Difference between revisions of "Greek mythology" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
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[[Image:Otricoli Zeus - 1889 drawing.jpg|thumb|right|The Oricoli bust of [[Zeus]], King of the Gods, in the collection of the [[Vatican Museum]].]]
 
[[Image:Otricoli Zeus - 1889 drawing.jpg|thumb|right|The Oricoli bust of [[Zeus]], King of the Gods, in the collection of the [[Vatican Museum]].]]
  
The term '''Greek mythology''' refers to the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and their own [[cult (religion)|cultic]] and [[ritual]] practices.<ref name="Helios">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Volume: Hellas, Article: Greek Mythology|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia The Helios|date=1952}}</ref> It consists, in part, of a large collection of narratives: some of which explain the origins of the world (and processes within in), and others that detail the lives and adventures of a wide variety of [[Greek gods|gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines]], and other [[List of Greek mythological creatures|mythological creatures]]. These accounts were initially fashioned and disseminated in an [[oral tradition|oral-poetic tradition]], though they are known today primarily through written [[Greek literature]].  
+
The term '''Greek mythology''' refers to the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and their own [[cult (religion)|cultic]] and [[ritual]] practices.<ref name="Helios">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Volume: Hellas, Article: Greek Mythology|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia The Helios|date=1952}}</ref> It consists, in part, of a large collection of narratives, some of which explain the origins of the world (and processes within in), and others that detail the lives and adventures of a wide variety of [[Greek gods|gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines]], and other [[List of Greek mythological creatures|mythological creatures]]. These accounts were initially fashioned and disseminated in an [[oral tradition|oral-poetic tradition]], though they are known today primarily through written [[Greek literature]].  
  
Greek mythology has had extensive influence on the culture, the arts and the literature of Western civilization, and remains a part of the heritage and language of (post)European countries. Indeed, classical mythological themes have remained continually relevant throughout western literary history.<ref>J.M. Foley, ''Homer's Traditional Art'', 43</ref> <more here (concluding sentence>
+
Greek mythology has had extensive influence on the culture, the arts and the literature of Western civilization, and remains a part of the heritage and language of European and post-European countries. Indeed, classical mythological themes have remained continually relevant throughout western literary history.<ref>J.M. Foley, ''Homer's Traditional Art'', 43</ref> Though the religion based upon these tales has long since faded into obscurity, Greek myths remain the archetypical sources for much Western fiction, poetry, film and visual art.
  
 
==Etymology==
 
==Etymology==
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|}
 
|}
  
The Greek myths are known today primarily from Greek literature. In addition to the written sources, there are mythical representations on visual media dating from the [[Geometric Style|Geometric period]] (c. 900-800 B.C.E.) onward.<ref name="Graf200">F. Graf, ''Greek Mythology'', 200</ref>
+
The Greek myths are known today primarily from Greek literature. However, in addition to the written sources, there are mythical representations on visual media dating from the [[Geometric Style|Geometric period]] (c. 900-800 B.C.E.) onward.<ref name="Graf200">F. Graf, ''Greek Mythology'', 200</ref>
  
 
===Literary sources===
 
===Literary sources===
Despite the oral-poetic origins of Greek mythology, the modern understanding of this tradition has been largely based upon the surviving textual remains of the classical period. The oldest known literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths are also preserved in the Homeric hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians of the 5th century B.C.E., in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and in writers of the time of the Roman Empire, for example, Plutarch and Pausanias.
+
Despite the oral-poetic origins of Greek mythology, the modern understanding of this tradition has been largely based upon the surviving textual remains of the classical period. The oldest known literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths are also preserved in the Homeric hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians of the 5th century B.C.E., in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and the Roman Empire (for example, Plutarch and Pausanias).
  
As mentioned above, the earliest literary sources of the Greek mythical tradition are Homer's two epic poems, the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey''. These two accounts provide a clear indication of the Greek apetite for fantastic tales, as well as their understanding of the complex, often antagonistic relationship between men and gods (and between the gods themselves). Hesiod, a possible contemporary with Homer, offers in the ''Theogony'' (''Origin of the Gods'') the fullest account of the earliest Greek myths, dealing with folktales, etiological tales, creation acounts, and descriptions of the origin of the Gods, [[Titans]] and [[Giants]] (including elaborate genealogies). His other notable production, ''Works and Days'', a didactic poem about farming life, also includes the myths of [[Prometheus]], [[Pandora]] and the [[Ages of Man|Four Ages]]. In it, the poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world rendered yet more dangerous by its gods.<ref name="Br" />
+
As mentioned above, the earliest literary sources of the Greek mythical tradition are Homer's two epic poems, the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey''. These two accounts provide a clear indication of the Greek apetite for fantastic tales, as well as their understanding of the complex, often antagonistic relationship between men and gods (and between the gods themselves).  
  
Likewise, the lyrical poets (composers of the Homeric hymns) often took their subjects from myth, though their treatments gradually became less narrative and more allusive.<ref name="Miles7">Miles, ''Classical Mythology in English Literature'', 7</ref> These lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides, Simonides, and the later bucolic poets, such as Theocritus and Bion, provided individualized depictions of mythological incidents.<ref name="Klatt-Brazouskixii">Klatt-Brazouski, ''Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology'', xii</ref> Additionally, myth was central to classical Athenian drama. The tragic playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides took their plots from the age of heroes and the Trojan War. Many of the great tragic stories (i.e. Agamemnon and his children, Oedipus, Jason, Medea, etc.) took on their classic form in these tragic plays. For his part, the comic playwright Aristophanes also used myths, as in ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'' or ''[[The Frogs]]'', though he typically used them as a means of critiquing Greek society<ref name="Miles8">Miles, ''Classical Mythology in English Literature'', 8</ref>
+
Hesiod, a possible contemporary with Homer, offers in the ''Theogony'' (''Origin of the Gods'') the fullest account of the earliest Greek myths, dealing with folktales, etiological tales, creation acounts, and descriptions of the origin of the Gods, [[Titans]] and [[Giants]] (including elaborate genealogies). His other notable production, ''Works and Days'', a didactic poem about farming life, also includes the myths of [[Prometheus]], [[Pandora]] and the [[Ages of Man|Four Ages]]. In it, the poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world rendered yet more dangerous by its gods.<ref name="Br" />
 +
 
 +
Likewise, the lyrical poets (composers of the Homeric hymns) often took their subjects from myth, though their treatments gradually became less narrative and more allusive.<ref name="Miles7">Miles, ''Classical Mythology in English Literature'', 7</ref> These lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides, Simonides, and the later bucolic poets, such as Theocritus and Bion, provided individualized depictions of mythological incidents.<ref name="Klatt-Brazouskixii">Klatt-Brazouski, ''Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology'', xii</ref>  
 +
 
 +
Myth was also central to classical Athenian drama. The tragic playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides took their plots from the age of heroes and the Trojan War. Many of the great tragic stories (i.e. Agamemnon and his children, Oedipus, Jason, Medea, etc.) took their classic form in these tragic plays. For his part, the comic playwright Aristophanes also used myths, as in ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'' or ''[[The Frogs]]'', though he typically used them as a means of critiquing Greek society<ref name="Miles8">Miles, ''Classical Mythology in English Literature'', 8</ref>
  
 
Historians ([[Herodotus]] and Diodorus Siculus) and geographers (Pausanias and Strabo), who traveled around the Greek world and noted the stories they heard, supplied numerous local myths, often providing little-known, alternative versions.<ref name="Klatt-Brazouskixii" />  
 
Historians ([[Herodotus]] and Diodorus Siculus) and geographers (Pausanias and Strabo), who traveled around the Greek world and noted the stories they heard, supplied numerous local myths, often providing little-known, alternative versions.<ref name="Klatt-Brazouskixii" />  
  
The poetry of the Hellenistic and Roman ages, though composed as a literary rather than cultic exercise, contains many important details that would otherwise be lost. This category includes the works of:
+
Finally, the poetry of the Hellenistic and Roman ages, though composed as a literary rather than cultic exercise, contains many important details that would otherwise be lost. This category includes the works of:
 
#The Hellenistic poets Apollonius of Rhodes, Callimachus, Pseudo-Eratosthenes and Parthenius.
 
#The Hellenistic poets Apollonius of Rhodes, Callimachus, Pseudo-Eratosthenes and Parthenius.
 
#The Roman poets [[Ovid]], Statius, Valerius Flaccus and [[Virgil]].
 
#The Roman poets [[Ovid]], Statius, Valerius Flaccus and [[Virgil]].
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==Survey of Mythic History==
 
==Survey of Mythic History==
 
===Historical Development of Greek Mythology===
 
===Historical Development of Greek Mythology===
The mythological world postulated by ancient Greek thinkers evolved in tandem with their overall cultural system. The earliest-known inhabitants of the [[Balkan Peninsula]] were an agricultural people who [[animism|animistically]] assigned spirits to various features of the natural world. Eventually, in a process mirroring the development of polytheism elsewhere in the world, these spirits began to assume human forms and to enter the local mythology as gods and goddesses related to the agrarian lifestyle of these early Balkans.<ref name="Johnson17">Albala-Johnson-Johnson, ''Understanding the Odyssey'', 17</ref> When their territories were invaded by tribes from the north, the attackers brought with them a new pantheon of gods, based on conquest, force, prowess in battle, and violent heroism. Many of the older pastoral/fertility deities fused with those of the more powerful invaders, became incorporated into the pantheon, or else faded into insignificance.<ref name="Johnson18">Albala-Johnson-Johnson, ''Understanding the Odyssey'', 18</ref> This syncretic process created the cultural-narrative system that survives into the modern day as classical Greek mythology. However, this system underwent another sea change under the literary mythographers of the early Roman Empire, who preserved and propagated Greek myths after the collapse of native Hellenic society. However, in doing so, they often adapted the stories in ways that did not reflect earlier beliefs. Many of the most popular versions of these myths emerged from these inventive retellings, which may blur our modern understanding of the archaic beliefs.  
+
The mythological world postulated by ancient Greek thinkers evolved in tandem with their overall cultural system. The earliest-known inhabitants of the [[Balkan Peninsula]] were an agricultural people who [[animism|animistically]] assigned spirits to various features of the natural world. Eventually, in a process mirroring the development of polytheism elsewhere in the world, these spirits began to assume human forms and to enter the local mythology as gods and goddesses related to the agrarian lifestyle of these early people.<ref name="Johnson17">Albala-Johnson-Johnson, ''Understanding the Odyssey'', 17</ref> When their territories were invaded by tribes from the north, the attackers brought with them a new pantheon of gods, based on conquest, force, prowess in battle, and violent heroism. Many of the older pastoral/fertility deities fused with those of the more powerful invaders, became incorporated into the pantheon, or else faded into insignificance.<ref name="Johnson18">Albala-Johnson-Johnson, ''Understanding the Odyssey'', 18</ref> This syncretic process created the cultural-narrative system that survives into the modern day as classical Greek mythology.  
 +
 
 +
However, this system underwent another sea change under the literary mythographers of the early Roman Empire, who preserved and propagated Greek myths after the collapse of native Hellenic society. However, in doing so, they often adapted the stories in ways that did not reflect earlier beliefs. Many of the most popular versions of these myths emerged from these inventive retellings, which may blur our modern understanding of the archaic beliefs.
  
 
===Mythic Chronology===
 
===Mythic Chronology===
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While the age of gods has often been of more interest to contemporary students of myth, the Greek authors of the archaic and classical eras had a clear preference for the age of heroes. For example, the heroic ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' dwarfed the divine-focused ''Theogony'' and Homeric Hymns in both size and popularity. Under the influence of Homer, the "hero cult" led to a restructuring of spiritual life, expressed in the separation of the Olympian from the [[Chthonic]], of the realm of the gods from the realm of the dead (the [[Elysian Fields]], which were reserved for deceased heroes).<ref name="Raffan-Barket205">W. Burkert, ''Greek Religion'', 205</ref>  
 
While the age of gods has often been of more interest to contemporary students of myth, the Greek authors of the archaic and classical eras had a clear preference for the age of heroes. For example, the heroic ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' dwarfed the divine-focused ''Theogony'' and Homeric Hymns in both size and popularity. Under the influence of Homer, the "hero cult" led to a restructuring of spiritual life, expressed in the separation of the Olympian from the [[Chthonic]], of the realm of the gods from the realm of the dead (the [[Elysian Fields]], which were reserved for deceased heroes).<ref name="Raffan-Barket205">W. Burkert, ''Greek Religion'', 205</ref>  
  
Regardless, the historical schema postulated above is visible in Hesiod's ''Works and Days'', which makes use of a chronological division into Four Ages: Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Iron. These ages correspond to separate creations/foci, with the Golden Age belonging to the reign of Cronus, the Silver to the creation of Zeus, and the later Bronze period to the Age of Heroes. The final age (Iron) is seen by Hesiod as his own era, which he regarded as the worst (in terms of morality and quality of life).<ref name="Worksanddays">Hesiod, ''Works and Days'', [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/works.htm 90-105]</ref> This "Four Age" periodization is followed in Ovid's ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]''.<ref name="Ovid89-162">Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'', I, [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ovid/ovid.met1.shtml 89-162]</ref>
+
Regardless, the historical schema postulated above is visible in Hesiod's ''Works and Days'', which makes use of a chronological division into Four Ages: Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Iron. These ages each have distinct foci, with the Golden Age belonging to the reign of Cronus, the Silver to the creation of Zeus, and the later Bronze period to the Age of Heroes. The final age (Iron) is seen by Hesiod as his own era, which he regarded as the worst (in terms of morality and quality of life).<ref name="Worksanddays">Hesiod, ''Works and Days'', [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/works.htm 90-105]</ref> This "Four Age" periodization is followed in Ovid's ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]''.<ref name="Ovid89-162">Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'', I, [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ovid/ovid.met1.shtml 89-162]</ref>
  
 
===Age of gods===
 
===Age of gods===
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{{Seealso|Religion in ancient Greece|Twelve Olympians}}
 
{{Seealso|Religion in ancient Greece|Twelve Olympians}}
 
[[Image:Olympians.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Twelve Olympians]] by [[Nicolas-André Monsiau|Monsiau]], circa late 18th century.]]
 
[[Image:Olympians.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Twelve Olympians]] by [[Nicolas-André Monsiau|Monsiau]], circa late 18th century.]]
After the overthrow of the Titans, a new [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]] of gods and goddesses emerged. Among the principle Greek deities were the Olympians (who resided atop [[Mount Olympus]] under the watchful eye of [[Zeus]]), and various (likely more ancient) gods of the countryside, including the goat-god [[Pan (mythology)|Pan]], satyrs, the Nymphs, the Naeads (who dwelled in springs), the Dryads (who dwelled in trees), the Nereids (who inhabited the sea), and various gods of rivers and other landscape features. As noted by famed classist [[Walter Burkert]], these Olympian deities were understood anthopomorphically: "the Greek gods are persons, not abstractions, ideas or concepts."<ref name="Burkert182">W. Burkert, ''Greek Religion'', 182</ref> However, despite their predominantly human forms, the ancient Greek gods did possess many fantastic abilities, including immunity from disease,  eternal youth, and superhuman stamina and resilience.  <ref name="Stoll4">H.W. Stoll, ''Religion and Mythology of the Greeks'', 4</ref>
+
After the overthrow of the Titans, a new [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]] of gods and goddesses emerged. Among the principle Greek deities were the Olympians (who resided atop [[Mount Olympus]] under the watchful eye of [[Zeus]]), and various (likely more ancient) gods of the countryside, including the goat-god [[Pan (mythology)|Pan]], satyrs, the Nymphs, the Naeads (who dwelled in springs), the Dryads (who dwelled in trees), the Nereids (who inhabited the sea), and various gods of rivers and other landscape features. Some of the most important deities (as attested in both surviving mythic literature and archeological evidence) include Zeus, the sky god and ruler/patriarch of the patheon;
 +
 
 +
As noted by famed classist [[Walter Burkert]], these Olympian deities were understood anthopomorphically: "the Greek gods are persons, not abstractions, ideas or concepts."<ref name="Burkert182">W. Burkert, ''Greek Religion'', 182</ref> However, despite their predominantly human forms, the ancient Greek gods did possess many fantastic abilities, including immunity from disease,  eternal youth, and superhuman stamina and resilience.  <ref name="Stoll4">H.W. Stoll, ''Religion and Mythology of the Greeks'', 4</ref>
 
Past these general similarities, many of the Olympian gods were associated with specific elements in the natural or human worlds. For example, [[Aphrodite]] was the goddess of love and beauty, [[Ares]] was the god of war, Hades the god of the dead, and [[Athena]] the goddess of wisdom and courage.<ref name="Stoll20">H.W. Stoll, ''Religion and Mythology of the Greeks'', 20ff. Note: Given that he did not technically dwell upon Mount Olympus, some argue that Hades should not be called an "Olympian." However, in the above context, the term "Olympian" is simply being used to refer to the entire pantheon of deities that came into existence after the creation of the Titans (in the mythic chronology).</ref> Some deities, such as [[Apollo]] and [[Dionysus]], possessed complex personalities and a variety of functions, while others, such as Hestia (literally "hearth") and Helios (literally "sun"), were little more than personifications. Each of the major deities was the subject of a complex of myths, which detailed their origins, roles and responsibilities, and their interactions with the human populace.<ref> The Homeric Hymns provide one source of these myths (J. Cashford, ''The Homeric Hymns'', vii). Indeed, Gregory Nagy regards "the larger Homeric Hymns as simple preludes [to the large-scale cosmological theorizing of Hesiod's ''Theogony''], each of which invokes one god" (G. Nagy, ''Greek Mythology and Poetics'', 54).</ref> Such hymns demonstrate the complex inter-relationship between Greek mythology and Greek religion.
 
Past these general similarities, many of the Olympian gods were associated with specific elements in the natural or human worlds. For example, [[Aphrodite]] was the goddess of love and beauty, [[Ares]] was the god of war, Hades the god of the dead, and [[Athena]] the goddess of wisdom and courage.<ref name="Stoll20">H.W. Stoll, ''Religion and Mythology of the Greeks'', 20ff. Note: Given that he did not technically dwell upon Mount Olympus, some argue that Hades should not be called an "Olympian." However, in the above context, the term "Olympian" is simply being used to refer to the entire pantheon of deities that came into existence after the creation of the Titans (in the mythic chronology).</ref> Some deities, such as [[Apollo]] and [[Dionysus]], possessed complex personalities and a variety of functions, while others, such as Hestia (literally "hearth") and Helios (literally "sun"), were little more than personifications. Each of the major deities was the subject of a complex of myths, which detailed their origins, roles and responsibilities, and their interactions with the human populace.<ref> The Homeric Hymns provide one source of these myths (J. Cashford, ''The Homeric Hymns'', vii). Indeed, Gregory Nagy regards "the larger Homeric Hymns as simple preludes [to the large-scale cosmological theorizing of Hesiod's ''Theogony''], each of which invokes one god" (G. Nagy, ''Greek Mythology and Poetics'', 54).</ref> Such hymns demonstrate the complex inter-relationship between Greek mythology and Greek religion.
  

Revision as of 14:43, 22 December 2006

The Oricoli bust of Zeus, King of the Gods, in the collection of the Vatican Museum.

The term Greek mythology refers to the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and their own cultic and ritual practices.[1] It consists, in part, of a large collection of narratives, some of which explain the origins of the world (and processes within in), and others that detail the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, and other mythological creatures. These accounts were initially fashioned and disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition, though they are known today primarily through written Greek literature.

Greek mythology has had extensive influence on the culture, the arts and the literature of Western civilization, and remains a part of the heritage and language of European and post-European countries. Indeed, classical mythological themes have remained continually relevant throughout western literary history.[2] Though the religion based upon these tales has long since faded into obscurity, Greek myths remain the archetypical sources for much Western fiction, poetry, film and visual art.

Etymology

While all cultures throughout the world have their own myths, the term mythology itself is a Greek coinage, having a specialized meaning within classical Greek culture. Specifically, the Greek term mythologia is a compound of two smaller words:

  • mythos (μῦθος) — which in Classical Greek means roughly "the oral speech", "words without action" (Aeschylus: "ἔργῳ κοὐκέτι μύθῳ" [from word to deed])[3] and, by expansion, a "ritualized speech act", as of a chieftain at an assembly, or of a poet or priest,[1] or a narration (Aeschylus: Ἀκούσει μῦθον ἐν βραχεῖ λόγῳ [The whole tale you will hear in brief space of time]).[4]
  • logos (λόγος) — which in Classical Greek stands for: a) the (oral or written) expression of thoughts and b) the ability of a person to express his thoughts (inward logos).[5]

Sources of Greek mythology

Prometheus (1868 by Gustave Moreau). The myth of Prometheus was first attested by Hesiodus and then constituted the basis for a tragic trilogy of plays, possibly by Aeschylus, consisting of Prometheus Bound, Prometheus Unbound and Prometheus Pyrphoros
The Roman poet Virgil, here depicted in the 5th century manuscript the Vergilius Romanus, preserved details of Greek mythology in many of his writings.
File:Cratère en calice étrusque2.jpg
Achilles killing a Trojan prisoner in front of Charon on a red-figure Etruscan calyx-krater, made towards the end of the 4th century-beginning of the 3rd century B.C.E.

The Greek myths are known today primarily from Greek literature. However, in addition to the written sources, there are mythical representations on visual media dating from the Geometric period (c. 900-800 B.C.E.) onward.[6]

Literary sources

Despite the oral-poetic origins of Greek mythology, the modern understanding of this tradition has been largely based upon the surviving textual remains of the classical period. The oldest known literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths are also preserved in the Homeric hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians of the 5th century B.C.E., in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and the Roman Empire (for example, Plutarch and Pausanias).

As mentioned above, the earliest literary sources of the Greek mythical tradition are Homer's two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. These two accounts provide a clear indication of the Greek apetite for fantastic tales, as well as their understanding of the complex, often antagonistic relationship between men and gods (and between the gods themselves).

Hesiod, a possible contemporary with Homer, offers in the Theogony (Origin of the Gods) the fullest account of the earliest Greek myths, dealing with folktales, etiological tales, creation acounts, and descriptions of the origin of the Gods, Titans and Giants (including elaborate genealogies). His other notable production, Works and Days, a didactic poem about farming life, also includes the myths of Prometheus, Pandora and the Four Ages. In it, the poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world rendered yet more dangerous by its gods.[7]

Likewise, the lyrical poets (composers of the Homeric hymns) often took their subjects from myth, though their treatments gradually became less narrative and more allusive.[8] These lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides, Simonides, and the later bucolic poets, such as Theocritus and Bion, provided individualized depictions of mythological incidents.[9]

Myth was also central to classical Athenian drama. The tragic playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides took their plots from the age of heroes and the Trojan War. Many of the great tragic stories (i.e. Agamemnon and his children, Oedipus, Jason, Medea, etc.) took their classic form in these tragic plays. For his part, the comic playwright Aristophanes also used myths, as in The Birds or The Frogs, though he typically used them as a means of critiquing Greek society[10]

Historians (Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus) and geographers (Pausanias and Strabo), who traveled around the Greek world and noted the stories they heard, supplied numerous local myths, often providing little-known, alternative versions.[9]

Finally, the poetry of the Hellenistic and Roman ages, though composed as a literary rather than cultic exercise, contains many important details that would otherwise be lost. This category includes the works of:

  1. The Hellenistic poets Apollonius of Rhodes, Callimachus, Pseudo-Eratosthenes and Parthenius.
  2. The Roman poets Ovid, Statius, Valerius Flaccus and Virgil.
  3. The Late Antique Greek poets Nonnus, Antoninus Liberalis and Quintus Smyrnaeus.
  4. The ancient novels of Apuleius, Petronius, Lollianus and Heliodorus.

Archeological sources

In addition to the textual sources described above, the modern understanding of Greek mythology has also been refined through archeological exploration. The discovery of the Mycenaean civilization by German amateur archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, in the 19th century, and the discovery of the Minoan civilization in Crete by British archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans, in the 20th century, have helped to explain many questions about Homer's epics and have provided archeological support for many mythological claims about Greek life and culture.[7] The visual representations of mythical figures discovered at these (and other) archeological digs are important for two reasons: on one hand, visual sources sometimes represent myths or mythical scenes that have not survived in any extant literary source. For example, archeologists have found pottery (dated to the 8th century B.C.E.) that depicts unknown scenes from the Trojan cycle and from the adventures of Heracles.[7] On the other hand, pictorial depictions of many mythic events can also predate their inclusion in literary sources, which allows students of classic Greek culture to assess the dates of their composition more accurately. In some cases, these visual representations predate a myth's first known representation in archaic poetry by several centuries.[6] In both ways, archeological finds that include depictions of mythological scenes can be seen to supplement the existing literary evidence.[7]

Survey of Mythic History

Historical Development of Greek Mythology

The mythological world postulated by ancient Greek thinkers evolved in tandem with their overall cultural system. The earliest-known inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula were an agricultural people who animistically assigned spirits to various features of the natural world. Eventually, in a process mirroring the development of polytheism elsewhere in the world, these spirits began to assume human forms and to enter the local mythology as gods and goddesses related to the agrarian lifestyle of these early people.[11] When their territories were invaded by tribes from the north, the attackers brought with them a new pantheon of gods, based on conquest, force, prowess in battle, and violent heroism. Many of the older pastoral/fertility deities fused with those of the more powerful invaders, became incorporated into the pantheon, or else faded into insignificance.[12] This syncretic process created the cultural-narrative system that survives into the modern day as classical Greek mythology.

However, this system underwent another sea change under the literary mythographers of the early Roman Empire, who preserved and propagated Greek myths after the collapse of native Hellenic society. However, in doing so, they often adapted the stories in ways that did not reflect earlier beliefs. Many of the most popular versions of these myths emerged from these inventive retellings, which may blur our modern understanding of the archaic beliefs.

Mythic Chronology

The achievement of epic poetry was to create cycles of stories and, resultantly, to develop a sense of mythical chronology. When thus contextualized, Greek mythology unfolds as a description of the emergence of the gods, the world and humanity.[13] While self-contradictions in the stories make an absolute timeline impossible, an approximate chronology dividing history into 3 or 4 broad periods may be discerned:

  1. The myths of origin or age of gods (Theogonies, "births of gods"): stories about the origins of the world, the gods, and the human race.
  2. The age when gods and mortals mingled freely: stories of the early interactions between gods, demigods, and mortals.
  3. The age of heroes (heroic age), where divine activity was more limited. The last and greatest of the heroic sagas are the stories surrounding (and immediately following) the Trojan War (which is regarded by some researchers as a fourth (and separate) period).[14]

While the age of gods has often been of more interest to contemporary students of myth, the Greek authors of the archaic and classical eras had a clear preference for the age of heroes. For example, the heroic Iliad and Odyssey dwarfed the divine-focused Theogony and Homeric Hymns in both size and popularity. Under the influence of Homer, the "hero cult" led to a restructuring of spiritual life, expressed in the separation of the Olympian from the Chthonic, of the realm of the gods from the realm of the dead (the Elysian Fields, which were reserved for deceased heroes).[15]

Regardless, the historical schema postulated above is visible in Hesiod's Works and Days, which makes use of a chronological division into Four Ages: Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Iron. These ages each have distinct foci, with the Golden Age belonging to the reign of Cronus, the Silver to the creation of Zeus, and the later Bronze period to the Age of Heroes. The final age (Iron) is seen by Hesiod as his own era, which he regarded as the worst (in terms of morality and quality of life).[16] This "Four Age" periodization is followed in Ovid's Metamorphoses.[17]

Age of gods

Cosmogony and cosmology

Cosmogonic and cosmological myths (concerned with the origins and nature of the universe) represent an attempt to render the natural world comprehensible in human terms.[18] The most widely accepted account of these origins is found in Hesiod's Theogony, which postulates that creation began from Chaos, a yawning nothingness. Out of this void emerged Ge or Gaia (the Earth) and some other primary divine beings: Eros (Love), the Abyss (Tartarus), and Darkness (Erebus).[19] Without any male involvement, Gaia gave birth to Uranus (the Sky) who then proceeded to fertilize her. From that union were born the Titans (including Zeus's father, Cronus), the one-eyed Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires ("Hundred-Handers"). Cronus ("the wily, youngest and most terrible of [Gaia's] children"[19]) castrated his father and became the ruler of the gods, with his sister-wife Rhea as his consort and the other Titans as his court. Eventually, Cronus was unseated by his son Zeus in an epic battle (the Titanomachy), which resulted in the triumph of the Olympians and the banishment of Cronus and the Titans to the depths of Tartarus.[20]

The earliest Greek aesthetic thought considered theogony (myths of the origins of gods) to be the prototypical poetic genre — the prototypical mythos (myth) — and imputed almost magical powers to it. Orpheus, the archetypal poet, was also the archetypal singer of theogonies, which he uses to calm seas and storms, and to move the stony hearts of the underworld gods in his descent to Hades. When Hermes invents the lyre in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, the first thing he does is sing the birth of the gods.[21] Hesiod's Theogony is not only the fullest surviving cosmic origin story, but also the fullest surviving account of the archaic poet's function. Theogony, as a genre, was the subject of many poems, though the vast majority of them have been lost, including those attributed to Orpheus, Musaeus, Epimenides, Abaris and other legendary seers. These poems, which were of tremendous significance in Ancient Greek religion, were used in private ritual purifications and mystery-rites. These rites (and the religious poems pertaining to them) were so central to Greek religious thought that traces of them can be found in the writings of Plato and the later Neoplatonist philosophers.[22]

Greek gods

The Twelve Olympians by Monsiau, circa late 18th century.

After the overthrow of the Titans, a new pantheon of gods and goddesses emerged. Among the principle Greek deities were the Olympians (who resided atop Mount Olympus under the watchful eye of Zeus), and various (likely more ancient) gods of the countryside, including the goat-god Pan, satyrs, the Nymphs, the Naeads (who dwelled in springs), the Dryads (who dwelled in trees), the Nereids (who inhabited the sea), and various gods of rivers and other landscape features. Some of the most important deities (as attested in both surviving mythic literature and archeological evidence) include Zeus, the sky god and ruler/patriarch of the patheon;

As noted by famed classist Walter Burkert, these Olympian deities were understood anthopomorphically: "the Greek gods are persons, not abstractions, ideas or concepts."[23] However, despite their predominantly human forms, the ancient Greek gods did possess many fantastic abilities, including immunity from disease, eternal youth, and superhuman stamina and resilience. [24] Past these general similarities, many of the Olympian gods were associated with specific elements in the natural or human worlds. For example, Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, Ares was the god of war, Hades the god of the dead, and Athena the goddess of wisdom and courage.[25] Some deities, such as Apollo and Dionysus, possessed complex personalities and a variety of functions, while others, such as Hestia (literally "hearth") and Helios (literally "sun"), were little more than personifications. Each of the major deities was the subject of a complex of myths, which detailed their origins, roles and responsibilities, and their interactions with the human populace.[26] Such hymns demonstrate the complex inter-relationship between Greek mythology and Greek religion.

Age of gods and men

File:Hans Rottenhammer 001.jpg
The Marriage of Peleus and Thetis, by Hans Rottenhammer

Bridging the age when gods lived alone and the age when divine interference in human affairs was limited was a transitional age in which gods and men moved together. These were the early days of the world when the groups mingled more freely than they did later. Most of these tales were later told by Ovid's Metamorphoses and they are often divided in two thematic groups: tales of love, and tales of punishment.[27]

Tales of love often involve the incest, seduction or rape of a mortal woman by a male god, resulting in heroic offspring. The stories generally suggest that relationships between gods and mortals are something to avoid; even consenting relationships rarely have happy endings.[28] In a few cases, a female divinity mates with a mortal man, as in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, where the goddess lies with Anchises to produce Aeneas.[29] The marriage of Peleus and Thetis, which yielded Achilles, is another such myth.

File:Coupe Brygos 01.JPG
Dionysus with satyrs. Interior of a cup painted by the Brygos painter, Louvre Museum.

The second type (tales of punishment) involves the appropriation or invention of some important cultural artifact, as when Prometheus steals fire from the gods, when Tantalus steals nectar and ambrosia from Zeus' table and gives it to his own subjects - revealing to them the secrets of the gods, when Prometheus or Lycaon invents sacrifice, when Demeter teaches agriculture and the Mysteries to Triptolemus, or when Marsyas invents the aulos and enters into a musical contest with Apollo. Prometheus' adventures mark "a place between the history of the gods and that of man".[30] An anonymous papyrus fragment, dated to the third century B.C.E., vividly portrays Dionysus' punishment of the king of Thrace, Lycurgus, whose recognition of the new god came too late, resulting in horrific penalties that extended into the afterlife.[31] The story of the arrival of Dionysus to establish his cult in Thrace was also the subject of an Aeschylean trilogy.[32] In another tragedy, Euripide's The Bacchae, the king of Thebes, Pentheus, is punished by Dionysus, because he disrespected the god and spied on his Maenads, the female worshippers of the god.[33]

In another story, based on an old folk-tale motif,[34] and echoeing a similar theme, Demeter was searching for her daughter, Persephone, having taken the form of an old woman called Doso, and received a hospitable welcome from Celeus, the King of Eleusis in Attica. As a gift to Celeus, because of his hospitality, Demeter planned to make Demophon as a god, but she was unable to complete the ritual because his mother Metanira walked in and saw her son in the fire and screamed in fright, which angered Demeter, who lamented that foolish mortals do not understand the concept and ritual.[35]

Achilles binds the wound of Patroclus, on a late archaic Kylix by the Sosias painter.

Heroic age

The age in which the heroes lived is known as the heroic age.[36] The epic and genealogical poetry created cycles of stories clustered around particular heroes or events and established the family relationships between the heroes of different stories; they thus arranged the stories in sequence. According to Ken Dowden, "there is even a saga effect: we can follow the fates of some families in successive generations".[13]

After the rise of the hero cult, gods and heroes constitute the sacral sphere and are invoked together in oaths, and prayers which are addressed to them.[15] In contrast to the age of gods, during the heroic age the roster of heroes is never given fixed and final form; great gods are no longer born, but new heroes can always be raised up from the army of the dead. Another important difference between the hero cult and the cult of gods is that the hero becomes the centre of local group identity.[15]

The monumental events of Heracles are regarded as the dawn of the age of heroes. To the Heroic Age are also ascribed three great military events, the Argonautic expedition and the Trojan War as well as the Theban War.[37]

Heracles and the Heracleidae

For more details on this topic, see Heracles and Heracleidae

Behind Heracles' complicated mythology there was probably a real man, perhaps a chieftain-vassal of the kingdom of Argos. Traditionally, however, Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, granddaughter of Perseus.[38] His fantastic solitary exploits, with their many folk tale themes, provided much material for popular legend. He is portrayed as a sacrificier, mentioned as a founder of altars, and imagined as a voracious eater himself; it is in this role that he appears in comedy, while his tragic end provided much material for tragedy — Heracles is regarded by Thalia Papadopoulou as "a play of great significance in examination of aother Euripidean dramas".[39] In art and literature Heracles was represented as an enormously strong man of moderate height; his characteristic weapon was the bow but frequently also the club. Tha vase paintings demonstrate the unparalleled popularity of Heracles, his fight with the lion being depicted many hundreds of times.[40]

Heracles also entered Etruscan and Roman mythology and cult, and the exclamation "mehercule" became as familiar to the Romans as "Herakleis" was to the Greeks.[40] In Italy he was worshipped as a god of merchants and traders, although others also prayed to him for his characteristic gifts of good luck or rescue from danger.[38]

Heracles attained the highest social prestige through his appointment as official ancestor of the Dorian kings. This probably served as a legitimation for the Dorian migrations into the Peloponnese. Hyllus, the eponymous hero of one Dorian phyle, became the son of Heracles and one of the Heracleidae or Heraclids (the numerous descendants of Heracles, especially the descendants of Hyllus — other Heracleidae included Macaria, Lamos, Manto, Bianor, Tlepolemus, and Telephus). These Heraclids conquered the Peloponnesian kingdoms of Mycenae, Sparta and Argos, claiming, according to legend, a right to rule it through their ancestor. Their rise to dominance is frequently called the "Dorian invasion". The Lydian and later the Macedonian kings, as rulers of the same rank, also became Heracleidae.[41]

Other members of this earliest generation of heroes, such as Perseus, Deucalion, Theseus and Bellerophon, have many traits in common with Heracles. Like him, their exploits are solitary, fantastic and border on fairy tale, as they slay monsters such as the Chimera and Medusa. Bellerophon's adventures are commonplace types, similar to the adventures of Heracles and Theseus. Sending a hero to his presumed death is also a recurrent theme of this early heroic mythological tradition, used in the cases of Perseus and Bellerophon.[42]

Argonauts

File:Hercules with Hylas in Mysia - retouched and colored.jpg
Engraving (Digitally enhanced for visibility) from the Cista Ficoroni, an Etruscan ritual vessel (Galleria Borghese, Rome), picturing two Argonauts before a hunt. The personages have been tentatively identified as Heracles and Hylas.

The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes (epic poet, scholar, and director of the Library of Alexandria) tells the myth of the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the mythical land of Colchis. In the Argonautica, Jason is impelled on his quest by king Pelias, who receives a prophecy that a man with one sandal would be his nemesis. Jason loses a sandal in a river, arrives at the court of Pelias, and the epic is set in motion. Nearly every member of the next generation of heroes, as well as Heracles, went with Jason in the ship Argo to fetch the Golden Fleece. This generation also included Theseus, who went to Crete to slay the Minotaur; Atalanta, the female heroine; and Meleager, who once had an epic cycle of his own to rival the Iliad and Odyssey. Pindar, Apollonius and Apollodorus endeavor to give full lists of the Argonauts.[43]

Although Apollonius wrote his poem in the 3rd century B.C.E., the composition of the story of the Argonauts (a highly complex legend) is earlier than Odyssey, which shows familiarity with the exploits of Jason (the wandering of Odysseus may have been partly founded on it).[44] In ancient times the expedition was regarded as a historical fact, an incident in the opening up of the Black Sea to Greek commerce and colonization.[45] It was also extremely popular, forming a cycle to which a number of local legends became attached. The story of Medea, in particular, caught the imagination of the tragic poets.[46]

House of Atreus and Theban Cycle

Cadmus Sowing the Dragon's teeth, by Maxfield Parrish, 1908

In between the Argo and the Trojan War, there was a generation known chiefly for its horrific crimes. This includes the doings of Atreus and Thyestes at Argos. Behind the myth of the house of Atreus (one of the two principal heroic dynasties with the house of Labdacus) lies the problem of the devolution of power and of the mode of accession to sovereignity. The twins Atreus and Thyestes with their descendants played the leading role in the tragedy of the devolution of power in Mycenae.[47]

The Theban Cycle deals with events associated especially with Cadmus, the city's founder, and later with the doings of Laius and Oedipus at Thebes; a series of mythological stories that lead to the eventual pillage of that city at the hands of the Seven Against Thebes (it is not known whether the Seven against Thebes figured in early epic) and Epigoni.[48] As far as Oedipus is concerned, early epic accounts seem to have followed a different pattern (in which he continued to rule at Thebes after the revelation that Iokaste was his mother and subsequently married a second wife who became the mother of his children) from the one known to us through tragedy and later mythological accounts.[49]

Trojan War and aftermath

In The Rage of Achilles by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1757, Fresco, 300 x 300 cm, Villa Valmarana, Vicenza) Achilles is outraged after the death of Patroclus and draws his sword to kill Agamemnon. The sudden appearance of the goddess Minerva, who, in this fresco, has grabbed Achilles by the hair, prevents the act of violence.
For more details on this topic, see Trojan War and Epic Cycle

Greek mythology culminates in the Trojan War, fought between the Greeks and Troy, and its aftermath. In Homer's works the chief stories have already taken shape, and individual themes were elaborated later, especially in Greek drama. The Trojan War acquired also a great interest for the Roman culture because of the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, whose from Troy led to the founding of the city that would one day become Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid (Book II of Virgil's Aeneid contains the best-known account of the sack of Troy).[50] Finally there are two pseudo-chronicles written in Latin that passed under the names of Dictys Cretensis and Dares Phrygius.[51]

The Trojan War cycle, a collection of epic poems, starts with the events leading up to the war: (Eris and the golden apple of Kallisti, the Judgement of Paris, the abduction of Helen, the sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis). To recover Helen, the Greeks launched a great expedition under the overall command of Menelaus' brother, Agamemnon, king of Argos or Mycenae, but The Trojans refused to return Helen. The Iliad, which is set in the tenth year of the war, tells of the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles, who was the finest Greek warrior, and the consequent deaths in battle of Achilles' friend Patroclus and Priam's eldest son, Hector. After Hector's death the Trojans were joined by two exotic allies, Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons, and Memnon, king of the Ethiopians and son of the dawn-goddess Eos.[52] Achilles killed both of these, but Paris then managed to kill Achilles with an arrow. Before they could take Troy, the Greeks had to steal from the citadel the wooden image of Pallas Athena (the Palladium). Finally, with Athena's help, they built the Trojan Horse. Despite the warnings of Priam's daughter Cassandra, the Trojans were persuaded by Sinon, a Greek who feigned desertion, to take the horse inside the walls of Troy as an offering to Athena; the priest Laocoon, who tried to have the horse destroyed, was killed by sea-serpents. At night the Greek fleet returned, and the Greeks from the horse opened the gates of Troy. In the total sack that followed, Priam and his remaining sons were slaughtered; the Trojan women passed into slavery in various cities of Greece. The adventurous homeward voyages of the Greek leaders (including the wanderings of Odysseus and Aeneas (the Aeneid), and the murder of Agamemnon) were told in two epics, the Returns (Nostoi; lost) and Homer's Odyssey.[53] The Trojan cycle also includes the adventures of the children of the Trojan generation (e.g. Orestes and Telemachus).[52]

File:El Greco 042.jpg
El Greco was inspired in his Laocoon (1608-1614, oil on canvas, 142 x 193 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington) by the famous myth of the Trojan cycle. Laocoon was a Trojan priest who tried to have the Trojan horse destroyed, but was killed by sea-serpents.

The Trojan War provided a variety of themes and became a main source of inspiration for ancient Greek artists (e.g. metopes on the Parthenon depicting the sack of Troy); this artistic preference for themes deriving from the Trojan Cycle indicates its importance for the ancient Greek civilization.[53] The same mythological cyrcle also inspired a series of posterior European literary writings. For instance, Trojan Medieval European writers, unacquainted with Homer at first hand, found in the Troy legend a rich source of heroic and romantic storytelling and a convenient framework into which to fit their own courtly and chivalric ideals. 12th century authors, such as Benoît de Sainte-Maure (Roman de Troie [Romance of Troy, 1154–60]) and Joseph of Exeter (De Bello Troiano [On the Trojan War, 1183]) describe the war while rewriting the standard version they found in Dictys and Dares. They thus follow Horace's advice and Virgil's example: they rewrite a poem of Troy instead of telling something completely new.[54]

Greek and Roman conceptions of myth

Mythology was at the heart of everyday life in ancient Greece.[55] Greeks regarded mythology as a part of their history. They used myth to explain natural phenomena, cultural variations, traditional enmities and friendships. It was a source of pride to be able to trace one's leaders' descent from a mythological hero or a god. Few ever doubted that there was truth behind the account of the Trojan War in the Iliad and Odyssey. According to Victor Davis Hanson, a military historian, columnist, political essayist and former Classics professor, and John Heath, associate professor of Classics at Santa Clara University, the profound knowledge of the homeric epos was deemed by the Greeks the basis of their acculturation. Homer was the "education of Greece" (Ἑλλάδος παίδευσις), and his poetry "the Book".[56]

Philosophy and myths

Raphael's Plato in The School of Athens fresco (probably in the likeness of Leonardo da Vinci). The philosopher expelled the study of Homer, of the tragedies and of the related mythological traditions from his utopian Republic.

After the rise of philosophy, and history, prose and rationalism in the late 5th century B.C.E. the fate of myth became uncertain, and mythical genealogies gave place to a conception of history which tried to exclude the supernatural (such as the Thucydidean history).[57] While poets and dramatists were reworking the myths, Greek historians and philosophers were beginning to criticize them.[8]

A few radical philosophers like Xenophanes of Colophon were already beginning to label the poets' tales as blasphemous lies in the 6th century B.C.E.; Xenophanes had complained that Homer and Hesiod attributed to the gods "all that is shameful and disgraceful among men; they steal, commit adultery, and deceive one another".[58] This line of thought found its most sweeping expression in Plato's Republic and Laws. Plato created his own allegorical myths (such as the vision of Er in the Republic), attacked the traditional tales of the gods' tricks, thefts and adulteries as immortal, and objected to their central role in literature.[8] Plato's criticism (he called the myths "old wives' chatter")[59] was the first serious challenge to the homeric mythological tradition.[56] For his part Aristotle ctiticized the Pre-socratic quasi-mythical philosophical approoach and underscored that "Hesiod and the theological writers were concerned only with what seemed plausible to themselves, and had no respect for us [...] But it is not worth taking seriously writers who show off in the mythical style; as for those who do proceed by proving their assertions, we must cross-examine them".[57]

Nevertheless, even Plato did not manage to wean himself and his society from the influence of myth; his own characterization for Socrates is based on the traditional homeric and tragic patterns, used by the philosopher to praise the righteous life of his teacher:[60]

But perhaps someone might say: "Are you then not ashamed, Socrates, of having followed such a pursuit, that you are now in danger of being put to death as a result?" But I should make to him a just reply: "You do not speak well, Sir, if you think a man in whom there is even a little merit ought to consider danger of life or death, and not rather regard this only, when he does things, whether the things he does are right or wrong and the acts of a good or a bad man. For according to your argument all the demigods would be bad who died at Troy, including the son of Thetis, who so despised danger, in comparison with enduring any disgrace, that when his mother (and she was a goddess) said to him, as he was eager to slay Hector, something like this, I believe,
My son, if you avenge the death of your friend Patroclus and kill Hector, you yourself shall die;
for straightway, after Hector, is death appointed unto you (Hom. Il. 18.96) [...] "

Hanson and Heath estimate that Plato's rejection of the homeric tradition was not favorably received by the grassroots Greek civilization.[56] The old myths were kept alive in local cults; they continued to influence poetry, and to form the main subject of painting and sculpture.[57]

More sportingly, the 5th century B.C.E. tragedian Euripides often played with the old traditions, mocking them, and through the voice of his characters injecting notes of doubt. Yet the subjects of his plays were taken, without exception, from myth. Many of thses plays were written in answer to a predecessor's version of the same or similar myth. Euripides impugns mainly the myths about the gods and begins his critique with an objection similar to the one previously expressed by Xenocrates: the gods, as traditionally represented, are far too crassly anthropomorphic.[58]

Hellenistic and Roman rationalism

Cicero saw himself as the defender of the established order, despite his personal scepticism with regard to myth and his inclination towards more philosophical conceptions of divinity.

During the Hellenistic period, mythology took on the prestige of élite knowledge that marks its possessors as belonging to a certain class. At the same time, the skeptical turn of the Classical age became even more pronounced.[61] Greek mythographer Euhemerus established the tradition of seeking an actual historical basis for mythical beings and events.[62] Although his original work (Sacred Scriptures) is lost, much is known about it from what is recorded by Diodorus and Lactantius.[63]

Rationalizing hermeneutics of myth became even more popular under the Roman Empire, thanks to the physicalist theories of Stoic and Epicurean philosophy. Stoics presented explanations of the gods and heroes as physical phenomena, while the euhemerists rationalized them as historical figures. At the same time, the Stoics and the Neoplatonists promoted the moral significations of the mythological tradition, often based on Greek etymologies.[64] Through his Epicurean message, Lucretius had sought to expel superstitious fears from the minds of his fellow-citizens.[65] Livy, too, is sceptical about the mythological tradition and claims that he does not intend to pass judgement on such legends (fabulae).[66] The challenge for Romans with a strong and apologetic sense of religious tradition was to defend that tradition while conceding that it was often a breeding-ground for superstition. The antiquarian Varro, who regarded religion as a human inistitution with great importance for the preservation of good in society, devoted rigorous study to the origins of religious cults. In his Antiquitates Rerum Divinarum (which has not survived, but Augustine's City of God indicate its general approach) Varro argues that whereas the superstitious man fears the gods, the truly religious person venerates them as parents.[65] In wis work he distinguished three kinds of gods:

  • The gods of nature: personifications of phenomena like rain and fire.
  • The gods of the poets: invented by unscrupulous bards to stir the passions.
  • The gods of the city: invented by wise legislators to soothe and enlighten the populace.

Roman Academic Cotta ridicules both literal and allegorical acceptance of myth, declaring roundly that myths have no place in philosophy.[67] Cicero is also generally disdainful of myth, but, like Varro, he is emphatic in his support for the state religion and its institutions. It is difficult to know how far down the social scale this rationalism extended.[66] Cicero asserts that no one (not even old women and boys) is so foolish in the terrors of Hades or the existence of Scyllas, centaurs or other composite creatures,[68] but, on the other hand, the orator elsewhere complains of the superstitious and credulous character of the people.[69] De Natura Deorum is the most comprehensive summary of Cicero's this line of thought.[70]

Syncretizing trends

In Roman religion the worship of the Greek god Apollo (early Imperial Roman copy of a fourth century Greek original, Louvre Museum) was combined with the cult of Sol Invictus. The worship of Sol as special protector of the emperors and of the empire remained the chief imperial cult until it was replaced by Christianity.

During the Roman era appears a popular trend to syncretize multiple Greek and foreign gods in strange, nearly unrecognizable new cults. Syncretization was also due to the fact that the Romans had little mythology of their own, and inherited the Greek mythological tradition; therefore, the major Roman gods were syncretized with those of the Greeks.[66] In addition to this combination of the two mythological tradition, the association of the Romans with eastern religions led to further syncretizations.[71] For instance, the cult of Sun was introduced in Rome after Aurelian's successful campaigns in Syria. The asiatic divinities Mithras (that is to say, the Sun) and Ba'al were combined with Apollo and Helios into one Sol Invictus, with conglomerated rites and compound attributes.[72] Apollo might be increasingly identified in religion with Helios or even Dionysus, texts retelling his myths seldom reflected such developments. The traditional literary mythology was increasingly dissociated from actual religious practice.

The surviving 2nd century collection of Orphic Hymns and Macrobius's Saturnalia are influenced by the theories of rationalism and the syncretizing trends as well. The Orphic Hymns are a set of pre-classical poetic compositions, attributed to Orpheus, himself the subject of a renowned myth. In reality, these poems were probably composed by several different poets, and contain a rich set of clues about prehistoric European mythology.[73] The stated purpose of the Saturnalia is to transmit the Hellenic culture he has derived from his reading, even though much of his treatment of gods is colored by Egyptian and North African mythology and theology (which also affect the interpretation of Virgil). In Saturnalia reappear mythographical comments influenced by the euhemerists, the Stoics and the Neoplatonists.[64]

Modern interpretations

The genesis of modern understanding of Greek mythology is regarded by some scholars as a double reaction at the end of the eighteenth century against "the traditional attitude of Christian animosity", in which the Christian reinterpretation of myth as a "lie" or fable had been retained.[74] In Germany, by about 1795, there was a growing interest in Homer and Greek mythology. In Göttingen Johann Matthias Gesner began to revive Greek studies, while his successor, Christian Gottlob Heyne, worked with Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and laid the foundations for mythological research both in Germany and elsewhere.[75]

Comparative and psychoanalytic approaches

File:Muller.jpg
Max Müller is regarded as one of the founders of comparative mythology. In his Comparative Mythology (1867) Müller analysed the "disturbing" similarity between the mythologies of "savage" races with those of the early European races.

The development of comparative philology in the 19th century, together with ethnological discoveries in the 20th century, established the science of myth. Since the Romantics, all study of myth has been comparative. Wilhelm Mannhardt, Sir James Frazer, and Stith Thompson employed the comparative approach to collect and classify the themes of folklore and mythology.[76] In 1871 Edward Burnett Tylor published his Primitive Culture, in which he applied the comparative method and tried to explain the origin and evolution of religion.[77] Tylor's procedure of drawing together material culture, ritual and myth of widely separated cultures influenced both Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. Max Müller applied the new science of comparative mythology to the study of myth, in which he detected the distorted remains of Aryan nature worship. Bronislaw Malinowski emphasized the ways myth fulfills common social functions. Claude Lévi-Strauss and other structuralists have compared the formal relations and patterns in myths throughout the world.[76]

File:Kerenyi karoly.jpg
For Karl Kerényi mythology is "a body of material contained in tales about gods and god-like beings, heroic battles and journeys to the Underworld — mythologem is the best Greek word for them — tales already well-known but not amenable to further re-shaping".[78]

Sigmund Freud introduced a transhistorical and biological conception of man and a view of myth as an expression of repressed ideas. Dream interpretation is the basis of Freudian myth interpretation and Freud's concept of dreamwork recognizes the importance of contextual relationships for the interpretation of any individual element in a dream. This suggestion would find an important point of rapprochment between the structuralist and psychoanalytic approaches to myth in Freud's thought.[79] Carl Jung extended the transhistorical, psychological approach with his theory of the "collective unconscious" and the archetypes (inherited "archaic" patterns), often encoded in myth, that arise out of it.[7] According to Jung, "myth-forming structural elements must be present in the unconscious psyche".[80] Comparing Jung's methodology with Joseph Campbell's theory, Robert A. Segal concludes that "to interpret a myth Campbell simply identifies the archetypes in it. An interpretation of the Odyssey, for example, would show how Odysseus’s life conforms to a heroic pattern. Jung, by contrast, considers the identification of archetypes merely the first step in the interpretation of a myth".[81] Karl Kerenyi, one of the founders of modern studies in Greek mythology, gave up his early views of myth, in order to apply Jung's theories of archetypes to Greek myth.[82]

Origin theories

Jupiter et Thétis by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1811.

There are various modern theories about the origins of Greek mythology. According to the Scriptural Theory, all mythological legends are derived from the narratives of the Scriptures, though the real facts have been disguised and altered.[83] According to the Historical Theory all the persons mentioned in mythology were once real human beings, and the legends relating to them are merely the additions of later times. Thus the story of Aeolus is supposed to have risen from the fact that Aeolus was the ruler of some islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea.[84] The Allegorical Theory supposes that all the ancient myths were allegorical and symbolical. While the the Physical Theory subscribed to the idea that the elements of air, fire, and water were originally the objects of religious adoration, thus the principal deities were personifications of these powers of nature.[85] Max Müller attempted to understand an Indo-European religious form by tracing it back to its Aryan, Vedic, "original" manifestation. In 1891, he claimed that "the most important discovery which has been made duting the nineteenth century with respect to the ancient history of mankind [...] was this sample equation: Sanskrit Dyaus-pitar = Greek Zeus = Latin Jupiter = Old Norse Tyr".[86] In other cases, close parallels in character and function suggest a common heritage, yet lack of linguistic evidence makes it difficult to prove, as in the comparison between Uranus and the Sanskrit Varuna or the Moirae and the Norns.[87]

Aphrodite and Adonis, Attic red-figure aryballos-shaped lekythos by Aison (c. 410 B.C.E., Louvre, Paris).

Archaeology and mythography, on the other hand, has revealed that the Greeks were inspired by some of the civilizations of Asia Minor and the Near East. Adonis seems to be the Greek counterpart — more clearly in cult than in myth — of a Near Eastern "dying god". Cybele is rooted in Anatolian culture while much of Aphrodite's iconography springs from Semitic goddesses. There are also possible parallels between the earliest divine generations (Chaos and its children) and Tiamat in the Enuma Elish.[88] According to Meyer Reinhold, "near Eastern theogonic concepts, involving divine succession through violence and generational conflicts for power, found their way [...] into Greek mythology".[89] In addition to Indo-European and Near Eastern origins, some scholars have speculated on the debts of Greek mythology to the pre-Hellenic societies: Crete, Mycenae, Pylos, Thebes and Orchomenos.[90] Historians of religion were fascinated by a number of apparently ancient configurations of myth connencted with Crete (the god as bull, Zeus and Europa, Pasiphae who yields to the bull and gives birth to the Minotaur etc.) Professor Martin P. Nilsson concluded that all great classical Greek myths were tied to Mycenaen centres and were anchored in pehistoric times.[91] Nevertheless, according to Burkert, the iconography of the Cretan Palace Period has provided almost no confirmation for these theories.[92]

Motifs in western art and literature

Botticelli's The Birth of Venus (c. 1485-1486, oil on canvas, Uffizi, Florence) — a revived Venus Pudica for a new view of pagan Antiquity— is often said to epitomize for modern viewers the spirit of the Renaissance.[7]

The widespread adoption of Christianity did not curb the popularity of the myths. With the rediscovery of classical antiquity in Renaissance, the poetry of Ovid (a Roman expositor of Greek mythical traditions) became a major influence on the imagination of poets, dramatists, musicians and artists.[93] From the early years of Renaissance, artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, portrayed the pagan subjects of Greek mythology alongside more conventional Christian themes.[93] Likewise, these myths, through Ovid, influenced medieval and Renaissance poets such as Petrarch, Boccaccio and Dante.[7]

In Northern Europe, Greek mythology never took the same hold of the visual arts, but its effect was very obvious on literature. The English imagination, starting with Chaucer and John Milton and continuing through Shakespeare and Robert Bridges, were fired by Greek mythology. Elsewhere on the continent, Racine (in France) and Goethe (in Germany) revived Greek drama, reworking the ancient myths into a contemporary mold.[93] Although Enlightenment rationality dampened European esteem for mythical subject matter in the 18th century, they continued to provide an important source of raw material for dramatists, including those who wrote the libretti for many of Handel's and Mozart's operas.[94] Moreover, the rise of Romanticism at the end of the 18th century initiated a surge of enthusiam for all things Greek, including Greek mythology. Some notable names in this movement include Alfred Lord Tennyson, Keats, Byron, Shelley, Lord Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema).[95] Likewise, Christoph Gluck, Richard Strauss, Jacques Offenbach and many others set Greek mythological themes to music.[7] This interest has continued unabated into the modern day, though many current sources syncretically incorporate materials from various mythological traditions.

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Volume: Hellas, Article: Greek Mythology". Encyclopaedia The Helios. (1952).
  2. J.M. Foley, Homer's Traditional Art, 43
  3. Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, 1080
  4. Aeschylus, Persians, 713
  5. "logos". Encyclopaedia The Helios. (1952).
  6. 6.0 6.1 F. Graf, Greek Mythology, 200
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Br
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Miles, Classical Mythology in English Literature, 7 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Miles7" defined multiple times with different content
  9. 9.0 9.1 Klatt-Brazouski, Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology, xii
  10. Miles, Classical Mythology in English Literature, 8
  11. Albala-Johnson-Johnson, Understanding the Odyssey, 17
  12. Albala-Johnson-Johnson, Understanding the Odyssey, 18
  13. 13.0 13.1 K. Dowden, The Uses of Greek Mythology, 11
  14. G. Miles, Classical Mythology in English Literature, 35
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 W. Burkert, Greek Religion, 205 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Raffan-Barket205" defined multiple times with different content
  16. Hesiod, Works and Days, 90-105
  17. Ovid, Metamorphoses, I, 89-162
  18. Klatt-Brazouski, Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology, 10
  19. 19.0 19.1 Hesiod, Theogony, 116-138
  20. Hesiod, Theogony, 713-735
  21. Homeric Hymn to Hermes, 414-435
  22. G. Betegh, The Derveni Papyrus, 147
  23. W. Burkert, Greek Religion, 182
  24. H.W. Stoll, Religion and Mythology of the Greeks, 4
  25. H.W. Stoll, Religion and Mythology of the Greeks, 20ff. Note: Given that he did not technically dwell upon Mount Olympus, some argue that Hades should not be called an "Olympian." However, in the above context, the term "Olympian" is simply being used to refer to the entire pantheon of deities that came into existence after the creation of the Titans (in the mythic chronology).
  26. The Homeric Hymns provide one source of these myths (J. Cashford, The Homeric Hymns, vii). Indeed, Gregory Nagy regards "the larger Homeric Hymns as simple preludes [to the large-scale cosmological theorizing of Hesiod's Theogony], each of which invokes one god" (G. Nagy, Greek Mythology and Poetics, 54).
  27. G. Mile, Classical Mythology in English Literature, 38
  28. G. Mile, Classical Mythology in English Literature, 39
  29. Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, 75-109
  30. I. Morris, Archaeology As Cultural History, 291
  31. J. Weaver, Plots of Epiphany, 50
  32. R. Bushnell, A Companion to Tragedy, 28
  33. K. Trobe, Invoke the Gods, 195
  34. M.P. Nilsson, Greek Popular Religion, 50
  35. Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 255-274
  36. F.W. Kelsey, An Outline of Greek and Roman Mythology, 30
  37. F.W. Kelsey, An Outline of Greek and Roman Mythology, 30
    * H.J. Rose, A Handbook of Greek Mythology, 340
  38. 38.0 38.1 "Heracles". Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2002).
  39. W. Burkert, Greek Religion, 211
    * T. Papadopoulou, Heracles and Euripidean Tragedy, 1
  40. 40.0 40.1 W. Burkert, Greek Religion, 211
  41. Herodotus, The Histories, I, 6-7
    * W. Burkert, Greek Religion, 211
  42. G.S. Kirk, Myth, 183
  43. Apollodorus, Library and Epitome, 1.9.16
    * Apollonius, Argonautica, I, 20ff
    * Pindar, Pythian Odes, Pythian 4.1
  44. "Argonaut". Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2002).
    * P. Grimmal, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, 58
  45. "Argonaut". Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2002).
  46. P. Grimmal, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, 58
  47. Y. Bonnefoy, Greek and Egyptian Mythologies, 103
  48. R. Hard, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology, 317
  49. R. Hard, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology, 311
  50. "Trojan War". Encyclopaedia The Helios. (1952).
    * "Troy". Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2002).
  51. J. Dunlop, The History of Fiction, 355
  52. 52.0 52.1 "Troy". Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2002).
  53. 53.0 53.1 "Trojan War". Encyclopaedia The Helios. (1952).
  54. D. Kelly, The Conspiracy of Allusion, 121
  55. Albala-Johnson-Johnson, Understanding the Odyssey, 15
  56. 56.0 56.1 56.2 Hanson-Heath, Who Killed Homer, 37
  57. 57.0 57.1 57.2 J. Griffin, Greek Myth and Hesiod, 80
  58. 58.0 58.1 F. Graf, Greek Mythology, 169-170
  59. Plato, Theaetetus, 176b
  60. Plato, Apology, 28b-c
  61. M.R. Gale, Myth and Poetry in Lucretius, 89
  62. "Eyhemerus". Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2002).
  63. R. Hard, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology, 7
  64. 64.0 64.1 J. Chance, Medieval Mythography, 69
  65. 65.0 65.1 P.G. Walsh, The Nature of Gods (Introduction), xxvi
  66. 66.0 66.1 66.2 M.R. Gale, Myth and Poetry in Lucretius, 88
  67. M.R. Gale, Myth and Poetry in Lucretius, 87
  68. Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, 1.11
  69. Cicero, De Divinatione, 2.81
  70. P.G. Walsh, The Nature of Gods (Introduction), xxvii
  71. North-Beard-Price, Religions of Rome, 259
  72. J. Hacklin, Asiatic Mythology, 38
  73. Sacred Texts, Orphic Hymns
  74. Robert Ackerman, 1991. Introduction to Jane Ellen Harrison's "A Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion", xv
  75. F. Graf, Greek Mythology, 9
  76. 76.0 76.1 "myth". Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2002).
  77. D. Allen, Structure and Creativity in Religion, 9
    * R.A. Segal, Theorizing about Myth, 16
  78. Jung-Kerényi, Essays on a Science of Mythology, 1-2
  79. R. Caldwell, The Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Greek Myth, 344
  80. C. Jung, The Psychology of the Child Archetype, 85
  81. R. Segal, The Romantic Appeal of Joseph Campbell, 332-335
  82. F. Graf, Greek Mythology, 38
  83. T. Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology, 241
  84. T. Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology, 241-242
  85. T. Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology, 242
  86. D. Allen, Religion, 12
  87. H.I. Poleman, Review, 78-79
    * A. Winterbourne, When the Norns Have Spoken, 87
  88. L. Edmunds, Approaches to Greek Myth, 184
    * R.A. Segal, A Greek Eternal Child, 64
  89. M. Reinhold, The Generation Gap in Antiquity, 349
  90. W. Burkert, Greek Religion, 23
  91. M. Wood, In Search of the Trojan War, 112
  92. W. Burkert, Greek Religion, 24
  93. 93.0 93.1 93.2 "Greek mythology". Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2002).
    * L. Burn, Greek Myths, 75
  94. L. Burn, Greek Myths, 75
  95. L. Burn, Greek Myths, 75-76

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