1. Part 1: Places and How the Earth Began
Greek Mythology
Part 1:
Places and How the Earth Began

2. Places
Mt.
Olympus
The Underworld
Earth
The Ocean
The River Styx

3. Mt. Olympus
Olympus was where the gods lived. Zeus married his sister and together they ruled Olympus. There really is a Mt. Olympus and since it was so high up the Ancient Greeks decided it was the realm of the gods. Humans and other creatures could only visit Olympus if they had an invitation.

4. Earth
Earth is where the humans lived. Sometimes gods visited Earth, and often fell in love with one of Earth’s inhabitants. Sometimes they would have children who would be half human/half god. Many strange and dangerous creatures roamed Earth and heroes had to slaughter them.

5. The Underworld
The underworld was a place inside the earth that was made up of three places; Tartarus, The Asphodel Fields, and The Elsyian Fields. The underworld was ruled by Hades, a.k.a. Pluto. Hades was Zeus’s brother.
The Asphodel
Fields
The Elsyian
Fields
Tartarus

6. The Ocean
The Ocean surrounded the Earth. The Ocean was ruled by Poseidon and his wife, Amphitrite, who was a sea-nymph. Poseidon controlled the wind and the waves. Sailors often made sacrifices to him so they would have smooth sailing.

7. The Styx
The River Styx was the way to get to the underworld. To get across you must pay Charon, the boatman. The cost was one obol, a Greek coin. After you paid him he would take you across.

8. The Asphodel Fields
Normal commoners went to the Asphodel Fields. This was a gray, shadowy, misty, and ghostly place. Here their souls wandered around like shadows.

9. Tartarus
Tartarus is where the worst humans and gods went. They suffered horrendous punishments such as eternal hunger and thirst, being tied to a wheel of fire, being hit with thunderbolts, climbing a mountain endlessly, and shameful donkey’s ears. These people had to suffer for eternity.

10. The Elysian Fields
Heroic, kind, and noble people went to the Elysian Fields. Here they rested and enjoyed lives of luxury and bliss. You could be sent to Earth to live another life after you died. If you went to the Elysian Field three times you could go to the Isles of the Blessed and never leave.

11. How the Earth Began
Mother Earth and her child, Uranus, had children. Rain fell from the sky, so the plants and animals appeared on Earth. Then, monsters came. Uranus banished these monsters to the Underworld.

12. PART TWO: THE GODS

13. WHO CAME FIRST? The gods were not the first rulers of the universe.
Legends say that the Titans ruled the universe first.
Cronus, the top titan, used to eat his children for fear of losing power.
Zeus managed to keep from being eaten and killed Cronus, thus beginning the reign of the gods.

14. King of the gods.
Very promiscuous
Weakness: girls, girls, girls!
God of mankind.

15. HERA
Queen and mother of the gods.
Zeus’s sister.
Goddess of marriage.

16. ARES
God of war
God of storms
Loved war and massacre

17. Aphrodite Goddess of love and beauty. Born from the foam in water.
Pictured as the most beautiful being in the universe.

18. HADES God of the underworld. Zeus’s brother
Ruler of the myriad rivers (river of lamentation, river of hate, etc.)

19. Persephone Happy and kind Kidnapped by Hades to be his queen
Goddess of the underworld
Must return to the underworld during wintertime because she ate the seed of a pomegranate.

20. POSEIDEN
God of the seas.
Zeus’s brother.
Controlled earthquakes.

21. APOLLO God of light and prophecy. Twin brother of Artemis.
Mother was Leto.

22. ATHENA Goddess of war and wisdom. (civilized war)
Athens was named after her.
Born from Zeus’s head.

23. PART THREE: STYLE OF LITERATURE

24. PART THREE: STYLE OF LITERATURE
EPIC POEMS: Long, narrative poems that tell the story of heroes who embody the values of their society.

25. PART THREE: CHARACTERISTICS OF EPICS
Physically impressive hero of national importance.
Huge setting involving much of the known world, and possibly the land of the dead.
A quest taken in search of something of value.
Evidence of supernatural forces (the gods) at work.
Glorification of the hero at the end (he wins, always!!!)

26. PART THREE: CHARACTERISTICS OF EPICS
Literary devices – lots of metaphors and similes, alliteration, personification and hyperbole.
Stories were meant to be told – have a song-like rhythm.
Lots of repetition of words and symbols.
HOMERIC SIMILES – Compare epic, heroic events to everyday things – usually an extended comparison.
Images of nature and the gods throughout.

27. PART THREE: STYLE OF LITERATURE
MYTH: Story that uses fantasy to express ideas about life that cannot be expressed in realistic terms.
Myths focus on the relationship between humans and the unknown or spiritual realm.

28. PART THREE: STYLE OF LITERATURE
ALTER EGO: When a god acts for or against the hero BUT reflects his best or worst qualities.
In The Odyssey, it is Poseidon for Odysseus.

29. PART FOUR: THE ODYSSEY

30. PART FOUR: THE ODYSSEY Background:
The Trojan War has been over for ten years.
Odysseus is being held on an island by Calypso.
Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, is at home in Ithaca, in Greece, trying to fend off men who want to marry his mother, and rob him of his inheritance.
Oddyseus is searching for balance, for inner peace.