Theogony

1. Theogony “Creation of the gods” by Hesiod

2. Theogony • Hesiod’s Theogony begins with an invocation to the Muses • 9 Muses-nymphs who are responsible for artistic inspiration. • The invocation to the Muses is a literary device that accompanies epic poetry and Greek hymns.

3. Invocation to the Muses • Homer, in Book I of The Odyssey: "Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.“ (Robert Fagles translation, 1996)

4. Invocation to the Muses • Virgil, in Book I of the Aeneid: O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate; What goddess was provok'd, and whence her hate; For what offense the Queen of Heav'n began To persecute so brave, so just a man; [...] (John Dryden translation, 1697)

5. Invocation to the Muses • John Milton, opening of Book 1 of Paradise Lost: Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste Brought death into the World, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat, Sing, Heavenly Muse, [...]

6. Invocation to the Muses • William Shakespeare, Act 1, Prologue of Henry V: Chorus: O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention, A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!

7. Invocation to the Muses • Geoffrey Chaucer, in Book II of Troilus and Criseyde: O lady myn, that called art Cleo, Thow be my speed fro this forth, and my Muse, To ryme wel this book til I haue do; Me nedeth here noon othere art to vse. ffor-whi to euery louere I me excuse That of no sentement I this endite, But out of Latyn in my tonge it write.

8. Invocation to the Muse

9. Primordial Beings • Theogony 116 Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundations of all the deathless ones who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in the depth of the wide-pathed Earth, and Eros (love), fairest among the deathless gods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsel for the gods and all men within them. From Chaos came Erebus an black Night, but of Night were born Aether and Erebus. And Earth first bare starry Heaven, equal to herself, to cover her on every side, and to be an ever-sure abiding place for the blessed gods. And she brought forth the long Hills, graceful haunts of the goddess-Nymphs who dwell amongst the glens of the hills,. She bare also fruitless deep with his raging swell, Pontus, without sweet union of love.

10. GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNIVERSEPrimordial Beings

11. Ouranos • Primordial God of the sky • Kept the Hecatonchires & Cyclopes inside the earth because he was ashamed. • With the help of Gaia, Cronos castrated his father. • Not depicted in Greek art, but the romans show him with the zodiac

12. TITANS: FIRST GENERATION

13. Titans: 1st Generations to remember RHEA • Wife of Cronos • Mother to the first 6 Olympians • Seated on a throne with 2 lions • Chariot pulled by Lions

14. Titans: 1st Generations to remember THEMIS • Good Council • The proper order of things • Early wife of Zeus • Counselor of Zeus, often seated beside him. • Mother to the Horae, Morai, Fates • Goddess of Prophecy

15. Titans: 1st Generations to remember

16. Titans: 2nd Generations Cyclopes: • One eyed giants • Immortal • Locked inside Gaia by Ouranos • After the revolt, locked inside Tartarus • Freed by Zeus • Givers of thunderbold, trident, helmet of invisibility

17. Titans: 2nd Generations Hecantonchires: • 100 hands each • Gods of storms • Locked inside Gaia with the Cyclopes by Cronos

18. Castration of Ouranos • With the help of Gaia, kronos castrates his father, Ouranos. • His testicles float to the island of Cyprus to become Aphrodite. • The blood becomes Erinyes (Furies), Giants, Meliai. A giant depicted with serpent legs.

19. Titanomachy • Cronus’ Camp Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Atlas, Menoetius, Gigantes (giants) & Campe • Zeus’s Camp Hades, Poiseidon, Demeter, Cylopes, Hecatonchires, Prometheius, Epimetheius • Neutral Titanides (female Titans) – Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys Oceanus

20. Castration of Ouranos: Erinyes (Furies) • Female personifications of vengeance for those breaking natural laws. • The killing of family members, especially children of parents. • They live in the underworld with Persephone. • Often seen with snakes in their hair. • Appear often in Greek tragedy, Orestes for example.

21. Castration of Ouranos: Meliai • Classification of Nymphs • Nymphs of the ash trees • Probably the same Nymphs that nursed the baby Zeus.

22. Castration of Ouranos: Giants • Race of Giants from the blood of Ouranos’s testacles. • They tried to overthrow the Olympians and re-instate the Titans in a war called the Gigantomachy. • Heracles fought on the side of the Olympians. • Giants were defeated and banished to Tartarus. • Often depicted in art with the body of a serpent below the waist. • They were led by Alcyoneus and Porphyrion

23. Who are they?

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29. Terms • Parthenogenesis • Epithet • Attribute –

30. What is a Nymph? • What defines a nymph? • Who are their parents? • Where do they live? • What is their gender? • What kind of powers do they have? • What do they look like?