Classics 10: Chapter 4 Myths of Creation: The Rise of ZeusI. Legacy of the Near EastFemale Divinities from the Near East in Artistic FormArtemis in Greek ArtThe Influence of the Near EastMyths of CreationSequence of Rulers of MesopotamiaMesopotamia: “Between the Rivers” of Tigris / EuphratesMesopotamian GodsMajor Written Sources of Near Eastern MythsLegacy of Near Eastern Creation MythGreek Myths of Creation: The First Generations of the GodsHesiod’s Theogony (700 BCE?)First Generation: Chaos to Gaea and UranusOther Children of ChaosThe Children of Gaea: The TitansThe Water TitansOther TitansOther Kids of Gaea and UranusCronus Against UranusThe Final Offspring of UranusOther Monsters From the SeaThe Birth of ZeusZeus Against Cronus: The Battle with the TitansSlide 25Zeus’ Battle with TyphoeusZeus’ Battle with the GiantsZeus Ends The SuccessionSlide 29Themes in Greek Creation StorySlide 31Classics 10: Chapter 4 Myths of Creation:The Rise of ZeusI. Legacy of the Near EastII. Hesiod’s Theog ony: The First Generations of Gods A. Chaos to Gaea and Uranus B. Cronus and the Titans C. The Rise of ZeusGoya paints Saturn [Cronus] Devouring His Children, 1819-23 (see Powell, pp. 96-7)I. Legacy of the Near East•Greek culture and Greek myths clearly dependent in basic ways on the older Near Eastern cultures of Mesopotamia•How to trace their influence very difficult–Representations of the divine in art?–Linguistic analysis (Indo-European)?•The Linear B texts of Mycenaean Greece suggest divine names now lost–What we don’t know is surely a lotFemale Divinities from the Near East in Artistic Form•Top: Mother goddess figure, from Chatal Huyuk (Turkey), ca. 6000 BCE, flanked by leopards•Bottom: Inanna, Queen of Heaven in Sumerian Myth (goddess of love), ca. 3500 BCE, flanked by leopards (?) and owlsArtemis in Greek Art•Top: As “Lady of the Beasts” (Potnia Theron), ca. 570 BCE -- flanked with animals and winged (a Near Eastern divine feature)•Bottom: Later Greek depiction of the “virgin huntress”, NOT a love goddess but still mistress of the wildThe Influence of the Near East•Greek culture and Greek myths clearly dependent in basic ways on the older Near Eastern cultures of Mesopotamia•But how determinative are the Near Eastern traditions to the Greeks?–Unbroken tradition of “Lady of the Beasts”?–Divergence of “Lady of the Beasts” and goddess of love, human fertility?•I find the similarities more significant, but the difficulties of this example are representativeMyths of CreationLegacy of the Near East(important information in both Chapters 3 and 4)Sequence of Rulers of Mesopotamia•Sumerians 4000-2300 BCE•Akkadians 2300-1750 BCE–A Semitic people who displace the Sumerians•Babylonians 1750-700 BCE–Hammurabi’s law code•Persians 700-325 BCE•Also: Hittites (central Turkey, 1600-1200 BCE)•Egypt: very old civilization, but few known mythsMesopotamia: “Between the Rivers” of Tigris / EuphratesMesopotamian GodsTiamat (primordial salt water)An / Anu (sky, kingship, order)Inanna / Ishtar / Astarte (queen of heaven, sexual love)Enlil / Marduk (storms, kingship)Enki / Ea (male fertility, wisdom, trickster)Ki (mother goddess, Mother Earth)Ereshkigal (underworld, dead)Major Written Sources of Near Eastern MythsNear Eastern Cuneiform Tablets [Cunieform = “Wedge-Shaped”]•Enuma Elish–Sumerian (see Ch. 4)•Kingship in Heaven–Hittite (see Ch. 4)•Epic of Gilgamesh–Babylonian (see Ch. 12)–Legend, not Divine MythLegacy of Near Eastern Creation Myth•Greek creation myths follow the same basic pattern of Near Eastern Creation myths in two hugely important ways:–Successive generations of gods battle with each other = part of the destiny of the world–Progression from female (e.g., Mother Earth) to male (King and Father of Gods and Men)•A thematic progression from chaos to order•Sex is primal but problematicGreek Myths of Creation:The First Generations of the GodsA. Chaos to Gaea and UranusB. Cronus and the TitansC. The Rise of ZeusHesiod’s Theogony (700 BCE?)•Earliest surviving Greek account, generally regarded as authoritative by later Greeks•The theogony (origin of the gods) is assumed to be the cosmogony (orgin of the world / cosmos)–Democritus (5th Century BCE) denied the existence of gods, said the world made entirely of atoms•Most Greeks assumed he was crazyFirst Generation: Chaos to Gaea and Uranus•Chaos (< “chasm”); something opened and beings came out•First was Gaea (Mother Earth) and Tartarus (Underworld?)•Eventual mythic geography (but not yet)–Olympus = On High–Earth = Middle (surface of the world)–Tartarus = Place BelowOther Children of Chaos•Eros–Force of sexual attraction = reproductive power•Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night)–Features of Chaos? Or descendants?•Nyx begets (how?):–Moerae (The Fates) and Nemesis (Retribution)•Erebus + Nyx have sex (?), somehow produce their opposites:–Aether (Radiance) and Hemera (Day)The Children of Gaea: The Titans•Gaea bears Uranus (“Heaven”, “Sky”), also the Mountains and the Sea (“Pontus”)–Asexual reproduction from Mother Earth ?!–I will pronounce Uranus as in the Greek “Ouranos”•Gaea (Earth) in constant sexual embrace with Uranus (Sky), who seems to have covered her completely•Their union bears the 12 Titans: named by Hesiod (Powell, p. 84) (6 male, 6 female) –Including Themis (“Law”), Mnemosyne (“Memory”)The Water Titans•Oceanus (male) + Tethys (female)–2 of the 12 Titan offspring of Gaea and Uranus•Oceanus = a river that encircles Gaea (Earth)•The Oceanids are their 6000 kids, who are the spirits of all waterways•Homer’s alternate cosmology makes them the primordial parents of all the gods–Remember that Greek myths often have alternate versions; rarely an official version•Though Hesiod’s Theogony is pretty close to officialOther Titans•Cronus (= Chronus, “Father Time”?) [Saturn]•Rhea, will become wife of Cronus•Hyperion (Sun God), who fathers:–Helius (Sun), fathers Phaethon, who made the Ethiopians black and inhabit a desert (etiological)•He can’t handle the chariot of the sun, which crashes and scorches Ethiopia–Selene (Moon), seduces Endymion, puts him in eternal sleep so he does not grow old –Eos (Dawn), has her lover Tithonus made immortal, but he ages into dustOther Kids of Gaea and Uranus•3 Hecatonchires (“hundred-handers”)–Also