1/10/12 CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY

MYTHOLOGY “A story that, through its classical form, has attained a kind of immortality because its inherent archetypal beauty, profundity, and power have inspired rewarding renewal and transformation by successive generations.” mythos: story, speech, tale Stories concerned with the gods, humans’ interactions with them. Myth vs. saga Saga (Legend): Kernel of historical truth, deals more with humans. Myth vs. truth Myth and religion

AETIOLOGY aitia: cause Attempts to explain origins physical Earth, humans, natural phenomena emotional good, evil, love, hate, sin, etc. spiritual soul, mind eg. Seasons exist because of Hades’ rape of Persephone. The smoke of volcanoes is from Hephaestus’ forge below.

RATIONALISM VS. METAPHOR Euhemerism: rationalization of myths. Eg. gods as ancient historical kings Metaphor/ Allegory: traditional myths hide profound truths Views details of the story as symbols of universal truth. Allegory= constant metaphor in the story

MYTH AND PSYCHOLOGY Freud Dreams Myths as recurring elements, like dreams; a window into human nature. Incest Oedipus Jung Collective unconscious archetypes collective subconscious constructions over thousands of years symbols on which society has come to depend

STRAUSS AND STRUCTURALISM Claude Levi-Strauss Myth as a mode of communication A sound is nothing without other sounds, it is the structure of sounds together that has meaning Cf. Beethoven’s 9 th symphony. Seriously. If you haven’t listened to it, do. Structuralism Multiple levels of myths, all important, all working together to create meaning Assumes consistent human and societal behavior Binary opposites and the effort to resolve them Allows for comparative mythological studies

OTHER TRENDS Women’s roles, roles of “non-free men” in general Rape Homosexuality Can we glean the mores of a classical society from their stories?

SOURCES Based on oral tradition, what we have is a final product of many generations. Homer Iliad, Odyssey, Homeric Hymns Hesiod Theogony, Works and Days Pindar and Bacchylides Odes

SOURCES Aeschylus Saga of Atreus Sophocles Saga of Oedipus Euripides Bacchae Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica Herodotus Histories Apollodorus Bibliotecha, “handbooks of mythology”

SOURCES Vergil The Aeneid Ovid Fasti, Metamorphoses Livy Ab Urbe Condita, Roman foundation myth Seneca Tragedies

HISTORY

Stone Age ca. 2,000,000-10,000 BCE: Paleolithic period 70,000 BC: Greece Inhabited 10,000-6,500 BCE: Mesolithic period 6,500-3, 000 BCE: Neolithic period Farming, pottery increasing archaeological evidence

HISTORY Bronze Age 3,000-1,100 BCE: Helladic, Cycladic, Minoan 3,000-2,000 BCE: Early Bronze Age 2,000-1,600 BCE: Middle Bronze Age Growth of Minoan culture 1,600-1,100 BCE: Late Bronze Age Rise and fall of Minoan and Mycenaean cultures Mysterious “Dark Age” Dorian invasion? Historical Greece emerges

MINOANS Crete 2,000-1,400 BC Palace of Knossos Thalassocracy thalos: sea Art and religion

THE LABYRINTH AT KNOSSOS

MYCENAEANS Overpower the Minoans (?), set up camp on mainland Greece. Period before Homer, ca Cyclopaean masonry, monumental architecture Linear B- syllabic alphabet and writing system Mycenaeans come to a mysterious end All major city-states are destroyed Writing and the political system seems to cease to exist. From this “Dark age,” the Greek alphabet emerges. Homer and historical Greece

8 TH CENTURY ( BCE) Rise of the Greek city-state Colonization in Italy by Greek city states Rise of Etruscan power in Italy Writings by Homer, Hesiod 776 BCE First Olympic Games

6 TH CENTURY ( BCE) Large amount of Greek pottery found in Etruscan tombs in Italy 509 BCE Foundation of Roman Republic Writings by Aeschylus, Pindar

5 TH CENTURY ( BCE) 494 Persians occupy Greek owned territory in Turkey, Greeks revolt 490 Battle of Marathon Monuments on Acropolis in Athens built Peloponnesian War Writings by Sophocles, Herodotus, Aeschylus, Plato, Aristophanes, Euripides

4 TH CENTURY ( BCE) Writings by Plato Rise of Macedonian power- Macedonia takes over Greece Alexander the Great BCE: Takes over known world

3 RD CENTURY ( BCE) Punic wars (Rome vs. Carthage) Macedonian Wars (Rome vs. Greece) Rome slowly takes over Greece

1 ST CENTURY (100-1 BCE) 44 BCE Caesar was killed Marc Anthony, Octavian 31 BCE Battle of Actium Rule of Octavian/Augustus 27 BCE-14 CE Loads of texts/stories written- Ovid, Virgil, etc.