I was surprised to learn that there is a myth that explains why peacock feathers look like eyes. The story goes like this:
Zeus got together with this chick named Io. Hera thought there was some funny stuff going on so she tried to catch Zeus in the act, but a nymph kind of created a diversion while Zeus turned Io into a cow. When Hera showed up, she knew what had happened and so she commisioned a creature named Argos to watch the cow. Argos had anywhere from 4 to 100 eyes, but the point is that at no time were all the eyes closed. Zeus sent Hermes/Mercury to lull the animal to sleep and then cut its head off. Hera took its eyes and placed them on a bird's tale creating peacock tail feathers. The peacock was often associated with Hera after this. Io was stilll stuck as a cow and Hera sent a "gadfly" to follow her everywhere until she got to Egypt. By the Nile, Zeus and Io were reunited and she bore him a son, Epaphus. It is possible that Epaphus is the Egyptian character Apis and Io is their goddess Isis.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Prometheus
Well, I know all three of you have been waiting by your computers for my next installment. So here it is:
Prometheus, as some of you may know, was a Titan. Meaning he was born to Uranus and Gaia. When Zeus overtook Uranus, Prometheus and some others helped him. He is probably best known for both creating man and giving them fire. His name means forethought and he has a general reputation for being a little impish and for his intelligence.
There is what is known as an etiological myth associated with him. An etiological myth is one that explains a ritual. Apparently, Prometheus took an ox and wrapped up all the good parts so they looked bad and wrapped all the bones in fat. Zeus chose the more appetizing package--although they both sound pretty gross--and was furious that Prometheus fooled him. This myth is supposed to explain why it was Greek tradition to offer the bones and fat as a sacrifice to the gods.
Prometheus also angered Zeus when he gave man two things: fire, and blind hope. Fire is supposed to be symbolical of creative potential and leads to other knowledge. As punishment for Prometheus helping mankind, Zeus had Hephaestus/Vulcan bind him with bronze to a crag in the Caucasus Mountains, the farthest point East known to the Greeks. Every day Prometheus had his liver eaten out by an eagle. Every night the liver regenerated so it could be eaten again the next day. This continued until Heracles/Hercules released him as one of his twelve labors.
In other news, my teacher is teaching a class in the fall about the mythology in Harry Potter. There is only one seat left and when registration opens back up I'm going to try and steal it. Also, something else broke on my car. I was on my way home tonight and a little bunny ran out in front of my car. I stopped, but it didn't go anywhere so I honked my horn. The button got stuck. I eventually got it to stop, but not even turning off the ignition made it quit. So basically, my car has one headlight out, one tail light out, bad struts, locks that won't unlock, windows that sporadically roll down, a broken radio, no heat or AC, and now the left horn button doesn't work. Good to know.
Prometheus, as some of you may know, was a Titan. Meaning he was born to Uranus and Gaia. When Zeus overtook Uranus, Prometheus and some others helped him. He is probably best known for both creating man and giving them fire. His name means forethought and he has a general reputation for being a little impish and for his intelligence.
There is what is known as an etiological myth associated with him. An etiological myth is one that explains a ritual. Apparently, Prometheus took an ox and wrapped up all the good parts so they looked bad and wrapped all the bones in fat. Zeus chose the more appetizing package--although they both sound pretty gross--and was furious that Prometheus fooled him. This myth is supposed to explain why it was Greek tradition to offer the bones and fat as a sacrifice to the gods.
Prometheus also angered Zeus when he gave man two things: fire, and blind hope. Fire is supposed to be symbolical of creative potential and leads to other knowledge. As punishment for Prometheus helping mankind, Zeus had Hephaestus/Vulcan bind him with bronze to a crag in the Caucasus Mountains, the farthest point East known to the Greeks. Every day Prometheus had his liver eaten out by an eagle. Every night the liver regenerated so it could be eaten again the next day. This continued until Heracles/Hercules released him as one of his twelve labors.
In other news, my teacher is teaching a class in the fall about the mythology in Harry Potter. There is only one seat left and when registration opens back up I'm going to try and steal it. Also, something else broke on my car. I was on my way home tonight and a little bunny ran out in front of my car. I stopped, but it didn't go anywhere so I honked my horn. The button got stuck. I eventually got it to stop, but not even turning off the ignition made it quit. So basically, my car has one headlight out, one tail light out, bad struts, locks that won't unlock, windows that sporadically roll down, a broken radio, no heat or AC, and now the left horn button doesn't work. Good to know.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Mythology
Well, I was hoping that the picture of Matt making out with Marlo would cause a little more raucous. Oh well. He was darn cute.
My first day of summer school was yesterday. I was late for class, got coffee on my white tank top, and sweated profusely from the 85 degree weather and lack of AC. I was ridiculously hot yesterday and today and I'm a pretty cold natured person. I was a little surprised when I got to class and saw a guy(?) wearing flannel pajama pants. I also don't have AC in my car and my windows work on a sporadic basis. I got them rolled down today, but then they got stuck down for quite a while.
The class itself is interesting. My teacher seems to be VERY smart. So far, I've noticed he speaks and writes Hebrew and Greek as well as Latin. The class is only Greek mythology which is a little disappointing. I was hoping for some Norse and Egyptian mythology too. However, in the past two days I've realized that I don't really know that much about mythology. Our reading last night was about the Creation myths which I am now going to share with you whether you like it or not:
Apparently there are three different ideas-
1)Pelasgian Creation Myth
Initially there was Chaos, meaning the "yawning void." Then the female, Eurynome (meaning broad, straight, order), arose form the Chaos and separated the sea from the sky. Ophion, a serpent, then emerged from the sea and impregnated Eurynome. Eurynome became a dove and laid the Universal Egg which as the name implies, is the egg that everything comes from. Eventually Pelasgus, the first human being was created.
2)Homeric/Orphic Myth
Actually I'm not really sure how this one is different from the next one, so I guess I'll have to ask about that. I think maybe it's the source because the next one is from Hesiod. Wait, I guess Homer believed that the Titans Oceanus and Tethys were responsible for the origin of the gods. This is indicative of the belief that the universe is a flat disc and Oceanus surrounds the earth.
3)Olympian Myth according to Hesiod
It begins with Chaos. Five things emerge from Chaos: Tartarus-a really bad dark place, Eros-love, Erebus-black night, Night, and Gaia. Gaia/Ge or Mother Earth appears on the scene and she creates Uranus, the god of the sky, and Pontus, the god of the sea. Gaia mates with Uranus by Uranus raining on Gaia to fertilize her. She bears first the Hecatonchires (hundred-handed), the Cyclopes, the Titans, and later the Giants. The problem is that Uranus was afraid of being usurped by one of his children so he started trying to hold the children in her womb. Gaia obviously didn't really appreciate this very much so she turned to her youngest son, Cronus meaning "time." She asked him to castrate Uranus in order to punish him. Uranus came that night to Gaia 'cause he wanted that sweet lovin' and Cronus "reached out with his left hand and in his right he seized hold o f the huge sickle with jagged teeth and swiftly cut off the genitals of his own dear father." He threw the genitals into the ocean and Aphrodite was born from the foam. Side note: Aphrodite literally means "from the foam" in Greek. That is why the Birth of Venus depicts Venus coming out of the oyster shell on the beach. Something that I have never learned in any of my art classes.
Back to the story: Cronus mates with his fellow Titan sister, Rhea and they take over for Gaia and Uranus. Cronus was also afraid of being dethroned so he actually swallowed his children after Rhea gave birth. Finally, when she had Zeus, she sent him to Crete to be raised until he came back and slit Cronus open, freeing his brothers and siters: Hetia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Zeus and Hera mate and you've heard some of the rest.
I know it was pretty tough to follow any of that, but there were a few things that surprised me. 1) Apparently, Eros is not the son of Aphrodite as I always thought. According to the description above, he is actually of the same generation as Mother Earth because love is a force that is equally as old.
2) I also always thought that Aphrodite was a product of one of Zeus' affairs. According to Hesiod, she is actually Zeus' aunt.
3) I didn't previously mention this, but I had similar confusions with the advents of Apollo and Artemis. I always thought that they were producst of one of Zeus' affairs, but it is also thought that they are just other names for the Hyperion and is daughter Selene. Hyperion being the first sun god and Selene being the first goddess of the moon.
One thing I do know now, is that there are a lot of inconsistencies in the beginning myths especially. Doesn't seem very organized to me and it seems like they would have had their geneaology straight. I mean, how do they expect to do their baptisms for the dead?
Tomorrow, I will discuss the myth of Prometheus. I hope you can wait until then.
My first day of summer school was yesterday. I was late for class, got coffee on my white tank top, and sweated profusely from the 85 degree weather and lack of AC. I was ridiculously hot yesterday and today and I'm a pretty cold natured person. I was a little surprised when I got to class and saw a guy(?) wearing flannel pajama pants. I also don't have AC in my car and my windows work on a sporadic basis. I got them rolled down today, but then they got stuck down for quite a while.
The class itself is interesting. My teacher seems to be VERY smart. So far, I've noticed he speaks and writes Hebrew and Greek as well as Latin. The class is only Greek mythology which is a little disappointing. I was hoping for some Norse and Egyptian mythology too. However, in the past two days I've realized that I don't really know that much about mythology. Our reading last night was about the Creation myths which I am now going to share with you whether you like it or not:
Apparently there are three different ideas-
1)Pelasgian Creation Myth
Initially there was Chaos, meaning the "yawning void." Then the female, Eurynome (meaning broad, straight, order), arose form the Chaos and separated the sea from the sky. Ophion, a serpent, then emerged from the sea and impregnated Eurynome. Eurynome became a dove and laid the Universal Egg which as the name implies, is the egg that everything comes from. Eventually Pelasgus, the first human being was created.
2)Homeric/Orphic Myth
Actually I'm not really sure how this one is different from the next one, so I guess I'll have to ask about that. I think maybe it's the source because the next one is from Hesiod. Wait, I guess Homer believed that the Titans Oceanus and Tethys were responsible for the origin of the gods. This is indicative of the belief that the universe is a flat disc and Oceanus surrounds the earth.
3)Olympian Myth according to Hesiod
It begins with Chaos. Five things emerge from Chaos: Tartarus-a really bad dark place, Eros-love, Erebus-black night, Night, and Gaia. Gaia/Ge or Mother Earth appears on the scene and she creates Uranus, the god of the sky, and Pontus, the god of the sea. Gaia mates with Uranus by Uranus raining on Gaia to fertilize her. She bears first the Hecatonchires (hundred-handed), the Cyclopes, the Titans, and later the Giants. The problem is that Uranus was afraid of being usurped by one of his children so he started trying to hold the children in her womb. Gaia obviously didn't really appreciate this very much so she turned to her youngest son, Cronus meaning "time." She asked him to castrate Uranus in order to punish him. Uranus came that night to Gaia 'cause he wanted that sweet lovin' and Cronus "reached out with his left hand and in his right he seized hold o f the huge sickle with jagged teeth and swiftly cut off the genitals of his own dear father." He threw the genitals into the ocean and Aphrodite was born from the foam. Side note: Aphrodite literally means "from the foam" in Greek. That is why the Birth of Venus depicts Venus coming out of the oyster shell on the beach. Something that I have never learned in any of my art classes.
Back to the story: Cronus mates with his fellow Titan sister, Rhea and they take over for Gaia and Uranus. Cronus was also afraid of being dethroned so he actually swallowed his children after Rhea gave birth. Finally, when she had Zeus, she sent him to Crete to be raised until he came back and slit Cronus open, freeing his brothers and siters: Hetia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Zeus and Hera mate and you've heard some of the rest.
I know it was pretty tough to follow any of that, but there were a few things that surprised me. 1) Apparently, Eros is not the son of Aphrodite as I always thought. According to the description above, he is actually of the same generation as Mother Earth because love is a force that is equally as old.
2) I also always thought that Aphrodite was a product of one of Zeus' affairs. According to Hesiod, she is actually Zeus' aunt.
3) I didn't previously mention this, but I had similar confusions with the advents of Apollo and Artemis. I always thought that they were producst of one of Zeus' affairs, but it is also thought that they are just other names for the Hyperion and is daughter Selene. Hyperion being the first sun god and Selene being the first goddess of the moon.
One thing I do know now, is that there are a lot of inconsistencies in the beginning myths especially. Doesn't seem very organized to me and it seems like they would have had their geneaology straight. I mean, how do they expect to do their baptisms for the dead?
Tomorrow, I will discuss the myth of Prometheus. I hope you can wait until then.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Cheer Up
I heard through the grapevine that the cosmopolitan Perkins family is a bit home sick. I was looking for some of my baby pictures and came across this beauty. Hopes it brings smiles to your faces:
And if that didn't work, Dad will be out soon and I think he's bringing you all some fabulous surprises. So hang in there!
And if that didn't work, Dad will be out soon and I think he's bringing you all some fabulous surprises. So hang in there!
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