1. Creation Myth: Theogony Rich Elias – Humanities-Classics

2. Who was Hesiod? Wrote in ARCHAIC period, c. 750-650 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 1 st generation: primordial gods: Chaos  Gaia  Gaia and Ouranos. 2 nd generation: Titans, Kronos, etc. Interlude: story of Prometheus 3 rd generation: Titanomachy and Zeus’ rise to power.

6. Invocation Hesiod is a shepherd who seeks inspiration from the Muses (= daughters of Zeus): And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while he was shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and this word first the goddesses said to me -- the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis: (ll. 26-28) `Shepherds of the wilderness, wretched things of shame, mere bellies, we know how to speak many false things as though they were true; but we know, when we will, to utter true things.' (ll. 29-35) So said the ready-voiced daughters of great Zeus.

7. First Generation What is Chaos? Gaia (= Earth) is spontaneously generated. Pay attention to patterns of reproduction!! Produces children through parthenogenesis, then via sexual intercourse with son/husband Ouranos (= Sky) –Pairing of Earth and Sky a motif in earlier myths of Egypt and the near east.

8. First Generation (cont’d) 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??)

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. Kronos (cont’d) Zeus is taken away and raised in secret (a common motif in mythology. Compare Dionysus, Moses, Jesus, etc.)

12. Prometheus Does this story really interrupt the genealogical pattern? It offers an aetiology: why Greeks burned bones as a sacrifical offering to the gods. Says men already existed but doesn’t explain how or why they were created. Says women were created as a punishment for mankind. Story of Pandora. (See also Works & Days) Pandora

13. Analysis of Prometheus Story Prometheus punished. On the right, Prometheus Is tied to a column while Zeus' eagle eats his liver. On the left, Prometheus' brother Atlas holds up the sky. Laconian cup, c. 555 BC. Etruscan museum, the Vatican. For a larger (152 K) version, click on the picture. Etruscan museum

14. Rise of 3 rd Generation Titanomachy: “Olympians” versus Titans = 3 rd generation vs. 2 nd generation with help from outcasts from 1 st generation. How does Zeus seek to avoid the fate of Ouranos and Kronos? Management skills of the Greek gods!! New regularities: methods of reproduction and kinship relations.

15. Triumph of Zeus Battle with Typhoios (Typhon), described as the last born child of Gaia. –Circular pattern: 3 rd generation defeated 2 nd, now defeats 1 st. Assertion of patriarchal order: gods defined in terms of their relationship to Zeus. Zeus and the Fates.