Chapter Seven, Lecture One Myths of the Olympians

Male Deities Reflect range of activities consistent with the roles Greek men played in their society

Poseidon, Lord of the Deep Husband (posis) An Indo-european male fertility god This explains the tangle of his competencies original: springs, horses, earthquakes acquired: sea Married to “Amphitrite” Father of Triton

Poseidon, Lord of the Deep The competition in Athens He offers the Athenians salt water?? Lost also in Argos Impregnated Medusa Pegasus born when Medusa killed by Perseus

Hades, King of the Dead the invisible” (Helmet from the Cyclops) “Pluto” (wealth) Lord of the dead who inhabit the top layer of soil Abduction and Marriage to Persephone (daughter of Demeter), discussed in Chapter 11

Apollo, the Far-Darter, God of Prophecy One of the most complex His competencies are a tangle of different areas His history is complex and inconsistent His role at Delphi makes him, next to Zeus, the most important Olympian

Apollo, the Far-Darter, God of Prophecy His epithet shows his origin Lycia or Lycus Delian (Twin of Artemis) Other stories associate him with the north – swans carried him to the land of the Hyperboreans – and thereafter he spent the winters there.

Apollo, the Far-Darter, God of Prophecy Looking for a place for his shrine, he is misled by Telephusa away from Boeotia – goes to Parnassus Originally Delphi was the site for Ge-Themis Must slay a dangerous dragon, eventually named Typhon Goes back and punishes Telephusa

Apollo, the Far-Darter, God of Prophecy Pan-Hellenic, even world site 800 BC – AD 394 Center of the world, marked by the omphalos Apollo spoke through a prophetess, the Pythia, seated on a tripod in the temple Obscurity: e.g., Croesus; “the wooden walls”

Apollo, the Far-Darter, God of Prophecy Sender of plagues God of mice Healing Asclepius and the story of Coronis

Apollo, the Far-Darter, God of Prophecy Acquired features of a sun god The god of male beauty Apollo’s list of failed romances

Apollo, the Far-Darter, God of Prophecy Cassandra Sibyl of Cumae (like Tithonus): “As many years as grains of sand she could scoop up in her hands.” Daphnê (laurel tree) Marpessa Hyacinth

Hephaestus Ares Hermes Next Time Hephaestus Ares Hermes