Chapter Three, Lecture One

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Chapter Three, Lecture One

• The Development of Classical Myth

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The Development of Classical Myth

• Features of Greek myth appear in primordial past.
• How did myth begin and develop in the historical
  periods?
• Where do we look for evidence of their earliest
  origins, and how do we assess it?

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The Beginnings of Greek Myth

• Neolithic fertility idols found throughout
  southeast Europe and Near East.
• Fertility Idols from Thessaly
• Cycladic Idols

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The Beginnings of Greek Myth

• Potnia Theron
• Is she Artemis?
• Artemis as the Potnia Theron on the François Vase

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The Beginnings of Greek Myth

• Indo-European myths
• Linguistic analysis
• Zeus and Jupiter lt Dy
• The Indo-Europeans worshipped a sky god?
• Comparative Analysis
• twin
• good versus evil?
• social dichotomy?

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The Beginnings of Greek Myth

• Writing as a method of transmission
• Linear B tablets
• Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Artemis, Hermes,
  Enyalius, Paean, Eileithyia, Dionysus, Potnia.
• Myths mostly transmitted orally by aoidoi

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The Beginnings of Greek Myth

• Songs performed for entertainment by bards
• Homers Demodocus
• Dactylic hexameter
• Rhythmic patterns and stock phrases

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The Influence of Near Eastern Myth

• Non-Indo-European Mesopotamian sources of Greek
  myth
• Mesopotamia Map
• Greek myths of cosmic origins come from Near
  Eastern sources
• Mesopotamian myths known only by report until
  recently
• Cuneiform script decoded in the 19th century

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Sumerian Myth

• Sumerians the earliest people in Mesopotamia
  (4000 B.C.)
• First full-fledged cities
• Each city had protective deity
• Lived on the ziggurat

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Sumerian Myth

• Myths preserved on tablets and seals
• cuneiform (wedge shaped)
• Seal Impressions
• Gilgamesh/Enkidu cylinder seal

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Sumerian Myth
An Sky God Supreme
Inanna Queen of Heaven Sex and War
Enlil Lord of the Storm Tablets of Destiny
Enki Lord of Earth Sweet Ground Water Trickster God
Ki One of Many Names for Mother Earth
Ereshkigal Queen of the Underworld
Utu Sun God
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Sumerian Myths

• Deities are anthropomorphic but indistinct
• Hard to tell often whos been represented
• Filled with human emotions and motivations
• Important in the Epic of Gilgamesh

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Semitic Myth

• Semites
• Modern term lt Biblical Schem
• Arrive in Mesopotamia in 2000 BC
• Designates linguistic group
• Sargon the Akkadian (2340 BC)
• Adopted Sumerian culture

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Semitic Myth
Sumerian Akkadian/Bablyonian
An Anu
Inanna Isthar
Enlil Enlil or Marduk
Enki Ea
Ki -----
Ereshkigal -----
Utu Shamash
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Semitic Myth

• Hammurabi (1750 BC)
• Semitic Babylonians
• Empire in Mesopotamia
• The Ennuma Elish
• When on high . . .
• Creation account
• Cult hymn

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Semitic Myth

• Hebrews
• Abraham (2000 BC?)
• Migrated to Canaan and then to Egypt
• Moses (1200 BC)
• Monotheism (from Egyptian period of Akhenaten
  1400 BC?)
• Yahweh
• The Exodus and Ten Commandments

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Semitic Myth

• Invasion of Canaan
• Battles with the Canaanites and the Philistines
• Kingdom of David and Solomon (1000 BC)
• Babylonian Exile (586536)
• Nebuchadnezzar
• Collected their written and oral traditions
• Completed around AD 90

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Semitic Myth

• Wrote with the Phoenician alphabet
• syllabary of twenty-two signs without vowel signs
• Easier than cuneiform but still difficult
• Hence the prestige of readers (the rabbi)
• Adapted into Arabic script and ultimately into
  the Greek alphabet

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Other Sources

• Hittites (16001200 BC)
• Central modern-day Turkey
• Non-Semitic
• Inherited and modified Babylonian myths
• Egypt
• Had few myths
• Mostly proverbs, hymns, and clever short stories
• Connected narratives come from Greek sources
  (Osiris and Isis)

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