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
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
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.