1. Creation Myth: Theogony
Hesiod
Creation Myth: Theogony

2. Who was Hesiod?
Wrote in ARCHAIC period, c BCE (same period as Homer)
He provides a few details of his life in his poems. For example, he mentions a lawsuit against his brother.
He was a poet who crafted traditional stories about the gods into an organized pattern.

3. Theogony Means “origin or generations of the gods.”
A cosmogony (= how the universe came to be) and cosmology (= how its parts are arranged)
Names over 300 gods, etc. Delights in catalogs (= folkloric technique).
Figures in the poem range from fully developed characters to allegorical names.

4. Why did Hesiod write it?
Possibly to show off his skill as a poet in a poetry competition. Oral-formulaic composition, memorization, etc.
Nagy: Theogony is an attempt to create a pan-Hellenic myth. Syncretic/syncretism.
Gods from different parts of Greece are organized into a family.
Main theme: the ascent of Zeus as chief god

5. Overall Structure Invocation of the Muses  inspiration
1st generation: primordial gods: Chaos  Gaia  Gaia and Ouranos.
2nd generation: Titans, Kronos, etc.
Interlude: story of Prometheus
3rd generation: Titanomachy and Zeus’ rise to power.

6. First Generation Patterns to watch for:
Unusual methods of reproduction
Confused kinship relations
Frustrated reproduction (Ouranos and Kronos)
Monsters dominate here.
Conflict between female and male gods (reflects ascent of patriarchy over matriarchy??)

7. Gaia and Ouranos
Separation of Earth and Sky when Kronos castrates Ouranos = cosmogony
Sparagmos= an ancient Dionysian ritual in which a living animal, or sometimes even a human being, would be sacrificed by being dismembered, by the tearing apart of limbs from the body. 
Primal taboo: killing the father
Birth of Aphrodite.

8. Kronos
Meaning of name is disputed. Possibly from Indo-European root meaning “the cutter.”
After he becomes chief god, he swallows his children to prevent them from killing him. Inverts pattern of Ouranos preventing birth by refusing to pull out of Gaia.
Rhea and Gaia conspire to preserve baby Zeus through a scheme to fool Kronos.