Creation Myth Theogony Who was Hesiod Wrote in
- Slides: 8
Creation Myth: Theogony
Who was Hesiod? • Wrote in ARCHAIC period, c. 750 -650 BCE (same period as Homer) • He provides a few details of his life in his poems. For example, he mentions a lawsuit against his brother. • He was a poet who crafted traditional stories about the gods into an organized pattern.
Theogony • Means “origin or generations of the gods. ” • A cosmogony (= how the universe came to be) and cosmology (= how its parts are arranged) • Names over 300 gods, etc. Delights in catalogs (= folkloric technique). • Figures in the poem range from fully developed characters to allegorical names.
Why did Hesiod write it? • Possibly to show off his skill as a poet in a poetry competition. Oral-formulaic composition, memorization, etc. • Nagy: Theogony is an attempt to create a pan-Hellenic myth. Syncretic/syncretism. – Gods from different parts of Greece are organized into a family. • Main theme: the ascent of Zeus as chief god
Overall Structure • Invocation of the Muses inspiration • 1 st generation: primordial gods: Chaos Gaia and Ouranos. • 2 nd generation: Titans, Kronos, etc. • Interlude: story of Prometheus • 3 rd generation: Titanomachy and Zeus’ rise to power.
First Generation • Patterns to watch for: – Unusual methods of reproduction – Confused kinship relations – Frustrated reproduction (Ouranos and Kronos) – Monsters dominate here. – Conflict between female and male gods (reflects ascent of patriarchy over matriarchy? ? )
Gaia and Ouranos • Separation of Earth and Sky when Kronos castrates Ouranos = cosmogony – Sparagmos= an ancient Dionysian ritual in which a living animal, or sometimes even a human being, would be sacrificed by being dismembered, by the tearing apart of limbs from the body. • Primal taboo: killing the father • Birth of Aphrodite.
Kronos • Meaning of name is disputed. Possibly from Indo. European root meaning “the cutter. ” • After he becomes chief god, he swallows his children to prevent them from killing him. Inverts pattern of Ouranos preventing birth by refusing to pull out of Gaia. • Rhea and Gaia conspire to preserve baby Zeus through a scheme to fool Kronos.