1. ENGL 392/Mythology Review and Loose Ends
July 8, 2010

2. “Myth is a ‘traditional tale,’ a story passed on from generation to generation, that, as a secondary component, had a ‘collective importance’ to the life of the community that preserved and transmitted it.” (Walter Burkert, quoted in H&P, p. 15)
Chief characters are deities and heroes
Take place in distant past
Originate orally, however, Greek myth survives in literary texts
Many versions as different tellers, mythmakers, writers revise details in response to their audience, social-historical context
Are a part of cultural legacy; passed down from generation to generation
Myths are formative and reflective of the social order and values
Myths are explanatory: they teach, represent or explain customs, causes (natural, social, religious) ritual practices, social institutions, world-view, correct behavior, morality, etc.)
Myths are good and entertaining stories
Myths have narrative and symbolic appeal
Myths have enduring value even in cultures and time periods set apart by many centuries (and millennia) from their place and time of origin
For the Greeks, myths are a kind of pre-history, a way that they understood the distant past

3. legends, sagas and folktales
Legends focus on human exploits or activities and usually have an historical basis
Sagas are similar to legends, but typically focus on a particular family or location
Folktales focus on “the folk”, that is commoners vs an aristocratic or privileged class
NB: these categories or genres are not fixed, but may overlap

4. Characteristics of Greek Religion
No sacred texts that reveal truth
No creeds or doctrines regarding essential beliefs about the gods
No special priestly class or administrative group
Ordinary individuals participate in religious practice (in public ceremonies or rituals or in their homes)
Religious practice focuses largely on honoring the gods through sacrifice and other rituals and through the recitation of literary works that recount stories about the gods (e.g., Homeric epic, the Homeric Hymns) and the performance of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides

5. Characteristics of the Greek Deities
Anthropomorphic--similar to privileged, larger than life humans
Flawed (subject to anger, revenge, erotic desire)
Relations with each other resemble a patriarchal family (parents, siblings, husbands and wives, across generations)
Do not demand exclusive worship
Demand honor and recognition
Deities have specific roles and attributes
Immortal, but not eternal

6. Parthenon (illustrations in H&P, pp.16-18)
Located on the acropolis (center of Athenian social, economic,religious and political life)
Dedicated to Athena and housed both her cult statue and the treasury
Constructed between 447 and 432 BCE--at the height of Athenian power--under Athenian leadership the Delian League defeated the Persians (490 and BCE)
Rectangular floor plan with low steps on all sides
Replaced two smaller temples in honor of Athena

7. Metopes depict struggles between order and chaos: the battle with Amazons, Lapiths and Centaurs, gods and giants, Greeks and Trojans
Pediments consist of larger relief sculptures depicting the contest between Poseidon and Athena (east), the birth of Athena (west)
Friezes depict the same subject on all 4 sides: procession of horsemen, musicians, sacrificial animals, others with apparently ritualistic functions, child handing folded cloth (peplos) to elderly man, gods and goddesses in attendance, girl carrying something=the Panathenaic procession

8. What does the Parthenon tell us about the use and function of myth in Athenian culture and about Athenian culture itself? What does the Parthenon represent?
Excellence, ambition, pride, visual symbol of Athenian values: balance, harmony, humanism, social order, justice; Athens protects the civilized order; importance of myth, divine favor, wealth, divinely sanctioned Athenian power, Athenians blessed by and worshipful of the gods,, exp Athena, illustrates how myth may be used
to express cultural values and identity--man is the measure of all things-Protagoras, philosopher who lived during the time that the Parthenon was being constructed

9. Periods of Greek History
Minoan Age BCE--pre Indo-European culture
Mycenaean result of IE invasions in 3rd millennium BCE
Dark/Iron Age Dorian invasions and ultimate downfall of Mycenaean culture
Archaic/Classical Age BCE--5th C is the peak of Athenian art, architecture, literary achievement; democracy
Hellenistic Age BCE--death of Alexander to rise of Roman Empire under Augustus Caesar
Minoan: technologically advanced, fine artistry sea-faring, peaceful, female divinity, not fortified, palace at Knossos on Crete, developed plumbing and toilets
Mycenaean: IE aggressive warriors who fortified the mainland; writing +Linear B; worshipped many deities, patriarchal culture, Homer and Hesiod draw upon the oral traditions of this age, but no written evidence of myths remain
Dark/Iron--Dorian invasions brought downfall of Mycenaean culture, population decline, migrations to Asia Minor, decline in material culture, crude pottery remains, writing lost
Archaic Age begins around 800, writing with Phoenician based alphabet appears, sea trade increases, “Homer” composes the Iliad and Odyssey, Olympic games established, after the defeat of the Persians via Athenian leadership in the Delian League, the next 50 years--5th century BCE is the peak of Athenian civilization--democracy, art, creativity, architecture, economic dominance, expansion, colonization--Greek literary myth as we know it is preserved from this period.
Hellenistic: Greece dominates the Mediterranean and Middle East