Preface

Welcome to college-level Greek mythology! This course is a great peak into the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece you may have only heard a bit about. Greek mythology as we know it today represents the culmination of centuries of the religion of the Ancient Greeks.

Like many people living in ancient times, there were things they just didn't understand – like how the earth was created, how to explain mysterious phenomena in nature, and what exists after death. As a result of these questions, they wove and re-wove elaborate stories and myths to explain the history of the word as they knew it. What we are left with today is a fairly complete picture of stories and fantasies, some of which actually seem to be rooted in historical fact.

In chapter one of the course, we try to start as early in time as we can – even before the Ancient Greeks lived as we know them. This is because few myths and religions start de novo; they are generally borrowed from somewhere else – at least to some degree. If you are to understand what Greek mythology is all about, you need to know where it most likely originated. You also need to know how we know about Ancient Greek mythology at all and what the basic themes of this mythology most likely meant to the people of Ancient Greece.

Chapter two covers the story of creation according to the Greeks. Most of this information was gotten from a poem by Hesiod called Theogony or the Origin of the Gods. You will see that there have been a few variations found but that most of the available information focuses on Chaos as the void where the entire universe came out of. It will also take us up until the age of the Titans, when Cronos ruled the earth.

In chapter three of the course, you will study the life of Kronos and his offspring. He was the youngest of the initial Titans and was once the ruler over all. You will see that the very thing he was upset about with regard to Uranus, his father, was a characteristic he

had in himself. We will talk about his six offspring, only one of whom would overthrow him and become ruler of the silver age.

Chapter four covers the Golden Age of Man, when Cronus and the Titans ruled. Cronus was, of course, the ruler of the Titans but there were many other deities in this realm. These early gods and goddesses often controlled specific things in nature or the cosmos. They were like other gods in that they had their faults and major issues with each other but you'll see they also had a particular job to do as part of the Greek pantheon.

Chapter five in the course takes you on an adventure into the saga of the Olympians. These we the gods and goddesses most people know, mostly because they are deities with many stories attached to them. Zeus was their leader but other Olympians like Aphrodite, Poseidon, Athena, Hermes, and many others were commonly named in the Ancient Greek myths. You will study their stories and see that they are similar to the Titans but also had their own unique characteristics.

In chapter six, you will learn about the Gigantes or giants. There were a hundred giants created by Gaea after the fall of the Titans. It is said she bore them in order to get back at the Olympians after the Titanomachy. You will study the great war they had with the Olympians, called the Gigantomachy. While there were many giants, only a few are named and have specific characteristics you will need to know about.

Chapter seven in the course introduces you to some of the more famous heroes of the Bronze Age or the "Age of Heroes". There were many more than you will read about in this chapter; these are just the most commonly known individuals who were at least partly mortal and who often had many adventures. Learn who they are in this chapter before expanding later on the myths involving them in later chapters.

Chapter eight covers the events surrounding the Trojan War. There has been a lot of interest in it, even in modern times because there is no major city named Troy nowadays. Did Troy exist at all and was there a war? What we know about it comes from the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems written by Homer between 800 and 700 BCE. We will also talk about the archaeological evidence uncovering the real history of this place.

Chapter nine in the course finally clears up some details on a few of the mythical creatures you often hear about as part of Greek Mythology. These are strange creatures often said to be parts of more than one animal or a normal animal with special characteristics. There are also some major figures in this chapter that pop up in the study of mythology that may be so little discussed that they have more than one possible name or origin. Lastly, you will learn about the elements, which are things like ambrosia and nectar, that have special meaning to the ancient Greeks.

Chapter ten flushes out the monsters of Greek mythology. While all monsters are creatures, not all creatures are monsters. Chapter 9 covers the creatures; this one teaches you about those that the Greeks called monsters rather than creatures. These were often the ones that heroes set out to capture and kill for various reasons. You will see that some monsters held special meaning to the Greeks, such as those they felt were responsible for certain events in nature they couldn't otherwise explain.

In chapter eleven in the course, you will be able to thoroughly examine the myths that we will have already touched on having mortals in them. Mortals interacted with the gods in ancient Greek Mythology and were often sources of lessons or morals the Greeks wanted to emphasis. Among the different types of characters in Greek mythology, mortals were most often making errors that needed to be pointed out to others who heard of their stories.

Chapter twelve explores the Greek Underworld or what we call Hades. You'll see that it differs much from the Judeo-Christian interpretation of Hell and is a place where everyone in Ancient Greece ultimately ends up after death. It is much more elaborate than you'd think and has several interesting characters who interact with the dead in fascinating ways.

The final thirteenth chapter is a brief discussion of the Greek plays. These were divided into comedies, tragedies, and satyrs. They were designed to both entertain and educate the public. There were a few Greek playwrights who stand out as the greatest among the Ancient Greek interpreters of the original literature on the gods and their interactions with humans. We will talk about the three greats of their time and their impact on what we know about the Greeks of that era.