The Nature of Myth:

• Maurizio, Chapter 1
  • Key Names & Terms:
    • terms: legends, folktales, mythological corpus
    • Archaic Age: Homer (Iliad, Odyssey), "Homeric" Hymns, Hesiod Theogony, Works & Days
    • Classical Age: Tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides), Herodotus, Plato, Palaephatus
    • Hellenistic Age & Roman Period: Plutarch, Ovid, Virgil, Catullus

Creation:

• Maurizio, Chapter 2
  • Key Names & Terms:
    • authors & Works: Hesiod, The Theogony, The Works & Days; Homer (Iliad, Odyssey)
    • places: Mycenae, Ascra, Olympia
    • terms: panhellenism
    • from the Theogony:
      • ll. 1–99: Muses, music, Chasm (or Chaos), Gaia (earth), Tartarus, Eros ("Hymn ...")
      • ll. 126–174: Uranus (heaven), Cronus, Titans, Aphrodite, Erinyes ("Cronus defeats ...")
      • ll. 373–416: Cronus, Rhea, Zeus, Zeus's siblings, the 3 Cyclopes ("Zeus escapes ...")
      • ll. 417–499: Prometheus, Zeus, Mekone, fire, Pandora (the "modest maiden" of ll. 467–468), women ("Zeus defeats Prometheus")
      • ll. 500–590: Cronus, Rhea, Zeus, the Titans, the Olympians, Kottos (one of the 3 100-handed ones), Tartarus ("Zeus defeats ... Cronus")
      • ll. 650–695: Gaia (earth), Typhoeus, Zeus, Tartarus("Zeus defeats Typhoeus")
      • ll. 696–735: Zeus & Metis--Athena, & Themis--the Fates, & Leto--Apollo & Artemis, & Hera--Hebe & Ares ("Zeus's marriages")
    • Hebrew selection: Genesis, God, Eden, Adam, Eve, serpent, garden of Eden, forbidden fruit, tree of knowledge of good and evil, cherubim


• Leonard & McClure
  • Key Names and terms:
    • Norse: Prose Edda, Muspell, Niflheim, Ginnungagap, Ymir, Odin, Vili, Ve, Midgard, Asgard
    • Mayan: Popul Vu, Quiche, Sovereign Plumed Serpent (~Begetter, Bearer, Maker, Heart of the Sea), Hurricane (Heart of the Sky, Thunder Gods), midwife Xmucane
    • Vietnamese: light (from golden crow and wild swan), Au Co, Lac birds, Dragon Prince/Lac Dragon, humans=1/2 goddess & 1/2 dragon, jadestone
    • Hindu: Vishnu Purana, the Vedas, Parasara, Brahma, Rudra, Hari, Prithivi (earth), boar

Zeus & Hera; floods:

• Maurizio, Chapter 3
  • Key Names & Terms:
    • Zeus: Cronus, Rhea, Athena, Hera, thunderbolt, eagle, Zeus Meilichius, Sarpedon
    • Hera: Cronus, Rhea, Hephaestus, peacock, cow-eyed, Argeia
    • terms: cult
    • Greek passage: Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, Zeus, Prometheus, Hephaestus, Power, Scythia
    • Greek flood: Zeus, Pyrrha, Prometheus, Hermes, chest, Parnassos, humans immoral, stones
    • Near Eastern flood stories: Epic of Gilgamesh, Ea, Gilgamesh, boat, flood=too many/too noisy
    • Hebrew: Genesis, God, wickedness, Noah & 3 sons, Arc, rain, dove, olive leaf/branch, bow in the clouds (covenant)


• Leonard & McClure:
  • Key Names and terms:
    • Mayan: Sovereign Plumed Serpent, Hurricane, Xmucane, order of creation: animals, mud humans, wood humans--flood, beatings, monkeys, corn & water humans
    • Norse: Odin, Vili, Ve, Ask, ash, Embla, elm

Possible Essay Questions:

Use only the primary material (i.e. the actual stories that we have covered in this unit) in Maurizio's Classical Mythology in Context and in Leonard & McClure's Myth & Knowing and the pdfs in Moodle for the missing lines from Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound and for the poetic version of the Big Bang that the specific topic calls for (and only that material)

• Human/Divine relationship:
  • Source material: Hebrew: passages from Genesis in Maurizio, Ch 2 & 3; Greek: lines 417–499 and 740–810 from Hesiod's Theogony and "Aeschylus, from Prometheus Bound" in Maurizio, Ch 2 & 3; Mayan: "The Popul Vu" in Leonard & McClure, Ch 2; Vietnamese: "A Taste of Earth" in Leonard & McClure, Ch 3
  • Prompt: Examine the relationship between humanity and the 'gods' for 3 of the cultures listed above. In your conclusion postulate what conclusions can you draw about the three societies based on your examination of each.


• Social:
  • Sources to draw from: Mayan: "The Popul Vu" in Leonard & McClure, Ch 2; Vietnamese: "A Taste of Earth" in Leonard & McClure, Ch 3; Greek: 2 of the dramatic tales from Hesiod's Theogony in Maurizio, Ch 2 & 3; Norse: "The Creation, from The Eddas in Leonard & McClure, Ch 2; Hebrew: passages from Genesis in Maurizio, Ch 2 & 3
  • Prompt: Examine the interactions of "individuals" with regard to cooperation versus competition for 3 of the cultures listed above. In your conclusion postulate what conclusions can you draw about the three societies based on your examination of each.