14 Hephaestus and Athena PDF

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

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Monday, October 9, 2017

9:46 AM

Hephaestus and Athena, Attic Cup, Circa 460 BC The Athenian Agora (Ancient Marketplace), Hephaestion, Athenian Agora, Athena the best preserved classical temple from the Ancient Greeks Hephaestus was married to Aphrodite, but Aphrodite had a long standing affair with Ares - Ares and Hephaestus are brother Helios the sun god sees everything and tells Hephaestus about their affair Hephaestus set a trap in his home and caught them in the act Ares had several children with Aphrodite - Phobos "panic" - Deimos "fear" - Harmonia "Harmony" - Eros "Cupid" Aphrodite and Ares, fresco from Pompeii, 1st century AD Hermes Herms means "he of the stone heap" - Hermes takes his name from the practice of tossing a stone onto a pile of stones for good luck Son of Zeus and Maia - Maia is a nymph who lives in a cave - There are many nymphs, typically female, and they're divine, but not as divine as a goddess Hermes is associated with Arcadia, the only place in Greece without a coastline He is the protector of travelers, thieves, and merchants, orators and guardian of flocks & herds Hermes is often shown in his winged boots (allow him to fly), a cloak, his petasos hat, & and carrying his caduceus (his staff with two snakes that are copulating) Hermes is the herald of the gods One of his roles is the man who takes souls from one life to another - As such, he is called Psychopompos "soul guide" Slayer of Argus, "Argeiphontes" Herms - statues placed as road markers (boundary stones) - Pillar with Hermes (sometimes Dionysus) head on top and an erect phallus at lower middle - The erect phallus is meant as an apotropaic device designed to turn away evil Hermes the Trickster begins in childhood - Hermes was born as baby (unlike other deities that are born fully grown) - He had a taste for meat (other deities don't eat meat) - As he was coming out of the cave, he came across a tortoise ○ Lied to the tortoise and brought it inside the cave and turned it into a lyre (harp) ○ Used the lyre to steal Apollo's cattle Hermes gives the lyre to Apollo and Apollo gives Hermes his Caduceus Hermes and Apollo Seen as social and political opposites - Apollo is rich, established, god of the aristoi, plays the lyre

- Hermes is a helpless infant who lives in a cave, described as illegitimate, described as the men who do things (he made the lyre, panpipes), he is the god of kakoi (those under the aristoi), invented fire This relationship between Hermes and Apollo represents the struggle between the social classes (kakoi and aristoi) They agree to be on better terms (give each other the lyre and caduceus; no more theft) Pan - God of Woodland - Son of Hermes - He is part human and part goat - His name means "to feed" - Didn't live on Mt. Olympus. He wandered the woodland areas of Arcadia - He is incredibly lustful - An ithyphallic Pan Pursues a shepherd, Attic, circa 470 BC ○ There is a herm behind Pan because he is the son of Hermes ○ He is part goat and part human The Female Olympians Demeter - Daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and sister to Zeus, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera - Goddess of agriculture, her symbol is wheat - Her cult center is at Eleusis - Meter means mother; de- = ?? - Linked with her daughter Persephone, the two are known as The Goddesses Hestia is the Goddess of the Hearth - Cronus and Rhea's eldest child but also their youngest child because when Zeus forced Cronus to throw up his children, they came out in reverse order - She always receives a portion of sacrifices - Goddess of the hearth and home; protectress of the city - It's said that Hestia gave her seat as one of the 12 Olympians to Dionysus, but we have no stories that explain that Aphrodite - Goddess of Sexual Love - Non-Greek Goddess in origin - Came from Northeast as Inanna/Ishtar/Asarte - Likely that she came via Cyprus - In her temple, initiates underwent Temple Prostitution with the hope that you would have a successful life as a woman - Aphrodite had many affairs ○ Hermes and Aphrodite (pg. 203) ▪ The result was Hermaphroditus ▪ Hermaphroditus and the nymph, Salmacis ○ Dionysus or Hermes and Aphrodite ▪ Priapus □ Enormous erect phallus that warded off the evil eye □ He is also a fertility deity □ The Garden God weighs his phallus against a bag of gold ○ Aphrodite and Anchises (a mortal) ▪ From Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite ▪ Singles out Athena, Artemis and Hestia as the only ones Aphrodite has no power over □ They are the virgin goddesses □ Zeus made Aphrodite fall in love with a mortal prince, Anchises

 This is shameful □ Aphrodite lies to Anchises about being a goddess □ She tells him she's pregnant and will give birth to Aeneas □ If Anchises tells anyone about their affair, she'll have Zeus hit him with a thunderbolt □ Anchises is almost always disabled in art because he revealed about the affair and Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt Artemis is the Goddess of the Hunt - Daughter of Zeus and Leto, Apollo's twin sister - Virgin goddess but very sexually alluring - In charge of striking women down in childbirth - Described as merciless abroad - Story of Niobe ○ Niobe bragged about having more children than Leto ○ Artemis and Apollo turned their arrows onto all of Niobe's children and killed them all - Story of Actaeon ○ Artemis and Actaeon ▪ Actaeon being devoured by his hunting dogs ▪ He is supposed to be a stag ▪ Artemis did this because Actaeon stumbled upon her bathing naked ▪ Athens, circa 470 AD The Parthenon - Temple of Athena Parthenos (Athena the virgin) - Built between 447 and 432 BC - Considered the most perfect building ever built - Architects: Ictinus and Kallikrates - The columns and stylobate are slightly bowed so that it appears perfect to the naked eye - The Cult Statue of Athena used to be kept inside ○ Made out of ivory and gold ○ Functioned as a bank so that in times of need, parts of the statue could be broken off ○ Built by the master architect Phidias Athena - the goddess of the city - Appears very early (in Linear B text) - Either the city or her took their name from the other. We're unsure. - Her emblems are the owl and olive tree ○ Often described as "Glaukopis" - owl-eyed - She is the protectress of ALL cities and crafts and arts (women's work) - Pictured in armor wearing her aegis (the snaky tasseled chest plate) - She is also Zeus' faithful servant - Protectress of heroes - While Ares is unrestrained violence, Athena teaches strategy and disciplined tactics in war - Poseidon rules the waves, but Athena built the ship that rides them - Athena built the first chariot - Athena established law - Her festival, the Panathenaea (dedicated to her birthday), was the greatest of all festivals...