Introduction to Classical Mythology

Dr. Michael Broder

University of South Carolina

March 13, 2012

Please write your Daily Write on a complete

sheet of paper, not a half sheet, and not a sheet with other Daily Writes

already on it.Violators will be docked 1 point no matter how good

their answer is.

If you leave the room early, I will ask for your

name and deduct 1 point from your Daily Write.

If it’s an emergency we can discuss it at another time.

But I know it is usually NOT an emergency. And I will not tolerate it without a penalty.

Daily Write #14: Review

• In Homer’s Iliad, Homer tells us that Aphrodite gave Helen to Paris because he judged Aphrodite to be the most beautiful goddess. At Histories 1.3, Herodotus tells us that Paris “Resolved to use abduction to get a wife from Greece, being confident that he would get away with this unpunished, just as the Greeks had done.”

• Comment on the presence or absence of divine intervention in these two accounts

• What do you think Herodotus might have thought about the idea that Paris won Helen through the help of a goddess?

Daily Write #14: Review

• Comment on the presence or absence of divine intervention in these two accounts– Divine intervention is present in the Homeric

account– Divine intervention is absent in the account by

Herodotus

• What do you think Herodotus might have thought about the idea that Paris won Helen through the help of a goddess?– Herodotus would have been scornful of the idea– Herodotus believed in historical explanations,

not mythological stories

Daily Write #15

At Herakles 1223, Theseus scolds Herakles for threatening suicide, saying, “Threats are no use, the gods don’t care.” Why do you think Theseus believes that the gods don’t care? Don’t you think he knows how the gods helped Greek heroes like Odysseus? Do you think Theseus’s attitude might have something to do with the Greek invention of history? If so, how? If not, please offer an alternate explanation.

Histories: Identification

• Author = Herodotus– Greek– c. 480-c. 420 BCE

• Title = Histories• Genre = History,

historiography, prose

History of the Peloponnesian War:

Identification• Author = Thucydides

– Greek– c. 460-c. 400 BCE

• Title = History of the Peloponnesian War

• Genre = History, historiography, prose

Mythology vs. History

• Two distinct types of knowledge about the past– Mythology = Knowledge of past

events through traditional stories– History = Knowledge of past events

through inquiry and research

Why do ancient Greek historians like Herodotus and

Thucydides refer to mythological people and events like Paris, Helen,

Agamemnon, and the Trojan War?

Because history cannot escape its mythological

past!

History’s Encounter with Myth

• Herodotus includes mythological stories of Io, Europa, Medea, and Helen in his account of the Persian Wars

• Thucydides locates the growth of Athenian naval power in the context of the Trojan War and Agamemnon’s leadership of the Greek forces

Important Distinctions Between Mythology and

History• Mythology

– Based on traditional stories

– Based on oral tradition– Favors poetry (epic, lyric)– Favors supernatural

explanations (gods, divine intervention in human affairs)

– Lacks a clear timeline• When the world began• When gods came into

being• When humans came into

being• When events happened

• History– Based on inquiry &

research– Written (not oral)– Prose (not poetry)– Favors rational

explanations (natural events, human actions)

– Has a clear timeline• Persian Wars took place

in 490 and 480 BCE• Peloponnesian War took

place from 431-404 BCE• Specific dates of battles

and other key events are known

Something to think about…

Are various texts we have read the products of a

historical society or of a pre-historical society?

Timeline of Authors & Texts

Homer, Odyssey (c. 750 BCE)Hesiod, Theogony (c. 700 BCE)

Archilochus (c. 680–c. 645 BCE)Semonides (c. 650 BCE)Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (c. 650 BCE)Sappho (c. 620–c.570 BCE)Simonides (c. 556 -468 BCE)Homeric Hymn to Demeter (c. 525 BCE)Xenophanes (c.570 – c.475 BCE)Pindar (c. 522–443 BCE)Herodotus (c. 484–c. 425 BCE)Thucydides (c. 460 BC – c. 395 BCE)

Historical

Pre-historical

Homer, Odyssey (c. 750 BCE)Hesiod, Theogony (c. 700 BCE)

Archilochus (c. 680–c. 645 BCE)Semonides (c. 650 BCE)Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (c. 650 BCE)Sappho (c. 620–c.570 BCE)Simonides (c. 556 -468 BCE)Homeric Hymn to Demeter (c. 525 BCE)Xenophanes (c.570 – c.475 BCE)Pindar (c. 522–443 BCE)Herodotus (c. 484–c. 425 BCE)Thucydides (c. 460 BC – c. 395 BCE)

Notice that Notice that the the pre-pre-historical historical authors authors and texts and texts include include both both epicepic and and lyriclyric poets.poets.

Timeline of Authors & Texts

Historical

Pre-historical

So what happens to mythology after the Greeks invent

history?

So what happens to mythology after the Greeks invent

history?

Mythology takes refuge in Greek tragedy!

Greek Tragedy

• Plays that combine dramatic action with song and dance

• For the Greeks, playwriting was a competitive activity

• Plays were performed at the Dionysia, an annual festival in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine

• The actors’ salaries were paid for by the public treasury

• The singers, dancers, musicians, and costumes were paid for by a wealthy citizen called a choregos

We have complete plays by three Greek tragic

playwrights• Aeschylus (c. 525–456 BCE)• Sophocles (c. 496–406 BCE)• Euripides (c. 480–406 BCE)

Semonides (c. 650 BCE)Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (c. 650 BCE)

Sappho (c. 620–c.570 BCE)Simonides (c. 556 -468 BCE)Homeric Hymn to Demeter (c. 525 BCE)Xenophanes (c.570 – c.475 BCE)Pindar (c. 522–443 BCE)Aeschylus (c. 525–456 BCE)Sophocles (c. 496–406 BCE) Herodotus (c. 484–c. 425 BCE) Euripides (c. 480–406 BCE)Thucydides (c. 460 BC – c. 395 BCE)

Notice Notice where the where the Greek Greek tragic tragic playwrights playwrights fall on the fall on the pre-pre-historical / historical / historical historical timeline!timeline!

Timeline of Authors & Texts

Historical

Pre-historical

Herakles: Identification

• Author = Euripides– Greek– (c. 480–406 BCE)

• Title = Herakles• Genre = Tragedy, tragic play,

tragic drama

Upcoming Assigments

• 3/13—Euripides, Herakles (in Grief Lessons)

• 3/15—Overview of underworld myths– No assigned reading

• 3/20—Euripides, Alkestis (in Grief Lessons)

Introduction to Classical Mythology

Dr. Michael Broder

University of South Carolina

March 13, 2012