CLAS 104 Lec 1 23 PDF

CLAS 104
Lecture #1
-Historical Background-
-Timelines-
-Minoans & Myceneans-
-Schliemann & Evans-
Important Events, People &
Concepts/Things/Places in Lecture 1
Events:
City Dionysia Mycenean invasion of Crete
People:
Minoans Myceneans
Heinrich Schliemann Earth Mother Goddess
Homer Hesiod
Sophocles Euripides
Aeschylus Herodotus
Pindar Sir Arthur Evans
Concepts/Things/Places:
Cnossus Labrys
Troy Mycenae
Linear A & B
Historical Background
*Myths need a time and a location
*Sometimes the location is not in the physical
world as we know it (ie Hades)
*Most myths are based, even in some small
measure, on “fact”
*The more historical “facts” we can find around
a myth, the more we can learn about the actual
myth
*Many scholars have tried to create the historical
fact from an analysis of the mythological fact
Timeline: The Bronze Age
*BRONZE AGE GREECE (2000-1100 BC)
-2000 BC: “Greeks” enter “Greece”
-2000 - 1450: Minoan Civilization
-Indo-European peoples who came from
Asia Minor
*Minoans settle on Crete
-Minoan written script called Linear A
-a series of symbols (undeciphered)
Minoan Linear A Tablet
Timeline: The Minoans
Minoan Civilization reaches its peak (1600-1400
BC)
-great sea power and merchants
-control islands in the Aegean around Crete and
some territory on mainland Greece (ie Athens for
a short period of time)
-most cities are not walled
-main palace complex is at Cnossus
Cnossus is a massive palace complex
-started c. 1700 BC
-covers several acres
-5-6 stories tall in places
-1000+ rooms (sprawling growth vs planned)
-large central courtyard surrounded by state and
guest rooms
-numerous storage rooms for grain, wine and
cloth (origin of the labyrinth?)
-much sophisticated art work throughout the
palace
Very religious
-Matriarchy and worship of the Earth Mother
Goddess (goddess of fertility)
-King plays a priestly role, but is probably
secondary to the Queen/chief priestess
-bull motif part of their religion and horns decorate
the palace
-double-headed axe (“labrys”) motif as well
-Labyrinth = “home of the double-headed axe” (?)
Ladies in Blue. Knossos,
ca. 1400-1500 BC. Fresco
“Bull Jumping”
“Dolphin Fresco”, Queens’s Megaron
Minoan Labrys
The King’s Throne Room
c. 1400 BC their power is eclipsed
-natural disasters and wars
-c. 1500 BC Thera (70 miles northwest of Crete)
erupts
-Plato’s Atlantis myth based on this (?)
-1450 BC Myceneans begin to take over Minoan
trade and territory
-invade Crete
-lead to Minoan decline
Timeline: The Bronze Age
*BRONZE AGE GREECE (2000-1100 BC)
-2000 BC: “Greeks” enter “Greece”
-2000 – 1450BC: Minoan Civilization
-1600-1100 BC: Myceneans become dominant
group on mainland Greece
*1600 BC start of “The Mycenean Age”
-male dominated warrior people
-male dominated religion, headed by Zeus
(supreme god of the sky)
-develop great civilization
-influenced by the Minoans
Timeline: The Myceneans
Myceneans are a series of independent regions

and city-states, ruled locally
-Mycenae possibly recognized as the chief city
-still regularly fight amongst themselves
c. 1450 BC Myceneans invade Crete and take

over their trade markets in the Mediterranean and
Egypt
-begin to colonize the eastern Mediterranean
and Rhodes
Historical Timelines: The Myceneans
c. 1400-1200 BC Myceneans dominate the
Mediterranean through war, trade and expansion
c.1200 BC begin to decline
-civil wars
-natural disasters
-challenges from advanced enemies (ie Trojans,
Sea Peoples and Dorians)
-general decline of their society
-power struggle in Greece following the Trojan
Wars
-leaves a cultural vacuum
Historical Timelines: The Myceneans
c. 1200 BC The Bronze Age ends
-many civilizations collapse in Greece, Asia
Minor and Syria
-pirates and raiders disrupt Mycenean sea trade
-Dorians Greeks invade Greece (bring iron
weapons)
-rise of massed infantry armies defeat “Homeric”
aristocratic chariot-borne warriors and disrupt
social order
Myths talk of long, hard struggles in dark times
-victory at Troy overshadowed by chaos at home
-Greeks feeling troubled and insecure
Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890)
German businessman and amateur archeologist
-obsessed with the Trojan War
-shameless self-promoter
-1870-1873 excavated Troy (Hisarlik, Turkey)
-Troy is 9 settlements
-Troy I (2920-2450 BC)
-Schliemann declares Troy II the city of King
Priam (wrong level)
-finds “the Gold of Troy” aka “Priam’s Treasure”
-wife Sophia models “Helen of Troy’s jewellery”
Troy VIIa (c. 1300-1190 BC) the most likely level
at the time of Homer’s Illiad
-the city of Priam
-fits into broad time frame of Trojan War (1250-
1150 BC)
-level shows damage by fire (siege, earthquake,
etc)
-ruins of a fortress citadel, arrowheads, sling
stones, etc)
-signs of defeat, not victory
Ruins of Troy
1876 excavates Mycenae
-Mycenae “capital” and home of King
Agamemnon
-Cyclopean walls (built by the Cyclopes?)
-Lions Gate
-Shaft graves containing precious treasures
-Thalos (beehive) tombs for the nobility
-Schliemann makes the link between actual
places and those named in Greek myths
-his work lent weight to the belief that the Illiad
was based on historical events
Lion Gate & “Cyclopean Rocks”, Mycenae
Lion Gate Mycenae
The “Mask of Agamemnon”, discovered by Heinrich
Schliemann in 1876 at Mycenae
Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941)
English archaeologist
-pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization
during the Bronze Age
-1900 unearth the palace of Minos at Cnossus
in Crete
-early Cretans called Minoans after King Minos
-discovered 3000 Linear A and Linear B tablets
at Cnossus
-1952 Linear B translated as a very early form of
Greek
Evans’ work adds to the belief that myths were
based on real people and events
Linear B
Tablet
Historical Timelines: Dark Age
DARK AGE (1100-800 BC)
-chaos and disruption follows the collapse of
Mycenean Greece
1050: Iron Age begins in Greece
Culture and writing at a low point

-myths transmitted orally
-try to explain why?
-Gods and great deeds meant to inspire, explain
and offer hope
Timeline: The Archaic Period
The Archaic Period (800-480 BC)
-800-750 BC Greece begins to come out of the
Dark Ages
-increase in trade and travel
-Greece disunified politically, but unified culturally
(ie Olympics, Greeks vs “barbarians”, Delphic
Oracle common to all)
c. 800 BC Greek alphabet created, based on

Phoenician alphabet
-growth of literacy
c. 700 BC Homer writes the epic poems, the Illiad
and the Odyssey
-taken from the oral tradition
-defines and illustrates characteristics of the
gods
-helps build a common Greek “religion”
-anthropomorphic gods and goddesses
-describes armour and warfare of an earlier ages
(ie bronze swords and boar tooth helmets)
With Hesiod, considered the main source and
shaper of Greek myth and Religion
c. 700 BC Hesiod
-writing poetry at the same time as Homer
-today regarded as a major source on early
Greek mythology, farming, economics,
astronomy and time-keeping
The Theogony is his earliest work
-concerns the origins of the world (cosmology)
and of the creation of the gods (theogony)
-genealogy of gods and men
-his version of myths become the most common
version among the Greeks
Pindar (520-445)
-Lyric poet from Thebes
-perhaps the most polished Greek lyric poet
-victory odes (for winners of the Olympian,
Pythian, Isthmian and Nemean Games)
-illustrates what man can achieve by the grace of
the gods
-like to use variations of common myths to create
his themes and support his purpose
-only use myths or tales he finds useful, and
often edited tales to create greater drama
Timelines: Classical Greece
Classical Greece (480-323 BC
c. 480-404 BC The Golden Age of Athens
-Greek culture at its peak
-period inspires an outpouring of literature, poetry
and sculpture
Greek drama rooted in religious festivals
-chiefly Dionysus, god of wine
-dramatic play competitions became part of the
City Dionysia each year
-challenged playwrights to write original, creative
dramas, based on myths, each year
Aeschylus (c. 523 – 456 BC)
-Tragic Poet (The Father of Greek Tragedy)
472 BC The Persians
467 BC Seven Against Thebes
463 BC The Suppliants
458BC Oresteian trilogy (The Agammnon, The
Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides) is his only
surviving trilogy
-tells the story of King Agamemnon of Argos
Prometheus Bound
Sophocles (497- 405 BC)
-Tragic poet
-7 of 120 plays survive
c. 450 BC The Women of Trachis
442 BC Ajax
429 BC The Theban Trilogy (Oedipus Rex,
Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone)
409 BC Philoctetes
c. 405 BC Electra
Euripides (c. 480 – 406 BC)
-Tragic poet
-18 of 95 plays survive (only 1st – 3rd listed below)
438 BC Alcestis
431 BC Medea
428 BC Hippolytus
415 BC The Trojan Women
405 BC Bacchae & Iphigenia at Aulis
(c. 484 BC – c. 425 BC)

Herodotus (c. 484 – c. 425 BC)
-Historian, who tried to explain the causes of
events
-first historian to a systematic approach to
collecting and evaluating material
-”The Father of History”
440 BC The Histories (story of the causes of the

Greco-Persian Wars)
-includes myths (but not gods) in his writings
Timelines: The Hellenistic Era
Hellenistic Era (323-30 BC)
-from Alexander the Great to Augustus Caesar
Apollonius of Rhodes (early 3rd to late 3rd C BC)
-scholar and epic poet in Alexandria, Egypt
c. 260 BC Argonautica (Jason and the Argonauts,

and the search for the Golden Fleece)
Timelines: The Hellenistic Era
Callimachus of Cyrene (310 – 240 BC)
-Poet and scholar at the Library of Alexandria,
Egypt
-wrote epigrams (short poems)
Hymns are short, scholarly epigrams on a number

of themes (many mythological)
Epyllia a narrative poem that is very similar to an

epic in style and structure, but much shorter
Timelines: The Roman Period
The Roman Period (30BC – 476 AD)
-A variety of authors of poetry and prose
Vergil (70 – 19 BC)

-Roman epic poet (one of Rome’s greatest)
29-19 BC The Aeneid (the journey of the Trojan

hero, Aeneas, and his adventures in Italy that made
him the ancestor of the Romans)
-// Homer, but the Odyssey come first, followed
by the Illiad
Ovid (43 BC – 18 AD)
-Roman poet
8 AD Metamorphoses (250 myths)
8 AD Fasti (looks at each month of the year and

ties in mythological stories)
c. 25-16 BC Heroides ("The Heroines") is a series
of 21 letters from mythological characters to their
partners
Valerius Flaccus (died 90 AD)
-Roman epic poet
-wrote during the ”Silver Age” of Roman literature
(during the Flavian Dynasty)
70 AD Argonautica (story of Jason and the

Argonauts, and the quest for the Golden Fleece
Apollodorus of Athens (c. 180-120 BC)
-Greek scholar, historian and grammarian
Attributed with writing the Bibliotheca (Library of
Greek Mythology and Heroic Tales)
-called "the most valuable mythographical work
that has come down from ancient times“ (Aubrey
Diller)
-many think it was written later, so is attributed to
Pseudo-Apollodorus
AVE ATQUE VALE
aka
“Hale and Farewell”
CLAS 104
Lecture #2
What is Mythology?
Events:
People:
“Mythos” Traditional Essence of Myth
Resonant Myth Flexible/Adaptable Myth
Physical Allegory Moral Allegory
Historical Allegory Freud Interpretation of Myth
Jung Interpretation of myth Feminist Interpretation of Myth
Anthropomorphism
WHAT IS
MYTHOLOGY?
What Is Myth?
I. Definition
μυθος (mythos)
-“word, speech, story”
-but not every story is a myth
I. Definition
A) Definition Proper
"Myths are traditional tales, which maintain

contact with the past and hand on inherited
wisdom to the future. Traditional tales
explain
a society to itself, promulgating its concerns
and values. They describe patterns of
behaviour as models for members of a
society, especially in times of crisis."
B. Powell
I. Definition of a Classical Myth
“A classical myth is a story that, through its
classical form, has attained a kind of
immortality because its inherent archetypal
beauty, profundity, and power have inspired
rewarding renewal and transformation by
successive generations.”
Text, p. 25
I. Definition
B) Essence of myth
1. Traditional ie. “passed down” usually orally at

first
-ie Homer (700 BC) from Bronze Age
-ie Helen of Troy from Indo-European source
(before 3000 BC)?
-ie primitive stories like Heracles’ struggles
with animals/monsters from time
immemorial?
I. Definition
B) Essence of myth
2. Resonant/Useful:
-useful for everyday lives (Alexander the
Great and the Iliad)
-broadly and profoundly resonant
(Sophocles’ Oedipus)
-explains national identity (Theseus
receiving Oedipus)
I. Definition
B) Essence of myth
3. Flexible/Adaptable
-Athenian tragic poets take traditional Epic
(Homeric) stories and transform them Eg.
Oedipus
-Contemporary “myths” Eg. Spiderman,
The Amazons (Wonder Woman)
I. Definition
C) Myth and Truth
1. In ancient times:
a) Xenophanes (fl. 540BC): criticized the
anthropomorphism of the Greek gods:
"One god is greatest among gods and

men, but his appearance and thought are
nothing like ours."
I. Definition
C) Myth and Truth
1. In ancient times:
b) Plato: criticized shameful actions of the
gods and that myth appealed to the
passions and not reason
c) BUT Aristotle had a different view: he
thought myth was more “philosophical”
than history and that myth and
philosophy are related
"The real difference between the two [myth and history] is
that one tells what happened and the other what might
happen. For this reason poetry [mythology] is something
more philosophical and serious than history because
poetry tends to give general truths while history gives
particular facts.“
“For it is owing to their wonder that men both now begin

and at first began to philosophize; they wondered originally
at the obvious difficulties, then advanced little by little and
stated difficulties about the greater matters, eg. about the
phenomena of the moon and those of the sun and the
stars, and about the genesis of the universe. And a man
who is puzzled and wonders thinks himself ignorant.
Therefore even the lover of myth is in a sense a lover of
wisdom, for myth is composed of wonders.”
I. Definition
C) Myth and Truth
1. In ancient times
2. Today:
-scientific and historical facts are highly
valued
-can myth embody truth?
II. Interpretation
A) Ancient:
-with initial scepticism came the question:
to reject (as Plato did) or to allegorize?
-truth or metaphorical truth?
-are details of a story “facts” or symbols of
other (universal) truths?
II. Interpretation
A) Ancient:
1. Physical Allegory: in response to the
natural philosophers and Xenophanes
-ie Theagenes of Rhegium: strife of gods
is strife of elements in natural world
II. Interpretation
A) Ancient:
2. Historical Allegory
-ie Euhemerus: gods are powerful ancient
kings whose stories were exaggerated
-ie Zeus was once a mortal King of Crete who
deposed his father, Cronus
II. Interpretation
A) Ancient:
3. Moral Allegory:
-ie Daphne (rejected Apollo's advances
and was turned into a sacred laurel tree)
-ie Judgement of Paris (Aphrodite bribed
Paris with the gift of Helene of Troy in
order to be judged the most beautiful
goddess)
II. Interpretation
A) Ancient:
B) Medieval:
-myth preserved in sparse handbooks of
moral “allegory”
C) Renaissance (ca. 1400-1650):
-elaborate, sophisticated moral allegory
based on actual ancient texts (Greek and
Latin)
II. Interpretation
A) Ancient:
B) Medieval:
C) Renaissance (ca. 1400-1650):
D) Enlightenment (1650+):
-rationalistic denigration of myth as
“primitive”
-by comparison the Romantic reaction:
the myths embody primal truth about
nature and the human soul
II. Interpretation
E) Modern:
1. Psychological
a) Freud: myths are similar to dreams and
help us to work through repressed
wishes and fears Eg. Oedipus
complex
-both have symbols to be understood
-by the telling, we achieve a form of
catharsis
II. Interpretation
E) Modern
b) Jung
-myths express universal human experience
based on the collective unconscious not just
personal psychology
-archetypes: characters (Eg. wise old man,
trickster) and narrative patterns (Eg. hero’s
quest)
-heroes are models who teach us how to
behave
Criticism: this homogenizes mythology too much
II. Interpretation
E) Modern
2. Anthropological
a) Ritual (J.G. Frazer): Myth is religious
ritual in story form Eg. Adonis
b) Social Charter (B. Malinowski): myths
justify social practices Eg. Prometheus
and sacrificial offerings
II. Interpretation
E) Modern
3. Structural: not details but patterns
a) Claude Levi-Strauss: myths reflect the binary
nature of human psyche (constantly dealing
with pairs of opposites)
-Eg. descent to underworld (life/death)
-always changing
-no one “right” version of a myth
-myths always working from contradiction to
resolution
II. Interpretation
E) Modern
3. Structural: not details but patterns
b) Vladimir Propp: myths have recurring

patterns
-useful to study and compare myths across
characters and cultures
c) Walter Burkert: used structural and
anthropological approach but accounted for
complexities by recognizing changing
societies produce variations of myth (often to
meet their needs)
II. Interpretation
E) Modern
4. Feminist:
-myths reflect a patriarchal and misogynistic
culture which eclipses original foundational
Mother Earth worldview
-Eg. Zeus and Europa
-But compare Aphrodite and Anchises
-reflect replacement of Minoan matriarchy
with Mycenean patriarchy in religion
AVE ATQUE VALE
aka
“Hale and Farewell”
CLAS 104
Lecture #3
Creation Myths
Events:
Titanomachy Gigantomachy
Castration of Ouranos Typhonomachy
People:
Hesiod Muses
Chaos Tartarus
Gaia Eros
Ouranos 12 Titans
Cyclopes Hecatonchires
Cronos Rhea
Olympians Aphrodite
Zeus
Theogony “Hieros Gamos”
Creation
Many cultures provide a variety of Creation myths
Hesiod’s Theogony (c. 700 BC) was the most

important source, and the first, to provide a literary
version of the creation of the universe, gods and
man
-but there were other accounts
-Eg. Homer: “I am off to the ends of the fruitful,
teeming earth to visit Ocean, fountainhead of the
gods, and Mother Tethys...” (parents of the gods)
Creation: A) Background Issues
1. Inspiration: Hesiod claims to be inspired by the divine Muses
“They, the Muses, once taught Hesiod beautiful song,

while he was shepherding his flocks on holy Mount
Helicon; these goddesses of Olympus, daughters of
aegis-bearing Zeus, first of all spoke this word to me…
Thus they spoke, the fluent daughters of great Zeus.
Plucking a branch, to me they gave a staff of laurel, a
wondrous thing, and into me they breathed a divine voice,
so that I might celebrate both the things that are to be and
the things that were before; and they ordered me to
honour, in my song, the race of the blessed gods who
exist forever, but always to sing of them themselves, the
Muses, both first and last.” (22-31)
1. Inspiration: the muses
-the daughters of Zeus
-inspire and patron the arts
-holders of knowledge
-provide Hesiod with a sense of “divinely
inspired revelation”
Hesiod and the
Muse,
by Eugene
Delecroix
(1798-1863)
Hesiod Awakened by the Muses, by Domenico
Gabbiani, 1652 – 1726 (note wreath and lyre)
Hesiod and the
Muses (1860),
by Gustave Moreau
(1826-1898)
2. Purpose:
a) To explain the origins of the world
-Hesiod wants to know about creation and
all the “unknowns” that confound mortal
man
“Farewell now, children of Zeus, and grant me
delightful singing. Celebrate the holy family of
immortals who are for ever, those who were born of
Earth and Heaven and of black Night, and those
whom the briny Sea fostered; and tell how the
gods and the earth were born in the first place,
and the rivers, and the boundless sea with its
furious swell, and the shining stars and broad
firmament above; and how they shared out their
estate, and how they divided their privileges, and
how they gained all the glens of Olympus in the
first place. Tell me this from the beginning, Muses
who dwell in Olympus, and say, what thing
among them came first.”
2. Purpose:
b) To praise the gods, esp. Zeus who sustains
the ordered universe
-inspired by them, and celebrate them,
through his writings
-// divinely inspired religious text
So then they [the Muses] went to Olympus,
glorying in their beautiful voices, singing
divinely. The dark earth rang round them
as they sang, and from their dancing feet
came a lovely estampie as they went to
their father. He is king in heaven: his is the
thunder and the smoking bolt, since he
defeated his father Kronos by strength. He
has appointed their ordinances to the
immortals, well in each detail, and
assigned them their privileges.
2. Purpose:
c) justify political realities?
-lived in a time of political upheaval
-Zeus brought order out of Chaos, and
established a strong social order
Creation: B) Account of Creation
1. Primeval Elements:
a) Chaos: “void, chasm”;
-in what sense “first”?
b) Gaia (Earth): “standing place for all gods”
c) Tartarus: the dark underworld
d) Eros: the 4th god, and force of sexual
attraction that advances creation (son of
Chaos and, later, god of love)
NB. Eros in other accounts is the son of
Aphrodite and Ares
First came the Chasm (Chaos); and then
broad-breasted Earth, secure seat for
ever of all the immortals who occupy the
peak of snowy Olympus; the misty Tartara
in a remote recess of the broad-pathed
earth; and Eros, the most handsome
among the immortal gods, dissolver of
flesh, who overcomes the reason and
purpose in the breasts of all gods and all
men
2. First Generation Gods: Gaia (Earth) and
Ouranos/Uranus (Heaven/Sky)
-according to Hesiod, the first deity is
female
-the first Mother Earth
-creates Ouranos/Uranus as an equal
male deity
2. First Generation Gods:
-a) asexually Gaia produces Heaven
(Ouranos), Mountains and Sea (Pontos)
-b) sexually Gaia (with Ouranos) produces
12 Titans, the Cyclopes and the
Hecatonchires (Hundred-Handers)
-union of Gaia & Ouranos represents
earliest fertility cult of sky, rain and earth
-note: no order to creation
Out of the Chasm (Chaos) came Erebos and dark
Night, and from Night in turn came Bright Air
(Aether) and Day, whom she bore in shared
intimacy with Erebos. Earth bore first of all one
equal to herself, starry Heaven, so that he
should cover her all about, to be a secure seat
for ever for the blessed gods; and she bore the
long Mountains, pleasant haunts of the
goddesses, the Nymphs who dwell in mountain
glens; and she bore also the undraining Sea
and its furious swell, not in union of love. But
then, bedded with Heaven, she bore deep-
swirling Oceanus, Koios and Kreios and
Hyperion and Iapetos...
But afterwards she lay with Heaven and
bore deep-swirling Oceanus, Coeus and
Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, Theia
and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne and
gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys.
After them was born Cronos the wily,
youngest and most terrible of her children,
and he hated his lusty sire.
And again, she bore the Cyclopes,
overbearing in spirit, Brontes, and
Steropes and… Arges, who gave Zeus the
thunder and made the thunderbolt: in all
else they were like the gods, but one eye
only was set in the midst of their
foreheads…Strength and might and craft
were in their works.
And again, three other sons were born of
Earth and Heaven, great and doughty
beyond telling, Cottus and Briareos and
Gyes, presumptuous children. [150] From
their shoulders sprang a hundred arms…
and fifty heads grew from the
shoulders…these were the most terrible,
and they were hated by their own father
from the first.
Union of Gaia and Ouranos
“Hieros Gamos” = “sacred” or “holy marriage”
-an archetype concept
-sky god and earth goddess union appears in
many forms, and under many names (ie
Zeus and Hera)
-symbolic of the sky raining on the earth and
fertilizing the soil, creating new life
12 Titans represent various aspects of nature
3. Second Generation Gods:
The 12 Titans (in 6 male and female pairs)
Oceanus, Koios, Kreios, Hyperion,Iapetos,

Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, “gold
-crowned” Thebe, “lovely” Tethys, and “wily
Cronos, the youngest and most terrible of
her children and he hated his lusty father.”
(132-138)
a) Oceanus & Tethys produce:
-3000 Oceanids, spirits of springs, trees
and mountains
-3000 Rivers “the peoples living near them
know their names.“
-half daughters and half sons (too
numerous for Hesiod to name!)
b) Hyperion & Theia (Gods of the Sun)
produce gods of the sky EG. Helius (a
Sun god), Selene (Moon), Eos (Dawn)
-note: duplication of deities in the early
myths
-part of the Chaos or lack of order in the
early myths
c) Cronus (Sky) and Rhea (Earth) produce
the next generation of gods:
Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Hestia,
Demeter
-these 6 will become part of the Olympian
gods
4.Castration of Heaven:
-Ouranos fears his children and despises
them
-as they were born he shut them up in
Gaia’s womb
-all miserable, but fear Ouranos
-Gaia and Cronus conspire together
-Gaia fashions a “sickle with jagged teeth”
for Cronos to “ambush” Ouranos the next
time he tries to sleep with Gaia
Saturn Castrating Heaven (The Castration of Father Heaven by
Saturn) by Cristofano Gherardi and Giorgio Vasari (1555-57)
The Castration of Uranus, by Giovanni
Battista Galestruzzi (Italian, 17th century)
a) from blood (fell on the Earth)
-Furies/Erinyes, Giants, Meliae (nymphs
of ash trees)
b) from genitals (fell into the sea and rose from
the sea foam)
- Aphrodite
-”aphros” (“foam”)
-Philommedes (“gential-living”), since she rose
from Ouranos’ gentials
NB. alt version of Aphrodite’s birth: from Zeus and
Dione
Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli (1482)
5. Cronus and Zeus: Cronus swallows children
except Zeus
-Cronus replaced Ouranos as king of the gods
-mother (Gaia), and father (Uranus)
foretold that Cronus’ children will overthrow
him
-swallow each as they are born
-parents advise Rhea to hide Zeus
-Zeus born on Crete and hidden on Mt Ida
-Rhea gives Cronus a rock wrapped in a
baby blanket to swallow
note: in Roman Mythology Saturn = Cronus
Saturn, by
Heinrich
Aldegrever
(c. 1533)
Note: carrying
the scythe
Saturn, by
Giovanni
Battista Franco
(16th century)
Saturn, by
Gian Giacomo
Caraglio
(16th century)
Saturn Devouring
His Son, by Peter
Paul Rubens
Saturn Devouring
One of his Sons, by
Francisco de Goya
(1820-1823)
Saturn Seated
on Clouds
Devouring a
Statue, by
Giulio
Bonasone
(16th cenrury)
Rhea Hands
a Stone to
Cronus, 2nd
century CE
Roman relief
scuplture
6.Titanomachy: Zeus and siblings, with help of
uncles (Cyclopes and Hecatonchires), defeat
the Titans
-adult Zeus gives Cronus a drink that forces
him to throw up the rock, Hestia, Demeter,
Hera, Hades and Poseidon
-frees the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires from
Cronus’ underworld prison
-Cyclopes forge Zeus lightning bolt and
thunder
6.Titanomachy (“Titan Battle”) between Zeus
and Cronus lasted 10 years
-Zeus on Mt Olympus and Cronus on Mt
Othrys (hurled weapons at each other)
-only Themis (and her son Prometheus)
among the Titans aided Zeus
-Titans defeated and imprisoned in Tartarus
-Hecatonchires guard Tartarus
-Atlas punished with having to hold up the sky
7. Gigantomachy (“Battle of the Giants”)
-not in Hesiod
-blood from the castrated Ouranos falls on the
earth and gives birth to the Giants
-Giants attempted to overthrow Zeus and the
Olympians
-defeated and imprisoned under the earth (in
volcanic regions)
8. The Typhonomachy (“Battle with Typhon”):
-giant, 100-headed, fire breathing serpent
-son of Gaia and Tartarus
-attempted to overthrow Zeus
“He would have become king of mortals and
immortals, had the father of gods and men not
taken sharp notice.”
-defeated by Zeus and imprisoned in Tartarus
(or under Mt Etna)
Zeus
Attacking
Typhon
(c 550-530 BC)
Creation: C) Interpretation
1. Historical: .
-c. 2000 BC Myceneans begin to interact
with Minoans
-by 1450 BC beginning to overthrow and
dominate them
-new kingdoms overthrow older kingdoms
-Myceneans impose their values and
religion over top of Minoan values and
religions
-Myceneans sky god (Zeus) tries to
dominate Minoan Earth Mother goddess
2. Psychological: .
-Order (Olympians) over chaos (Titans, Giants,
Typhon)
-Civilization over barbarism
-Punishment for hubris (pride) when earthbound
Giants trying to overthrow Olympians
-Mycenean gods (ie Zeus/patriarchy) overthrow
older Minoan culture and goddesses (Earth
Mother goddess/matriarchy)
-explain nature (thunder, lightning, volcanoes)
-male insecurity with powerful females (?)
CLAS 104
Lecture #3
Creation Myths
Events:
Titanomachy Gigantomachy
Castration of Ouranos Typhonomachy
People:
Hesiod Muses
Chaos Tartarus
Gaia Eros
Ouranos 12 Titans
Cyclopes Hecatonchires
Cronos Rhea
Olympians Aphrodite
Zeus
Theogony “Hieros Gamos”
Creation
Many cultures provide a variety of Creation myths
Hesiod’s Theogony (c. 700 BC) was the most

important source, and the first, to provide a literary
version of the creation of the universe, gods and
man
-but there were other accounts
-Eg. Homer: “I am off to the ends of the fruitful,
teeming earth to visit Ocean, fountainhead of the
gods, and Mother Tethys...” (parents of the gods)
1. Inspiration: Hesiod claims to be inspired by the divine Muses
“They, the Muses, once taught Hesiod beautiful song,

while he was shepherding his flocks on holy Mount
Helicon; these goddesses of Olympus, daughters of
aegis-bearing Zeus, first of all spoke this word to me…
Thus they spoke, the fluent daughters of great Zeus.
Plucking a branch, to me they gave a staff of laurel, a
wondrous thing, and into me they breathed a divine voice,
so that I might celebrate both the things that are to be and
the things that were before; and they ordered me to
honour, in my song, the race of the blessed gods who
exist forever, but always to sing of them themselves, the
Muses, both first and last.” (22-31)
1. Inspiration: the muses
-the daughters of Zeus
-inspire and patron the arts
-holders of knowledge
-provide Hesiod with a sense of “divinely
inspired revelation”
Hesiod and the
Muse,
by Eugene
Delecroix
(1798-1863)
Hesiod Awakened by the Muses, by Domenico
Gabbiani, 1652 – 1726 (note wreath and lyre)
Hesiod and the
Muses (1860),
by Gustave Moreau
(1826-1898)
2. Purpose:
-Hesiod wants to know about creation and
all the “unknowns” that confound mortal
man
“Farewell now, children of Zeus, and grant me
delightful singing. Celebrate the holy family of
immortals who are for ever, those who were born of
Earth and Heaven and of black Night, and those
whom the briny Sea fostered; and tell how the
gods and the earth were born in the first place,
and the rivers, and the boundless sea with its
furious swell, and the shining stars and broad
firmament above; and how they shared out their
estate, and how they divided their privileges, and
how they gained all the glens of Olympus in the
first place. Tell me this from the beginning, Muses
who dwell in Olympus, and say, what thing
among them came first.”
2. Purpose:
-inspired by them, and celebrate them,
through his writings
-// divinely inspired religious text
So then they [the Muses] went to Olympus,
glorying in their beautiful voices, singing
divinely. The dark earth rang round them
as they sang, and from their dancing feet
came a lovely estampie as they went to
their father. He is king in heaven: his is the
thunder and the smoking bolt, since he
defeated his father Kronos by strength. He
has appointed their ordinances to the
immortals, well in each detail, and
assigned them their privileges.
2. Purpose:
c) justify political realities?
-lived in a time of political upheaval
-Zeus brought order out of Chaos, and
established a strong social order
1. Primeval Elements:
a) Chaos: “void, chasm”;
-in what sense “first”?
b) Gaia (Earth): “standing place for all gods”
c) Tartarus: the dark underworld
d) Eros: the 4th god, and force of sexual
attraction that advances creation (son of
Chaos and, later, god of love)
NB. Eros in other accounts is the son of
Aphrodite and Ares
First came the Chasm (Chaos); and then
broad-breasted Earth, secure seat for
ever of all the immortals who occupy the
peak of snowy Olympus; the misty Tartara
in a remote recess of the broad-pathed
earth; and Eros, the most handsome
among the immortal gods, dissolver of
flesh, who overcomes the reason and
purpose in the breasts of all gods and all
men
2. First Generation Gods: Gaia (Earth) and
Ouranos/Uranus (Heaven/Sky)
-according to Hesiod, the first deity is
female
-the first Mother Earth
-creates Ouranos/Uranus as an equal
male deity
2. First Generation Gods:
-a) asexually Gaia produces Heaven
(Ouranos), Mountains and Sea (Pontos)
-b) sexually Gaia (with Ouranos) produces
12 Titans, the Cyclopes and the
Hecatonchires (Hundred-Handers)
-union of Gaia & Ouranos represents
earliest fertility cult of sky, rain and earth
-note: no order to creation
Out of the Chasm (Chaos) came Erebos and dark
Night, and from Night in turn came Bright Air
(Aether) and Day, whom she bore in shared
intimacy with Erebos. Earth bore first of all one
equal to herself, starry Heaven, so that he
should cover her all about, to be a secure seat
for ever for the blessed gods; and she bore the
long Mountains, pleasant haunts of the
goddesses, the Nymphs who dwell in mountain
glens; and she bore also the undraining Sea
and its furious swell, not in union of love. But
then, bedded with Heaven, she bore deep-
swirling Oceanus, Koios and Kreios and
Hyperion and Iapetos...
But afterwards she lay with Heaven and
bore deep-swirling Oceanus, Coeus and
Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, Theia
and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne and
gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys.
After them was born Cronos the wily,
youngest and most terrible of her children,
and he hated his lusty sire.
And again, she bore the Cyclopes,
overbearing in spirit, Brontes, and
Steropes and… Arges, who gave Zeus the
thunder and made the thunderbolt: in all
else they were like the gods, but one eye
only was set in the midst of their
foreheads…Strength and might and craft
were in their works.
And again, three other sons were born of
Earth and Heaven, great and doughty
beyond telling, Cottus and Briareos and
Gyes, presumptuous children. [150] From
their shoulders sprang a hundred arms…
and fifty heads grew from the
shoulders…these were the most terrible,
and they were hated by their own father
from the first.
Union of Gaia and Ouranos
“Hieros Gamos” = “sacred” or “holy marriage”
-an archetype concept
-sky god and earth goddess union appears in
many forms, and under many names (ie
Zeus and Hera)
-symbolic of the sky raining on the earth and
fertilizing the soil, creating new life
12 Titans represent various aspects of nature
The 12 Titans (in 6 male and female pairs)
Oceanus, Koios, Kreios, Hyperion,Iapetos,

Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, “gold
-crowned” Thebe, “lovely” Tethys, and “wily
Cronos, the youngest and most terrible of
her children and he hated his lusty father.”
(132-138)
a) Oceanus & Tethys produce:
-3000 Oceanids, spirits of springs, trees
and mountains
-3000 Rivers “the peoples living near them
know their names.“
-half daughters and half sons (too
numerous for Hesiod to name!)
b) Hyperion & Theia (Gods of the Sun)
produce gods of the sky EG. Helius (a
Sun god), Selene (Moon), Eos (Dawn)
-note: duplication of deities in the early
myths
-part of the Chaos or lack of order in the
early myths
c) Cronus (Sky) and Rhea (Earth) produce
the next generation of gods:
Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Hestia,
Demeter
-these 6 will become part of the Olympian
gods
-Ouranos fears his children and despises
them
-as they were born he shut them up in
Gaia’s womb
-all miserable, but fear Ouranos
-Gaia fashions a “sickle with jagged teeth”
for Cronos to “ambush” Ouranos the next
time he tries to sleep with Gaia
Saturn Castrating Heaven (The Castration of Father Heaven by
Saturn) by Cristofano Gherardi and Giorgio Vasari (1555-57)
The Castration of Uranus, by Giovanni
Battista Galestruzzi (Italian, 17th century)
a) from blood (fell on the Earth)
-Furies/Erinyes, Giants, Meliae (nymphs
of ash trees)
b) from genitals (fell into the sea and rose from
the sea foam)
- Aphrodite
-Philommedes (“gential-living”), since she rose
from Ouranos’ gentials
NB. alt version of Aphrodite’s birth: from Zeus and
Dione
Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli (1482)
5. Cronus and Zeus: Cronus swallows children
except Zeus
-Cronus replaced Ouranos as king of the gods
-mother (Gaia), and father (Uranus)
foretold that Cronus’ children will overthrow
him
-swallow each as they are born
-parents advise Rhea to hide Zeus
-Zeus born on Crete and hidden on Mt Ida
-Rhea gives Cronus a rock wrapped in a
baby blanket to swallow
note: in Roman Mythology Saturn = Cronus
Saturn, by
Heinrich
Aldegrever
(c. 1533)
Note: carrying
the scythe
Saturn, by
Giovanni
Battista Franco
(16th century)
Saturn, by
Gian Giacomo
Caraglio
(16th century)
Saturn Devouring
His Son, by Peter
Paul Rubens
Saturn Devouring
One of his Sons, by
Francisco de Goya
(1820-1823)
Saturn Seated
on Clouds
Devouring a
Statue, by
Giulio
Bonasone
(16th cenrury)
Rhea Hands
a Stone to
Cronus, 2nd
century CE
Roman relief
scuplture
6.Titanomachy: Zeus and siblings, with help of
uncles (Cyclopes and Hecatonchires), defeat
the Titans
-adult Zeus gives Cronus a drink that forces
him to throw up the rock, Hestia, Demeter,
Hera, Hades and Poseidon
-frees the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires from
Cronus’ underworld prison
-Cyclopes forge Zeus lightning bolt and
thunder
6.Titanomachy (“Titan Battle”) between Zeus
and Cronus lasted 10 years
-Zeus on Mt Olympus and Cronus on Mt
Othrys (hurled weapons at each other)
-only Themis (and her son Prometheus)
among the Titans aided Zeus
-Titans defeated and imprisoned in Tartarus
-Hecatonchires guard Tartarus
-Atlas punished with having to hold up the sky
7. Gigantomachy (“Battle of the Giants”)
-not in Hesiod
-blood from the castrated Ouranos falls on the
earth and gives birth to the Giants
-Giants attempted to overthrow Zeus and the
Olympians
-defeated and imprisoned under the earth (in
volcanic regions)
8. The Typhonomachy (“Battle with Typhon”):
-giant, 100-headed, fire breathing serpent
-son of Gaia and Tartarus
-attempted to overthrow Zeus
“He would have become king of mortals and
immortals, had the father of gods and men not
taken sharp notice.”
-defeated by Zeus and imprisoned in Tartarus
(or under Mt Etna)
Zeus
Attacking
Typhon
(c 550-530 BC)
1. Historical: .
-c. 2000 BC Myceneans begin to interact
with Minoans
-by 1450 BC beginning to overthrow and
dominate them
-new kingdoms overthrow older kingdoms
-Myceneans impose their values and
religion over top of Minoan values and
religions
-Myceneans sky god (Zeus) tries to
dominate Minoan Earth Mother goddess
2. Psychological: .
-Order (Olympians) over chaos (Titans, Giants,
Typhon)
-Civilization over barbarism
-Punishment for hubris (pride) when earthbound
Giants trying to overthrow Olympians
-Mycenean gods (ie Zeus/patriarchy) overthrow
older Minoan culture and goddesses (Earth
Mother goddess/matriarchy)
-explain nature (thunder, lightning, volcanoes)
-male insecurity with powerful females (?)
CLAS 104
Lecture #4
Creation of Mortals
Events:
Hesiod’s Creation of Man Prometheus’ Tricks
Ovid’s Great Flood
People:
Prometheus Epimetheus
Pandora Deucalion
Pyrrha Hellen
Zeus’ punishment of Prometheus Pandora’s “box”
Hesiod’s Ages of Man
Creation of Mortals
Introduction: much variety
“Then man was born; either the creator of the

universe, originator of a better world, fashioned
him from divine seed, or earth, recently formed
and separated from the lofty aether, retained
seeds from its kindred sky and was mixed with
rain water by Prometheus... and fashioned by him
into the likeness of the gods who control all.”
(Ovid, Metamorphoses I.78-83)
I. Hesiod’s Version: A) Creation of Mankind
1. Prometheus (“forethought”)
-son of Iapetus (a Titan) and Clymene (one of
the Oceanids)
-brother of Atlas, Menoetius and Epimetheus
-Atlas forced to hold up the sky
-Menoetius struck down by Zeus for his pride
and thrown into Erebus/Tartarus
-Prometheus creates man, in the image of the
gods, from earth and rain (clay)
-Athena breathed life into the clay
I. Hesiod’s Version
1. Prometheus
a) tricks Zeus with two offerings (meat under
hide) and bones under fat)
-Zeus punishes man by withholding fire and
destiny to suffer
b) Steals fire from Zeus’ hiding place and gives it
to man
Prometheus
with Firebrand,
by Peter Paul
Rubens
1. Prometheus
-punished by Zeus
-chained and impaled on a pillar in the
Caucasus Mountains
-each day a giant eagle (symbol of Zeus) would
eat his liver
-each night it would grow back
-Greeks believed the liver was the seat of
human emotions
Eva Prima Pandora, by Jean Cousin the Elder (c. 1550)
Titian’s
Prometheus
Kylix
depicting the
punishments
of Atlas and
Prometheus
(c. 550 BC)
I. Hesiod’s Version (Works and Days)
2. Creation od Pandora (“Every gift”)
-Zeus angered by Prometheus and wants
mankind to suffer
“At once he made an affliction for
mankind to set against the fire.”
-Given beauty (Hephaestus), skills, jewels, clothes
(Athena), crown (Hephaestus), grace and desire
(Aphrodite) and “the mind of a bitch and the morals
of a thief” (Hermes)
"From her is the race of the female sex, the ruinous tribes
of women, a great affliction, who live with mortal men,
helpmates not in ruinous poverty but in excessive wealth."
“And he gave a second bane to set against the blessing for

the man who, to avoid marriage and the trouble women
cause, chooses not to wed, and arrives at grim old age
lacking anyone to look after him.”
“Then again, the man who does partake of marriage, and

gets a good wife who is sound and sensible, spends his
life with bad competing constantly against good; while the
man who gets the awful kind lives with unrelenting pain in
hear and spirit, and it is an ill without a cure.”
Hesiod, Theogony 590-594, 600-609
Pandora, by
Alexandre
Cabanel (1873)
3. Epimetheus’ “folly”
-brother of Prometheus
-name means “afterthought”
-Zeus sent a gift for Epimetheus to give to
Pandora
-Prometheus warned him not to accept gifts from
Zeus (ignored the advice)
-It is a small lidded jar (pithos) or box (pyxis)
containing all the evils/suffering of mankind
-Pandora opened it and let these escape
-shut the lid and all that was left inside was
“Hope”
4. Significance of the story:
a) Explains the origins of evil, and why life is so
hard (alt: suffering from cycle of procreation)
b) Prometheus: i. role: trickster and culture
god/hero ii. patron of humanity iii. Origins of
civilization
c) Origins of animal sacrifice
d) Descent of mankind from communion with the
gods to their present status
e) Tradition of “hero” doing “good deeds” that
have dire consequences
I. Hesiod’s Version (Works and Days):
B) The Five Ages of Man
Near Eastern Precedent/influence
-similar tales
“If you like, I shall offer a fine and skillful

summary of another tale and you ponder it
in your heart: how gods and mortal
humans came into being from the same
origin”. (Hesiod, Works and Days 106-108)
1. The Age of Gold
-man created by the Olympians and live among
them
-a utopian existence, during the reign of Cronus
-with no pain, toil or death
-mankind did not want for anything and lived a
life of comfort in a fruitful world
-gods watch over them
-death was just “as though overcome by sleep”,
and then became guardian “spirits” over man
At the very first the immortals who have their
homes on Olympus made a golden race of
mortal humans. They existed at the time when
Cronus was king in heaven, and they lived as
gods with carefree hearts completely without toil
or trouble...”
“But then the earth covered over this race. Yet

they inhabit the earth and are called holy spirits,
who are good and ward off evils, as the
protectors of mortal beings, and are providers of
wealth, since they keep watch over judgements
and cruel deeds, wandering over the whole
earth, wrapped in air.”
2. The Age of Silver
-during the age of Zeus
-lived with their mothers for 100 years
-Adult lives become shortened because of their
strife with one another
-arrogant towards man and gods
-are destroyed by Zeus because they act badly
(impiety) toward gods and humans
-after death they became “blessed spirits” of the
Underworld
Then those who have their home on Olympus next made a
second race of silver, far worse than the one of gold and
unlike it both physically and mentally. A child was
brought up by the side of his dear mother for a hundred
years, playing in his house as a mere baby. But when
they grew up… they lived only for a short time and in
distress… they could not restrain their wanton arrogance
against one another and they did not wish to worship the
blessed immortals…
Then in his anger, Zeus, son of Cronus, hid them away

because they did not give the blessed gods who inhabit
Olympus their due. Then the earth covered over this race
too. And they dwell under the earth and are called
blessed by mortals, and although second, nevertheless
honor attends them also.”
3. The Age of Bronze
-Zeus created this 3rd race of man out of an ash tree
-these were not corrupt like silver, but violent
-war was their purpose and main activity
-armour, weapons, homes and tools made of bronze
-died and left no named spirits
-the first to go to Hades
-this Age ended with the great flood of Deucalion
(son of Prometheus)
“Father Zeus made another race of mortal
humans, the third, of bronze and not at all like
the one of silver; terrible and mighty because of
their spears of ash, they pursued the painful and
violent deeds of Ares. They did not eat bread at
all but were terrifying and had dauntless hearts
of adamant.”
“When they had been destroyed by their own

hands, they went down into the dark house of
chill Hades without leaving a name. Black death
seized them, although they were terrifying, and
they left the bright light of the sun.”
4. The Age of Heroes
-created by Zeus
-called demigods
-brave and valiant in battle
-age that fought the great battles at Thebes and Troy
-a great improvement over the previous age
-a combination of Bronze and Gold Ages
-these die and the heroic go to Elysium (heroic
heaven)
“again Zeus, son of Cronus, made still another, the fourth
on the nourishing earth, valiant in war and more just, a
godlike race of heroic men, who are called demigods,
and who preceded our own race on the vast earth.”
Evil war and dread battle destroyed some of them... Some,

father Zeus, the son of Cronus, sent to dwell at the ends
of the earth where he has them live their lives; these
happy heroes inhabit the Islands of the Blessed with
carefree hearts by the deep swirling stream of Ocean.
For them the fruitful earth bears honey-sweet fruit that
ripens three times a year. For from the immortals,
Cronus rules as king over them; for the Father of gods
and men released him from his bonds. Honor and glory
attend these last in equal measure.
4. The Age of Iron
-created by Zeus
- a more severe version of the Silver Age
-Hesiod lives here
-toil, misery, deceit, lies, violence and impiety
-no shame for evil acts
-might makes right
-the gods will abandon men
Far-seeing Zeus again made still another race who live on
the nourishing earth. Oh, would that I were not a man of
the fifth generation but either had died before or had
been born later. Now indeed is the race of iron. For they
never cease from toil and woe by day, nor from being
destroyed in the night. The gods will give them difficult
troubles, but good will be mingled with their evils. Zeus
will destroy this race of mortals too, whenever it comes
to pass that they are born with grey hair on their
temples…As they grow old quickly they will dishonour
their parents and they will find fault… and not knowing
respect for the gods, since their right is might… Then
Aidos (shame, modesty) and Nemesis (righteous
indignation) both will forsake them and go… from the
wide earth to Olympus among the company of the gods.
For mortals sorry griefs will be left and there will be no
defence against evil
Overall Point: This is why there is so
much pain, labour and injustice in the
world. (Same as Pandora story.)
II. Ovid’s Creation (The Metamorphoses)
A) Original Creation:
-man is divine/earthy and nobly upright
-superior to the beasts
II. Ovid’s Creation
"A holier creature, of a loftier mind, Fit master of
the rest, was lacking still. Then man was made,
perhaps from seed divine Formed by the great
Creator, so to found A better world, perhaps the
new made earth, So lately parted from the
ethereal heavens, Kept still some essence of the
kindred sky--Earth that Prometheus moulded,
mixed with water, In likeness of the gods that
govern the world"
Ovid, Metamorphoses I.76-83
"And while the other creatures on all fours Look
downwards, man was made to hold his head
Erect in majesty and see the sky, And raise his
eyes to the bright stars above."
B) The Stages of Humanity:
-// Hesiod (but no Age of Heroes)
-Gold (age of justice and peace)
- Silver (Jupiter introduces the seasons, and
man learns the art of agriculture and
architecture)
-Bronze (time of violence)
-Iron (time of nations, greed, warfare, impiety,
disloyalty and immodesty)
C) Giants:
-Giants attempted to overthrow Zeus
-pile mountains on top of each other to reach
Olympus
-Zeus tosses them down, to their destruction
-earth produces humans from the mud and
blood of Giants
D) The Great Flood:
-Zeus travelled the earth as a man, to witness
their wickedness (Age of Bronze)
-sent down a great flood to destroy the evil of
man
-only Deucalion (son of Prometheus) and his
wife/cousin Pyrrha (daughter of Prometheus’
brother Epimetheus and Pandora) survive the
flood
-their boat washes up on Mt Parnassus
-both pious and righteous
-Zeus has waters subside
D) The Great Flood:
-as last mortals, Deucalion and Pyrrha were
faced with the challenge of repopulating the
world
-went to the temple of the goddess Themis for
guidance
-perplexed by her directive:
“’Go away from my temple, cover your heads
and unloose the fastenings of your garments,
and toss the bones of the great mother
behind your back.” (Book 1 – Deucalion and
Pyrrha, lines 376-9)
D) The Great Flood:
-Deucalion realizes it means to toss stones over
their shoulders
-became the next generation of men and women
-mother earth then created the other plants and
animals
-D & P first daughter, Hellen, becomes the
ancestor of the Greek people
"Hence we are hard, we children of the earth and in
our lives of toil we prove our birth.”
Deucalion
and Pyrrha,
by Giovanni
Castiglione,
1655
Creation of Mortals: Common Themes
-mankind has to be destroyed to be reborn
anew and improve
-mankind has lost its close communion with the
gods
-life for mortals is short due to their sinfulness
and rejection of the gods
-life will be one of toil and pain
-man often proves self to be unworthy of their
Creator
-birth will be painful, as is all creation
CLAS 104
Lecture #5
The Olympian Gods

Events:
People:
The Olympian gods and goddesses Hebe and Ganymede
The Three Fates
Anthropomorphic Ichor
Nectar Ambrosia
Moirai
The Greek Gods: The Olympians
A) Offspring of Rhea and Cronus
-Hestia
-Hades
-Poseidon
-Demeter
-Hera
-Zeus
1. Hestia (Vesta)
-first born of Cronus and Rhea
-goddess of the Hearth and its sacred fire
-goddess of chastity
-home, safety, warmth & cooking
-fire important for daily and religious needs
“a queenly maid whom both Poseidon and Apollo
sought to wed. [25] But she was wholly unwilling,
nay, stubbornly refused; and touching the head of
father Zeus who holds the aegis, she, that fair
goddess, swear a great oath which has in truth
been fulfilled, that she would be a maiden all her
days. Father Zeus has given her beautiful honor,
instead of marriage. In the middle of the home she
sits and receives the richest offering, in all the
temples of the gods she holds her respected
place, and among all mortals she is ordained as
the most venerable of deities.” (Homeric Hymn to
Hestia)
2. Hades (Pluto)
-”the unseen one”
-first born son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea
-god of the dead
-king of the Underworld (also called Hades)
-often illustrated with Cerberus, his three-
headed guard dog
-married tp Persephone (via abduction)
The Abduction of
Proserpina, by
Gian Lorenzo
Bernini, 1621-22
3. Poseidon (Neptune)
- aka “Earth-shaker”
-god of the Sea, rivers, other large bodies of
water, earthquakes and horses
-protector of sailors
-often portrayed with his trident (3-pronged
spear)
4. Demeter (Ceres)
-goddess of grain, agriculture, harvests,
nourishment and the fertility of the earth
-another Earth Mother goddess archetype
-also a patron of sacred law
-a goddess who brings civilization, life and order
-involved in many religious functions pertaining
to fertility, harvests and growth
5. Hera (Juno)
-Zeus’ sister, consort and queen
-very matronly and beautiful
-shrewish, vindictive, majestic, goddess of
women (esp. as wives), and childbirth
-champion of marriage and marital morality
-vengeful against Zeus’ lovers and their
offspring
6. Zeus (Jupiter/Jove)
-with many epithets: son of Cronus, Zeus
Xenios, Zeus Keraunios, Zeus Herkaios, Zeus
Soter etc.
-many roles and aspects to his nature
a) Upholder of Justice
-wrathful god of justice and virtue in support of
what is sacred and holy in the moral order
“But for those who occupy themselves with
violence and wickedness and brutal deeds,
Kronos’ son, wide-seeing Zeus, marks out
retribution. Often a whole community together
suffers in consequence of a bad man who does
wrong and contrives evil. From heaven Kronos’
son brings disaster upon them, famine and with
it plague, and the people waste away. The
womenfolk do not give birth, and households
decline, by Olympian Zeus’ design. At other
times again he either destroys those men’s
broad army or city wall, or punishes their ships
at sea.” (Works and Days)
b) Displays human failings
-husband, father and lover
-countless affairs and children
-amoral or immoral
-makes own rules
-can be petty and vindictive
-male power/dominance run amok
c) Power:
-thunder and deadly lightning bolts
-sometimes power supreme
-sometimes limited (shackled by Hera
Poseidon and Athena)
-can be convinced to change his mind (ie Hera),
manipulated (Aphrodite) or tricked
(Prometheus)
-not necessarily always wise or inciteful
"And Zeus, son of Cronus, bowed his craggy
dark brows and the deathless locks came
pouring down from the thunderhead of the
great immortal king and giant shock waves
spread through all Olympus."
B) Offspring of Zeus and Hera
1. Ares (Mars)
-god of (destructive) war
-often little more than a butcher (untamed and
violent)
-finer points of war left to other gods
-often fought himself, and often lost combats
-children by Aphrodite: Phobos (Fear) & Deimos
(Terror), Eros
-can be cowardly, at times
"Do not sit beside me and complain you
two-faced rogue. Of all the gods who
dwell on Olympus, you are the most
hateful to me, for strife and wars and
battles are always dear to you."
Iliad 5.889-891
2. Hephaestus (Vulcan)
i) Close to Hera
-claimed she bore him alone with out Zeus
-Hera’s favorite child
-often tried to protect Hera from anger of Zeus
-thrown from Olympus at least twice
ii) Master craftsman god
-very intelligent, creative and ingenious
-forge found in Heaven or Olympus
-creates unique pieces of great beauty and
usefulness (ie shield of Achilles)
-golden female “robots” assist him
-often joined with Athena as patron of arts,
crafts and civilization
-made all the weapons for the Olympians
iii) god of creative & destructive fire
-eg drives back Scamander River when it about
to engulf Achilles
-fire a key element in forging items
-also god of Volcanoes
The Forge of Vulcan, by Diego Velazquez, 1630. Apollo
tells Hephaestus that Ares is in bed with Aphrodite
Prometheus
being
Chained by
Vulcan,
by Dirck van
Baburen
(1623)
iv) disabled
-born lame
-often mocked by the other gods
-thrown from Olympus at least twice
-married to Aphrodite (pure sensuality)
-often unfaithful with Ares (beauty and brute
force)
Hephaestus riding a
donkey back to
Olympus after being
cast from Heaven
by Zeus (5th century
BC Athenian red
-figure ware)
3. Hebe
-goddess of youthful beauty
-cupbearer to the Olympians
-marries Heracles (Hercules) once he becomes
immortal
-Ganymede (Prince of Troy) later shares this
role
-Zeus is truck by his great beauty and kidnaps
him to Olympus (and makes immortal
-explanation of Greek/Zeus bisexual and
homosexual nature(?)
Zeus and
Ganymede,
by Peter Paul
Rubens
Kylix with Zeus
and
Ganymede,
c.450 BC
Athenian red
figure ware.
Note:
Ganymede
holds a cock
in his hand
(a love gift
from a suitor)
4. Eileithyia
-goddess of childbirth (just like Hera)
-linked to midwives
C) Offspring of Zeus and Leto (Latona)
Twins: Apollo & Artemis (Diana)
i) Apollo
-a god of music, medicine, plague, truth/laws,
prophecy, the sun and light, and poetry and
herdsmen/flocks
-most beautiful of male gods (beardless)
-created archery (gold bow)
-leader of the Muses
C) Offspring of Zeus and Leto (Latona)
Twins: Apollo & Artemis (Diana)
ii) Artemis
-protector of young girls, animals, and both
bringer and cure of disease to women
-virgin goddess who never married
-huntress
-symbols are the bow and arrow, quiver, hunting
knife and the deer
Apollo and
Artemis,
5th century
BC
Athenian
red-figure
ware
D) Offspring of Zeus and Metis
Athena (Minerva)
-born from the head of Zeus
-virgin goddess
-goddess of wisdom, handicraft and warfare
(tactics and strategies vs brute force of Ares)
-usually shown wearing a helmet and carrying a
spear
-major symbols are owls, snakes, olive trees
and the Gorgoneion (medallion portraying
Medusa’s head
E) Offspring of Zeus and Dione
Aphrodite (Venus)
-goddess of love, beauty, sexual pleasure,
procreation and prostitution
-Hesiod and Ovid differ over her birth
-major symbols are myrtles, roses, doves,
sparrows and swans
-married the Hephaestus, but frequently
unfaithful with both mortal and immortal lovers
(esp. Ares)
F) Offspring of Zeus and Maia
Hermes (Mercury)
-messenger of the gods
-god of trade, heraldry, merchants, sports,
commerce, roads, and travelers
-conductor of souls to the afterlife
-also a trickster god
-patron of herdsmen, thieves, graves and
heralds
-symbols include the herma, rooster, tortoise,
satchel, winged sandals, winged helmet and
kerykeion (or caduceus)
Usually 12 Olympians
-Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, Zeus, Ares,
Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Hephaestus,
Hermes, Dionysus
-Hestia not always included as one of the
Olympians (busy tending the hearth of
Olympus)
-Hades chose to live in the Underworld, not on
Olympus
The Greek Gods: The Olympian List
G) Offspring of Zeus and Semele (a mortal)
Dionysus (Bacchus, Liber)
-god of the grapes, winemaking and wine,
fertility, ritual madness, religious ecstasy,
and theatre
-much of his cult involves drinking wine to great
excess
-his symbols include the Thyrsus staff (fennel
branch topped with a pine cone and wrapped in
ribbons), the bull, tiger, ivy and wine
The Greek Gods: The Nature of the Gods
A) Anthropomorphic
-Mankind created in the image of the gods
-can identify with the gods, and vice versa
-gods portray all human virtues and failings
B) Idealized
-immortals
-Physical Beauty
-intense emotions
-great/superhuman powers (can fly, change
shape, heal, become invisible
C) Immortal
-Divine nature, increased and sustained by
consuming Nectar and Ambrosia
-Nectar (Divine Drink)
-Ambrosia (Divine Food)
-Ichor (Divine Blood)
-mortals could drink Nectar and eat Ambrosia
and become immortal
D) Polytheistic
1) Development
-gods change and evolve over time
-represent all the forces of nature
-share gifts with man to complete their development
2) Hierarchy of Gods
-Zeus leads the Olympians
-Olympians, lesser gods, demi-gods, mortals
E) Fatalistic
Zeus and Themis gave birth to the Three Fates
-Fate = Moirai (Greek) and Parcae (Latin)
-Three Fates (sisters) are Clotho (Spinner),
Lachesis (Apportioner) and Atropos
(Inflexible)
-Clotho spins the thread of fate for each life
-Lachesis measures how long that thread will
be
-Atropos cuts off the thread and ends the life
E) Fatalistic
-all have a Fate they cannot escape
-trying to avoid one’s Fate only brings you
closer to it
-nothing can be done to alter or prolong one’s
life, or change one’s Fate
-even Zeus is subject to this
-Fate becomes a major theme in Greek
writings of Myth (Homer), Herodotus (History)
and the Tragic Plays (ie Oedipus)
CLAS 104
Lecture #6
Greek Religion
Events:
Panathenaic Festival
People:
Seers Oracles
Priests & Priestesses Pythia of Delphi
Polis dithyramb
Homeric Hymn hecatombs
Sacrifice to the gods Parthenon
I. Religion was All-Pervasive
Greek Religion possessed no:
-priestly caste
-unifying doctrinal creed
-no religious authoritative book, outlining one faith
-no one common rite or ritual that everyone
followed
However, they did share a:
-shared religious viewpoint
-common religious experience
-a shared identity
-a shared understanding of the gods and myths
(Hesiod and Homer)
Religion, myth and the gods were intertwined in all
aspects of life
-gods supported, were patrons of, and in some
cases, obstructed, all human efforts
-one could not be separated from the other
-man looked for the favor of the gods in all they
did
-tried to live in communion with the gods by the
nature of their daily practices
-eg public civic worship, prayers, behavior,
boundary markers, statues, amulets, offerings
and prayers
“Yet religion was something for which the Greeks,
who had a word for most things, did not have a
word. What we identify as religion was not
regarded by them as something distinct and
separate from other departments of life. On the
contrary, the secular and the [sacred] were
constantly overlapping and intersecting with one
another. The gods were everywhere and in all
things. They were in the home, in the crops, in the
city, on the battlefield, in the body, in the birthing
room, in the weather, and in the mind.”
(Robert Garland, Ancient Greece, p. 207)
A variety of religious rituals and festivals, organized
around an annual/lunar religious calendar
Temples and shrines across every city (polis)

dedicated to an array of greater and lesser deities,
and local cults
Approximately 2,000 religious cults existed in Attica
170 festival days in the sacred calendar
A variety of local hero cults to gain the hero’s good

will and favor for the polis
A variety of artistic interpretations of the gods and
Myths
Each city had their own patron deity (ie Athens =

Athena, Argos = Hera, Ephesus = Artemis), so
focused their worship accordingly
Armies went to war carrying images of their patron

deity
II. Religion and Myth (Cf. Ritual School)
A) Myth Was Used in Ritual Eg. dithyramb Eg.
Homeric Hymns
-rituals evolve from Myths
-many and varied depending on the deity, myth,
city and needs of the people
-ritual evoked the major symbols or meanings of
the myth
-permitted the community to share in a common
“religious” experience
-dithyramb was a hymn sung and danced in
honor of the god, usually Dionysus (god of
wine and fertility
Homeric Hymns
-dithyramb originated in Delos
-in Athens, performed by a singing and dancing
chorus of 50 men or boys, in honor of Dionysus
-may, or may not be dressed as Satyrs, and
accompanied by Aulos (2 reed pipe) music
-celebrate and re-enact some aspect of the life of
Dionysus
Homeric Hymns are hymns celebrating individual
gods, and written in the epic meter of the Iliad and
Odyssey

Homeric Hymns
[1] I sing of Cyllenian Hermes, the Slayer of Argus, lord of
Mt. Cyllene and Arcadia rich in flocks, luck-bringing
messenger of the deathless gods. He was born of Maia, the
daughter of Atlas, when she had mated with Zeus, — a shy
goddess she. Ever she avoided the throng of the blessed
gods and lived in a shadowy cave, and there the Son of
Cronos used to lie with the rich-tressed nymph at dead of
night, while white-armed Hera lay bound in sweet sleep: and
neither deathless god nor mortal man knew it. And so hail to
you, Son of Zeus and Maia; with you I have begun: now I will
turn to another song! Hail, Hermes, giver of grace, guide,
and giver of good things!
II. RELIGION AND MYTH (Cf. Ritual School)
B) But Myth Had A Life of Its Own
Myths also provide inspiration for poets and
Playwrights
-will often slightly change a myth, or apply it from
a unique perspective, in order to teach, inform or
delight their audience
-Eg. Dramatic (esp. comedic) performances done
in honour of Dionysus (Aristophanes’ Frogs!)
-Eg. satyrical accounts (Apollonius’ Argonautica)
-audience will know the myths and be engaged
to see what the author will do with it
C) Integration of myth, ritual and art
Apart from reverential awe and a diffused feeling of the
divine, the Greek religion presents itself as a vast symbolic
construction, complex and coherent, that allows room for
thought as well as feeling, on all levels and in all aspects,
including the cult. Myth played its part in this system in the
same way as ritual practices and representation of the
divine. Indeed, myth, rite, and figurative portrayals were the
three modes of expression—verbal, gestural, and iconic
by which the Greeks manifested their religious
experience. Each constituted a specific language that, even
in its association with the two others, responded to
particular needs and functioned autonomously.
(Jean-Pierre Vernant)
Panathenaic Festival illustrates this:
-annual celebration of Athena Polias “Guardian
of the City” in Athens
-procession of citizens to the acropolis (unifies
citizens in a common celebration/experience/rite)
-central moment was the presentation of the
ceremonial robe (peplos) to the statue of Athena
-robe woven each year by the women of Athens
-robe depicts the Gigantomachy
-sacrifice of the hecatombs (100 cattle)
Panathenaic Festival (continued)
-meat shared among citizens (communion?)
-poets wrote hymns to Athena to be sung
-Parthenon artistic sculptures tell many of the
myths, legends and stories of Athena
-Presentation of the robe illustrates the
anthropomorphic nature of Athena to her people
-all these unify the people through myth, ritual
and art
III. IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF
ANCIENT GREEK RELIGION
A) Priesthoods
1. No priestly class (cf. other ancient societies)
-performance of rites, sacrifices, temple upkeep
and accounts
-both a civic and religious duty
-anyone could make a sacrifice
-some priesthoods drawn by lot, elected or
purchased
-some appointed based on birth or family
lineage
A) Priesthoods (continued)
-priests could serve for many years
-different requirements for different priesthoods
(ie marriage, diet, virginity, sexual abstinence)
-not necessarily a full-time position
-held great honor and respect
A) Priesthoods (continued)
2. Women priesthoods were prominent Eg.
priestess of Athena Polias
-roles equal and comparable to men
-same rules apply (ie behaviour, length of
service, eligibility requirements)
-mainly in cults of female deities
B) Communications From The Gods
1. Seers
-interpret the signs/will of the gods in all matters
(ie personal, political, military, financial, military,
etc)
-interpreting augury signs (ie lightning, birds,
thunder, behaviour of serpents, earthquakes,
eclipse, entrails of sacred animals, etc)
B) Communications From The Gods
2. Oracles:
-individuals the gods used to speak directly
to man (vs Seers who interpreted natural
signs)
-Oracles whose pronouncements came true
were in great demand
-Eg. The Pythia (priestess) at Delphi (of Apollo),
Oracle at Dodona (of Zeus), oracle of
Amphiaraus
C) Sacrifice
-most important religious event
-obtain the favor of the god/s
-at set festival times or on special occasions
(battle, wedding, truces, establishment of a
colony)
-great solemnity and ceremony
-officiators where white clothes and garlands
-sacrificial animal decorated (usually a heifer or
bull) and calmed (must be a willing sacrifice!)
C) Sacrifice (continued)
-community gathered to observe and partake
-individuals had specific roles (ie lead the
animal, provide the axe, fell the animal, cut
up the meat, etc)
-groups sang hymns
-dramatically and artistically carried out
-becomes a shared and unifying experience
between the community and god/s
C) Sacrifice (continued)
-sacrificed animal quickly butchered
-blood caught in a basin and splashed on the
altar
-thighbones, fat and some meat burned for
the god
-community eat roasted organs (for most
important participants) and meat
-skin sold and price went to the sanctuary
CLAS 104
Lecture #7
Poseidon & Sea Deities

Events:
People:
Polyphemus Poseidon
Pontus Tethys
Oceanus Oceanids
Potamoi Nereus
Triton Proteus
Amphitrite Thetis
Galatea The Graeae
The Gorgons Iris
Harpies Sirens
Hippios Pelagios
Pegasus Cerberus
Hydra Sphinx
Poseidon & The Sea Deities
I. POSEIDON
B) Appearance
-son of Rhea and Cronos
-similar to his brother Zeus
-mature male
-bearded, but more severe looking (matches
his temperament)
-carries a trident
-“Zeus” of Artemesion
I. POSEIDON
B) Character of Poseidon:
-Unpredictable & dangerous
-ferocious by nature
-often loses in disputes with other Olympians
-eg. Polyphemus pursues Odysseus (“Nobody”)
-eg. punishes Argos (losses to Hera and floods,
then creates drought) & Athens (Athena offers
olive tree vs Poseidon’s salty spring) when
rejected
I. POSEIDON
C) Concerns:
1) The Sea (Poseidon Pelagios, “The Sea”)
-creatures, storms, fishermen, seafarers,
coastlines, coastal cities, etc
2) Earthquakes (“Earthshaker”)
"The violence of the natural phenomena, sea
and earthquake, are central to the Greek
conception of him.” (M. H. Jameson, OCD)
-natural, destructive forces
I. POSEIDON
C) Concerns (continued):
3. Horses
a) Poseidon Hippios (“Horse”)
-horses are one of his symbols, and he often
appears as a horse
-horse are the river spirit of the Underworld
b) mating with Demeter as a stallion (and she as
a mare to escape him)
-male and female fertility powers
c) his four-horse chariot
I. POSEIDON
D) Patronage Problems:
-loses to Hera at Argos
-loses to Athena at Athens & Troezen
-loses to Helius at Corinth (Helius gets heights
and Poseidon gets the isthmus)
-loses to Apollo at Delphi (Apollo takes over as
caretaker of the Oracle)
-loses to Zeus at Aegina
-lose to Dionysius at Naxos
II. OTHER SEA DEITIES
A) Original Sea Deities:
1) Pontus (“Sea”)
-pre-Olympian sea god
-son of Gaia, with no father
-coupled with Thalassa (personification of the
Mediterranean) to create various types of
fish
2) Oceanus and Tethys (Titans acc. to Hesiod)
Pontus and Thalassa
(1st/2nd century Roman mosaic)
2) Oceanus (sea surrounding the world) and
Tethys (no active role in mythology)
-children of Ouranus and Gaia (siblings and
Titans according to Hesiod)
-parents of the Oceanids (3,000 female
nymphs/spirits of the springs and fresh
water)
-parents of 3,000 Potamoi (3,000 male gods
of the rivers and streams
Tethys & Oceanus
(3rd century CE Roman mosaic)
3) Nereus (Old man of the sea)
-eldest son of Pontus (son of Ge) and
Ge/Gaia
-shape-shifter (change shapes, even liquid, to
avoid being caught and having to give a
prophecy, eg Heracles)
-knows the future (gift of prophecy)
-gentle, wise and helpful
3) Nereus (continued)
-often confused with Proteus
-also an old man of the sea figure, shape
shifter and fortune teller
-attendant of Poseidon (possibly a son)
-name is source of the adjective “Protean”
(versatile, able to change forms)
3) Nereus (continued)
-often confused Triton
-son of Poseidon and Amphitrite (Hesiod)
-messenger and helper of Poseidon
-merman (lower body of a fish) with conch
shell (trumpet to calm or stir up the waves)
-also carried a trident
“Triton with Conch-shell Trumpet”,
(red-figure krater/vase, 4th century BC)
4) Thaumas (son of Pontus and Ge/Gaia) mated
with Electra (an Oceanid)
-produced Iris and the Harpies
-Iris (“rainbow”) is goddess of the rainbow, and
winged messenger of Hera, and the other
Olympians (except Zeus)
-winged Harpies (“the snatchers”) are female
faced birds, who are violent, terrifying and
pestilent
Phineus and the Harpies
(Athenian red-figure ware, 5th century BC)
B) Later Generations:
1. Nereids
-50 daughters of Nereus + Doris (an Oceanid)
-Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon
-//Zeus and Hera’s relationship
-Poseidon often unfaithful (ie turned into the
River Enipeus in Thessaly order to “sleep” with
Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus
-Doris can be angry and vengeful
-son is Triton
Triumph of Poseidon and Amphitrite,
Roman mosaic from Cirta, Roman Africa (c. 315–325 AD)
1. Nereids (continued)
-Thetis
-prophesized to have a son greater than his
father (so Zeus leaves her alone!)
-was a shape shifter and Peleus had to catch
her (change to a bird, tree, tigress) to marry her
-wife of Peleus (mortal)
-gave birth to Achilles (prophecy fulfilled!)
1. Nereids (continued)
-Galatea, lover of Acis, beloved of Polyphemus
-Cyclops Polyphemus (son of Poseidon) pines
for Galatea (combs hair, cuts beard, sings love
songs)
-Acis a handsome mortal
-Polyphemus crushes Acis with a boulder
-Galatea turns his blood into the Sicilian River
Acis (he becomes a river god)
2. Oceanids
-children of Ouranus and Gaia (siblings and
Titans according to Hesiod)
-parents of the Oceanids (3,000 female
nymphs/spirits of the springs and fresh
water)
-parents of 3,000 Potamoi (3,000 male gods
of the rivers and streams
3. Monsters:
a) Offspring of Phorcys and Ceto (sibs of Nereus,
and children of Pontus and Ge/Gaia):
-The Graeae (“Aged Ones”), 3 sisters
-personification of old age, born with grey hair,
but “swanlike and beautiful”
-had only one eye and one tooth between them
(which they shared)
-knew the way to their sisters, the Gorgons
3. Monsters:
a) Offspring of Phorcys and Ceto (continued):
-the Gorgons (3 sisters)
-Stheno, Euryale and Medusa)
-their hair was writhing snakes
-terrifying appearance
-turned to stone by looking at them
-Medusa was Poseidon’s lover
-when beheaded by Perseus, both Pegasus and
Chrysaor (“He of the Golden Sword) were born
Gorgoneion
(Athenian red-figure ware 5th century B.C)
3. Monsters:
a) Offspring of Phorcys and Ceto (continued):
-Ladon the Dragon
-aided Hesperides (Daughters of the Evening),
who guarded the tree of golden apples
-slain by Heracles
Ladon the Hesperian Dragon
(Athenian red-figure amphora C5th century BC)
3. Monsters:
b) Offspring of Poseidon and Medusa:
-Medusa pregnant when slain by Perseus
-both Pegasus (white winged horse) and
Chrysaor (“He of the Golden Sword) emerged
from her beheaded corpse
-Pegasus’ hoofbeats create springs on earth
-Chrysaor became king of Iberia (Spain)
3. Monsters:
C) Later descendants of various sea deities and
monsters:
-Chrysaor mated with the Oceanid, Callirhoe
-produced the monsters Geryon (giant with one
body and 3 heads) and Echidna, “she-viper”
(half nymph, half snake)
3. Monsters:
monsters:
-Echidna mated with Typhon
-produced Orthus (2-headed guard dog of
Geryon’s cattle), Cerberus (3-headed guard
dog of Hades), the Lernaean Hydra (multi-
headed serpent) and the Chimera (lion with a
goat head on its back and a snake for a tail)
Chimera
(Greek red-figure ware, 350-340 BC)
3. Monsters:
monsters:
-Sirens
-3 daughters of the river goddess Archelous
-combination beautiful woman and bird
-beauty and enchanting singing lured sailors to
shipwreck their boats upon the rocks
Odysseus and the Sirens
(Red-figure ware, 475 BC)
Interpretation
-Importance of the sea and water to the Greeks
-Sea power important to military and economic
success
-sea is unpredictable and unforgiving
-sacrifice to Poseidon is important
-sea can also provide beauty and life
-sailors create tales based on their experiences
CLAS 104
Lecture #8
Athena
Events:
Birth of Athena
People:
Athena Metis
Erichthonius Pallas
Aegis Parthenon
Symbols of Athena Athena Parthenos
Athena Polias Athena Promachos
Pallas Athena Palladium
Nature of Athena Athena’s Masculine Virginity
Bringer of Civilization and Order Athena’s Panoply of War
Pallas Athena (Minerva)
I begin to sing about Pallas Athena, city-
guardian, who with Ares is concerned
about the deeds of war—the din of
fighting and battles and the sacking of
cities; she also protects the people as
they leave and return. Hail, goddess,
give us good luck and good fortune.
(Homeric Hymn to Athena (11))
Pallas Athena
I. BACKGROUND
A) Birth:
-Zeus impregnated Metis (“wisdom”)
-feared she would have a son who would
overpower him
-Zeus develops a headache
-Hephaestus splits his head open to relieve the
pain
-out leaps Athena, fully armed for battle
-her birth represents her military prowess,
wisdom, masculine virginity
The Birth of Athena
(Black-figure ware, c 550 BC)
The Birth of Athena in Scuplture
The Parthenon, temple of Athena Parthenos:
-built 447-438 BC
-temple and sculpture directed by Pheidias
-east pediment sculpture illustrates the birth of
Athena
-gods fall back in wonder
-sculpture now part of the Elgin Marbles in The
British Museum
Pallas Athena
I. BACKGROUND
B) Attributes:
1) Aegis
-item of protection (sometimes the skin, or image
of a Gorgon on an amulet)
-image of a Gorgon’s head on her shield
-symbol of the gift she received from Perseus
-Aegis there to protect her and terrify her
enemies
-roars “as from a myriad roaring dragons” (iliad,
4.17) in battle
-turn enemies to stone if they peer at the
Gorgon’s eyes
Pallas Athena
I. BACKGROUND
B) Attributes:
2) Panoply of War
-Corinthian helmet
-sturdy soldier’s spear
-strong hoplite shield
-warrior goddess
-represents her virgin masculinity
-an active protector of her devoted followers
Aegis, helmet,
spear and shield
of Athena
Attic red-figure
amphora,
c. 500 BC
Pallas Athena
I. BACKGROUND
B) Attributes:
3) Symbols
-Owl
-symbol of wisdom
-mother was Metis (“wisdom”)
-Homer often describes Athena as Glaukopis
(“bright-eyed” or “gleaming eyes”)
-similar root word to glaux (“little owl”)
-becomes a natural and symbolic connection
between Athena, wisdom and the owl
-often depicted with an owl perched on her hand
Athenian silver tetradrachm of Athena’s Owl.
Note the olive twig in the upper left corner. 5th c BC
Pallas Athena
I. BACKGROUND
B) Attributes:
3) Symbols (continued)
-Olive tree/branch
-Athena won the competition for the patronage
of Attica with Poseidon by offering an olive tree
-olives provide food, oil and were a major part of
the Athenian (and Greek) economy
-olive oil smeared on body and hair for grooming
and good health, used to anoint kings and
athletes, was burnt in sacred lamps in temples,
and fueled the “eternal flame” at the Olympics
-Olympic victors given olive leaf crowns
The head of Athena adorned with an olive
wreathe. 5th c. Athenian silver tetradrachm
Pallas Athena
I. BACKGROUND
B) Attributes:
3) Names
-Athena Atrytone (“the Unwearying)
-Athena Parthenos (“Virgin”)
-Polias (“protectress of the city”)
-Athena Promachos ("she who fights in front")
-Athena Ergane (“the industrious” or “of the
crafts”)
-Athenians often just called her he theos (“the
Goddess”)
-Tritogeneia (Triton = foster father, or “head”)
Pallas Athena
I. BACKGROUND
B) Attributes:
3) Names (continued)
-Pallas (“young woman” or “one who brandishes
weapons”) Athena
-Pallas was her childhood friend, and daughter of
the sea god Triton
-Pallas and Athena often sparred with spears
-Zeus distracted Pallas and Athena accidentally
killed her (and took her name out of grief)
-also sculpted a lifelike statue of Pallas (the
“Palladion”) for her own (Athena’s) temple in Troy
(statue became a protector of Troy)
-alt. Zeus threw it from Olympus to land at Troy
Pallas Athena
I. BACKGROUND
B) Attributes:
-Pallas (continued)
-another version of the origins of Pallas
-Cult image of Athena Polias was a wooden
statue (the “Palladium”)
-statue of olive wood and very ancient
-referred to as the “carving that fell from heaven”
(divinely created, not man made)
-housed in the east facing wing of the
Erectheum on the Acropolis
-holiest image of Athena in Athens
Pallas Athena
I. BACKGROUND
B) Attributes:
-Pallas (continued)
-another version of the origins of Pallas
-another myth states that Pallas was a Gigante
-Athena killed him during the Gigantomachy
-flayed off his skin and wore it as a cloak and
victory trophy
Pallas Athena
II. NATURE
A) Military Prowess:
1. Most powerful and positive war deity
-Athena’s wise and thoughtful approach to war
versus Ares’ cruelty and brutality
-Athena generally loved by the gods, while Ares
generally despised
-creates greater friction between them
-both fight each other in Trojan War
-Iliad (Book 5) Athena supports Diomedes
(a mortal Greek hero) against Ares
-Ares wounded by Diomedes and flees to
Olympus to be healed
Pallas Athena
II. NATURE
A) Military Prowess (continued):
1. Iliad (Book 21, lines 396-458) Athena defeats
Ares in individual combat (badly!)
-mocks him and warns him to never challenge
her again
2. Athena embodies intelligent warfare

-sees “the big picture” (great tactician)
-knows when and where to attack, not just fight
-Eg, restraining Achilles at Troy from attacking
Agamemnon or going home
Pallas Athena
II. NATURE
B) Wisdom:
1. Domestic Arts
-patron of craftsmen and artisans
-Athena Ergane (“of the crafts”)
-gave mortals the gifts of cooking and sewing
-spinning and weaving
-nymph Arachne (“spider”) famed for her
beautiful weaving and tapestries
-taught by Athena
-claimed to be better than Athena
-Hubris of Arachne vs jealousy of Athena
-weaving contest results in Arachne hanging
herself, but being turned into a spider by Athena
Pallas Athena
II. NATURE
B) Wisdom:
2. Non-Domestic Arts
a) Carpentry
-eg. gave Odysseus the idea for the Trojan
Horse
-advised and aided Argos in the construction
of the Argo (Jason and the Argonaut’s ship)
b) Horse training
-Athena Hippia (“of the horses”)
-invented the bit, bridle, chariot & wagon
-eg gave the hero Bellerophon the bridle that
allowed him to tame and ride Pegasus
Pallas Athena
II. NATURE
B) Wisdom:
3. Patron of Heroes
-willing to support, guide and protect strong,
brave, pious heroes
-especially favors wise and clever heroes, such
as Odysseus
-often speaks them as a mentor, not as an
overpowering deity
-eg. Jason an the Argonauts
-eg. Perseus vs Medusa
-eg Bellerphon vs Chimera
-eg. Heracles in his Twelve Labors
“As his story ended, goddess Athena, gray eyes
gleaming, broke into a smile and stroked him with her
hand, and now she appeared a woman, beautiful, tall and
skilled at weaving lovely things. Her words went flying
straight toward Odysseus: ‘Any man—any god who met
you— would have to be some champion lying cheat to get
past you for all-round craft and guile! You terrible man,
foxy, ingenious, never tired of twists and tricks—so, not
even here, on native soil, would you give up those wily
tales that warm the cockles of your heart! Come, enough
of this now. We’re both old hands at the arts of intrigue.
here among mortal men you’re far the best at tactics,
spinning yarns, and I am famous among gods for wisdom,
cunning wiles, too.’ (Odyssey 13.285ff)
Athena assisting Heracles as Atlas returns
with the golden apples of the Hesperides.
Athena standing behind Perseus as
he decapitates Medusa.
Pallas Athena
II. NATURE
C) Masculine Virgin:
1. Virgin goddess
-does not marry or have “affairs”
-loving, but sexually unapproachable
-Eg. Hephaestus attempt at seduction, then
rape, of Athena results in the birth of
Erichthonius ("troubles born from the earth“)
-raises him like a son
Pallas Athena
II. NATURE
C) Masculine Virgin:
2. Defends the Male
-Eg. Orestes in Aeschylus’ Eumenides
-hunted by the Furies for murdering his mother
-pleads to Athena for help
-Athena sets up a jury of 12 men in Athens
-they are tied, and Athena casts the deciding
vote for Orestes
"[…] there is no mother who gave me birth, and I
approve the masculine in everything—except for
union with it—with all my heart; and I am very
much my father's." (Eumenides, 736-738)
Pallas Athena
II. NATURE
D) Civilization and Order:
-patron of arts, crafts and skills that build
civilization and culture
-”reflective” vs “reactive”
-supports heroes vs chaotic monsters
-establishes laws and law courts vs family
vendetta (eg Orestes)
“Greeks” vs “barbarians”
-”reason” over “passion”
Pallas Athena
II. NATURE
1) The Parthenon
-West Pediment Sculpture shows the victory of
Athena over Poseidon for the patronage of
Athens
-Exterior Doric frieze of 92 metopes
-South The Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs
-North The Sack of Troy
-East the Gigantomachy
-West The Battle of the Greeks and Amazons
Reproduction
of the
Chryselephantine
statue of Athena
and Nike, located
in Nashville, Tenn.
Pallas Athena
II. NATURE
2) Capitoline Triad at Rome:
-Jupiter (Zeus), Juno (Hera) and Minerva
(Athena)
-for the Romans, she was the goddess of all
things requiring mental skills
-patroness of skilled workers, craftsmen,
painters and authors
-goddess of school children
CONCLUSION:
Reconciling her diverse nature
A) Uniting the Sexes
“She took off her finely wrought robe which she
herself had made and had worked at with her own
hands and armed herself for grievous war”
(Il. 5.733ff)
"This incident encapsulates the paradoxical nature
of a goddess who is as skilled in the preparation of
clothes as she is in battle; who thus unites in her
person the characteristic excellences of both sexes"
(Robert Parker, OCD)
B) Order and Civilization
”What unites the divergent spheres of competence is
not an elemental force, but the force of civilization:
the just division of roles among women, craftsmen,
and warriors and the organizational wisdom which
achieves this. It is not the wild olive of Olympia but
the cultivated tree which is the gift of Athena.
Poseidon violently sires the horse, Athena bridles it
and builds the chariot; Poseidon excites the waves,
Athena builds the ship. Hermes may multiply the
flocks, Athena teaches the use of wool. Even in war
Athena is no exponent of derring-do--this is captured
in the figure of Ares--but cultivates the war-dance,
tactics, and discipline.”
(Burkert, Greek Religion, p. 141)
CLAS 104
Lecture #9
Aphrodite & Eros

Events:
The Birth of Aphrodite (two versions) Birth of Aeneas
The Judgement of Paris
People:
Aphrodite Pandemos Aphrodite Urania
Hippolytus Dido
Philomeides Aphrodite Harmonia
Pygmalion Adonis/Adonia
Cupid & Psyche Eros (and his Symbols)
Priapus
Philommedes The Golden Girdle
Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Ares Love Triangle
Aphrodite/Venus
I. BIRTH
A) Two Versions
1. The Genitals of Ouranus
-Ouranos fears his children and despises them
-as they were born he shut them up in Gaia’s
womb
-Gaia fashions a “sickle with jagged teeth” for
Cronos to “ambush” Ouranos the next time he
tries to sleep with Gaia
Aphrodite/Venus
I. BIRTH
A) Two Versions
1. The Genitals of Ouranus (continued)
-Cronus castrates Ouranus
-tosses his genitals into the sea
-sea begins to foam and Aphrodite rises
from the sea foam
-Philommedes (“genital-living”), since she
rose from Ouranos’ genitals
Aphrodite/Venus
I. BIRTH
A) Two Versions
2. Zeus and Dione (“She-Zeus” or “Divine One”)
-Dione a Titan goddess and beautiful
Oceanid (water-nymph)
-first wife of Zeus
-an oracle
-priestesses at her shrine in Dodona were
called Peleiades (“Doves”)
-gave birth to Aphrodite
-Doves become Aphrodite’s sacred bird
Aphrodite/Venus
I. BIRTH
B) Two Goddesses? (Plato’s Symposium)
-duality of character (archetype)
1. Aphrodite Pandemos:
-”Aphrodite of all the People”
-child of Zeus and Dione
-younger and less noble
-involves male and female (created from both)
-physical desire, attraction and satisfaction
-profane love and procreation
Aphrodite/Venus
I. BIRTH
B) Two Goddesses? (Plato’s Symposium)
2. Aphrodite Urania:
-came from Uranus (male) alone
-older form of Aphrodite
-ethereal and sublime
-stronger, more intelligent and spiritual than the
other Aphrodite
-celestial goddess of pure and spiritual love
-sacred love
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
A) Concerns:
1) Goddess of marriage and married love in
Athens
2) Promiscuous Sexual Desire in Corinth and
port cities
-image under eastern influence of the cults
of other fertility goddesses such as
Innana/ Ishtar/Astarte
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
B) Characteristics:
1. Very powerful
Quick with treachery noble Hera answered
[Aphrodite],“Give me Love, give me
Longing now, the powers you use to
overwhelm all gods and mortal men!”
-Iliad, 14.240-242 (Robert Fagles)
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
B) Characteristics:
1. Very powerful
-Golden Girdle makes any man fall madly in
love with her
-Hera borrows it to use on Zeus (works well!)
-only Athena, Artemis and Hestia cannot be
swayed by her
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
B) Characteristics:
1. Very powerful
-mocks other gods who sleep with mortals
-Zeus makes her fall in love with Anchises, a
mortal hero of godly beauty
-she seduces him and they “sleep” in his
barn
-gives birth to Aeneas (“terrible grief”)
-can no longer mock the other gods
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
B) Characteristics:
2. Dangerous: Hippolytus
-he turned down Aphrodite’s advances
-devoted to Artemis, chastity and hunting
-Aphrodite makes his stepmother,
Phaedra, fall in love with him
-Hippolytus’ rejects Phaedra, but then dies
in a fall from a chariot when he is dragged
to death
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
B) Characteristics:
2. Dangerous: Paris
-The Judgement of Paris
-wedding of Peleus and Thetis
-only Eris (goddess of strife) not invited
-Golden Apple of Discord arrives
-”kallisti” (“for the most beautiful”)
-Athena, Hera, Aphrodite
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
B) Characteristics:
2. Dangerous: Paris (continued)
-Zeus has Paris judge
-asked all to disrobe (still a tie)
-Athena offers battle skills, wisdom and
the abilities of the greatest warriors
-Hera offers all of Europe and Asia
-Aphrodite offers the love of Helen, the
most beautiful woman
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
B) Characteristics:
2. Dangerous: Paris (continued)
-Helen already married to King Menelaus
of Sparta (she didn’t tell Paris that!)
-Paris kidnaps Helen from Sparta
-Greek suitors of Helen swore to protect
her (Paris didn’t know that either!)
-starts Trojan War, resulting in his death
and the destruction of Troy
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
B) Characteristics:
2. Dangerous: Dido
-Dido was the founder and first Queen of
Carthage, in north Africa (Libya)
-Dido and her people are from Phoenicia
(Lebanon)
-Trojan hero Aeneas land at Carthage
-Aphrodite makes them fall in love
-possibly married?
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
B) Characteristics:
2. Dangerous: Dido (continued)
-Jupiter sends Mercury to send Aeneas off
to Italy (fulfill his destiny)
-Aeneas rejects Dido
-Dido curses Aeneas and proclaims
eternal hatred between Carthage and all
his descendants (Ovid)
-then commits suicide on a funeral pyre
-Romans use this as cause of Punic Wars
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
B) Characteristics:
2. Dangerous: Dido (continued)
-Romans use this as cause of Punic Wars
-fought 264-146 BC
-results in the destruction of Carthage by
Rome
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
B) Characteristics:
3. Trivial:
- "Philomeides” = ”laughter-loving
Aphrodite”
-smiling, deceptive and takes no
responsibility
-multiple affairs, but no cares
-unbridled sexual energy
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
C) Consorts:
1. Hephaestus
-Zeus arranges the marriage to keep the
other gods from fighting over her
-her physical opposite
-physical imperfection
-ugly, lame and often ridiculed by the other
Olympians
-uses his mind and skill, not passion
-a craftsman of beautiful things
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
C) Consorts:
1. Hephaestus
-Zeus arranges the marriage to keep the
other gods from fighting over her
-her physical opposite
-physical imperfection
-ugly, lame and often ridiculed by the other
Olympians
-uses his mind and skill, not passion
-a craftsman of beautiful things
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
C) Consorts:
1. Hephaestus (continued):
-Aphrodite always unfaithful, with Ares and
others
-Hephaestus traps them in an unbreakable
net (to prove their adultery)
-no children
Aphrodite/Venus
II. NATURE
C) Consorts:
2. Ares:
-God of War and Aphrodite’s lover
-physically beautiful and powerful
-all emotion, like Aphrodite
-strong link between Love and War
a) both are destructive
b) compare Inanna/Astarte
c) Harmonia, their daughter, is the natural
rhythm between war and love
Aphrodite/Venus
III. STORIES
A)Pygmalion, King of Cyprus (Cypria)
-women of Cyprus denied Aphrodite’s divinity
-Aphrodite made them all prostitutes
-lost all sense of shame and turned to stone
-Pygmalion lonely and creates a beautiful statue of
a woman out of ivory (very lifelike)
-falls in love with statue
-pious towards Venus and makes offerings at her
festival
Aphrodite/Venus
III. STORIES
A) Pygmalion, King of Cyprus (Cypria)
-“If you gods are able to grant everything, I desire
for my wife….”
-Aphrodite at their “wedding”
-some sources refer to his wife as Galatea (“she
who is milk white”)
-nine months later Paphos (son) is born
Aphrodite/Venus
III. STORIES
B) Adonis: (Ovid’s version)
-Pygmalion’s son, Paphos, had a son named
Cinyras
-Cinyras had a daughter, Myrrha (Smyrna),
who fell desperately in love with her father
(a curse from Aphrodite)
-she is tormented by this and suicidal
-confides in her nurse, who arranges her to
sleep with Cinyras (always dark)
-Cinyras finds out and she flees
Aphrodite/Venus
III. STORIES
-Myrrha prays for help and turned into a
Myrrh tree (which drips tears)
-pregnant and gives birth to Adonis
-very handsome and a great hunter
-both Aphrodite and Persephone fall in love
with him
-Zeus decides he will stay with each goddess
for part of the year
Aphrodite/Venus
III. STORIES
-Aphrodite warns him against hunting
animals that will not flee from him
-Adonis gored in the groin by a wild bore
-Aphrodite holds his him and her tears mix
with his blood, creating the anemone flower
-Aphrodite declares the Adonia festival
-Represents the archetype of the sorrowing
goddess and her lover, and explains the
seasons
Aphrodite/Venus
III. STORIES
C) Cupid and Psyche:
-found in Apuleius’ Metamorphosis (2nd c. CE)
-Psyche (“Soul” or “Breath of Life”)
-Psyche’s beauty makes Aphrodite jealous
-she sends Cupid to make her fall in love with
the most hideous of men
-Cupid falls in love with her and hides her in his
palace
Aphrodite/Venus
III. STORIES
-he visits her by night, and tells her not to look
at him
-her envious sisters think he must be a monster
-convince her to bring a lamp and look at Cupid
-Psyche is startled by his beauty and drips hot
wax on him, awakening him
-he flees (she did not listen to him and can’t
keep this secret anymore)
-she wanders the earth looking for him
Aphrodite/Venus
III. STORIES
-she tried to drown herself (river god saves her)
-meets her two evil sisters and tricks them to
throw themselves from a cliff
-Venus has Psyche captured and gives her a
series of impossible tasks
-gods help her each time she despairs
-last task is to go to the Underworld and retrieve
a box of Persephone’s beauty (but not look into
the box)
Aphrodite/Venus
III. STORIES
-Psyche looks in box, and falls into a deathlike
sleep
-Psyche comes to rescue her and put “sleep”
back in the box
-Psyche completes the task, is made one of the
immortals, and weds Cupid
-Psyche is, perhaps, the most fully heroic
female figure in mythology
Aphrodite/Venus
III. STORIES
C) Cupid and Psyche: Archetypes
-mysterious bridegroom
-taboo of identity
-evil mother
-evil/jealous sisters
-heroine’s forgetfulness and curiosity
-impossible challenges accomplished with
divine assistance
-boy meets girl, loses girl, gets girl back
-Amor Vincit Omnia (”Love will conquer all”)
Aphrodite/Venus
IV. EROS (CUPID)
-”desire”
-god of erotic love, desire, attraction, affection,
and male homosexuality
-attendant of Aphrodite
-young and beautiful
-winged, because love is flighty and lovers can
quickly change their minds
-boyish, because love can be irrational
Aphrodite/Venus
IV. EROS (CUPID)
-Symbols are the bow and torch, because "love
wounds and inflames the heart.“
-Gold tipped arrows to fill with uncontrollable
desire
-Lead tipped arrows to quench desire and make
you flee
-often shown with dolphins (represents affection
and how swiftly love moves)
Aphrodite/Venus
IV. EROS (CUPID)
A) Two Birth Stories (like Aphrodite)
1. Primeval, universal force (Hesiod)
-the third deity, created asexually, after
Chaos and Gaia
2. Son of Aphrodite and Ares
-allegory of love and war
Aphrodite/Venus
IV. EROS (CUPID)
B) Plato’s Symposium:
-fictional discussion of the nature of Eros at a
dinner party
1. Aristophanes’ fable:
-originally there were three sexes, male, female,
and "androgynous" (half male, half female)
-for their hubris, they were cut in half, and forced to
find their “whole”
-“Eros is merely the name for the desire and pursuit
of the whole.”
Aphrodite/Venus
IV. EROS (CUPID)
B) Plato’s Symposium:
2) Socrates explains Diotima’s allegory:
-Eros is neither good and beautiful, nor bad and
ugly, nor mortal or immortal
-Eros is the son of Poverty and Resourcefulness
-the desire for what one lacks and the ability
to obtain it
-the ultimate purpose is to achieve happiness
-physical, and more importantly, philosophical
and intellectual
Aphrodite/Venus
V. PRIAPUS
-son of Aphrodite and Dionysus (or Hermes,
Pan, Adonis or Zeus?)
-god of fertility, at its most base level
-portrayed as a male god with huge erect
phallus (or huge phallus with misshapen body!)
-ass sacrificed (as the embodiment of lust and
stupidity!)
-not taken very serious
Aphrodite/Venus
V. PRIAPUS
-cult wooden statues often found in doorways
and in gardens as part scarecrow, part bringer
of good luck, and protector from thieves
-becomes a cult of sophisticated pornography
-over the centuries his cult image and
symbolism evolves
CLAS 104
Lecture #10
Apollo & Artemis

Concepts/Things/Places in Lecture10
Events:
Birth of Apollo and Artemis
People:
Pythian Apollo Pythian Priestess
Apollo Delphinius Cassandra
Asclepius Daphne
Pan Marsyas the Satyr
Actaeon Calisto and Arcas
Hippolytus Orion
Symbols/Nature of Apollo Symbols/Nature of Artemis
Delos Delphi
APOLLO
Birth on Delos:
- Son of Zeus and Leto (which angered Hera)
- Hera will not let Leto give birth on the mainland
or on an island
- twin sister Artemis born first, then helped with
his delivery
- 9 days between the birth of Artemis and her
twin Apollo
- Leto received by Delos for promise of great
temple and the island becoming a sacred site
APOLLO
Birth on Delos:
- Alt: Delos as floating island received Leto and
was “fixed” as a reward
- no land “under the sun” could receive her, so
Poseidon created canopy
- NB. historical religious, cultural and political
importance of tiny Delos
- Delos only covers 3.43 square km, but was a
prosperous sacred sanctuary as a result
APOLLO
I. NATURE:
A) Attributes:
- Bow and Arrow (god of healing and disease, and
of archery)
- Lyre (god of music and poetry)
- Sacrificial tripod (god of truth and prophecy)
- Laurel Tree (leaves used to make the crown of
victory)
- Sun (Sun god)
APOLLO
I. NATURE:
B) Concerns:
1. Truth:
-oracular god par excellence (but there are other
oracular gods Eg. Zeus at Dodona, shrine of
Amphiaraus);
-his oracles are often ambiguous
-never wrong based on the way they are
phrased
APOLLO
I. NATURE:
B) Concerns:
2. Music and Poetry
-often associated with the Muses
-patron musicians and poets
-not to be challenged as a musician
APOLLO
I. NATURE:
B) Concerns:
3. Healing (Paean):
-Paean was originally the physician of the gods
-role is eventually taken over by Apollo
-Apollo can bring healing or disease
-shares the role of healer together with his son
Asclepius
APOLLO
I. NATURE:
C) Character:
-Ideal of Beauty and Rationality
-can be impassioned at times, but usually
restrained, disciplined and intellectual
-a protector, avenger and healer
-often thought to be the quintessential Greek god
APOLLO
II. SHRINES:
A) Delos:
-the little island that could (foundation story)
-Anius, son of Apollo and chief priest and King
-Dionysus give Anius’ 3 daughters gifts: Elias
(Olive Girl = oil), Spermo (Sperm Girl = grain)
and Oeno (Wine Girl = wine)
-daughters refuse to go to Troy with Agamemnon
and pursued by him
-turned into white doves by Dionysus to escape
-doves sacrosanct at Delos
APOLLO
II. SHRINES:
B) Delphi
1. Foundation Stories:
Pythian Apollo:
-Apollo found perfect site at Crisa on Mt
Parnassus
-slew a she-dragon who lived there
-site then called “Pytho” (“I rot”) because of the
rotting dragon in the sub
-Apollo called the Pythian
APOLLO
II. SHRINES:
B) Delphi
1. Foundation Stories (continued):
Apollo Delphinius:
-wanted to attract worshippers to his new temple
-turned self into a dolphin and sprang aboard a
Cretan ship
-forced crew to sail to Cirsa and worship him as
Apollo Delphinus (“dolphin”)
-becomes god of sailors and colonization
APOLLO
II. SHRINES:
B) Delphi
2. Oracles:
a) Practice: Pythia
-Pythian priestess is the “mouthpiece” of Apollo
-situated at the inner temple (adyton), where was
found the stone omphalos (egg marking the
navel of the world)
-noxious volcanic gasses seep into the room
from below
-sat at tripod bowl (symbol of divine prophecy)
APOLLO
II. SHRINES:
B) Delphi
2. Oracles:
a) Practice: Pythia (continued)
-Pythian priestess sat in front of a tripod bowl
(symbol of divine prophecy)
-Petitioner (after many sacrifices and offerings)
entered and asked his question
-gave frenzied, incoherent ravings
-a priest or prophet translate this and write it out
for the Petitioner
APOLLO
II. SHRINES:
B) Delphi
2. Oracles:
b) Ambiguity:
-Oracle only gave a prophecy on future actions
of the Petitioner (ambiguous, but plausible)
-validity of Oracle based on the Petitioner’s
actions (who already believe in the Oracle!)
-Eg.s Croesus: “if you cross the Halys River you
will destroy a great empire”
-Eg. Socrates is wisest man in Athens.
APOLLO
III. MAJOR STORIES:
A) Cassandra:
-daughter of King Priam of Troy and one of
Apollo’s lovers and prophetess
-blessed with gift of prophecy
-then rejected Apollo’s advances and was cursed
with no one ever believing her
-by comparison, the Cumaean Sibyl: long life but
not vitality
APOLLO
III. MAJOR STORIES:
B) Corronis and Asclepius:
-one of Apollo’s many lovers
-he shot Coronis for her unfaithfulness to him
-she told him with her last breath that she was
pregnant with his child
-Apollo extracted their son from her as she was
placed on the funeral pyre
-so, Asclepius, was raised by Chiron, the centaur
-Asclepius became a healing god
APOLLO
III. MAJOR STORIES:
C) Daphne:
-Apollo argues with Cupid
-Cupid’s arrows make Apollo love Daphne, and
Daphne reject Apollo
-Daphne a virgin and follower of Artemis
-as Apollo pursues her, she prayed to have her
beauty changed
-turned into a Laurel Tree
-Apollo still loves her and she becomes his
special plant
APOLLO
III. MAJOR STORIES:
C) Daphne vs Marpessa
Marpessa:
-pursued by both Apollo and Ida (a mortal/Argonaut)
-Zeus stepped in when both men confronted each
other and were about to fight
-she chose Ida (Apollo would leave her in old age
and when her beauty faded)
APOLLO
III. MAJOR STORIES:
C) Daphne vs Hyacinthus
Hyacinthus:
-a handsome Spartan youth and lover of Apollo
-in a discus competition, Apollo’s discuss hits him in
the face, killing him
-from his blood rose the purple Hyacinth flower
-Hyacinthia festival held in his honor each year
APOLLO
III. MAJOR STORIES:
D) Marsyas the Satyr:
-very proficient with the flute
-challenged Apollo to a music contest (hubris)
-winner does what he likes with the loser
-Marsyas loses and is flayed alive
-tears of the countryside creatures who watched
this created the Marsyas river
APOLLO
III. MAJOR STORIES:
E) Apollo v. Pan (and Midas!)
-Pan believes his music (pipes) better than Apollo’s
(lyre)
-judge directs Pan to concede to Apollo (winner)
-King Midas of Phrygia (who worshipped Pan)
argued that Pan had won
-Apollo give him donkey ears for his stupidity
-Midas tries to hide it under a turban
-his barber shouts the secret into a hole and buries it
-reeds grow through the ground and release “King
Midas has ass’s ears”
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
SYMBOLS:
a) The Golden bow and Arrows
b) Golden chariot pulled by 4 golden horned
deer
c) Spear and net (goddess of fishing)
d) Lyre (goddess of maiden dances and son)
e) Deer (her sacred animal)
f) Her hunting dogs
g) Moon (goddess of the moon)
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
I. NATURE
A) Concerns:
1. Hunting and wild animals
-she gives success to hunters and
protects the wild animals
-Called potnia theron (“Mistress of the
beasts”)
-often found wearing youthful clothing,
animal skins, carrying a bow/arrow and
accompanied by animals and maidens
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
I. NATURE
A) Concerns:
2. Childbirth (along with Hera and Eileithyia)
-goddess of childbirth and midwifery
-she is born first of the twins and assists at
Apollo’s birth
-note the importance of fertility to the Greek
pantheon
-all goddesses are manifestations of original
Great Mother (?)
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
I. NATURE
A) Concerns:
3. Virginity and young maidens
-she is the most militant of the virgin
goddesses and will not marry
-she always has a band of young maidens
who run the wild woods with her
-when Greek girls married they left the care
of Artemis
-vengeful against women not being pure and
chaste, and those who assault them
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
I. NATURE
A) Concerns:
3. Moon
-as a moon goddess, often linked with
Selene (moon goddess) and Hecate
-Hecate (chthonian deity of fertility, magic,
witchcraft, crossroads)
-crossroads are where ghosts meet at night
-Artemis’ three-fold manifestation (Selene in
heaven, Artemis on earth, and Hecate in the
Underworld)
-moon also linked to menstrual cycle
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
I. NATURE
B) Character:
1. Twin (of Apollo), archer & intelligent, but deity
of nature not culture
2. Merciless: especially as killer of young girls
-Eg. Iphigeneia (daughter of King Agamemnon)
-Agamemnon kills a deer in a grove sacred to
Artemis, and Artemis will not let his fleet sail for
Troy until he sacrifices his daughter)
3. Also the bringer of birth pains, and responsible for
death of women in childbirth
-sudden death of young girls often attributed to
Artemis (arrows of doom)
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
II. STORIES
A) Birth on Delos:
-Hera will not let Leto give birth on the mainland or on
an island
-Leto received by Delos for promise of great temple
-Alt: Gave birth to Artemis in Delos while standing on an
olive tree branch
-Alt: Delos as floating island received Leto and was
“fixed” as reward
-no land “under the sun” could receive her so Poseidon
created canopy
-NB. historical religious, cultural and political importance
of tiny Delos
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
II. STORIES
B) Niobe:
-the queen’s insult to Leto avenged by Apollo and
Artemis
-Niobe rich, beautiful, the queen of Thebes, and
deserves more honors that Leto
-besides, she had 7 sons and 7 daughters to Leto’s 2
children (so rich she even afford to lose a few!)
-Apollo killed all the boys and Artemis all the girls
-Niobe tried to shield the last daughter, but was turned
to stone and put on a mountaintop in Phrygia
-Niobe’s tears become the source of a spring in Phrygia
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
II. STORIES
C) Actaeon:
-a famous hunter
-got lost and found Artemis bathing naked
-he is turned into a stag as punishment for his
incursion on her privacy
-his dogs tear him apart
-“they wish he were there, he wishes he were
not”
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
II. STORIES
D) Calisto and Arcas:
-Callisto is one of Artemis’ virgin huntresses
-impregnated against her will by Zeus
-tried to hide it, but it was apparent when Artemis and
her maidens bathed in a sacred pond
-rejected and cast out by Artemis (defiled and sullied)
-gave birth to a son named Arcas
-transformed into a bear by Hera (and wanders)
-Arcas (15 years later) was about to spear her/bear,
and Zeus transformed them to constellations (Ursa
Major and Minor)
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
II. STORIES
E) Hippolytus
-son of Theseus & Amazon Queen, Hippolyta
-virginal devotee of Artemis who shunned Aphrodite
(and all physical desire)
-Aphrodite gets him by causing his step-mother,
Phaedra, to fall in love with him
-Hippolytus flees, Phaedra commits suicide and blames
Hippolytus (rape), and Theseus curses him
-Poseidon sends a will animal (bull or sea monster) to
spook his chariot, and drag him to death
-Artemis creates a cult to him where maidens about to
marry offered a lock of hair to him as a sign of virginity
ARTEMIS (DIANA)
II. STORIES
F) Orion:
-the great and amorous hunter
-one version he is killed by Artemis for trying to
kill all wild animals on the island of Chios
-in another because he tries to rape Artemis
-killed by a scorpion created by Artemis
-transformed into the constellation Orion, with
his dog Sirius, as is the scorpion
-helps to explain the constellations and stars
CLAS 104
Lecture #11
HERMES & DIONYSUS

Events:
Birth of Hermes Birth of Dionysus
Dionysus and the Pirates
People:
Hermes Apollo
Pan Maenads
Satyrs King Midas
Syrinx Echo & Narcissus
Symbols of Hermes Symbols of Dionysus
Hermes Dolios Hermes “Argeiphontes”
Hermes Psychopompos Dionysus Acratophorus
Euripides’ Bacchae
Hermes (Mercury)
I. ATTRIBUTES:
-traveller’s cap (petasus)
-herald’s wand (caduceus)
-winged boots (talaria)
-satchel (of a messenger)
Hermes (Mercury)
II. CHARACTER
A) Essence:
1. Mobility and mental agility
"Hermes represents mobility and the benefits that
derive from it. The essence of physical
movement, transitions and communication, he is
the patron of those who prosper through travel,
trade or theft.... Hermes was the patron of all those
who live by physical movement and mental agility,
including merchants, gamblers, highwaymen and
thieves." (Harris and Platzner, p. 199).
Hermes (Mercury)
II. CHARACTER
B) Concerns
1. Divine Messenger:
-messenger of Zeus
-intermediary between Olympians and
mortals
-as such he helps heroes
-similar to Iris, goddess of the rainbow

-lesser messenger to the gods
-serves nectar to the Olympians to drink
Hermes (Mercury)
II. CHARACTER
B) Concerns
2.Thieves, Tricksters, Merchants:
-he is a trickster god, par excellence
-Hermes Dolios (“tricky”)
-outwits the other gods, sometimes to benefit
mortals, but sometimes for his own amusement
-steals Apollo’s sacred and immortal cattle when
he was 1 day old!
-he gave Pandora the character of a thief
Hermes (Mercury)
II. CHARACTER
B) Concerns:
3. God of Boundaries:
-any form of “crossing over” (physical and spiritual)
“To sum up, many of the functions of Hermes can
be characterized by his role as a creator and
crosser of boundaries and an intermediary between
two different worlds.”
(Morford, Lenardon and Sham, p. 298)
-Hermes Psychopompos (“conveyor of souls”)
Hermes (Mercury)
II. CHARACTER
B) Concerns
3. God of Boundaries (continued):
-messenger of Zeus (between Heaven and
earth)
-Hermes Proopylaios ("guardian of the gate”)
-Herms (boundary markers) with the head of
Hermes and an erect penis
415 BC Alcibiades and the mutilations of the Herms

Hermes (Mercury)
II. CHARACTER
B) Concerns
3. God of Boundaries (continued):
Note: he is not often violent
“I’ll not fight you Leto. It’s dangerous to come to
blows with those married to cloud-gatherer Zeus.
So you can tell immortal gods your great strength
conquered me--and you can even boast about it.”
-but note his common epithet “Argeiphontes”
(“Argus slayer”)
-100 eyed giant’s eyes become peacock tail (Hera)
Hermes (Mercury)
III. STORIES (Homeric Hymn to Hermes)
A) Birth –
-son of Zeus and Maia

-invents the lyre from a tortoise shell and reeds
(mental mobility)
-steals Apollo’s cattle (thief)
-lies cleverly to defend himself (trickster)
-reconciled to Apollo his opposite (and gives him
the lyre as a gift)
-ALL this as a baby in his first 2 days of life!
“The latter (Apollo) spoke the truth and not without justice
seized upon glorious Hermes because of the cattle; on the other
hand, the Cyllenian wished to deceive the god of the silver bow
by tricks and by arguments. But when he in his ingenuity found
his opponent equally resourceful…” (he went with him to Zeus
for mediation.) “Zeus in his wisdom was pleased and united
them both in friendship; Hermes has loved the son of Leto
steadfastly, and he still does even now, as is evident from the
pledges made when Hermes entrusted his lovely lyre to the
archer-god and Apollo took it on his arm and learned how to
play… Apollo, the son of Leto, nodded in loving friendship that
no one else among mortals would be more dear, neither god nor
mortal sprung from Zeus and said, “I shall pledge that this bond
will be trusted and honoured…Besides, I will give you in
addition a very beautiful golden staff of prosperity and wealth…
Dionysus (Bacchus, Liber)
I. ATTRIBUTES:
-god of grapes, wine making, wine, fertility,
religious ecstasy, ritual madness and
theatre
Symbols are:
-drinking cup,
-ivy wreath/grape vines
-thyrsus (fennel staff, tipped with a pine
cone)
-leopard/panther
Dionysus
II. CHARACTER
A) Concerns
1. Vegetation (esp. the vine)
2. Freedom (Lysios)
-from inhibitions and from one’s normal
character Cf. theatre
3. Mysteries, which promise secret

knowledge and a successful afterlife
-god of resurrection
Dionysus
II. CHARACTER
B) Incoming God:
-he comes from the East, is often rejected,
and then punishes rejecters
Two interpretations:
1. historical: introduced ca. 800 BC
2. psychological/cultural: tendency to fear

his irrational and dangerous nature
Dionysus
II. CHARACTER
C) Immanent God
1. Dwelling among (myth):

In the woods and hills with his
maenads (possessed mortal
female devotees) and satyrs (male
nymph half man with a horse’s tail
and ears and a goat’s beard and
horns)
Dionysus
II. CHARACTER
C) Immanent God
2. Dwelling within (religion):

He often is said to possess his devoted
followers and they become one with
him (worshipper is called “Bacchus”)
-united in music, dancing, excessive
wine drinking and “religious ecstasy”
Dionysus
II. CHARACTER
D) Compare with Apollo:
-order & rationality v. ecstasy &
abandonment
-holy and formal temples vs wild rustic
Bacchanalias
Dionysus Acratophorus, ("giver of unmixed
wine")
Dionysus
III. STORIES
A) Birth - the twice-born god
1. Semele and the thigh of Zeus
-her affair with Zeus is discovered by Hera
-Hera appears as an old woman and
convinces Semele to ask Zeus to show
her his true self
-Zeus reluctantly complies, and destroys
her as a thunderbolt
-Zeus takes child from her ashes and sows
Dionysus up in his thigh for 9 months
Dionysus
III. STORIES
A) Birth:
2. Zagreus:
-Dionysus born of Zeus and Persephone to
be king of universe
-Titans sent by Hera to tear him apart and
consume him
-Zeus eats his heart and fathers Dionysus
through Semele
-Zeus blasts Titans to ashes (mankind born)
-Alt: Zeus sows heart into his thigh
-Zagreus is tearing apart small animals and
eating them as part of Dionysus’ cult
Dionysus
III. STORIES
B) Nurture
1. Ino:
Hermes brought child to Ino, who
dressed him as a girl (save from Hera)
-her husband’s ex-wife plans to kill her
sons, so she switches the children’s
clothing and her rival’s children are
killed instead
-Ino then became sea deity (Leucothea)
2. The nymphs of Nysa: Zeus transformed
the child into a goat to disguise him from
Hera
Dionysus
III. STORIES
C) Travels
1. Madness:
-driven mad either by Hera or the power
of wine
-In Phrygia the goddess Cybele (Rhea)
restored him
-taught him her religious rites
-sent him across Asia to teach vine
cultivation
Dionysus
III. STORIES
C) Travels
2. Entourage:
-conquered India and all the world,
except Britain and Ethiopia
-was joined by maenads and satyrs
(sileni) who revelled, conquered and
processed in triumph with him
-came to Greece in triumph and spread
his cult
Dionysus
III. STORIES
C) Travels
3. Ariadne:
-Theseus abandons her on the island of
Naxos
-Dionysus rescues and marries her
-he had her crown put in the heavens as
the constellation Corona
-an example of those who Dionysus
saves
Dionysus
III. STORIES
D) Return to Greece
1. To Thebes: Euripides’ Bacchae
-”Bacchae” are Bacchic Women
-Pentheus (king) and Agave (mother)
doubt his divinity
-D. drives Pentheus mad
-D. drives women of Thebes mad and has
them celebrate him in the woods
-Pentheus spies on them, is mistaken for
a lion, and is ripped apart by his mother
and aunts
Dionysus
III. STORIES
D) Return to Greece
2. To Athens:
-received well in Attica
-Icarius, welcomes Dionysus and is given
wine, which he shared with the people
-people think they have been poisoned, so
kill Icarius
-his devoted daughter Erigone finds him and
hangs herself
-plague and suffering followed
Dionysus
III. STORIES
D) Return to Greece
3. Dionysus and the Pirates:
-pirates mistake him for a mortal and kidnap
him
-helmsman want to release him, but captain
will not
-Dionysus turn into a lion, then a bear
-lion eats captain and the sailors jump
overboard and turned into dolphins
-only the helmsman spared
-story shops his character: miracles, bestial
transformation, violence, pity and salvation
Dionysus
III. STORIES
D) Return to Greece
4. Midas and the golden touch
-Silenus captured and brought to King Midas
-he returns him to Dionysus
-offered any gift
-requested that all he touched turns to gold
-food, and even daughter, turned to gold
-begged to take gift back
-bathed in River Pactolus (now gold sand)
PAN
God of shepherds,
flocks, fields, the
wilderness, nature of
The mountains, and
Pastoral (rustic) music
-often found in the
company of nymphs
PAN
I. CONNECTIONS WITH DIONYSUS
A) He lives where the wild things are
B) Half-bestial like Satyrs and Sileni

-horns, ears and legs of a goat
-impulsive, amorous and full of revelry
PAN
I. CONNECTIONS WITH DIONYSUS
C) Dionysus rejoiced at his birth

-loved music and laughter
-immortals called him Pan “because
he delighted the hearts of them all”
-quickly became a devotee of
Dionysus and very active in his
cult
PAN
II. STORIES
A) Syrinx:
-nymph and chaste follower of Artemis
-chased by amorous Pan
-ran to river’s edge and asked water
nymphs for help
-turned into reeds that made a haunting
sound when the frustrated Pan breathed
on them
-Pan cut them and made the first set of
pan-pipes (called syrinx)
PAN
II. STORIES
B) Echo:
-she is a mountain nymph
-she rejected Pan
-he drove the shepherds mad and
they tore her apart
-only her voice remained
PAN
II. STORIES
B) Echo (alternate version):
-Echo kept Hera busy so she couldn’t spy
on Zeus’ affairs
-Hera deprived her of speech, except for
the last thing said to her
-she sees Narcissus, falls in love, but is
rejected by him (too arrogant and proud)
-she wastes away except for her voice
-goddess Nemesis curses Narcissus to
fall in love with his own reflection
-lonely and melted into a Narcissus flower
CLAS 104
Lecture #12
DEMETER & THE

ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES
Events:
Kidnapping of Persephone Hades’ Trickery
People:
Demeter Persephone
Demophoön
Symbols of Demeter “Two Goddesses”
Aetion of the seasons Aetion of the Eleusinian mysteries
kykeion
Demeter (Ceres)
I. ATTRIBUTES:
-goddess of grain, the harvest,
agriculture and the fertility of the
earth
-another earth Mother goddess
Symbols:
-Staff and Grain
Demeter (Ceres)
II. NATURE
A) Mother
1. Name: De means “earth” or “barley” or
“tamer”, meter means “mother”
2. Mother of Persephone (with Zeus):

-“Two Goddesses” (D. ripe grain, P. and
tender shoots) of fertility
-“Kore” (“the Maiden”)
Demeter (Ceres)
III. STORY (Homeric Hymn)
A) Rape of Persephone
-Persephone a beautiful virgin

-Hades falls in love with her beauty
-planned with Zeus how to kidnap her
-she was picking flowers and the earth
opened up beneath her
-Hades emerged from the Underworld, and
took her away in his golden chariot
-she cried and called for help, but no came
Demeter (Ceres)
B) Demeter’s Search:
-travels the world for 9 days but cannot find her
-Hecate (goddess of entrances, witchcraft and
magic) tells Demeter she heard her cries
-suggests they visit Helius (the Sun god)
-Helius tells Demeter of the plot between Hades
and Zeus to kidnap Persephone
-she was taken to the Underworld
Demeter (Ceres)
C) Demeter at Eleusis
-wanders in the disguise of an old woman
-found by the 4 daughters of King Celeus of
Eleusis
-treated with hospitality (given barley water to
drink)
-brought home as a nurse for their baby brother,
Demophoön
-Queen Metaneira is impressed with her and
hires her
Demeter (Ceres)
D) Immortality & Sanctuary (Demophoön) and
instructions to Eleusinians:
-Demeter nurses the child every day
-anoints the baby every evening with
ambrosia, then puts him in the fireplace to burn
away its mortality
-quickly grows to godly beauty
-Metaneira spies on Demeter and interrupts her
Demeter (Ceres)
D) Immortality & Sanctuary (Demophoön) and
instructions to Eleusinians (continued):
-Demeter drops the child in surprise, resumes
her divine form, and criticizes Metaneira for
interfering with the ritual (ignorant mortals!)
-divine ritual would have made him immortal
-But Demeter does promise to teach her sacred
rituals to the Eleusinians
-they must build her a temple first
-teaches King’s son Triptolemus how to cultivate
wheat
Demeter (Ceres)
E) Demeter Prevails:
-Demeter mourns at Eleusis and will not permit
crops to grow
-Zeus sends the goddess Iris, then all the gods,
to appeal to her to come to Olympus and let
fertility return to the land
-she refuses all offers, orders and brides, “until
she saw with her own eyes her lovely daughter”
Demeter (Ceres)
F) Hades Trickery:
-Zeus orders Hermes to bring Persephone up
from the Underworld to see Demeter
-Hades agrees to send her to her mother
-Hades gives her pomegranate to eat (knowing it
will limit her time away from the Underworld)
-Demeter senses the treachery
-1/3 of the year must be spent in the Underworld
-Demeter returns fertility to the world
Demeter (Ceres)
G) Persephone’s honours and Demeter’s rites
-Persephone becomes Queen of the Underworld
-shares divine honors and the Eleusian cult with
Demeter
-Note: Sensitivity to mothers and daughters lived
experiences
-Demeter teaches Tripolemus (and others) the
arts of cultivation
-Eleusian Mysteries created in D & P honor
Demeter (Ceres)
IV. RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE
A) Aetion (origin) of the seasons

-myth represents the life, death, resurrection
cycle
-4 months of winter (Persephone with Hades)
-8 months of growth (Persephone with
Demeter)
-reasons for seasons
-two fertility goddesses bless the earth
Demeter (Ceres)
B) Aetion of the Eleusinian mysteries
-open to men, women. Children and slaves
1. Nine days of the festival = wandering and

fasting of Demeter
2. Procession to Eleusis (cry of Iacchus!) =
Demeter’s journey to Eleusis
3. Fast with kykeion at end = Demeter’s fast
and break fast with barley water
Demeter (Ceres)
B) Aetion of the Eleusinian mysteries
4. Climax of the mystery rites explained the
religious significance of Demeter’s
experience
-includes sacred re-enactment, revelation
of the Hiera (sacred objects), and the
utterance of sacred words
5. Promise of Immortality through cleansing and
secret knowledge
Demeter (Ceres)
“Happy is the one of mortals on earth
who has seen these things. But those
who are uninitiated into the holy rites
and have no part never are destined to a
similar joy when they are dead in the
gloomy realm below.”
Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Demeter (Ceres)
“Thrice-happy are those mortals, who,
having seen those rites depart for Hades;
for to them alone is it granted to have
true life there; to the rest all there is evil.”
Sophocles
CLAS 104
Lecture #13
HADES’ REALM
Events:
People:
Odysseus Aeneas
Tiresias Sibyl of Apollo
Charon
Justice/Judgement at death Cerberus
Vergil’s idea of Reincarnation Plato’s view on myth
Punishment in Hades/Tartarus/Hell Hero’s journey
Plato’s idea of Reincarnation Patriotic Myth
Stoicism & Myth
HADES
I. HOMER’S VIEW (Odyssey, Book 11)
The setting for Book 11:
-King Odysseus of Ithaca is trying to get home from the
Trojan War
-He is telling the Phaecians and their king Alcinous of

his travels to the Underworld
-Odysseus travels there to meet the ghost of the seer

Tiresias to find out how he can get home to Ithaca
-Must first make a sacrifice to the dead to enter Hades

HADES
A) Location: On the other side of Ocean, in
the far North (not West)
“And she [the ship] made the outer limits,
the Ocean River’s bounds/where the
Cimmerian people have their homes—their
realm and city shrouded in mist and cloud.
The eye of the Sun can never flash his rays
through the dark and bring them light… an
endless, deadly night overhands those
wretched men.”
HADES
B) Inhabitants
1. Witless shades:
“‘One rule there is,’ the famous seer
explained, ‘and simple for me to say
and you to learn. Any one of the
ghosts you let approach the blood will
speak the truth to you. Anyone you
refuse will turn and fade away.’”
HADES
B) Inhabitants
2. Tiresias:
"Persephone has given him wisdom, him
alone, the rest of the dead are empty,
flitting shades” NB. Tiresias is the
purpose for the descent, but is not the
focus.
HADES
B) Inhabitants
3. Elpenor, the Unburied: what is his real
concern? “My lord, remember me, I beg you!
Don’t sail off and desert me, left behind
unwept, unburied, don’t…. No, burn me in
full armor, all my harness, heap my mound by
the churning gray surf…so even men to come
will learn my story. Perform my rites, and
plant on my tomb that oar I swung with mates
when I rowed among the living.”
HADES
B) Inhabitants
3. Elpenor (continued)
-he was the youngest of Odysseus’ comrades

-while on Circe’s island, he became intoxicated
and slept on the roof of her palace
-in the morning, he heard Odysseus’ men
readying the ship to go to Hades, forgot he
was on the roof, fell off and broke his neck
-Odysseus left without him (returns later to
bury him)
HADES
B) Inhabitants
4. Anticleia, mother of Odysseus
-lets her drink the blood of the sacrifice and
she
recognizes him
-dies of heartache from missing him
“Troubled in spirit I wished to embrace the
soul of my dead mother; three times I made
the attempt, as desire compelled me, three
times she slipped through my hands like a
shadow or a dream”
HADES
B) Inhabitants
4. Anticleia, mother of Odysseus (continued):
My son, my son, the unluckiest man alive! This
is no deception sent by Queen Persephone, this is
just the way of mortals when we die. Sinews no
longer bind the flesh and bones together, the fire in
all its fury burns the body down to ashes once life
slips from the white bones, and the spirit, rustling,
flitters away...flown like a dream.
HADES
B) Inhabitants
5. Parade of famous women: “And there

slowly came a grand array of women, all
sent before me now by august
Persephone, and all were wives and
daughters once of princes.”
-even the young, beautiful and noble
cannot escape death
HADES
B) Inhabitants
6. Agamemnon
a) No strength now for the mightiest
b) Tells how his wife Clytemnestra
and her lover Aegisthus murdered
him when he returned home
c) Misogynistic rant and a warning to
Odysseus to be secretive when he
reaches home
HADES
B) Inhabitants
7. Achilles
a) No glory in death
“No winning words about death to me,
shining
Odysseus! By god, I’d rather slave on earth
for
another man--some dirt-poor farmer who
scrapes to keep alive--than rule down here
over
all the breathless dead.”
HADES
B) Inhabitants
8. Others: pointless continuity (for example)
-Ajax (Aias): Odysseus given the armour of

Achilles in stead of him, and still brooding
over loss
-Minos: still pronouncing judgements
-Orion: still hunting wild beasts that he had
killed in his lifetime
-many seem to not realize they are dead
HADES
B) Inhabitants
9. Punishment for Sinners, but only those
who had sinned greatly against the gods,
(for example):
-Tityus, who tried to rape Leto (two vultures
tear out his liver daily)
-Tantalus, who fed human flesh to the gods
(water and fruit always stay just out of reach)
-Sisyphus, who tricked Thanatos(Death) twice
(Zeus has him roll a boulder up a hill, then it
rolls back down the hill, for all eternity)
HADES
C) Purpose?
1.To realistically describe underworld?
a) Compare with final scene of the
Odyssey (Amphimedon meets with
Agamemnon and tells of Odyseus’
slaughter of the suitors of Penelope)
b) Menelaus to Elysium (he and Helen
made immortal by Hera)
HADES
C) Purpose?
2. Literary:
-to describe the pathos of human life
-enjoy life while you can
3. Enhance the heroic stature of

Odysseus
-goes to and from the Underworld
HADES
II. PLATO’S VISION OF THE AFTERLIFE
A) Background
1.Plato’s attitude toward myth
-have religious and philosophical concepts
to teach us, often through allegory
-especially useful for the less philosophical
-use common tales to teach
2. Republic:
-tales of constitutions and souls
-last chapter speaks of the myth of Er
HADES
B) Premise: the death and return of Er:
“I shall not tell a tale like that of
Odysseus to Alcinous, but instead my
story is of a brave man, Er, the son of
Armenius, a Pamphylian, who at one
time died in war…”
HADES
B) Premise: the death and return of Er:
-killed in war, but body does not decay

-put on a funeral pyre 12 days after his death
-arose from the pyre and said that his soul
had travelled to the Underworld
HADES
C) Justice:
-at death, your soul goes to the divine
place of four shafts
-two shafts leading to the underworld\
-two shafts leading to the sky
-judges determine where you go
-wicked go down, with their crimes listed
on their backs
HADES
C) Justice:
-Judges said that Er should watch all and
return to earth to tell mortals what he
had observed
-souls came up from the ground, and
down from the sky as well
-1000 years of punishment or reward (and
Tartarus too!) for every sin committed or
good deed done
HADES
D) The Universe
1. Shaft of Light, which binds universe
together
-complete 1000 year cycle and go to the
light
-extends like a pillar through heaven
and earth
-place for rebirth
HADES
D) The Universe
2. Spindle of Necessity attached to beam of
light
-holds the planets and universe in order
-Three Fates (Clotho, Atropos and
Lachesis) seated there
HADES
E) Reincarnation
1. Souls choose their next life (human or
animal)
-draw random lots to choose new life
-choose a life, and a character, and guardian
deity
-hopefully build a better new life, better soul
-the Fates the determine their length of life
2. Souls drink from River Lethe (river of
forgetfulness), fall asleep and are reborn
HADES
F) Themes
1. Mythical: Those choosing new life include
Ajax (lion), Agamemnon (eagle), Atalanta
(male athlete), Thersites (ape), and
Odysseus last (average man).
2. Philosophical: Pythagorean themes of Music
of the Spheres (mathematical precision) and
Reincarnation (all is in balance)
-divine immortality
HADES
3. Mystical:
-Orphism with its travels through the
underworld and purification
4. Moral
a) punishment and reward (Cf.
Homer)
b) choosing the next life

-continue to try to improve your soul
HADES
“A divinity will not allot himself to you,
but you will choose your divinity. Let
the one who has drawn the first lot
choose a life, which will be his by
necessity. Virtue is without master;
each man has the greater or lesser
share, insofar as he honors or
dishonors her. The blame belongs to
the one who makes the choice; god is
blameless.”
HADES
“He must know how these qualities, individually or
combined, affect virtue in a life; what beauty mixed
with poverty or wealth achieves in terms of good and
evil, along with the kind of state of soul that it
inspires; and what high and low birth, private status,
public office, strength, weakness, intelligence,
stupidity, and all such qualities, inherent or acquired,
achieve in combination with one another, so that
after deliberation he may be able to choose from all
of these between the worse and better life, looking
only to the effect upon the nature of his soul. By the
worse life I mean that leading the soul to become
more unjust, by the better, that leading it to become
more just. All other considerations he will ignore.”
HADES
III. VERGIL’S VERSION OF THE AFTERLIFE
A) Background
Presented in Book 6 of the Aeneid
-Aeneas wants to visit his father Anchises in
Hades
-gets advice from the Sibyl (oracle) of Apollo at
Cumae
1. Distinctively Roman:
-a foundation story fitting Rome into the
wider Mediterranean (especially Greek)
context
HADES
A) Background
2. Yet Derivative:
-reminiscent of both Odyssey and Iliad
-descent alludes to Homer’s and Plato’s
account (Eg. Aeneas descends to talk to
father Anchises; cf. Odysseus for
Tiresias)
-Sibyl accompanies Aeneas on the journey
HADES
B) “Geography” of Hades
1. Entrance: ills of life, and monsters
2. River Acheron:
-Charon the ferryman (only takes those
properly buried across, the rest wait 100
years)
-ie Palinurus, his helmsman (cf. Elpenor in
Homer), was killed by Italian tribesmen after
being washed overboard & not buried
-Aeneas contrasted with Heracles, Theseus &
Perithous (A comes respectfully)
HADES
Aeneas gives Charon a golden bough as a gift
and is allowed to pass River Acheron
3. Nearer Hades
-Cerberus (Sibyl drugs him and they pass)
-first area for those who met an untimely
dead, note esp. suicides
-next field of Mourning for warriors who fell
in battle or who died from unrequited love
-(cf. Achilles) and Dido (cf. Ajax), who runs
away from Aeneas
HADES
Two paths lead away from the fields of

Mourning
-Left (sinister) path leads to Tartarus
-Right (dexter) path leads to Elysium
4. Tartarus: horrible place of punishment
-Hell and all its imagery
-Tityus has same punishment as in Homer
HADES
5. Elysium:
- a grassy place of peace and joy
- finds Anchises there (looking at his noble
Roman descendants with pride)
- purification: previously by wind water and
fire; now by 1000 years of bliss
- triple attempt by Aeneas to embrace his
father (as in Homer)
HADES
“Aeneas replied, ‘The vision of you in your
sadness appearing to me again and again
compelled me to pursue my way to this
realm... Give me, give me your right hand,
father, do not shrink from my embrace.’ As
he was speaking, his face was moist with
many tears. Three times he attempted to put
his arms around his father’s neck, three times
he reached in vain as the phantom escaped
his hands as light as a breeze, like a fleeting
vision of the night.”
HADES
6. River Lethe
-river of forgetfulness (as in Plato)
-drink, forget, and be reborn
HADES
C) Philosophy:
1. Stoic Elements
-individual soul part of a larger soul
“A spirit within sustains the sky, the
earth, the waters, the shining globe of
the moon, and the Titan sun and stars;
this spirit moves the whole mass of the
universe, a mind, as it were, infusing its
limbs and mingled with its huge body.”
HADES
2. Orphic Elements
“The seeds of this mind and the spirit have a
fiery power and celestial origin, insofar as
the limbs and joints of the body, which is of
earth, harmful and subject to death, do not
make them dull and slow them down. Thus
the souls, shut up in the gloomy darkness
of the prison of their bodies, experience
fear, desire, joy, and sorrow and do not see
clearly the essence of their celestial
nature.”
HADES
D) Patriotism:
-a vision of the great heroes of Rome
to be, about to be reincarnated
-Aeneas’ destiny is to leave Hades and
set events in motion that will lead to
the creation of the great Roman
people
-patriotic mythology
CLAS 104
Lecture #14
ORPHEUS AND ORPHISM

Events:
People:
Orpheus Eurydice
Thracian Maenads
Symbols of Orpheus Mystery Religions
Life/Death/Resurrection Cycle
Orpheus & Orphism
Attributes:
-lyre (invented by Hermes, but he
perfected it
-wild animals (often in a foreign context)
-was one of Jason’s Argonauts (heroic)
Orpheus & Orphism
I. THE MYTH
A) Birth:
-born in Thrace
-from one of the Muses (usually Calliope)
& Oeagrus (a river god) or Apollo
-singing and music could charm fish,
birds, wild animals, even make trees and
stones dance!
Orpheus & Orphism
B) Descent to the Underworld
Married the beautiful Dryad nymph Eurydice
-a Satyr chased her in the tall grass on her
wedding day
-she fell into a pit of vipers, was bitten on the
ankle and died
-he played such sad music that even the
nymphs and gods cried
Orpheus & Orphism
1. The abortive rescue of Eurydice
-goes to the Underworld and tries to get her
back (plea, beg, offer self, play music)
-plays sad music for Hades and Persephone
-allow her to leave, but he cannot look back
until he has left
-he looks back to see her, and she dies
again (both proclaiming their love)
-goes into mourning and rejects all women
Orpheus & Orphism
2. Significance:
-power of his song
-knowledge of the mysteries (never look
back!)
-purity and sincerity of love is a virtue, but
not without hardship and regret
Orpheus & Orphism
C) Mourning and Death:
-refused to remarry and rejected all women
(despite their interest in him)
-only worshipped Apollo
-only took male overs
-origins of pederasty
-death by Maenad (Thracian women who
follow Dionysys)
-drown out his music and tear him apart in
a frenzy (by hand, hoe, oxen horn, etc)
Orpheus & Orphism
D) Aftermath:
-Dionysus upset and turns women to trees
-head (still singing) and lyre float down river
the sea and to Delos
-disembodied head becomes an oracle at
Delos (Apollo builds a temple for Dionysus
there)
-note Dionysus and Apollo duality
-Orpheus now in Hades with Eurydice
Orpheus & Orphism
II. THE RELIGION
A) Orpheus as Religious Teacher
1. Apollo and/or Dionysus?
-which religion will dominate Thrace (or
both?)
-5th C BCE religion teacher in Thrace
-preached peace and a message of salvation
-music/hymns in praise of the gods and of
creation
-torn apart
-represents power of music over life, death
and discord, pain of bereavement and hope
of reunion with lost loved ones
Orpheus & Orphism
II. THE RELIGION
A) Orpheus as Religious Teacher
2. Mystery Religion:
-Mystery Religions (including Mithraism
and Christianity) take initiates through a
series of stages/rites that will arrive at
resurrection/rebirth
-all deal with purification & afterlife
-we all have an immortal soul to keep pure
to ovoid punishment in the afterlife
-after a period of purification, one is
reunited with the divine spirit/God
Orpheus & Orphism
II. THE RELIGION
B) Orphic Theogony:
-reminiscent of Hesiod’s but with many
changes
-all deal with life, death, resurrection
cycle
CLAS 104
Lecture #15
THE THEBAN SAGA

Events:
Seven Against Thebes
People:
Europa Cadmus
Laius Jocasta
Creon Oedipus
Tiresias Antigone
Ismene Eteocles
Polynices Theseus
Spartoi Curse of Pelops
Sphinx Feminine Masculine hero
The Theban Saga
I. Early “History” of Thebes
A) Europa and Cadmus
1. Europa in Crete
-Europa a Phoenician princess
-Zeus disguises himself as a bull, she sits on
him, and he takes her to Crete
-Zeus mates with her as a bull
-she gives birth to 3 boys, Minos,
Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon (who will
become three judges in the Underworld)
-Minos will become the first King of Crete
The Theban Saga
2. Cadmus and Thebes
-Cadmus goes in search of his sister Europa
-arrives at Delphi
-Apollo tells him to follow a certain cow, then
found a city (Cadmeia) where it lies down
-will sacrifice divine cow there, but needs water
for the ceremony
-sends his men to get water from a spring
sacred to Ares
The Theban Saga
-a serpent guards the spring (child of Ares)
-it kills most of Cadmus’ men, and is killed by
Cadmus
-A voice is heard saying “Why, son of Agenor,
do you look at the dead serpent? You too will
be looked at as a serpent.”
-this foreshadows his doom
The Theban Saga
-Athena (who the cow sacrifice was for) tells
Cadmus to sow the serpent’s teeth
-armed warriors spring up, who fight each
other until only 5 are left
-these 5 are known as the Spartoi (“sown
men”), and the noble families of Thebes will
descend from them
-reflection of historical eastern influence or a
contrast to Athenian autochthony?
The Theban Saga
b) family of Cadmus:
-appease Ares by being his slave for 1 (8 in
mortal) years
-wife: Harmonia (daughter of Ares and
Aphrodite
-daughters: Semele (mother of Dionysus),
Agave (mother of Pentheus), Autonoe
(mother of Actaeon), Ino (nurse of Dionysus)
The Theban Saga
B) Royal Family of Thebes
1. Line of Lycus, son of Chthonius
-Laius, great grandson of Cadmus, an infant
-Lycus, Laius great-great uncle, assumes the
regency and then kingship
-Lycus the son of Chthonius, one of the 5
Spartoi
The Theban Saga
a) Antiope, Lycus’ niece is raped by Zeus
-Zeus turns himself into a Satyr
-Antiope flees from her angry father, and
gives birth in Boeotia (north of Thebes)
-twin sons, Amphion and Zethus are left to
die in the wilderness
-Antiope returns home and imprisoned by
Lycus
-found my herdsman and raised
-Amphion (musician) & Zethus (herdsman)
The Theban Saga
b) Amphion and Zethus grow up and return to
Cadmeia
-meet (and recognize!) mother, who has
escaped from Lycus’ prison
-kill Lycus, and have his wife, Dirce, tied to a
bull’s horns and dragged to death
-her blood brings forth a fountain (called
Dirce)
The Theban Saga
b) Amphion and Zethus (continued)
-they become the rulers of Cadmeia
-Laius sent into exile grow
-build the walls of Cadmeia
-Amphion’s lyre music moves the stones in
place
-Amphion marries Niobe
-Zethus marries Thebe
-city renamed Thebes after her
The Theban Saga
2. Line of Labdacus, grandson of Cadmus
a) Laius and the curse of Pelops
-Amphion and Zethus die and Laius retakes
his throne
-had lived in exile with King Pelops of Elis
-Laius falls in love with Pelops’ son,
Chrysippus, abducts him and rapes him
-Laius “the first of the Hellenes to practice
love for men.” (Euripides, Chrysippus)
The Theban Saga
2. Line of Labdacus, grandson of Cadmus
a) Laius and the curse of Pelops (continued)
-Chrysippus commits suicide
-make breach of hospitality and trust
-is cursed by Pelops for this crime
-Laius becomes king of Thebes and marries
Jocasta
-visits the Delphic Oracle of Apollo to find
out the future of their children
The Theban Saga
II. Oedipus (Sophocles)
A) Oedipus Rex
1.Oracle re: Birth: “I will give you a son,
but you are destined to die at his hands.
This is the decision of Zeus, in answer
to the bitter curses of Pelops, whose
son you abducted; all this did Pelops
call down upon you.”
The Theban Saga
A) Oedipus Rex (continued)
-son born to Laius and Jocasta
-a spike was inserted to pin his ankles together,
then was given to a servant to expose on Mt
Cithaeron
-servant gave infant to a shepherd from Corinth
instead
-shepherd gave infant to King Polybus and
Queen Merope (raise as their own)
The Theban Saga
-name child Oedipus (“swellfoot”)
-grows up well cared for and loved
-years later a drunk companion says that he is
not the real son of Polybus and Merope
-flees to Oracle at Delphi to find out who his
parents are
The Theban Saga
2. Oracle at Delphi:
“Don’t go home for you will kill your

father and marry your mother.”
-does not return to Corinth, but takes the
road to Thebes!
The Theban Saga
3. Conquest of Sphinx wins for Oedipus a
kingship and a queen (Jocasta)
-travelling to Thebes a man in a chariot tries to
run him over and is killed by Oedipus (chariot
driver escapes)
-Laius (father) is the chariot driver
-journey’s on to Thebes
The Theban Saga
-Thebes is in chaos
-king death and Sphinx terrorizes city (sent by
Hera)
-answer the riddle of the Sphinx or be eaten
-Creon, regent of Thebes and brother of
Jocasta, offers the throne and Jocasta to
whoever can rid Thebes of the Sphinx
The Theban Saga
-The Riddle of the Sphinx
“What is it that has one name that is four-

footed, two-footed, and three-footed?”
The Theban Saga
4. Oedipus as King:
-lives happily and Thebes prospers
-children with Jocasta:
-2 sons Eteocles, Polynices
-2 daughters Antigone, Ismene
The Theban Saga
5. Truth is revealed:
-a plague afflicts Thebes
-Oracle of Delphi says that Thebes is polluted
by having the murderer of Laius in the city
-Oedipus says he will take care of things, as he
always has (hubris)
The Theban Saga
A) Oedipus Rex
a) Tiresias’ confrontation with Oedipus
-Oedipus summons the blind prophet for
help
-will not speak at first, then tells Oedipus the
truth
-Oedipus will not believe him and accuses
him of treason with Creon
The Theban Saga
b) Messenger from Corinth
-Polybus dead and they want Oedipus as king
-Corinthian messenger/shepherd say he is not
their natural son, so can be King
-servant of Laius confirms he gave infant (ie
Oedipus) to the messenger from Corinth
The Theban Saga
-Jocasta realizes the truth and hangs herself
-Oedipus takes the brooch pins from her dress
and blinds himself
-Creon becomes regent again, banishes him
from Thebes (as per Oedipus’ and Apollo’s
orders)
The Theban Saga
A) Oedipus Rex
6. Significance
a) Fate and personal responsibility
-attempt to avoid fate only drives
one to it (Oedipus, Laius, Jocasta)
-try to defy the gods
b) Oedipus in pursuit of the truth
-consults oracles
-hubris (he knows all)
The Theban Saga
B) Oedipus at Colonus
1. Background:
-blind Oedipus wanders with Antigone
-looking for a place to die (and bless)
-arrive at Colonus, a village near Athens
-ground sacred to the Furies
-people want him to leave
"I come as someone sacred, someone filled
with piety and power, bearing a great gift for all
your people."
The Theban Saga
1. Background:
-Ismene arrives
-Eteocles seized power in Thebes from
elder brother Polynices
-Polynices raising an army in Argus
-both want Oedipus to bury (gain blessing)
-Creon wants Oedipus to bury on border
-all want his grave, not him
The Theban Saga
1. Background:
2. Story:
-Theseus gives citizenship and safety
-Creon tries to take O and daughters
(stopped by Theseus)
-Polynices tries to take him as well
-curse on sons (kill each other in battle)
-blessings on daughters
-mysterious apotheosis (taken to heaven
by Zeus – Disappears in a flash)
The Theban Saga
1. Background:
3. Significance
a) The curse becomes a blessing
-Oedipus cleansed by Zeus (no intent)
-heroic despite his fate (still has free will)
-accept fate, and work with it
"Let us not fight necessity"
-make his death a gift to Athens
The Theban Saga
1. Background:
3. Significance
b) An example of Athenian myth napping
-take story of Oedipus and turn it into
a blessing for Athens
-ensure victory in a future war with
Thebes
c) Prominence of the feminine
The Theban Saga
1. Background:
3. Significance
c) Prominence of the feminine
-daughters are devoted and virtuous
-support father
-make sacrifices (piety)
-withstand hardships
-selfless vs selfish brothers
The Theban Saga
C) Antigone
1. Background:
-death of the sons of Oedipus (Seven
against Thebes)
-Eteocles and Polynices kill each other,
leaving their uncle, Creon, as King of
Thebes
-Antigone and Ismene return to Thebes and
wish to bury their brothers
The Theban Saga
C) Antigone
2. Story: Creon v. Antigone
-Creon refuses to bury Polynices (traitor)
-sacrilege
-Antigone buries him with 3 handfuls of dust
-did what the gods required (right) versus
what Creon decreed (law)
-Creon orders her buried alive in a tomb for
defying him
The Theban Saga
C) Antigone
“Yes, for it was not Zeus who gave me this
decree, nor did Justice, the companion of the
gods below, define such laws for human
beings. Nor did I think that your decrees
were so strong that you, a mortal man, could
overrule the unwritten and unshaken laws of
the gods.”
-Antigone to Creon
The Theban Saga
C) Antigone
-Antigone hangs self in tomb
-Haemon, Antigone’s betrothed and Creon’s
son, finds her and kills himself with a sword
-Eurydice, Creon’s wife, hears of this and
kills herself
-Creon changes his mind (convinced by
Tiresias), but is too late
The Theban Saga
C) Antigone
3. Significance:
a) Politics: setting of the Athenian democracy
-Theban tyrant results in suffering and evil
-Athenian democracy does not
b) Antigone as masculine hero
-face death versus dishonor the gods
-consistent strength of character
c) Cannot defy the Will of the Gods
-family trait?
The Theban Saga
III. Seven Against Thebes
A) Prelude to Battle: Polynices gathers
seven heroes at Argos
B) Battle: Menoeceus sacrifices himself to
atone for serpent and city is preserved;
Polynices and Eteocles kill each other
C) Aftermath (Euripides Suppliant Women):
Theseus buries bodies of seven
The Theban Saga
III. Seven Against Thebes (Aeschylus)
A) Prelude to Battle:
-Polynices gathers an army, lead by
seven heroes, at Argos
-prophecy that the only hero who would
survive was Adrastus
The Theban Saga
B) Battle:
-each Hero attacks one of the seven gates
of
Thebes (defended by seven Theban heroes)
-Tiresias prophecy that one of the Spartoi
must sacrifice himself to save the city and
atone for the killing Ares’ serpent by
Cadmus (and remove the curse)
-Menoeceus, Creon’s son, sacrifices himself
to atone for serpent and city is
preserved
- Polynices and Eteocles kill each other
The Theban Saga
C) Aftermath (Euripides Suppliant Women):

-Adrastus and mothers of the fallen Argive
heroes go to Athens as suppliants
-beg King Theseus to attack Thebes and return
the bodies of their dead for proper burial
-Theseus is triumphant and buries the bodies
of the seven with proper rites, sacrifices and
honors
CLAS 104
Lecture #16
THE MYCENEAN SAGA

Events:
Trial of Orestes
People:
Tantalus Pelops
Atreus Hippodamia
Thyestes Pelopia
Aegisthus Agamemnon
Clytemnestra Iphigenia
Orestes Cassandra
Curse of the House of Atreus Punishment of Tantalus
Curse of Myrtilus Thyestian Feast
Furies/Eumenides Areopagus
The Mycenean Saga
INTRO: the curse of the House of Atreus
-Legends of Mycenae focus on the House
of Atreus
-Agamemnon is its greatest king and
leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War
-great grandson of Tantalus, grandson of
Pelops, son of Atreus
-sins of the ancestors afflict multiple
generations
The Mycenean Saga
I. PELOPIAD (Pelops)
A) Tantalus (Pelops’ father):
-Tantalus, son of Zeus and King of Lydia, in
northern Asia Minor
-regularly hosted the gods for meals, and he
also feasted at Olympus
-stole nectar and ambrosia from Olympus
-hoped to make his people immortal and learn
their divine secrets
The Mycenean Saga
-made a human sacrifice of his son, Pelops, to
the gods
-note: gods hate human sacrifice
-boiled Pelops and served it to the gods
-Olympians discover this sacrilege and do not
eat
-Demeter is distraught over Persephone, is
distracted, and eats the shoulder of Pelops
The Mycenean Saga
-Pelops resurrected and given an ivory
shoulder
-Tantalus cast down into the lowest levels of
Tartarus (for the greatest evildoers)
-punished/cursed for his many crimes with
eternal hunger and thirst
-stand in water that recedes from his mouth,
and under a tree of ripe fruit that is just out of
reach
-note: origin of the word “Tantalise”
The Mycenean Saga
B) Hippodamia (Pelops’ wife):
-Pelops taken to Olympus after his resurrection
-apprentice of Poseidon and taught how to
drive the divine chariot
-thrown from Olympus by Zeus when Tantalus’
theft of nectar and ambrosia was discovered
The Mycenean Saga
-Pelops wishes to marry Hippodamia, daughter
of King Oenomaus of Pisa (near Olympia)
-must chariot race the king and win to marry her
-13 others had tried, lost and were killed
-their heads adorn the palace
-Oenomaus afraid of a prophecy that said he
would be killed by his son-in-law
The Mycenean Saga
-two versions:
1) Pelops prays to Poseidon (his former lover)
for help
-granted a chariot pulled by winged horses
2) Bribes Oenamaus charioteer, Myrtilus (son of
Hermes) to remove the chariot linchpin
-in return he will get half the kingdom and the
first night with Hippodamia
-in both versions Pelops wins and Oenomaus
dies
The Mycenean Saga
C) The Curse of Myrtilus
-Pelops, Hippodamia and Myrtilus leave Pisa
-Myrtilus attempts to have sex with
Hippodamia the first night, as was agreed
-she was not aware of this and resisted
-Pelops tosses Myrtilus off a cliff into the sea
-as Mytilus fell he cursed Pelops and his
descendants
-curse and blood-guilt for Myrtilus’ murder now
on the House of Atreus
The Mycenean Saga
II. ATREUS & THYESTES
A) Contest for the Kingdom:
-Atreus and Thyestes (twins) are the sons of
Pelops and Hippodamia
-exiled from Olympia for killing their brother
Chrysippus in their desire for the throne
-they took refuge in Mycenae
-kingdom of Mycenae offered to “a son of
Pelops” in an oracle
-brothers become rivals
-possessor of golden-fleeced ram will become
king
The Mycenean Saga
A) Contest for the Kingdom:
-Pan brought golden fleece to Atreus
-Thyestes seduce Atreus’ wife, Aerope, and
gets her to give him the fleece
-Thyestes appears in public with the fleece and
is made king
-Atreus banished
-Thyestes agrees to give up the throne when
the sun runs backwards
-Zeus does this to support Atreus
-Atreus later returns and exiles Thyestes
The Mycenean Saga
B) Thyestean Banquet:
-Atreus invites Thyestes back to reconcile
-kills Thyestes’ 3 son and cooks them (except
hands and feet)
-feeds them to Thyestes (and taunts with hands
and feet)
-”Thyestian Feast”
-realizes what happened (still a crime)
-flees in exile, and curses his brother
The Mycenean Saga
B) Thyestes and Pelopia:
-Thyestes swore revenge against Atreus
-oracle tells him that if he has a son by his own
daughter, Pelopia, he will kill Atreus
-Pelopia living in exile in Sicyon at the court of
king Thesprotus
-Thyestes disguises self and rapes Pelopia
-she takes his sword
-Atreus arrives later, thinks she is a daughter of
the king, and asks to marry her (he agrees!)
The Mycenean Saga
B) Thyestes and Pelopia:
-Pelopia gives birth to Aegisthus
-abandons him (goat suckles him)
-shepherd finds him and gives him to Atreus,
who raises him as his own
-Thyestes captured by Agamemnon and
Menelaus (Atreus’ sons) and brought to Atreus
-Atreus sends adult Aegisthus to kill him
-Atreus, Pelopia & Thyestes recognize the
sword and put the pieces together!!!!
-Pelopia stabs self, Aegisthus stabs Atreus &
Thysetes becomes king
The Mycenean Saga
III. AGAMEMNON (son of Atreus) &
AEGISTHUS (son of Thyestes)
A) Agamemnon’s family:
-Agamemnon and Menelaus sons of Atreus
and Pelopia
-Agamemnon & Menelaus live in exile in
Sparta, until they overthrow Thyestes
-Agamemnon became King of Olympia
-Menelaus returned to Sparta, married Helen,
and became king of Sparta…..but that’s
another story!
The Mycenean Saga
III. AGAMEMNON (son of Atreus) &
AEGISTHUS (son of Thyestes)
A) Agamemnon’s family:
-marries Clytemnestra, daughter of King
Tyndareus of Sparta (and Helen’s sister)
-1 son (Orestes) and 3 daughters (Electra,
Iphigenia & Chrysothemis)
-Agamemnon trying to sail his army to Troy
(Trojan War), but ill winds and plague beach
his army (he killed a sacred animal of Artemis)
-sacrifice Iphigenia to Artemis to stop plague
and get fair winds
The Mycenean Saga
III. AGAMEMNON & AEGISTHUS
B) The Revenge of Clytemnestra and/or
Aegisthus (cf. esp. Aeschylus’
Agamemnon)
-Clytemnestra swore her hatred and revenge
on Agamemnon
-becomes the lover of Aegisthus (son of
Thyestes, and Agamemnon’s step-brother
and cousin)
-both plot their revenge on Agamemnon
The Mycenean Saga
Aegisthus (cf. esp. Aeschylus’ Agamemnon)
-Agamemnon returns home from the Trojan
War (10 years gone)
-brings with him the prophetess Cassandra
(daughter of King Priam of Troy) as a prize
-curse to have true prophesies, but never
believed
-she tries to warn Agamemnon (hubris wins
out)
The Mycenean Saga
Aegisthus (cf. esp. Aeschylus’ Agamemnon)
-version 1: Clytemnestra & Aegisthus hold a
banquet for Agamemnon and
murder him and Cassandra
-version 2: Clytemnestra ensnares
Agamemnon in his bath tub and
stabs him, then kills Cassandra
-Clytemnestra & Aegisthus take the throne
The Mycenean Saga
IV. ELECTRA & ORESTES
A) Revenge on Clytemnestra (Aeschylus’
Libation Bearers):
-Orestes living in exile in Athens
-has duty to avenge father
-Apollo commands him to carry out his duty
-7 years after Agamemnon’s death he returns
to Mycenae
-meets Electra at his father’s grave and they
plan to avenge him
Orestes kills Aegisthus, then Clytemnestra
The Mycenean Saga
A) Revenge on Clytemnestra (Aeschylus’
Libation Bearers):
-Orestes’ dilemma: has avenged his father and
obeyed Apollo (pious act), but now guilty of
matricide (sinful act)
-now becomes a target of the 3 Furies
(avengers of victims of murder)
-they drive Orestes into exile
The Mycenean Saga
B) Fate of Orestes (Aeschylus’ Eumenides)
1. Story:
-Apollo aids Orestes to flee to Athens
-Furies pursue and demand justice
-Orestes pleads to Athena for help
-she sets up a jury of 12 citizens (court of the
Areopagus) and presides as judge
-Apollo pleads his case
-Furies demand justice and plead their case
The Mycenean Saga
1. Story:
-jury tied, and Athena casts vote in favor of
Orestes
“on the grounds that the killing of a mother
does not outweigh the murder of a husband
and father and that the son’s duty towards a
father outweighs all other relationships”.
(Classical Mythology, 11th ed. p.443)
The Mycenean Saga
1. Story:
-Furies appeased and will be worshipped in
Athens as the Eumenides (“The Kindly
Ones”)
-Curse of the House of Atreus comes to an
end
-Cases now will be carried out in court, not
through personal vengeance
The Mycenean Saga
B) Fate of Orestes
2. Significance:
a) another instance of mythnapping
b) political implications of story: the

controversy of the Areopagus
-justice taken out of the hands of family
-justice delivered by impartial judges
-justice through retaliation creates a cycle
of revenge killings
The Mycenean Saga
B) Fate of Orestes
2. Significance:
b) political implications of story (continued):
-Athena does not forgive Orestes and warn
off the Furies, she holds a trial
-civilized reason overthrows chaotic emotion
-sets of the practice of jury trials and
determining verdicts
Note: the Areopagus was, historically, reduced
to religious duties and trying murder cases
The Mycenean Saga
C) Alternate account: in Euripides’ Iphigenia in
Tauris
-not all the Furies accept Athena’s verdict
-Orestes flees to Delphi (Apollo gives a quest)
-sent to Tauri (Crimea) to fetch a wooden
statue of Artemis
-captured and handed over to priestess of
Artemis (who turns out to be Iphigenia!)
-Artemis saved her from death at the last
moment and brought her here
The Mycenean Saga
C) Alternate account: in Euripides’ Iphigenia in
Tauris
-Orestes and Iphigenia steal statue of Artemis
-Athena helps them escape from King Thaos of
Tauri
-dedicate the statue of Artemis in Attica
-Orestes returns to Mycenae
-Iphigenia remains in Attica as a priestess of
Artemis
-curse of the House of Atreus is lifted
CLAS 104
Lecture #17
THE TROJAN SAGA

& THE ILIAD
Events:
The Judgement of Paris Sacrifice of Polyxena
The Wrath of Achilles
People:
Thetis Paris
Priam Hector
Hecuba Helen
Agamemnon Menelaus
Odysseus Ajax the Greater
Achilles Patroclus
Aeneas Glaucus
Diomedes Sarpedon
Cassandra Nestor
Briseis Sinon
”kallisti” hereditary guest-friends
“arete” Bow of Heracles
The Trojan Horse
The Trojan Saga & the Iliad
I. JUDGEMENT OF PARIS
A) Wedding of Thetis & Peleus:
-only Eris (goddess of strife) not invited
-Golden Apple of Discord arrives
-”kallisti” (“for the most beautiful”)
-Athena, Hera, Aphrodite
-Zeus has Paris judge
A) Wedding of Thetis & Peleus:
-Paris asked all to disrobe (still a tie)
-Athena offers battle skills, wisdom and the
abilities of the greatest warriors
-Hera offers all of Europe and Asia
-Aphrodite offers the love of Helen, the most
beautiful woman
-Paris chooses Aphrodite over Hera and Athena
-Helen already married to King Menelaus of Sparta
(she didn’t tell Paris that!)
B) Paris: Birth & Exposure
-Mother, Hecuba, Queen of Troy
-dreamed she would give birth to a
“firebrand” that would destroy Troy
-soothsayer = her baby would destroy Troy
-baby exposed on Mt Ida by King Priam’s
shepherd
-suckled by a bear
B) Paris: Birth & Exposure
-found 9 days later by the shepherd, who raised
him as his own
-carried in his backpack (pera), so called Paris
-as a child he routed a gang of cattle thieves and
became known as Alexander (“protector of men”)
-recognized and raised as a Prince of Troy
-exceptionally beautiful and intelligent
-a lesser hero (archer)
C) Helen:
1. Birth:
-Zeus seduces Queen Leda of Sparta (as a swan),
the same night King Tyndareus slept with her
-she bore two eggs
-Helen & Polydeuces, children of Zeus
-Castor and Clytemnestra children of King
Tyndareus of Sparta
-Clytemnestra married King Agamemnon of
Mycenae
-Helen the most beautiful of women
2. Marriage & Seduction
-many Greek Princes wanted to marry her
-chose Menelaus (who became king of Sparta)
-suitors swore to respect her decision and
support Menelaus if he needed assistance
-gave birth to Hermione, by Menelaus
-Paris visits Sparta while Menelaus is in Crete
-seduces Helen and takes her back to Troy
-Menelaus calls on Greek suitors for help
-Aphrodite also neglected to share that with
Paris!
2. Marriage & Seduction
Alternate Version:
-7th century BCE poet Stesichorus’ Palinode
-retract view that the war is all Helen’s fault
-Paris stops in Egypt on the way to Troy
-King Proteus detains her in Egypt
-a phantom of Helen went to Troy with Paris
-Menelaus picked Helen up after the Trojan
War
-Zeus wanted a major war to help reduce the
population of the earth!
II. LEADERS IN THE WAR: TROJANS
A) Priam, King of Troy
1. Apollo and Poseidon (disguised as mortals),
build the walls of Troy for King Laomedon
-Laomedon cheats them of their pay
-Apollo sends a plague, and Poseidon a sea
monster, to harass Troy
-oracles advise letting the sea monster eat
Laomedon’s daughter, Hesione, to break the
curse
Accession: Heracles overthrows Laomedon
1. Heracles arrives and agrees to kill the sea
monster and save Hesione in return for
Laomedon’s immortal horses (a gift from
Zeus)
-he agrees, then cheats Heracles
-Heracles returns with an army, kills Laomedon
-Hesione becomes the wife of Heracles’ friend,
Telamon, and gives birth to Teucer
-Laomedon’s son, Podarces, spared and
becomes King Priam of Troy (change name)
1. Priam has 50 sons and 12 (or 50) daughters
-19 children by his second wife, Hecuba
2. Character:
-noble king who suffers loss of sons
-revere the gods
-does his duty to his family and city
-becomes a sad, tragic figure
B) Hector, the Protector
1. Family:
-Andromache & Astyanax
2. Character:
-courageous but fatally foolhardy
-greatest champion of the Trojans
3. His Funeral
-9 days of mourning in Troy and put on a
massive funeral pyre on day 10
- Truce of Achilles during this time
-Hector’s death/pyre foretells the fate of Troy
And his loving father laughed, his mother laughed as
well, and glorious Hector, quickly lifting the helmet from
His head, set it down on the ground, fiery in the sunlight,
and raising his son he kissed him, tossed him in his
arms, lifting a prayer to Zeus and the other deathless
gods:
“Zeus, all you immortals! Grant this boy, my son, may be
like me, first in glory among the Trojans, strong and
Brave like me, and rule all Troy in power and one day let
them say, ‘He is a better man than his father!’--when he
comes home from battle bearing the bloody gear of the
mortal enemy he has killed in war--a joy to his mother’s
heart.”
(Robert Fagles)
C) Aeneas, hope for the future
-a prince of another branch of Trojan royalty
-father Anchises and mother Aphrodite
-a brave warrior
-fights Achilles in single combat, but is saved
by Poseidon
-Poseidon prophesizes that Aeneas and his
descendants will be the future rulers of Troy
-Vergil depicts this in the Aeneid
So come, let us rescue him from death ourselves,
for fear the son of Cronus might just tower in rage
if Achilles kills this man. He is destined to survive.
Yes, so the generation of Dardanus will not perish,
obliterated without an heir, without a trace:
Dardanus, dearest to Zeus of all the sons that
mortal women brought to birth for Father. Now he
has come to hate the generation of Priam, and
now Aeneas will rule the men of Troy in power--
his sons’ sons and the sons born in future years.”
(Robert Fagles)
D) The Lycians
1. Lycians the most important allies of Troy
-lead by Glaucus and Sarpedon
-meets Diomedes on the battlefield
-realized they were hereditary guest-friends
-exchanged armor and did not fight each
other
-Glaucus gives gold armour (worth 100 oxen)
for Diomedes’ bronze armour (worth 9 oxen)
-killed by Ajax (son of Telamon) during the
battle over the corpse of Achilles
Splendid! You are my friend, my guest from the
days of our grandfathers long ago!
Noble Oeneus hosted your brave Bellerophon
once…and they gave each other handsome gifts
of friendship…
Come, let us keep clear of each other’s spears,
even there in the thick of battle. Look plenty of
Trojans there for me to kill, your famous allies,
too, any soldier the god will bring in range or I
can run to ground. And plenty of Argives too—kill
them if you can. But let’s trade armor. The men
must know our claim: we are sworn friends from
our fathers’ days till now!”
D) The Lycians
2. Sarpedon
a) Son of Zeus
-the heroism of the foremost leader
-second only to Hector among the Trojans
-great nobility of spirit and purpose
-shows heroic arete (excellence)
-his speech to Glaucus as they attack the
Greek camp shows him to be the leader
of a community
“Glaucus, why do they hold us both in honour, first
by far with pride of place, choice meats and
brimming cups, in Lycia where all our people look
on us like gods?Why make us lords of estates
along the Xanthus’ banks, rich in vineyards and
plowland rolling wheat? So that now the duty’s
ours—we are the ones to head our Lycian front,
brace and fling ourselves in the blaze of war, so a
comrade strapped in combat gear may say, ‘not
without fame, the men who rule in Lycia, these
kings of ours who eat fat cuts of lamb and drink
sweet wine, the finest stock we have. But they
owe it all to their fighting strength—our great men
of war, they lead our way in battle.’” (R. Fagles)
D) The Lycians
2. Sarpedon
b) Doomed to die
-Zeus saw his fate/destiny (moira)
-destined to die in battle
-could not change his fate without upsetting
the order of things (spin off of effect)
-dripping blood on the earth before his death
to honor him
-after he is killed by Patroclus, Zeus has
Apollo save his body and take it home
E) Daughters of Priam
1. Cassandra
-lover of Apollo
-he gave her the gift of prophecy
-she rejected him
-he then added that nobody would believe
her
-foretold the Trojan Horse and fall of Troy, but
was ignored
-taken as a prize by Agamemnon, and
murdered in Mycenae by Clytemnestra
E) Daughters of Priam
2. Polyxena
-youngest daughter of Priam & Hecuba
-captured by Achilles
-comforted him while he mourned Patroclus
-told her of his vulnerability, which lead to his
death (Euripides’ Trojan Women)
-later sacrificed by the Greeks over the tomb
of Achilles (to get winds to go home)
-she went willingly as a noble, virgin sacrifice
-//Iphigenia
III. LEADERS IN THE WAR: GREEKS
Note: Greeks called Achaeans
A) Agamemnon:
-King of Mycenae, brother of Menelaus, and
leader of the Greeks
-unopposably powerful, but not the best warrior
or very noble
-inspires terror, as reflected on his shield
“The grim-looking Gorgon with her terrifying gaze,
and around the shield Terror and Fear. And on the
strap coiled a dark serpent, and it had three heads
turning all ways, growing from one neck.”
Iliad, Book 11 (36-40)
B) Menelaus:
-King of Sparta and husband of Helen
-Son-in-law of Zeus (and bound for Elysium as
a result!)
-the insult to him is the cause of the Trojan War
-a brave leader in contrast to Paris in their duel
-Paris has to be saved by Aphrodite
C) Nestor:
-King of Pylos
-oldest and wisest of the Greek leaders
-a wise advisor (though a braggart!)
-many tales about “the old days” and the
wisdom of his youth, versus the
impetuous nature of the younger princes
-he “gave no ground to withering old age.”
D) Ajax:
-epithet “The Greater” (vs Ajax the Lesser)
-second only to Achilles among the Greeks
-the stalwart defender, last to give ground,
always the rearguard in retreat
-Cf. Achilles (defensive v. offensive hero)
-Cf. with Odysseus (brawn v. brains)
-a warrior of simple, gruff words, versus the
eloquence of Odysseus (loses Armour of
Achilles)
-his suicide makes him a truly tragic figure
E) Odysseus:
-King of Ithaca
-tried to avoid going to Troy by pretending
madness (yoke an ox and an ass, and sow
field with salt/not plow over son)
-brave, heroic and wise in council
-very eloquent and a clever trickster
“This is crafty Odysseus, son of Laertes, who was
raised in the land of Ithaca, rocky though it is. He
knows all kinds of deceit and clever plans.”
Iliad, Book 3 (200-202)
F) Achilles:
-educated by Chiron the centaur
-Prophecy: Troy would not fall without Achilles
-mom knew he could live long (without glory) or
die young (with glory)
-dresses him as a girl to hide him among the
daughters of King Lycomedes of Scyros
-Odysseus and Diomedes bring gifts and
weapons/armour to the “daughters” (trumpet)
-proved to be the mightiest warrior at Troy
-immortality gained by eternal fame
F) Achilles:
-Prince of the Myrmidons
-son of Peleus and Thetis (nymph)
-greatest, swiftest and most handsome of the
Greek warriors
-quest for immortality: mother tries to make him
immortal as baby, as teen
-Roast in fire by night/anoint with ambrosia by
day, or dip in the River Styx
-Achilles Heal
-immortality gained by eternal fame
G) Patroclus:
-great friend of the great warrior Achilles
-backstory: exiled for murder (dice game)
-taken in by Peleus and raised as his son and
Achilles’ companion
-great warrior as well
-older than Achilles and his confidant
-erastes (older lover) to Achilles’ eromenos
(“beloved”)?
-he brings out Achilles more sensitive side
H) Diomedes:
-King of Argos
-second to Agamemnon in power & prestige
-wise counselor and favored by Athena
-the balanced warrior?
-strong enough to battle the gods (with Athena)
-obeys Athena (wounds Aphrodite and Ares),
and Apollo (relents in his onslaught = humility)
-steal Palladium with Odysseus
-finds a poor reception when he gets home
because of Aphrodite (sent into exile by wife)
IV. THE ILIAD
A) Theme:
-The Wrath of Achilles
-Siege of Troy had gone on for over 9 years
-Epic only covers 3 weeks towards the end of
the siege
-many of the other details and backstories come
to us through other myths and plays
“Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’
son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost
the Achaeans countless losses, hurling down
to the House of Death so many sturdy souls,
great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies
carrion, feasts for the dogs and birds,and the
will of Zeus was moving toward its end.
Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and

clashed, Agamemnon lord of men and
brilliant Achilles.”
Iliad, Book 1 (1-7)
IV. THE ILIAD
B) Origin of the “Wrath”:
-dispute between Agamemnon and Achilles
over Briseis
-wealth and prisoners taken in the war are
divided among the Greeks
-Agamemnon has taken Chryseis, daughter of
Chryses, priest of Apollo as a prize
-he refuses to ransom her, so Chryses prays to
Apollo, who brings a plague down on the
Greek army
IV. THE ILIAD
B) Origin of the “Wrath”:
-Agamemnon forced to give up Chryses
without a ransom
-then takes Briseis away from Achilles for
himself
-she had been Achilles’ prize and he loved
her greatly
-this humiliation/dishonor damages his arete
-Achilles and the Myrmidons refuse to fight
-Athena convinces Achilles not to attack
Agamemnon or go back to Greece
IV. THE ILIAD
C) Smouldering Wrath:
-Achilles sits out the battle until his honor is
restored
-Thetis convinces Zeus to not intervene and
grant the Trojans success while Achilles stays
in camp
-Zeus nods his head in consent
-Hector becomes the dominant force on the
battlefield, and the Greeks are slaughtered
-Hector’s success illustrates Achilles’ value
“So he decreed. And Zeus the son of
Cronus bowed his craggy dark brows and
the deathless locks came pouring down from
the thunderhead of the great immortal king
and giant shock waves spread through all
Olympus.”
IV. THE ILIAD
D) Raging Wrath = Death of Patroclus
-Agamemnon (and others) try to bribe Achilles
to come back to battle
-Hector attacks the Greek ships
-Patroclus asks permission to wear Achilles’
armour and inspire the men (don’t fight Hector!)
-he defeats all before him, but goes too far
-attacks Apollo and won’t back down (hubris)
-stunned by Apollo and killed by Hector
-his death enrages Achilles and drives him back
into the fight (anger, grief, guilt, remorse, etc)
IV. THE ILIAD
E) Outrageous Wrath
-Agamemnon returns Briseis with costly gifts
-Hector spoiled Patroclus’ corpse and put on the
armour of Achilles
-Achilles drives the Trojans back to their walls
and fights Hector in single combat
-Achilles would eat Hector raw
-kills him, aided by Athena (// fate of Troy)
-Achilles defiles the body of Hector (dragged
him behind his chariot for 12 days for the
funeral of Patroclus)
IV. THE ILIAD
F) Wrath Appeased
-Thetis, Zeus and Hermes convince Achilles to
stop and meet with Priam
-Priam begs Achilles to ransom Hector
-both cry and share in their common suffering
-Achilles shows compassion and gets some
perspective on his own fate (Hector is the
Trojan Achilles)
-Priam takes Hector to Troy
-9 day funeral
-Andromache, Hecuba & Helen pour libations
V. Fall of Troy
A) Death of Achilles
-without Hector present, Achilles decimates
various Trojan troops (ie Amazons, Ethiopians)
-Paris kills Achilles by shooting a poison arrow,
guided by Apollo, into his heal
-arrow and poison are both cowardly attacks!
-a battle takes place to recover his body
-Ajax the Greater retrieves it
-given a spectacular funeral
-Agamemnon’s ghost describes the funeral to
Achilles’ ghost in the Odyssey.
“For seventeen days and nights,
immortal gods and mortal men, we wept
for you. On the eighteenth we gave you
to burning fire, and we sacrificed flocks
of fat sheep. You were burned in the
clothing of the gods, anointed with oil
and sweet honey. Many of the Achaean
heroes paraded in armor around the
burning pyre, men on foot and horseback,
and a loud roar arose.” Odyssey 24. 63-70
V. Fall of Troy
B) Philoctetes and the Bow of Heracles
-Philoctetes was a famed archer, who was
given the bow and poisoned arrows of
Heracles, and a lesser Greek hero
-on the way to Troy he received a festering,
fatal snakebite on his heal, and was left on the
island of Lemnos
-Helenus, the prophet son of King Priam, was
captured
-told Odysseus that Philoctetes must be brought
back from Lemnos as one of the conditions to
bring about the fall of Troy
V. Fall of Troy
B) Philoctetes and the Bow of Heracles
-Philoctetes had lived on the island alone for

over 9 years
-all thought he was dead
-Heracles came down from Olympus and told
him to go to Troy
-Odysseus brings him to Troy, and his wound is
healed by Podalirius, the son of Asclepius
-later challenged Paris to combat and killed him
V. Fall of Troy
C) The Trojan Horse(with an Oscar to Sinon)
-no end in sight of the siege
-Athena gives Odysseus the idea for the
Wooden Horse
-Greek heroes hidden in the horse
-Greek fleet sails away (just out of sight)
-Sinon left behind as a “traitor”
-Horse a gift to Athena
-if taken in the city, it would never fall (too big)
-Cassandra saw the truth (ignored)
-Laocoon, priest of Apollo, hurled a spear at the
horse (hollow), and killed by two sea serpents
V. Fall of Troy
D) The Sack of Troy
-Trojans knock down part of the wall and take
Wooden Horse into the city
-great celebration that night
-Sinon lets heroes out of the horse
-Greek fleet returnsno end in sight of the siege
-Athena gives Odysseus the idea for the
Wooden Horse
-city pillaged, women enslaved, men killed
-only Aeneas, Ancises (dad) and Ascanius(son)
escape
CLAS 104
Lecture #18
THE RETURNS &

THE ODYSSEY
Events:
“I am Nobody” Penelope’s test for Suitors
Penelope’s test for Odysseus Slaughter of the Suitors
People:
Diomedes Idomeneus
Philoctetes Neoptolemus
Telemachus Calypso
Penelope Suitors
Lotus Eaters Polyphemus
Laestrygonians Telegonus
Telemachus Circe
“Nostoi” Island of Aeolus
“Homophrosyne” “periphron”
I. THE RETURNS (Nostoi)
A) Agamemnon (with Ajax the lesser)
-Greek army divides the spoils of Troy and go
their separate ways to return home
-Agamemnon and Ajax leave with their men
together
-Athena angered by Ajax and wrecks many of
the ships near the island of Mykonos
-Ajax swims to a rock and boasts that not even
the gods could stop him from getting to shore
-Poseidon strike the rock and drowns him for the
blasphemy!
-after another storm, Agamemnon arrives
home
-wife Clytemnestra swore her hatred and
revenge on Agamemnon for sacrificing
Iphigenia
-becomes the lover of Aegisthus (son of
Thyestes, and Agamemnon’s step-brother
and cousin)
-both plot their revenge on Agamemnon
-Agamemnon returns home from the Trojan

War (10 years gone)
-brings with him the prophetess Cassandra
(daughter of King Priam of Troy) as a prize
-she tries to warn Agamemnon about
Clytemnestra (hubris wins out)
Version 1:
-Clytemnestra & Aegisthus hold a banquet for
Agamemnon and murder him and Cassandra
Version 2:
-Clytemnestra ensnares Agamemnon in his
bath tub and stabs him, then kills Cassandra
-Clytemnestra & Aegisthus take the throne
B) Nestor & Menelaus
-Nestor returns to Pylos safely
-he and his men did not take part in the
looting of Troy, so no gods were offended
and tried to stop him
-he entertains Odysseus’ son, Telemachus,
who wanted information on his father
-no information, but much feasting and long
stories!
B) Nestor & Menelaus
-Menealaus lost all but 5 of his ships in a
storm off Crete
-reached Egypt
-forces Proteus (“old man of the sea”) to tell
him how to appease the gods to get home
-Menelaus and Helen arrive home after
seven years
-resume their rule
C) Diomedes, Idomeneus, & Philoctetes are
all driven from their homes and seek
refuge in Italy
Diomedes:
-reaches Argos quickly, but driven away
-wife, Aegialia had been unfaithful (Aphrodite)
-Aphrodite upset he wounded her at Troy
-came to Italy, given land by King Daunus,
and founded several cities
-on his death, worshipped as a hero
C) Diomedes, Idomeneus, & Philoctetes are
all driven from their homes and seek
refuge in Italy
Idomeneus:
-returned to Crete
-wife, Meda, had been unfaithful with Leucus
-Leucus killed Meda and her daughter and
was king
-drove Idomeneus out to Calabria, Italy
C) Diomedes, Idomeneus, & Philoctetes
Philoctetes:
-returned to Thessaly, but was driven out by
his people
-arrived in southern Italy
Note: Historically, many parts of southern

Italy were colonized by the Greeks from the
8th c BCE onwards
D) Neoptolemus
-Achilles’ son (also called Pyrrhus)
-Thetis advised him to travel home by land
-left his home and settled in Epirus/Molossia
-ruled well as King of Epirus
-was killed at Delphi and had his own cult
Note: Alexander the Great’s claim of descent
from Achilles, through his mother Olympias
II. THE ODYSSEY
A) Theme:
-the struggle of Odysseus to regain his home
-must face many challenges, choices and
enemies to get there
-once there, new challenges face him before
he can find peace
-travels cover the Greek known, and the
unknown (ie Underworld) worlds
“Muse, speak to me now of that
resourceful man who wandered far and
wide after ravaging the sacred citadel of
Troy. He came to see many people’s
cities, where he learned their customs,
while on the sea his spirit suffered many
torments, as he fought to save his life
and lead his comrades home.”
II. THE ODYSSEY
B) Narrative Structure
1. Telemacheia (Books 1-4)

-Telemachus (son of Odysseus) tries to
assert control of his household
-bullied by suitors of his mother Penelope
-then goes in search of information to find
his father, on the advice of Athena
II. THE ODYSSEY
2. Calypso & Phaeacians (Books 5-8)

-Odysseus spends 7 years on Calypso’s
island (a beautiful sea nymph)
-Athena and Hermes assist him to leave
-shipwrecked and washed up on the
shores of the land of the Phaeacians
II. THE ODYSSEY
3. Narration of Adventures (Books 9-12)

-Odysseus tells the Phaeacians tales of all
of his adventures since leaving Troy
-they loan him a ship to get back home to
Ithaca
II. THE ODYSSEY
4. Back on Ithaca (Books 13-24)

-took Odysseus 10 years to get home
-aided by the swineherd, Eumaeus, and
Telemachus, Odysseus defeats the suitors
-regains his household
-reunited with his faithful wife Penelope
II. THE ODYSSEY
C) Narration of Adventures
1. Lotus Eaters
-Odysseus and his 12 ships leave Troy
-sacked the Thracian city of Ismarus, before
being driven off
-spared Maron, priest of Apollo, who gave then
12 jars of fragrant wine
-storm drives fleet to the land of the lotus-eaters
-those who ate the lotus fruit forgot everything
and did not want to leave
-Odysseus managed to get/drag his men away
II. THE ODYSSEY
2. Polyphemus the Cyclopes
-Odysseus lands on the island of the Cyclopes
-each lived in own cave
-Odysseus and 12 men entered the cave to
take supplies (sheep, lambs, cheeses, etc)
-Polyphemus the son of Zeus
-returns and blocks cave entrance with a huge
boulder
II. THE ODYSSEY
-eats 2 men for supper, two for breakfast, and
two more for supper
-Odysseus gave him some wine of Maron
-said his name was “Nobody” (Outis)
-drunk Polyphemus said he would eat Nobody
last
-sharpened a stake and put out Polyphemus’ eye
II. THE ODYSSEY
-”Nobody is killing me”
-tied men to underside of sheep to escape
-shouted his real name to Polyphemus as he
sailed away
-Polyphemus prayed to his father, Poseidon, for
revenge
“Grant that Odysseus may not return
home, but if it is fated for him once more
to see those he loves and reach his
home and country, then let him arrive
after many years, in distress, without his
companions, upon another’s ship, and
may he find trouble in his house….The
prayer was heard.”
(Odyssey 9. 530-536)
II. THE ODYSSEY
3. Island of Aeolus
-sailed to the floating island of Aeolus, keeper of
the winds
-gave him a leather bag containing all the winds
-showed which one to release to sail home
-almost home (within sight) and fell asleep
-men thought gold in the bag so opened it
-winds blow them back to Aeolus’ island
-Aeolus assume gods must hate them, so won’t
help them any more
II. THE ODYSSEY
4. Laestrygonians
-sailed by the island of the Laestrygonians
-southeast Sicily
-cannibal giants
-ships in the harbor smashed with rocks and crew
speared like fish
-11 of 12 ships and crews destroyed
-Odysseus not in the harbor and escapes with his
ship and crew
II. THE ODYSSEY
5. Circe
-last ship arrives at the island of Aeaea
-home of Circe (witch and daughter of the Sun
god, Helios)
-eating her food turned his men into swine
-Hermes gave Odysseus a moly root herb, to
counter Circe’s magic
-ate food, unharmed, and threatened her with his
sword when she did try to turn him into a swine
II. THE ODYSSEY
5. Circe
-would not eat her food until her turned his men
back (she did)
-stayed with her one year
-had son, Telegonus (“born afar”)
-men urge him to leave after a year
-Circe directs them to the Underworld, so they
could learn the way home from the dead prophet
Tiresias
II. THE ODYSSEY
5. Circe
-Odysseus visits Tiresias in the Underworld
-continues on his journey
-avoids the Sirens
-avoids the Planctae (two wandering, clashing
rocks)
-avoids Charybdis (sucking and spouting
whirlpool)
-avoids Scylla (12 tentacled sea monster), but
loses 6 men
II. THE ODYSSEY
6. Cattle of the Sun
-Circe told Odysseus of the island of Thrinacia
-Helios (Sun god) pastured his sheep and cattle
there
-told not to touch them if they wanted to go home
-men ate some cattle (sacrilege) while Odysseus
slept
-Helios asks Zeus to punish them
-lightning bolts destroy ship and all crew
-only Odysseus survives
“Muse, speak to me now of that resourceful man
who wandered far and wide after ravaging the
sacred citadel of Troy. He came to see many
people’s cities, where he learned their customs,
while on the sea his spirit suffered many
torments, as he fought to save his life and lead
his comrades home. But though he wanted to, he
could not rescue them—they all died from their
own stupidity, the fools. They feasted on the cattle
of Hyperion, god of the sun—that’s why he
snatched away their chance of getting home
someday. So now, daughter of Zeus, tell us his
story, starting anywhere you wish.”
II. THE ODYSSEY
7. Calypso
-drifted on the sea until he reached the island of
Ogygia
-home of Calypso, daughter of Atlas
-lived there for 7 years
-Calypso loved Odysseus and offered to make
him immortal (refused)
-he could not forget Penelope
-Zeus sends orders through Hermes to Calypso
to help Odysseus build a raft and sail away
“[Calypso] found him there on the headland,
sitting, still, weeping, his eyes never dry, his
sweet life flowing away with the tears he
wept for his foiled journey home, since the
nymph no longer pleased. In the nights,
true, he’d sleep with her in the arching cave-
-he had no choice--unwilling lover alongside
lover all too willing...But all his days he’d sit
on the rocks and beaches, wrenching his
heart with sobs and groans and anguish,
gazing out over the barren sea through
blinding tears.”
II. THE ODYSSEY
8. Phaeacians
-Odysseus gets near the island of Scheria
-Poseidon sends a storm to destroy his raft
-washed ashore and found by princess Nausicaa
-brings home to court of King Alcinous and
Queen Arete
-Odysseus tells the Phaeacians tales of all of his
adventures since leaving Troy
-they sail him back home to Ithaca (with gifts)
-Poseidon turns boat and crew to stone on way
home (still bitter!)
II. THE ODYSSEY
D) Back Home in Ithaca
1. Eumaeus and Telemachus
-100 suitors abusing Penelope’s hospitality
-she weaves a cloak for Laertes (Odysseus’
father) by day, and unravels parts by night
-will choose a husband when finished
-deception discovered in 4th year of weaving(!)
-now forced to make her choice
II. THE ODYSSEY
1. Eumaeus and Telemachus
-Athena disguises Odysseus as a beggar
-faithful swineherd, Eumaeus, hides him
-reveal self to Telemachus (return from journey)
-learned from Nestor in Pylos and Menelaus in
Sparta that Odysseus still alive
-old hound, Argus, recognized him after 19 years
away and drops dead
II. THE ODYSSEY
2. Slaughter of the suitors
-beggar Odysseus abused by suitors and
another beggar, Irus (whom he knocks out!)
-tells Penelope of Odysseus brooch
-she confides in him that she will test the suitors
next day (and shows her fidelity to Odysseus!)
-winner will be the one who can string Odysseus’
bow and shoot an arrow through a row of 12 axe
heads
-his old nurse, Euryclea recognizes him by a
scar on his thigh from a boar hunting accident
II. THE ODYSSEY
-next day no suitor can string the bow

-beggar Odysseus asked to try
-strings bow, shoots arrow through 12 axe heads
-Zeus/thunder signals his support
-Odysseus reveals self
-then kills lead suitor, Antinous
-they (Od., E, T, and Philoetius/cowherd) then
slaughter all the suitors, and disloyal servants,
aided by Athena
II. THE ODYSSEY
-only Medon, the herald, and Phemius, the

bard, were spared
-Penelope not recognize Odysseus at first
-tests him by asking servants to move his bed to
another room
-Odysseus says bed built around a living olive
tree (one post) and bedroom built around the
room
-she knows it is Odysseus, back after 20 years
II. THE ODYSSEY
3. Penelope: her wiles and her faithfulness
-faithful to Odysseus (vs Clytemnestra)
-his equal in intelligence, guile and loyalty
-uses this to hold suitors at bay
-Homophrosyne: "Being of the same mind"
-epithet is “periphron” (“circumspect”)
-wary and resourceful
-“I spin out my stratagems”
-uses her sexual charms to outwit the suitors
“Oh, son of Laertes, happy Odysseus,
a resourceful man, who won himself
a wife whose excellence was truly great.
How fine the heart in faultless Penelope,
daughter of Icarius! She remembered well
the husband she was married to,
Odysseus.
The story of her excellence will not die—
immortal gods will make a pleasing song
for men on earth about faithful Penelope.”
II. THE ODYSSEY
4. Resolution
a) on the human plane: effected by Athena
-Athena and Odysseus very similar in temperament
-is his patron goddess
-families of the suitors come for revenge
-Athena joins Odysseus and Laertes in the fight, then
calls an end to it
-Zeus sends a lightning bolt to reinforce Athena’s
commands for peace
II. THE ODYSSEY
4. Resolution
b) with the gods: planting of the oar and sacrifice
-Tiresias’ prophecy
-Odysseus takes an oar to where “you come to
men who know not the sea”
-makes a shrine to Poseidon and offerings to the
gods (at peace with the gods)
-will live a long, prosperous and content life,
“And death shall come to you easily, from the sea”
II. THE ODYSSEY
5. Death: peacefully from the sea by Telegonus
-Odysseus lives a long, prosperous life in Ithaca
-Telegonus leaves Circe, in search of his father
-arrived at Ithaca and was plundering the island
-Odysseus defends his possessions and is killed by
Telegonus
-neither recognized the other at the time
-Odysseus dies, the perfect archetype hero
CLAS 104
Lecture #19
PERSEUS
Events:
Golden Rain of Zeus Punishment of Danaus’ 49
People:
Perseus Acrisius
Danae Dictys
King Polydectes Graeae
Pegasus Chrysaor
Medusa Andromeda
King Cepheus Queen Cassiepea
King Megapenthes of Tiryns Io
Aegyptus and Danaus Hypermnestra
Divine gifts for Perseus
Argos and the Argolid
-Argos is the most important city of an area
known as the Argolid
-most myths about “Argos” really take place in
the “Argolid”
-the city of Argos proper was the greatest centre
in Greece for the worship pf Hera
-the Heraeum were the hill where Hera’s
sanctuary was located (centre of worship)
-Argives chose Hera over Poseidon and he dried
up their rivers (short of water ever since)
Perseus
INTRO: a different kind of hero?
-more of a folk hero
-ie magic birth to a princess, discovery as a
child, good king and evil brother, rash
promises followed by divine support to
achieve promises, magical aid, hideous
monsters, the advice of three old women,
vindication and punishment (good triumphs)
-more reconciled to the female
-wears his dual nature more lightly
Perseus
I. BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD
A) Birth: Acrisius, Danae and the golden rain
-twin sons Proetus and Acrisius quarreled
(even before their birth!)
-Proetus became king of Tiryns
-Acrisius became king of Argos
-Acrisius’ only child, Danae (daughter)
-oracle says her son will kill Acrisius
-Danae locked up in a bronze underground
chamber in the palace (cage open to the sky)
Perseus
-Zeus came to her in a shower of gold
-son, Perseus, results from this (hidden)
-only discovered 4 years later when Perseus’
laughter and playing is heard
-Acrisius refuses to believe it is the child of
Zeus
-seals both up in a chest and sets the chest
afloat in the sea
Perseus
Note: similar historical, mythological and religious

tales of a hero/leader suffering exposure on the sea
-becomes part of the folklore of great/important
individuals
-ie Sargon of Akkad
-ie Remus and Romulus
-ie Moses
Perseus
B) Seriphos: Dictys and King Polydectes
-chest floats to the island of Seriphos
-fisherman Dictys (“net”) finds chest and
gives them shelter in his home
-years go by
-Dictys’ brother is King Polydectes of
Seriphos
-he is in love with Danae and wishes to
marry her
-she refuses him repeatedly, and Perseus
tries to keep them apart
Perseus
B) Seriphos: Dictys and King Polydectes
-Polydectes holds a banquet and expects
every noble in the country to bring him the
gift of a horse
-Perseus says he would rather give him the
Gorgon’s head
-Polydectes sends him to do so (do not
return without it!)
-Perseus’ insult/boast backfires and gets him
out of the way
Perseus
II. QUEST (Hermes & Athena as helpers)
-Perseus leaves the city and is at a loss of how to
get out of this situation
-both Hermes and Athena come to offer advice
-Athena support since associated with Medusa?
“Breathing courage, Danae’s son joined the
company of blessed men, and Athena was his
guide.” (Pindar, Pythian Odes 10. 44-46)
Note: Hermes usually a Peloponnesian deity, and
Athena in Attica = Argolid between them (both
sides try to gain Argos support?)
Perseus
II. QUEST
A) Monsters
1. Graeae (Graiai)
-Hermes and Athena send him to the 3
sisters, the Graea (sisters of the
Gorgons)
-steals their one eye and tooth!
-tell him where to find the Gorgons
-tell him where to find the nymphs who
could give him the magical items to
accomplish the task
Perseus
II. QUEST
A) Monsters
2. Nymphs:
-The Hesperides are the nymphs
guarding Hera’s sacred orchard
(golden apples)
-Nymphs give him winged sandals, a
cap of invisibility, and a kibisis (pouch)
-Hermes gives him a scimitar
-Athena gives him a polished shield
Perseus
II. QUEST
A) Monsters
3. Gorgons (3)
-terrifying creatures
-look at their face and be turned to stone
-snakes for hair
-only Medusa mortal
-Medusa as chthonic (of the Underworld)
and Olympian (born of gods/nymphs)
-reversal of the castration of Ouranos
-symbolic descent into the underworld?
Perseus
II. QUEST
A) Monsters: 3. Gorgons (3)
-Perseus comes to their lair (Libya?)
-symbolic descent into the underworld?
-all sleeping
-looks at Medusa in the reflection of his shield
and cuts off her head
-puts it in the Kibisis (pouch)
-Pegasus and Chrysaor (“He of the Golden
Sword”) spring from her body (children of
Poseidon)
reversal of the castration of Ouranos
Perseus
II. QUEST
A) Monsters: 3. Gorgons (3)
-Medusa’s sisters awakened by the noise

and pursue Perseus
-uses winged sandals and cap of invisibility
to escape them
Perseus
II. QUEST
B) Returns
1. Andromeda and the sea monster
-Andromeda the daughter of King Cepheus
and Queen Cassiepea (in Ethiopia)
-Cassiepea brags that she is more beautiful
than the Nereids
-Poseidon sends a flood and sea monster
as punish the kingdom
-Cassiepea consults oracle of Zeus Ammon
-must chain Andromeda to a rock and
sacrifice her to the sea monster
Perseus
II. QUEST
B) Returns
1. Andromeda and the sea monster
-Perseus arrives
-willing to kill monster if he can marry
Andromeda
-kills monster and marries Andromeda
-kills her brother, Phineus, who was
betrothed to her, with the gorgon head
-had a son Perses
-left there to be heir to the throne
-Perseus and Andromeda return to
Seriphos
Perseus
II. QUEST
B) Returns
2. Back to Seriphos
-Danae and Dictys take refuge from
Polydectes at an altar
-Perseus shows gorgon head and turns
-Dictys made King of Seriphos
-Danae returns to Argos with Perseus and
Andromeda
-Perseus returns magical gifts to the gods,
and gave Athena the gorgon head to put
on her shield
Perseus
II. QUEST
B) Returns
3. Return to Argos:
-Acrisius hears of Perseus’ return and
fleas to Larissa, pursued by Perseus
-Perseus takes part in an athletic
competition and accidentally kills Acrisius
with a discuss
-Acrisius buried with honors
-Perseus spilled kindred blood, so cannot
go home
Perseus
II. QUEST
B) Returns
3. Return to Argos:
-Perseus goes to Tiryns
-exchanges kingdoms with King
Megapenthes of Tiryns
-as king of Tiryns, he will found Mycenae
-children of Perseus and Andromeda will
be kings of Mycenae
-also include Heracles and Eurystheus
among their descendants
Perseus
III. DEATH:
-apotheosis by becoming a constellation with
Andromeda
-the Perseus constellation lies near the
constellations Andromeda, Cepheus (King of
Ethiopia), Cassiopeia (Andromeda's mother),
Cetus (sea monster sent by Poseidon, and
Pegasus
Other Myths of Argos
I. IO
A) Inachus
-earliest legends of Argos associated with the
family of Inachus
-Io is the daughter of Inachus
-Zeus loves her
-Hera turns her into a white cow and has her
guarded by Argus (100 eyed giant)
-Zeus sends Hermes to cut off Argus’ head
-Hera sends a gadfly to torment her
-Io wanders until she comes to Egypt, is
returned to human form by Zeus, and gives
birth to Epaphus (ancestor or Heracles)
I. IO
B) Zeus and Io (Epaphus)
-through Epaphus, Io was to become the
founder of the royal families of Egypt, Argos,
Phoenicia, Thebes and Crete
II. DAUGHTERS OF DANAUS
A) Offspring of Epaphus: Belus and Agenor
-Epaphus founds many cities in Egypt,
including the royal city of Memphis
-daughter Libya (gave her name to the
country)
-had twins, Belus & Agenor
-Belus stayed in Egypt, and had twin sons,
Aegyptus and Danaus (bitter rivals)
-Agenor became the King of Phoenicia, father
of Cadmus (founder of Thebes), and Europa
(mother of the Cretan King Minos)
B) Offspring of Belus: Aegyptus and Danaus
-Aegyptus and Danaus quarrel over the

kingship of Egypt
-Danaus leaves and takes his 50 daughters (The
Danaids) with him
-settles peacefully in Argos and becomes king
-Aegyptus stays in Egypt with his 50 sons

C) Sons of Aegyptus and Daughters of Danaus
(kissing cousins, killing cousins)
-Aegyptus’ 50 sons claim right to marry their

cousin and come to Argos
-Danus gives each daughter a dagger to kill their
husband on their wedding night (49 do it!)
-Hypermnestra spares and hides her husband
Lynceus (“lynx-eyed”)
-Danaus imprisons her
C) Sons of Aegyptus and Daughters of Danaus
(kissing cousins, killing cousins)
-after a period of time, Danaus releases
Hypermnestra and reunites her with Lynceus
-gives birth to Abas (father of Proetus and
Acrisius)
-line of Argive kings from Inachus to Heracles
remains unbroken
-49 deadly daughters punished in the
Underworld by having to constantly fill leaky
jars
CLAS 104
Lecture #20
HERACLES
Events:
Snakes of Hera The Madness of Heracles
12 Labors of Heracles Heracles’ Death and Apotheosis
People:
Amphitryon Alcmena
Heracles Megara
King Eurystheus Iolaus
The Cercopes Meleager
Deianira Achelous the river-god
Eurytus Iole
Nessus the Centaur Queen Omphale
“Athloi” Heracles’ bow, club & lionskin
“Parergon”
Heracles (Hercules)
I. BIRTH
A) Parents: (Amphitryon) & Alcmena
1. death of Electryon and exile of A & A
-Amphitryon is the brother of King Electryon of
Mycenae
-Alcmena is the king’s daughter and wife of
Amphitryon
-Amphitron accidentally kills his brother
-exiled from Mycenae as punishment
-Amphitryon and Alcmena go to Thebes,
where he was purified by King Creon
Heracles (Hercules)
I. BIRTH
2. In Thebes: Amphitryon v. Pterelaus (Comaetho)
-Amphitryon campaigns against King Pterelaus (in
revenge for his attack on Mycenae and killing all
but one of Electryon’s sons)
-Pterelaus invincible and immortal due to a golden
hair on his head
-his daughter, Comaetho, falls in love with
Amphitryon, removes the golden hair from her
father, and he is defeated and killed
-Amphitryon kills her and returns to Thebes
Heracles (Hercules)
I. BIRTH
3. Victorious (but confusing) return
-Zeus disguises self as Amphitryon and sleeps
with Alcmena (1 night that is 3 nights in length!)
-Amphitryon returns home the next night and
Alcmena learns the truth
-they sleep together that night (the night after
Zeus’ visit)
Heracles (Hercules)
I. BIRTH
B) Siblings: Heracles (Alcides) & Iphicles
-Alcmena gives birth to twins
-Heracles (elder by one night) is the son of Zeus
-Heracles’ (“glory/pride of Hera”) birth name was
Alcides
-Iphicles (younger by one day) is the son of
Amphitryon
Heracles (Hercules)
I. BIRTH
C) Adversity
1.Birthright
-birth of Heracles begins a constant feature or
theme of his tales: the wrath of Hera towards him
-on the day Heracles was to be born, Zeus
boasted to the other gods
"Today Eileithyia [goddess in childbirth], will

bring to the light a man of my blood who shall
rule over all those that dwell around him."
Heracles (Hercules)
I. BIRTH
C) Adversity
1.Birthright
-Hera sent Eileithyia to:
-hasten the birth of the son of King Sthenelus
of Mycenae (wife 7 months pregnant)
-delay the birth of Heracles
-King Sthenelus’ son, Eurystheus (also the
grandson of Zeus) born that day
-Heracles born the next day (so Zeus thwarted
but the terms of his boast fulfilled)
Heracles (Hercules)
I. BIRTH
C) Adversity
2.Snakes
-Hera still upset she couldn’t stop the birth of
Heracles
-Heracles remarkably strong, even at birth
-Hera sends two snakes to kill him in his crib
-Heracles strangles them and survives the
assassination attempt
-the prophet Tiresias witnesses this, then
foretells his great adventures
Heracles (Hercules)
II. EARLY EXPLOITS
A) Education: Linus
-taught the finest skills by the finest tutors
-skills of a hero
-Amphitryon =chariot driving
-Autolycus = wrestling
-Eurytus = archery
-Linus = music and rhetoric
-Linus would strike Heracles with a rod when he
made mistakes
-Heracles struck him with his lyre, killing him
-found innocent, but father exiled him to the
pastures on Mt Cithaeron to perform labors
Heracles (Hercules)
II. EARLY EXPLOITS
B) Exile:
1. Lion: King Thespius and his 50 daughters
-killed a lion that was killing the cattle of
Amphitryon and King Thespius of Thespiae
-entertained by King Thespius
-slept with each of his 50 daughters for one night
(or all 50 in the same night!)
-Lead Theban army to defeat the Minyans (so
Thebes no longer had to pay tribute to them)
Heracles (Hercules)
II. EARLY EXPLOITS
B) Exile:
2. Marriage to Megara, and her violent death
-King Creon gave him his daughter, Megara, as a
bride in thanks for his services
-they had 3 children together
-Hera inflicts a bout of insanity on Heracles, during
which he kills his wife and children
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
A) Madness of Heracles:
1. Familicide:
-”guilty” of killing his entire family
-major social and religious crime
-kills king’s daughter and grandchildren
-recovers his sanity and leaves Thebes
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
A) Madness of Heracles:
2. Cleansing and Expiation:
-went to Thespiae, where King Thespius purified
him
-then went to Delphi for further advice from the
priestess of Apollo
-priestess of Apollo gives him the name “Heracles”
-told to go to Tiryns and serve King Eurystheus for
12 years (his cousin)
-he would impose labors on him
-upon completing these, he would be forgiven and
become immortal
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors: mainly against wild animals and
monsters
-Greek for labors is Athloi, which means a
contest for a prize
-in his case the prize is forgiveness and
immortality
-usually performs labors alone, but sometimes
assisted by Athena or his cousin Iolaus
-3 are conquests of death
-over last 6 labors he grows from a local hero to a
benefactor of all people
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors: mainly against wild animals and
monsters
“Heracles is, basically, not a heroic figure in the

Homeric sense: he is not a warrior fighting warriors,
he is mainly concerned with animals, just as he is a
savage clad in a skin; and his main job is to tame
and bring back animals which are eaten by man.”
(W. Burkert)
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
1. Nemean Lion: attributes
-must bring the skin of the lion to Eurystheus
-lion’s hide is invulnerable to weapons
-Heracles makes a club to stun it, then strangles
it to death
-uses lion’s own claws to cut off its hide
-both signs of a “thinking” hero
-Heracles often portrayed with his club and
wearing the lion skin in art and tales
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
2. Lernaean Hydra: poison
-lived in the Lerna swamp, near Argos
-had 8 mortal heads and 1 immortal head
-each time a head was cut off, two more grew
back
-it’s blood and bite were poisonous
-Hera also sent a huge crab to help the Hydra
-Heracles assisted in this labor by his nephew
Iolaus, son of Iphicles
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
2. Lernaean Hydra: poison
-Heracles kills the crab first
-as he cuts off a mortal head, Iolaus cauterized
the wound/neck stump with a burning torch
-no heads grow back
-immortal head cut off by a golden sword given to
him by Athena, and buried under a rock (still
alive!)
-dipped his arrows in the poison blood
-crab made into the constellation Cancer by Hera
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
3. Cerynean Hind
-Hind had golden horns, bronze hooves, could
outrun any arrow, and was sacred to Artemis
-a harmless animal, but protected by Artemis
-Hercules hunts it for a year before catching it
-Artemis finds him carrying the hind to
Eurystheus (very upset and vengeful!)
-he begged forgiveness and said that it was part
of his penance
-promised to release Hind once Eurystheus saw
he had completed the task
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
3. Cerynean Hind
-Artemis agrees
-Eurystheus upset since he thought Artemis
would kill Heracles for this outrage
-then told Heracles he wanted to keep the Hind
for his zoo
-Heracles tells him to come take it from him
-as he lets go of the Hind it runs away to Artemis
-Heracles tells him that he should have been
quicker!
-this only further angers Eurystheus
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
4. The Erymanthian Boar:
-a destructive terror on Mt Erymanthus
-had t be brought back alive
-Heracles traps it in deep snow and nets it
-Eurystheus so terrified of it he hides in a huge
jar!
-this labor involved a side adventure (parergon)
-was entertained by the centaur Pholus
-Pholus opened a huge jar of wine common to all
the centaurs
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
4. The Erymanthian Boar:
-it attracts all the centaurs, who attack Heracles
-Heracles scatters them across Greece
-Chiron, an immortal centaur, and is wounded by
one of Heracles’ poison arrows
-cannot die, but suffers incredible agony
-Prometheus convinces Zeus to let him take on
Chiron’s immortality and free him of his pain
-Zeus makes Chiron the constellation Centaurus
-Pholus examines an arrow, drops it on his foot,
and dies!
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
5. The Augean Stables:
-Augeas, was the son of Helius (the Sun) and king
of Elis
-stable of his massive herd of cattle had never been
cleaned out
-ordered to clean it out
-did it in one day by diverting two rivers to flow
through the stable
-Augeas had agreed to give him 1/10th of his heard
for the job
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
-reneged on the deal and expelled Heracles and his
own son, Phyleus (who agreed with Heracles)
Parergon: After his labors, Heracles returns to Elis

with an army, kills Augeas, and makes Phyleus king
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
Parergon: After his defeat of Augeas, he began the
Olympic Games in Honor of Zeus
-to be held every four years at Olympia
-marked out the stadium himself
-brought the first olive tree to Olympia (shade and
victor’s crown)
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
6. The Stymphalian Birds
-man-eating birds with bronze beaks, sharp metallic
feathers (that they could shoot at their prey!) they
could launch at their victims, and poisonous dung
-required to kill all these birds who were in the
woods near lake Stymphalus
-Used bronze castanets from Athena to flush them
out of the tree
-shot them with his arrows
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
7. The Cretan Bull
-a bull that King Minos refused to sacrifice to
Poseidon
-caught and brought to Eurystheus
-released and it went to Marathon
-Theseus late captured and sacrificed it
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
8. Mares of Diomedes
-Diomedes was the son of Ares, and a Thracian king

-he had a herd of mares, fed on human flesh
-Heracles tames them and feeds Diomedes to them
-at Argos, Eurystheus frees them and dedicates
them to Hera
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
8. Mares of Diomedes
Parergon: On the way to Thrace, Heracles stays

with King Admetus of Pherae
-King tries to hide his grief at the recent death of his
wife Alcestis
-Heracles wrestles Thanatos (Death), and forces
him to return Alcestis to life and to her husband
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
9. Girdle of Hippolyta
-Hippolyta is Queen of the Amazons
-tribe lives on the northern limits of the world
-Heracles sent to get her golden, magical girdle/belt
for the daughter of Eurystheus
-she is attracted to Heracles and gives it to him
-Hera disguises herself as an Amazon and spreads
rumors that Heracles was going to kidnap Hippolyta
-Amazons attack him, and in the ensuing fight he
kills Hippolyta, taking her magical girdle from her
Note: It was displayed in Argos in historical times
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
10. Cattle of Geryon (many parerga)
-Geryon lives far to the west on Erythia island
-Geryon a 3-headed monster and tended a herd of
cattle
-Geryon helped by Eurytion (a giant) and Orthus (2
-headed hound)
-Helios gives him a huge golden cup to sail to the
west
-Heracles kills Geryon, Eurytion and Orthus, and
sailed back to Tartessus (Spain) with the cattle
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
10. Cattle of Geryon (many parerga)
-Heracles returns the cup to Helios
-starts to drive the cattle back to Greece
-sets up the “Pillars of Heracles” on the far western
edge of Spain
-many parerga on the way back to Greece
-battles, adventures and cities founded in Spain,
France, Italy, Sicily and Greece along the way
-Eurystheus sacrificed the cattle to Hera
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
11. Apples of the Hesperides (parergon: Antaeus)
-the 3 Daughters of the Night guarded the tree that
grew the golden apples of Hera (in the far west)
-serpent Ladon coiled around the tree
-version 1: Heracles kills Ladon and took the apples
(Euripides)
-version 2: Athena helps take the heavens off of
Atlas’ shoulders and onto Heracles
-Atlas then gets the apples and takes the heavens
back
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
11. Apples of the Hesperides (parergon: Antaeus)
-Heracles shows Eurystheus the apples, then
Athena returns them to the garden/tree
Note: Labor 10 and 11 (along with 12) represent

journeys to conquer death
-apples represent immortality/Tree of Life
-journeys to the mysterious west represent journeys
to the land of the dead
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
11. Apples of the Hesperides
Parergon: (Antaeus)
-on the way to the garden of the Hesperides
-in Libya, he wrestled the giant Antaeus (son of Ge
and Poseidon)
-gained renewed strength from touching the earth
(Ge)
-used skulls of defeated wrestling opponents to
build a temple to Poseidon
-Heracles held him off the ground and crushed him
Heracles (Hercules)
III. TWELVE LABORS
B) Labors:
12. Cerberus
-retrieve the 3-headed dog of Hades
-his most difficult labor (needed Hermes & Athena’s
aid)
-wrestled Cerberus, brought him to Eurystheus,
and returned him to Hades
Parergon: (Meleager)
-met the ghost of the hero Meleager in Hades
-Heracles offered to marry his sister, Deianira, on
his return to Greece (Meleager agrees)
Heracles (Hercules)
IV. OTHER EXPLOITS
A) Destroy Brigands and Thieves
1. Cycnus, son of Ares, robbed travellers to Delphi
-Heracles, aided by Athena and Iolaus, killed him
and wounded Ares
2. Syleus imprisoned people to work in his vineyard
-Heracles destroyed the vineyards and killed
Syleus
3. The Cercopes were two mischievous dwarves
-mother warned them “to beware of the black-
bottomed man”
-tried to steal Heracles weapons while asleep
Heracles (Hercules)
IV. OTHER EXPLOITS
A) Destroy Brigands and Thieves
-caught and hung upside down from a pole across
his shoulders
-can only see his buttocks, burned black by the sun
(lion skin not cover it)
-joked so much about it that it amused Heracles
-let them go
-examples of folktales of Heracles

-also show his lighter (darker!) side.
Heracles (Hercules)
IV. OTHER EXPLOITS
B) Sacker of Cities
1. Was one of the original Argonauts, but had to

leave the expedition
2. Fought for Zeus against the giants and slew
Alcyoneus
3. Attacked and defeated Laomedon, King of Troy,
who cheated him
4. Attacked and defeated Augeas, King of Elis, who
cheated him
Heracles (Hercules)
IV. OTHER EXPLOITS
B) Sacker of Cities
5. Attacked Neleus, King of Pylos, who refused to
purify him after the murder of Iphitus
-killed 11 of his 12 son
-surviving son, Nestor, becomes King (and later
takes part in the Trojan War)
6. Attacked King Hippocoon of Sparta, and his
sons, for giving aid to Neleus
7. Supports King Aegimius of the Dorians (in
Thessaly) against the tribes of the Lapiths and
the Dryopes (two older, more primitive tribes)
Heracles (Hercules)
V. DEATH
A) Marriage to Deianira:
-after the end of his labors, Heracles wishes to
fulfill his promise to Meleager and marry his
sister Deianira
-she is the daughter of King Oeneus of Calydon
-to win her, he must wrestle the river-god
Achelous
-Achelous had horns like a bull and was also a
shape-shifter
-breaks off one of Archelous’ horns and defeats
him
Heracles (Hercules)
V. DEATH
A) Marriage to Deianira:
-Heracles gives him his horn back
-Achelous gives Heracles the magical horn of
Amalthea
-horn provides its owner with as much food and
drink as he wanted (horn of plenty?)
-both are honorable men
-Heracles and Deianira then leave for Tiryns
Heracles (Hercules)
V. DEATH
B) Nessus the Centaur
-on the way to Tiryns, Nessus the Centaur
kidnaps Deianira and attempts to violate her
-Heracles shoots him with poisoned arrows
-Dying Nessus tricks Deianira to save some of
his poisoned blood to use as a love potion on
Heracles
-Heracles and Deianira lived happily together in
Tiryns for many years
-had 5 children, including Hyllus (son) and
Macaria (daughter)
Heracles (Hercules)
V. DEATH
C) Another Love For Heracles
-Heracles falls in love with Ile, daughter of King
Eurytus of Oechalia (who taught him archery)
-refused to let him marry Iole
-lost an archery contest to Heracles and still
refused to let him marry her
-Heracles goes home, bitter and insulted
-shortly after, Iphitus, Iole’s brother, came to

Tiryns looking for some lost mares
-Heracles tosses him from the city walls to his
death
Heracles (Hercules)
V. DEATH
C) Another Love For Heracles
-Heracles forced to leave Tiryns for the murder
-King Nestor of Pylos refuses to purify him
-gets purification Amyclae
-travels to Delphi to find out how to be cured of
his murderous madness
-Apollo will not speak to him so he steals holy
tripod (will set up his own oracle)
-Apollo and Heracles wrestle over the tripod
-Zeus intervenes with a lightning bolt, and
determines a punishment for Heracles
Heracles (Hercules)
V. DEATH
D) Queen Omphale:
-Hermes auctions off Heracles’ services as a
slave for one year
-Queen Omphale of the Lydians buys his
services
-Heracles given many heroic tasks
-also given “women’s work”
-at one point he is dressed as a woman and is
spinning wool
-after one year he is freed and returns to Greece
Heracles (Hercules)
V. DEATH
E) The End
-Heracles seeks revenge on Eurytus
-on way home he sacks Oechalia, kills Eurytus,
captures Iole and brings her home (bad idea!)
-Deianira jealous and gives him an attractive
red robe (dipped in the poison blood of
Nessus) to wear at his sacrifice to Zeus
-robe warms and clings to him, burning him
-builds himself a pyre and Poeas lights it
(and gets Heracles’ bow as a result)
-Deianira kills herself with a sword!
Note: Deianira (“destroyer of her husband”)
Heracles (Hercules)
VI. APOTHEOSIS
-his mortal body is burned away in pyre

-his immortal spirit ascends to Olympus
Note: unusual, since heroes typically become

chthonic deities
-at Olympus, Heracles is reconciled with Hera

and marries her daughter Hebe
-finally becomes Heracles, “the glory of Hera”
Heracles (Hercules)
VI. SUMMARY
Primitive, Popular and Extreme Hero
-myths come from earliest era of Greek culture

-an older hero associated to certain areas of
Greece (Argos, Thebes, Trachis)
-fights with simple weapons (club, bow, strength)
in a most brutal and primitive manner
-simple dress of only wearing a lionskin
indicates his primitive nature
-many Labors deal with cattle, the concern of
primitive, pastoral peoples
Heracles (Hercules)
VI. SUMMARY
Primitive, Popular and Extreme Hero
-exploits cover the entire Greek world, plus Italy,

Asia Minor and North Africa)
-large number of Parerga indicate the wide
variety of adventures attributed to him and built
into his legacy
-many myths of great heroes (as far away as
India) become woven into the myths of the
human hero
-many labors involve fighting monsters of
Eastern mythology (ie Hydra)
Heracles (Hercules)
VI. SUMMARY
A) Primitive, Popular and Extreme Hero
-myths collect, grow, build on each other, and

become a creative force all on their own
-”Heracles” the man, become the “hero”
-”heroic” tales become “folklore”
-”folklore” builds the “legend” and the “myths”
-Heracles the “legend” is ultimately rewarded
with becoming a “god”
-the “god” also becomes a “constellation”
CLAS 104
Lecture #21
THESEUS AND
THE MYTHS OF ATHENS
Events:
Panathenaia Festival 6 Labors of Theseus
Battle with the Amazons Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs
Theseus and Pirithous “katabasis”
People:
Cecrops Erichthonius
Ion Aegeus
Theseus Medea
King Minos Ariadne
Queen Pasiphae of Crete Daedalus
Icarus
“Autochthonous” The Bull of Marathon
The Minotaur “Aegean Sea”
Theseus & Myths of Athens
I. EARLY KINGS OF ATHENS
Note: Athenians claimed to be “Autochthonous”

-literally “sprung from the earth”
-not the product of foreign invaders or migrants
-they are of the earth and tied to it by birth and
origin
-gives then a sacred duty to Athens
A) Cecrops:
-first king, who sprang from the earth
-lower half of his body was serpent shaped
-named Attica after himself (Cecropia)
-culture hero who was autochthon
Note: compare to the story of Cadmus and the
Spartoi springing from the soil from the dragon
teeth at Thebes)
-Cecrops was there at the time of the contest
between Athena & Poseidon for the main
patronage of Athens
B) Erichthonius
1.Birth: Hephaestus ❤ Athena
-semen falls to the ground
-Erichthonius arises from the earth
-also partly serpent shaped (“chthon” implies
this in his name)
-Athena shuts him up in a box and left with
the daughters of Cecrops (“don’t open it”)
-they look in the box (of course!), go mad,
and hurl themselves off the Acropolis
B) Erichthonius
1.Birth: Hephaestus ❤ Athena
-Athena them raises Erichthonius
-he becomes King of Athens
2. ‘Local’ culture hero:

-started the annual Panathenaia festival in
honor of Athena
-set up the very sacred wooden statue of
Athena in the Acropolis
C) Erichtheus
-grandson of Erechthonius and king of Athens
-fights Athens’ earliest war against the city of
Eleusis
-Eleusinian forces lead by Eumolpus of Thrace,
son of Poseidon
-Erichtheus and wife, Praxithea, agree to
sacrifice all three daughters to secure victory
-Erichtheus kills Eumolpus
-Poseidon kills Erichtheus (“who thrust him into
the earth with his trident” – Text)
D) Ion:
-Euripides’ tragedy Ion states Erechtheus killed
all his daughters but Creusa
1. Creusa (d. of Erechtheus) had a son, Ion, by
Apollo
-exposed son so her father wouldn’t find out
-Hermes saves him (Apollo’s request) and takes
him to Delphi
-became treasurer of the sanctuary
D) Ion:
2. Father married Creusa to Xuthus (son of Hellen)

-childless marriage so consult the Delphic oracle
-Xuthus told to greet the first person he met
when he left the temple as his son (Ion!)
-Creusa thought it was Xuthus bastard son and
tries to kill him
-Athena intervenes and they recognize each
other as mother and son
D) Ion:
3. Ion becomes the ancestor of the four Ionian

Greek tribes of Athens
-also father of Ionian Greeks in general
-descendants will colonize western Asian Minor,
which will become known as Ionia
II. THESEUS, KING OF ATHENS
A) Birth:
Aegeus oldest of four brothers (Pallas, Nisus

and Lycus), and king of Athens
-Threat to Aegeus from Pallas his brother
-Aegeus childless, so visited the oracle at
Delphi for answers
-Oracle told Aegeus, ‘Do not undo the
wineskin's mouth until you return home’ (??)
A) Birth:
-visited King Pittheus of Troezen on the way
home for advice (he understood)
-got Aegeus drunk, then had him sleep with his
daughter, Aethra
-she also made an offering to Poseidon later
that night and was “possessed” by him (ie
impregnated by a mortal and immortal in the
same night!)
-Aegeus leaves the next day, but put his sword
and sandals under a huge rock
A) Birth:
-Aethra told that, if the child is a boy, she
shouldn’t reveal who his father was
-when old enough, she should send him to
retrieve the two items
-he should then travel to Athens and he would
know his son by the items
-Theseus is born, grows up, retrieves the items,
and is told the truth of his parentage
-he then travels to Athens to claim his birthright
A) Birth:
-Theseus could take the shorter and safer route
to Athens, by sea, but chose the land route
-land route much longer and more dangerous
-will cross 6 entrances to the Underworld, each
guarded by a horrible creature
-young, brave, strong and ambitious, he chose
the land route
-also defeated many bandits along the way
B) Six Labors:
1. Periphetes/Corynetes (“Clubber”)
-at Epidaurus Theseus kills the brigand
Periphetes, son of Hephaestus
-Periphetes is lame (like his father), one-eyed
(like a cyclops), armed with a bronze club, so is
often called Corynetes (“Club Man”)
-would beat his victims into the earth
-Theseus took the club and is often portrayed
with it in art (though it has no part in any other
legend!)
B) Six Labors:
2. Sinis (the pine-bender)
-at the Isthmus of Corinth, Theseus killed the
robber Sinis
-often called Pityocamptes (“Pine Bender”)
-would bend two trees together, tie his victim to
both, and let the trees spring back apart
-Theseus killed him the same way
-he then slept with Sinis’ beautiful daughter,
Perigune, and fathered his first son Melanippus
B) Six Labors:
3. The Sow of Crommyon
-a giant, wild, violent, man-eating pig that
ravaged the villages between Megara and
Corinth
-Sow sometimes called Phaia ("Grey") after the
old woman who owned it
-some sources say Phaia was actually a
murderous female robber, called “The Sow”)
-regardless, Theseus killed it/her!
B) Six Labors:
4. Sciron (and the giant turtle)
-Near Megara, Scirion blocked the narrow
mountain pass next to the sea
-was once a local hero, but turned evil
-forced anyone who wanted to pass to bend
down and wash his feet
-he then pushed them off the cliff and into the
sea, where a giant turtle ate them
-Theseus pushed him off the cliff
B) Six Labors:
5. Cercyon (the wrestler)
-Cercton lived near Eleusis
-was once a local hero, but turned evil
-he forced all travellers to wrestle him, but then
killed them one he has defeated them
-Theseus wrestled him, then drove him into the
ground and killed him
B) Six Labors:
6. Procrustes (“Stretcher”)
-Procrustes (“the stretcher”) a brigand between
Eleusis and Athens
-had a hammer, saw and a two beds
-made all passersby lie one of the beds (never
the proper one to fit!)
-too tall = sawed to fit
-too short = hammered out to fit
-Theseus put him on a bed, cutting off his legs
and head
B) Six Labors:
Significance of the 6 Labors:
-force of justice and order
-becomes a local folk hero
-provides safety for common people to travel
-coming of age activities of a young hero
-opponents are human and often die as they
lived
- Compare with Heracles
• recklessness of Heracles
• Heracles v. wild beast and monsters
C) At Athens:
1. Arrival: nearly poisoned by Medea
-Aegeus was married to Medea
-they had a son, Medus
-Medea recognized Theseus and hoped to kill
him before Aegeus recognized him (saw
Theseus as a rival to her son)
-told Aegeus the newcomer (Theseus) was a
threat, and he agreed to let her poison his wine
-Aegeus recognized the sword Theseus was
using to cut his meat and knocked the poison
wine glass away
C) At Athens:
2. Arrival: Unhappy Relatives
-Aegeus publicly recognized Theseus as his son
and heir
-Aegeus’ brother Pallas sees Theseus as a
threat to his plans to take over Athens
-Pallas and his sons break into two groups to
ambush and kill him (Theseus is tipped off!)
-Theseus ambushes and kills one group
-Pallas and the other group of sons make peace
with Theseus and are no longer trouble
C) At Athens:
3. The Bull of Marathon (Cretan Bull)
-ordered to capture the Bull of Marathon
-the one Heracles had brought back from Crete
-met an old woman, Hecale, on his way to
Marathon
-she will sacrifice to Zeus upon his safe and
successful return
-Theseus masters the bull and returns to Athens
-finds old woman has already died before he
returned
C) At Athens:
3. The Bull of Marathon (Cretan Bull)
-Theseus orders her honored for his success at
the annual festival of Zeus Hecalus
-bull sacrificed at Athens to Apollo Delphinus
C) At Athens:
4. The Minotaur
a) Death of Androgeus son of Minos
-won all the events at the Panathenaic games
-killed in Attica out of jealousy by the sons of
Pallas
-King Minos of Crete attacks Megara (ruled
by king Aegeus’ brother, Nisus) and Athens
-Megara falls to Minos and Athens sues for
peace
C) At Athens:
4. The Minotaur
b) Penalty imposed by Minos
-every seven years, Athens must send 7
males youths and 7 female youths, from
noble families, to Crete as tribute
-all shut up in the Labyrinth, to be eaten by
the Minotaur
-youth chosen by lot
-Theseus volunteers to go
C) At Athens:
4. The Minotaur
c) The Minotaur
-Poseidon sent King Minos a beautiful snow-
white bull to sacrifice in his honor
-Minos switched it for another bull
-Poseidon made Minos’ wife, Pasiphae, fall in
love with the bull
-Pasiphaë had Daedalus (great artist and
craftsman) make a beautiful wooden cow for
her to climb into
C) At Athens:
4. The Minotaur
c) The Minotaur
-wooden cow is put out in the pasture for the
bull to mate with
-Pasiphae gives birth to the half man, half
bull, Minotaur
-becomes too wild and will only eat human
flesh
-Daedalus creates the Labyrinth to lock it
away
C) At Athens:
4. The Minotaur
d) Theseus, Ariadne, and the Minotaur
-Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, falls in love with
Theseus
-provides a ball of thread to unwind to find
way out of the labyrinth
-Theseus kills the Minotaur and emerges with
the other 13 Athenian youths
-all 14, and Ariadne, leave Crete for Athens
C) At Athens:
4. The Minotaur
-on the way to Athens, Theseus abandons
Ariadne on Naxos
Alt Version 1: Dionysus finds her and marries her
-her wedding crown becomes the solar
constellation corona
Alt Version 2: Ariadne was killed by Artemis for
eloping with Theseus while betrothed to Dionysus
(Homer)
C) At Athens:
4. The Minotaur
Alt Version 3: Ariadne died in Cyprus on the way
home after giving birth to Theseus’ child
-Theseus returned home and instituted a ritual in
her honor
-historically, there was the ritual in her honor and
she was called Ariadne Aphrodite
Note: Ariadne was considered a significant and
important mortal, in mythology and historically
D) King:
1. The Black Sails/White Sails (?)
-Theseus’ ship had a black sail
-arranged with Aegeus to put up a white sail if
he was returning home alive and successful
-Theseus so happy to see the coast that he
forgot to put up the white sail
-Aegeus sees the black sail, threw himself off
the cliff into the sea and died
-this becomes the origin of “Aegean Sea”
-Theseus arrives on land and is crowned king
D) King:
2. Amazons
-Theseus joins Heracles in his expedition
against the Amazons
-takes the Amazon Antiope as part of the spoils
-fathers a son, Hippolytus, with her
-Amazons then attack Athens, but are defeated
by Theseus (Antiope died in the battle)
Note: the Battle between the Amazons and the
Athenians is portrayal on the Parthenon
-celebrate Greeks defeating barbarism/Persians
D) King:
3. Pirithous and their bro moment:
a) Centaurs and Lapiths
-Pirithous, King of the Thessalian Lapiths
-friends with Theseus
-was at the marriage of Pirithous, and took part
in the battle with the Centaurs (who tried to
steal the bride!)
Note: this battle is depicted in the Parthenon
sculpture
D) King:
b) Divine wives
-vowed to help each other find a wife
-Theseus son of Poseidon and Pirithous son
of Zeus
-both vowed to marry daughters of Zeus
-Helen kidnapped for Theseus (still a child)
from Sparta and sent to live with his mother,
Aethra
D) King:
b) Divine wives
-Helen later rescued and taken back to
Sparta by the Dioscuri (twins Castor and
Pollux)
-both attempt to kidnap Persephone from
Hades for Pirithous
-pinned in magic chairs/rocks
-Furies torture them for months
D) King:
b) Divine wives
-Heracles intercedes for Theseus, but
Pirithous remains trapped in Hades forever
-Theseus returns to Athens, but Helen gone
by then
Note: both men punished for their hubris
-both are defeated and suffer an embarrassing
katabasis (visit to the Underworld)
D) King:
4. Champion of the Oppressed:
-often portrayed as a noble protector of people
suffering from tyranny
- Eg. Oedipus at Colonus (Sophocles), Theseus
give refuge to exiled Oedipus
-Eg. Suppliant Women (Euripides), supports the
mothers of the dead heroes of Seven Against
Thebes (Creon won’t release them)
-returns bodies from Thebes to let their mothers
bury them
E) Death:
1. Exile:
-his cousin Menestheus forced him out of Athens
and into exile
2. Death:
-went to the island of Scyros
-killed by King Lycomedes on Scyros, who threw
him off a cliff
3. Exhumation: after Marathon (490 BC) he was
exhumed and bones brought to Athens in honour
III. OTHER MYTHS OF ATHENS
A) Daedalus
1. A distinctive culture hero:
-younger brother of Cecrops, and part of the
Athenian royal house
-skilled craftsman and clever inventor
-assisted by his nephew Perdix
2. Murder of Perdix and exile
-Perdix invented a saw, based on a fishes
backbone
-Daedalus jealous and hurled him from a cliff,
but he turned into a partridge (Perdix)
A) Daedalus
3. On Crete:
-exiled from Athens for homicide
-arrives in Crete
-builds wooden horse for Queen Pasiphae
-later builds Labyrinth (maze) to hold the Minotaur
-later built wings of feathers and wax for he and his
son Icarus to escape Crete (Minos not let leave)
-Icarus ignored his father’s warning, flew too close
to the sun, and plummeted to his death
A) Daedalus
3. On Crete:
-Daedalus escaped and flew to Sicily
-King Cocalus, king of the city of Camicus took him
in and hid him
-pursued by Minos
-Cocalus’ daughters drowned Daedalus in boiling
water
CLAS 104
Lecture #22
JASON AND MEDEA

Events:
Curse of the women of Lemnos 3 Impossible Tasks
Death of Pelias Death of Creusa and Creon
People:
Nephele Ino
Helle Phrixus
Aeson Pelias
Jason Phineus
Aeetes Medea
Apsyrtus
Hellespont Colchis
Iolcus The Golden Fleece
“beware of a man with one sandal” The Argo
Talos
Jason & The Argonauts
I. THE GOLDEN FLEECE
A) Nephele and Athamas
-King Athamas of Boeotia took Nephele (“cloud”)
as his first wife
-had two children, Phrixus and Helle, then
returned to the sky
-second wife, Ino, tries to kill stepchildren
-convinced Boeotian women to plant seeds that
would not grow (created a famine)
-Athamas asks the oracle of Delphi for help with
the famine
A) Nephele and Athamas
-Ino intercepts the envoy from Delphi and
changes the message
-must sacrifice son Phrixus to end famine
-Athamas about to do this, bur Nephele returns
and takes her children
-placed on a golden-fleeced ram (from Hermes)
and flown away
B) Helle & Phrixus to Colchis
-Helle falls off over the Dardanelles and drowns
-origin of the Hellespont (“sea of Helle”)
-Phrixus flies to the kingdom of Colchis, on the

far east end of the Black Sea
-King Aeetes marries his daughter, Chalciope, to
him
-they have four sons, Argus, Melas, Phrontis and
Cytisorus
B) Helle & Phrixus to Colchis
-Phrixus sacrificed the golden ram to Zeus
Phyxius (Zeus, god of escape)
-gave fleece to Aeetes
-hung on an oak tree in the sacred grove of Ares
-guarded by a never-sleeping serpent
-Phrixus dies after a long life in Colchis
-”golden fleece”, guarded by a “dragon” becomes
a treasure that heroes desire
II. JASON AND PELIAS
A) Family Feud For The Throne:
-Cretheus, brother of King Athamas, was king of
Iolcus
-on his death, his son Aeson was to succeed him
-Aeson’s kingship was usurped by his half-
brother Pelias (son of Poseidon, and stepson of
Athamas)
B) Jason’s Exile In The Wilderness
-Pelias was killing all of Aeson’s relatives to
eliminate rivals (but not Aeson or his wife!)
-Aeson’s wife, Polymede, sends their new born
son, Jason, to hide in the hills and be educated
and raised by Chiron the centaur (who later
taught Achilles)
-she and her handmaidens pretended (cried) that
the boy died at birth, so Pelias did not look for
him
C) Jason’s Return to Iolcus:
-at age 20 he returns to Iolcus to reclaim the
throne
-had carried an old woman (Hera in disguise)
across the river Anaurus, and lost a sandal in
the process
-Hera became his patron, and enemy of Pelias
who refused to sacrifice to her
-at age 20 he returns to Iolcus to reclaim the
throne
-on his journey to Iolcus, he carried an old
woman (Hera in disguise) across the river
Anaurus, and lost a sandal in the process
-Hera became his patron, and enemy of Pelias
who refused to sacrifice to her
-Delphic oracle to Pelias: “beware of a man with
one sandal”
-Pelias knew he was destined to be killed by a
descendant of Aeolus king of the winds and
great grandfather of Jason)
-Jason arrived (in one sandal) and announced
himself as the rightful heir
-Pelias: "To take my throne, which you shall, you
must go on a quest to find the Golden Fleece."
-Jason accepted the challenge
"It is not right for us to resort to swords of sharp
bronze or spears in dividing the great honors of
our ancestors. I leave you the flocks, and the
golden herds of cattle, and all the fields, which
you keep, having stolen them from my ancestors,
feeding fat your wealth; and it does not grieve me
that they provide for your household beyond all
measure. But as for the royal scepter and the
throne, in which Aeson son of Cretheus once sat,
and dispensed straight justice for a nation of
horsemen: without any distress between us,
release these to me, lest some more disturbing
evil arise from them.“
(Jason to Pelias. Pindar, Pythian Odes 4.149).
III. VOYAGE OF THE ARGO
A) Jason’s Ship, The Argo:
-made with help of Athena, with wood from oak
of Dodona (oracle of Zeus)
-designed by Argus
-Argo means “swift”
B) The Crew:
“Hera kindled all-persuading sweet desire in
the sons of gods for the ship Argo, so that
none should be left behind to nurse a life
without danger at his mother’s side, but
rather that he should find even against death
the fairest antidote in his own courage along
with others of his age.”
(Pindar, Pythian Odes 4. 184-187)
B) The Crew:
-Jason’s quest for the Golden fleece attracted
the bravest and greatest of heroes from across
Greece
-appealed to their heroic arete (“excellence”)
-crew membership grows over time!
1. originally from generation before Trojan War
(Peleus, Nauplius, Telamon, Meleager etc.)
2. later every great hero (Heracles, Orpheus,
Theseus)
C) Adventures:
1. Lemnos:
-Argonauts find an island of only women, lead by
their queen, Hypsipyle
-women of Lemnos had neglected to worship
Aphrodite
-Aphrodite made them unattractive to their
husbands (gave off a foul stench!)
-husbands took concubines captured in war
-women killed every man on the island
C) Adventures:
1. Lemnos:
-Argonauts stayed there a year and fathered
many children
-Jason fathered the twin sons, Euneos and
Thoas, with queen Hypsipyle
C) Adventures:
2. Phineus and the Harpies:
-travel to Salmydessus, Thrace
-met King Phineus, a blind prophet
-tormented by two Harpies (“the snatchers”)
-snatched every meal and fouled the rest
-two winged Argonauts, Zetes and Calais, chase
off the Harpies
-goddess Iris makes Harpies promise to not
bother Phineus again
C) Adventures:
-Phineus warns them of the dangers ahead
-tells him how to get through the Symplegades
(“Clashing Rocks”)
-release a dove between them, then row fast
as the rocks pull apart and reset to close
again
-they are successful, aided by Athena, or Hera
Note: similarities to Tiresias and Odysseus
C) Adventures:
3. Colchis, Aeetes & Medea:
-Jason arrives at Colchis and King Aeetes
promises him the fleece if he can perform 3
impossible tasks:
i) yoke a pair of bronze-hooved fire-breathing
bulls and plow a large field
ii) sow the field with dragon’s teeth, from which
armed skeleton warriors would arise, and
Jason would have to kill them
iii) defeat the dragon guarding the fleece
C) Adventures:
3. Colchis, Aeetes & Medea:
-Hera and Aphrodite make Medea, youngest
daughter of king Aeetes, fall in love with Jason
-she is a priestess of Hecate, and as skilled in
magic as her aunt Circe
-gave him a potion to protect him from fire and
iron for one day (defeat the bulls)
-toss a rock among the skeletons and they would
fight each other (works!)
-sprayed an herb sleeping potion on the dragon
C) Adventures:
4. The Return Voyage:
-Jason kills the dragon and takes the golden
fleece
-Jason, Argonauts, and Medea leave Colchis,
with King Aeetes in pursuit
-Medea’s brother, Apsyrtus, taken with them
-cut up by Medea and dropped in the water, a
limb at a time
-slows father, who stops to pick up pieces, and
they escape
C) Adventures:
-travel to western Italy from the Black Sea (?)
-there, Circe purifies them of Apsyrtus’ murder
-encounter similar dangers as had Odysseus
(the Planctae, Scylla and Charybdis, and the
Sirens)
-then sail to the land of the Phaeacians
-agree to protect them if they were married
-married by Queen Arete later that night, and
Colchians end their pursuit (//Odysseus)
C) Adventures:
-landed in Libya and portaged the Argo for 12
days!
-landed at Crete and were attacked by Talos,
who threw boulders at the Argo
-Talos a bronze Giant with a bronze nail in his
ankle that closed a vein of ichor/blood
-Medea/Argonauts removed the nail and he bled
to death
-eventually reach Iolcus
C) Adventures:
5. Geography of the Adventures:
-not all the geography and routes described in
the stories of Jason are accurate
-some rivers and landforms do not even exist
-reflect heroic exploration
-go “where no one else dared to go”
-Greeks beginning to colonize throughout the
Mediterranean from c. 750-550 BCE
-myths reflect colonization, exploration, trade
routes and “wild exaggeration”
IV. MEDEA
Adventures:
A) Helped Jason get the Golden Fleece:
-devoted to Jason:
-betrayed father
-helped Jason get the fleece (ointment, defeat
skeletons, drugging serpent)
-kidnapping, murder and dismemberment of his
brother to escape
-fled her family and homeland
IV. MEDEA
Adventures:
B) At Iolcus:
-Jason gave Pelias the Golden Fleece
-Pelias refused to give up the throne
-Medea shows off her magic arts before Pelias’
daughters
-Medea rejuvenated Jason’s father, Aeson
-cut up and boiled with magic herbs leads to
his rebirth and renewed youth
-did the same with an old ram
IV. MEDEA
Adventures:
B) At Iolcus:
-convinced Pelias’s daughters to do the same
(but didn’t provide the magic herbs)
-only got Pelias stew!
-Jason does not get the throne, but he and
Medea are exiled for their role in the murder of
Pelias
-settle in Corinth
IV. MEDEA
Adventures:
C) At Corinth:
-Euripides’ Medea portrays Medea as dominant
and diabolical, Jason as a callous, self-serving
dupe
-King Creon of Corinth offers his daughter,
Glauce/Creusa, as a wife
-Jason accepts her for political reasons and
rejects Medea (divorces her)
-Medea infuriated
IV. MEDEA
Adventures:
C) At Corinth:
-Medea gets her two young sons to give Creusa
a beautiful (cursed!) dress as a wedding present
-dress clings to Creusa and catches fire
-burns Creusa, and King Creon, to death when
they try and put out the flames
-Medea then murders her two sons that she had
with Jason
-revenge on Jason, and not let them be killed
or enslaved by others for her actions
IV. MEDEA
Adventures:
C) At Corinth:
-Medea flees from Corinth on chariot pulled by
two winged dragons, sent by her grandfather,
the sun god Helios
-has two slain sons in the chariot to taunt Jason
-curses Jason with a miserable end
-Medea flees to Athens
-Jason remains in Corinth
JASON & THE ARGONAUTS
IV. MEDEA
Adventures:
D) At Athens:
-Medea married king Aegeus
-they had a son, Medus
-Theseus (Aegeus’ long-lost son) returned to
Athens to reclaim his throne
-Medea recognized Theseus and hoped to kill
him before Aegeus recognized him (saw
Theseus as a rival to her son)
-told Aegeus the newcomer (Theseus) was a
threat, and he agreed to let her poison his wine
IV. MEDEA
Adventures:
D) At Athens:
-Aegeus recognized the sword Theseus was
using to cut his meat and knocked the poison
wine glass away
-Aegeus publicly recognized Theseus as his son
and heir
-Medea flees Athens with son Medus
IV. MEDEA
Adventures:
E) Establishment of Media:
-Media and Medus flee east to Persia
-Medus founds the kingdom of Media, and the
people known as the Medes
-Medea eventually returns to Colchis
V. THE DEATH OF JASON
-Jason eventually returns to Iolcus
-aided by Peleus (father of Achilles), he attacked
and killed Acastus
-Jason’s son, Thessalus (who escaped his
mother Medea’s murders) then became king
-for his mistreatment of Medea, Jason was
abandoned by Hera
-spent his later years alone and unhappy
-while sleeping under the stern of the rotting
Argo, a piece of lumber fell on his head, killing
him instantly
CLAS 104
Lecture #23
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
Events:
Rape of the Sabine Women Founding of Rome
People:
Horatius Cocles Mars (and his symbols)
Jupiter Optimus Maximus Capitoline Triad
Asclepius Janus
Vergil Aeneas
Iulus Dido
Remus Romuls
Latinus Turnus
Rhea Silvia Tarquinius Superbus
9 Republican Roman Ideal Virtues Assimilated Gods
Jupiter’s ritual purification sacrifice Sibylline books
Aeneid
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit
et artis intulit agrestic Latio
(Horace, Epistles. II.1.156-157)
“Captured Greece took her untamed victor

captive, and brought her arts to the
peasants of Latium”
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
A) Less Anthropomorphic
-Greek myths dominate Italian myths and
Roman legends
-older and more dynamic stories, celebrated in
poetry and art
-Greeks saw gods more active in their lives
-Roman gods more associated with cults, than
myths
-Italic gods did not have the impact or influence
of Greek myths
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
A) Less Anthropomorphic
-Early Roman legends and sagas do, often,
contain stories of the gods
-most deal with great men, and a few women,
exemplifying Roman virtues/ideals of behaviour,
duty and dedication
-an idealized past, as role models for the
present
-for example, Horatius at the Bridge
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
9 REPUBLICAN ROMAN IDEAL VIRTUES
mos maiorum (ancestral customs)
gravitas (seriousness)
pietas (respect for authority to the gods,
state and family)
religio (being “bound” to the gods)
virtus (manliness, courage)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
9 REPUBLICAN ROMAN IDEAL VIRTUES
fides (loyalty, faithfulness, honesty,

integrity)
simplicitas (plain lifestyle)
clementia (calculated mercy)
frugalitas (frugality)
The Legend of Horatius Cocles
(“The One- Eyed”)
509 BCE the Etruscan king Lars Porsenna of
Clusium attacked Rome
Horatius defended the Pons Sublicius bridge
“Tiberinus, holy father, I pray thee to receive into
thy propitious stream these arms and this thy
warrior."
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
B) Assimilated Gods
-3rd century BCE begins the period of Roman
historians and poets
-most early authors are Greeks
-have a wealth of Greek literature at their
disposal
-many Roman legends become adaptations of
Greek legend
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
B) Assimilated Gods
-Roman religion based on the Italic religions of
pre-Roman peoples, such as the Sabines &
Etruscans
-native Italic gods become associated with
Greek gods: (Saturnus = Cronus, Jupiter =
Zeus, Minerva = Athena, etc)
-only Apollo keeps the same name
-not all worshipped the same in both cultures
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
B) Assimilated Gods
1. Mars: much more important to Romans than
Ares was to Greeks
-great Italian god of agriculture and war
-March named after him (start the year)
-time of planting, regeneration and fertility
-associated with many lesser rural deities
-Romans are a farming community,
surrounded by hostile Italic tribes
-go to war after the Spring planting
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
B) Assimilated Gods
1. Mars:
-becomes more important as a god of war
-Romans constantly at war for centuries
-sacrifices to him before and after battle
-other deities assimilate some of his
agricultural nature
-Temple of Mars Ultor (“Mars the Avenger”)
-Campus Martius (“Field of Mars”)
-epithet Gradivus (“the Marcher”)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
B) Assimilated Gods
1. Mars:
-associated with the wolf and woodpecker
-a she-wolf suckled his infant sons, Romulus
and Remus
-woodpeckers constant hammering at trees
reminded Romans of military drums
-Feriae Marti (Festival of March) to celebrate
Spring included much drumming and noise-
making
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
B) Assimilated Gods
2. Jupiter (Zeus)
-great Italic sky-god
-part of the Italic “Capitoline Triad” of deities
-Jupiter (sky)
-Juno (goddess of women)
-Minerva (fertility, war goddess, handicrafts
and wisdom)
-Temple in Rome of Jupiter Optimus Maximus
(“Jupiter the Best and Greatest”)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
B) Assimilated Gods
2. Jupiter (Zeus)
-Jupiter the source of Roman greatness and
might
-victorious generals lead a Triumph to his temple
to make sacrifices of thanksgiving
-symbols are thunder and lightning
-after a lightning strike, ritual purification was
necessary to appease him
-Jupiter gave King Numa the instructions
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
B) Assimilated Gods
2. Jupiter (Zeus)
-Jupiter “A head” = Numa “of an onion”
-Jupiter “Of a man” = Numa “a hair”
-Jupiter “A life” = Numa “of a fish”
-Jupiter saw the humor in this and accepted “an
onion, a human hair, and a fish” as the ritual
sacrifice (instead of a human sacrifice!)
-Jupiter Latiaris (“Jupiter, god of the Latins”)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
B) Assimilated Gods
3. Apollo:
-only Greek god not to get a Latin name change
-the Oracle of Cumae, called the Cumaean Sibyl
came to Rome in the 6th century BCE
-sold sacred Sibylline books to the last Etruscan
King of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus
-Sibylline books only to be consulted for advice
during dire emergencies, calamities or plagues
-Plague of 433 BCE resulted in the books
directing the building of a temple to Apollo in
Rome in 431 BC
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
B) Assimilated Gods
3. Apollo:
-431 BCE Apollo joins the Roman pantheon of
gods
-never as popular or powerful as he was in
Greece
-Apollo Medicus (“Apollo the Healer”)
-212 BCE Ludi Apollinares (Games of Apollo)
established
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
B) Assimilated Gods
3. Apollo/Asclepius:
-293 BCE epidemic the Sibylline consulted
-request that Asclepius, the Greek god of
healing, be brought to Rome from Epidaurus
-he came by ship, appearing as a sacred snake
-slipped off the ship in the Tiber River
-swam to the island in the middle of the Tiber at
Rome and made his home there
-Temple of Aesculapius (Latin form of his name)
and his cult established on the island
-Temple famous for “dream cures”
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
C) Unique Roman Gods
1. Janus:
-very ancient Italic god
-named first in prayers
-god who presides over beginnings
-root of “January” to begin the year
-originally associated with water, especially
bridges, fords and water crossings
-5 shrines to Janus at Rome’s water crossings
Note: Rome located at the only place the Tiber can
be forded
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
1. Janus:
-Doors of the Temple of Janus opened in time of
way (// breaking bridge to cross the Tiber River
to Rome), and closed during peace
-also became a god of doors, coming in and
going out (doors, gates, entrances, etc)
-also depicted as the youthful Portunus, god of
harbors (how you enter the land from the sea
-portrayed on coins as a god with 2 faces (look
ahead and behind =coming and going)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
2. Quirinus:
-Quirinus’/Romulus’ last words:
“Go,” said he, “and tell the Romans that it is
the gods’ will that my city of Rome should be
the capital of the world. Let them exercise
their military skill and let then know – and let
them tell their descendants – that no mortal
power can resist the Romans.”
(Livy 1.16)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
2. Quirinus:
-Sabine war god
-often associated with Mars
-a god of war during peacetime, who trains and
organizes an army, and successfully leads it in
battle
-founder of Rome, Romulus, disappeared in
thunder and lightning, while reviewing his army
on the Campus Martius
-he then became the god Quirinus
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
I. ROMAN GODS
3. Ceres, Liber, Libera
-early Italic religions focused on agriculture
-493 BCE temple dedicated on the Aventine Hill in
Rome to Ceres, Liber and Libera
-Ceres = Demeter (associated with Italic Tellus Mater)
-Liber = Dionysus
-Libera = Kore (ie Persephone, Demeter’s daughter)
-// the Eleusinian Triad in Greece
-cult Hellenized and even prayers in Greek
-Liber/Dionysus not as ecstatic in his rituals
-Office of Statio Annonnae (grain supply) located in
front of their temple
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
A) The Aeneid
-great national epic (propaganda value) written
by Vergil
-poet from northern Italy
-recognized as #2 to Homer by his peers
-Maecenas (a friend of Augustus)was his patron
-celebrates Rome’s virtues
-beautiful poetry
-Virgil wanted it burned at his death
-Emperor Augustus would not permit it to be
destroyed (!)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
A) The Aeneid
1. Nature: Odyssey + Iliad with a Roman twist
-Aeneid (Fall of Troy to the settlement of Aeneas
-focuses on the story of Aeneas & son Iulus
-Rome’s great ancestors from the goddess
Venus (whom Augustus claimed as an ancestor)
-Ties Rome to the Trojan (not Greek) heroes
-Books 1-12 // Odyssey of Homer
-Books 13-24 // Iliad of Homer
-theme = Rome’s fate/destiny (to rule the world,
spare the weak, and defeat the proud)
“Of war and a man I sing, who first from Troy’s
shores, an exile by the decree of fate, came
to Italy and Lavinium’s shores. Much was he
tossed on sea and land by the violence of
the gods, because of cruel Juno’s
unforgiving anger. Much, too, did he endure
in war as he sought to found a city and bring
his gods to Latium. From him are
descended the Latin people, the elders of
Alba, and the walls of lofty Rome.”
(Aeneid 1. 1-7)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
A) The Aeneid
1. Nature: Odyssey + Iliad with a Roman twist
-Iulus, son of Aeneas (also called Ascanius)
-founder of the gens Iulia (“family of Iulia/Julia”)
-one of the most distinguished and ancient
patrician families in Rome
-family of Julius and Augustus Caesar
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
A) The Aeneid
2. Story:
A) The Fall of Troy and Journeys of Aeneas:
-Troy has fallen to the Greeks (c. 1180 BCE)
-those Trojans who can flee do, and are scattered
-Prince Aeneas (son of Anchises and Aphrodite) flees
with his father and son, Iulus
-lesser branch of Trojan royalty
-Aeneas and his followers build a fleet of 20 ships
and sail off to find a new home
-many adventures // Odyssey
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
A) The Aeneid
2. Story:
B) Dido: aetion of Punic Wars
-814 BCE city of Carthage founded by emigrants
from Tyre (Lebanon/Phoenicia), under the
leadership of Queen Dido”
-Romans refer to all of these people as “Punic”,
“Phoenician” or more commonly “Carthaginian”
-Aeneas’ fleet driven to Carthage by a storm
-Dido welcomes and supports the Trojans
-shared similar situation of losing her home
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
A) The Aeneid
2. Story:
-Juno and Venus make Dido fall passionately in
love with Aeneas
-Aeneas happy to remain with Dido
-Aeneas reminded of his destiny by Jupiter (via
Mercury), and told to leave Africa
-his destiny is to found a city in Italy
-Aeneas leaves Dido for Italy
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
A) The Aeneid
2. Story:
-Dido commits suicide and throws herself on a
funeral pyre
-curses Aeneas and his descendants, and that
there will be eternal strife between her people
and those of Aeneas
-”rise up from my bones, avenging spirit"
Note: later in history, Rome will use the curse of
Dido as the cause of the long series of Punic
Wars between Rome and Carthage (264-146
BCE)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
A) The Aeneid
2. Story:
C) In Italy:
-sails to Sicily, the Cumae in Italy
-Sibyl foretold his future adventures and future wars,
and escorted him to the Underworld
-met his father, Anchises, in the Underworld
-father showed him the future greatness of Rome,
and great Romans (// Odyssey)
-then sails to the Tiber river and Latium (plain around
Rome)
-King Latinus of Latium takes the oracles advice and
offers his daughter, Lavinia, in marriage , to Aeneas
(a foreigner)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
A) The Aeneid
2. Story:
C) In Italy:
-Lavinia already engaged to Prince Turnus of the
Rutuli
-Juno informs and infuriates Turnus, and he and his
Italian allies declare war on the Trojans
-Turnus an Italian “Achilles” and Aeneas is the new
“Hector”
-this time, Hector kills Achilles in single combat!
-this event ends the Aeneid
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
A) The Aeneid
3. Aeneas, the Great Roman Hero:
-the Aeneid provides the basis of many Roman ideals,
justifications and virtues
-Aeneas a great hero of pietas (piety) , virtus
(manliness and courage) and fides (loyalty)
-story ties Rome to the greatness of Troy
-story explains the cause of the Punic Wars (and that
it’s Carthage’s fault!)
-outlined/celebrated traditional Roman virtues
-celebrated the Julio-Claudian emperors as the
descendants of the great founders, heroes, and gods
of Rome and Troy
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
B) Remus and Romulus
1. Background: Amulius, Numitor and Rhea Silvia
-30 years after the events of the Aeneid, Iulus
(Ascanius) founds the city of Alba Longa (Chief
city on Latian Plain)
-King Numitor (13 generations after Ascanius)
was overthrown by his brother Amulius
-Amulius made Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silvia,
a Vestal Virgin to stop her from marrying (rival!)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
1. Background: Amulius, Numitor and Rhea Silvia
-Rhea Silvia she became pregnant (by the god

Mars)
-twin sons Remus and Romulus are born
-babies set adrift in a wicker basket on the Tiber
River to save them from Amulius (// Moses)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
2. The she-wolf and Faustulus:
-Tiber gently carries the babies and washes
them ashore near the Palatine Hill (in what will
become Rome)
-babies found and suckled by a she-wolf
-Faustalus (a shepherd of Amulius), found the
boys and brought them home to raise
-when the boys grow up, they return to Alba
Longa
-Amulius and twins recognize each other
-twins kill Amulius and restore their grandfather
Numitor to the throne
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
3. The Establishment of Rome:
-twins leave Alba Longa to establish a city
-go to where they washed ashore on the Tiber
-decided to turn to augury (taking omens from
the gods through nature) to decide who should
name the new city
-Remus sees six eagles first, then Romulus sees
twelve
-they fight over who won and Romulus kills
Remus (fratricide)
Alt Version: Romulus building the walls and Remus
scornfully leaps over them and is killed by Romulus
-friends enter by gate, while enemies scale walls
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
3. The Establishment of Rome:
-753 BCE Rome founded (April 21, 8:05 AM!)
-“Pomoerium” (sacred boundary)
-wall sacred by the sacrifice of noble blood
(Remus) to bless the city
-no weapons or military power allowed within (in
theory)
-good defensive position
-Romulus becomes Rome’s first king
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
C) The Rape of the Sabine Women:
-Rome is an asylum/sanctuary for any man
fleeing violence or persecution (ie thieves, etc)
-new city of Rome has few women, but many
Italic and Etruscan men
-local Sabine tribes won’t let them intermarry
-Romulus holds a festival for Neptune Equester
(“Neptune God of Horses”) and invites all the
local tribes
-on a signal, the Romans abduct (‘rape”) the
Sabine women, and drive out the men
-Sabines attack, but the women agree to stay
with the Romans to avoid further bloodshed
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
C) The Rape of the Sabine Women:
-event unifies the Romans and Sabines
-gives the Romans an eclectic self-identity
-”Roman” = Etruscan +Latins + Sabines
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
D) Regal Rome
-starting with Romulus, Rome has 7 Etruscan
kings (“Rex”) in total
-Rex is judge, priest and army commander
-7 is a mystic number (good luck and mystical
powers)
-kings were cultural heroes (represent different
advancement in Roman civilization and culture)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
D) Regal Rome: The 7 Etruscan Kings
1) Romulus (“little man of Rome”)
2) Numa Pompilius (a Sabine & mother a
nymph!)
-founder of Roman religion
3) Tullus Hostilius (a warrior)
4) Ancus Marcius (warrior and built bridge over
the Tiber)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
D) Regal Rome
5) Tarquinius Priscus (“the old”) 616-579 BC

-elected king from another Etruscan town
-Roman religion becomes more
anthropomorphic
-temple builder
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
D) Regal Rome
6) Servius Tullius (578-535 BC)

-Etruscan
-attributed with building a wall around
Rome (wrong ruler, but attributed to him!)
-reorganize/classify Roman citizens and
army by wealth/property
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
D) Regal Rome
7) Tarquinius Superbus 535-510 BCE (“the
proud/arrogant”)
-cruel, evil, sadistic & tyrannical
-son is Sextus
-Rape and death of Lucretia
-Brutus, father of Lucretia, leads a revolt,
drives out Etruscans/Etruscan kings
-Roman hatred of kings begins here
-“Rex” (King) becomes a hateful word
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
II. ROMAN LEGENDS
D) Regal Rome
-510/509 BC expulsion of Etruscan Kings
-Romans date this as 244 a.u.c.(ab urbe
condita = “from the foundation of the city”)
244 + 509 = 753 BC
-Rome now most powerful Latin state and
strongest community in Latium
-Rome now a “res publica” (commonwealth,
republic, “affairs of the people”)
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
E) Note on Sources: Livy (64BCE – 17 CE)
-from northern Italy (1st c. BCE)

-greatest prose writer in Rome
-shows great eloquence and great speeches
-very patriotic
-plays up Rome’s enemies and plays down
Roman vices
-uses several sources, some vague or
questionable
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
E) Note on Sources: Livy (64BCE – 17 CE)
-History of Rome (year by year) from early

Republic to Augustus in 142 Books
-arranged by Consular year, event, theme or
idea (creative format)
-left ideas/facts out if it destroyed or
confused his themes
-// Biblical Historical Truth & Moral Truth
“I do not intend to accept or deny the truth of
traditional legends about events before and
during the founding of the city. These are
more suitable for poetic fables than for
reliable historical records. But one can
excuse ancient legends because they make
the origins of the city more august by uniting
human and divine actions. If any nation has
the right to consider its origins sacred and to
ascribe them to the gods, it is the Roman
people, for they claim that Mars is their
ancestor and the father of the founder.”

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CLAS 104

Myceneans are a series of independent regions

c. 1450 BC Myceneans invade Crete and take

1050: Iron Age begins in Greece

Culture and writing at a low point

c. 800 BC Greek alphabet created, based on

Timelines: Classical Greece

440 BC The Histories (story of the causes of the

c. 260 BC Argonautica (Jason and the Argonauts,

Hymns are short, scholarly epigrams on a number

Epyllia a narrative poem that is very similar to an

Vergil (70 – 19 BC)

29-19 BC The Aeneid (the journey of the Trojan

8 AD Metamorphoses (250 myths)

8 AD Fasti (looks at each month of the year and

70 AD Argonautica (story of Jason and the

"Myths are traditional tales, which maintain

1. Traditional ie. “passed down” usually orally at

"One god is greatest among gods and

“For it is owing to their wonder that men both now begin

b) Vladimir Propp: myths have recurring

Hesiod’s Theogony (c. 700 BC) was the most

“They, the Muses, once taught Hesiod beautiful song,

Oceanus, Koios, Kreios, Hyperion,Iapetos,

Hesiod’s Theogony (c. 700 BC) was the most

“They, the Muses, once taught Hesiod beautiful song,

Oceanus, Koios, Kreios, Hyperion,Iapetos,

“Then man was born; either the creator of the

“And he gave a second bane to set against the blessing for

“Then again, the man who does partake of marriage, and

“If you like, I shall offer a fine and skillful

“But then the earth covered over this race. Yet

Then in his anger, Zeus, son of Cronus, hid them away

“When they had been destroyed by their own

Evil war and dread battle destroyed some of them... Some,

The Olympian Gods

Temples and shrines across every city (polis)

A variety of local hero cults to gain the hero’s good

Each city had their own patron deity (ie Athens =

Armies went to war carrying images of their patron

A) Myth Was Used in Ritual Eg. dithyramb Eg.

Poseidon & Sea Deities

2. Athena embodies intelligent warfare

Aphrodite & Eros

Apollo & Artemis

HERMES & DIONYSUS

-similar to Iris, goddess of the rainbow

415 BC Alcibiades and the mutilations of the Herms

-son of Zeus and Maia

3. Mysteries, which promise secret

2. psychological/cultural: tendency to fear

1. Dwelling among (myth):

2. Dwelling within (religion):

A) He lives where the wild things are

B) Half-bestial like Satyrs and Sileni

C) Dionysus rejoiced at his birth

DEMETER & THE

2. Mother of Persephone (with Zeus):

-Persephone a beautiful virgin

A) Aetion (origin) of the seasons

1. Nine days of the festival = wandering and

-He is telling the Phaecians and their king Alcinous of