Class 200 Week Three.docx

Hesiod - 675 B.C Father from ionia Theogony 23-35 - muses pull up give him a staff and give him the ability to sing Uses himself in the poem in order to add validity and prove that what he's about to say is true. 2 main poems, work and days and the theogony. Theogony Cosmogony Cosmos + gonos (birth)...

Hesiod - 675 B.C Father from ionia Theogony 23-35 - muses pull up give him a staff and give him the ability to sing Uses himself in the poem in order to add validity and prove that what he's about to say is true. 2 main poems, work and days and the theogony. Theogony Cosmogony Cosmos + gonos (birth) Account of the universes physical origin and organization Cosmology Metaphysical statement about the universe’s nature and purpose. Succession myth: How zeus becomes ruler of cosmos 9 muses Uses genealogy to trace back family line in a wise way Structure 1-115 proem 116-236 The first Gods and their offspring, Gaea + Uranus = Titans (132ff.) 237-670 Birth of the Olympians; Zeus rise to power 671-end offspring of Zeus First gods Gaia, Tartros, Eros Primacy of Eros, importance of generation sexual reproduction in the cosmos Gaea + Uranus = Titans ex. Rhea, Themis, CRONUS Uranus stuffs them back in the earth, Uranus fear of his children, Gaia’s response is asking Cronus to castrate uranus Overthrown by castration-procreation and power Separation of earth and sky Needed for inhabitable cosmos Cronus cuts off genitals of his father uranus = throws them in da water = they foam up = aphrodite born = aphro=foam. Birth of Aphrodite Testifies to function as patron of masculine sexual pleasure In HOMER - daughter of Zeus and Dione Exploration of opposites tensions in myth Idea of affinity between love and hate Cronus forces himself upon Rhea has babies (the olympians) and ate all of them except for zeus who got saved by Gaia & Rhea by giving cronus a stone and then zeus matures and conquers cronus h Delfe is considered to be the center of the world and is often referred to as the omphalos Titan + mache = battle of the Titans Titans = children of gaia and uranus Olympians = children of cronus and rhea Typhoeus = child of gaia and tartarus Continuing importance of feminine principle Uranus (castration) and Cronus (stone) Ambivalence Rule of Zeus Zeus appointed King, unlike Cronus and Uranus Zeus delegates authority, again unlike Uranus and Cronus Zeus doesn’t rule by brute force alone, role of 1st wife Metis (“cunning Intelligence”) During Zeus rule gods are more anthropomorphic and less animistic Ends with ascension of zeus See progression from universe ruled by crude and violent forces, to one in which ruling forces are anthropomorphic and essentially human Zeus rise to power as succession myth Uranus> Cronus> Zeus Triumph of son over father Also: male over female Gaea gives birth to Uranus, Mountains, Sea etc. Uranus and beginning of struggle, birth process, castration of Uranus by son Cronus at the instigation of Gaea Defeat of Uranus and challenge to female fecundity, How? Next step? Cronus? Cronus “imitates” pregnancy and then “gives Birth” to olympians Last step? Zeus absorbs the female into himself when he consumes Metis. Male pregnancy, Dionysus: son of Zeus and Semele Gaea - triumph of female -"She came up with a plan, a really 161 wicked trick" (line 161) - castrates Uranus conquest of male sexuality Zeus - triumph of male - "Zeus tricked her [Metis], gulled her with crafty words, and stuffed her in his stomach..." (lines 674 – 676) - swallows Metis conquest of female sexuality Alienation of the Human and Divine Humanity Origins and decline Cause of suffering, death Relationship with the gods prometheus, Pandora, Ages Prometheus is the child of Iapetus and Clymene Iapetus and Clymene Birth: Atlas Menoitios Prometheus Epimetheus Prometheus = “forethought” Epimetheus = “afterthought” Hesiod - starts with punishment Sacrifice Zeus keeps fire from mankind Promoetheus deliveries fire to man Introduction of woman (Pandora) Role of trickery, deception Key role in information of cosmos Uranus, Cronus, Zeus Prometheus as “trickster” Trickster figure Greece Odysseus - Hero, subject of the odyssey, deals with the return of Odysseus' home after the Trojan war. Came up with the idea of the Trojan horse Cyclops polyphemus - have one eye giant savage creatures not smart, polyphemus comes back home sees odysseus and his men stealing his food and drinks so he locks it up and eats some of the men then odysseus gets him drunk because he's barbaric and cant control himself the he asks him what his name is and he says outus (nobody) then he passes out then they burn his eye out he wakes up in pain and then tells the other cyclops that nobody is trying to kill him. Norse mythology Loki - Kills balder with mistletoe stick because that's the only thing balder wasn’t immune to. American south Brer rabbit - people always try to trick him but he always turns back on them, overturns power and gets the upper hand. Got turned into bugs bunny who always tricks elmer fudd Trickster figure, modern examples? Joker Bart simpson Trickster - Creates disruption, mere trickery Culture hero Prometheus as culture hero Introduction of fire Ignites civilization: cooking of food, forging tools and weapons, agriculture “Prometheus brought fire that hath proved to mortals a means to mighty ends” Fire brings great benefit but also entails work, labour, struggle, and separation from the divine Idea of cooking - severs human ties to nature Separation from the divine Connections with knowledge Parallels with story of Eve Punishment Chained to crag, eagle eats liver Freed by heracles Story of Io (young women) on the cusp of marriage, having erotic feelings, Zeus comes down as a cloud and seduces her. Hera is always punishing women that Zeus has affairs with. Hera is the peacock, Zeus is the eagle, Zeus turns Io to a cow and Hera curses her with a gadfly that stings her forcing her to move all the time. (Innocent victim of despot) Different views on Prometheus Hesiod: trickster rightly punished by Zeus Aeschylus in prometheus bound Prometheus is seen as a benefactor for humans Authority of Zeus especially in the early reign can be criticized Ambivalence toward individualism Intrinsic value of individuals, Key component of Greek humanism But extreme assertion of individual rights can disrupt, Damaging to individual and state Myth and History Dark ages to Archaic period Chieftain society to the Polis (self-governing community) Chief and a small group of people rule the community, through the military who protects the community, in return for tax and food and other things. Greece wasn't a unified country, all the places in greece were a Polis Competitive to cooperative values In the earlier period (upper class liked this more because they could control more) Ultimately - democracy comes from this. Cooperative values. In the earlier times things were more focused on the individual and over time society started to be more community focused. Reflected in myth Achilles - him and agamemnon buttheads so he decided not to fight, which is individual and old thinking, even when the Greeks beg him to fight after a terrible loss he still says no. Tragedy in 5th century athens Prometheus myth as the focal point for a variety of Greek concerns, anxieties, beliefs. (discuss society concerns) Hesiod - punishment for theft of fire? Pandora Pandora = “All gifted”, but perhaps “Giver of All” Epimetheus = “Afterthought” because prometheus tells him not accept any gift Women as containers - Box Minoan and Mycenaean civilization Women’s tasks in Greece (going out and collecting water) on pots used for collecting water. Wool working (wool basket) sewing machine Ritual: basket, grain, knife hidden within grain Arrephoria , Erichthonius (hephaestus son) After they opened the box and saw the baby serpents they all went insane and committed sucicide of the parthenon Childbirth containers are often seen as wombs. (perseus and his mother) Death container (cremation), women mourning on a vase around a dead person (pandora) Consumption women as consumption only eat and don't attribute Overlap with perceptions of women and female function