1. Introduction to
Classical Mythology
Dr. Michael Broder
University of South Carolina
April 3, 2012

2. Daily Write: Grading Criteria
• Engage with the question
– If the question relates to a passage from the text, make
sure to comment on the passage
– If the question relates to a quote from a scholarly article,
make sure to comment on the quote
– Make sure to address all part of the question
• Show knowledge of the text
– Use examples from the text to illustrate your points
Now that we are well into the second half of the
course, I am holding you to a higher standard for
your Daily Writes.

3. Daily Write #19: Review
Idyll 11, by Theocritus (c. 275 BCE), is a poem in
which the Cyclops Polyphemus appeals to the Sea
Nymph Galateia, with whom he is in love. Where have
we met Polyphemus before? Compare the Polyphemus
of Idyll 11 to the Polyphemus you remember from that
other mythological text (make sure to include the title
and author of that other text). How is he similar? How
is he different? Why do you think Theocritus chose to
write about Polyphemus? Why do you think
Theocritus chose to give Polyphemus the kind of
character and personality he has in this poem?

4. Daily Write #19: Review
• How do they compare?
– Homer’s Polyphemus is nasty and brutish
– Theocritus’s Polyphemus is gentle and cultivated, a poet
• Why do you think Theocritus chose to write about Polyphemus?
– The make a new use of a traditional mythological figure
– Humor, irony, entertainment value of reversing the traditional role
– Polyphemus fits in with Theocritus’s rustic themes
• Why do you think Theocritus chose to give Polyphemus the kind
of character and personality he has in this poem?
– To show the reader another side of Polyphemus
– To show the reader the human side of monsters
– To demonstrate that not even monsters can resist Eros

5. Daily Write #20
Why do you think Lucretius begins On the Workings
of the Universe by invoking Venus? Which goddesss
(or goddesses) have you seen invoked at the
beginnings of poems before (e.g., Hesiod, Homer)?
Which Greek goddess is Venus the Roman
equivalent of? Why is Venus a fitting goddess to
invoke at the beginning of this poem?
Make sure you answer all parts of the question
and make sure your answer shows familiarity with
the text.

6. Classical Multiculturalism
• Hellenic Culture
• Hellenistic Culture
• Roman Culture

7. Hellenic Culture
• Greek culture from 750-323 BCE
– 750 BCE = Homer
– 323 BCE = Death of Alexander the Great

8. Athens was the cultural center of
Hellenic Greece
• Panathenaea, festival where the Homeric epics
were recited
• Dionysia, festival where the tragedies and
comedies were performed
• Birthplace of democratic form of government
• Birthplace or home of most of the great poets
and historians
• Birthplace of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the
first great philosophers

9. Major Hellenic Genres and Authors
• Epic poetry
– Homer (c. 750 BCE)
– Hesiod (c. 700 BCE)
– Homeric Hymns (c. 650 BCE – c. 525 BCE)
• Lyric poetry
– Semonides (c. 650 BCE)
– Sappho (c. 620–c. 570 BCE)
– Simonides (c. 556 -468 BCE)
– Xenophanes (c. 570 – c.475 BCE)
– Pindar (c. 522–443 BCE)

10. Major Hellenic Genres and Authors
• Historiography
– Herodotus (c. 480-c. 420 BCE)
– Thucydides (c. 460-c. 400 BCE)
• Tragic Poetry
– Aeschylus (c. 525-456 BCE)
– Sophocles (c. 496-406 BCE)
– Euripides (c. 480-406 BCE)
• Comic Poetry
– Aristophanes (c. 446 BC – c. 386 BCE)
• Philosophical dialogue
– Plato (c. 469-399 BCE)

11. Hellenistic Culture
• Greek culture from 323-31 BCE
• Begins in 323 BCE – death of Alexander the Great
• Ends in 31 BCE – Augustus Caesar defeats Antony
and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium
• Extends Greek culture from Greece to the rest of the
Mediterranean World
– Europe
– North Africa
– Middle East
– Southwest Asia

12. Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE)
• Macedonian King who conquered the entire
Mediterranean World
• Founded the city of Alexandria at the mouth of
the Nile River in Egypt
• After his death, his generals split his empire up
into several kingdoms encompassing
– Europe
– North Africa
– Middle East
– Southwest Asia

13. The Ptolemies in Egypt
• The most powerful of the successor kingdoms
was the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt
– Ruled by the descendants of a Macedonian General
known as Ptolemy I
– His descendants are known as the Ptolemies
– Their capital was in Alexandria
• The last of the Ptolemies was Cleopatra VII
(69-30 BCE)
• The defeat of Cleopatra by the Roman general
August Caesar in 31 BCE marks the end of the
Hellenistic Period

14. Hellenistic Culture
• Centered in the city of Alexandria in Egypt
• New forms of poetry
• New schools of philosophy
• New religious movements
• Advances in art, architecture, science, and
medicine

15. Hellenistic (Alexandrian) Poetry
• Alexandrian poets used mythological narratives
in new ways
• Alexandrian poets were interested in short
poems that described the everyday life of
ordinary people
• Alexandrian poetry offered an alternative to
– Epic, which focused on mythological gods, heroes,
and heroic adventures
– Tragedy, in which characters from myth stood in for
all of humanity

16. Theocritus
• Born in Sicily around 275 BCE
• Lived in Alexandria during the reign of
Ptolemy II (283-246 BCE)
• Invented a new genre of poetry: bucolic or
pastoral
– Pastor = Latin for shepherd
– Also called bucolic poetry
• Greek boukolos = cowherd

17. Pastoral Poetry
• Pastoral poetry features the everyday life of
herdsmen and the world they live in
• Often idealizes the life of herdsman,
representing them as virtuous men living a
simple life untouched by the complications
and vices associated with city life

18. Theocritus’s Idylls
• The beginning of the pastoral tradition in
poetry
• The word idyll comes from the Greek
eidyllion = “little picture”

19. Idyll 11
• Represents figures from mythology
– The Cyclops Polyphemus
– The nymph Galateia
• Shows these figures in the pastoral world of herdsman
– Polyphemus is a shepherd, as in Homer
• Theocritus’s Polyphemus is very different from
Homer’s
– He is gentle, civilized, and lives a simple life
– He plays the syrinx, a kind of flute associated with the
shepherd god Pan
– He composes poetry and sings songs

20. Roman Culture (300 BCE – 200 CE)
• Livius Andronicus (c. 280 – c. 200 BCE.),
earliest Roman poet known by name
• Death of Marcus Aurelius (180 CE)
• Rome was highly influenced by Greek
civilization and culture
– Poetry
– Mythology
– Philosophy

21. Philosophical Schools of the
Hellenistic Period
• Epicureanism
– Based on teachings of Epicurus (341– 270 BCE)
• Stoicism
– Based on teachings of Zeno (c. 334 – c. 262 BCE)
• Cynicism
– Based on teachings of Diogenes (c. 412 - 323 BCE)
All rejected the vices of wealth and power and
embraced the Socratic values of wisdom and virtue

22. Lucretius (c. 94 – c. 55 BCE)
• Adherent of Epicureanism
• Wrote On the Workings of the Universe to
explain the major tenets of Epicurus
• NOTE: The original Latin title of this poem
is De Rerum Natura
– Not required to know this, but thought some of
you might be interested, in case you come
across it in other classes, reading, etc

23. Fundamental Tenets of
Epicureanism
• Atomism
– Everything in the universe can be broken down into atoms,
the smallest units of existence
– Everything in the universe comes from the endless
combination and recombination of atoms
• Gods exist, but they care nothing for human beings
• The good life for human beings requires seeking
pleasure and avoiding pain
• Pleasure means the absence of pain
– Pleasure does not mean gratifying the senses with food,
drink, sex, and entertainment
– Pleasure comes from wisdom and virtue, not wealth and
power

24. On the Workings of the Universe
• Begins with invocation of Venus
• Seeks to dispel false ideas about gods
• Attributes much human suffering to false
religious beliefs
• Seeks rational explanations for the
development of religion
• Shows the inability of Hellenistic
philosophy to completely escape
mythology

25. Why Venus?
• Venus is the Roman name for Aphrodite
• Mother of Aeneas, Trojan hero who escaped
the fall of Troy and led the survivors to Italy
where his descendants founded Rome
• Patron goddess of Rome
• Goddess of sexual reproduction
• She makes a good mythological symbol for
Epicurean theory of atomism

26. Upcoming Assigments
• 4/5—READ: Vergil, from The Aeneid, in
ACM, pp. 410-20
• 4/10—READ: Vergil, from The Aeneid, in
ACM, pp. 421-30

27. Introduction to
Classical Mythology
Dr. Michael Broder
University of South Carolina
April 3, 2012