greek and roman myth. background – greek civilization –minoan (crete) 2200-1450 bc –mycenean...
TRANSCRIPT
GREEK AND ROMAN
MYTH
Background – Greek Civilization
–Minoan (Crete) 2200-1450 BC
–Mycenean 1450-1100 BC (“good old days”)
–Dark Ages (no record) 1100-700 BC
–Homer, Hesiod 800-700 (beg. of writing)
–Greek Drama 500-400 (height of Gr. Civ.)
Background -Roman Civilization
• Roman Civilization - 200 BC-300 AD
• Christianity - 300 AD
Greek Cosmogony/Cosmology
Greek Mythology
• Begins Orally• Heavily borrowed from earlier nearby cultures—
esp. Sumerian and Egyptian• Separate City-States, Islands, geography leads to
fragmentary, overlapping stories• First written in Homer, Hesiod 800-700BC• Most Important Characteristic: HUMANISM
– “The Greek Miracle”– “Anthropomorphic”
Greek Creation Stories
• Hesiod, “Theogony”
• Greek Deity Family Tree (handout)
Botticelli – “Birth of Venus”
The Original Dysfunctional
Family –
Goya - “Saturn Devouring His
Son”
Zeus – The Ultimate Pick-up Artist?
Da Vinci, “Leda and the Swan”
“Rape of Europa” - Titian
Greek Gods and Their Human Characteristics
• What are the primary attributes/personality traits of the major gods?
• How many of these could be seen as human failures/fallible behavior?
• Discuss: compare Greek creation story and Greek Gods with their fallible, human characteristics to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Monotheism and notion of God’s perfection– “How does one worship a fallible god?”– “What different attitudes of worship and religious belief
might result from such different Deities?”
Rubens - “The Judgment of Paris”
Breughels – “The Fall of Icarus”