Did the Greek believe their Myths?

But if oxen and horses and lions had handsAnd so could draw and make works of art like men,Horses would draw pictures of gods like horses,And oxen like oxen, and they would make their

bodies in accordance with the form that they themselves

severally possessXenophanes 15 (6th

Century)

Euhemerism

• Early rationalizing approach to myth

• Prominent in the Hellenistic Period

MyceneanBronze Age

DarkAge

Archaic Period

ClassicalPeriod

HellenisticPeriod

RomanPeriod

1550-1050 1050-750

750-479 479-323 323-31 31 BCE-5th c. CE

Euhemerized CreationOuranos

They tell this myth: Ouranos was the first to rule as king among them and gathered together the people, who lived scattered, into the compass of a city. He put an end to his subjects' lawlessness and their brutish existence by discovering the cultivation and storage of domesticated crops, as well as many other useful things. He gained possession of most of the inhabited world, particularly the districts to the west and north…After he left the world of the living, they imparted divine honors to him on account of his good services and his astronomical expertise. They also transferred his name to the heavens, partly because he seemed to have been familiar with the risings and settings of the stars and the other events in the heavens, and partly because they wished to outdo his good services by the magnitude of their honors and by proclaiming him the king of the universe for all time.

(Diodorus 3.56)

Euhemerized Titans

• Titans were born from a woman named Titaia

• They made important discoveries that made them famous

– Cronos introduced justice– Prometheus invented fire-sticks

Euhemerized Olympians

• Children of Titans– Poseidon (god of the sea) discovered

sailing– Demeter (goddess of crops) was first

person to ever gather grain– Zeus a well regarded law-giver and

punisher of evil people (who came to be known as the monsters that Zeus fought)

Euhemerism as Myth Theory

• Disbelief in reality of the accounts

• Attempt to devise realistic theory of how myths (which are false) come to exist.– (but the proposed explanations are not

really very realistic either)

Response 1

• Consider the allegorizing myth analysis that you read about in Graf and in your reader.- How does knowing a Euhemerized version of a myth, in addition to the traditional version, enhance our understanding of ancient Greek culture- Can you think of any modern examples of Euhermerism in our cultures?

Aphrodite and Eros

Aphrodite

• Goddess of Sexual Attraction

• Birth Story Disputed

• Name understood to mean “Born of Foam”

• Married to Hephaistos

Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli (1485-86)

Birth of Aphrodite (Homer)

And now he would have dragged him away and earned endless glory if Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, had not noticed

(Il. 3.373-75)

Falling on her knees she begged her dear brother (Ares) for horses, “O dear brother, save me and give me your horses”

(Il. 5.58-9)

Birth of AphroditeHomeric Hymn 6

There the strength of the West Wind moistly blowing carried her amid soft foam over the wave of the resounding sea. Her did the golden-hooded Horai gladly welcome and clad her about in immortal raiment and on her deathless head set a well-wrought crown, fair and golden, and in her pierced ears put earrings of orichalc and of precious gold. Her delicate neck and white bosom they adorned with necklaces of gold, which the golden-hooded Horai themselves wear when they come to the glad dance of the gods in their father's dwelling. As soon as they had thus adorned her in all finery, they led her to the immortals, who gave her greeting when they beheld her and welcomed her with their hands; and each god prayed-that he might lead her home to be his wedded wife

Titles of Aphrodite

Aphrodite Is her name in speech human and divine,

since it was in foam she was nourished. But she is also called Cythereia since she reached Cythera, and Cyprogenes because she was born on the surf-line of Cypros, and Philommedes because she loves the organs of sex, from which she made her epiphany.

(Theogony 195-200)

Names

• Cythereia – from island near the Peloponnese, South of Laconia

• Cyprogenes – from emergence at Cypros

• Philommedes/Philommeides – fond of genitals/smiles

Name

• Aphrodite (of dubious origin)– Born of foam?

Maybe a corruption of a foreign word

Aphrodite of Paphos

Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

• Forced to lust for a mortal, Anchises

• Appeared to him in disguise

• Has sex with him

• Leaves him with a threat, but promise to deliver his son, eventually

By Zeus of the aegis I implore you, suffer me not to live a strengthless shadow among men, but pity me, for no man lives in strength that has couched with the immortal goddesses.

(HH to Aphrodite 5d)

Why he shouldn’t worry

Story of Ganymede

Story of Tithonos

Birth of Aineias

Fate of Anchises

They say that Venus desired Anchises, son of Assaracus, slept with him and gave birth to Aeneas. She instructed Anchises never to reveal this to anyone. One day, however, he drank too much and blurted it out in front of his drinking buddies,and because of this Juppiter struck him down with a thunderbolt. Some say he died of natural causes.

Hyginus 94 (Fourth Century CE)

Sappho (Frag. 1)

Immortal Aphrodite on your richly crafted throne

Daughter of Zeus, weaver of snares, I beg you,

Do not with sorrows and with pains subduemy heart, O Lady…

Graceful sparrowsBrought you swiftly over the black earth,With a thick whirring of wings, from heaven

downthrough the middle air

For if she flees now, soon she will pursue;If she refuses presents, she shall give themIf she does not love, soon she shall love

even against her willCome to me now as well; release me fromThis agony; all that my heart yearnsTo be achieved, achieve, and be yourself

my ally in arms.

Other Important Facts

Lover of Ares Central Figure in the Trojan

War- Judgement of Paris