CLAS 104 Rough Notes

Module 5 and 6

Pg. 251-284 and 227-250

Apollo Pg. 251-284

Birth of Apollo

• Zeus mated with Leto and conceived the twin gods Artemis and Apollo
• chorus of maidens the Deliades
• island of Delos was sacred to Apollo
• Anius son of Apollo
• Anius had three daughters, Elais (Olive Girl), Spermo (Seed Girl), Oeno (Wine Girl)

Other Loves of Apollo

• Apollo and Cassandra (daughter of Priam)
• Apollo and Marpessa (daughter of Evenus, a son of Ares)
• Apollo and Cyrene (bore a son named Aristaeus, Cyrene wrestled a lion)
• Apollo and Daphne (Daphne means ‘laurel’ and explains why it is sacred to him)
• Apollo and Hyacinthus (young man)
• Apollo and Cyparissus (Cyparissus killed his stag by accident)
• Apollo and Coronis (role as god of medicine, son was Asclepius)

Asclepius, the god of healing

• staff of Asclepius was a single serpent entwined
• heroic physician
• two songs Machaon and Podalirius
• chief method of healing was incubation (sleeping in a holy place)
• surgical operations were magically performed on sleeping patients and after the vision of god, snakes would move freely among patients providing healing by licking them
• Hippocrates, a great physician from 5th century BC founded a medical school in Cos
• Asclepius restored Hippolytus to life and incurred Zeus’s wrath where he was hurled into the lower world for disruption

Apollo Music Contest with Marsyas and Pan

The Nature of Apollo

• many and complex
• contradiction to tragic dilemma of human existence

Artemis Pg. 227-250

Birth of Artemis and Apollo

• Leto mated with Zeus
• Artemis is born first and helps deliver Apollo
• one of Artemis’s functions as a goddess is childbirth

Acteon

• a hunter who lost his way and had the misfortune of seeing Artemis naked

Callisto and Arcas

• Callisto because the Great Bear or Ursa Major and Arcas became Little Bear or Ursa Minor

Orion

• tried to rape Artemis
• hunter gets stung to death by Artemis’s scorpion
• Orion becomes a dog, Sirius or Dog Star

Arethusa

• nymph, a follower of Artemis

Origins of Artemis

• virgin goddess

Artemis, Selene, Hecate

• as a moon goddess, Artemis is sometimes closely related to Selene or Hecate
• Hecate is a cousin of Artemis
• Selene in heaven, Artemis on Earth, hecate in the realm of Hades
• offerings (known as Hecate’s suppers) were left to placate Hecate

Artemis vs. Aphrodite

• Aphrodite is enraged
• Hippolytus will have nothing to do with Aphrodite
• Phaedra the second wife of Theseus, father of Hippolytus
• Phaedra commits suicide after having thoughts of love with her stepson

Extra Tips:

Pytho: “I rot” Niobe: her children are killed by Artemis and Apollo. The youngest girl is shielded by Niobe and Niobe is turned to stone.