(1) The following terms indicate topics of emphasis in the readings and lectures.Bracketed terms [ ] indicate material not in Powell but to be developed in lecture. Be able to identify major figures, explain the concepts, summarize main story line.
Ch. 1. Nature of Myth: Traditional Story --What is meant by each element, 'tradition' and 'story'? Types of Myth -- Give example(s) of each. Divine Myth [or 'True Myth'] --(a)etiology [and Euhemerism] Legend or Saga Folktale --motif of the quest [Propp] Literature and Archaeology Schliemann's discovery of Troy and Mycenae [Approaches to Myth: Cf. Powell Ch. 23/24 Social Function [Myth and Ritual] Comparative Mythology Psychological approaches: Freud and Jung] Structuralism and Story-patterns: esp. Levi-Strauss's binary oppositions Anthropological approaches: Burkert's Homo Necans] Ch. 2. Cultural Context The Coming of the Greeks [or Hellenic peoples] -- Know the basic chronology and what developments defined each period. Bronze Age Migrations -- vs. indigenous culture Mycenean Empire -- [Achaeans] vs. Minoans; Linear-B writing Dark Age -- Dorians [and 'Sea Peoples'] Emergence of the Polis (‘city-state’, walled urban center) Archaic Greece-- the rise of Epic, Homer and Hesiod Classical Athens-- Tragedy and Comedy Hellenistic World Greek Society -- Describe distinguishing features. Family and Gender Religion: Belief and Cult practice -- magic and animism Roman Adaptation Ch. 3.-- Development of Classical Myth "Men imagine ... the gods ..." (Aristotle Pol. 1252b) Wedding of Greek and Indigenous cultures Neolothic Fertility Goddess (as early as 8000 BC) Cycladic figurines (ca. 3000) Artemis 'Mistress of the Beasts' Indo-European Sky-god -- Zeus/Jupiter Mycenean Gods named in Linear-B tablets: list six oral tradition, transmitted by 'singers' (aoidoi) research of Milman Parry [formulaic composition] Near Eastern Myth Sumerians and Semites -- Mesopotamia: Tigris-Euphrates cuneiform writing (ca. 3400 BC) and ziggurat temples 'Ur of the Chaldees' Chief deities, Sumerian (and Semitic) An(u) and Ki/Ninhursag Enlil Enki (Ea) Ereshkigal and Kur Inanna (Ishtar) Utu (Shamash) Semitic dominance (by 2000 BC) Sargon of Akkad Hammurabi of Babylon (1750) Enuma Elish ('When on high ...'), the triumph of Marduk over Tiamat Adapters of NE tradition: Hebrews and spread of Semitic Alphabet (Phoenicians) Hittites (in modern Turkey) Archaic Greek poetry Homer, Hesiod, and rhapsodesDevelopment of Tragedy (at Athens) Aeschylus Sophocles Euripides Hellenistic tradition (after Alexander) Apollonius and Apollodorus scholarly interests and stoicism Roman adaptation: Vergil and Ovid Ch. 4 -- Creation: Rise of ZeusHesiod's Theogony Chaos and Cosmogony Gaea: mother earth Tartarus Eros Erebus and Nyx Moerae (so-called 'Fates') and Nemesis Children of Gaea: Uranus Mountains (Ourea) Sea (Pontus) Gaea mating w/ Uranus--> Cyclopes and Hundred-handers Titans (12) note esp. Oceanus Hyperion Iapetus Themis Mnemosyne Cronus & Rhea Gaea mating w/ Pontus--> multi-form monsters (e.g. Sphinx and Cerberus) Nereus Daughters of Nereus--'Nereids'--notably Thetis Children of Hyperion and their tragic loves (emergent anthropomorphism) Helius and son Phaethon Selene and Endymion Eos and aged Tithonus Succession Myth in 3 stages (adapted from NE model) 'First Succession': Cronus against Uranus offspring of castrated Uranus: Furies of Vengeance Aphrodite (note Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus') 'Second Succession': Zeus against Cronus Children of Cronus and Rhea= First-generation Olympians: Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera, Demeter, and Zeus Cronus devours his offspring (Goya's 'Saturn') Rhea conspires with Gaea to save infant Zeus substituing omphalos (=Metis's emetic?) Titanomachy: Zeus and brethren, joined by Themis and Prometheus, overthrow Cronus; Titans cast into Tartarus Third Stage: Challenges to Zeus (all defeated) Typhoeus/Typhon (offspring of Earth and Tartarus) note differing versions in Hesiod and Apollodorus Gigantomachy Brides of Zeus Metis--> Athena Prometheus' warns of Thetis Zeus triumphant, divides the world with Hades and Poseidon (casting lots?) Major themes in Greek Creation Differentiation through procreation Patterns of conflict hierarchy created by successive struggle younger generation against the old regimeNear Eastern antecedents Enuma Elish primordial Apsu and Tiamat Anu and Ea/Enki (=Cronus) in rebellion Marduk (~ Zeus) Hittite Creation: Succession in 4 stages Alalush >> Anu >> Kumarbi >> Storm God Teshub (~ Zeus) Teshub challenged by Ullikummi Ch. 5 -- Creation continued: Origins of Mortals Prometheus, maker of Man Other creators: Ovid suggests 'Maker of All Things'?From what substance is man made? in Ovid's version? in Enuma Elish Sumerian Creation: Enki and 'Earth' make man of primordial clay (complete with disabilities)Prometheus, savior of Man invents 'trick of sacrifice: Hesiod Theogony 535-57. What punishment for this deception? Theft of Fire What punishment for this act of defiance? Gifts of Prometheus and his promised deliverance (p. 116-7) Pandora (and Epimetheus) Who made her, of what material, and why? Note, p.123-4: 'Women as Containers' Five Races of Man (or 'Ages of Man') -- Hesiod Works and Days 106-201 List the 'Races' in order Cycles of Doom Compared Who is the creator of each 'race'? of what substance? -- and what does that imply about his nature?The Flood: Ovid Metamorphoses 1.211-61 Sins of Lycaon Salvation by Deucalion and Pyrrha cf. Genesis 6-8; Sumerian/Babylonian version: Ziusudra/Atrahasis(Cf.: Aristophanes' parody of man-making) Prominent themes: What do these stories tell us about the ancient view of human character? What are the causes of man's godlike qualities? his defects and downfall?