Myths of Creation Hesiod, Theogony

Kyme to Boeotia

Biography Dates: c. 750- c. 650 BCE His father: His brother Perses: Could predate Homer (M.L. West) His father: From Kyme, (coast of Asia Minor) Merchant seaman Immigrated to Askra, near Mt. Helikon in Boeotia His brother Perses: Quarreled with Hesiod over the patrimony This may be a literary convention Hesiod: Claims he was a shepherd Claims he was inspired by the Muses Won a prize at Chalkis in Euboea for performing his poem

Writings Theogony: Works and Days: A type of creation myth Works and Days: Didactic work on different aspects of Archaic life Both are poems in dactylic hexameter Produced at the moment when writing reappears The mindset, analogues, and sources are Eastern They belong to the Orientalizing period

Eastern Creation Myths Enuma Elish – Babylonian creation myth Written in Akkadian c. 1000 Is actually Sumerian and goes back much earlier Myth of Kumarbi (succession myth) Hittite from 1200 Origin is Hurrian (2nd millennium) Theogony is the Hellenized version of these myths

Theogony Digressive Unifying Theme Divisions Groups of divinities are alike Divinities have children like themselves Divinities living in the same place are alike Groups of monsters, personified characters, elements

General Characteristics Outlook more “primitive” than Homer Primacy of material universe Gods are secondary Heaven vs Tartaros in equal struggle Respect for Order; Fear of reversion to Chaos Society of Gods: Divided powers Hereditary monarchy Man is subject to: Material universe Will of the Gods Forces of Tartaros Justice of Zeus: Man will be punished for transgressing it

Structure 1-115: Invocation of the Muses 116-153: First Beings: Chaos, Gaia / Ge (Earth), Eros Progeny of Chaos: Erebos, Night (and offspring) Progeny of Gaia: Ouranos (Heaven): begins lineage of Zeus Birth of Mountains Pontos, Okeanos Titans – Kronos is the last one Cyclopes: Hecatonchires (100-handed monsters): Kottos, Briareos, Gyges 154-210: Castration of Ouranos by Kronos Erinyes, Giants, Meliae Birth of Aphrodite 211-413: More progeny, especially monsters 413-452: Hymn to Hekate

Structure, cont. 453-506: First Olympian generation Overthrow of Kronos From here on, the poem is dominated by Zeus 506-616: Zeus’s first challenger Prometheus 617-819: Titanomachy Description of Tartaros 820-868: Zeus’s battle with Typhoeus 868-1020: Progeny of Zeus, Olympians, immortals Genealogies of heroes

Structure Four divine generations Gaia, Ouranos, Kronos, Zeus Other primary and secondary branches Transition to anthropomorphic gods, made in man’s image Anthropomorphic gods of cult: Zeus, Apollo, Hera, Artemis, Titans Teratomorphic creatures: Echidna, Chimaira, etc. Elements of nature: Sky, Sea, Night, Mountains Personified Powers: Death, Sleep, Strife, Victory

Structure The movement of the poem: From Physical to Anthropomorphic From Earth to Sky From Female to Male From Chaos to Order From Lawlessness to Justice From Savagery to Civilization

Ge, Poseidon, Polybotes Attic red-figure cup by Aristophanes, 410-400 BCE. Berlin, Antikenmuseen

Birth of Aphrodite: the Ludovisi Throne c. 470. Museo Nazionale, Roma

Selene visits Endymion Sarcophagus of Parian Marble, c. 20 CE, from Roman Gaul. Paris, Musée du Louvre.

Oidipous and the Sphinx Attic red-figure kylix, 470. Gregorian Etruscan Museum, the Vatican

Gorgon Temple of Artemis at Corfu, W. Pediment, 600-580 BCE.

Hypnos, Thanatos, Hermes, Sarpedon Attic Red-figure Calyx-Krater, by Euphronios, 515. NY, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Herakles and Kerberus Attic Bilingual Amphora, 520-510. Musée du Louvre, Paris

Herakles and Iolaos fight the Hydra Attic Red-figure vase, 500-450 BCE. Palermo, Regional Archaeological Museum

Pegasos, Bellerophon, Khimaira Laconian Black-figure kylix, 570-565 BCE. Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum

Sources Hesiod, Theogony; Works and Days, trans. M. L. West Oswyn Murray, Early Greece T. H. Carpenter, Art and Myth in Ancient Greece Walter Burkert, Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual Jean-Pierre Vernant, The Origins of Greek Thought M. L. West, The West Face of Helicon Z. Philip Ambrose, Classics, UVM. “Ambrose Collection.” Alan Segal, Religion, Columbia Univ. Image of Teshub