The Greek and Roman GodsThe Greek and Roman Gods

The Origins of the GodsThe top 12 of Olympus

Hamilton’s Introduction to Hamilton’s Introduction to MythologyMythologyBefore the Greeks, mankind was afraid of

the unknown and used sacrifice as a way to appease angry spirits or predators.

The “Greek miracle”: the Greeks eventually evolve past the idea of human sacrifice to a more enlightened people; gods were used to explain the unknown

Myth was used not only as entertainment but also early science.

Hamilton’s Introduction to Hamilton’s Introduction to Mythology.Mythology.Unlike previous deities, Greek Gods

were made in man’s image to show how humans became the center of the universe.

Because they looked like humans, gods showed the perfection of the human form and emphasized the ideal of beauty, strength, wisdom, etc.

This also gave the gods flaws, making them more relatable.

How do the following pictures How do the following pictures support what Edith Hamilton says support what Edith Hamilton says in the second paragraph on page in the second paragraph on page 5?5?

Egyptian Gods RaGreek Gods Artemis

Creation of the WorldCreation of the World

From nothing, there came Chaos

Night and Erebus were born of Chaos

Love was born of ErebusLight and Day were born of Love

The Birth of the First CreaturesThe Birth of the First Creatures

Ouranos (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth)parent the first creatures

1. Three monsters with 100 hands, 50 heads2. Three Cyclopes (one-eyed giants)3. Titans (as powerful as brothers, but not purely destructive *****Gaia = geo (prefix meaning earth)

titanic = enormous, strong, powerful

The TitansThe TitansCronus (Saturn): most powerful,

father of ZeusOcean: river encircling the earthHyperion: father of sun, moon, and

dawnMnemosyne: memoryThemis: justiceAtlasPrometheus Brothers, who togetherEpimetheus caused the fall of man

*****mnemonic = intended to assist the memory

Daddy IssuesDaddy IssuesOuranos was a terrible father:

hating his 100-handed sons, he locked them in the earth

Gaia begged her son Cronus to help

Cronus overthrew Ouranos and wounded him

From his blood, Giants & Furies are bornCronus is lord of the universe for

untold agesHe never actually frees his brothers (you know, the reason he was supposed to fight dad in the first place)

War: Gods v TitansWar: Gods v TitansAnd More Daddy IssuesAnd More Daddy Issues

Cronus & sister-queen Rhea have 6 children

Hades, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, Hestia, Zeus

Prophecy: one of Cronus’s children will overthrow him

Cronus swallows all his babies wholeRhea is not pleased

Secretly sends 6th baby (Zeus) to CreteGives hubby a rock wrapped in a blanket, which he swallowsZeus grows up, makes dad throw up his siblings, and war is on

Taking SidesTaking SidesTitans, obviously, side with Cronus and fight Zeus and his siblings

War almost wrecks the universeTitans lose for 2 reasons

Zeus frees the 100-handed monsters, who naturally fight on his sideTitan Prometheus fights for Zeus

Crime and PunishmentCrime and PunishmentZeus punishes the Titans in a big way

Most are bound in chains under the earthAtlas is forced to carry the earth on his back/shoulders

*****atlas: a book of maps

Zeus (Jupiter)Zeus (Jupiter)Lord of the sky, rain god, cloud

gathererGrand but flawed

◦Deceivable◦Has a serious weakness for females◦Fate is stronger than he is

Breastplate: AegisWeapon: thunderboltBird: eagleOracle: Dodona (priests interpret his will through the rustling of oak leaves)

Hera (Juno)Hera (Juno)Wife and sister of ZeusProtector of marriageONLY in the tale of the Golden

Fleece, she protects and inspires heroes

Venerated in every home◦ Daughter Ilithyia helps women in

childbirthJealous, spiteful, vindictive

◦ Constantly tortures her husband’s lovers

Animals: cow, peacockCity: Argos

Poseidon (Neptune)Poseidon (Neptune)Ruler of the seaSecond only to ZeusWife is Amphitrite, a Nereid,

granddaughter of OceanUndersea palace is splendid, but he hangs out on Olympusmost of the timeStorm and calm are under his controlDrives golden car over watersGave man the first horseCalled Earth-shakerCarries a trident

Hades (Pluto)Hades (Pluto)Ruler of the underworld and

the dead◦He is NOT death: Death is Thanatos

God of wealth & precious metals under the earth

Has a helmet that makes the wearer invisible

Not popular on OlympusUnpitying, inexorable, but justWife is Persephone, daughter

of his sister Demeter

Pallas Athena (Minerva)Pallas Athena (Minerva) Daughter of Zeus alone: sprang from his head in full

armor Zeus’s favorite child: trusted to carry his Aegis and

thunderbolt Goddess of the city

◦ Protector of civilized life, handicrafts, agriculture◦ Inventor of bridle◦ Gave man the olive tree

In the Iliad ONLY, she is a fierce battle goddess

The leader of the 3 virgin goddesses In Greek poetry she embodies 3 virtues

◦ Wisdom◦ Reason◦ purity

City: Athens Bird: Owl Tree: olive

Phoebus ApolloPhoebus Apollo Son of Zeus and Leto The most Greek of all the gods Beautiful Master musician Archer god Teaches men the art of healing God of Light God of Truth: never speaks falsely His oracle at Delphi is the most important

oracle◦ Its center is the stone Cronus swallowed instead of Zeus

Associated with the sun◦ He is NOT the sun god: the sun god is Helios

Dual nature◦ Sometimes beneficent, a peace-maker, communicator of divine will◦ Sometimes cruel and pitiless

Tree: laurel Animals: many, but especially the dolphin and crow

Artemis (Diana)Artemis (Diana) Apollo’s twin, daughter of Zeus

and Leto One of the 3 virgin goddesses Lady of the wild things, huntsman

for the gods

Protects the young Carries silver arrows Dual nature

◦ Protects young, helps women with swift, painless death

◦ Fierce and vindictive Associated with the moon

◦ She is NOT the mood goddess: the moon goddess is Selene

Tree: cypress Animals: all wild animals, but

especially the deer

Aphrodite (Venus)Aphrodite (Venus) Goddess of love and beauty Laughter-loving Beguiling: steals the wits of the wise Laughs at those she conquers Parentage is questionable

◦ In the Iliad: daughter of Zeus and Dione◦ In later poems: sprang from the foam of

the sea, landed on Cyprus Dual nature

◦ Beautiful, brings light, joy, loveliness◦ Treacherous and malicious

Wife of Hephaestus, the only ugly god Tree: myrtle Birds: dove, sparrow, swan (drives a

chariot pulled by swans)

*****aphrodisiac = something that arouses desire venereal = pertaining to sexual desire

Hermes (Mercury)Hermes (Mercury)

Son of Zeus and Maia (daughter of Atlas) Zeus’s messenger

◦ Graceful and swift◦ Wings on sandals, hat, & wand (the Caduceus)

Most cunning of gods: master thief◦ The day he was born, he stole Apollo’s herds◦ Won Apollo’s forgiveness by giving him his invention: the

lyre God of commerce and the market Guide of the dead Appears more often in myths than any other god

*****mercurial = quick-witted, lively, changeable hermaphrodite = has reproductive organs of both sexes (comes from a myth about Hermes’s child with Aphrodite)

Ares (Mars)Ares (Mars) Son of Zeus & Hera: they can’t stand him God of war

◦ Hateful and ruthless◦ Homer calls him murderous and bloodstained◦ Innately a coward, runs away when wounded

Attendants◦ Eris: goddess of discord◦ Strife: Eris’s sister◦ Enyo: war goddess, who hangs with Terror,

Trembling, and Panic Romans liked Mars better than Greeks did

Ares Figures very little in myth Lover of Aphrodite No cities where he is worshipped Bird: vulture Animal: dog

*****martial: warlike (i.e. martial law or martial arts)

Hephaestus Hephaestus (Vulcan or Mulciber)(Vulcan or Mulciber)

Questionable parentage◦ Sometimes son of Zeus and Hera◦ Sometimes just Hera’s son (like Athena is just his)

God of fire The only ugly god, and has a limp to boot

◦ Some myths say Hera saw he was ugly & threw◦ him off Olympus◦ Others say he defended Hera against Zeus, so ◦ Zeus threw him

Workman of the immortals◦ Makes their dwellings, armor, furnishings, weapons◦ Has handmaidens he made out of gold◦ His workshop can be found under this or that volcano

Wife◦ Iliad: one of the three Graces◦ Odyssey: Aphrodite

Kindly, peace-loving, popular with mortals Patron of handicrafts, as is Athena*****volcano

Hestia (Vesta)Hestia (Vesta)Sister of ZeusOne of the 3 virgin goddessesGoddess of the hearth and home◦Mortal meals begin & end w/ offering

to her◦Each city had a public hearth in her

honor◦Newborns must be carried around

hearth to be received into the familyIn Rome, her priestesses are

virgins, called VestalsNo distinct personality, plays

no part in myths*****vestal = virginal

Lesser Gods of OlympusLesser Gods of Olympus

Eros (Cupid)Eros (Cupid)God of love, his home is in men’s heartsRepresented blindfoldedSaid to be Aphrodite’s sonDual nature

◦ Cannot do or allow wrong; force can’t come near him

◦ In later myths, mischievous or even evilAttendants

◦ Anteros: avenges slighted love◦ Himeros: longing◦ Hymen: god of wedding feast

*****erotic = arousing desire cupidity = greed

Hebe and IrisHebe and Iris

Hebe IrisGoddess of youthDaughter of Zeus and

HeraCupbearer to the godsMarries Hercules

Goddess of the rainbow

Messenger of the gods

The GracesThe GracesDaughters of Zeus and Eurynome

(daughter of Ocean)Not separate personalities, except in

one myth, in which Aglaia marries Hephaestus

Triple incarnation of grace and beauty◦ Aglaia: splendor◦ Euphrosyne: mirth◦ Thalia: good cheer

Dance to music of Apollo’s lyre

No party is complete without them

The MusesThe MusesDaughters of Zeus

& MnemosyneTake away men’s

unhappy thoughtsCompanions of

ApolloCan make lies

sound trueInspirers of menThere are 9

Clio: historyUrania: astronomyMelpomene:

tragedyThalia: comedyTerpsichore: danceCalliope: epic

poetryErato: love poetryPolyhymnia: songs

to godsEuterpe: lyric poetry

*****hymn = song to god

Zeus’s Cabinet on OlympusZeus’s Cabinet on Olympus

Themis: divine justiceDike: human justiceNemesis: righteous angerAidos: reverence (the shame

that keeps men in line

*****nemesis = an opponent or rival that cannot be overcome; an agent or act of retribution

Gods of the WatersGods of the WatersPoseidonOceanPontus: deep seaNereus: son of Pontus;

old man of the sea, has 50 daughters called Nereids

Triton: trumpeter of the sea (uses conch shell)

Proteus: shapeshifter, sees the future

Naiads: water nymphs (freshwater)Nereids: water nymphs (saltwater)

Two Great Two Great Gods of EarthGods of Earth

Demeter and Dionysus

Demeter (Ceres)Demeter (Ceres) Goddess of the harvest Mother of Persephone Lost her daughter

◦ Persephone wandered too far, enticed by a flower◦ Hades dragged her through a chasm to the underworld

Demeter left Olympus to search for Persephone Neglected the earth, harvests suffered

◦ Zeus is alerted by suffering humanity, sends Hermes for Persephone◦ Persephone ate pomegranate seeds in the underworld: if you eat

anything down there, you can’t leave Compromise

◦ Persephone must live with Hades in underworld for 4 months per year◦ When Persephone is gone, Demeter mourns, fields are barren =

winter◦ On Persephone’s return, life returns = spring◦ Persephone is the goddess of the spring

*****cereal

Dionysus (Bacchus)Dionysus (Bacchus) Son of Zeus and Semele

◦ Hera, jealous, tricks Semele: make Zeus promise (by the Styx) to show himself in all his glory

◦ Semele is killed by the burning light of his glory◦ Zeus snatches the child, near birth, to store in his

thigh God of the vine: born of fire, nursed by rain

◦ He is a new god, arriving much later than all the other gods, established by Zeus, his father, as a god to be worshipped

◦ wanders the earth, teaching the culture of the vine◦ Worshipped everywhere but his country◦ He is the god of resurrection, dying, like the vine,

each year, to be resurrected later

Dionysus (cont’d)Dionysus (cont’d) Followers are Maenads, or Bacchantes

◦ Women frenzied with wine rush across fields & woods in ecstasy, tear wild creatures & devour

◦ Dionysus feeds them and helps them sleep it off

◦ Their beauty is counteracted by their bloody feasts Some refuse to believe

◦ Lycurgus, king of Thrace, is struck blind by Zeus

◦ Pentheus, king of Thebes & Dionysus’s cousin, is ripped to pieces by Maenads that include his own mother

Dual nature

◦ Beneficent and kind

◦ Cruel, driving men to terrible deeds

*****bacchanal = an occasion of drunken revelry

Lesser Gods of EarthLesser Gods of Earth Pan

◦ Son of Hermes◦ God of goat herders, home is in wild places◦ Frolics with nymphs◦ Sounds heard at night are credited to him: panic

Silenus◦ Worships Dionysus◦ Always drunk, rides an ass because he can’t stand up

Castor and Pollux◦ Twins, one is mortal, the other is immortal◦ Couldn’t bear to be parted by death, so Pollux shares his

immortality w/ Castor Satyrs: half man, half goat Centaurs: half man, half horse Oreads: mountain nymphs Dryads: tree nymphs

Lesser Gods of Earth (cont.)Lesser Gods of Earth (cont.) Aeolus: god of the winds, father of the 4 winds

◦ Boreas (Aquilo): north◦ Zephyr (Favonius): west◦ Notus (Auster): south◦ Eurus: east

Gorgons◦ 3 earth-dwellers◦ Monsters: dragon-like, snakes for hair, look turns a man to stone

Graiae◦ 3 gray sisters to the Gorgons◦ Share one eye

Sirens◦ Their song lures sailors to death, but is irresistible◦ No one knows what they look like

Fates◦ 3 females, stronger than the gods, who give men their inherent

good or evil at birth◦ Clotho: spins thread of life◦ Lachesis: assigns destiny◦ Atropos: carries shears to cut the thread of life*****zephyr = gentle breeze

The Creation of ManThe Creation of Man2 Titans who sided with Zeus are

responsible for creating man◦Epimetheus

Name means “afterthought” Scatterbrained Gave best gifts to animals before making

man, leaving man with nothing◦Prometheus

Name means “forethought” Thought of a way to give man superiority Fashioned man into a nobler shape: upright Lit a torch from the sun and gave man fire to

protect him

The Fall of ManThe Fall of Man Only men exist at first Zeus becomes angry with Prometheus and with

man◦ Prometheus helps man trick Zeus◦ 2 sacks from a slaughtered ox: one has bones,

covered with juicy fat, the other has the edible meat, covered with entrails

◦ Zeus chooses the pretty fat to be sacrificed to him and later learns he got the raw end of that deal

Man’s punishment is woman◦ Zeus creates Pandora◦ Gods gift her with every lovely quality (Pandora =

“gift of all”◦ Zeus gives Pandora to Epimetheus as wife (he

accepts, in spite of Prometheus’s warning not to accept gifts from Zeus)

The Fall of Man (cont’d)The Fall of Man (cont’d)◦ Pandora is also given a box, with a warning

never to open it◦ Of course, she opens it, and plagues, sorrow, &

mischief fly out◦ Only hope is left in the box

Prometheus’s punishment is more gruesome◦ Chained to a mountaintop◦ Each day, an eagle tears out his liver◦ The liver always grows back overnight, so the

process can repeat itself.Did you know? The liver is the only organ that regenerates itself.

The DelugeThe DelugeMen are so wicked, Zeus sends a flood to

destroy themOnly Mt. Parnassus is not quite covered.9 days, 9 nights of rain2 people are saved

◦ Deucalion (Prometheus’s son) & Pyrrha (Epimetheus’s daughter)

◦ Prometheus advises them to hide in a wooden chest

◦ They are faithful to Zeus and allowed to liveRepopulating the earth

◦ A voice tells Deucalion to throw the bones of his mother behind him

◦ Earth is mother, stones are her bones◦ The stones take human shape.

Mythological LocalesMythological Locales

The UnderworldThe UnderworldRulers: Hades and PersephoneLocation

◦ Beneath secret places of earth (Iliad)◦ Over edge of world, across ocean (Odyssey)◦ Various entrances in caverns & deep lakes

(later poetry)Rivers separating underworld from earth

◦ Acheron: woe◦ Phlegethon: fire◦ Cocytus: lamentation◦ Lethe: forgetfulness◦ Styx: the unbreakable

oath

Divisions of the Underworld◦ Tartarus

Prison of sons of earth Deepest region Wrongdoers are punished here

◦ Erebus: where the dead pass & are judged when they die

◦ Elysian Fields: place of blessedness, where the good go

Important Figures◦ Cerberus: 3-headed dog guards entrance (you can

come in, but you can’t leave)◦ Judges: Minos, Aeacus, Rhadamanthus◦ Erinyes (Furies)

Greeks believed they pursued sinners on earth Romans placed them in underworld, punishing dead

sinners◦ Sleep and Death: brothers, send dreams from

underworld through 2 gates Horn: true dreams Ivory: false dreams

Some Suffering Sinners in Some Suffering Sinners in the Underworldthe Underworld

Ixion: insulted Hera, so was bound to a spinning, flaming wheel for eternity Sisyphus: betrayed a secret of Zeus, so now he spends eternity pushing a

boulder up a hill, only to have it roll down before he can get to the very top The Danaids: 49 sisters who murdered their grooms and now have to fill

barrels that are full of holes (spoiler: it always drains out) Tantalus: he’s the worst! He served his own children to gods for dinner. His

punishment? He stands waist-deep in a pool of clear, fresh water, under a tree full of juicy ripe fruit. He is super thirsty and super hungry, but when he reaches for fruit, the branches pull back, and when he tries to drink, the water recedes. So he’s surrounded by food and water and can have none.

*****tantalize: to dangle the bait, always just out of reach!