TFBT: *Updated* The Ten Greatest Mythologists of our Age

“Mythologist” is sort of an old fashion word. These researchers of the Iliad and Greek Mythology might be called Philologists, Classicists, Latinists or professors, scholars, researchers or lecturers of Classical Studies. And yes, this is only my uncredentialed opinion.
1) Aaron J. Atsma 

Aaron J Atsma of Auckland, New Zealand is the creator and web-master of http://www.theoi.com/  This is a magnificent site I visit all the time. It is well written and well organized. All articles include the source material in common translation. As the name implies, Atsma’s research centers on the Greek divinities. His interpretation of myths, particularly in correspondences is often lacking a classical reference, but they induce that intuitive “Aha!” that helps make so much sense of the topic at hand.
2) Jenny Strauss-Clay 

Jenny Strauss-Clay is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Classics at the University of Virginia she received degrees from Reed College, the University of Chicago and the University of Washington I find her writing clear, concise and thought provoking. I revisit her works constantly. Her works includ; Hesiod's Cosmos Cambridge University Press, 2003. Which I refer to constantly and think is a requirement for anyone wanting to understand one of the foundation documents of Classical Studies. · The Wrath of Athena: Gods and Men in the Odyssey. Princeton University Press, 1983. Reprint, Rowman and Littlefield, 1996. · The Politics of Olympus: Form and Meaning in the Major Homeric Hymns. Princeton University Press. 1989. Her articles include; The Dais of Death Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), Vol. 124, (1994), pp. 35-40 · The Generation of Monsters in Hesiod Classical Philology, Vol. 88, No. 2 (Apr., 1993), pp. 105-116 She has a website at http://classics.virginia.edu/people/profile/jsc2t

3) NS Gill 

N.S. Gill blogs on tangents to Ancient History, Latin, and Mythology at https://ancthisttangents.wordpress.com/   . N.S. Gill has a B.A. in Latin and an M.A. in linguistics at the University of Minnesota.  Her site is well linked and covers a broad range of classical topics.  

4) Ian C. Johnston 

Ian Johnston is a retired instructor (now a Research Associate) at Vancouver Island University (the new name for Malaspina College), Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. He received a BS from McGills in Geology and Chemistry, BA from Bristols in English and Greek and MA from Toronto in Engineering. Johnston has written about almost everything and translated books on the rest of everything. His books include The Ironies of War: An introduction to Homer’s Iliad University Press of America (1988) His articles include as brilliant series of essays on Homer’s Iliad · Essay 1: Homer's War · Essay 2: Homer's Similes: Nature as Conflict
· Essay 3: The Gods
· Essay 4: The Heroic Code
· Essay 5: Arms and the Men
· Essay 6: Hector and Achilles
· Essay 7: Homer and the Modern Imagination
· Essay 8: On Modern English Translations of the Iliad

Ian Johnston’s website is at http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/ It is designed to provide curricular material for various courses in literature and Liberal Studies. Johnston writes on myriad topics in addition to classical studies and all the articles at his website are thought provoking and professional.
5) Deborah Lyons 

Deborah Lyons is an Associate Professor in the Department of Classics Miami University, her education was at Princeton University -- M.A. 1983; Ph.D. 1989. Her books include · Gender and Immortality: Heroines in Ancient Greek Myth and Cult. Princeton University Press (1997). She covers a wide range of topics and is thought provoking. Her articles include;
· The Sexual Life of Satyrs by F. Lissarrague and “One, Two, Three...Eros” by J.-P. Vernant in Before Sexuality, Princeton University Press, 1990. Her website is http://miamioh.edu/cas/academics/departments/classics/about/faculty-staff/lyons/index.html

6) Gregory Nagy  

Gregory Nagy is a professor of Classics at Harvard University, and the director of the Center for Hellenic Studies, a Harvard school in Washington DC. He is the Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard, and continues to teach half-time at the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He studied at Indiana University and Harvard receiving his PhD in Classical Philology and Linguistics in 1966. I find Professor Nagy inspiring! The handful of his books I’ve read from the library which is his total writings, are approachable, readable, instructive and full of insights. Nagy’s books include; The Best Of The Achaeans; Concepts Of The Hero In Archaic Greek Poetry Johns Hopkins University Press (1981) This is another book I refer to constantly and found quite enlightening. Greek Mythology and Poetics Cornell University Press (1992) His articles include; · Phaethon, Sappho's Phaon, and the White Rock of Leukas Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 77, (1973), pp. 137-177 Homeric Questions Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), Vol. 122, (1992), pp. 17-60

Professor Nagy is also the lead instructor of “The Ancient Greek Warrior in 24 Hours” a free massive online open classroom sponsored by Harvard and EdX Other websites include The Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard's Classics department under faculty profiles  and Hour 25
7) Carlos Parada 

Carlos Parada is a former lecturer in Classics at Lund University in Sweden. His books include Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology Coronet Books (1993) His website is Greek Mythology Link This is an incredible well organized, heavily linked depository of everything dealing with Greek mythology. The complexity and thoroughness of his efforts are unbelievable and incredibly valuable.
8) Ruth Scodel 

Ruth Scodel is the D. R. Shackleton Bailey Collegiate Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan. She studied at Harvard University 1973-1978, Ph.D. June 1978 University of California, Berkeley 1969-1973 A.B. June 1973. I’ve found her writing refreshing and offering unique perspectives. Her books include
Listening to Homer University of Michigan Press (2009)
Her articles include; Apollo's Perfidy: Iliad ω 59-63 Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 81, (1977), pp. 55-57 · The Gods' Visit to the Ethiopians in "Iliad" 1 Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 103, (2007), pp. 83-98 The Suitors' Games The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 122, No. 3 (Autumn, 2001), pp. 307-327 The Word of Achilles Classical Philology, Vol. 84, No. 2 (Apr., 1989), pp. 91-99 The Wits of Glaucus Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), Vol. 122, (1992), pp. 73-84 · The Achaean Wall and the Myth of Destruction Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 86, (1982), pp. 33-50 Her website can be found at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rscodel/home.html

9) Laura Slatkin 

Laura Slatkin is a professor at New York University (Gallatin School). She is also currently visiting professor on the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. She was educated with B.A. Classics, Harvard University, 1968, M.A. Classics, University of Cambridge, 1970, Ph.D. Classical Philology, Harvard University, 1979. I find her writing clear, concise and convincing. Her articles include; Gender and Homer Epic (with Nancy Felson) in the Cambridge Companion to Homer, Robert Fowler editor. I loved that line “men, women, gods and goddesses, working out their very different fortunes in a universe win which kleos (glory) is the highest value." I like how this article takes a different prespective on Homer’s two greatest poems by contrasting the relationships of the genders in each. “Notes on Tragic Visualizing in the Iliad” also. I appreciate your insights into seeing, particularly the thought that the mist that veils the divinities from mortals correlates to the final mist that covers the eyes of us. You really piqued my interest with the discussion on Achilles' sight. . Her books include; The Power of Thetis University of California Press (1995). I simply adore this book and think it gave me a greater understanding of The Iliad and swift-footed Achilles than any other book I read.

10) Vanessa James 

Vanessa James is associate professor and chair of theatre arts at Mount Holyoke College. She was educated at University of Bristol, England, C.I.D and Wimbledon College of Art, Dip. AD James is another author who writes on myriad topics. Her books include; The Genealogy of Greek Mythology: An Illustrated Family Tree of Greek Mythology from the First Gods to the Founders of Rome Penguin Group, USA (2003) This accordion-style book, includes a full genealogy as well as color illustrations and stories about Greek gods. It perfect for those of us who need handy visual and textual materials when studying relationship amongst mythological characters. Of course, I am one of those people who can read a genealogy table. Her website is at http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/facultyprofiles/vanessa_james.html

 

TFBT: Notes on Parada’s “Robe and Necklace of Harmonia”

Maya M[i] and I were discussing the Theban Wars as referenced in the Cypria and wondered about the involvement of the accursed Robe and Necklace of Harmonia   Carlos Parada and Maicar Förlag wrote this thorough article on the topic at Greek Mythology Link. I highly recommend you visit the site and that you read the article.  

I had just a few comments to share;  

·      The Oracle directed Cadmus to build a new city where “the cow resolved to rest”.  Robert Graves tells that “This beast he drove eastward through Boeotia, never allowing her to pause until, at last, she sank down where the city of Thebes now stands”[ii]  (Because…) “A cow’s strategic and commercial abilities are not highly developed.”[iii]

·      “…armed men, called Sparti, who cared for nothing except killing each other. Some say that they did this because Cadmus flung stones at them.” I wonder if the “stones” were pieces of gold that Cadmus used to pay off his mercenaries.

·      “Cadmus had to serve Ares for a whole year for having killed his darling Dragon, which, some say, was this god's offspring.” Aaron Atsma says about this dragon; “Ismenian dragon was a giant serpent which guarded the sacred spring of Ares near Thebes... Ares later avenged his draconic son by transforming Kadmos and his wife into serpents.”[iv]

·      I wanted to make an observation about the relationship of Zeus and Europa to Cadmus and Harmonia.  Zeus and Europa had three sons with no indication that they were triplets.  By the standards of the gods, theirs was a marriage.  Which makes Zeus and Cadmus brothers-in-law.   Just a few thoughts here.  If Menelaus ended up on the Elysian Fields simply because he was a son-in-law of Zeus[v], how much more blessed is a brother-in-law?   In Norse mythology the two groups of gods Aesir and Vanir wed “hostages” from the other tribe in order to maintain their alliance.  Same tradition among the Tlingit peoples of Southeast Alaska.   Also Graves and Maicar both claim that Cadmus helped Zeus defeat Typhon.[vi]      

·      “New marriage; ...an oracle told him (Alcmaeon) to depart to (the River god) Achelous and to stand another trial on the river bank. So he went to the springs of Achelous, and was purified by him, receiving Achelous' daughter, Callirrhoe to wife. Alcmaeon settled in the region about that river and colonized it.”  I don’t recall where, but I read an explanation of this.  In fact, the “river bank” was in the delta; newly formed land untainted by his crime of matricide.

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[i] Maya M is the blogger at Maya Corner  where “ I write about things that interest me, in as politically incorrect style as I like.”  She is a frequent contributer to Bill’s Classical Studies.  She writes “I had some interest in mythology as a child, and "Ancient Greek Legends and Myths" by Nikolay Kun was among my favorite books. However, this interest was nothing out of the ordinary. My education had no leaning to classics, except for the mandatory review of ancient Greek literature in 9th grade. I was truly engaged only about 2 years ago, when a kid to whom I am a teaching aide got to the above mentioned 9th grade. My student seemed just bored by mythology and ancient literature, but I looked at them with new eyes and was fascinated. My background in biology naturally predisposed me to science-fiction rewriting of some myths, but I try also to understand what they meant to their original audience in the pre-scientific, "daimon-haunted" world.

[ii] Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, Europe And Cadmus f.  http://www.24grammata.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Robert-Graves-The-Greek-Myths-24grammata.com_.pdf

[iii] Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, Europe And Cadmus 6.  http://www.24grammata.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Robert-Graves-The-Greek-Myths-24grammata.com_.pdf

[iv] http://www.theoi.com/Ther/DrakonIsmenios.html

[v] Homer, Odyssey 4.560

[vi] Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, Typhon d. “But some say that it was Cadmus who wheedled the sinews from Delphyne, saying that he needed them for lyre-strings on which to play her delightful music; and Apollo who shot her dead.”  Delphyne here is the mate of the Dragon Python and foster mother of Typhon, to whom he’d entrusted the sinews of Zeus. http://www.24grammata.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Robert-Graves-The-Greek-Myths-24grammata.com_.pdf  Also, Parada & Förlag wrote “Cadmus helped to defeat Typhon; Some have said that Zeus gave Harmonia  to Cadmus in recompense for having helped him to restore the harmony of the world, destroyed by Typhon's attack on heaven.” http://www.maicar.com/GML/Cadmus.html

 

TFBT: Atsma’s Titanic Theories

If you read my blog regularly you noted references to Aaron Atsma or more probably to his incredible website; www.theoi.com .  Atsma has all the primary source materials linked to his site.  He wrote incredibly articles on every god, goddess, demi-god, daemon and divine monster in Greek mythology.  Each entry in his encyclopedic effort is thoroughly referenced with the actual text, thoroughly readable and effectively cross-referenced.  I don’t even have his website bookmarked.  I visit it so often that my Google search field automatically defaults to it.  I am hoping Atsma will accept an invitation from Hour 25  to be a visiting scholar. 

I am sure Mr. Atsma’s finger tips are worn to the bone, putting  together this indispensible site.  Hence, he’s never written anything else that I can find.  I know he has more to share and further insights.   He  offers off-handed little tidbits in his introductions at the beginning of each article and often in the Notes section at the end. (Can’t resist a few quotes here; “The story’s in the details” and “It’s all in the footnotes.”)  While working on an article about “The Combatants of the Titanomachy” I kept running across such interesting things in the footnotes.  I present those “interesting things” here as “Atsma’s Titanic  Theories”.  To be clear this is my interpretation of what I believe is his concept of the first and second generation Titans.

Introduction

 The first generation Titans were the sons of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth).  Hesiod named them Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus and the youngest Cronus.  Conveniently the primordial couple of Sky and Earth also produced six daughters; the Titanesses.  (None of the Titanesses or goddesses actively participated in what happens next.)

“(Cronus) and his brothers conspired against their father, laying an ambush for him as he descended to lie with Earth. Four of the siblings were posted at the corners of the world, where they seized hold of him and held him fast, while Cronus castrated him with a sickle. In this myth the brothers apparently personified the great pillars … holding heaven and earth apart, or sometimes the whole cosmos aloft.” “Hyperion in the east, Iapetus in the west, Coeus in the north and Crius in the south. The fifth Cronus (Time) stood in the centre, and the sixth, Oceanus, circled the world in the form of the river Ocean.”

Not everyone agrees with the identification of Cronus with Chronos  but it has a certain logic.  Time cannot begin until the sun (Hyperion) rises for the first time.  That can’t happen until the Sky and Earth part on a more permanent basis.

“Individually they were apparently responsible for the establishment of the portions of time: Cronus was time, the destroyer; Crius, leader of the constellations, and so regulator of the seasons; Coeus, lord of the axis of heaven, around which the constellations revolved measuring the year; Hyperion, overlord of the day and night, father of sun, moon and dawn; Iapetus Titan-god of mortal life-span and ancestor of man; and Oceanus the earth-encircler, who oversaw the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies. “

   

Cronus

Cronus was the Titan  all-devouring time. He was King of the Titans during the first age of man the Golden Age.  “ In fear of a prophecy that he would be in turn be overthrown by his own son, Cronus swallowed each of his children as soon as they were born. His wife/sister Rhea  saved the youngest, Zeus, by hiding him and fed Cronus a stone wrapped in the swaddling clothes. The godling  grew up, forced Cronus to disgorge his swallowed offspring, and led the Olympians in a ten year war against the Titans.  Cronus’ nephew the Iapetides, took over the leadership of the Titanic army.  Eventually the Titans were defeated and tossed into the pit of Tartarus.

Coeus

Atsma says that Coeus is also called Polos (of the northern pole), suggesting he was the Titan of the pillar of the north and Titan  of the axis of heaven around which the constellations revolved.  Atsma supposes he was probably also a god of heavenly oracles, just as his wife Phoebe presided over the oracle of the center of the earth;  Delphi.  Their  grandson Phoebus Apollo eventually inherited the oracle. “  According to Atsma; “in ancient times this point in the heavens was marked by the star alpha Dra in the constellation Draco.”   His wife/sister, Phoebe, was the complimentary goddess of the navel of the earth; Delphi.  “Clearly Coeus functioned as the prophetic voice of his father Heaven, just as Phoebe was the prophetic voice of her mother Earth. Like Delphi, navel of the earth, the axis of heaven was also guarded by a Drakon: the constellation Draco.”

“The daughters of Coeus appear to have represented the two main branches of prophecy: Leto and her son Apollo presided over the prophetic power of light and heaven, whereas Asteria (wife of Perses below) and her daughter Hecate presided over the prophetic powers of night, chthonian darkness and the ghosts of the dead.”   

 Crius

“Crius' connection with the south is found both in his name and family connections--he is "the Ram," the constellation Aries, whose springtime rising in the south marked the start of the Greek year; his eldest son is Astraios, god of the stars; and his wife is Eurybia, a daughter of the sea. .. Crius was in this sense also the primordial god of the constellations who ordered the measures of the year, Crius' other sons were Perses the Destroyer and the sometimes goat-skinned Titan Pallas the spear-brandishing one,  “

He supposes that the sons were totemic-gods. Pallas, whose skin became Athena's aegis was goatish. Perses,  father of the dog accompanied Hecate, was perhaps dog-like. Astraios was  father of horse-shaped wind-gods.

  

Iapetus

“Iapetus himself was no doubt the pillar of the west, a position which was later and more obviously held by his son Atlas.  Iapetus "the piercer" may also have been regarded as the Titan god of the mortal life-span. Indeed, his sons Prometheus and Epimetheus were represented as the creators of mankind and other mortal creatures.  Iapetus and his bride Clymene.” 

Note; she was not his sister but rather a water nymph)  might have been conceived with a variety of functions”  Atsma envisions Iapetus and his sons as craftsmen.  “The Awl” being one interpretation of his name. 

“The sons of Iapetus were also described as possessing some of the worst of human traits : on an intellectual level, Prometheus is overly sly and crafty, Epimetheus a guileless fool, Atlas overly daring, and arrogant Menoitios prone to rash and violent actions. Iapetus may be the same as Keuthonymos, a mysterious underworld daemon named as the father of Menoites, herdsman of Hades. It is reasonable to assume that this Menoites is identical to Menoitios, son of Iapetus.”

Without being too clear about it Atsma is following  Homer, (Iliad 8. 479) in making Iapetus of the realm eventually called Hades. 

Hyperion

“He and his brothers also seem to have been viewed as the ancient gods responsible for the creation of man, and who each bestowed a quality. Hyperion as his name suggests ("he who watches from above") was clearly associated with watching and observation, just as his wife, Theia, was the goddess of sight (thea), and so theirs was surely the gift of eyes and sight.”  “Hyperion--father of sun, dawn and moon--ordered the days and months. “

Hyperion was of course the elder Titan of the Sun and represented the East.  Hence, it is not surprising that his son Helios’ primary residence is in the east and that his grandson Aeetes rules the most easterly known human realm. Hyperion sired Helios (the sun), Selene (the moon) and rosy-fingered Eos the Dawn.  

Oceanus

“ Oceanus was the Titan … of the great earth-encircling river Oceanus, the font of all the earth's fresh-water: including rivers, wells, springs and rain-clouds. Oceanus was also the god who regulated the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies which were believed to emerge and descend into his watery realm at the ends of the earth. .. Their children were the … River-Gods and Oceanides, nymphs of springs and fountains. Unlike his brother Titans, Oceanus neither participated in the castration of Uranus nor joined the battle against the younger Olympian gods. ….

Oceanus was depicted in ancient Greek vase painting as a bull-horned god with the tail of a serpentine fish in place of legs, similar to his river-god sons. … His wife Tethys, shown seated beside him, had wings on her brow, in the role of mother of rain-clouds.”

 This pair who lived outside of our known reality maintained their neutrality and offered shelter to the goddesses and Titanesses during the water between the Titans and Cronus children.  Cronus’ children were of course the Olympians led by Zeus. 

Conclusion

“The Titans were eventually deposed by Zeus and cast into the pit of Tartarus. Hesiod describes this as a void located beneath the foundations of all, where earth, sea and sky have their roots. Here the Titans shift in cosmological terms from being holders of heaven to bearers of the entire cosmos. According to Pindar and Aeschylus the Titans were eventually released from the pit through the clemency of Zeus.”   “Many human generations later, Zeus released Cronus and his brothers from this prison, and made the old Titan king of the Elysian Islands, home of the blessed dead.”

Can You Help a Fellow Classicist with a Mystery?

Greetings.


For Father's Day my oldest son sent me a gift certificate to Amazon.  I want to use it to finally buy a copy of Aaron J. Atsma's book.  Aaron is the editor of the incredible www.theoi.com.  However, I can't find a copy of it at Amazon as www.theoi.com advertises nor can I find Atsma's contact information nor alma mater.   Can someone help a fellow classicist out?  Who is Aaron J. Atsma?  And how do I buy his book? 


Thanks,

TFBT: Obscure References to Titans

This is a continuation of the series of papers generated by the continuing conversations of WilliamMoulton2 and Maya M.  This paper discusses obscure references to the nature of the Titans. 

A little background here; the elder gods in Greek mythology are called the Titans.  They were the twelve children of starry Uranus the primordial sky-god and wide-bosomed Gaea the earth; six male “Titans” and six female “Titanesses”.  The overreaching Titans were; the earth encircling river god Oceanus, Koios, Krios, Hyperion the primordial sun, Iapetus and the youngest Cronus.  Most of whom ended up in Tartarus along with their sons after Zeus took over.

According to Aaron J. Atsma  when the Titans overthrew their cruel father Uranus, “Krios, Koios, Hyperion and Iapetus were posted at the four corners of the world where they seized hold of the Sky-god and held him fast, while Cronus hidden in the center, castrated him with a sickle” provided by their mother. Hyperion was no doubt regarded as the Titan of the pillar of the east. Koios' alternate name, Polos "of the northern pol”), suggests he was the Titan of the pillar of the north” [i] Oceanus whose theoretical place of existence was outside this little drama and therefore “neutral” as he and the female deities were to be until the Gigantomachy.  

That leaves Iapetus as the Titan of the West; a likely scenario since that is the post inherited by his son Atlas and because Iapetus is the titan most associated with the realm of Hades.  (Iliad 8.479)    Iapetus’ sons became leaders among the Titans “rebelling” against Zeus, specifically glorious Menoetius whom . . . “far-seeing Zeus struck him with a lurid thunderbolt and sent him down to Erebus because of his mad presumption and exceeding pride." (  Hesiod, Theogony 507) .  Atsma also suggests  “Menoetius was perhaps identical to Menoites the herdsman of Hades, whom Herakles wrestled with in the underworld.”

Finally , among the Titan subduers of Uranus would be Crios at the south.  Krios has three sons; Perses the father of Hecate, Astraeus husband of the Dawn, and Pallas husband of the River Styx, chiefest of them all the Oceanides.  (Odd that two of Krios’ sons are wed to Zeus’ first allies.)   According to Atsma again, Perses as the dog-star may have been imagined with canine features. His father and brothers were all associated with animals--Krios was literally; the ram, Astraeus was a horse- or ass-featured and Pallas was a goatish god.   Astraeus’ sons were the Anemoi, the horse-shaped gods of the winds. Two of them Boreas and Zephyrus, were the sires of immortal horses. Zeus, god of storms, was sometimes described as driving a chariot drawn by the four horse-shaped winds.  

Cronus too might have had a touch of horsiness, considering  he was the father of the first centaur; Chiron and of Poseidon, the god of horses and sire of many divine horses himself. 

Robert Graves refers to the elder gods as “Titans, lords of the seven-day week”[ii] without any explanation I can find;

·      “Atlas as a simple personification of Mount Atlas…as the Titan of the Second day of the Week, who separated the waters of the firmament from the ware of the earth.”

·      The Oceanide and first wife of Zeus, “immortal Metis, as Titaness of the fourth day” 

·      “Rhea, paired with Cronus as Titaness of the seventh day”

The fact that Graves makes Cronus (aka Saturn in the Roman pantheon) titan of Saturday and comments that Hermes is the “god” of the fourth day, suggests that he is using the traditional Western etymology for days of the week.  That means;

·      Helios/Hyperion on the first day Sunday

·      Selene/Phoebe on the second day Monday

·      Ares on the third day Tuesday (I can’t explain the discrepancy.)

·      Hermes on the fourth day Wednesday

·      Zeus on the fifth day Thursday

·      Aphrodite on the sixth day Friday and

·      Cronus on the seventh day, Saturday[iii]

If we accept Nagy’s notion that the name of a son can reflect a main characteristic of the father; (CHS Open House discussion)  maybe we can make a few more assumptions on the ancient Titans. 

• [Hesiod 507] “Now Iapetus took to wife the neat-ankled mad Clymene,”  Which makes this Titan; daring, (Atlas) arrogant, (Menoetius) and like the elderly Priam at Iliad 3.110 “in whatsoever an old man taketh part, he looketh both before and after,”  (Prometheus and Epimetheus).  Which suggests that Iapetus was eldest of the Titans.
• (Hesiod 375) “And Eurybia, bright goddess, was joined in love to Crius”  making Crius a starry, spear-brandishing destroyer.  

 

  

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[i] Theoi Project Copyright © 2000 - 2008, Aaron J. Atsma, New Zealand

[ii] Robert Graves, “The Greek Myths”

[iii] http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/Z50.1A.html  and  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_days_of_the_week

 

TFBT: Effects of a Thunderbolt and the Illusion of Death

On one hand, some think a thunderbolt thrown by Zeus could kill even those who are born immortal like   Menoetius, “Now Iapetus took to wife the neat-ankled maid Clymene, daughter of Oceanus, and went up with her into one bed. And she bare him a stout-hearted son, Atlas: also she bare very glorious Menoetius . . . But Menoetius was outrageous (hubristic), and far-seeing Zeus struck him with a lurid thunderbolt and sent him down to Erebus because of his mad presumption and exceeding pride. “   (Hesiod, Theogony 507)  or  Typhon;    “Zeus…seizing his weapons, thunder, lightning, and the glowering thunderbolt, he made a leap from Olympus, and struck...Then, when Zeus had put him down with his strokes, Typhoeus crashed, crippled, and the gigantic earth groaned beneath him… Zeus in tumult of anger cast Typhon into broad Tartarus.” (Hesiod, Theogony 820)

On the other hand, at least one mortal, Anchises, survives a thunderbolt without divine help; “Venus is said to have loved Anchises and to have lain with him. By him she conceived Aeneas, but she warned him not to reveal it to anyone. Anchises, however, told it over the wine to his companions, and for this was struck by the thunderbolt of Jove” (Hyginus, Fabulae, 94) Indeed, for he was, like the river “Asopos, heavy-kneed, for he was marred by a thunderbolt." Callimachus, Hymn 4 to Delos 75)

The death of the Cyclops really pushes the whole question. Can you kill an immortal? Is there a crucial difference between being a subterranean worker and being dead in Hades?  "Zeus was afraid that men might learn the art of medicine from Asclepius and help each other out, so he hit him with a thunderbolt. This angered Apollo, (his divine father) who slew the Cyclopes, for they designed the thunderbolt for Zeus. (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 118 – 122)  Were these the elder Cyclopes?  The three, single-eyed, immortal giants who forged the lightning-bolts of Zeus; sons of Father Uranus and Mother Gaea?   Or the fellow tribesmen of Polyphemus, son of Poseidon and Toosa?  Or others who survived like the Basque Cyclops Tartaro.  And just to confuse the issue Asclepius, returned to earth as a god. 

 The Hesiodic reference to Menoetius’ life is short, but Aaron J. Atsma makes him later the herdsman of Hades, whom Herakles wrestled with in the underworld. (Theoi Project Copyright)   Wasn't Typhon buried under Etna? At least according to Prometheus, who says of the monster (Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 353)”, a helpless and a sprawling bulk, he lies hard by the narrows of the sea, pressed down beneath the roots of Aetna”  That's why in Hesiod the Titans are "bound" in Tartarus; whether struck by lightning or tossed into the pit, so they cannot escape.  Likewise, no mortal dies in Greek myth; their souls go to Hades; their immortal parts go to some version of the Isle of the Blest or Olympus. No one actually dies, it is just an illusion poorly maintained by the gods in order to insure their rule.

 

 

 

The above paper evolved from a conversation by WilliamMoulton2 and  Maya M. 

 Inspired by TFBT: Saving the Drown Toddler Glaucus