Week 2_3 Olympians Part 2 Slides.pdf
Transcript
SEERS AND KIDS Melampus Tiresias And Trophonius! Zeus Hephaestus Hebe Hera Ares Eileithyia Tiresias appearing to Odysseus, Johann Heinrich Füssli, c. 1780–85. EILEITHYIA Goddess of childbirth – role shared with Hera Not major figure – does appear here and there in art Metropolitan Mus...
SEERS AND KIDS Melampus Tiresias And Trophonius! Zeus Hephaestus Hebe Hera Ares Eileithyia Tiresias appearing to Odysseus, Johann Heinrich Füssli, c. 1780–85. EILEITHYIA Goddess of childbirth – role shared with Hera Not major figure – does appear here and there in art Metropolitan Museum of Art 06.1097 The Sophilos Dinos HEBE Goddess of youthful bloom (ἥβη) Cupbearer to the gods, who drink ambrosia, not wine. Fancy! Other manual service for gods. Ie. Iliad 5, gets Hera’s chariot Wife of Herakles (eventually), which makes him full god. Odyssey 11.603 British Museum 1971,1101.1 GANYMEDE Basic story – Found in HH 5 (Aphrodite). Zeus singles out Ganymede to grace Olympus as cupbearer b/c he’s pretty. Ganymede’s father, Tros, got some horses out of the deal. Hebe has to leave b/c she’s now hitched with Hercules Goethe – Ganymede as devoted Other retellings Homosexual theme. Zeus bisexual Full out Rape Satiric story A red-figure kylix depicting Zeus abducting the youth Ganymede. Attributed to the Penthesilea Painter. Athens, c. 475-425 BCE. 10 (4) Zeus and Ganymede Zeus: Come now, Ganymede. We’ve got there, so you can give me a kiss right away, and you’ll know I’ve no crooked beak now, or sharp claws or wings, as you thought when you took me for a bird. LUCIAN Dialogues of the Gods 4(10) Ganymede: Mister man, weren’t you an eagle just now? Didn’t you swoop down, and carry me away from the middle of my flock? How, then, have your feathers moulted? You look quite different now. Zeus: It’s no man you see here, my lad, nor eagle either. No, I’m the king of all the gods, but I’ve changed my shape for the moment. Ganymede: Oh, sir, do you mean you’re the one that poured down that tremendous hailstorm on us the other day, the one they say lives up top and makes all the noise, the one my father sacrificed the ram to? What harm have I done you, mister king of the gods, that you’ve carried me off up here? Perhaps the wolves will fall on my sheep now that they’re unprotected, and tear them to pieces. Zeus: What? Still worrying about your sheep? You’re an immortal now and will be living up here with us. Ganymede: What’s that? Won’t you be taking me back to Ida today? Zeus: Of course not. That would mean I’d changed from god to eagle all for nothing. Ganymede: What’s that? Are you Pan himself? How is it, Ganymede: Then my daddy will be looking everywhere then, you’ve no pipe or horns or shaggy legs? for me and getting cross if he doesn’t find me, and I’ll get a thrashing by and by for leaving my flock. Zeus: Is he your only god? Ganymede: Yes, and we sacrifice one of our best billies to him, taking it to the cave where he has his statue. But you’re just a kidnapper, if you ask me. Zeus: Tell me, have you never heard the name of Zeus? Never seen his altar on Gargaron—the one who sends rain, thunder and lightning? Zeus: How so? Where will he see you? Ganymede: Please don’t go on with it, for I miss him already. If only you take me back, I promise you you’ll get another ram from him, sacrificed as my ransom. We have the three-year-old one, the big one that leads the way to the pasture. HEPHAESTUS God of creative fire and divine smith, workshop either in heaven or on Olympus Makes lots of fancy stuff – Shield of Achilles Has robot helpers – golden attendants. Iliad 18.373-417, 468-617 Fire includes destruction. Iliad 21.324 Often associated with Athena Attended by Cyclopes Hephaestus w/ shield of Achilles PHYSICAL NATURE Lame from birth Various origin tales One version, Zeus hurls him to the earth, where he lands at Lemnos Iliad 1.518-611: Hephaestus’ perspective. Shows a lot about the gods, relations, nature, etc Gods laugh at him carrying out duties – but NOT a jester Piero Di Cosimo, The Finding of Vulcan on Lemnos, 1495-1505 HEPHAESTUS AND APHRODITE Married to none other than Aphrodite Beauty vs deformity; intellectual and sensual Aphrodite is a bit Zeus like and cheats – sleeps with Ares Book 8.266-366, Odyssey, Hephaestus tricks them and basically rings the shame bell in front of all the gods. Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan, Alexandre Charles Guillemot, 1827 ARES Origin associated with Thrace Several children with Aphrodite, including Eros (not to be confused with the earlier primordial Eros) “Divine swash-buckler” Represents bloody side of war – moral/theological/intellectual aspects of war taken over by Athena, Zeus, and others. HH 8 Worcester Art Museum 1966.63 Zeus: “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…Still I shall not endure any longer for you to be in pain, for you are of my blood and your mother bore you to me. But if you were born of some other of the gods, since you are so destructive you would have long since been thrown out of Olympus.” Iliad 5.889-891, 895-898 The Muses: Zeus and Mnemosyne Pieria near Olympus or Mt. Helicon Calliope (epic poetry) Clio (history) Euterpe (lyric poetry) Melpomene (tragedy) Terpsichore (choral dancing) Erato (love poetry) Polyhymnia (sacred music) Urania (astronomy) Thalia (comedy) Note inclusion of Apollo in Homeric Hymn 25 Terracotta Hydria with CRAZY PROVENANCE Also see Beazley Archive Record EXCURSUS SLIDE! “Said to be…” is a description found on thousands of labels in many of the world’s premiere collections of Classical antiquities Often a sign of some shady background that insect the realm of looting, black market sales, illegal exportation, and much more How do we approach this as academics? How should museums admit wrong doings and remain transparent? “Said To Be From…”: Ethics and Hidden Provenance in LongEstablished Museum Antiquities Collections by Erin L. Thompson The Fates (Moirai): Daughters of Zeus and Themis (sometimes) Clotho (Spinner) Lachesis (Apportioner) Atropos (Inflexible) British Museum 1971,1101.1 THE HORAE The Hours Shift over time from physical sense to ethical notions Earliest reference – guarding Zeus’ cloud gates. Iliad 5.749-51 Works and Days – relation to order. Eunomia (good order), Dike (justice), and Eirene (peace) Homeric Hymns 3 and 6 – fruitful aspect. Thallo (blossoms), Auxo (increaser of growth), and Carpo (brings food). Names only appear in Pausanias. Three Horae on red figure kylix. End 6th to earlt 5thF 2278, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Antikensammlung ON DECK Myth in Practice Nature of gods Wild Herodotus appears! Super effective! Sacrifice Bell krater (mixing bowl for wine and water) depicting a sacrifice, the Kleophon Painter or his circle, Greek, Attic, c. 425 BCE. Terracotta, red-figure technique. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Catharine Page Perkins Fund, 95.25.
