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Home , Gorgon, Kourotrophos, Medusa, Perseus

10/24/2011

L16: Myth, Religion and the Afterlife

HIST 225 Fall 2011

Introduction to Heroic Myth

• Humans are the protagonists, not gods • Narrative about events in the human, not divine, past • “” – : noble-born male who’s alive – Arcahic/Classical: noble figure from the distant past.

Origins of Greek Heroes

• Divine birth and miraculous birth and childhood • Great strength (power) is a benefit and menace • taboo • fights off temptation (female)

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The Motif

• Given a task to prove his worth • Help from gods • Return home and is domesticated – from wild to civilized (boy to man) • Rewarded for his efforts – political authority • Great funeral

Legend of

Danaë and the Shower of Gold Titian 1570

Perseus’ Birth

Danae’s father locked her in an underground tomb to keep her from having children, since a prophecy had said his grandson would kill him. But entered in a shower of gold and impregnated her. She kept Perseus’ birth a secret until the sound of his playing gave them away.

Her father locked them in a box and set them afloat. They were found by a fisherman, (“Net”) on the island of Seriphos. The king, , fell in love with Danae when Perseus was a young man.

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The Quest

Polydectes wanted to get Perseus out of the way. Once he invited Perseus to a feast, the price for admission was to bring the king a horse. Perseus said he could just as easily bring him the ’s head (meaning he was way too poor). Polydectes said “Do it, then,” and sent him on the quest.

Both and took pity on Perseus. They told him how to proceed, bringing him to the , old women who shared only one eye and one tooth among them. Perseus maneuvered them into helping him. They gave him a , winged sandals, and a bag.

The Three Gorgons lived on an island way out in the ocean. There are different versions of their nature: •They were beautiful maidens •They were hideous figures with for hair But sources agree that •The Gorgons were dangerous, flying women • was loved by •Medusa was the only one who was vulnerable •One look at Medusa would turn the looker into stone

Perseus received a scimitar from Hermes, and Athena advised him to polish up his shield.

The Quest

All of Perseus’ gifts came in handy. • He flew there and away with the winged sandals • He looked in the polished shield so as not to be turned into stone while he cut off the Gorgon’s head with the scimitar • He popped the head right into the magic bag • and he got away with it because he was invisible.

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Pegasus

As Medusa died, her two sons by Poseidon sprang out: • (golden-sword), later father of , and •, the winged horse From the drops of the gorgon’s blood as Perseus flew across Libya came all the poisonous snakes of the world.

Andromeda

On his way back, Persus stopped to save the maiden , who was tied to a rock, waiting to be eaten by a sea . He killed the and rescued the maiden, who became his wife. When he returned home, he found that Polydectes was trying to force himself on Danae. He revealed the Gorgon’s head, turning the evil king and his supporters to stone.

The Central Role of Religion

• Calling upon the divine was central to EVERY SINGLE endeavor undertook by Athens • meetings war • literary work • personal venture • oration • Athenian ekklesia opened with a purificatory sacrifice of a pig

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Statements of Alliance

362/1 Athenian vow of alliance with the Arcadians and other Peloponnesian states promised: • Zeus Olympios, Athena Polias, , Kore, the Twelve Gods and the Furies • “make a sacrifice and a procession if the results of the alliance were as they wished.”

Sanctuaries, Festivals and Sacrifices

• In the month of Boedriomion, at the Proerosia: for Zeus Polieus a choice sheep, a choice young pig to be totally burnt, the priest provide the meal for one attending; for Kephalos a choice sheep, for the Heroines of Thorikos a table, for Poseidon at Sounion a choice lamb, for Painted wooden plaque, c. 540 BCE a choice he-goat, for found in a cave in Pitsa, near Corinth. Kourotrophos a choice pig, for National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Demeter a pig, for Zeus Hereios a perfect victim, …

Offerings to the Sanctuary of Olympia

• Greek temples became repositories of wealth • focal point of a particular cult • sculptures, votive offering, pottery, bronze, gold and silver objects • temple inventories late 7th century BCE survive Corinthian letters – objects do not family name of the Kypselids

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http://www.trentu.ca/faculty/rfitzsimons/AHC L2200Y/LE%2011-01.htm

The

The Twelve Olympians

- a family of gods and goddesses - lived on - each ruled a different area of life or nature - anthropomorphic - had human forms and human characteristics - theoi = shining

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Zeus- Ruler of all gods and Humanity

Ruled the Olympians.

. god of the sky, lightning and thunder carrying a thunderbolt as his symbol . married , his sister, which was a family habit. . He fathered many children with various goddesses and mortals.

Artemesion Zeus, Bronze found in northern Euboea. Athenian 460 BC.

Hera- Goddess of Marriage & Childbirth • wife of Zeus • protector of marriage and home • associated with the peacock, because of her great beauty. • She and Zeus were always quarreling. • called the queen of intriguers, a vindictive and jealous wife, who frequently tricked her husband, Zeus.

Hera Campana. Marble, Roman copy of Hellenistic original, 2nd C. CE

Apollo- Sun God; God of Music & Poetry • twin brother of and the most handsome of the gods. • god of the healing arts and of medicine. • drove his chariot across the sky to pull the sun each day. • His son, , drives Apollo’s sun chariot with Piraeus Apollo, Bronze (530-20 BCE) disastrous results. Archaeological Museum of Piraeus (Athens). This archaic-style bronze among one of the very few Archaic bronzes survived

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Artemis- Goddess of Hunting & Wilderness • twin sister of Apollo • huntress who always carried a silver bow and arrows • ruled over the untamed places of the earth.

Hero Cults

• Herakles • son of Zeus and the immortal • prodigious strength • patron deity of the E 701 Main panel: and Kerberos gymnasium Musée du Louvre • 12 labors

Cult of

Model of the Asclepian temple at Epidaurus

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Sanctuary of Asclepius at Corinth

Inscriptions at Epidaurus

• Aristagora of Troezen. She had a tapeworm in her belly, and she slept in the Temple of Asclepius at Troezen and saw a dream. It seemed to her that the sons of the god..cut off her head, but being unable to put it back again, they sent a messenger to Asclepius, asking him to come.

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Cures at Epidauros

• Asclepius won greater .15 preferment, to raise the “Hermodikos of dead and heal the sick; Lampsakos was paralyzed. and for these things When he slept in the being a god he has temple the god healed everlasting fame among him and ordered him to men. bring to the temple as • -Xenophon, Kynegetikos large of a stone as he 1.6 could. The man brought the stone which now stands before the Abaton”

The Afterlife

• no centralized religious authority existed • varied positions on the afterlife • Homer says that can be approached by land and sea. • Hades = “that which is unseen” – brother of Zeus and Poseidon • “Spirits of the dead dwell; the phantoms of men who are worn out.” – shades of the departed

The Perpetually Damned

• Deep in the bowels of Hades is a windy region called Tartaros Tantalos- condemned for cannibalism to stand in a pool of water with fruit trees overhead – dying of thirst and hunger – waters recede and trees snap back their limbs

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Charon the Ferryman

• had to pay boatman to cross the River • obol in the mouth of the deceased • three-headed dog named • 3 Furies from blood drops that avenge crimes against the family

The Hope of Something Better

• Those who ran Hades were inoffensive • By the 6th century BCE a new idea that if you lived a good life, things would be easier • Pythagoras, mathematician and philosopher – self discipline and no eating meat • idea of the soul (nous) lived on past the death of the body

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