1. Introduction & Chapter 1 “The Gods”

2. Introduction The first written record of Greece is the Iliad.
Greek mythology begins with Homer and is generally believed to be around 1000 BC.
The “Greek miracle” expresses the new birth of the world with the “awakening of Greece.” This refers to a revolution in though that humanized the world and man became the center of the universe and the most important entity in it.
The idea that the gods were in the image of man was revolutionary at the time.

3. Introduction
The ancients were rational, orderly, and logical. There was no place for anything other. The gods were considered part of reality and the ancient Greeks were preoccupied with the visible.
Greek gods were human. They ate and had fun; loved, became jealous and angry, etc.
Magic was almost non-existent during classical mythology.
The early Greeks transformed a world of fear into a world full of beauty.

4. Greek Authors Homer: Hesiod: Pindar: Aeschylus: Iliad and the Odyssey
Works and Days, Theogeny
Pindar:
Wrote Odes written in honor of victors in games, mythological allusions
Aeschylus:
Persians

5. Zeus Roman name: Jupiter
Realm: King of gods, god of thunder and lightning
Symbols: eagle, oak tree, lightning bolt
Married to Hera; had many affairs and many children, some of whom were gods and goddesses because as the Greeks conquered territories, they took on the new goddesses and “married” them to Zeus
The spiritual father of gods and men

6. Hera Roman name: Juno Realm: goddess of marriage Symbols: peacock, cow
Married to Zeus
Jealous of Zeus’s affairs
Because of this, asked a 100-eyed giant to watch him. When Hermes put the giant to sleep, she turned him into a peacock, an animal with eyes on its tail feathers.

7. Hestia Roman name: Vesta
Realm: goddess of hearth and home; protector of the sacred fire
Symbol: torch, a distaff (hand-held loom)
Zeus’s sister
Six priestesses called Vestal virgins attended her temple and protected the fire; shrines were built to her by the fireplace in homes
Today the word vestal means “pure” or “virginal”

8. Poseidon Roman name: Neptune Realm: god of the sea and earthquakes
Symbol: trident
Zeus’s brother
Controlled earthquakes, hurricanes, rough seas, tidal waves
Gave the horse to mankind

9. Hades Rarely visited Earth Roman name: Pluto
Also called Dis, the rich one (because he owned all the minerals in the earth)
Realm: god of the Underworld
Symbol: Cerberus, cypress, bident
Rarely visited Earth
Not friendly, but not evil either

10. The Underworld
Hades and his queen, Persephone, are the only rulers of the underworld-a place simple referred to as Hades.
Hades is divided into sections, Tartarus and Erebus, Hades has five famous rivers: Acheron, the river of woe; Cocytus, the river of lamentation; Phigethon, the river of fire; Styx, the river of the gods’ unbreakable oath; and Lethe, the river of forgetfulness.

11. The Underworld Cont… The Guardian to Hades: The Boatman: The Furies
A three-headed dog, Cerberus
The Boatman:
Charon ferries the dead from Erebus across the junction of the Acheron and the Cocytus to the gates of Tartarus, where they are judged by three former kings: Rhadamanthus, Minos, & Aeacus
The wicked are sentenced to eternal torment, while the good are admitted to the Elysian Fields, a place of perfect bliss.
The Furies
Sleep and Death

12. Ares Roman name: Mars Realm: god of war
Symbols: dogs of war; vulture, weapons
Son of Zeus and Hera
Very unpopular
No myths written about Ares

13. Artemis Roman name: Diana
Realm: goddess of the moon, the hunt, and (sometimes) witchcraft
Symbols: crescent moon, bow and arrow, short hunting robes
Apollo’s twin sister
Avoided men
She turned Acteon, a hunter, into a stag (deer) and set his own dogs on him because he watched her bathe.

14. Aphrodite Roman name: Venus Realm: goddess of love, beauty, sexuality
Symbols: shell, mirror, dove, swan
Born of the foam when Cronus’ genitals hit the ocean
Married to Hephaestus
Son was Eros (Cupid)

15. Hephaestus Roman name: Vulcan
Realm: god of the forge; made Zeus’s lightning bolts and the armor for war
Symbols; the forge
Son of Zeus and Hera
Zeus threw him out of heaven for siding with his mother (Hera)
Husband of Aphrodite, who was constantly unfaithful to him

16. Demeter Roman name: Ceres Realm: goddess of agriculture
Symbols: sheaves of wheat
Zeus’s sister, mother of Persephone
Persephone was kidnapped by Hades. Demeter created eternal winter on earth until Zeus agreed to bring her back. She had eaten 6 pomegranate seeds and so had to remain in the underworld for 6 months of the year.

17. Athena Roman name: Minerva Also called Pallas Athena
Realm: goddess of defensive warfare, wisdom, handicrafts
Symbols: armor, owl, olive tree
Emerged from Zeus’s head fully grown
City of Athens named for her after she gave them the olive tree
Also created the spider

18. Apollo Roman name: Apollo
Realm: god of light (the sun), music, shepherds
Symbols: bow and arrow, the sun chariot, the lyre (small harp)
Some myths say he drove the sun chariot, others give this job to Helios
His son Phaeton tried to drive it and burned part of the earth
Always shown in pictures as being young, beardless, and handsome

19. Hermes Roman name: Mercury
Realm: messenger of gods; god of commerce, thieves, science (sometimes medicine)
Symbols: winged helmet or sandals, caduceus (medical staff with 2 snakes)
Created the lyre, which he gave to Apollo when Apollo caught him stealing his cows

20. Dionysus Roman name: Bacchus Realm: god of wine, revelry, drama,
Symbol: grapes
Brought pleasure and insanity (from wine)
Followed by the Maenads, crazed women who tore people apart, the satyrs, centaurs, and nymphs
First plays were presented during the festivals of Dionysus
Popular “party animal”
Not typically considered an “Olympian” god

21. The Lesser Gods on Mount Olympus
Eros, god of Love
The Graces, bestow charm, grace and beauty
The Muses, goddesses of the arts and sciences
Hebe, goddess of Youth
Iris, goddess of the Rainbow
Themis, Divine Justice
Dike, Human Justice
Nemesis, Righteous Anger
Aidos, the sense of respect and shame that keeps human from sinning

22. The Lesser Gods of the Sea
Nereids, sea nymphs
Naiads, freshwater nymphs
Triton, the trumpeter of the sea
Proteus, Poseidon’s son or attendant (able to change shapes).
There is a different god for every river, and the Titan Ocean-lord of the mysterious river that encircles the earth-lives along with several other minor water gods.

23. Other characters in Mythology
the muses
Nine goddesses in charge of different sciences and arts including music, poetry, history, astronomy, dance, etc.
Daughters of Zeus
They were meant to inspire

24. The Lesser Gods of Earth
Pan and Silenus are mischievous and jovial earth gods.
Pan rules over the Satyrs, a race of goat men, and dances with the Dryads, the forest nymphs, and the Oreads, the mountain nymphs.
Castor and Pollux, sometimes spoken as gods. The twins represent the ideal of brotherly devotion.
Aeolus, King of the Winds

25. The Lesser Beings of Earth
Centaurs-half-men, half-horses, one whom is Chiron, an important tutor to many heroes.
The Gorgons
The Fates, who are assigned neither a place in heaven nor earth, spin measure and cut the threads of men’s lives. The Fates are not subject to the decrees of any of the gods, not even Zeus himself.

26. The fates daughters of Zeus
Three blind sisters who determined people’s lifespan
One spun the thread of life (Clotho)
One measured the thread (Atropos)
One cut the thread with scissors of death (Lachesis)

27. Mythology in nature and science
Many of our planets (and many moons) are named after Roman gods
Mercury- messenger god
Mars- god of war
Venus- goddess of love
Jupiter- king of the gods
Saturn- god of agriculture
Neptune- god of the seas
Uranus- ancient Greek deity of the heavens
Pluto- god of the underworld