Chapter Three, Lecture One

The Development of Classical Myth

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?

The Beginnings of Greek Myth

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

The Beginnings of Greek Myth

• Potnia Thērōn

• Is she Artemis? – Artemis as the Potnia Thērōn on the François

Vase

The Beginnings of Greek Myth

• Indo-European myths

• Linguistic analysis– Zeus and Jupiter < Dy –– The Indo-Europeans worshipped a sky god?

• Comparative Analysis– “twin”– good versus evil? – social dichotomy?

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

The Beginnings of Greek Myth

• Songs performed for entertainment by bards– Homer’s Demodocus

• Dactylic hexameter

• Rhythmic patterns and stock phrases

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

Sumerian Myth

• Sumerians the earliest people in Mesopotamia (4000 B.C.)

• First full-fledged cities

• Each city had protective deity– “Lived” on the ziggurat

Sumerian Myth

• Myths preserved on tablets and seals– cuneiform (wedge shaped)

• Seal Impressions– Gilgamesh/Enkidu cylinder seal

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

Sumerian Myths

• Deities are anthropomorphic but indistinct– Hard to tell often who’s been represented

• Filled with human emotions and motivations

• Important in the Epic of Gilgamesh

Semitic Myth

• Semites– Modern term < Biblical “Schem”– Arrive in Mesopotamia in 2000 BC– Designates linguistic group

• Sargon the Akkadian (2340 BC)

• Adopted Sumerian culture

Semitic Myth

Sumerian Akkadian/Bablyonian

An Anu

Inanna Isthar

Enlil Enlil or Marduk

Enki Ea

Ki -----

Ereshkigal -----

Utu Shamash

Semitic Myth

• Hammurabi (1750 BC)– Semitic Babylonians– Empire in Mesopotamia

• The Ennuma Elish– “When on high . . .”– Creation account– Cult hymn

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

Semitic Myth

• Invasion of Canaan– Battles with the Canaanites and the Philistines

• Kingdom of David and Solomon (1000 BC)

• Babylonian Exile (586–536)– Nebuchadnezzar

• Collected their written and oral traditions

• Completed around AD 90

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

Other Sources

• Hittites (1600–1200 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)

Next Lecture: Greek Origins