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2014-08-07 21:32:32

Last author: windowframe
Owner: Aristotle

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Greek Mythology Classroom

Teacher: [windowframe]

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Brief Outline:

1. Introduction
3. Creation of the Universe

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Introduction:

Welcome to the Greek Mythology classroom, where you'll be able to find information on the Greek gods, heroes and tales. But first, a note - there's no student list for this classroom, I don't see the point - you are not obliged to study, I will set no "homework" and thus there is no need for me to keep track of who reads this page - dip in and enjoy when it suits you.

One important thing to bear in mind when dealing with myth of any kind is that it is not an exact science - the answer to 2 + 2 isn't always 4. Sometimes, it's not even a number. Every writer who took it upon themselves to write about the gods and heroes put their own spin on it. Hesiod's Theogony is not a definitive guide to the divine genealogy of the Greek pantheon, but just one version of it; Homer's is another. If someone else thinks that Poseidon is the father of Pegasus, and you believe otherwise, you need to bear in mind that in all probability, neither of you are wrong. You've just read different sources.

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Creation of the Universe

Before I commence this segment, I'd like to remind you of a thing mentioned earlier, namely the diversity and multitude of the Greek myth. This class is not to teach you Greek myths as stories. It is about the analysis of Greek myth - what ideas it is expressing, what purpose it served, etc. That means that we'll look at a myth in an ancient source, and then discuss the myth and possible interpretations of it - psychoanalytical, structuralist, etc. We will approach them from a variety of angles - as classicists, anthropologists, psychologists, theologists. Because of this I will expect you to do a lot of primary reading - me simply summing up a few versions of the fall of the titans just isn't going to give you enough information to analyse the texts, so instead, I shall provide links to online translations of the sources I want you to read. If you can afford to buy copies of these, that would be far better, since the translation will almost inevitably be better, but don't worry if you can't, the online translations are good enough for our current purposes.

Hesiod's Theogony at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Hesiod/theogony.html.

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Key Texts:

No study of Greek Mythology should be made just by reading secondary sources, If you're serious about learning you need to get out there and read what was being written about myths at the time, here are some texts that you will find useful if you care to read them:

Primary Sources:

Hesiod, Theogony
Homer, Iliad
Homer, Odyssey
Sophocles, Oedipus Rex
Sophocles, Antigone
Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes
Aeschylus, The Oresteia
Ovid*, Metamorphoses

*Ovid is, of course, a Roman author, but many of the myths he covers in the Metamorphoses are Greek in Origin. Sometimes, though we know previous accounts existed, we no longer have those earlier sources, so Ovid can be the only, or one of the only sources remaining for that myth.

Secondary Sources:
Alan Dundes, Sacred Narrative 1984 - a collection of essays by some of the most famous and revolutionary mythologists, including Bronislaw Malinowksi, C. G. Jung, and Claude Levi-Strauss. It focuses on more than Greek myth but as a general introduction to mythology - that is, how we study and interpret myth - it's very good.
Robert A. Segal, Myth: A Very Short Introduction 2004 - the 'Very Short Introduction' series are not to be sniffed at - they're written by academic experts in the field and despite it being a "very short" introduction it's packed with information summarising several different approaches to myth from a variety of perspectives, and details the ideas of the most important scholars in myth.
Roger D. Woodard (ed) The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology A collection of articles by the some of the current most distinguished scholars in the study of myth, covering a wide variety of topics including how myth interacted with other areas of Greek life such as politics, and modern reception of Greek myth.

Other Elftown pages with relevant information:
Pegasus

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Go or return to:
- Mythology
- Elftown Academy

Past teachers: [Aristotle]

2003-05-08 [windowframe]: well, if [aristotle] respecteths Aristotle, and [exies] respecteths Plato... then i pldege my allegience to Raphael. :)

2003-05-08 [Love Is Just A Catchphrase]: aristotle and i are friends....im just messing with him *laughs are herself* im in a good mood today!

2003-05-08 [windowframe]: mooski! i 4got, i already pledged my allegence to PIE... mmmm pie...

2003-05-08 [Aristotle]: I respect Plato, too. I just think he had his head in the clouds. And you'll have to try harder than that if you wanna piss me off, [exies]. I'm not that easily off-pissed. Mmmm, pie...

2003-05-09 [Love Is Just A Catchphrase]: pie is nasty....i wasnt trying to piss you off, i said you seemed pissed of.....and you actually think i DONT have my head in the clouds? im a teenage girl so of course my head is in the clouds too, but ill have to admit that aristotle, was the first greek philosopher i ever heard of....*tries to count how many years it has been* phew, that was long....

2003-05-12 [Aristotle]: Well, I've spent a lot of time trying to get my head out of the clouds, so I'll be damned if I get it in there again. By the way, I'm back in Sweden now, and I have my books here, so I'll be uploading the next lesson as soon as I'm off with this jetlag thing. Right now I can't write diddley doo doo, since my hands aren't even in the same time zone as my brain.

2003-05-12 [Love Is Just A Catchphrase]: lol......how come you arent ever on here when i am?

2003-05-13 [Aristotle]: When I was in the US, I was usually on when I'd finished classes, i.e. after lunch. Now I'm in Sweden, and there's a 7-hour time difference. Go figure.

2003-05-13 [Love Is Just A Catchphrase]: true, true......i hope we will still talk.......*smiles*

2003-07-03 [Adali]: I'm sorry to drag Sisyphus out again, but Tartarus is not where he's suffering. He's just in Hades' kingdom with the rest of them. Unless, of course, you really want to bring up Dante, but since I'm pretty sure he's Italian, and his whole inferno was a political commentary, I'd say we can safely ignore him. Tartarus is where the various and sundry gods/titans/other dudes are/were imprisoned. It's where Uranus tossed the Cycolpes and the Hundred-Armed guys after they were born because they were ugly. Nice dad

2003-07-04 [Aristotle]: Hmmm. [Sheona] claimed the opposite, if I remember correctly, and she's been reading a lot about it, too. then again, maybe she was referring to Dante's version, since she's an avid Latin student. And I'm terribly sorry that the next lesson is taking so long. I have half of it written. It'll be up soon. Promise.

2003-08-12 [Ajax Wolfblade]: Where are the Titans in all this? Shouldn't they have been there already?

2003-08-14 [Ajax Wolfblade]: My bad. The Titans are twelve of the offspring of Uranus and Gaia, including Cronos and some others, though the version of the myth on this page wouldn't agree with that. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that it is Uranus who is Gaia's husband and is detesticlized (sorry I couldn't resist that word)

2004-04-03 [BlacK_HearT]: Where/how do I sign up to be a student??

2004-04-04 [Aristotle]: Hmm, yeah, I recognize that... To be honest, there has probably been too long since I really read these things. And there's no point in becoming a student, because I never update. If someone would like to take over, I'd be happy to let it go. I don't have the energy to do all this.

2004-04-16 [BlacK_HearT]: i could give you some things. i love greek mythology, and i already know quite a bit about itttttttt, i just came here to see if anyone had learned a different version than me.

2004-04-17 [Aristotle]: Sure, just edit away. Put up a new lesson if you want to. I just can't make myself do it.

2004-04-17 [BlacK_HearT]: ok, i will touch up a bit, and then just add to your lesson. do you want me to just add some stuff that i think is cool, or do you have a specific order of things??

2004-04-19 [Aristotle]: I was thinking of writing a summary of the gods and goddesses of Olympus next, but any info is good. See how long you can do it before tiring of it :)

2004-04-19 [BlacK_HearT]: lol, i'll have to run to the library first and make sure my info is alright. it may take a few days. i mostly know about the Olympian gods. hey, do you think it would be good tojust put up a simple family tree?? I know it could get quite large, but I could just do a family tree, and give some short descriptions on the gods/goddesses. that would take care of your summary. what do you think?

2004-04-20 [Aristotle]: I tried to make a family tree of the Gods once. The thing is, there's so much incest among the gods, it turned out more like a family thornbush, and was almost incomprehensible. I guess it depends on how detailed you want to be, though...

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