CLT 3378 04 Ancient Mythology Exam 2 Study Guide Pandora Greek Myth Name means all gifts pan all dora gifts although this is a false etymology In Works and Days Pandora opens a jar releases evil into the world In Theogony she is unnamed the woman herself is the source of evil Pandora First woman Works and Days Author Hesiod Didactic moral Farmer s almanac Folk wisdom Didactic Represents a misogynistic hatred of women strain in Greek literature Moral tries to teach you how to be a good person Works and Days forms Pandora out of clay and water Theogony makes a golden crown complete with life like animals for the woman Are the animals meant to represent the deceptive and artificial nature of woman the animals look real but are really not woman looks good but she is really evil Prometheus warns Epimetheus not to accept any gifts from Zeus foolish Epimetheus accepts Works and Days Misogynistic as listed above Hephaestus Hephaestus Blacksmith god Epimetheus Name means afterthought Brother of Prometheus Zeus gift of Pandora Pyxis Box Clay vessel life size decorated Pithos Mistranslated by Erasmus in 1600 CE hence the common phrase Pandora s Box Jar Life size storage jars Hesiod s intended word jar instead of box Hope Only thing left in the pithos after evil escapes Is hope present or absent in the world Kalon Kakon Hesiod s term for women Beautiful Evil a paradox Myth of the Races Devolution of people Does not fit with the other ages Race of Heroes No decline in people One of Hesiod s explanations for why life is hard the other being Pandora both explanations juxtaposed Gold Age Silver Age Bronze Age Race of Heroes Iron Age Myth as history wealthy Greeks traced back their lineage to these heroes Doesn t fit with the other ages Heracles Perseus Achilles etc Prometheus Greek Background Reading Athens Greek polis or city state Repelled a Persian invasion of Greece during the Persian Wars 490 480 479 Headed the defensive alliance of Poleis the Delian League formed to prevent the island states from falling under Persian domination Used their wealth to build a variety of famous buildings such as the Parthenon Agonistic Competitive Tragedy As demonstrated by the Greek tragic competitions Performed at yearly festivals in honor of the god Dionysus Tragedians competed against one another having to write three tragedies plus a satyr play Satyr Place Comic play based on a mythological story Rarely historical Satyrs provided the chorus Trilogy Author Aeschylus Prometheus Bound the myth we read Children of Gaia and Ouranos Titans Iapetos Titan The father of Prometheus Gaia Earth Goddess Prometheus Unbound few fragments preserved Prometheus likely freed from chains Prometheus the Fire Bringer essentially just a name to us Theogony Prometheus Bound Mother of titans Grandmother of Prometheus Ouranos Sky god Father of titans Grandfather of Prometheus Atlas Brother of Prometheus Punished by Zeus sky supporter Menoitios Brother of Prometheus The place where men and gods divide up an ox to sacrifice to Zeus ask Prometheus for advice on Punished by Zeus thrown into Tartaros arrogant Mecone Sicyon which portions are due each side Fennel Stalk pith Prometheus steals fire kept in this stalk Can be used to start a fire Aeschylus Prometheus Bound Aeschylus Author of the Prometheus trilogy Famous Greek tragedian Prometheus Bound Culture Hero Play that recalls Prometheus s imprisonment by Zeus for giving humans fire Prometheus as a culture hero gives fire to humans punished by the tyrant Zeus Presents Prometheus as a victim as opposed to more of a trickster in Theogony Metis Zeus first spouse Binatural goddess of cleverness Swallowed by Zeus to avoid prophecy Typhois Typhon Dragon that threatens Zeus rule Cf fate with Metis Zeus wants to sleep with a sea nymph but prophecy says her child will be stronger than the father One of the things that Prometheus gives to civilization Power and Force respectively Zeus henchmen order Hephaestus to chain Prometheus to a cliff Metallurgy Tools Prometheus Unbound Prometheus released Reconciliation with Zeus Kratos and Bia Okeanids Okeanos Chorus of play Daughters of the Ocean Zeus sympathizer Fresh water encircling Earth Depicted in art wearing horns Greek river gods horns Io Human girl that Zeus wants to sleep with Transformed into cow by Zeus to hide her from Hera Zeus s wife Guarded by Argos killed by Hermes Hera sends a gadfly to chase and sting Io Raven Coyote Native American Preserved the stories of Raven and Coyote orally Native American Raven Creator of world Distributor sun moon water fire female genitals water fog Trickster disguise malleable body raven as animal man god Creates animals Raven distinguishes salmon bears herring as food Raven causes a flood and creates a new race of people out of leaves Tlingit People of Alaska and northwest Canada Christianized in the early 20th century especially with the help of ethnographer John R Swanton The rich man who possesses the sun and moon lives up the Nass River Raven tricks him and then redistributes water into rivers Controls fog once again taken by Raven Trickster challenges Thunder to a game of dice if he wins thunder agrees to give Coyote fire Coyote cheats and wins Thunder agrees to give fire to Coyote but also intends to kill Coyote Thunder throws rock contains fire at Coyote Coyote takes off skin to avoid being hit Rock misses Coyote and breaks on the ground animals distribute fire around the world Nass River Origin of Tlingit people Kit ka ositiyi qa The Father of Raven a god Petrel Controls fresh water at spring Coyote Klamath Thunder People of Oregon Klamath Lake Spread the oral tradition of Coyote Keeper of fire in white rock Aetiology Mythological explanation for how something came to be i e why ravens are black why fire is created from rubbing cedar and stones together Anansi West Africa Akan peoples especially the Ashanti in Ghana Myths brought to the United States via the West African slave trade West Africa Anansi Anansi Name means spider Trickster God Animal Human Sings with spirit women in order to catch many fish requires taking off his head spirit women warn Anansi not to sing song after he leaves or else his head will fall off Anansi does not listen and his head falls off cannot get head back on places head on behind his children move his nose to his neck push in ears aetiology why spiders have big backsides and no ears Nyame Binatural sky god Name means The Great Spider Friend of Anansi leopard The
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