Mythology Introduction

MythologyLet’s put our etymology skills to use:

Myth a story, believed by many, that was told in

an ancient culture to explain a belief but is not true

-ology the study of (in this case—myths)

Lesson Goals Identify key mythological figures, their

“responsibilities” and their relationships to each other.

Identify three common themes in mythology and explain them.

State why reading literature / historical documents of another culture or time period can be valuable.

Make an inference about how the ancient Greeks viewed women.

A Little Fruit…

Can cause BIG problems…

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis

According to legend, all the gods and goddesses were invited except one!

Eris, The goddess of discordWhy not invite the goddess of

discord?

The Wedding…

Because she’ll cause trouble!Angry at not being invited Eris tosses “the

apple of discord” among the celebrating goddesses.

“For the Fairest”

Women!Of course all of the goddesses wished to

claim the golden apple.Naturally, they all believed they were the

“fairest” or “most beautiful”.

The Three GoddessesThree goddesses in particular laid claim to

the golden apple.Each felt they were fairest of them all.As the bickering over the apple began, I’m

sure Peleus and Thetis regretted their decision to not invite Eris, the goddess of discord, to their wedding.

Hera, the protector of Marriage Zeus’ wife (and sister)

—EWWW! Often a rival of Zeus Hera was originally not

interested in Zeus, but he disguised himself as a wounded cuckoo bird. Loving animals, Hera held the bird to her breast to protect it.

Hera, the protector of Marriage• Zeus then returned to his

normal form, took her by surprise, and raped her.

• Hera married him to cover her shame.

• She once rallied the other gods against Zeus and revolted.

• Zeus escaped and hung Hera from the sky in gold chains as punishment.

Hera, the protector of Marriage• She had to vow to never

rebel again before she was released.

• She often assists others in circumventing Zeus, but rarely gets caught.

• She is extremely jealous of Zeus’ many “infidelities”.

Athena, the goddess of WisdomDaughter of ZeusSprang full grown,

in armor, from Zeus’ head

Zeus’ favorite child

Fierce and brave in battle

Aphrodite, the goddess of love Can make anyone

desire her

Also the goddess of desire and beauty

Married to Hephaestus (ugliest of all the gods)

Settling the DisputeThe three goddesses turned to the one

man who could settle the dispute…

Settling the Dispute

Zeus, King of the gods

• Most powerful (King) of the gods• Married to Hera, father to Athena• The thunderbolt is his weapon of choice• Not exactly the most faithful husband—in

fact—he likes the ladies…a lot…really…he “gets around”. He’s pretty much everyone’s father, step-father, or at least visited their mother.

• Completely not interested in settling this dispute.

Zeus elects not to decide who is the “fairest”, but appoints Paris of Troy to be the judge of the contest.

It was foretold that Paris would bring about the destruction of Troy.

Paris, as a baby, was left to die on Mt. Ida, but was rescued by a shephard.

Settling the Dispute

Paris survived and ultimately learned his true lineage and returned home.

He was welcomed and everyone apparently thought the “prophecy” was no longer a danger.

They were wrong. In mythology,

oracles (prophecies) always come true.

Settling the Dispute

Zeus could have been being funny. He chose someone who would be a good judge of animals to judge the beauty contest.

There was also myth that Paris was the most honest person in the world.

Settling the Dispute

Women Don’t Play Fair

HeraOffered to make Paris the King of all Europe and Asia

AthenaPromised to lead Troy to

victory in war over

the Greeks

AphroditePromised him the

love of the most

beautiful woman in the world

He chose the woman…Paris chooses Aphrodite, awards her the

golden apple and awaits his prize…

Helen

Helen, often referred to has Helen of Troy, is in fact the most beautiful half-mortal woman in the world.

Being half-mortal, that means she is half-god…Can you guess who her daddy is?

You ARE the Father!”

“She doesn’t have my eyes! All my kids have my eyes! She isn’t mine!”

“In the matter of 24 year-old Helen, Zeus…..

Paris wants to claim his prize, but there is just one,

small, teeny, tiny problem…

HELEN GOT HITCHED!!!!

The Marriage of Helen and Menelaus

Helen had many, many suitors (men who wished to marry her)

Achilles, Odysseus, Agamemnon (Menelaus’ brother) among many other powerful men of the time sought Helen’s hand in marriage.

Helen (center) with her husband, Menelaus of

Sparta (right)

The Marriage of Helen and Menelaus

Helen (center) with her husband, Menelaus of

Sparta (right)

• Tyndareus, Helen’s father made the suitors swear an oath to protect the marriage, regardless of who was chosen to be her husband, if they wished to suit her.

• This was done for Helen’s protection as she was so beautiful and wanted.

The Marriage of Helen and Menelaus

Helen (center) with her husband, Menelaus of

Sparta (right)

• Eventually she “chose” Menelaus who, upon Tyndareus’ death, became King of Sparta.

• Paris traveled to Sparta to “visit” Helen and Menelaus.

• Helen and Menelaus had no knowledge of the actions of the gods, and so welcomed Paris as a guest.

Not the Brightest Crayon in the Box…

Menelaus chose the time of Paris’ visit to travel to Mycenae for family business.

He left Helen to entertain their guest.Aphrodite used her power to start the

sparks of love.When Menelaus returned, Helen was

gone, as was Paris…

The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships

Menelaus called on Helen’s former suitors to now honor their vow to protect the marriage…

It took time to convince them all, as they each had their reasons to not go to war, but in the end, they honored their vow…

AchillesSon of

Peleus and Thetis (remember them?)

Great warrior Invulnerable

except in one place…

The Achilles Heel… When he was born,

Thetis took him to the river Styx in the Underworld and dipped him in it making him invulnerable.

She had to hold him by the heel, leaving that the only unprotected part of his body.

You Da (WO)MAN, Achilles! Achilles did NOT want

to go to war over Helen’s abduction.

When Menelaus called upon the suitors, Achilles tried to hide…

You Da (WO)MAN, Achilles! Achilles disguised

himself as a woman.

When a battle trumpet sounded, though, Achilles grasped his sword and revealed his identity.

Odysseus Odysseus, who

helped Tyndareus solve the problem of Helen’s marriage had recently become married to Penelope.

Odysseus also had a newborn son, Telemachus.

Not wanting to go to war, Odysseus pretended to be insane.

When Menelaus threatened to cut his son in half, though, Odysseus admitted his charade.

Odysseus

Other Important Characters

Patroclus- A great Greek warrior, Achille’s friend.Agamemnon- Menelaus’ brotherAjax- Greek warriorPriam- King of Troy, father of Paris and HectorHector- Greatest Trojan warrior, Paris’ brotherClytemnestra- Agamemnon’s wifeIphigenia- Agamemnon & Clytemnestra’s daughter

The Other Gods and Godesses Ares- The God of War! He also happens to be a bit of a coward…

Hephaestus- The ugliest of all the gods. Hera was so repulsed by him when he was born that she threw him off of Mt. Olympus in an attempt to kill him. He is deformed, a skilled craftsman and, ironically, married to Aphrodite.

Apollo- god of oracles and prophecy. Also of music.

Artemis- twin sister of Apollo. Goddess of the moon and of the hunt.

The Other Gods and Godesses

Aeolus- god of wind

Hermes- messenger of the gods

Poseidon- Lord of the sea; earthshaker. Known for carrying his Trident.

The Other Gods and Godesses

Sailing for Troy Because Agamemnon

angered the goddess Diana, the Greeks were unable to sail for Troy because of poor winds.

He learned he would have to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, in order for the Greek army to sail.

Agamemnon sent word to have Iphigenia sent to him (he promised she would be married to Achilles).

Achilles was unhappy when he learned of the deception, but Iphigenia was sacrificed, and the Greeks set sail.

Sailing for Troy

Ten years of WarThe war was a stalemate for ten years.A dispute between Achilles and

Agamemnon over—you guessed it—a woman changed the fortunes of the war.

Achilles “female captive”, Briseus, was taken from him by Agamemnon.

Ten Years of War After Briseus was

taken, Achilles refused to fight.

His “friend” Patroclus was unable to convince him to return to the fight.

Ten Years of War Patroclus did manage to

convince Achilles to lend him his armor, and Patroclus returned to the fight wearing Achilles’ armor.

Patroclus was killed, though, by Hector and this enraged Achilles.

Achilles, then returned to the fight to confront Hector.

A fatal mistake Achilles, still angry, did

not let the conflict end at Hector’s death.

He tied the dead body to his chariot and drug it through the battlefield

He also would not allow the body a proper burial.

Achilles Defiles the Body of Hector

A Grieving Father Priam couldn’t stand

seeing his son’s body treated this way.

He snuck into the Greek camp and begged Achilles to let him take Hector’s body and properly bury it.

The Death of Achilles Achilles finally agreed,

but his behavior had angered the gods, and so, he met his fate…

Paris (of all people) tried to shoot Achilles in the back, but missed (some say with the help of the gods) and hit his…HEEL!

The Final Plan…The first step in any plan to win a war---

according to Odysseus…

BUILD A GIANT WOODEN HORSE!

Beware of Greeks… The Greeks built the

horse, Odysseus and the others hid inside.

The rest of the Greek army set sail for home, looking as though they had given up.

The Trojans thought the horse was a gift and brought it inside the city.

The Greeks waited until the Trojans were well into their “celebration” of victory.

The Greeks came out of the horse when most of the city was asleep (passed out) and proceeded to burn the place to the ground killing every man, woman and child…

The Survivor(s) Aeneas (left) escaped

Troy carrying his father on his back. His father died during the escape.

Some accounts say Aeneas was thesole survivor, others say he led a small band of Trojans to safety. Virgil’s The Aeneid covers these stories which end with the founding of Rome.

After the War Agamemnon returned

home, but his wife was still a little----unhappy with him.

She and her new lover killed Agamemnon, but were later killed themselves by Orestes, Agamemnon’s son

Helen and MenelausHelen was recovered from Troy and she

proved her loyalty to Menelaus. They returned to Sparta and lived “happily ever after”.

OdysseusOdysseus, however, would take another

10 years to return home.His journey home is documented in

Homer’s The Odyssey. See, we are reading The Odyssey next

and that’s what this whole day was meant to set up.

Make sure your handouts are complete.