ANTHROPOMORPHIC: The nature of the Olympian Gods

ANTHROPOMORPHIC:The nature of the Olympian Gods

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Olympian gods

• Idealized (im)mortals endowed with - physical beauty - intense emotions- superhuman powers to:

* change shape* become

invisible* fly



Divine anatomy

• ICHOR = divine blood

• NECTAR = divine drink

• AMBROSIA = divine food

Olympian Deities

• Twelve major deities

• Dwelling in splendid houses on Mt. Olympus

• Worshiped by mortals in temples and shrines

Chthonic Deities(Gods of the Earth)

• Associated with the underworld and earth

• E.g.: Erinyes (Furies)• (Hades is both an

Olympian and a chthonic deity)



Nymphs• Female spirits who animate aspects of nature• Not necessarily immortal • NAIADS inhabit waters• DRYADS inhabit trees



FOURTEEN MAJOR GREEK DEITIES

Zeus’ “Cabinet” = his immediate family

• 6 children of Cronus and Rhea (including Zeus himself)

• 7 children of Zeus

• Aphrodite

Children of Cronus and Rhea

• The sky is the domain of ZEUS/JUPITER, the supreme ruler of the gods.

• The sea is the domain of POSEIDON/NEPTUNE.• The underworld belongs to HADES/MERCURY.• HERA/JUNO is Zeus’ wife the queen of heaven.• DEMETER/CERES and HESTIA/VESTA reign

on Earth, the first has the jurisdiction of the space within the house, the second of the open space of the Earth.

Children of Zeus

…and Hera

• HEPHAESTUS/VULCAN, metalworker of the gods

• ARES/MARS, god of war

…and Leto

• APOLLO, god of arts, healing, disease

• ARTEMIS/DIANA, goddess of wilderness

More Children of Zeus

…and Metis• ATHENA/MINERVA, goddess of wisdom and

domestic arts and crafts…and Maia• HERMES/MERCURY, god of cunning,

communicaton, business, and theives…and Semele• DIONYSUS/BACCHUS, god of wine, theatre,

and madness

The 12th Olympian: APHRODITE/VENUS, goddess

of desire



ZEUS AND HERA

• ZEUS: god of the sky • Representations: A

bearded man with a scepter and a bolt of lightening and thunder in his hand.

• Often carries his shield, the AEGIS

HERA: originally an earth mother goddess.

• Usually accompanied by IRIS goddess of rainbow





Sacred Marriage

• Sacred marriage• A metope from a

temple in Selinunte (Sicily)

• Hera loosens her veil in front of the groom.

FATES Personifications of Destiny

• Daughters of Zeus and Themis (or Night and Erebus)

• CLOTHO: "spinner," spins out the thread of life.

• LACHESIS: "apportioner," measures the thread.

• ATROPOS: "inflexible," cuts the thread.



Birth and Youth of HEPHAESTUS

Version A • Son of Hera alone• Lame from birth • Cast out of Olympus

by Hera QuickTime™ and a

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Birth and Youth of HEPHAESTUS

Version B

• Son of both Zeus and Hera

• Interfered in a quarrel between parents on behalf of Hera

• Hurled down from Olympus by Zeus

• Landed on the island of Lemnos, which became his cult-place.



“Adult” Life of Hephaestus

• Restored to Olympus• Married Aphrodite• God of the forge and

its fire• Assisted by the three

Cyclopes• Created masterpieces



HEPHAESTUS, APHRODITE, AND ARES

• Ares and Aphrodite had an affair• Hephaestus ensnared the lovers in a magical net• He summoned other gods to witness the scene



A Digression: Life of Myth

Tintoretto

Vulcan surprises Venus and Mars

(Old Pinakotheka, Munic)

Tintoretto (1518-1594)

• True name: Jacopo Robusti

• Lived in Venice• Studied with Titian • Wore a beard

Aphrodite’s Progeny

• BY ARES: Anteros, Deimos, Phobos, Harmonia, (? +) Priapos, (?+ Eros)

• BY HERMES: Eros, Hermaphroditus• BY ANCHISES: Aeneas• BY ADONIS: ancestor figures of several

tribes

GANYMEDES

• Zeus kidnapped GANYMEDES

• G. became cupbearer to the gods



9 MUSES: DAUGHTERS OF ZEUS AND MNEMOSYNE

MNEMOSYNE= “Memory”MUSES: Reminders: Goddesses of the arts.• They live

- either in Pieria in northern Thessaly and are called the PIERIDES- or near the fountain Hippocrene on Mt. Helicon in Boeotia



The domains of the Muses• CALLIOPE: epic poetry • CLIO: history, lyre playing • ERATO: love poetry• EUTERPE: lyric poetry, flute

playing • MELPOMENE: tragedy and

lyre playing • POLYHYMNIA: sacred music• TERPSICHORE: choral

dancing• THALIA: comedy • URANIA: astronomy



Poseidon and Sea Deities

• POSEIDON: anthropomorphic god of the sea• AMPHITRITE: Nereid, wife of Poseidon• PONTUS: “open sea” produced by Gaia• OCEANUS: the stream of Ocean• TRITON: son of Poseidon and Amphitrite• NEREUS: Old Man of the Sea 1• PROTEUS: Old Man of the Sea 2

TRITON• Human above the waist, fish-shaped below• Often blew on a conch shell and thus he was

known as the trumpeter of the sea.



PROTEUS

• Pre-Olympian deity who became an attendant or son of Poseidon and Amphitrite

• Old man of the sea who could foretell the future and could also change his shape at will (shape-shifter)

NEREUS

• Old man of the sea

• Could foretell the future and change his shape

• Son of Pontus and Gaia

• Fathered fifty daughters called NEREIDS

• Among them THETIS, GALATEA, and AMPHITRITE



PELEUS AND THETIS

• Thetis was destined to bear a son mightier than his father, and so the gods (specifically Zeus) avoided her

• A man named Peleus become her husband

• The wedding of Peleus and Thetis was famous (Eris and the apple… “to the fairest”)

• They became the parents of Achilles



SCYLLA

• Poseidon made advances to SCYLLA

• Amphitrite threw magic herbs into Scylla's bathing place

• Scylla turned into a vicious monster, encircled with a ring of dog's heads.



SCYLLA and CHARYBDIS



CHARYBDIS

• Daughter of Poseidon and Gaia

• Drew in mountains of water and spewed them out again.

ATHENA GODDESS OF WISDOM, WAR, AND WEAVING



ATHENAHer mother is Metis (“cunning”)

Born from the head of Zeus, her father



APPEARANCE OF ATHENA

• Often accompanied by an owl or a snake

• Helmet, spear, and shield or aegis with a depiction of the head of Medusa

• NIKE [nee'kay]= ”Victory"

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THE CONTEST BETWEEN ATHENA AND POSEIDON

• Object: Control of Athens and Attica

• Poseidon produces a salt spring or a horse

• Athena creates an olive tree and is proclaimed the victor



THE PANATHENAEA OR PANATHENAIC FESTIVAL

• Annual festival celebrating the birthday of Athena

• Sacrifices and games• Panathenaic amphoras • Embroidered robe

(peplos)



THE PARTHENON AND ITS SCULPTURE

• PARTHENON the great temple to Athena Parthenos on the Acropolis of Athens

• Athena Parthenos: monumental statue of Athena

• PALLAS ATHENA TRITOGENEIA

• Linked with Triton, a river-god

• PALLAS





ATHENA AND ARACHNE

• ARACHNE challenged Athena to a weaving contest

• Athena lost and turned her rival into a spider



Aphrodite and ErosTHE DUALITY OF

APHRODITE (VENUS): • Aphrodite Urania:

HEAVENLY, or CELESTIAL, APHRODITE of philosophy and religion.

• Aphrodite Pandemos: "Aphrodite of the People" or "Common Aphrodite," the goddess of sex and the procreation of children, whose concerns are of the body and not of the mind, the spirit, or the soul.



ATTENDANTS OF APHRODITE

CHARITES: the Three Graces• feminine personifications

of charm and loveliness.

HORAE (2 - 4): Hours or Seasons

• Daughters of Zeus and Themis

• Represent the attractive attributes of the various times/seasons of the year





PRIAPUS

• Son of Aphrodite, personifies the elemental, sexual side of his mother's nature



PYGMALION

• Pygmalion falls in love with his own creation, a sculpture of a woman named Galatea

• Aphrodite gives live to the statue



APHRODITE AND ADONIS

• Aphrodite’s love for Adonis

• Adonis’s death • PERSEPHONE also falls

in love with in Adonis • They have to share:

Adonis will spend one part of the year below with Persephone and one part in the upper world with Aphrodite



APHRODITE AND ANCHISES

• Aphrodite seduces the Trojan Anchises by tricking him into believing that she was a mortal

• AENEAS, son of Aphrodite and Anchises, becomes the great hero of the Romans



EROS

• EROS 1 came out of Chaos before the birth of Aphrodite.

• EROS 2 the son of Aphrodite and Ares



ANTHROPOMORPHIC: The nature of the Olympian Gods

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