Why do we study mythology?

1
Mythology

• Why do we study mythology?

2
Mythology

• It is used constantly in the arts (My Fair Lady,
  songs)
• Space projects (Apollo, Titan, Atlas)
• and advertising (Herculon rubber, Mercury
  automobiles)

3
Mythology

• As you continue to study literature, you will
  find numerous allusions to mythological
  characters. Shakespeare often uses allusions to
  mythology

4
Mythology

• Is there only one version of each myth?

5
Mythology

• Frequently there are many versions of a myth or
  legend
• Myths came down to us orally. Often a story would
  travel from region to region, changing a bit as
  it was told and re-told.
• Writers can often have different versions of the
  same story
• It is impossible to achieve uniformity

6
Mythology

• What is the basic function of a myth?

7
Mythology

• Traditional stories about gods, kings, and
  heroes.
• Often tells of creation of world
• Often tells of future destruction
• Tell how gods created men
• Depict the relationships between various gods and
  between gods and men

8
Mythology

• They provide a moral code by which to live
• They tell about the lives of heroes who represent
  the ideals of a society
• Remember Often myths are accepted as literal
  truth. This is because they are presented as
  engaging fiction rather than fact.

9
Mythology

• Forget for a moment that the myths of other
  cultures are considerably more bizarre and
  savage. It seems incredible to us, conditioned as
  we are by materialism and scientific rationality,
  that the ancient Greeks for the most part could
  take seriously a philandering deity like Zeus, an
  incredible hero like Hercules, or a monster like
  the Medusa.

10
Mythology

• But they could.and did!

11
Mythology

• Remember that myths represented their collective
  wisdom and understanding of what the universe
  was. They couldnt put a shape to the things that
  happened in their world from a scientific
  viewpoint, like the one we have today.

12
Mythology

• So they simply explained it the best way they
  knew how. They invented stories and characters to
  explain the inexplicable.

13
Mythology

• How are the gods depicted?

14
Mythology

• The gods are (for the most part) always depicted
  in human form with beautiful, powerful bodies.
  They were quite pleasing to the eye. This mirrors
  the Greeks admiration of strength, beauty, and
  intelligence. To them, man was the measure of all
  things

15
Mythology

• How about heroes?

16
Mythology

• Greek mythology has a wealth of heroes due to the
  Greek urge for fame. The heroes tend to be
  adventurers and fighters - bold, experienced,
  fierce, strong and often clever. Their feats were
  far above those of ordinary humanity.

17
Mythology

• However, they also had serious failings that
  sometimes ruined them flaws such as pride,
  rashness, cruelty and too much ambition.
• They provided standards for Greek youths to live
  by, however.
• In the end, the Greeks achieved the permanent
  fame they sought so avidly

18
Mythology

• Their mythology has been a mainstay of Western
  art and literature for well over two thousand
  years.

19
The Creation

• In the beginning...

20
The Creation

• There was Chaos

21
The Creation
Chaos
Uranus (heavens)
Gaea (earth)
22
The Creation
Gaea Uranus
Titans
Beautiful Children
Monsters
23
The Monsters

• The Greeks believed gigantic creatures once
  roamed the Earth just like we believe there were
  dinosaurs. The Greeks pictured these creatures to
  be gigantic, monstrous men (remember they relate
  things to themselves, even monsters).

24
Monsters

• Three of the monsters were called Cyclopes.
• Three others were called Hecatoncheires who had
  fifty heads and a hundred arms apiece

25
The beautiful children

• The beautiful Titans were also large, but more
  human-like. These Titans ruled the earth. The
  leader was named Cronus.
• He married his sister, Rhea.
• Cronus killed his father, Uranus, to avenge his
  mother Gaea. But before Uranus dies he promises
  that Cronus will suffer the same fate.

26
Cronus and Rhea

• Cronus takes over and sends the monsters down to
  the underworld to live.
• He and Rhea have children, but he cannot allow
  them to live because he is afraid that Uranus
  prophecy will take the shape of one of his own
  children killing him. So to avoid this fate he
  swallows them as they are born.

27
YUCK !!!
28
Cronus and Rhea

• Rhea gets angry and decides to save the last
  baby, Zeus.
• She wraps a stone and gives it to Cronus to
  swallow (dummy).
• Zeus grows up on the island of Crete.
• Some versions say Zeus slits Cronus open and
  releases his brothers and sister. Other versions
  say he slips his father a potion that makes him
  vomit them up.

29
The Olmpians

• The Titans, with the exception of Prometheus and
  Epimetheus (his stupid brother), did not like the
  upstart young gods. They started a war with them
  for power that raged for ten years. Finally, to
  get an edge, Zeus went down to the Underworld and
  released the Cyclopes and other monsters.

30
The Olympians

• In thanks, they gave him the thunderbolt

31
The Olympians

• The monsters threw boulders at the Titans.
  Finally the Titans were defeated.
• Zeus imprisoned them in the Underworld again and
  condemned Atlas, who began the rebellion, to hold
  the world upon his shoulders forever