Introduction to Greek Mythology

• identify the key mythic figures in Phidias's east pediment of the Parthenon.
• discuss Zeus's usurpation of female reproductive power in the births of Athene and Dionysus.
• explain how these divine births represent, or maybe account for, the contradictory nature of human existence.

Greek Religion and the Nature of the Divine

• explain how the absence of sacred texts affected Greek religion.
• identify the birth of Athene as a climactic moment in the Greek history of the cosmos.
• articulate the differences between Greek polytheism and the monotheism of modern Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
• discuss the Greek conception of gods who are immortal, but not eternal.

Social and Political Functions of Myth

• discuss Athene's relationship to the Athenian polis.
• discuss the importance of anthropomorphism to the Greek conception of divinity.
• trace the basic genealogy and social hierarchy of the Greek gods.
• describe how Greek religion fostered not only a reverence for its gods, but also an appreciation of their "human" foibles.

The Literary Quality of Greek Myth and Its Association with Communal Observances

• explain how the oral transmission of myths often gave rise to differing—or even conflicting—versions of the same myth.
• explain how topography influenced the dissemination of Greek myth.
• discuss the role of myth in Greek cultural heritage and civic pride.
• differentiate between myths, folktales, and legends.
• identify the role of the rhapsodes in the Panathenaea.
• describe both the panhellenic and local (cultural) importance of the Homeric epics.
• describe the peplos and discuss its role in the Panathenaea.
• trace the evolution of Greek myth through the Arcahaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods.
• describe the annual City Dionysia and identify its major playwrights.

Distinctive Qualities of Greek Literary Myth

• apply Protagoras' assertion that "Man is the measure of all things" to the anthropocentric cosmos featured in Greek myth.
• explain why the epic hero's "unrestrained individualism" ultimately accounts for his downfall.

Myth and History

• explain how myth works to link Greek culture with its prehistoric past.
• explain why oracles, auguries, and "signs" indicate a significant departure in Greek myth.
• discuss the (still debated) importance of Schliemann's excavations at Mycenae and Troy.

The Major Periods of Greek History

• provide a brief account of each of the following historical periods:
  • Minoan Civilization;
  • Mycenaean Civilization;
  • the Iron Age;
  • the Archaic and Classical ages.
• identify some of the key differences between Greek and Roman myth.