastal areas of Mediterranean
and Black Sea
Development of polis (the city state)
Crystallization of a common cultural identity
o Language
o Religion (Based on the twelve Olympian gods and
goddesses)
o Festivals (done to honor gods)
Olympics (only those who are Greek and male can
participate)
Choral songs
o Oracles
o Name (Hellenes)
Greeks and Hellenes
Classical Age:
Athens: The dominant power in Greece, after the victory against
the Persians.
The Peloponnesian war (Athens VS Sparta)
The rise of Macedon and the Persian expedition of Alexander the
Great
Myths and Dramatic Performances (Tragedies)
o Aeschylus (tragic)
o Sophocles (tragic)
o Euripides (tragic)
o Aristophanes (comic)

Myths: source of dramatic plots, especially for tragedies

Dramatic performances were meant to express political,
philosophical views to the audience.

Hellenistic Age:
After Alexanders death: The establishment of Greek Kingdoms in
the East.
Myths are now written to be read
Apollonius Rhodios (3rd century BC) Argonautica
Apollodorus (2nd century BC) Bibliotheca; compilation of known
Greek myths
The Romans and Greek Myths
Dominant influence of Greek myths
Adaptations of myths, divine, and heroic characters.
Equivalences of Gods. (p.218)
The Roman Poet Ovid
Metamorphoses (Transformations)
o 1st Century AD
About 200 myths involving the motif of transformation
A source for modern arts and literature.
Lecture 2
Greek Divinities
Olympians
Titans
Primeval
Underworld
Sea gods
Sky gods
Rustic gods
Agricultural gods
Abstract personifications
p. 69 attributes/domains of the gods
The anthropomorphic divinities
Born on earth
A hierarchical society
Immortal and eternal youth ** distinguishes them from heroes.
Special powers, but not omnipotent, not omnipresent, not
omniscient.

They have flesh and can be wounded

Their divine blood: the ichor
They get satisfied from the smoke of the sacrifices
o People believed that if they did not sacrifice the right
amount to a god, the god would be angry with them.
They eat nectar and ambrosia, use nectar and ambrosia for
things like making their skin glow, etc.
o Nectar and ambrosia something that doesnt die and is
eternal

Cupbearers Hebe and Ganymedes served the gods nectar and

ambrosia.
Hebe marries Hercules later on
Ganymedes is Zeuss lover

The anthropomorphic divinities also acted in and influenced

human affairs.
Some gods (Helios, Hephaestus, and Athena, etc.) worked hard.
When interfering with humans, gods appeared disguised as
humans that are known to the subject, rarely in their true divine
form.
o Can appear as animals, or any other form
o Can also appear in dreams
The above points are known as the looking taboo.
Sometimes humans were punished by the gods by:
o Killing them with their weapons
o Taking away their sight, beauty, voice
o Transforming them
o Eternal punishment to Tartarus.

Philosophers rejected the anthropomorphous gods.

Natural/physical philosophy
Moral philosophy
Xenophanes (500 BC): Gods of the epic poets are immoral.
Plato questions the educational values of myths
Aristotle: God; the unmoved mover, the eternal, thinker, but not
divine providence.
The meaning of hero:
Homer: a noble or well-born male
Later, the word hero started meaning the noble people from past
generations, the past.
o Heroes did not live among you.

Worship of heroes (kind of like saints in the Christian religion)

o Temples were built for heroes in the cities.
Heroic stories emerged in the late bronze age (1600-1100)

The heroine:
Noble woman
Her life is related to a hero and the heroic achievements of that
hero.
An example of devotion, a helper, and a guide, she can sacrifice
herself for a higher purpose.
She can distract the hero from his task.
If betrayed, she may bring destruction to the hero.
Exception to the rule for mortal heroines:
Atalanta
Types of heroes:
Quest heroes
War heroes
Culture heroes: Advance civilization, ex. Prometheus
Survivors: Odysseus (used tricks to get home alive after years of
torment)
Tricksters: Use means that may not be honorable, in order to
achieve their goals.
Quest Heroes:
One divine parent (usually Zeus, but can be any deity)
His origin is preceded by difficulties
A prophecy cautions against his birth ; usually the boy will pose a
threat to his father.
Attempts to bypass the prophecy by displacement
He is saved. Ex. baby Oedipus is saved by the servant after being
exposed.
Usually brought up by foster parents in a far country
At some point, all quest heroes are called to adventure.
Willingly, or imposed by others, or as a blunder.
They have helpers, supernatural aids/ magical
objects.
The goal of the quest is often to retrieve an object,
save a love done, or to get rid of an evil agent.

Usually this involves crossing the threshold and the katabasis (the
descend)
Moves to a different realm, isolated from familiar surroundings
alone or with a few companions.
The other world is usually dark or beyond a boundary.
o Ex. a labrynth, a cave
Usually you must deal with guardians of the threshold (sphinx,
Cerberus, etc.)
Then, a battle usually ensues
o The enemy is often a hybrid monster
o Often very intelligent, knowledgeable, wise, with voracious
appetite, aggressive instincts
o They reflect the divided nature of the heroes.
o He is often awarded a woman.
o All except perseus suffered at the end of their life
o Heroes are tragic divided beings
o Exceptional and superhuman
o But mortal
o Intelligent and skillful
o But possess a rash, impulsive nature, potentiality for
violence that destroys their loved ones and themselves.
According to Aristotle,
The tragic hero is:
o Admirable (in staus, moral standing); better than us
o Better but not perfect, not outstanding
o Bad fortune as a result of hamartia, (an error, a misjudgement, or
misinterpretation)
o Infliction of harm on philos/ philoi (persons dear to ones heart:
relatives or friends.)
Lecture 3
Heaven (deities)
Earth (humans and deities)
Underworld
Hades: (dead mortals and deities)
Tartaros: (sinners and dark forces)
Hesiod (700BC)
Composed epic poetry (long, narrative), about gods, heroes, etc.
Theogony

o An account of the origins of the universe (cosmogony)

o The birth and descendants of gods (theogony)
Chaos was born first, and after that came Gaia
(earth), and Tartaros, and Eros (Love).
Works and Days
o A poem addressed to Hesiods brother, directing him
towards the right path in life, how to work hard, and how to
be honest.

Chaos: a chasm, a yawning abyss, an opening

Tartaros: a dark place, roots of the Earth.
Eros: The force of creation
Gaia: The source of all, the source of knowledge, the source of life and
death.
Symbols of Earth: Tree and the snake.
they both possess the ability to regenerate (tree grows, snake
regenerates its
skin).
they both live in two worlds (underground; Hades, and above
ground)
Earth (Gaia) can procreate without a consort.
o Earth mates with the sky and they give birth to three offspring
o 3 Hecatoncheires
Creature with 100 hands
o 2 Cyclopes
The divine smiths; they construct weapons for the
deities.
Have one eye
Names mean thunder, lightning, and brightness.
Present in the odyssey, and present in Theogony
o 12 Titans

Gaia (Earth)

Sky (Uranus)

Mountains (Ore)

Sea (Pontus)

The story of castration

o Gaia gave birth , but Ouranos wouldnt let them see the light of
earths body.
o Ouranos keeps them suppressed in the Earths bodies
o Gaia devises a plan and a weapon: a sickle form
adamant.
o Kronos castrated his father and threw the genitals into the
sea.
o When a god sheds something, it leads to creation, so when
Kronos castrates his father, his father sheds blood, and that
leads to creation.
o This leads to three sets of creatures:
Furies (Erinyes)
Ferocious female spirits
They avenge wrong, especially those who shed
kindred blood. They cause you to go mad,
torment you, with guilt, etc.
Aeschylos Eumenides: The furies torment
Orestes, Agamemnons son, who killed his
mother Clytemnestra
Giants (The sons of Ge/Gaia)
Natural forces from the depths of Earth
responsible for earthquakes and eruptions.
Melian nymphs
Aphrodite
o Arose from the sea foam
o Goddess of sexual desire

o A central theme in Greek mythology: the

destructiveness of sexual attraction.
o Eros (Love), Eris (Conflict, Quarrel)
o In Homer, Aphrodite is the daughter of
Zeus.
Succession of Power
Ouranos and Gaia
Kronos and Rhea (Titans)
Zeus and Hera (Olympians)
The child swallowing
o Earths prophecy: Kronos will be overpowered by a son.
o Therefore Kronos swallowed his children as soon as they
were born.
o Kronos and Rheas children
Hestia (f)
Demeter (f)
Hera (f)
Hades (m)
Poseidon (m)
Zeus (m)
o All are swallowed except Zeus.
Rhea secretly gives birth to Zeus at island of Crete,
but Rhea gives a Kronos a stone wrapped in baby
clothes, and Kronos swallows it.
Zeus: Birth and childhood at Crete
Zeus was born in a cave, on Mount Dicti or Mount Ida.
o Zeus was entrusted to the nymphs
o The goat Amaltheia fed him its milk.
o The horn of plenty (cornucopia)
o The aegis (goats skin) and Capricorn.
o Zeus is protected by Kouretes (young men), they make a lot of
noise with their weapons when Zeus cries, and they dance when
Zeus cries in order to cover up the sound of Zeuss cries so that
Kronos cannot find him.
o When Zeus grows up, he dethrones his father
o Zeus gives an emetic potion to Kronos and he releases his
swallowed children.
o They are born in this order
Zeus (rock)
Poseidon
Hades

 Hera
Demeter
Hestia
The succession of power type of myth:
o Motifs
o The fear of losing power by a son (through a prophecy)
o Unsuccessful attempy to bypass the prophecy by getting
rid of the baby.
o The son (an outcast) will obtain revenge as an adult and
obtain power.
Zeus:
o Jupiter/Love
o The Storm God
o The Sky God
o Powers on nature
A supreme sky god associated with weather
phenomena, especially rain.
Humidity: the vital element of life
The thunderbolt and the eagle are his two symbols;
represent his regal power (eagle), and his punitive
power (thunderbolt). Both are powerful and can
strike from afar and at great speed.
o Powers on human society: Protector of the family
Father, protector, savior
Guardian of law and order: giver of authority and
justice.
The counselor, the lawgiver, the oath protector.
Protector of guests and suppliants: A special
relationship between the host and the guest.
Hospitality is a sacred bond (Xenios Zeus).
The struggle of Zeus
Titans
o Titans previous generation
o Zeus frees Cyclopes, and hekatoncheires and as a result,
gets their support.
Also supported by the other major deities, as well as
the river Styx (another deity).
o Titanomachy according to Hesiod:
With the help of his allies, Zeus sends titans beneath
the earth, to Tartaros.
The Styx (Daughter of Oceanus)
Styx (the oath of the gods)
Her children

o Victory (Nike)
o Zeal (Zelos)
o Power (Kratos)
o Force (Bia)
When a god takes an oath on the river Styx, the oath (promise) is
irrevocable. Otherwise the god goes down to Tartaros as
punishment.

The Gigantomachy
Earth (Gaia) wanted Giants to go against Zeus because she was
unhappy about what had happened to her children.
Great altar of Pergamon depicts all major deities fighting with
the giants.
When giants were defeated, they went into the earth; became
volcanoes.
When the giants are defeated, mother earth is angry, so she goes
down to Tartaros and mates with Tartaros.
As a result, she gives birth to Typhoeus/ Typhoon/ Typhon.
Zeus

against Typhon
Many heads, arms stretched from east to west
Fire flashes from eyes or mouths
Can make several sounds (animal, hissing, several languages)
Huge coils for legs, wings on shoulders
Defeated by Zeuss thunderbolts. (Version 1 )

Initially Zeus was defeated by Typhon

Typhon cut Zeuss tendons, hid him in a cave
Saved by Hermes (put Tendons back on Zeus) (Version 2)

At the end off both versions, Typhon is buried underneath

mountains/volcanoes
Produced destructive winds when he fell- the typhoons.

Zeuss first wife : Metis

Metis, an Oceanid (the daughter of Oceanus)
Metis (wisdom, cunning)
The Succession of Power type of myth
o Prophecy of Metis (son will be the end of Zeus)
o Zeuss fear of being overpowered.
o Bypassing the prophecy by swallowing Metis

o ... And this time he is successful.

o However, this time metis is pregnant with a girl, (Athena)
Athena comes from Zeuss head
Dionysos is born later from Zeuss knee.
Zeuss subsequent wives/consorts:
Metis Athena
Themis (Justice) Seasons and Fates
Mnemosyne (Memory) Muses
Eurynome Graces
Zeus represents the leader of a more orderly universe, where natural
forces are settles and where light, justice, and wisdom prevail.
Hera (Juno)
Name means great lady (form the feminine form of the word
hero)
From "Hora (season)
The marriage of Hera and Zeus
Zeus wooed hera in the form of Cuckoo bird.
Zeus creates a storm, and transforms himself into a cuckoo bird.
Marries Hera, receive a fruit tree from Gaia
o The nymphs (Hesperides), as well as a snake (Ladon) guard
tree.
Hera against Zeuss lovers and illegitimate children
The story of Io
o The cow and the peacock,
o Io is the daughter of king
o Also a priestess
o Io is from Argolid, Inachos.
o According to Ovid, Zeus transformed himself into a cloud
and ravished her.
o Cloud is important because Zeus wants to create darkness
so that Hera cannot see whats going on on Earth.
o Zeus transforms Io into a cow, and Hera asks Zeus for the
cow, so Zeus gives Hera the cow.
Hera gets Argus (creature with a hundred eyes he
is al seeing) to guard the cow.
o Zeus gets Hermes to help him so that he can get to Io.
Hermes lulls Argus to sleep and then kills him.
o Hera takes Arguss eyes ad then adds them to a peacock.
o Hera sends a fly to torment Io the cow.

o Driven mad, Io wanders the world until she arrives at

Cauacasus mountain and meets Prometheus.

The story of Callisto

o Another royal daughter who lives in the middle of Greece
o She wants to become a follower of Artemis
To do so, you must remain a virgin,
Live in the forest
Take an oath.
o Zeus trick: He transforms himself into Artemis
o Artemis (Zeus) hugs Callisto and impregnates her.
Gives birth to a boy called Arcas.
o Artemis becomes very angry and sends Callisto out.
o Hera becomes very angry and takes revenge by taking
away Callistos beauty, and transforming her into a bear.
o Arcas will eventually be looked after by Artemis, hunters of
Artemis, and nymphs.
o One day Arcas goes into the forest, sees the bear (his
mother), and almost kills her, but Zeus intervenes and
turns them both into constellations. (ursa minor and major)
o Aetiology: they never dip into the ocean to rest (beyond
horizons level). Hera does not want them to ever relax
(sinking into the water= stars relaxation time).

Dionysos birth and madness

Hera and the Iiad:

Hera sides with the Greeks, tries everything in her power to
advance their victory even if that means going against Zeuss
will.
Her efforts to seduce Zeus put him to sleep, so that the Greeks
get the upper hand.
Homer: when Gods mate, the Earth becomes fertile.
Lecture 4
Anthropogony
(Origins of humans)
Agricultural
Transformational
Artisanal

Birth from earth-autochthony

The first Theban people arose from the earth after Kadmos planted
dragon teeth in the soil. The myrmidons were transformed ants.
The Descendants of Iapetos
Mated with Klymene an Oceanid or Themis a Titan

Resulted in the creation of Atlas and Prometheus (tricksters)

Both suffer their burden at the two extremes of the world.

The archetype of a trickster

Intelligent with a cunning mind
Curious, inventive, creative, eloquent
Challenges authority
Thief and liar
Crosses boundaries/ spheres of any kind
Prometheus (pro-methos;
The story of the sacrifices
o Hid edible pieces of meat in the unappetizing stomach of
the same animal.
o Hid inedible bones under good smelling fat.
The story of fire
Zeus withheld (hid away) fire from men
Prometheus stole it (took it away by hiding it) and gave it back to
men.
The way Hesiod presents Prometheus
A mere trickster that deserves punishment, who was responsible
for the alienation of humans form divinity.
Aesychlus Prometheus Bound
Might (Kratos): offspring of Styx
Violence (Bia): Offspring of Styx
Hephaestus: God of fire and metallurgy.
Prometheus, son of Iapetos and Themis (the titan who represents
justice).
Okeanos, the titan
Chorus of the Okeanids, his daughters
Io: A victim of Zeus and priestess of Hera in a cow form. She
visits Prometheus to know about her future.

Hermes, son of Zeus, as his messenger, Zeus has sent him to

reveal a secret: the name of the woman whose child will
overpower Zeus.

The motif a prophecy about the dangerous heir who will overpower his
father
Prometheus will not reveal the name, Prometheus Bound ends.
Prometheus will be freed by Heracles, who kills the eagle.
Aesychlus adds new features to the myth :
Zeus is portrayed as a ruthless tyrant
Prometheus: giver of fire and friend of humans but also the
inventor of the useful arts:
o Astronomy
o Architecture
o Mathematics
o The art of writing
o Navigation
o Medicine
Took away the prophetic powers of humans and supplanted them
with hope.
Prometheus is combination of a culture bringer, and a trickster
who brings the elements of civilization to man
In short he is a civilizing force, a culture hero.
Later accounts will credit Prometheus for creating humans out of
water and mud.
As a result of the theft of fire, Zeus orders that
Prometheus is chained to a rock of pillar and sends an eagle to
devour his liver.
Ordered the creation of the kalon kakon the beautiful evil as a
punishment of man.
Zeuss punishment ot mankind from Hesiods Works and Days
o Hephaestus mixed earth and water put in it a voice and the
power to move.
o Athena, taught her to weave and dressed her
o Aphrodite pour charm upon her head and painful strong
desire
o Hermes put in her breast lies and persuasion and cunning
ways
o Grace and persuasion gave her jewellery
they named the girl Pandora, for the gifts which all the gods
had .

o Pan; all
o Dora; gifts
Then zeus sent the gift to epimetheus. He gladly received her
ignoring

Pandoras container: The jar as a vessel

The use of large pithoi
For storage of seeds and liquids (life)
For burials (death)
Pandora gaia, rhea pandora earth goddess names
Hope in Hesiod:
If hope is good, why was it in the jar?
Hope, like evils are new to mankind
Hope can be evil (a harmful illusion)
Why did hope remain in the jar?
It is different that the other evils, you can control it.
Symbolic of the new life, next generation
Women and evil
From Pandora, the all-giving goddess to Pandora the all gifted the
medium for evils on earth.
Hesiods misogyny a universal attitude?
Pandora and Eve: Women as responsible for the decline of mankind.
Curiosity and the loss of paradise
The tree and the snake: Symbols of Mother Earth (Knowledge and the
cycle of life)
Knowledge, technology and the loss of paradise
The tree of life and knowledge: awareness of a vulnerable
existence, of mortality and toils of survival
The promethean fire: The enlightenment that makes civilization
possible but cut bonds with nature
Knowledge brings power but suffering as well. Knowledge brings
the loss of innocence.
The story of the flood:
Prometheus --- Deucalion
Epimetheus + Pandora --- Pyrrha
Deucalion + Pyrrha = Hellene and mankind (After flood).

The story of the flood:

Zeus wanted to eliminate the human race (age of bronze)
because mortals were vicious and corrupt.
Prometheus instructed Deucalion and Pyrrha to build a boat and
take provisions.
Zeus sent a flood and destroyed human beings
The boat landed on Mount Parnassus.
Prometheus
Metis; a type of intelligence and of thought, a way fo knowing; it
impiesa complex but very coherent body of mental attitudes and
intellectual behavior which combie flair, wisdom and forethought,
subtlety.
The archetype of the trickster
Intelligent with a cunning mind
Curious, inventive, creative, eloquent
Challenges authority
Thief and liar
Transformations
Crosses boundaries/spheres of any kind
Hermes guides the 3 goddesses to be judged by Paris
Hermes, Mercury:
A travelers hat, the petasos
Heralds staff, the caduceus
Winged sandals
According t the Homeric hymn to Hermes
Born in a cave in Arcadia
A very isolated, wild area
His mother Maia, was a very shy goddess.
The encounter with the turtle and the invention of the lyre
Hermes killed the turtle and turned it into a lyre.
Hermes used persuasion and eloquence to attract the turtle.

Resourcefulness and the meaning of hermaion.

Stealing Apollos cattle

Hermes stole 50 of Apollos cows hes a thief
Made them walk backwards (reversed the hooves)
He created special sandals hes a trickster and inventor.
He created fire by friction
He sacrificed 2 cows to the Olympians by dividing them into 12
pieces.
Skills and trickery:
For Prometheus to undermine Zeus and benefit humans
For Hermes to get accepted to Olympus and benefit himself
Confrontation with Maia and Apollo
Maia says he will be punished: Hermes says he wants to be
accepted on Olympus, otherwise he will become the King of
thieves.
Apollo threatens to send Hermes down to Tartaros
Hermes pretends he is just a newborn and denies anything
In front of Zeus, Hermes insists on being honest
He even swears an oath.
Zeus laughed, but ordered him to guide Apollo to hos cattle
Reconciliation with Apollo
Apollo becomes angry because 2 of his cows are missing
Hermes plays the lyre, Apollo hears and forgets all his anger
Apollo and hermes exchange gifts
o Hermes gives the lyre to Apollo
o Apollo gives Hermes a shining whip to become a
protector of the cattle, as well as the caduceus (herald
staff).
Hermes in time is accepted onto Olympus. He becomes the
messenger God.
Hermes and Apollo share pastoral duties and musical abilities.
Aphrodite and Hermes: represent the epitome of female and male
beauty.
Aphrodite marries Hephaestus, but he is lame and ugly.
Aphrodite has an affair with Ares
Hermes and Aprodites had an affair as well Hermaphroditos, who is
loved by the nymph Samalkis.

Samalkis prays to gods saying that she wants to be one with

Hermaphroditos, and they turn him and Samalkis into one person, now
known as hermaphrodites.
Lecture 5
Apollo and Artemis:

Youthful and athletic

Common weapon: archery
In their own domains, they are protectors and punishers.
Children of Leto and Zeus
Leto has a difficult pregnancy, because Hera is the goddess of
childbirth, Hera does not send her daughter down to Earth (her
daughter makes labor, etc easier).
When Apollo was born, he made three requests: he wants to play
the lyre, he wants to be a hunter, he wants to make his fathers
will known to people (the power of prophecy)

Apollo
Protects flocks and shepherds;
domesticated animals
Plague and healing
Music and poetry
Prophecy
Colonization
Sun, light, intellect, harmony,
reason
Born at Delos

VS Artemis
Wild animals. Wild nature

Moon

The establishment of the Oracle at Delphi

Search for a place to establish the oracular shrine.
o To Parnassus mountain: the slaying of the snake Pytho.
Search for priests for the temple
o A ship from Crete, transformation into a dolphin.
Apollo at Delphi and the connection with Earth goddesses
1. The oracle changes hands: From the goddesses to Apollo.
2. The flood myth; the shrine of Themis on Mount Parnassus
3. The cult of stones at Delphi.
The flood myth : The shrine of Themis on Mount Paranssus
Deucalion and Pyrrhas raft on Paranssus mountain.

Themis was the guardian of the oracle. She directed them to

cast being you your great mothers bones.
The threw the stones.
Men and women sprang from the ground, and the earth (the
people on it_ were replenished.
The cult of stones at Delphi
o Kronoss statue
o The omphalos (the navel)
o Delphi as the center of the world.
Zeuss eagles fly and meet at the center of the
world: Delphi

The killing of the snake/dragon

o A common heroic motif- part of the heroic quest
o A snake- symbol of the earth
The oracular shrine of Delphi
o Pythia prepares herself for the holy encounter
o Purification fumes and laurel leaves, prophetic mania.
o Dubious answers, need interpretation (Apollo loxias)
o Delphi: a well informed state department
o Apollo as promoter of colonization.
Apollo: the rejected lover
Daphne: metamorphosis and etiology for the laurel as Apollo.
o Like most nymphs, she is dedicated to artemis, virginity, hunting.
o She rejected Apollo, prayed to her father the river to save her,
and she became a tree just as Apollo tried to grab her.
Cassandra: sister of Paris, she is a prophet.
o A broken promise brings punishment.
o Apollo taught her the art of prophecy, in exchange he wants to
sleep with Cassandra. Cassandra refuses, and Apollo asks for a
kiss, which she gives him, and he spits on her.
o This causes Cassandras prophecies to never be believed by
anyone ever again, people think she is a mad woman.
o She is raped in the temple of Athena in rome
o Then she is murdered.
Niobe, the queen of Thebes bragged about her fertility- compared
herself to Leto.
o Apollo and Artemis killed all her children to punish her for
bragging about her fertility.

o She cried so much that Zeus took pity on her and turned her into
a rock; The Weeping Rock.
Coronis and the birth of Asclepius:
o She takes a human lover
o Apollo kills her, realizes she is pregnant, and saves the baby.
o Baby is named Asclepius; he becomes the great healer of time.
o Epidaurus: festival to honor Asclepius.
o Centaur Cheiron raises Asclepius
o Myth on raising of the dead and the symbol of medicine.
King captures Asclepius and tells him to revive the
kings dead son. He gets thrown in jail.
In his jail cell, asclepisu sees a snake and kills it.
Another snake comes by and brings a plant,
Asclepius puts it on the dead snakes head and the
snake comes alive again.
The snake climbs up Asclepius staff and becomes
the symbol of medicine.
Athena and the cursed flute:
o Marsyas the satyr
o Goddess athena created the flute, got made fun of by the other
goddesses, and she threw the flute down to Earth. A satyr,
Marsysas found it, and became very good at playing it, Marsyas
bragged that he could play it better than Apollo.
o Apollo and Marsyas had a music contest that was judged
by Apollo, muses were in favour of Apollo , and as a result,
Apollo won.
o As punishment, Marsyas is flayed alive.
Lecture 6
Zeus abducts Europa
One of Europas brothers, Kadmos is sent to find her.
Kadmos and his brothers start a journey to find his sister Europa
Kadmos went to Greece.
Arrival at Delphi
Apollos (he is the Delphi at this point) advice to establish a city
(Thebes)
Kadmos had to follow a cow, and wherever the cow falls from
exhaustion is where Kadmos is to establish the city.
Boeotia: the land rich in cattle.

The killing of the dragon

The sacrifice of the cow
The guardian of the spring of Ares: A dragon, son of Ares
The dragon slaying
Following Athenas advice, Kadmos sows the dragons teeth in the
ground.
5 people emerge
Founding the city of Thebes:
The 5 spartoi (the sown people) emerge.
o They helped Kadmos build the city
o They became the ancestors of the 5 leading families of
Thebes
o The first people of Thebes are autochtones.
o Kadmos gave his name to the acropolis, (the citadel) of
Thebes: Kadmeia.
o Kadmos repents for killing the son of Ares, and then Ares
gives him Harmonia to marry.
Kadmos has 4 children: Semele, Ino, Autonoe, Agave
Semele and Zeus are the parents of Dionysus.
The birth of Dionysus
Hera takes the form of a mortal, and persuades Semele to ask
Zeus to appear in his true form. Dionysus is born premature
Zeus takes Dionysus and completes the birth, which is why
Dionysus is a god and not a mortal.
Semele is burned to death when Zeus appears in his true form.
Ino, first nurse of Dionysos becomes insane, kills her own sons,
and commits suicide.
o She transforms to a sea nymph Leukothea, saves Odysseus
from dying in the Odyssey.
Autonoes son Actaeon is brutally killed by Artemis and his own
hounds.
Artemis and Actaeon
A hunter who entered the forbidden territory of Artemis.
He saw the goddess naked
She splashed water onto him
He was transformed into a stag.
Agave, kills her own son (Pentheus)
The city of Thebes

Antiope and Zeus gave birth the Amphion and Zethus

Amphion marries Niobe all their children are slaughtered by
artmeis and Apollo.
Zethus marries Thebe

Elements of Legend
Arrival from Phoenicia
A founder of cities (esp. Thebes)
Introduction of writing
Kadmos: A culture hero
He built temples and aqueducts, founded cities.
He is credited with inventing mining and introducing the alphabet
in Greece.
Historically, the alphabet was introduced in Greece from
Phoenicia around 8th century BC.
Graphems, syllabograms and logograms
Graphems: each symbol (letter) corresponds to a basic sound
(phonem) alphabet
Syllabograms: each syllabic symbol represents a unique syllable.
Logograms: symbols stand for whole words.
Phoenicians and Greece
Phenician expansion not before 1000 BC. Wriring was introduced
to Greece after.
No evidence of colonies in Greece
Thebes (inland location) an unlikely place, not strong
archaeological evidence for a Phoenician occupation.
Political implications: Factors that enforce the royal power and
the strength of the city.
o Greek Ancestry
Kadmos came from Phoenicia ( foreigner), but his
ancestors were of Greek descent.
Divine ancestry: he is not a son of god but he has two
divine grandfathers (Poseidon and zeus)
He was not born in thebes
Lecture 7
Dionysos/Bacchus

God of nature and the abundance of life.

A god of plants: His main symbol; the vine.

Wine, the gift of Dionysos
God of fluids: the life giving element in nature
God of the sea
God of emotions

Travels and his company:

The thiasos of Dionysos (those who accompany him)
o 2 creatures that follow him
o They are bestial looking
o Male followers: the satyrs
o Female followers: the maenads
Travels; acceptance or rejection of his cult
o He goes to many cities, and when the leader of the city
accepts him, he gives them the gift of abundance, fertility,
agriculture
o If he is rejected, he will instill madness in them and then
they start killing their loved ones.
Dionysos comes to Thebes, and Pentheus (his cousin) does not
believe that his father was Zeus.
Dionysus is thrown in ail by Pentheus, but strange things stat to
happen, his chains break, theres milk and honey and wines that
appears out of nowhere in the jail cells.
As punishment for being thrown in jails, dionysos instills madness
in the women of the city, and then he starts to play with
Pentheuss mind (pentheus is a very young kid, he is highly
esteemed in the military).
o Eventually pentheus starts to dress himself in womens
clothes because Dionysus tells him to go join the women
that he drove mad on top of the mountain.
o Pentheus is then dismembered by his own mother, and the
women of the city (the sparagmos of pentheus), as
depicted in the bacchae of Euripides.
o Pentheuss failure to recognize the presence of god and
accept the other element in his human nature.
o Gives the impression that Gods are incapable of pity
there is no compassion.
King Midas and his gift from Dionysos
A wealthy king of Phrygua, a promoter of the worship of
Dionysos.
When Apollo had the musical contest with the satyr, he was one
of the judges. He judged Marsyas as the winner and was
punished by Apollo and grew donkey ears.

Midas wore his Phrygian cap to cover the ears, but his barber
discovered his secret.
His barber whispered to the reeds, because he was banned from
telling anyone about Midass ears. The wind spread the rumour
anyway, and soon the whole city knew.
Because Midas promoted Dionysos, dionysos gave him a gift.
Midas wanted to turn anything he touched into gold.
Midas touched his daughter by accident and turned his daughter
into gold.
Midas asked Dionysos to take the gift back, Dionysos told him to
wash himself in the river Pactolus. The river is full of gold for this
reason.

Celebrations for Dionysos

Together with Demeter and Persephone (The triad) as the
essence of life.
Worship
You cannot worship Dionysus alone, you must do it as a group;
Orgia
Gathering of followers participating and acting the mysteria
(sacred rituals).
o This ritual involved, dancing and drinking.
God and follower merge: he is the only god in the greek
pantheon that allows the human worshiper to become one with
him.
o Communication with the god: en theos (>enthusiasm):
Possessed by the god (God is within a human).
o Ec-stasis: beyond the normal state of mind.
o Mania: and experience of intensified mental power.
4 divine manias according to plato:
To be consumed by the power of the god:
o Poetic mania given by the muse
o Prophetic mania given by the god Apollo (the prophet)
o Erotic mania given by Aphrodite
o Ritualistic mania given by Dionysus: this id given to a
group, unlike the other manias which are only given to
individuals.
How to become entheos:
o Wine: liberates you from your normal every day state
o Dancing
o Music

An ecstatic god in the middle of reason

Delphi (replaced Apollo for 3 months of the year)
Athens
o Anthesteria (the blossom festival)
Blossom festival: the oldest festival of Dionysus,
takes place in the middle of March. Happened in
celebration of opening new wine.
Drinking contests, masks, dancing, singing, jokes and
phallophoria (the carrying of phallus in a procession
to honour Dionysos)
o Great dionysia (dramatic performances)
5/6 days towards the end of march
Performances and competitions of dramatic and
lyrical poetry to honour dionysos the god of drama.

Lecture 8
Oedipus

Last generation for the city of Thebes.

Oedipus is the descendant of Laios and Iocasta

Oedipus: The beginning of the myth

Laios and the rape of Chrysippos, son of King Pelops Breaking
the bond of Xenia.
o The bond of xenia: the sacred bond between the host and
the guest.
o King Pelops was furious, an cursed Laios.
o The curse was that: if laios had a male heir, his son would
kill his father.
Laios returned to Thebes and became King, but his first marriage
did not yield any children.
Laios went to the oracle, and the oracle told him the same thing,
if Laios had a son, his son would kill him.
Laioss wife conceived, and she had a baby boy.
The baby was taken to the mount Cithaeron and left there to die.
Laios pierced his sons feet and then gave him to be left on the
mountain.. this is how he came to be known as Oedipus (oedi=
swell, pous= foot)

The kings attendant gave Laios to a shepherd who was passing

by, to give to the childless king/queen of a neighboring city. This
couple was known as the royal couple of Corinth. Oedipus is
raised in Corinth as the son of king Polybos and queen Merope.
The 2nd Delphic prophecy concerning the fate of Oedipus (he will
kill his father and lie with his mother). Oedipus is determined not
to return to Corinth.
The incident at the crossroads: the murder of Laios (fulfillment of
the prophecy).

At this point, the first part of the prophecy is fulfilled.

Thebes
Gate was guarded by the hybrid monster sphinx, and the riddle.
Oedipus solves the riddle, saves the city, and marries Queen
Iocasta (fulfillment of the 2nd part of the prophecy), and has 4
children with the Queen.
Oedipus the King by Sophocles
The plague of thebes
Oedipus actions to save the city
o Sent Kreon to Delphi: The oracles response: Thebes is
polluted. Find and punish the killer of Laios.
o Called prophet: Teiresias
The words of Tiresias and the wrath of Oedipus against Tiresias
and Kreon.
The words of Iocasta: the prophecy about the baby, the incident
at the crossroad (Laios was killed by thieves).
The mentioning of the crossroads bring memories back to
Oedipus
Fear/hope of Oedipus: the number of robbers.
Iocasta mocks the oracles- not to be believed- retells the story of
her baby who was exposed and left to die.
Messenger from Corinth: Polybos, the king of Corinth (and
Oedipuss father) is dead.
Mixed feelings, sad that his father is dead, but happy that it
wasnt him who killed his father. He still fears that he will lie with
his mother.
Corinthian servant (the same servant who received a baby with
pierced feet years ago)
He tells the truth about Oedipus
Iocasta begs not to investigate and leaves

Enters the servant who took the baby to mount Cithaeron to

expose it. Admits that the baby was the son of Iocasta and Laios
and was given to him by Iocasta.
Iocasta commits suicide.
Oedipus blinds himself and goes into exile.

The revelation of Oedipuss true identity is too much to see, too much
to know.
Oedipus Tragedy:
Sense of helplessness: a virtuous man and the pursuit of truth
But every step he takes to avoid disaster brings him closer to his
destruction.
Is he a victim fo destiny or free choice?
Could he avoid that fate and take a different course?
Come to grips with his identity
Rushed decision to kill the passerby at the crossroads.
He feels guilt and shame. Who was responsible?
o Apollo was, but my hands committed the act.
o The concept of intention in criminal law
o The idea of shame and remorse.
Oedipus committed:
- patricide
- incest
he is polluted, the familial blood is sacred.
Oedipus Complex (Freud)
Male infants direct their first sexual impulse towards their mother
and their first murderous wish against their father.
Sophocles words through Iocastas mouth:
o In dreams as well as in oracles, many a man has lain with
his won mother.
On the tragic hero, according to Aristotle
admirable (in status, moral standing): better than us
better but not outstanding
bad fortune as a result of hamartia, an error, a misjudgement or
misinterpretation
inflisction of harm on philos/philoi (persons dear to ones heart,
relatives or friends)

Oedipuss sons Eteocles, and Polyneikes will fight each other for the
throne of Thebes and will both die.
Antigone (Oedipuss daughter), defying Kreons orders, will bury her
brother Polyneikes. Because of that she will be imprisoned in a tomb
and she will die.
The Theban plays
by Sophocles
o Oedipus tyrranos (Oedipus rex)
o Oedipus at Kolonos
o Antigone
By Aeschylos
o Seven against Thebes
By Euripedes
o Phoenician Women.