Title: Heroes, Gods, and Monsters A Look into the Worlds Oldest Soap Opera That is Mythology
1Heroes, Gods, and MonstersA Look into the
Worlds Oldest Soap Opera That is Mythology
2Purpose of Mythology
To teach
To explain natural phenomena
3Why we study mythology
- Our main concern in studying mythology is so we
can understand and recognize allusions later on
in literature. - An allusion is a reference to a well-known story,
character, etc. Allusions commonly come from
mythology, stories of the Bible, and pop culture. - Ex. If I said that I had the strength of
Hercules, how many people would know what I was
referring to? - If I went over to a friends house and he had two
dogs, two cats, and two birds, I might say, Hey
Noah, do you have your boat ready?
4Allusions in our society
5The Mighty Zeus Reigning Under Thunder and
Lightning
- Parents are Cronus and Rhea
- Brothers are Poseidon and Hades
- Married to Hera (not a healthy relationship)
- Zeus ruled over Olympus with wisdom and justice
(yeah right) - Mortals learned to not mess with Zeus
- Weakness Insatiable lust of women
6Hera Goddess of Marriage and Childbirth
- Wife/sister of Zeus (yes this is gross, but
whats a God to do?) - Often outwitted Zeus
- Upset with Zeus because of his infidelities
- Children were Ares, Hephaestus, and Eris
- Weakness jealousy a violent temper
7This Means War!! The Goddess of War Athena
- Daughter of Zeus Metis
- Born out of the head of Zeus
- Also known for her mercy
- Also called the virgin goddess of arts and crafts
- Introduced the plow, rake, yoke, and bridle to
farmers - Designed the first chariot and ship
- Taught mathematics, spinning, weaving, and
cooking
8Poseidon
Ruler of the Seas
- God of horses and earthquakes
- Lived in an underwater palace
- Married to Thetis, a water nymph
- Pursued Demeter
- Argued with Athene over claim to Athens
- Weakness quarrelsome changeful
9Hades God of the Underworld
- The unluckiest of brothers, he had to take the
Underworld to rule - Kidnapped Persephone while she was picking
flowers to be his bride in the Underworld - Demeter, her mother, searched for her daughter
for 9 days - Demeter destroyed land, crops and livestock
- Zeus stayed neutral in the issue
10Persephone HadesA Hellish Union
- Hades tricked Persephone to eat a single
pomegranate seed, thus not permitting her to
leave the Underworld - As an agreement, Persephone had to spend 6 months
as Queen of the Underworld - and 6 months with
- Demeter.
The story of Persephone helps explain the change
in seasons. When she goes to the Underworld, the
Earth becomes colder and less fertile.
11Demeter
- Barley mother, lady of growing things
- Mother of Persephone
- Sister of Zeus, but she also had two kids with
him, one of whom was Persephone - Responsible for the change of seasons (see
Persephone)
12Artemis
- Goddess of the moon eternal chastity
- Favored spoiled by Zeus
- Likes hunting
- Her color is silver
- Tomboy
- Will remain a child forever
13Apollo
- Color Gold
- Responsible for riding his golden chariot across
the sky - Best-looking of all the gods likes the ladies
like his father - Aristeus, his son, taught man beekeeping, olive
culture, cheese-making, and other useful arts - Asclepius, his son, became a famous
surgeon/doctor. He had the ability to bring the
dead back to life.
14Hermes
- Stole Apollos cows
- Has the gift of augury
- Became the messenger God the last to enter the
Pantheon - Became Patron god of liars, thieves, gamblers
- God of commerce, framer of treaties
- Guardian of travelers
- Delivers souls to Tartarus
- Invented the alphabet, astronomy, scales, playing
cards, and games
15Hephaestus
- Smith-god, forger of weapons
- Kicked out of Olympus by Hera
- Ugliest of all gods
- Adopted by Thetis, a naiad
- Made beautiful jewelry
- Welcomed back to Olympus after Hera saw his
handiwork - Was given a workshop with Cyclopes as helpers
- Wishes to serve his mother
- Has Aphrodite as a bride
16Oh Baby, Baby, its Aphrodite
- Goddess of love beauty
- Has a magic girdle
- Born out of primal murder Cronus murdered his
father, his body was flung off of Mt. Olympus,
the body mixed with sunlight produced a naked and
beautiful goddess - Hera was jealous of her and wanted her married
off - Suitors lined up
17Fire, Fire! The
Contribution of Prometheus
- Was a young Titan
- Argued with Zeus about giving man fire
- Defied Zeus and also gave man water to control
the fire - As a result, man progressed and started
building ships, weapons, etc. - Zeus almost destroys man but instead lets them
destroy themselves - Punishes Prometheus by chaining him to a mountain
and lets vultures eat at his stomach and liver
forever - Eventually rescued by Heracles
18Pandoras Box
- created by Hephaestus out of clay and modeled by
Aphrodite - possessed all the great qualities of the Gods
- Hermes gave her the box
- Hera gave her curiosity
- Married Epimetheus
- When box was opened, lizard-like creatures came
out became old age, disease, famine, insanity - Closed box in enough time to keep Foreboding in
box which restored hope for mankind
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20Daedalus