Classics 10: Chapter 3 The Development of Classical MythThe Six Eras of Greek History All dates BC(E)The Development of Greek Myth: I. The Archaic Period (800-490)The Mystery of HomerHesiod (around 700 BCE ?)Other Sources from Archaic PeriodII. The Classical Period: 490 - 323 BCEGreek (Athenian) Tragedy: Apex of Classical Greek MythGreek TragediansIII. The Hellenistic / Roman Period: 323 - 30 BCEMajor Hellenistic Sources of MythMajor Roman Sources of MythSummary of Chapter 3Classics 10: Chapter 3The Developmentof Classical MythI. The Archaic PeriodII. The Classical PeriodIII. The Hellenistic / Roman PeriodHesiodThe Six Eras of Greek HistoryAll dates BC(E)3000–1600: Early/Middle Bronze Age 1600–1150: Mycenaean (Late Bronze) Age 1150–800: Dark Age 800–490: Archaic Period 490–323: Classical Period 323–30: Hellenistic PeriodThe Development of Greek Myth: I. The Archaic Period (800-490)•Invention of Greek alphabet around 800 BCE makes written version of myths possible•“Epic” songs performed for entertainment of the aristocracy: Homer’s Demodocus (in Odyssey)–Aphrodite and Ares; Odysseus at Troy–Demodocus = a doublet for Homer himself?•Myths had been passed down orally for centuries by bards called aoidoi (sing. = aoidos)–Oral composition (never the same song twice)–Improvisation and variation (e.g., good jazz) –Rhythmic patterns and stock phrases–Dactylic hexameter (long-short-short X 6)The Mystery of Homer•The IIiad and the Odyssey–Too long and complex ever to have been presented this way orally–Their final form the result of writing–Is Homer the poet or the writer? –Does the poetry depict the age of the heroes (the Mycenaean Period 1600–1200 BC) or his own age (the Dark Age 1200– 800 BC)?–Likely both, with some Archaic features, tooHesiod (around 700 BCE ?)•Tells us about himself and his age, unlike Homer–Came from Asia Minor to Mount Helicon near Thebes–Was a singer of stories (aiodos)•Theogony (see pp. 69-71 for lines 1-33)–An account of the origins of the cosmos to its present form; has many Near Eastern motifs–The Muses inspire his song; truth and falsehood•The Works and Days–Issues of right and wrong; wisdom literatureOther Sources from Archaic Period•The Cyclic Poems / Homeric Cycle–A “circle” around the Iliad and the Odyssey–Include events not in the two great epics–Known only in later summaries•The “Homeric” Hymns–Songs to a deity in a public setting: a sacrifice to a god, for example–Sets out the story of the deity: e.g. Demeter–In Homeric style, but not by HomerII. The Classical Period: 490 - 323 BCE•With the advent of writing, the aoidoi (jazz improv) gradually disappear •Rhapsodes performed written poems that they had memorized (musical score)•Choral Song (often in groups of 12)–Dance < Gk. “choros”; chanting movement–Public ritual setting–Pindar (ca. 522–443) wrote odes / dances for athletic victors that often include a mythical comparison to the victorious athleteGreek (Athenian) Tragedy: Apex of Classical Greek Myth•Directed toward the concerns of Athenian male citizens, but always couched in myth•Performed at Festival of Dionysus•Written scripts meant to aid actors•Aristotle’s Poetics on value of tragedy– cleansing of city through pity and fear–hamartia = “mistake”, NOT “tragic flaw”–Oedipus = great man brought down by acts he could not have preventedGreek Tragedians•Aeschylus (525–456); 7 plays survive–Grand moral issues; deep imagery and symbolism•Sophocles (496–406); 7 plays survive–Dignity of the hero caught in conflict of wills–Master of the form: Oedipus the King; Antigone•Euripides (485–406); 19 plays survive–Irrationalist; deflated heroes; strong, passionate women; the most modern of the tragedians–Aristotle judged that Sophocles showed men as they ought to be, Euripides as they areIII. The Hellenistic / Roman Period: 323 - 30 BCE•Increased effort to preserve archaic Greek myth •The “Mouseion” (“Hall of the Muses”) collected Greek literature in Alexandria (in Egypt)–Egypt now more central than Greece!–Myth scholars and literature professors•Literature now read aloud from a written text–Not necessarily “performed” in front of an audience as before, but meant to be read and reread–More learned than previous performance literature–This style called “Alexandrian”Major Hellenistic Sources of Myth•Callimachus (305–240 BCE)–Author of the first scientific history of literature–Librarian at the Mouseion•Apollonius of Rhodes (3rd century BCE)–His Jason and the Argonauts is in the Alexandrian style•The “Library” of Apollodorus (120 CE)–Compendium of Greek myths, not itself a work of literature (the ancient version of our textbook)–Hyginus also wrote such a compendium, in Latin, in the 100s CEMajor Roman Sources of Myth•Vergil (70-19 BCE) wrote of the fall of Troy in his Aeneid, the epic story of Aeneas, founder of the Roman race•Ovid (43 BCE - 17 CE) wrote an epic poem which included a telling of almost every major Greek myth: Metamorphoses–The theme of change (metamorphosis) occurs somehow in each episode–Focus is on poetic brilliance and human happiness more than religion or divine powerSummary of Chapter 3•Powell: “The fate of myth: to be recast and reformed according to the needs of the day”•Greek myth was used and presented in different ways and for different purposes as time went on•Many of these differences are tied to the increased use of writing, as opposed to their origins in oral