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YEAR 12 CLASSICAL STUDIES mythology

YEAR 12 CLASSICAL STUDIES mythology. schoolhistory.co.nz. What is a myth?. Muthos means ‘utterance’ or something which is told. Often includes legends – which are based in fact Edges often blurred Many myths contain elements of folk tales. Some myths are strongly religious

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YEAR 12 CLASSICAL STUDIES mythology

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  1. YEAR 12 CLASSICAL STUDIES mythology schoolhistory.co.nz

  2. What is a myth? Muthosmeans ‘utterance’ or something which is told. Often includes legends – which are based in fact Edges often blurred Many myths contain elements of folk tales

  3. Some myths are strongly religious • Passed on through the generations • Explain the origins of the world • Explain natural phenomena - day/night, seasons, storms etc • May explain or support existing customs or rituals: birth, marriage, status of women, crop fertility etc

  4. Reflect human dreams and wishes e.g do tales of heroes reflect men’s desire to be superhuman?

  5. Where do myths come from? • Usually found in most cultures • From a time before writing generally used • A time of genuine belief in the gods • A time lacking in scientific explanation • A time when people believed all events had a divine origin • Verbal communication allowed myths to change

  6. Greek Myths • Earliest reference from Homer and Hesiod in the eighth century BC • Originated between 2000-1000BC

  7. Ancient Greece Thessaly and Macedonia Asia Minor Attica and Boetia Peloponnese Crete

  8. Important places • Coast of Asia Minor to the right • Cycladic Islands • Crete • Mainland Greece: Peloponnese (south) Attica and Boetia (central) Thessaly and Macedonia

  9. Background to Greece

  10. Stone Age Aegean pre 3000BC • Similar types of people in these areas • Possibly from modern Iraq • Farming and domesticated animals • Worshipped fertility spirits – mainly female • Placated male spirits - destructive

  11. Early Bronze Age 3000-2000BC • Bronze used over whole area • Civilization flourished • Worship of fertility goddesses (Mother/Earth) • 2000BC upheaval on Asia mainland caused people to arrive • These people brought wheel pottery

  12. Greek mainland invaded by several waves of less cultured people from the north • They were warlike • Patriarchal • Worshipped mainly male deities who lived on mountain tops and ruled the skies • Homer called them Achaeans • They looted and killed and eventually settled

  13. Middle Bronze Age 2000-1450BC • Crete appears to have escaped the invaders and their civilisation continued uninterrupted • Around 2000BC it had a surge in trade and wealth • Largest palace was Knossos • May have had a powerful fleet • It is called Minoan Civilisation after King Minos

  14. Minoans worshipped a mother goddess • The bull was an important symbol • Crete was the most advanced civilisation in the area • Minoans may have demanded ‘tribute’ from other areas

  15. Achaeans • They lived on mainland Greece • Main centre was Mycenae • This civilisation was called Mycenaeans • Each state had a fort and a warrior king • Endemic fighting • Because of trade with Crete Mycenaeans began to worship earth goddess as well as sky god

  16. Eventually civilisation on Crete collapsed • May be linked to Thera – volcano • Mycenaeans took opportunity to seize control of Crete around 1450BC • They burned and looted and by 1380BC the Palace of Knossos was destroyed

  17. Late Bronze Age 1450-1100BC • Mycenaeans now dominated in the Mediterranean • Peaked around 1300BC • Had unstable parasitic nobility who survived by seizing the wealth of others in war • Describing a Greek hero as a ‘sacker of cities’ (Homer) was a compliment

  18. Troy • May have been a battle to eliminate trade competition or to get scarce metals • Troy fell 1250BC • Within a century all major sites on the mainland Greece fell • Except Athens

  19. The Dark Ages 1100-800 BC • General destruction had occurred which was disastrous for the Greek world • Loss of centralised control led to lawlessness, population decline, simpler life ensued

  20. The Dorians • The Dorians took advantage and moved south down through the Greek peninsula and settled in the Peloponnese and Crete • Many Greeks moved to the coast of Asia Minor to escape • The Dorians were even less ‘civilised’ and set progress back even further

  21. Creation of Mythology • At this time the art of writing was lost and oral tradition flourished • Storytellers knitted together tales from a wide area • In later Classical times Sparta and Athens changed details of myths to suit themselves

  22. Archaic Period and Classical Age • Between the end of the Dark Ages and the Persian Invasion which led to the Classical Age • The Classical Age ends with the death of Alexander in 323BC • Rome then dominated the Mediterranean area

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