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Re: Greek Mythology

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GREEK MYTHOLOGY
Background to Homer’s Odyssey

As you read each story, ask yourself:

What is most enjoyable, predictable, or bizarre about this story?

How would I have responded in this situation?

What mysteries or features of the world might this story try to explain?

What bit of moral or religious instructions (i.e. don’t disobey the gods) might be contained in this story?

How does this story compare with Christian beliefs, or with the values of our culture today?

Are there any other stories or fables I’ve heard that follow the same pattern as this story?

The Creation Myths

Part 1

Before there was anything, there was Chaos, a formless void. This void, this pure nothingness, gave birth to Gaea (the Earth itself), Tartarus (the underworld), Eros (love), Erebus (underground darkness) and Nyx (the darkness of night). The two kinds of darkness joined together and gave birth two kinds of light: the Light of the heavens and the Light of day. Nyx (night) also gave birth to the three Fates, who control the course of the universe and determine the length of each person’s life on their wheel of fortune. Of the fates, Clotho spins the threads of each person’s life, Lachesis measures the length of the thread, and Atropos cuts the thread.

The Fates – Francisco Goya (one of the best painters ever!) 1823 – Note the scissors in the hand of Atropos and Lachesis measuring with a magnifying glass. Who’s the fourth one? Another fate? Gaea, their mother?
Part 2 – The marriage of Gaea to her son Uranus spawns the Titans

Gaea, “Mother Earth,” gave birth without conceiving to the starry Heaven (Uranus), to the Mountains, and to the Sea. Then, Earth married Heaven: Gaea married her own son Uranus, and from this were born a generation of powerful gods known as the Titans, the elemental forces

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