The Hellenic Saga - University of Albertaegarvin/assets/10.-hellenic.pdf · The Hellenic Saga. Gaia...
Transcript of The Hellenic Saga - University of Albertaegarvin/assets/10.-hellenic.pdf · The Hellenic Saga. Gaia...
The Hellenic Saga
Gaia (Earth)
Uranus (Heaven)
Atlas Menoetius Prometheus Epimetheus = Pandora
Iapetus (Titan) = Clymene
Oceanus = Tethys
Themis
Prometheus
• “Prometheus made humans out of earth and water, and he also gave them fire…” (Apollodorus Library 1.7.1)
• … “and scatter-brained Epimetheus from the first was a mischief to men who eat bread; for it was he who first took of Zeus the woman, the maiden whom he had formed” (Hesiod Theogonyca. 509)
Prometheus and Zeus
• Zeus concealed the secret of life• Trick of the meat and fat• Zeus concealed fire• Prometheus stole it and gave it to man
• Freidrich H. Fuger, 1751 - 1818
• Zeus ordered the creation of Pandora• Zeus chained Prometheus to a mountain
• The accounts here are many and confused
Maxfield ParishPrometheus1919
Prometheus ChainedDirck van Baburen1594 - 1624
PrometheusNicolas-Sébastien Adam1705 - 1778
Frankenstein:The Modern Prometheus
• Novel by Mary Shelly• First published in 1818.• The first true Science Fiction novel• Victor Frankenstein is Prometheus
• As with the story of Prometheus, the novel asks about cause and effect, and about responsibility.
• Is man accountable for his creations?• Is God?• Are there moral, ethical constraints on man’s creative urges?
Mary Shelly
• “I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world” (Introduction to the 1831 edition)
Did I request thee, from my clayTo mould me man? Did I solicit theeFrom darkness to promote me?
John Milton, Paradise Lost 10. 743 – 45.
Printed on the inside cover of the 1818 edition.
PandoraWilliam Waterhouse1896
Pandora
• The name means “all gifts”• Hephaestus made Pandora from earth and water in the shape of
the goddesses• Aphrodite gave her grace• Athena gave her skill• Hermes gave her deceit and shamelessness.• Each god gave her an evil, all in one jar
Pandora and Epimetheus
• Zeus gave Pandora to Epimetheus• Pandora opened her gift-jar and the evils that make human
existence difficult were released on the world• Only Hope remained in the jar.
• Is it the point that Hope is one of the things that plague mankind, and Zeus withheld it!?
• Pandora’s ‘Box’ is a mistranslation by Erasmus
Pandora
Deucalion
• Son of Prometheus• Married Pyrrha• Zeus decided to destroy humanity with a flood• Prometheus warned Deucalion, he and Pyrrha escaped in a
wooden chest• Stones of Deucalion
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609 – 1664)
Autochthony‘Born of the Earth’
Deucalion = Pyrrha
Hellen Amphictyon Protogeneia = Zeus
Dorus Xuthus Aeolus
• The descendants of Hellen are the Hellenes, the Greeks
• His sons divided Greece• Amphictyon became king of Athens
• We will return to him later…
Dorus
Xuthus
Aeolus
Pelasgians Pelasgians
Greek Migrations
• Middle Helladic• 1900 to 1600 BC• First ‘Greek’ Speakers
• Mycenaean (Late Helladic)• 1600 to 1200 BC• The Warrior Elite of our Myth Cycles
• Dorian• 1200 BC • The Heraclidae
The sons of Aolus
Hellen = Orseis
Dorus Aeolus = Enarete Xuthus
Perieres
Perimede
CretheusSisyphusAthamas Salmoneus Deion Magnes
Canace AlcyonePisidice Calyce
The Family of AthamasAthamas, son of Aeolus, son of Hellen
Hellen = Orseis
Dorus Aeolus = Enarete Xuthus
Perieres
Perimede
CretheusSisyphusAthamas Salmoneus Deion Magnes
Canace AlcyonePisidice Calyce
• Athamas ruled Boeotia• Married the nymph Nephele• Married Ino second
Nephele = Athamas = Ino
Phrixus Helle
Cadmus = Harmonia
Boeotia
Nephele
• A cloud nymph• Ino, jealous of her step-children
• Tricked the women into spoiling the seed wheat• Tricked the Pythia, Athamas to sacrifice his son, Phrixus
• Nephele• Was given a ram with golden fleece by Hermes• The ram carried her children to Colchis• Helle fell of and drowned: Hellespont
The Hellespont
Phrixus trying to save HelleRoman wall mural from Pompeii
Ino (Leucothea)
• Ino, Athamas and Dionysus:• Hermes brought the baby Dionysus to Ino• Hera found out… drove Ino and Athamas mad• When Dionysus grew up, Ino became a Maenad• Athamas tried to kill Ino, who leapt into the sea• Ino became a goddess on her death• Or• She was carried by a dolphin to Corinth
The Family of Sisyphus
Hellen = Orseis
Dorus Aeolus = Enarete Xuthus
Perieres
Perimede
CretheusSisyphusAthamas Salmoneus Deion Magnes
Canace AlcyonePisidice Calyce
• Sisyphus• Founder of Corinth• Promoted navigation and trade• Various traditions, all negative• Attempts to cheat death?• Betrayed Zeus’ abduction of Aegina• Condemned to role a stone up a hill in Hades
Sisyphus = Merope
Glaucus
The Pleiades
• The sisters committed mass suicide• For their sacrifice, they were placed amongst the stars• Visible in Greece from May to November• Signal the farming and sailing seasons
Alcyone Merope Celaeno Electra
Sterope Taygete Maia
Atlas = Pleione
= Zeus
Hermes
The Pleiades
Pleiades
• Glaucus• Son of Sisyphus and Merope• Liked racing his chariot team• Angered Aphrodite• His team crashed and he was killed
Glaucus = Eurymede
Bellerophon Deliades
Bellerophon(tes)
• Accidentally killed his brother• Fled to Proetus, king of Tiryns• Anteia (Stheneboea)
• Wife of Proetus• Bellerophon refused her advances so she accused him
• Bellerophon sent to Lycia
Lycia
Bellerophon• Iobates, king of Lycia sent Bellerophon on suicide
missions:• Kill the Chimaera• Bellerophon rode Pegasus over the beast and shot him with
arrows• Kill the Amazons• Overcame an ambush
• Iobates gave Bellerophon his daughter and his kingdom
Chimaera
The Family of Salmoneus
Hellen = Orseis
Dorus Aeolus = Enarete Xuthus
Perieres
Perimede
CretheusSisyphusAthamas Salmoneus Deion Magnes
Canace AlcyonePisidice Calyce
• Pelias• Became king of Iolcus after Cretheus
• Neleus• Moved to Messenia and founded Pylos• His son, Nestor, fought at Troy
Salmoneus = Alcidice
Tyro = Poseidon
Pelias Neleus
NestorAdmetus = Alcestis
Pylos
Iolchos
Cretheus = Tyro = Poseidon
Polymede = Aeson
Jason
• Admetus:• Went to Thessaly and founded Pherae• A Calydonian hunter• An Argonaut• Married Alcestis
PeliasPheres = Periclymene
Lycurgus Admetus = Alcestis
Admetus and Alcestis
• Apollo:• Killed the Cyclopes, dear to Zeus• Had to serve a mortal for a year as punishment• Helped Admetus win the hand of Alcestis
Alcestis
• Euripides Alcestis (438 BC)• Molliere The Misanthrope (1666)
• Alceste is the main character• Theme: What will you sacrifice for your love?
• Christoph Gluck, Alceste (Opera, 1767)• A total of eight operas based on this story
Hercules Fighting Death to Save Alcestis. Frederic Lord Leighton
The Death of AlcestisPierre Peyron(1744 – 1814)
Cretheus = Tyro = Poseidon
Polymede = Aeson
Jason
PeliasPheres = Periclymene
Lycurgus Admetus = Alcestis
Deion
Hellen = Orseis
Dorus Aeolus = Enarete Xuthus
Perieres
Perimede
CretheusSisyphusAthamas Salmoneus Deion Magnes
Canace AlcyonePisidice Calyce
Hellen = Orseis
Dorus Aeolus = Enarete XuthusDeion = Diomede
Asteropeia CephalusAenetus Actor = Aegina = Zeus
Phylacus
Endeis = Aeacus = Psamathe
Zeus = Aegina
TelamonPeleus Phocus
• Zeus turned the ants to humans:• The Myrmidons
• Aeacus became king of Aegina (the Island)• By Endeis he had Peleus and Telamon• By Psamathe he had Phocus
Aegina
Temple of AphaiaAegina
East Pediment
Example of a Painted Pediment
Endeis = Aeacus
Zeus = Aegina
Telamon = PeriboeaThetis = Peleus
AjaxAchilles
Telamon
• Son of Aeacus, of Aegina• Moved to Salamis• One of the Calydonian Hunters• One of the Argonauts• Fought the Amazons with Heracles• Fought at Troy with Heracles• Father of Ajax
• The Athenian Philaidae family claimed descent from Telamon
Peleus
• Son of Aeacus and Aegina• King of the Myrmidons• Moved to Phthia (Pthiotis)• Married Thetis
• All the gods invited to the wedding…• except the goddess Discord.
Xuthus
Hellen = Orseis
Dorus Aeolus Xuthus = Creusa
Erechtheus
Achaeus Ion• Achaeus
• Gave his name to the Achaean people
• Ion• Gave his name to the Ionian people• But this must be false, the Ionians are Pelasgian
Protogeneia
Deucalion = Pyrrha
Hellen Amphictyon Protogeneia = Zeus
Dorus Xuthus Aeolus
Calyce = Aethlius
Endymion = Iphianassa
• Aethlius• Led the Aeolians from Thessaly • Founded Elis
• Endymion• Selene, the moon, fell in love with him• Asked Zeus to “make him stay like this forever”• But he was sleeping in a cave at the time
Protogeneia = Zeus
EndymionFrancesco Trevisani(1656 – 1746)
Endymion = Iphianassa
Aetolus = Pronoe
Xanthipe = Pleuron Calydon = Aeolia
Agenor = Epicaste
Eurythemis = Thestius
Porthaon Demonice = Ares
Eurythemis = Thestius
AlthaeaHypermnestraTyndarius = Leda
Iphiclus EvippusPlexippusEurypylus
• Tyndareus, king of Sparta• Zeus appeared to Leda as a swan• Two eggs:
• Helen• Castor and Polux
• After her death, Leda became the goddess Nemesis
Leda and the SwanGiovanni Rapiti
• Oeneus, son of Porthaon, ruler of Calydonia• Received the vine from Dionysus• Failed to sacrifice to Artemis• Visited by the Calydonian Boar
Eurythemis = Thestius
Althaea = OeneusHypermnestraLeda
Iphiclus EvippusPlexippusEurypylus
Calydonian Boar
Calydonian Boar
• Oeneus assembled a team of heroes• Included Atalanta, daughter of Schoeneus• Meleager, son of Oeneus, killed the boar
• And gave the skin to Atalanta
• The sons of Thestius stole if from her• Meleager killed the sons of Thestius
• And gave the skin back to Atalanta• War ensued, and Meleager was killed
• Adrastus who attempted to recover Thebes for Polynices
• Tydeus, who died at Thebes• Diomedes, who was one of the Epigonoi who
sacked Thebes• The same Diomedes who is featured in the Iliad.
Periboea = Oeneus = Althaea
Deipyle = Tydeus
Adrastus
Diomedes