Lecture Outline Creation in Hesiod s Theogony I Hesiod s Theogony a Hesiod Greek poet c 700 BCE b theogony birth of gods Gon gen birth II Theogony Invocation to Muses a lines 1 115 Hesiod calls on hymns Muses b Muses 1 goddesses of arts 9 2 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne Memory Mnemosyne is binatural goddess and memory itself Appropriate mother of a muse because you need memory for the arts You need memory to learn music ect Memory is the mother of the arts 3 accompany Apollo god of music healing disease prophecy You can be the god of one thing and its opposite c epic poets e g Homer Hesiod 1 begin works with invocation to Muses 2 Muses inspire poets also musicians dancers etc Theogony lines 22 34 Poetry is deceptive it seems real but it is not As gods of the arts they can do this Art is inherently deceptive d Muses on poetry truth and fiction e Muses sing of creation cf Hesiod III Theogony The Creation Myth a creation myth begins at line 116 In the beginning there was nothing b four primal first gods 1 Chaos Means empty space not todays chaos ca os Binatural physical space and a god a chaos chasm empty space b cf sea chaos c binatural god a earth b binatural goddess 2 Gaia 3 Tartaros a underworld pit prison Gods throw other gods there to punish them Greek gods to not die b binatural god 4 Eros Not exactly love abstract concept of sexual desire Important This story is about the birth of the gods and he is the god of procreation It is unusual for authors to say that he is an old god in later traditions he is a young called Cupid to the Romans a sexual desire b binatural god c for theogony d later tradition 1 Eros Roman Cupid son of Aphrodite Roman Venus 2 Aphrodite Venus goddess in charge of sexual desire c creation of the universe 1 four primal gods 2 Chaos Erebos and Night Gives birth to Erebos and Night Does this without procreation produces him out of himself parthenogenesis a parthenogenesis virgin birth b Erebos later Hades Erebos is the region in the Greek underworld where your soul goes Became to be called the House of Hades and eventually Hades 3 Erebos Night Air and Day Incest is not taboo in mythology Night gives birth to day Who gives birth to Gaia 4 Gaia Ouranos Mountains Sea a parthenogenesis b Ouranos Sky Binatural 5 Gaia Ouranos 3 sets of children a Titans Okeanos Kronos Rhea et al Twelve Titans we only care about these three Okeanos ocean river encircling the earth Binatural river and a god but can somehow leave his river b Cyclopes 3 thunderbolts Good guys all brothers master craftsmen They make Zeus s thunderbolts his secret weapon c Hundred handers 3 50 heads 100 arms Important to Zeus and his rise to power Magic number 3 6 still to be born in Theogony a many more gods some binatural e g Sun Moon b abstract concepts Sleep Death Victory c monsters Cerberos Chimaera et al How is this different same from Song of Kumarbi Theogony 176 83 And Heaven came away to fall behind him Both sky is castrated one is bitten off and swallowed one is cut off with a sickle of adamant and thrown Theogony 486 92 IV Theogony The Succession Myth Kumarbi bites into the stone thinking it is Tessub both storm gods are mistaken for stones a Hesiod s Theogony 1 hymn to Zeus king of Greek gods 2 power of Zeus 3 how Zeus becomes king 4 cf Enuma Elish Marduk 5 cf Kumarbi Cycle Tessub 6 cf Baal Cycle Baal 7 Zeus Marduk Tessub Baal all storm gods And king of the gods b four generations of gods in Theogony 1st generation four primal gods and offspring incl Ouranos 2nd generation children of 1 incl Titans Kronos Rhea et al 3rd generation children of 2 incl Olympians Zeus Hera et al Zeus at best is the third generation Son of Kronos and Rhea Titans 4th generation children of 3 incl Olympians Athena Apollo Heracles et al c succession myth 1 king of gods 2 father overthrown by son 3 Ouranos to Kronos to Zeus Overthrown by their sons 4 Zeus ends cycle Excepts son to overthrow but doesn t How Zeus becomes king of the gods and stays king of the gods Ouranos does not want the Titans to be born for some reason so he stuff them back into Gaia the d succession myth 1 Ouranos and Kronos 1 Ouranos sky king of gods 2 Gaia Ouranos Titans 3 stuffing Titans in earth earth Gaia is very upset about this 4 Gaia s revenge Talks to her children even though they are inside of her Asks which of her sons wants to help her get revenge Kronos volunteers Gaia produces adamant out of herself because she is the earth Super hard metal a Kronos lies in wait b sickle of adamant 5 castration of Ouranos 6 Kronos throws genitals As they fly over the earth blood drips of the genitals and gods are born from it The genitals land in the sea a sea foam Sea foam surrounds the genitals b Aphrodite from foam aphros Aphrodite looks like aphros aphros means sea foam Kronos becomes king because Ouranos is weakened False etymology e succession myth 2 Kronos and Zeus 1 Kronos king of gods 2 Kronos Rhea Olympians Marries his sister Rhea 3 prophecy a from Gaia Ouranos b Kronos overthrown by son 4 Kronos swallows children Prophecy delived to him that he will be overthrown by son so he needs to do something about it Rhea gets very upset Rhea goes to Gaia and tells her what to do Before Kronos can swallow Zeus hid him on the island of Crete Zeus is the youngest common among myths Children of Kronos and Rhea Hera Poseidon Hades Demeter Hestia Zeus oldest to youngest 5 Gaia to Rhea Hide Zeus on Crete 6 Rhea gives Kronos stone Instead of baby Zeus 7 Zeus grows up 8 Kronos regurgitates children stone 9 Zeus throws Kronos into Tartaros Other Greek authors say that 10 Zeus frees Cyclopes Apparently Ouranos had put the Cyclopes into Tartaros Zeus s uncles 11 Zeus king of gods V Threats to Zeus Rule in Theogony a Titanomachy 617 721 1 battle with Titans Titans are his parents and aunts and uncles 2 Olympians Zeus vs Titans Olympians led by Zeus 3 10 year battle 4 Olympians Mt Olympus Titans Mt Othrys Olympus cross between heaven and an actual mountain Nobody has the upper hand in the battle 5 Gaia to Zeus Hundred handers Zeus asks Gaia for advice she says he needs to get the Hundred handers out of Tartaros vbhj 6 thunderbolts winds Hundred handers defeat for Titans 7 Zeus throws Titans into Tartaros b Metis 881 900 1 early mate of Zeus 2 metis cleverness 3 Metis pregnant 4 prophecy son overthrow father 5 Zeus swallows Metis Cf Kronos swallows his children It …
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