Classical Mythology
Dr. Fredricksmeyer
Handout: Evolution of the Gods/Devolution of Man
Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days
Hesiod 7th cent. BCE
Theogony
definition of a theogony (the-, gon- [gen-]; also a cosmogony)
proem (to Zeus)
Muses
Khaos > Gaia (Mother Earth, ge-), Eros
soon also Night and Day come into being; [n.b. Night
produces Moirai (= Fates: Klotho, Lachesis, Atropos)
Gaia (male and female) > Ouranos (sky god)
Gaia (now having lost male aspect) + Ouranos>Titans
including Kronos and Rhea; mostly with Ouranos
Gaia also starts populating the earth with it’s
natural phenomena
male succession
Kronos castrates Ouranos (birth of Aphrodite):
due to feminine wiles of Gaia
Freudian interpretation
Rhea + Kronos >Olympians (pantheon)
Zeus overthrows Kronos
digression on devolution of man:
Prometheus (pro-, math-)
Epimetheus (epi-, math-)
crimes involving sacrifice and fire—creation of wily woman
Olympians vs. Titans
Zeus allies with some of Titans, e.g. Cuclopes (political models)
Zeus’ consolidation of power
Zeus incorporates (literally) Metis (= Cunning) > Athena ( = wisdom)
human civilization (despite woman, see below)
Zeus with other wives produces other abstractions (besides
wisdom) on which human civilization based, including
Lawfulness, Justice and Peace
general observations:
(evolutionary) progress on divine level:
from the general to the specific
from the one to the many
from inarticulate primordial matter to fully
anthropomorphic beings
victory of the male principle—by swallowing Metis Zeus assimilates:
(1) female reproduction: Gaia—Gaia + Ouranos—Rhea + Kronos—Zeus; and
from here on dangerous females go to mortals
(2) female cunning: combination of strength (male) and cunning (female) in
Zeus, and thus stability/end of succession
n.b. Freudian nature of succession myth
devolution of man:
victory of the female principle and constant male succession
man’s imitation of female exclusion in divine realm (which validates
societal norms)—polis
Works and Days
Muses
Zeus
two types of Strife
positive
Perses lives by negative type
origin of human condition—Prometheus myth
(1) meat
(2) fire
(3) Pandora
5 mostly devolutionary (i.e. progressively worse) ages of man:
Golden (under Kronos) until introduction of meat/fire/Pandora
Silver
Bronze
Heroic
Iron (contemporary with Hesiod)
general observations:
Prometheus has 3 main elements, as marked above, all of which mark
the end of the Golden Age:
(1) meat
(2) fire: gods—man—beast
(3) Pandora/need for and means of reproduction/male succession (vs.
Zeus in divine realm)
Prometheus ambiguous friend of man (culture god)
technology/teleo- and non-teleological views of human existence
Hesiod’s sources common IE traditions:
Genesis
Hittite
Greek patriarchalism/misogyny in perspective