CL 222 1st Edition Lecture 6 Current Lecture: Chapter 5Poseidon, Hephaestus, and Hermes Poseidon The Homeric Hymn to Poseidon Epithet: shaker of the earth Homeric Hymnspraises to the divinities; not written by Homer; written in different time periods Heliconwhere the Muses lived Helicon and Aigai are known for their plentiful springs Poseidon was the holder of the earth with his waters around the lands Poseidon was violent and predictable just like sea and horses There was always a desire to appease Poseidon in order to calm the waters He’s usually seen holding a fishing spear and trident/ associated with horses “awful tamer” for ability to tame the wild horse (he created as a gift to people of Thessaly(where centaurs came from)) “earth-shaker” because he pounds the shores with his waves and uses his trident to create earthquakes, and horses hooves thunderously pound the earth Poseidon’s wife was a Nereid (daughter of the sea god Nereus) named Amphitrite whofirst rejected him, he tried to rape her near Naxos, she fled, dolphins found her, convinced her to return, and took her to the Mediterranean to marry Poseidon Walls of Troy Laomedon (Father of Priam) (King during the Trojan War) Poseidon and Apollo: Disguised as humans and offered to build the walls for Laomedon’s payment they built the walls to help Hera and Athena put Zeus in chains Laomedon refused payment and so Poseidon and Apollo decided to get revenge through Apollo’s plague and Poseidon’s sea monster Hesione (Laomedon’s daughter) had to be given to the sea monster to appease Poseidon Conveniently, Heracles walked by and saved the day by battling the sea monster Some of the inspiration for stories of myth and the fact the world was a scary placeneeding to be subdued, comes from the bones of creatures they found; some of the Roman emperors had fossil collectionsThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. Amphitrite, daughter of Nereus Nereus was married to Doris50 Nereids (sea monkeys) (daughters) Naxos was the island where Amphitrite was swimming when Poseidon tried to kidnap and rape her Contest with Athena All cities of ancient Greece believed they had a patron god/goddess who watched overthem and gave them protection for special recognition, a beautiful temple, and worship The god and goddess would be a role model When looking for a protective patron, Athena and Poseidon wanted to be the patrons of Athens The city held a contest to see who could provide the greatest gift They all stood around the Acropolis where Poseidon struck a spring in the ground with his trident (salt water=no good) Athena caused an olive tree to growvery useful for eating, trading, shade, etc. The tree got knocked over in several invasions, but new ones grew from the original roots in the same spot Athena represents suppression of untamed, wild, irrational self Poseidon flooded Athens because he lost Zeus reconciled Athens to Poseidon by convincing the people to grant some honors (only as runner-up to Athena) The Parthenon( temple of Athena) and Erechtheum (temple to Poseidon) were built onAthens’ acropolis Cape Sounion (Poseidon’s most famous temple) was built on the crack from his bust of a spring It was filled with plaques and trophies given to great mariners Hephaestus Homeric Hymn 20 to Hephaestus Klytometis: famedintelligence Klytoteknes: famed-artisan; technology intelligence Motif: Greeks recognize that mankind was much more primitive; crafts, buildings, civilizations distinguishes from the wild beast making it as superior as nature Fire and the forge; hammer, tongs, donkey, Cyclopes Hera had him on her own out of jealousy that Zeus had Athena from his head He had a limp potentially symbolizing lightning For this, he was severely ridiculed and laughed at Hera banned his ugly ass from Mt. Olympus Thetis and Eurynome, for nine years, concealed him in the ocean where he becamefascinated with volcanic activity He proved skilled in blacksmith’s art and forging objects for the 2 nymphs He then plotted revenge Hera became bonded to a golden throne Hephaestus created for her and only he couldfree her Dionysus got him drunk and carried him by donkey to Olympus In exchange for Hephaestus to free his mom, he got Aphrodite as his bride From then on, Hera and Hephaestus had a loving relationship Hera dispenses his power from the bedroom (to wives in the family); she gives the ability to have children; goddess of wives and mothers Zeus and Athena and Hera freaked out because what if men could have children without women Hephaestus was lame, weak-legged, and club-footed Upon irritation Zeus for breaking up Zeus and Hera’s fights, Hephaestus was flung by his foot from Mt. Olympus again He fell for an entire day and then landed barely alive on Lemmos, which became his favorite forge Every night he worked at his furnace with Cyclopes- There he made palaces at Mt. Olympus, Zeus’ throne and thunderbolts, weapons for famous heroes, Demeter’s sickle, Artemis’ arrows, cups, vases, and shields, and Pandora, and artificial servants With irony, the ugliest god brought so much beauty into the other god’s lives Thetis went to get weapons for Achilles from his forge The Necklace of Harmonia Ares + Aphrodite = Harmonia ( keeps everyone in a household happy ) In the retinue of Aphrodite, opposite Eris Zeus gave Harmonia to Cadmus while Cadmus was finding the city of Thebes (cursed city) Oedipus and his sister/daughter, Antigone, Semele, Polynesians, and Eteocles were cursed by the necklace Hephaestus suspected that Harmonia was not his daughter; he then forged a necklace for Cadmus to give o Harmoniathe necklace was cursed and whoever wore it would be ill She continued to pass down the necklace from generation to generation in Thebes Argos WRECKED Dedicated at Delphi (oracle of Apollo) Hermes Patron of thieves God of shepherds and travelers God of hinges integrity of doors God of trickery and theft Son of Zeus and Maia(daughter of Atlas) “the child whom she bore was devious, winning in his cleverness, a robber, a driver of cattle, a guide of dreams, a