YEAR 12 CLASSICAL STUDIES

mythology

schoolhistory.co.nz

What is a myth?

•Muthos means ‘utterance’ or something which is told.•Often includes legends – which are based in fact•Edges often blurred•Many myths contain elements of folk tales

• Some myths are strongly religious• Passed on through the generations• Explain the origins of the world• Explain natural phenomena - day/night,

seasons, storms etc• May explain or support existing customs or

rituals: birth, marriage, status of women, crop fertility etc

• Reflect human dreams and wishes e.g do tales of heroes reflect men’s desire to be

superhuman?

Where do myths come from?

• Usually found in most cultures• From a time before writing generally used• A time of genuine belief in the gods• A time lacking in scientific explanation• A time when people believed all events had a

divine origin• Verbal communication allowed myths to

change

Greek Myths

• Earliest reference from Homer and Hesiod in the eighth century BC

• Originated between 2000-1000BC

Ancient Greece

Asia Minor

Peloponnese

Attica and Boetia

Thessaly and Macedonia

Crete

Important places

• Coast of Asia Minor to the right• Cycladic Islands• Crete• Mainland Greece: Peloponnese (south) Attica and Boetia (central) Thessaly and Macedonia

Background to Greece

Stone Age Aegean pre 3000BC

• Similar types of people in these areas• Possibly from modern Iraq• Farming and domesticated animals• Worshipped fertility spirits – mainly female• Placated male spirits - destructive

Early Bronze Age 3000-2000BC

• Bronze used over whole area• Civilization flourished• Worship of fertility goddesses

(Mother/Earth)• 2000BC upheaval on Asia mainland caused

people to arrive• These people brought wheel pottery

• Greek mainland invaded by several waves of less cultured people from the north

• They were warlike• Patriarchal• Worshipped mainly male deities who lived

on mountain tops and ruled the skies• Homer called them Achaeans• They looted and killed and eventually settled

Middle Bronze Age 2000-1450BC

• Crete appears to have escaped the invaders and their civilisation continued uninterrupted

• Around 2000BC it had a surge in trade and wealth

• Largest palace was Knossos• May have had a powerful fleet• It is called Minoan Civilisation after King Minos

Minoan CivilizationMinoan Civilization

Crete: Minoan Civilization

(Palace at Knossos)

Crete: Minoan Civilization

(Palace at Knossos)

• Minoans worshipped a mother goddess• The bull was an important symbol• Crete was the most advanced civilisation in

the area• Minoans may have demanded ‘tribute’ from

other areas

Knossos: Minoan Civilization

Knossos: Minoan Civilization

Achaeans

• They lived on mainland Greece• Main centre was Mycenae• This civilisation was called Mycenaeans• Each state had a fort and a warrior king• Endemic fighting• Because of trade with Crete Mycenaeans

began to worship earth goddess as well as sky god

• Eventually civilisation on Crete collapsed• May be linked to Thera – volcano• Mycenaeans took opportunity to seize

control of Crete around 1450BC• They burned and looted and by 1380BC the

Palace of Knossos was destroyed

Late Bronze Age 1450-1100BC

• Mycenaeans now dominated in the Mediterranean

• Peaked around 1300BC• Had unstable parasitic nobility who survived

by seizing the wealth of others in war• Describing a Greek hero as a ‘sacker of cities’

(Homer) was a compliment

The Mycenaean Civilization

The Mycenaean Civilization

Troy

• May have been a battle to eliminate trade competition or to get scarce metals

• Troy fell 1250BC• Within a century all major sites on the

mainland Greece fell• Except Athens

Plan of the City of Troy

Plan of the City of Troy

Homer: The “Heroic Age”

Homer: The “Heroic Age”

Original Wall of the City of Troy

Original Wall of the City of Troy

The Mask of AgamemnonThe Mask of Agamemnon

The Dark Ages 1100-800 BC

• General destruction had occurred which was disastrous for the Greek world

• Loss of centralised control led to lawlessness, population decline, simpler life ensued

Homer, the Blind Poet

Homer, the Blind Poet

Homer’s Great EpicsHomer’s Great Epics

Homer’s View of the World

Homer’s View of the World

The Dorians

• The Dorians took advantage and moved south down through the Greek peninsula and settled in the Peloponnese and Crete

• Many Greeks moved to the coast of Asia Minor to escape

• The Dorians were even less ‘civilised’ and set progress back even further

Creation of Mythology

• At this time the art of writing was lost and oral tradition flourished

• Storytellers knitted together tales from a wide area

• In later Classical times Sparta and Athens changed details of myths to suit themselves

The Rise of the Greek Polis

The Rise of the Greek Polis

AthensAthens

NaxosNaxos CorinthCorinth

SyracuseSyracuse

LarissaLarissa

EboeaEboea

ATHENS: Yesterday & Today

ATHENS: Yesterday & Today

Archaic Period and Classical Age

• Between the end of the Dark Ages and the Persian Invasion which led to the Classical Age

• The Classical Age ends with the death of Alexander in 323BC

• Rome then dominated the Mediterranean area

Great Athenian PhilosophersGreat Athenian Philosophers$ Socrates

Know thyself!

question everything

only the pursuit of goodnessbrings happiness.

$ Plato The Academy

The world of the FORMS

The Republic philosopher-king

Great Athenian Philosophers

Great Athenian Philosophers$ Aristotle

The Lyceum

“Golden Mean” [everything inmoderation].

Logic.

Scientific method.

Athens: The Arts & Sciences

Athens: The Arts & Sciences$ DRAMA (tragedians):

Aeschylus

Sophocles

Euripides

$ THE SCIENCES: Pythagoras

Democritus all matter made up of small atoms.

Hippocrates “Father of Medicine”

Phidias’ AcropolisPhidias’ Acropolis

The Acropolis TodayThe Acropolis Today

The ParthenonThe Parthenon

The AgoraThe Agora

The Classical Greek “Ideal”

The Classical Greek “Ideal”

OlympiaOlympia