How did the world begin?
How were the gods born?
Uranus, Cronus, Zeus:
what do they have in common?
which one of them created the universe?
Did any Titans survive the Titanomachy?
How did all the cosmogony end — where are we now?
Why are there people?
What is man?
What is woman?
Quid est homo?
Umbræ somnium, si quæras, respondebit Pindarus.
Quid est homo?
Simulacrum quoddam, dicet Sophocles.
Quid est homo?
Ipsa calamitas, ut loquitur Herodotus.
Quid est homo?
Occasio miseriarum, ut Philemon loquitur.
Quid est homo?
Folium caducum, ut Homerus loquitur.
Theogony: ὁ ἔρως (love)
Works and Days: ἡ ἔρις (strife)
Hesiod
Works and Days 11–34
cruel, evil Ἔρις
much better Ἔρις
destructive competition
constructive competition
war
work
She rouses even the resourceless person to work.
For when one man who needs work looks at another man
who is rich, who strives to plow, to plant,
to keep his household in order, then it is that neighbor envies neighbor,
as the rich man is striving for his wealth. This Eris is good for mortals.
Potter envies potter, carpenter envies carpenter.
Beggar envies beggar, singer envies singer.
You, Perses, must place these things in your thūmos. Do not let the Eris who rejoices at others’ misfortunes
keep your thūmos away from work,
as you skulk about looking and listening for occasions
of quarreling in the agorā.
Cronus
Gold
holy demons
Olympians
Silver
blessed underground spirits
Zeus
Bronze
dead
Heroes
in blessed isles
w/ Cronos
Zeus
Iron
forsaken,
old age
?
?
?
Zeus
Better
Worse
Golden
Silver
Bronze
Heroes
Iron
Degeneration: history goes from golden age to worse
Progression: history goes from savagery to civilization
?
ὁ Ιαπετός
Iapetus
ὁ Προμηθεύς
Prometheus
ἡ Κλυμένη
Clymene
or
ἡ Ἀσία
Asia
ὁ Ἐπιμηθεύς
Epimetheus
also Menœtius “of great renown” and Atlas
Μηκώνη
Mēcōnē
θυσία
thusia
σπονδή
spondē
burnt offering
drink offering
ὁ Προμηθεύς
Prometheus
ὁ Ἐπιμηθεύς
Epimetheus
ἡ Πανδώρα
Pandora
Theogony on Pandora
Hephæstus makes body, Athena gives her clothes
Hephæstus gives her a crown
“the sheer trick, from which men could not escape”
“from her is the race of the femal sex,
the ruinous tribes of women,
a great affliction,
who live with moratl men,
helpmates not in ruinous poverty but in excessive wealth”
What happens to men who shun marriage?
ὣς οὐκ ἔστι Διὸς κλέψαι νόον οὐδὲ παρελθεῖν.
So it is not possible to deceive
the mind of Zeus
nor to surpass it.
Works and Days on Pandora
Hephæstus
Flesh, Voice, Strength, Form
Athena
Knowledge (weaving)
Aphrodite
Grace, Love, Pain
Hermes
“the mind of a bitch
and the character of a thief”
οὕτως οὔ τί πη ἔστι Διὸς νόον ἐξαλέασθαι.
And so it is in no way possible
to flee the mind of Zeus.
Prometheus
Atlas
Prometheus
Hellas
Atlas
Æschylus — Prometheus Bound
Κράτος Βία τε
κράτος kratos = state authority
cf. democracy, aristocracy
βία bia = force
(opposed to persuasion)
cf. violence
Hephæstus
god of useful fire
Χο.) μή πού τι προύβης τῶνδε καὶ περαιτέρω;
Πρ.) θνητούς γ’ ἔπαυσα μὴ προδέρκεσθαι μόρον.
Χο.) τὸ ποῖον εὑρὼν τῆσδε φάρμακον νόσου; Πρ.) τυφλὰς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐλπίδας κατῴκισα.
Χο.) μέγ’ ὠφέλημα τοῦτ’ ἐδωρήσω βροτοῖς.
Πρ.) πρὸς τοῖσδε μέντοι πῦρ ἐγώ σφιν ὤπασα.
Χο.) καὶ νῦν φλογωπὸν πῦρ ἔχουσ’ ἐφήμεροι;
Cho.) Did you somehow transgress even beyond this?
Pr.) I stopped mortals from foreseeing their death.
Cho.) What sort of drug did you find for this sickness?
Pr.) I planted blind hopes in them.
Cho.) You gave mortals a great benefit.
Pr.) In addition to this, I gave them fire.
Cho.) AND NOW DAY-LONG-CREATURES HAVE FIERY FIRE?
Chorus
δόξει δὲ πῶς; τίς ἐλπίς; οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὅτι
ἥμαρτες; ὡς δ’ ἥμαρτες οὔτ’ ἐμοὶ λέγειν
καθ’ ἡδονὴν σοί τ’ ἄλγος. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν
μεθῶμεν, ἄθλου δ’ ἔκλυσιν ζήτει τινά.
How will it seem [to Zeus a good idea to let you go?]
What hope is there? Do you not see that you were wrong?
It does not please me, and it pains you, to talk about
how you were wrong. But let’s let go of this:
look for some way out of your struggle.
Oceanus
ὁρῶ, Προμηθεῦ, καὶ παραινέσαι γέ σοι
θέλω τὰ λῷστα, καίπερ ὄντι ποικίλῳ.
γίγνωσκε σαυτὸν καὶ μεθάρμοσαι τρόπους
νέους· νέος γὰρ καὶ τύραννος ἐν θεοῖς.
I see, Prometheus, and I want to encourage
you to be better, even if you are tricky.
Get to know yourself and fit in with the new ways:
for the tyrant among the gods is also new.
γνῶθι σαυτόν: know thyself
Prometheus and the Arts
What’s the only art Prometheus does not claim?
Karl Marx
as Prometheus, 1843
Ayn Rand
on Prometheus, 1938
ὁ Λυκάων
Lycaon
ὁ λύκος
wolf
Is Lycaon smarter than Zeus?
Flood!
What are “your mother’s bones?”
Prometheus
?
ὁ Δευκαλίων
Deucalion
Epimetheus
Pandora
ἡ Πύρρα
Pyrrha
ὁ Ἕλλην
Hellēn