12 Zeus, Hera & Hades - Lecture notes 12 PDF

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CLCS 101 with Jessica Brooks at CSULB during Fall 2017 semester...

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Zeus, Hera & Hades Monday, September 25, 2017

10:01 AM

Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter, Hephaestus, Ares, Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes Hades is not an Olympian since he resided in the underworld Greek Anthropomorphism Gods resemble humans in form, personality, and even action Live in families, marry, have children, cheat on their spouses, eat (ambrosia, the deathless stuff) and drink (nectar) They don't have blood that streams through their veins. They have Ichor They are immortal, but can still be hurt Anthropomorphic means human-like Thropos means human Zeus - Father of the Gods and Men His name contains the root "di" which means sky God of the Sky (Weather, the cloud-gatherer) Greece does not have perennial rivers and streams, and as such, it's fitting that the father of the gods would be the sky god One of Zeus' emblems is the aegis. It is a goat-skin with tassels. Often, Athena wears the Aegis His weapon is the thunderbolt Zeus' special animal is the bull and is also associated with the eagle (lord of the sky) He is the father of dike (justice) and upholds xenia (hospitality) Zeus represented a strain between husband and wife as a philanderer. He had countless lovers because he was a fertility god The union of Zeus and Hera is similar to the union of father sky and mother earth Hera is always trying to catch Zeus in the act Zeus is an abuser Infidelity, reflections of historical fact and some of the relationships we have today Allegories - The representations of abstract ideas by characters or events or some narrative pictorial form Notion of fate The Charites "Three Graces" - Zeus and Eurynome (an Oceanid) had three daughters known as The Charites - (Usually depicted with 2 end figures facing forward and the central figure facing backwards) Zeus and Mnemosyne "memory" had three daughters known as the Muses - Inspired poets and musicians Hera, the Queen of Heaven - Associated with the cow, just as Zeus is associated with the bull - Goddess of marriage and women's fertility - Had many, many temples dedicated to her. Possibly even more than Zeus himself - Hera and Zeus had three children ○ Ares - God of War. He's a different kind of war than Athena. He is the madness, bloodlust, might, strength ○ Eileithyia ○ Hebe - Goddess of youth

○ What about Hephaestus? Where does he fit in? ▪ Hephaestus is the only disabled deity ▪ Early reports say that Hera conceived Hephaestus asexually after Zeus gave birth to Athena ▪ The story of Hephaestus is the only time that Homer gives two different accounts for a single event □ He was thrown out of Mt. Olympus and landed more dead than alive □ Because Hera conceived Hephaestus asexually, he would never be able to live up to the Greek standard of the ideal male Zeus and Hera's Home life on Mt. Olympus - Married on the Isles of the Hesperides ("nymphs of the west") - Gaea gave Hera golden apples ○ Gave anyone who ate them immortality ○ Grew on a tree protected by a horrible serpent by the name Ladon ○ Zeus and Hera's marriage, metope from Selinus circa 560BC ▪ Zeus is gripping her wrist and she is also wearing a veil - Tension between Zeus and Hera Poseidon Posis "husband" or "lord" = "wheat husband"??? God of the sea and earthquakes Carried a trident. Rode in a sea chariot; associated with horses and dolphins Poseidon is married to Amphitrite ("a Nereid); father to Triton (Merman; conch shell) Father to Polyphemus Poseidon can bring forth salt water springs with his trident The Erechtheion, Acropolis, Athens Temple to Athena, Poseidon, (and Erechtheus) Who should be the patron deity of our city - Athena or Poseidon? The Athenians chose Athena because she presented them with the Olive tree. Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, Circa 450BC Hades - "the invisible;" often called "Pluto" the "enricher" Son of Rhea & Cronus Husband to Persephone Lord of the Underworld or Hades Cyclopes gave him an invisibility helmet Commands legions of demons The souls that have descended into Hades are called shades Very wealthy due to all of the minerals and gems in the underworld...