CLASSICAL GREEK MYTHOLOGY BACKGROUND Ancient Greece Greek Society

CLASSICAL GREEK MYTHOLOGY BACKGROUND • • • Ancient Greece & Greek Society Sources of Greek Mythology Period of Greek Mythology Characteristics of Greek Mythology Greek & Roman Mythology

ANCIENT GREECE AND THE GREEK SOCIETY • • • Human History Society Culture Politics Economy

HUMAN HISTORY IN GREECE Ø 45, 000 -40, 000 BC: Homo sapiens first moves out of Africa into southwestern Asia and Europe Ø 20, 000 BC: Human habitation begins in southeastern Greece Ø 10, 000 -8, 000 BC: Beginning of agriculture and permanent settlements Ø 4, 500 -2, 000 BC: Indo-European peoples move into Europe Ø 1, 500 BC: Greeks (Mycenaeans) are a linguistically identifiable group

CULTURE IN ANCIENT GREECE Ø 950 -750 BC: Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet Ø 750 -500 BC: Writing down of oral literature such as Odyssey and Iliad Ø 776 BC: First Olympic Games, to be held every four years, in honour of Zeus Ø 700 BC: Greeks began to write down the myths Ø Religion as the core of all community activities

ANCIENT GREEK SOCIETY Ø A patriarchal society Ø Social stratification ØThe rich elite ØFree people ØSlaves Ø Rulers, priests, soldiers, craftsmen, farmers Ø Monogamy was a rule Ø Nuclear family structure the most common form

POLITICS IN ANCIENT GREECE Ø 750 BC: Greek city-states (polis) beginning to organise (Athens, Sparta etc. ) Ø 750 -500 BC: Greek colonies formed all around the Mediterranean Sea region Ø Polis included fortified urban centre + the small settlements in the countryside Ø A protector or patron god/goddess for each polis (Athena for Athens) Ø Only free men had political rights Ø Forms of oligarchy, tyranny and democracy observed

ECONOMY IN ANCIENT GREECE Ø An agricultural society Ø Olive Ø Wine Ø Grains Livestock Fishing Ø A trading society ØTrade colonies in Spain, N. Africa, Black Sea Coast Ø Advanced handicrafts ØMetallurgy ØPottery ØTextile

SOURCES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY • Apollodoros: Author of The Library the earliest collection of myths. • Homer: Author of the epic poems Odyssey and Iliad. Stories that originate in the Trojan War. • Hesiod: Author of Theogony, Works and Days, the Catalogue of Women. • Ovid: Roman author of Metamorphoses. • Virgil: Roman author of the epic work Aeneid.

PERIOD OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY • “The times before recorded history began and beyond reliable oral tradition, in the para-history (Dowden, 1992). ” • Trojan War (circa 1240 -1230 BC) is the only link between Greek mythology and factual “history. ”

CHARACTERISTICS OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY • • Includes gods, goddesses, demi-gods, and mortals Explains natural phenomena Includes magic and superhuman powers Gods and goddesses often appear in disguise and interfere with the lives of the mortals • Gods and goddesses are anthropomorphic (humanshaped) and they have human emotions • Very often gods and goddesses are involved in incest and adultery, almost to the point of moral corruption Adapted from www. danbury. k 12. ct. us/midweb/bms/Clusters/BMS 61/gammytc. htm

GREEK & ROMAN MYTHOLOGY • Romans were also a pagan society with a polytheistic religion, but their beliefs were not as systematised as those of the Greek. • No definite personification of gods. Gods were hardly more than a “those that are above” (Hamilton, 1940). • Romans were influenced by Greek culture and changed their deities to resemble their Greek counterparts. • Romans also changed the characters of some Greek deities in their own version.