intro to myth

2. WHAT IS MYTHOLOGY?
•AN ALLEGORICAL NARRATIVE. : A BODY OF MYTHS:
SUCH AS. A : THE MYTHS DEALING WITH THE GODS,
DEMIGODS, AND LEGENDARY HEROES OF A PARTICULAR
PEOPLE.

3. ORIGIN OF THE WORD “MYTH”
•THE WORD MYTH DERIVES FROM THE GREEK MYTHOS,
WHICH HAS A RANGE OF MEANINGS FROM “WORD,” THROUGH
“SAYING” AND “STORY,” TO “FICTION”; THE UNQUESTIONED VALIDITY
OF MYTHOS CAN BE CONTRASTED WITH LOGOS, THE WORD WHOSE
VALIDITY OR TRUTH CAN BE ARGUED AND DEMONSTRATED.

4. HOW DID IT STARTED?
•DURING THE OLDEN TIMES, STORIES SUCH AS
MYTH, ARE PASSED ON THROUGH THE SO
CALLED, “WORD OF MOUTH” OR “ORAL
TRADITION”

8. GREEK MYTHOLOGY
•GREEK MYTH TAKES MANY FORMS, FROM RELIGIOUS
MYTHS OF ORIGIN TO FOLKTALES AND LEGENDS OF
HEROES.

9. •IN TERMS OF GODS, THE GREEK PANTHEON CONSISTS OF 12
DEITIES WHO WERE SAID TO RESIDE AT MOUNT OLYMPUS: ZEUS,
HERA, APHRODITE, APOLLO, ARES, ARTEMIS, ATHENA, DEMETER,
DIONYSUS, HEPHAESTUS, HERMES, AND POSEIDON, OR KNOWN
AS THE 12 OLYMPIAN GODS

10. CREATION STORY OF GREEK MYTH
•THE THEOGONY IS A POEM BY HESIOD
(8TH–7TH CENTURY BC) DESCRIBING THE ORIGINS
AND GENEALOGIES OF THE GREEK GODS,
COMPOSED C. 730–700 BC.

11. WHY IS THE THEOGONY IMPORTANT?
•IT RECORDS THE GENERATIONS OF THE GODS FROM
CHAOS (LITERALLY, “YAWNING GAP”) THROUGH ZEUS AND
HIS CONTEMPORARIES TO THE GODS WHO HAD TWO DIVINE
PARENTS (E.G., APOLLO AND ARTEMIS, BORN OF ZEUS AND… THE
FULLEST AND MOST IMPORTANT SOURCE OF MYTHS ABOUT THE
ORIGIN OF THE GODS IS THE THEOGONY OF HESIOD (C. 700 BCE).

12. THEOGONY
•IT IS THEN REFERRED TO AS THE
GENEALOGY OF THE GREEK GODS.

14. ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
•THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS PRIMARILY A POLYTHEISTIC
CIVILIZATION, WHICH MEANT THAT PEOPLE RECOGNIZED
AND WORSHIPED MULTIPLE GODS AND GODDESS. THE
MAIN GOD AND GODDESSES IN ROMAN CULTURE
WERE JUPITER, JUNO, AND MINERVA.

15. WHO ARE THE 12 MAJOR ROMAN
GODDESS?
•THE 12 ROMAN GODS WERE: JUPITER,
JUNO, MARS, MERCURY, NEPTUNE, VENUS,
APOLLO, DIANA, MINERVA, CERES,
VULCAN, AND VESTA.

16. WHY IS ROMAN MYTHOLOGY SIMILAR TO
GREEK MYTHOLOGY
•ROMAN MYTHOLOGY, LIKE THAT OF THE GREEKS, CONTAINED A
NUMBER OF GODS AND GODDESSES, AND BECAUSE OF THE
EARLY INFLUENCE OF GREECE ON THE ITALIAN PENINSULA AND
THE EVER-PRESENT CONTACT WITH GREEK CULTURE, THE
ROMANS ADOPTED NOT ONLY THEIR STORIES BUT ALSO MANY
OF THEIR GODS, RENAMING A NUMBER OF THEM.