CC 303/352: Lecture Outline, September 13, 2001

I. The Twelve Olympian Gods and Goddesses

• Offspring of Kronos and Rhea

1. Poseidon=Neptune
2. Demeter=Ceres
3. Hera=Juno
4. Zeus=Jupiter (Jove)

(Hestia=Vesta and Hades=Pluto also children of Kronos and Rhea, but usually not counted as Olympians)

• Others

1. Aphrodite=Venus (from Ouranos' genitals, or Zeus and Dione)
2. Apollo=Apollo (Zeus and Leto)
3. Artemis=Diana ( Zeus and Leto)
4. Athena=Minerva (Zeus)
5. Hephaistos=Vulcan (Hera or Zeus and Hera)
6. Ares=Mars (Zeus and Hera)
7. Hermes=Mercury (Zeus and Maia)
8. Dionysus=Bacchus (Zeus and Semele)

II. Things to learn about each of the gods and goddesses

• Greek and Roman names
• domain (what is he/she in charge of?)
• attributes/iconography (what features, animals, etc. are they often seen with?)
• possible origins
• principal partners and offspring
• major myths
• personality
• how might different schools of interpretation approach this god or goddess?

III. Zeus=Jupiter

• Name means brightness, sky (cf. Latin deus, German Tiu [Tuesday]
• domain: sky, storms, universe, justice, oaths, xenia
• attributes: eagle, bull, aegis, lightning bolt
• possible origin: Indo-European sky god
• partners and offspring

1. Divine

1. Metis (offspring: Athena)
2. Themis (offspring: Horai (Eunomia, Dike, Eirene) and Moirai (Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos)
3. Eurynome (offspring: Charites [Graces])
4. Demeter (offspring: Persephone)
5. Mnemosyne (offspring: Muses)
6. Leto (offspring: Apollo and Artemis)
7. Hera (offspring: Hebe, Ares, Eileithyia)

2. Mortal

1. Alcmene (offspring: Heracles)
2. Leda (offspring: Helen, Castor, Pollux)
3. Danae (offspring: Perseus)
4. Europa
5. Ganymede

IV. Hera=Juno

• domain: marriage, matron's life, childbirth
• attributes: peacock, cow
• possible origin: mother goddess
• partners and offspring

1. Zeus (offspring: Hebe, Ares, Eileithyia)
2. alone (offspring: Hephaistos)

• quarrels with Zeus, vengeance against his lover and their offspring

V. What might various schools do with Zeus and Hera?

• Rationalization
• Allegory
• Aetiology
• Ritual myth school
• Charter myth school
• Vladimir Propp
• Claude Lévi-Strauss
• Freud
• Jung

VI. Greek anthropomorphism. How are gods like and unlike humans? What does this mean for Greek myth and Greek religion?

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