Greek Mythology
Syllabus
Bronze Age 3000 1100 BC Dark Age Archaic Period 800 480 BC Classical Period 480 323 BC Hellenistic Period 323 27 BC Roman Period 27 BC AD 476
Bronze Age Hellas (Mycenæan) Cyclades Crete (Minoan)
Minoans (Crete) Middle Bronze Age
Minoan household goddess
Minoan fresco, Knossos, Crete
Minoan seal with labrys
Minoan carved labrys
Mycenæans ~1600 BC to ~1150 BC Late Bronze
Megaron
Wilusa Hittites, Luwians Mycenæans Phœnicians Egyptians
~1150 BC
οἱ Ἕλληνες, οἱ Πανέλληνες Hellēnes, Panhellēnes ὁ Ἕλλην Hellēn ἡ Ἑλένη Helĕn Grāī, Græcī: Roman name
Archaic Period 800 480 BC Classical Period 480 323 BC Hellenistic Period 323 27 BC
Archaic Period 800 480 BC
Archaic Period 800 480 BC πόλις polis ἀλφάβητος alphabet τύραννος tyrant money
Archaic Period 800 480 BC Iliad Homer Odyssey Homeric Hyms Hesiod Theogony Works and Days
Archaic Period 800 480 BC Second Persian War ὁ τῶν Περσῶν μέγας βασιλεὺς Ξέρξης Xerxes the Great King of the Persians 480 BC
Classical Period 480 323 BC democracy monarchy oligarchy Ionians Dorians Athens Sparta
Athens Ionia Sparta
Classical Period 480 323 BC γυμνάσιον, συμπόσιον, παιδεραστία gymnasium, symposium, pederasty ἑταίρα hetaira ( escort ) παρθένος, νύμφη, γυνή parthenos, nymph, gyne virgin, bride, wife
Classical Period 480 323 BC Philosophy ὁ Πλάτων Plato
Classical Period 480 323 BC Tragedy ὁ Αἰσχύλος Æschylus ὁ Σοφοκλῆς Sophocles ὁ Εὐριπίδης Euripides
Classical Period 480 323 BC ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας Alexander the Great active 336 323 BC
Hellenistic Period 323 27 BC Rome Macedonia Carthage Seleucia Alexandria
Hellenistic Period 323 27 BC Μουσαῖον Museum Library at Alexandria
Hellenistic Period 323 27 BC Romans Titus Quinctius Flaminius 196 BC Lucius Mummius Achaicus 146 BC
What is myth?
Plato s Four Levels of Understanding 1 τὸ ὄνομα to onoma name name, word, slogan 2 ὁ λόγος ho logos account definition, history, rational explanation 3 τὸ εἴδωλον to eidōlon image picture, myth, allegory 4 ἡ ἐπιστήμη hē epistēmē knowledge your understanding 5 ὃ δὴ γνωστόν τε καῖ ἀληθῶς ἐστιν ὄν what is knowable and really exists what you re trying to understand
To which level belongs a story about Psyche (=the soul) pursuing Eros (=the god of desire)? the history of the 300 Spartans dying in battle against the Persian army at Thermopylæ? learning that Jupiter is the Latin name for the Greek god Zeus? a scholar s interpretation of a myth? a vase painting depicting Hermes and Apollo?
tradition religion myth cult ritual philosophy literature & art
Pliny makes a sacrifice to the genius (protective spirit) of the emperor. Ovid writes a poem about a nymph turning into a tree. Apuleius writes a story about Cupid and Psyche ( Desire and the Soul ) as a way of explaining the rites of initiation into the mysteries of Isis, but also to encode something inexplicable about the soul s desire for truth.
Are myths true or false?
Xenophanes πάντα θεοῖσ ἀνέθηκαν Ὅμηρός θ' Ἡσίοδός τε, ὅσσα παρ ἀνθρώποισιν ὀνείδεα καὶ ψόγος ἐστίν, κλέπτειν μοιχεύειν τε καὶ ἀλλήλους ἀπατεύειν. Αἰθίοπές τε θεοὺς σφετέρους σιμοὺς μέλανάς τε Θρῇκές τε γλαυκοὺς καὶ πυρρούς φασι πέλεσθαι. So, what kind of men were Homer and Hesiod?
Euhumerus Palæphatus
μῦθος mythos λόγος logos undemonstrable truth resting on traditional authority demonstrable truth deriving authority from its own logic communal responsibility author takes responsibility Martin, R. 1989. The Language of Heroes. Ithaca, NY.
divine myth gods legend / saga elite heroes folktale everyone else
The fox tricks the wolf into sparing the sheep Hermes steals cattle from Apollo Demeter holds a mortal boy over a hearth fire to make him invulnerable Agamemnon, king of the Greeks, leads an army against the people of Troy
Can we taxonify myth by function?
allegory philosophic allegory mystery
ætiological myth creation myth cosmogony theogony foundation myth charter myth Cambridge ritual theory etymology
eschatological myth soteriological myth
Women are considered untrustworthy because Pandora could not control her curiosity Zeus was born of Cronus, who was born of Uranus Dionysus conquered death, and he will share his secrets with worthy initiates into his cult Aphrodite went into her temple, where her priestesses washed and bathed her. Æneas escaped from Troy and built Rome.
Freud Individual Unconscious Jung Collective Unconscious