CLA2323 Greek Myth Lecture Notes October 29, 2024 PDF

CLA2323 October 29, 2024 Lecture Notes *[The myth of Perseus concluded]* -The ancient Greeks assumed the world to be like a frisbee -The "bad people" were in the west parts of the earth -The west symbolizes death -like the sun sets in the west -It's like the ends of the earth -Athena was Per...

CLA2323 October 29, 2024 Lecture Notes *[The myth of Perseus concluded]* -The ancient Greeks assumed the world to be like a frisbee -The "bad people" were in the west parts of the earth -The west symbolizes death -like the sun sets in the west -It's like the ends of the earth -Athena was Perseus patron goddess and bestowed the head of medusa onto her aegis (garment) "apotropaic" to turn away evil **Perseus' civilizing accomplishments** -killed 2 monsters : medusa and the sea monster -later became king of Tiryns \- he founded a new city Mycenae In real life there was a bronze age Greek city called Mycenae **Hero myth checklist** 1\) The hero is the son of a god, usually of Zeus. 2\) His first adventure is a coming-of-age tale, when he is 18 years old or so. 3\) He must destroy a monster, whose removal will aid humanity. 4\) The monster \[or prize\] is located at the end of the world. 5\) Athena is the hero's patron deity. 6\) The hero receives certain supernatural tools or instructions to help in his quest. 7\) He finds (female) romance during this main adventure. 8\) His myth furthermore includes some civilizing contribution that he makes, beyond killing the monster. This second contribution might come later in his life. For example, Perseus ruled Tiryns, allied Tiryns with Argos, and founded the city of Mycenae. The hero Theseus ruled Athens wisely as king, for a long while after his Minotaur adventure. 9\) Sometimes overlapping with Item 8, the myth includes items of aetiology *[The hero Bellerophon of Corinth]* \- Sources: (1) a brief description in Homer's *Iliad*, circa 750 B.C.; (2) a mention by the poet Pindar, circa 470 B.C.; and (3) a retelling in Apollodorus' *Library* \- a simple, unadorned tale, probably very old. Minor echoes of several other myths \- the myth includes a character that traditionally has been one of the most beloved of all Greek mythology: the flying horse **Pegasus** \[Pegasos\] \- Bellerophon is a son of Sisyphus \[Sisyphos\]. Sisyphus = the great sinner, page 89, who founded the city of **Corinth**. Sisyphus was the son of Aeolus \[Aiolos\], who was a grandson of Deucalion \[Deukalion\] after the Flood. \- The name Bellerophon means "Carrying \[something\]"---maybe "arrows". \- Under a cloud of having committed manslaughter in Corinth, Bellerophon leaves home for Tiryns. At Tiryns he is an [outsider, on sufferance]: Compare young Perseus or Jason. **Bellerophon, a guest in Tiryns** The Bellerophon tale offers minor problems in chronology: On one hand, it logically comes [after] the Perseus tale, because it includes the miraculous horse Pegasus (born from the blood of the slain Medusa). On the other hand, the king at Tiryns isn't yet Perseus but is Perseus' uncle Proetus \[Proitos\], brother of King Acrisius of Argos. In any case, King Proetus of Tiryns has a wife, whom Homer calls Anteia. However, other sources call her Stheneboea \[Stheneboia\], the name that's used in our textbook. - Here is Bellerophon in the palace at Tiryns, according to Homer's *Iliad* (Book VI)--- To Bellerophon the gods gave beauty and handsome manliness\... Now Proetus' wife, fair Anteia, lusted madly for Bellerophon and craved to lie down with him in secret love. But she could in no way persuade wise Bellerophon, since his heart was upright. So she spun a tale of falsehood and said to King Proetus, "Either kill Bellerophon or die thyself, Proetus, seeing that Bellerophon wants to lie with me in love against my will." Thus she spoke, and her words enraged the king. So Proetus in his heart plotted evil against Bellerophon... **Bellerophon = Joseph of the Hebrew bible** **Anteia/Stheneboea has told her husband a lie, claiming that Bellerophon tried to seduce her. Compare the very similar lie told by wife Phaedra \[Phaidra\] in the Theseus-and-Hippolytus myth: Buxton page 129. Compare also the tale of Joseph and Potiphar's wife in the Bible: *Genesis* 39 (below).** **Obviously the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) was not part of Greek mythology. Nevertheless, certain overlaps-in-content between Greek myth and the Bible---such as this one or the Flood myth---have been noted and debated by scholars for centuries.** ** ** *Joseph and Potiphar's wife: Genesis 39 (New English Bible translation)* Now Joseph had been brought \[as a Hebrew slave\] to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, purchased him... The Lord was with Joseph. Joseph was successful and lived in the household of his Egyptian master. His master observed that the Lord made successful everything that Joseph did. So Joseph found favour in Potiphar's sight. Potiphar appointed Joseph overseer of his household. Now Joseph was well built and good looking. Potiphar's wife took notice of him and said, "Have sex with me." But he refused, saying to his master's wife, "How could I do such a great evil, and sin against God?" Even though she continued to speak to Joseph day after day, he did not respond to her invitation. One day he went into the house to do his work when none of the servants were there. She grabbed him by his cloak, saying, "Have sex with me!" Leaving his cloak in her hand, he ran outside....She called for her servants and said to them, "See, my husband brought in a Hebrew man to humiliate us. He tried to seduce me, but I screamed loudly. He left his cloak and ran outside." When Potiphar came home, she said to him, "That Hebrew slave tried to humiliate me, but I screamed and he ran outside." Furious, Potiphar threw Joseph into prison. King Proetus avoids directly killing Bellerophon, which would break the vital laws of hospitality. Instead, Proetus tries instead to get Bellerophon killed by indirect means. (In myth, this trick never works.) Homer's narrative in the *Iliad* continues---...So Proetus in his heart plotted evil against Bellerophon. Proetus held back from killing Bellerophon outright, fearing it in his heart. But he sent Bellerophon to Lycia \[a non-Greek kingdom in southern Asia Minor\], and gave him fatal tokens, having written many deadly signs in a folded tablet. Proetus instructed Bellerophon to show these to King Iobates \[Proetus' father-in-law\]. Proetus' purpose was that Bellerophon be slain. *Footnote*: This passage includes Western literature's earliest mention of the technology of writing. Also, this is one of the few references to writing in all of Greek mythology. **Bellerophon in Lycia** Homer's *Iliad* version continues--- So Bellerophon went to Lycia under care of the gods. And when he had come to Lycia and the River Xanthus, the king \[Iobates\] of Lycia showed him honour. For nine days Iobates entertained Bellerophon, and slew nine oxen. But when the tenth rosy dawn appeared, then Iobates questioned Bellerophon and asked to see what token he had from Proetus. Then, when Iobates had received from Bellerophon the evil token, he ordered Bellerophon to slay the raging Chimaera. *In other words*: Bellerophon, when sent to King Iobates of Lycia, is innocently carrying a sealed letter, to Iobates from Proetus, that says, "Kill the bearer." **Bellerophon and the chimaera** Iobates too, not to break the hospitality-laws, decides to get Bellerophon killed indirectly. He sends the hero on an impossible mission: to slay the monstrous Chimaera \[Chimera, Chimaira\]. Compare the similarly-motivated monster-slaying assignments for the heroes Perseus and Jason. But Bellerophon receives help from **Athena** and (in some versions) Poseidon: They equip him with the marvelous winged stallion **Pegasus** \[Pegasos\]. However, Homer's version never mentions Pegasus. Homer simply says--- The Chimaera was of divine descent: in front, a lion; in back, a serpent; in the middle, a goat; and breathing forth terribly a might of blazing fire. Yet Bellerophon slew her, trusting in the aid of the gods. **Pegasus** Pegasus is described as the offspring of Poseidon (god of horses) and the female monster medusa In the version told by Apollodorus, Bellerophon uses "air superiority" against the chimaera. Riding Pegasus in the air, out of reach of the chimaera's fire-breath, Bellerophon shoots arrows down at the monster to kill it **Bellerophon: after the chimaera-adventure** After the Chimaera, Bellerophon has more exploits. These seem to take place somewhere in central Asia Minor, while he is on his way back, westward, to Iobates' palace. Homer's *Iliad* narrates--- Next he fought the glorious Solymoi---which he said was the mightiest combat he ever engaged in. Then he slew the Amazons, women who were the equals of men. Then, as he journeyed back therefrom, King Iobates laid another cunning snare against him: Choosing the bravest men of Lycia, Iobates set an ambush to murder Bellerophon. But these men did not return home, for the unrivalled Bellerophon killed them all. Iobates, impressed by Bellerophon's invincibility, gives up on trying to kill him and instead offers his daughter's hand in marriage to Bellerophon. As Homer tells it--- The lady bore Bellerophon three children: Isander, Hippolochus, and Laodameia. With Laodameia the god Zeus later would make love, and she gave birth to godlike Sarpedon, the warrior sheathed in bronze. **Bellerophon's downfall: a classic case of hubris** On dying, King Iobates leaves his kingdom to Bellerophon. But then comes Bellerophon's act of folly and *hubris*. Bellerophon tries to ride Pegasus uninvited to the gods' home on Mt. Olympus. Of course, Zeus sees this and stops Bellerophon---pushing him off his flying horse, yet not killing him. Instead, Bellerophon lives out his last days as a wandering outcast. As Homer summarizes--- So even Bellerophon came to be hated of all the gods. Then he wandered alone over the Aleian plain \[part of Asia Minor\], eating out his own heart and shunning the paths of men... **Hubris: pride that goeth before a fall** Thus the Bellerophon tale lines up with some other myths of human overreaching and *hubris*, described in Buxton's chapter "Honour and Boundaries": pp. 88--93. For *hubris*, see last week's slideshow, Slides 27--42. As you know, the word means "foolhardy arrogance" or "pride that goeth before a fall": big-headedness, born of [success], that leads a person to reckless, foolish action. We [humans] are prone to hubris. Among other Greek heroes who achieve success but then turn hubristic and pay the price are Theseus, Agamemnon, arguably Jason, and arguably Meleager. *Footnote*: Pegasus survives Bellerophon's misadventure and is welcomed to Olympus by Zeus. The miraculous horse has his stable there to this day. *[Cadmus of Thebes]* **The hero Cadmus of Thebes** The tale of Cadmus \[Kadmos\] is of interest for its offered items of aetiology. The tale explains the founding of the major real-life city of Thebes (*Thēbai*), in central Greece. Also it explains the creation of the Greek alphabet, as copied by the Greeks from the Phoenician alphabet circa 800 B.C. Generally the tale seems to be a wildly distorted acknowledgment of the Phoenician influence on real-life early Greece, circa 900--700 B.C. Cadmus is one of a few heroes of Greek mythology who are not themselves [born] Greek. Cadmus starts-out his tale as being a prince of the Phoenician city of Tyre. Other non-Greek-born heroes include (i) Pelops and (ii) the various Trojan characters, such as Hector and Aeneas. Also, Pelops' father, the villain Tantalus \[Tantalos\], is non-Greek-born. **Cadmus: from Phoenicia to Greece** Prince Cadmus of Tyre journeys to Greece, searching in vain for his sister Europa (Greek *Europē*: "wide face" or maybe "wide eyes"). She has been abducted by Zeus: Buxton pp. 97--98. In Greece, he consults the **oracle** of Apollo at **Delphi**---the first such episode in our CLA2323 course so far. Regarding this important real-life shrine, see the "Delphi" pdf in the "Read for Sept. 24" module on Brightspace. See also Buxton photo-captions on pp. 7 and 74. After several adventures and combats in which he is aided by the goddess Athena, Cadmus builds Thebes. Buxton pp. 61 and 96. Cadmus rules his Greek subjects wisely. And since they are illiterate, he bestows on them the vital technology of writing, already known in Phoenicia. That is, he gave them the Phoenician **alphabet**, to help create a Greek alphabet. **Cadmus, King of Thebes** Regarding the slide above: *"...he gave them the Phoenician alphabet, to help create a Greek alphabet"---* The ancient Greek historian Herodotus, circa 440 B.C., delivers this tale as though it were historical fact--- The Phoenicians who came with Cadmus to Greece brought with them, among many other innovations, the alphabet \[Greek: *grammata*, "letters"\], which I think had previously been unknown to the Greeks... The Greeks, thus educated, adapted the Phoenician letters (with a few changes) to use for writing Greek. Yet they persisted in calling their Greek letters by the name "Phoenician things" \[Greek: *Phoinikeia*\]---as was only fair, since the Phoenicians had introduced these things to Greece (Book V, Chapter 58). Like the reference in the Bellerophon tale (above, Slide 21, bottom), this is one of the few times that Greek mythology mentions the technology of writing. **Cadmus: a charmed life** Cadmus' gift to the Greeks of an alphabet would rank high as a **civilizing gift** from a hero, = Item 8 on the hero-myth checklist: Slide 9, above. Remarkably, Cadmus marries a goddess, Harmonia, daughter of Aphrodite and Ares. When Cadmus and Harmonia die---and please note that this detail is illogical for Harmonia---they ascend to Greek "heaven": **Elysium**. See Buxton page 96. In all, Cadmus lived a charmed life, but most of his children and grandchildren were fated to be far less lucky: Buxton page 96. *[The boar hunt of Calydon]* The hunt's leader is **Meleager**, a prince of Calydon \[Kalydon\]. He will get credit for killing the boar with his spear, after several other hunters had merely wounded it. But the most memorable of the hunters is the female hero **Atalanta** When Meleager kills his two maternal uncles after the hunt, is it pure self-defence? Or has Meleager overreacted? And has he overreacted because he secretly is in love with Atalanta? In other words, is it mainly bad luck and self-defence, or is it mainly *hubris* by Meleager? In ancient Greece, two different bards or poets could spin the incident in two different ways, offering one interpretation or the other, according to artistic motive. Meleager's death is described at Buxton p. 106 and p. 86. In Greek myth, you can never escape your **fate**. Also, the storytelling device of the "external soul"---Meleager dies when the log burns out---is familiar in legends worldwide. The Calydonian Boar Hunt is the simplest of the four best-known "**band of heroes**" myths. The other three are Jason and the Argonauts, the Seven against Thebes, and the expedition against Troy. Several of the boar huntsmen would also sail in Jason's ship, the *Argo*. These are Castor and Polydeuces of Sparta, Peleus of Calydon (the father of Achilles), Acastus \[Akastos\] of Iolcus \[Iolkos\] (in northeastern Greece), Admetus \[Admetos\] of Pherae (in northeastern Greece)---and in some versions, Meleager himself. But if Meleager is aboard the *Argo*, then obviously that version of the Jason story is imagined as occurring [before] the Calydonian Boar Hunt---since Meleager will be dead right after the hunt. Usually, the Jason myth is imagined as occurring [after] the Boar Hunt, with no Meleager. *[The myth of Jason and the Argonauts]* NOTE THE TUXTON READING *[The myth of Hercules]* **The hero Hercules: his name** Your prof prefers the spelling "Heracles". But any of three spellings is acceptable: Heracles, Herakles, or Hercules. \- The Greek name *Hēraklēs* means "glory of Hera". Or "fame of Hera". \- The name obviously offers a puzzle because Hera, in the myth, is the implacable [enemy] of Heracles. \- The variant "**Hercules**" attests to the hero's international appeal, starting in ancient times. *Hercules* is what the (non-Greek) Etruscans of Italy called him, circa 600 B.C. By then the Etruscans had become enthusiastic consumers of Greek imported goods and Greek culture. The myth of Heracles became important to the Etruscans in their own legend and art. \- The Greek name may have been hard to pronounce for the Etruscans---and anyway it didn't [mean] anything in the Etruscan language. So the Etruscan name became "Hercules". \- Later, in the 400s B.C., the (non-Greek, non-Etruscan) city of **Rome** emerged as the central-Italian power. The Romans became the [next] Italian enthusiasts for Greek culture. "Hercules" became a central figure in the mythology and literature of Rome. \- Under the Roman (Latin) name "Hercules", the hero was bequeathed to Europe's Middle Ages and Renaissance. For example, in the plays of Shakespeare (circa 1600 A.D.), his name is Hercules. **Hercules' worldwide appeal, down the centuries** Heracles is arguably the most famous and recognizable character from [any] mythology, worldwide, and definitely the most popular survival from Greek myth. He's been a favourite for at least three thousand years. Why? What in his story or his personality might explain his spectacular, worldwide appeal? ---One answer lies in his striving, his **suffering**, and his partial **failures.** His story veers from giant achievements to calamitous failures and tragedies, and back to a final triumph, in a way that has satisfied audiences through the centuries. Definitely he's not a "teflon" hero who coasts effortlessly to success. ---Secondly, and related to the above, Heracles has a most distinctive **personality**. Jovial, generous, fearless, basically dumb (yet occasionally shrewd), childlike, impetuous (sometimes disastrously), occasionally surly, capable of destructive rage---all of these describe him. Furthermore, this personality comes through as fairly consistent, amid his many stories. \- Circa the 200s B.C. to 200s A.D., Heracles was revered by the philosophy called **Stoicism**, during the Hellenistic era and Roman Empire. Stoicism is mentioned at Buxton page 225, right-hand column. \- The Stoic philosophers saw in Heracles an ideal image of **human fortitude**: of **perseverance** amid effort and **endurance** amid suffering. \- Similarly, early Christian thinkers of the Roman Empire, in the 100s A.D. and after, saw Heracles as a pagan forerunner of **Christ**. \- Like Christ, he suffered as a mortal man on Earth, died in agony, then went to heaven as a god. Also like Christ, Heracles [harrowed Hell] (in this Twelfth Labour). \- The above items give a clue to Heracles' popularity in ancient times. **Heracles: both human and god** In real-life ancient Greek religion, human heroes routinely were worshipped as powerful spirits after death. But Heracles, nearly uniquely, spanned the gap between god and mortal: Real-life ancient Greeks considered him to have been **both** human and god. After dying as a man, Heracles was welcomed by his father, Zeus, on Mt. Olympus. There he lives eternally as a god with the other gods. This afterlife *on Olympus* is **nearly unique** among Greek mythical heroes: For most heroes, the best afterlife that a human could hope for was in *Elysium* (not on Olympus with the 12 gods). The hero Cadmus, for example, gets to Elysium. **Heracles on Olympus: friend to humans** As someone who had lived both lives, human and divine, Heracles was imagined as a god who has special [sympathy for mortals]. It was thought he might [intercede] with father Zeus on the behalf of humans. You would [pray] to Heracles. Only the "divine twins" **Castor** and **Polydeuces**, achieved a similar level: In death, the Twins were said to live one day together in the Underworld and the next day together on Olympus, forever. Much like Heracles, the Twins were imagined as having sympathy for the needs and prayers of real-life humans---as compared with certain aloof gods like Apollo or Poseidon. Thus Heracles (and the Twins) join the short list of gods who tended to be fond of humans: Aphrodite, Athena, Demeter, Dionysus, and maybe Persephone. **Centerpiece of the myth: the 12 labours** The long and busy Heracles myth has as its centerpiece his **Twelve Labours**. \- The word "Labours" in our Greek sources usually appears as the word *athloi*, better translated as "contests" (= the root in our word "athletics"). That word *athloi* is helpful because a contest normally has an opponent and a prize. \- Sometimes, in the Greek, the Labours are referred to as *ponoi*, "chores, labours". The message of the Labours is that Heracles' immense energy and potentially **poor** judgment were now being channeled into deeds that **benefitted** humankind. He was earning his rank as hero. \- A number of lesser adventures precede and then follow the Labours. \- Heracles' post-Labours exploits culminate in his tragic and gruesome death.