Myth Topic 6: The Olympians
Olympians – the
Twelve
Greek Name
(Roman/Latin name)
|
(1)
Zeus (Jupiter) |
(7)
Athena (Minerva) |
|
(2)
Hera (Juno) |
(8)
Hephaestus (Vulcan) |
|
(3)
Poseidon (Neptune) |
(9)
Apollo |
|
(4)
Demeter (Ceres) |
(10)
Artemis (Diana) |
|
(5)
Hestia (Vesta) |
(11)
Ares (Mars) |
|
(6)
[Aphrodite (Venus)] |
(12)
Hermes (Mercury) |
|
{Hades
(Pluto) not Olympian} |
|
Each have own
spheres of influence
Zeus –Indo-European Sky-God
the
word is cognate with Jupiter and Tiu (Germanic god)
The weather —”the
thunderer”
(cf. Norse Thor)
Incredible
strength:
King/Father of
other gods
Iliad 8.1–54
Special
relationship with Athena
Zeus and Hera
husband
an wife
—antagonism
Mostly from
Homer’s Iliad
Book Zeus chasing
girls and boys
Hera, torturing
those girls and boys, and their CHILDREN
Use it against
each other
Iliad 14.296-359
Iliad 15.1-80
Symbols:
Aegis: goat skin
Thunderbolt
Bull and Eagle
Law and Justice:
xenia
treatment
of friend /stranger; host/guest
Figurative and
Literal Father of gods and mortals
115 “consorts”
significance?
Father of the
Seasons (Horae)
and Fates (Moerae)
All are subject
to Fate—even the gods
Never true monotheism--”all
powerful god”
Father of the
Muses with Mnemosyne
Many Mortal
lovers
(begets heroes)
As an eagle and
snatches up Ganymede—cupbearer
HERA—marriage
and fertility
“cow-eyed”
At Olympia her
temple is older that Zeus'
Protector of monogamy
and
persecutor of adultery
Never really
presented as “mother”
Three (uninteresting?)
kids with Zeus
Ares
Eileithyia
(“relieve;” the divine midwife)
Hebe (youth)
Hephaestus
sexless
son of Hera (in Hesiod)
a
cripple
Unhappy marriage — do not invite them to your dinner party
Illiad
1.521-643
Anthropomorphism –
taken to real extremes
(much more than YHWH)
Distinction
between mythological tales and religious beliefs