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Myth, Religion & History

What is myth

What is history

What is religion

How do they relate to one another?

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Mythellaneous

●All cultures have myth●Babylon – Enuma Elish●Vikings – sagas●Native American traditions●British - King Arthur●Hebrew?

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Types of Myth●Etiological (or Divine)●Aitia = cause●What causes earthquakes?

●Heroic Myths (Legends)●Traditional Folk Stories●Moral guidance (Aesop's fables)●Societal fears●Rites of passage●Great trials

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What do we know about Greek myth, religion and history?●Worship of the Greek gods (Zeus, Hera, Athena, Poseidon, etc.) goes back to the second millennium BC on the mainland.●Sacred Bull●Human Sacrifice ? (relationship to Baal?)●Canaanite worship/Phoenician●Bulls and human sacrifice●Snake goddesses

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Religion – Sacred Bulls (Apis)

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Religion – Human SacrificeStory of Minotaur eating 14 victims

Sacrificial site at Knossos includes human sacrifice and indicates ritual feasting on the dead

Probably rare – maybe related to Earthquakes suffered by island and attempts to appease Poseidon/Earthshaker

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Religion – Snake Goddesses

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Sacred War Axe

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Is Mythology History?

●Heinrich Schliemann used Homers works for archaeological expeditions.

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Heinrich SchliemannSelf-financed / self-style archaeologist

Married 16 year-old Greek girl who could read the original Greek accounts

Where is ancient Mycenae

Looking for grave of Agamemnon discovers the shaft grave inside the lions gate.

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The Lion’s Gate

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“I have gazed on the face of Agamemnon…”

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Was there a Trojan WarHeinrich Schliemann

Calvert – American vice-consul

Nine layered cities

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“The Greeks raise a mighty army because of a woman . . . And then invaded Asia and destroyed Priam and his forces. Ever since then, the Persians have regarded the Greeks as their enemies…. They date their hostilities towards Greece from the fall of Ilium.” (Herodotus)

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Homer

●Late 8th century BC●Assumes knowledge of the gods.

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Alexander the Great

Saw himself as embodiment of Achilles. Where did he get such an idea?

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Plato and AristotlePlato – Myth vs. Logos● With logos one takes responsibility for the story●Platonic Myth

●Aristotle●Fiction

●Romans - Fable