Lecture 4

Question 1

Earliest evidence for Olympian gods

Answer 1

• Mycenaean Period
• travel on sea a lot, but much more militaristic
• linear B writing
• ruled by kings, priests and priestess
• trojan war believed to have happened here
• Pylos

Question 2

Pylos

Answer 2

• not fortified, but on top of hill that provides protection
• linear B writing found on burned tablets in archives rom
• tablets tell us that gods existed, but not much else about them

Question 3

The Greek Pantheon

Answer 3

-all of the gods of a polytheistic religion

Question 4

Zeus/Jupiter

Answer 4

• god of gods, the sky, thunder, lightening, etc
• Attributes: lightening bolt, eagle, staff
• primary sanctuary at Olympia
• had many lovers (Ganymede, europa, leda)

Question 5

Hera/Juno

Answer 5

• god of marriage, family, childbirth

- attributes: peacock, cow, staff, veil

Question 6

Poseidon/Neptune

Answer 6

• god of the sea, earthquakes, etc

- attributes: trident, horses, sea creatures

Question 7

Myth of the foundation of Athens

Answer 7

• Both Athena and Poseidon wanted to be patron god of that city
• Both raced up and offered gifts
• Athena offered an olive tree.
• Posiedon offered a salt water spring
• Poseidon constantly comes up short demonstrated by this myth

Question 8

Demeter/Ceres

Answer 8

• goddess of grain, the harvest
• attributes: grain, torch, crown
• worshiped at Eleusis

Question 9

Hades/Pluto/Dis

Answer 9

• god of the underworld
• attributes: invisibility cap, cerberus, cornucopia (no abundance without death according to the Greeks. Unless all the old plants die, nothing new can be planted to grow. Everything is cyclical)
• chthonic god: linked with the ground (associated with snakes)
• Worshiped at Eleusis

Question 10

Hestia/Vesta

Answer 10

• goddess of the hearth
• attributes: flowering branch
• no myths about her because she’s always seen with the hearth
• similar to earlier power gods like chaos because she’s more like a force
• was worshiped everywhere, so doesn’t have primary sanctuary, instead each city has a hearth that burns at all times

Question 11

Vestal Virgins

Answer 11

• in Rome were the ones who took care of the flame of the hearth and kept it alive
• had more privileges than normal women, but had to be virgins until 30
• if caught not being a virgin, they were burned alive

Question 12

Homeric Hymns

Answer 12

• collection of poems by (various?) unknown author(s)
• similar style to Homer’s poems, attributed to him already in ancient world
• written down ca. 700 BCE, likely older (around same time as Theogony)