1. 10/15 CREATION

2. THEMES The creation of opposites, parallels Mother-goddess connections Succession of ruling gods The sneaky/deceptive wife The young, rebellious son Similarities/differences with other creation stories (Christianity, Sumerian, Hittite, etc.)

3. HESIOD 700 BC, after Homer Historical figure? Farmer, shepherd Inspired to compose poetry by Muses on Mt. Helicon (Greece), won prize 2 works: Theogony, Works and Days Etiological myths Didactic literature WRITTEN IN METER

4. OVID 1st C BC-1st C AD Roman poet Metamorphoses = stories about transformations Exiled by Augustus Island of Sulmo Reasons unknown Affair with Augustus’ daughter (?)

5. CHAOS Hesiod’s Chaos: A gaping void, emptiness Ovid’s Chaos: mass of elements in strife with each other until some higher power creates order from it Gaia (Ge) Tartarus Eros (Desire) Erebus Night

6. CHARACTERISTICS OF GODS Anthropomorphic: A non-human object or concept that is given human qualities, appearances, abilities Example: The sea’s hands, the dog spoke Binatural: When a feature of the world, whether physical (the earth) or conceptual (love) is personified, the being that results is binatural- possessing two natures. Example: Gaia- physical earth and also a living, anthropomorphic female creature capable of thoughts, emotions, and sexual reproduction.

7. GAIA AND OURANOS Gaia: Early conception of agriculture Goddess of fertility Life springs forth from Gaia Ouranos: Early conception of weather God of the sky Ouranos’ rain = semen, seeds

8. HIEROS GAMOS Of the elements that Gaia, earth, produced on her own, most significant is Uranus, the male sky or heavens, with his lightning and thunder. The deification of the feminine, mother earth, and masculine, god of the sky, is basic to mythological and religious thinking. Their marriage is designated as a HOLY, or SACRED MARRIAGE, a translation of the Greek HIEROS GAMOS [hi'er-os ga'mos], which has become the technical term.

9. CHILDREN OF GAIA & OURANOS The holy marriage of sky and earth produced the following: The three CYCLOPES: each CYCLOPS, meaning “orb-eyed,” had only one eye in the middle of his forehead. The Cyclopes forged lightning and thunderbolts. The three HECATONCHIRES, “hundred-handed”: strong and monstrous creatures. The twelve TITANS: six brothers and six sisters who mate with each other.

10. CHILDREN OF THE TITANS Oceanus and the Oceanids Hyperion and Helius, Gods of the Sun Phaëthon, son of Helius “When the gods choose to punish us, they merely answer our prayers.” Oscar Wilde Selene, Goddess of the Moon Endymion Apollo, Sun-God and Artemis, Moon-Goddess (p. Zeus, but m. Leto) Eos (Aurora), Goddess of the Dawn

11. BIRTH OF VENUS Punishment of Uranus (castration) Gaia and Cronos The deceptive/tricky female and the young rebellious son Birth of Aphrodite (foam or “aphros”) Cytherea Cyprogenes Cyprian Philommedes A Second Hieros Gamos: Cronus and Rhea Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus

12. THE BIRTH OF VENUS Sandro Botticelli, Uffizi, Florence, Italy

13. CRONOS AND RHEA The Prophecy Children: Hestia: goddess of hearth Demeter: goddess of grain Hera: goddess of marriage, childbirth Hades: god of underworld Poseidon: god of sea Zeus: youngest, leader of Olympians Punishment of Cronos Deceptive wife/female