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Select a passage, a question, or a topic from the reading today (Classical Mythology, pp. 27-51) that you would like to discuss in class. Explain why you have selected it.

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Select a passage, a question, or a topic from the reading today:

Classical Mythology, “Athena,” pp. 121-126; “Hero,” pp. 199-202;  “Hubris,” 204-207; “Monsters,” 228-235; “Perseus,” 261-264; “Transformation,” pp. 302-305

Hesiod, Athena, p. 29-30 (Tritogeneia)

“Homeric Hymn 11 to Athena”

“Homeric Hymn 28 to Athena”

Ovid, “Arachne,” pp. 210-217; “Perseus,” pp. 161-186

“Medusa was punished for being raped—so why do we still depict her as a monster?”

“The Original ‘Nasty Woman’”

“The Beauty and Horror of Medusa, an Enduring Symbol of Women’s Power”

that you would like to discuss in class. Explain why you have selected it.

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Select a passage, a question, or a topic from the reading today (Hesiod, Theogony, pp. 1-33) that you would like to discuss in class. Explain why you have selected it.

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Reflection Post (especially identifying any questions relevant to Source Scavenger Hunt assignment) responding to Library Research Tutorials (complete tutorials first):

Library Research 101 Tutorial: Information Sources

Library Research 101 Tutorial: Search Process

Library Research 101 Tutorial: Evaluating Sources

Library Research 101 Tutorial: Academic Participation and Honesty

Falcon Search Tutorial

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Click the plus sign button at the bottom of the Activities column to which you are responding.
REMINDER: be sure to include your name with all posts to receive credit and allow others to respond.

OPTION: IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECORD A VIDEO OR AUDIO response instead of writing for these Activities assignments (with the exception of image Activities), go to the end of the column to which you are responding. Click the plus sign to create a new post.  Click the ellipsis  (...) next to the camera icon, and it will give you a list of options. You can, for instance, film a video, record your voice, or capture your screen.

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https://sites.google.com/fitchburgstate.edu/classicalmythology/assignments/activities/my-mythology-story
20 Activity points

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Respond to our guest presenter Renée Fratantonio in the last class. (This is NOT a reflection on their presentation style, etc., but should focus on the ideas or topic.)

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Select a passage, a question, or a topic from the reading today (Classical Mythology, pp. 1-27) that you would like to discuss in class. Explain why you have selected it.

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Select a passage, a question, or a topic from the reading today (Classical Mythology, pp. 52-87) that you would like to discuss in class. Explain why you have selected it.

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Respond to our guest presenter Kai Fay in the last  class. (This is NOT a reflection on their presentation style, etc., but should focus on the ideas or topic.)

Presentation Link

Recording 1

Recording 2

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Select a passage, a question, or a topic from the reading today:

Ovid, “Book 1,” 1-25

Classical Mythology, “Cosmogony,” pp. 139-141; “Flood Myth and Legend,” pp. 171-173; “Giants,” 177-178; “Hera,” pp. 186-189; “Kronos,” pp. 216-217; “Myth of the Ages,” pp.  236-238; “Olympians,” p. 250; “Succession Myth,” pp. 293-294; “Titans,” p. 302; “Zeus,” pp. 330-336

that you would like to discuss in class. Explain why you have selected it.

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My Mythology Story Visual - Ava DePasquale 

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Classic Mythology Assignment - justin swaine

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I want to talk more about the "death realm" as a concept and how it works, because it is a subject of mythology that I want to know more about and find really interesting! It is spoken of so often in myths but I feel like I don't know much about how it functions and what is a part of the death realm.

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I would like to continue the discussion/research/conversation about the mythological world places. I found the use of sky, earth, death realm, and tartados. In particular, the sky. The thought of a "visible world" is very interesting to me, because it is true that it is much like a big house and the sky is our roof/cealing. At the same time, I want to explore the significance of some Latin words and the relation with today's vocabulary and greek cosmology. For example, Atlas. An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.

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The place I want to learn more about is Tartaros because that is one of the places that is rarely talked about in Greek mythology. I can tell because in the section that describes the basic make up of Greek mythos, they don't really touch upon it. I want to learn about everyone who was put down there. I know it included the Titans but I do not remember all the Titans. I think it would be cool to talk about all of them. Another thing I want to talk about is what it means in the philosophy of Greek life where they believed in a void from which nothing could escape. Talking about a prison for the most powerful creatures is incredibly interesting to me.  It implies there is something stronger than a group's own gods.  Those being the most powerful beings.  How can they be imprisoned?  What could keep them from escaping?

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I would like to discuss the physical cosmos versus the biological cosmos. This seems very interesting to me because I want to understand more about why they give nonliving things these living characteristics, also about the different levels of the universe and how they matter in mythology.

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An idea that I want to discuss was how different cultures interpret the same story.

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In class, I would like to discuss more about the Roman adaptations of Greek myth and folklore. It seems interesting to observe the cultural influence that Greek culture had on most of the known world in antiquity, especially Rome.

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The section that I would like to talk more about if the sections titled, "THE MYTHOLOGICAL WORLD:PLACES". Specifically the sky and death realm. I think this sounded really interesting and I want to hear more about them.

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I'd like to talk/learn more about Tartarus, because while I feel like The realm of Hades is well known, I always thought of Tartarus as a separate place and didn't know much about it. I do remember stories of Zeus sending other god-like beings or giants there, I can't remember any specific stories about it off the top of my head.

I also just found the idea interesting that before organized religion and the belief in limbo, heaven and hell there was Hades realm, which seems to be closest to a limbo or purgatory and then there were certain rare cases where someone sent to a paradise or were sent somewhere to be punished eternally.

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The one section I would like to talk about more is “Sky” specifically more about the gods/goddesses Helios, Selene, and Eos. I definitely would like to know more about Selene and Eos. I would also like to go more in depth about the “wonders” and also Zeus’s court and why he decided to chose those gods/goodness on his court.

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The "death realm" seems to be the most interesting reading here. It called out to me because it wasn't deemed hell, but just a place for the dead. I loved that there were so many different stories for different ways of getting there depending on how you died.

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I would like to discuss the art pieces they made back then primarily in vases. Where these went (what countries or just Greece) and also what characters were mainly displayed. Are these vases still around from back then? I would also like to discuss the Mycenaean civilization of the Late Bronze Age in further detail, since when I was reading it was barely discussed. They talk about this on pages 7-8

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I'm interested in how skepticism and myth correlated in classical times. Myth was not the only source of information for the philosophers. Famously, Socrates was accused of 'corrupting the youth' and executed because he went around asking too many questions that some worried were verging on destroying the status quo. Obviously there were limits to how open-minded the ancient Greeks were in regards to certain cemented beliefs.

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I would like to talk more about Tartaros. I found it very interesting due to the supernatural elements spoken about. It honestly made me think of the prison that the titans were trapped in in the Disney Hercules movie.

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I would like to learn more about the mythological universes. I find it very interesting how there is said to be realms below the earth for the dead and for monsters. I also find it interesting how they break the universe up into either three or four different cosmos and how each cosmo has its own meaning and purpose.

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I would like to know or talk about the different Realms, especially the Sky realms, I found it interesting the fact that they made mention of Atlas holding up the sky from the Earth realm, however not from the center of the Earth but in fact the edge of the Earth, which physically would take so much more force to pull off.

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I would like to talk about the different realms as well as how the same stories are talked about in different cultures.

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The section I thought was most interesting was about the Sky. The way that the Greeks thought the world was built / worked was interesting. They thought the sky was a vaulted dome and the roof of the world. The god Atlas was responsible for supporting the sky "Like any other roof, the sky requires support. In Greek cosmology the god Atlas, or Bearer, holds it up with his head or shoulders" (Hansen, pg 20)

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I would like to talk more about all the different realms they have especially the Tartaros known to be the lowest of the world and also a prison for supernatural beings who can not be killed .

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I want to talk more about the gods "honors" and the aspects of life they ruled over, and how protective they were over them. I want to talk more about how they came to be in charge of the honors they have and what being in charge of those means for them (ex. how they rule over or interact with them)

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I would like to talk about the different cultures and the different versions of their interpretation.

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The thought that "truth is relative" really put some things in perspective continuing reading these following introductory paragraphs. Something I would like to discuss more in depth will be the Gods Prerogatives and cosmic bureaucracy. Exploring the relationship between gods and humans and how the divine plays a divisive role between different mythologies. Considering that Greek mythology refers to the cosmos quite a few times. I also think there is an interesting relationship between the relativeness of what's true and what is not. Perhaps the gods differ so much from the humans because that is what they aspired or wished to be or it needed to be something/someone superior in all aspects for them to respect and tell stories about.

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I would like to discuss the topic of places in the mythological world. I have selected this topic because I think that it is interesting to learn about how ancient people believed the world to be. I want to know how they came to these conclusions on the geography of the world and what is above and below the earth.

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I would like to discuss the topic of the gods in mythology. I have selected this topic because I want to know what types of gods ancient people believed in. I want to know who they worshipped, who they detested, who they feared, etc. I think it will be interesting to compare both the number of gods and the types of gods they believed in back then to the gods of religions today.

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I would like to talk about how the Gods are immortal but somewhere in the test it said they could be killed at a certain point in their development. I would also like to talk about how these Gods can change into anything they please, and why they do it. Because it says in the text that they can see from above and since they live longer they have seen more than humans, so why go down to check on them if they know that nothing has changed. Also, this is my first time hearing that Zeus can make people immortal by striking mortals with a lighting bolt, stripping them away of their mortality and making them immortal, so I would like to hear more about that.

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A topic I would like to talk about is the relationship between the gods and humans, I know the book goes over it but I would like to go more in depth as it seems like a really interesting topic to me. Another topic I would also like to discuss is the different types of  nymphs.

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I would like to talk more about the relationships between the gods and humans. I think there is a lot to the interactions between the gods and humans and in the book it says that the gods and humans need each other. The gods need the humans sacrifice and devotion and the humans needs protection, fortune and skills from particular gods.

I find it interesting how many gods have attachments to specific areas, cities or towns. The Greeks were devoted to certain gods depending on what skills they needed to thrive and what skills the certain god offered. This reminds me of how in christianity, or at least catholicism, there are patron saints for different skills, interests or issues, and certain people who are looking for those things will flock to them.

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The topic I want to talk about is the idea of gods walking among humans. It is a prevalent  idea in a lot of mythology; I want to talk about how this may have led to people being forced to be kind to strangers or people they didn't really know.  Who knows, there could be a god under that disguise.

Another thing is the idea of a place being struck by lightning being sacred. That  is really intriguing  when you consider the Greeks really had no way to explain the strange  phenomena that happened to the ground once  struck by lightning.   That happening does have some really cool effects on the landscape.

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Something I found interesting is on page 37 in the middle paragraph. It's about how some gods would openly interact with certain groups of humans. I assumed gods only appeared as themselves when they had to and it was a rare occurrence. A question I had is why did certain gods choose to openly show themselves to humans and why did they choose certain places / groups of people?

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I would like to discuss the motivation of the gods and goddesses. It seems that their only concern is what they can get out of humans in terms of sacrifice and worship. Are they simply narcissists who only react to what they perceive as disrespect? Why are divine beings depicted in such a selfish and cruel manner, and why is incest such a common theme?

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I want to talk more about the different gods and how it is said that they are immortal. I would also like to talk about the different types of gods and how in the text it says they can be killed in certain circumstances.

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I want to talk more about binatural beings in mythology and how that works and is understood. It's something that is still a bit confusing to me but really interesting!

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I would love to discuss the God's language. There are only certain translations and I believe learning more about it could definitely open a new realm of information.

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I would like to discuss why Gods, these immortal beings that hold such great power are based off humans who are lesser than these powerful gods, is it because all forms of life hold these sorts of emotions in one way or another, or was it a way to comprehend reasons for actions by the gods.

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I would like to talk about how the sexual view of cosmos is found in the Greek language and also talk about how Greek has three genders , each noun being masculine, feminine, or neuter and how personified things or concept inherits the gender of the corresponding noun in Greek language .

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I want to talk about the different gods and goddesses and their relationship with humans. I want to learn more about the gods and goddesses and what each of them stand for and how they each use their powers. I also want to learn about how each god is talked about in different religions.

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I think the most interesting section  of this part of the stories is talking about Prometheus and his involvement with the gods.  The reason why is that considering how he was a titan, the gods kept him around while throwing all of his brethren into Tartarus.  Maybe they just really liked him, or he was the least violent titan.  W Whatever the reason  from a storytelling perspective it is interesting.  Especially when you consider the similarity in the story and character idea to other mythologies, like in  Norse mythology. for example where Loki has a similar role compared to Prometheus  while Loki is not an  Aesier or Vanirhe.  However Loki  is still among the council of the gods like  Prometheus is in stories.  At the same time, they are  both tricksters and  they are said to be gods of fire.  After  Prometheus and Loki  tricked  the other gods,  they severely punished the two.  The difference here is in Prometheus’ case he was doing a good deed and got punished; whereas Loki did something bad and was punished.  Prometheus’ action was he  gave humans the knowledge of fire.  His punishment was he was chained and an eagle  eats his liver every day.  Whereas with Loki he got  Baldur killed.   In a similar punishment,  Loki was chained underground with a snake  over,  him leaking venom into his eyes.   The  parallels are very intriguing.

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The section I want to talk more about is Prometheus and his story with the gods and mankind in mythology. I want to talk more about his involvement with humans and why he was interested in them and why he provided so much for them, despite how much this invoked the wrath of Zeus. What made him want to steal fire for humans?

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I would like to talk about how humans and gods lived together, how humans worshipped the gods and why. I selected this because I am interested in the different things that these gods are worshipped for.

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I would like to talk more about the section "From Chaos to Cosmos" and "The First Humans" out of curiosity and lack of fully understanding. I am a little confused about the way sort of mythology began and how the creation started. Why were they four primordial beings? (Chaos, Gaia, Tartaros, and Eros). Were these being representing core elements of the universe? The book states, "No reason is offered why the four primordial beings come into existence". This then leads me to the First Humans, how the gods created this similar look beings (without powers of course). I thought it was also interesting to read how they intended to only create men. What was their perception of reproduction and or expansion of the population?

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What caught my attention was the story of Theogony. From the Titans overthrowing their father to Gods overthrowing the Titians, how did we get from point A to point B? The section discusses the great battles of how the Gods fought the Titans and other monsters of immense power. When someone was creating these stories, some natural disaster must have been acquired. But since modern science wasn't frequent around that period of time, They believed that a higher power might have caused it. At the end of the day, these stories are caused by the imagination of how others perceive the world around them.

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When reading throughout the pages there was several sections that were very interesting to me. A few that stood out to me were "The Succession of World Rulers" I like the backstory of Rhea and Kronos and how Zeus, Hades and Poseidon came to be. I also liked the section of "The First Humans" I really liked it's said that Prometheus created humans from the earth and water. One last section that I found interesting was "The Eleusinian Mysteries" in modern times there are many retellings of Hades and Peresphone so it was really interesting to read one of the original story of them.

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I would like to discuss The First Humans because it is interesting to me and I would like to dive deeper into the creation of people and the world and the mythologies based on it.

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One section I found interesting was the story about Prometheus and his interference in the gods and humans relationship. I think it's interesting that Prometheus was the one to divide the meat among the humans and gods. Since he was a descendant of titans it seemed likely that he wouldn't necessarily like the new gods that rule and he may try to get back at them.

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A topic that I would like to learn more about are the demigods (page 68). I would like to learn more about the demigods because of the "heroic age" mentioned. I love stories about heroes. I want to know what these demigods were capable of and what they accomplished. I would also like to know what challenges they faced due to not being 100% human or 100% god.

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I'd like to learn more about what the humans did to offend the gods that caused them to take away the automatically and abundant food that the earth provided for them. Before reading this, I never knew that was part of mythology. I feel like it relates in a way to the biblical story of Eden and Adam and Eve, except this includes all of Humanity offending the gods. If this is a story, I'd like to read it or hear more about it.

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The section I find interesting is talking about the demigods. It is very interesting how they do not fully get the power of a god but do not become fully human. I would like to learn more about the different demigods and their stories.

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I really am interested in the idea of the titans and why they did what they did. I'm mainly interested in their justification for the conquering and overthrowing of their enemies.

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There are actually two things that sparked my interest from this reading. I would like to learn more about Pandora, and the creation of women. I find it interesting that women were created by zeus as an evil gift to men. The second thing that I found interesting was how gods "mated" with mortals, or human beings. I found this interesting because there are movies that I have seen where one of the characters is half super hero and half human, or something of that sort. Coming from a background with no mythology knowledge, I guess I put the two ideas together that the idea of a half human half god or superhero would have come from mythology and the idea that gods mated with humans.

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The section I would like to discuss in class is "The Succession of World Rules". I liked reading about how certain gods came to be and the backstory of others.

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I would love to discuss demigods and how different types of mythology views demigods. Whether demigods are seen as gods or not, or how other gods feel about mixing the immortal and the mortal world. I remember in Percy Jackson that the gods were fighting about the rights for gods to have mortal children and if they should be able to see them. I would also like to learn more about how demigods come to be. The most obvious way would be a child born from a god and a human, but I wonder if there are other ways a person or God could become a demigod. For example, in Hercules he is given a potion from Hades.

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I would like to learn about the demigods and about the fact that they have powers and how they arent fully a god but not fully human. As well as learn more about "the first humans" since i found that interesting.

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There is a theme of repetition in the mythos of Zeus and Kronos. I would like to talk more about the similarities between the reign of Zeus, and how it contrasts with the behavior of the Titans.

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I would like to talk about the two cosmic families which are Chaos and Gaia and I would also like to talk about how the whole the beginning interrelation started with Chaos even before Zeus came.

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The thoughts I had about today's class was that it was very interesting.  Kai  Fay made me think of how we reuse or re-imagine things from the past, and it is  just fascinating.  I think that is because we like the idea of someone with superhuman abilities. That is why superheroes are so beloved. Myths are the original tales of superhuman ability, no matter what culture you look at. You can take any of the people, places, or things that exist in myths and make them fit into any time period. That is as long as you make the character continue to be what they are at their center.

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The topic I would like to talk about in class is the various jobs of nymphs. I know that they are nature spirits that both men and gods alike lusted for. That is it, really.  I would like to know more about their purpose.   Are they similar in function to creatures of the  Fey like fairies and other magical creatures? Or just basic woodland spirits that cause general mischief?

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Hesiod mentions nearly any and every mythological being in Theogony. A topic that piques my curiosity is what drove the divine rulers to turn on and torture their kin. It baffles me that they chose the worst-case scenario when dealing with the prophecies that they may be overthrown.

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At the beginning of the Theogony, Hesiod talks about how the world was brought into being. How Night and Day were born from Chaos and how everything else was born from the union of Night and Day. the next day class meets, I would like to discuss this in more detail. I find creation myths fascinating as it gives us some insight into how people in the past saw the nature of the world, thus setting the template for finding their place within it.

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There were a couple of concepts/topics that interested me, moreover caught my attention regarding the way Hesiod uses gods to explain in depth the morals and philosophy in Ancient Greece. I am intrigued about the clash of myth with western influences, Was this something that happened simultaneously or something that we see more clearly today? At the same time, I am interested in the etymological explanations of names Hesiod explored and intended to explain. Although as stated, "He was just aware that there is usually meaning in names". I would like to continue the exploration between the name and object mentioned in Theology.

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Throughout Theogony Hesiod talks about many different species. The Oceanids stood out to me because of their unique offspring. Some examples are Sun, Moon, Dawn, the Winds, Aspiration, and Victory are a few. I'd want some more insight into what that means really when something like Victory is born. Other species are mentioned but I found the Oceanids to be the most interesting.

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In class, I would like to learn more about the Giants. Hesiod seems to place humans and giants into different groups rather than stating the fact that they're both human. I think this is a great topic as it isn't really talked about enough in mythology.

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The topic I would like to discuss more in class is all of the different types of gods/ demigods that were bred into their world. There is so much going on in the first half of the reading about how all of the different kinds of beings came about and who mated with who. I would like to go back and go into it with a little more detail and learn more about how the nymphs, giants, and other species came about. Also learn more about how the gods bred the different parts of earth and different emotions.

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The topic I would like to discuss about during class is the Gorgons. I would really like to go more in depth about them.

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The beginning of the text was hard to follow, so many different offsprings and different types of offspring were mentioned. One that caught my attention were those born under the sea, or those of Oceanus, it is interesting how so many different offsprings were born it was hard to keep track of.

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Honestly, I would like to talk about the millions of names that were mentioned. There were way too many and I am unsure which ones are important to remember and which ones aren't as important.

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I want to talk about the language he uses because Hesiod writes with such specific terms and words and repeats himself in such specific ways. When he refers to Zeus as "the father of gods and men" over and over, I also want to know more about when he talks about the "____-robed" people and what that means.