For Each of These Very Powerful Goddesses You Need
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Mon April 16 Aprodite/Venus; Artemis/Diana; Athena/Minerva Ch. 9, pp. 200-229 For each of these very powerful goddesses you need to know -parents and birth story -offspring, if any -attributes, spheres of influence, iconography (visual features of how they typically are represented) -those who are most affected by their powers Aphrodite/Venus Powell pp.200-216; also Perspective 9.2 (between pp.218 and 219) BIrth: Two versions of Aphrodite's birth < overthrow of Uranus Powell p.84-5 Anadyomene ('coming up from the sea') < Zeus + Dione Powell p.134, 145 Aphrodite < ‘aphros’ ‘Foam’ (‘foam born’) comes to land on Cyprus (or Cythera) pp.201-2 mythology shows origins in lands east of Greece humans impacted by power of Aphrodite Aphrodite and love poetry: Sappho from Lesbos Aphrodite’s bird-drawn chariot p.202 'whom do I persuade to return again to your love? Who, O Sappho, brings you harm? If she runs, soon she will pursue' Pygmalion (story set on Cyprus) p.204-5 man sculpts ideal statue > transformed by Aphrodite/Venus into woman 'the figure was of a maiden so real you might think it alive' 'I beg that my wife may be --... someone just like my ivory statue' 'as she felt his kisses the maiden blushed' spouse and partners: spouse: Hephaestus (Vulcan) catches her with Ares p. 196-99 'Your husband? He's gone off... Aphrodite agreed ... Up the pair went to slumber together. Down came the chain, tightly embracing the two, as wily Hephaestus had planned it' p. 197 'the slow outrunning the swift? Why not, if limping Hephaestus can catch swift-footed Ares?' p. 198 other partners: 1. Aphrodite + Ares (Roman Mars) -> Eros Eros = Roman Cupid (vs. earlier story of primeval Eros Powell p. 79) wings, bow and arrow (arrows shot by Eros made Apollo feel love for Daphne and Daphne reject Apollo) 2. Aphrodite + Hermes -> Hermaphroditus p.203 nymph Salmacis catches him in water, bodies fuse (he's too vulnerable to passion??) -> hermaphrodite= having characteristics of both male and female 3. Aphrodite + Hermes (or in other versions, Dionysus) -> Priapus: garden scarecrow, guardian, fertility god 4. Aphrodite + Adonis p.207, Perspective 9.2 (father Cinyras + daughter Myrrha -> birth of Adonis and transformation of Myrrha into the Myrrh tree) youth beloved by Aphrodite (when scratched by Eros’ arrow) hunting accident, perpetual lament, women’s cult 'the animal buried his tusks in Adonis' groin' -> he becomes a flower. 5. Aphrodite + Anchises -> Aeneas, who will be the founder of Rome (to be discussed in more detail in the second half of the course) 'I greet you lady, whatever goddess you are' 'I am no more than woman' 'if you are hear by the will of Hermes' 'they lay down on the couch, solidly built and uncreaking' p. 213 'have pity, abandon me not, unmanned, among men' p. 214 Artemis (Diana) pp.216-222 birth: Zeus + Leto -> birth of Apollo and Artemis on Delos Later associations (p.159, Apollo chapter): Artemis/Diana and the moon (Phoebe) Apollo and the Sun (Phoebus) 'the huntress, delighter in arrows' 'the hilltops are shaken by terror, the dark of the woods resounds with the terrified screaming of beasts' 'returns to the palace of Phoebus Apollo her brother in the fertile country of Delphi, to join with the Muses and Graces in treading the maze of the dance.' p. 216 attributes, spheres of influence and iconography 'potnia theron' Greek for 'mistress of the animals' p. 216 Artemis of Ephesus: early role as mother goddess: involved in risks and dangers of animal and human reproduction Artemis as Virgin: (later) main virgin goddess sexual abstinence (asks permission for this from Zeus) opposite to Aphrodite Artemis as Hunter: bow & arrows, hitched-up dress, close contact with wild animals Those impacted by Artemis' power: • Women risking death in childbirth ‘The arrows of Artemis ’ p.218 • Niobe pp.218-19 not humble enough about her success in childbirth -> deaths of her children 'had seen her children butchered before her' • she has born only two, but I have born a great many' Actaeon in Ovid’s Metamorphoses sees Artemis/Diana bathing naked metamorphosis into stag: the hunter hunted pp.219-222 'now you can boast you have gazed on Diana naked of clothing' 'his body she veiled to the view with a velvet deerskin' 'the pack, all eager to join in the kill, pursued its terrified master' p. 221-2 Athena (Minerva) p.222-228 Birth Zeus + Metis ('cleverness') -> Athena born from head of Zeus p.94 attributes, spheres of influence and iconography pp.224-5 Virginity linked to her asexual birth; she is forever loyal only to Zeus military tactics (vs Ares, violence of military power) wears armor and helmet, carries spear and shield wisdom, technologies of weaving, sailing Names for Athena Pallas Athena p.224 Those impacted by the power of Athena citizens of Athens Contest with Poseidon to be patron of Athens p.150 Athena and Athens: mistress of the city p.222 The Parthenon (Gk.: house of the Virgin’) p.223 Athena Parthenos = (Gk.) ‘Virgin’, in the sense of 'ready to marry and give birth to the next generation of citizens') Athenian attributes: Owl; Olive tree p.223 Arachne Athena (Minerva) and Arachne pp.226-8 divine cruelty, punishment of human arrogance and impiety (told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses) Arachne > spider (= Gk. ‘arachnes’) 'not Pallas herself could find errors in the weaving' p. 227 '... all the rest became belly from which she turns out the thread for her old occupation -- a spider' p. 228 Sample questions 1. The twin divinities are: a) Artemis and Apollo b) Attis and Cybele c) Zeus and Hera d) Paris and Helen 2. Niobe became: a) a weeping rock b) a babbling brook c) golden rain d) a laurel tree 3. Which of the following was NOT a virgin goddess? a) Artemis b) Athena c) Hera d) Hestia 4. What is the literal meaning of the epithet ‘Parthenos’? a) Virginal maiden b) arrow-carrying c) self-born d) war-bringing 5. Which god is called Cynthia? a) Athena b) Artemis c) Aphrodite d) Hestia 6. 'I sing the praises of _______________, lady of the golden-tipped arrows her of the loud-ringing cry, virgin whom all me revere, slayer of stags, the goddess whose greatest joy is hunting. 7. Whose name belongs in the blank? a) Gaia b) Athena c) Demeter d) Artemis e) Rhea 8. Who was not a victim of Artemis? a) Callisto b) Actaeon c) Niobe d) Orion e) Hippolytus 9. 'Now you can boast you have gazed on Diana naked of clothing! Go right ahead -- that is, if you are still able to boast!" ... From his forehead antlers erupted, the horns of a terrified stag, just where the water had spattered. She forced his neck to grow long and crowned it with pointed ears. She turned his hands into hooves and traded his forearms for forelegs.' Whose transformation is being described? a) Tantalus b) Lycaon c) Pentheus d) Actaeon e) Arcas 10. Which of the following is not among Athena's areas of responsibility? a) shipbuilding b) childbirth c) military strategy d) carpentry e) weaving 11. While on an archaeological dig in Greece you discover a statue depicting a beautiful clothed woman carrying a spear and wearing a helmet. You immediately recognize that this is a statue of a) Aphrodite b) Artemis c) Hera d) Hestia e) Athena 12. "whom do I persuade to return again to your love? Who, O Sappho, brings you harm? If she runs, soon she will pursue." What god or goddess is speaking to Sappho in this poem? a) Cybele b) Isis c) Aphrodite d) Eos e) Athena 13. Diners at a dinner party discuss the nature of Eros in which ancient text? a) Plato’s Symposium b) The Homeric Hymn to Eros c) Homer’s Iliad d) Euripides’ Bacchae 14. Which of the following is NOT a part of the decorative program of the Parthenon? a) the birth of Athena b) Centauromachy c) the contest of Athena and Poseidon d) the hieros gamos 15. The decorative program of the Parthenon reflected which recent event in Athenian history? a) defeat of the Persians in the Persian War b) the first Olympic Games in 776 bCE c) the battle of Actium d) the Fall of Troy 31. In her contest with Poseidon at Athens, Athena brought forth from the earth: a) an olive tree b) a salt spring c) a river of wine d) a bushel of wheat 16. Which art was Arachne a master of? a) sculpture b) weaving c) painting d) dancing e) poetic composition 17. ...' have pity, abandon me not, unmanned, among men. For the mortal who mates with a goddess undying can never again be a man.' Who is afraid that he will never recover from sleeping with an immortal? a) Attis b) Anchises c) Adonis d) Arcas e) Hyacinthus 18. "Once they lay down on the couch, solidly built and uncreaking, the hero stripped from the goddess her pretty geegaws [= accessories] and brooches, necklace and earrings as well. Anchises then loosened ber belt and everything else and tossed them onto a chair made of silver. So this mortal lay down by the side of a goddess immortal, not by his own design, but by fate and divine intervention." What goddess is being described? a) Persephone b) Metis c) Mnemosyne d) Aphrodite e) MInerva .