The World of Man

Creation of Man Prometheus created man and animals Epimetheus gave them gifts, but he forgot man Prometheus visited Hephaestus, who gave man crafts, and

skills, and as a parting gift, fire. Prometheus tricked Zeus into accepting bones and fat as

sacrifice Zeus punished Prometheus by taking fire from man, but

Prometheus stole it back Zeus punished Prometheus by chaining him to a mountaintop

and having a bird peck out his liver every day.

Creating Woman, Punishing Man Pandora was created by the gods to punish

Prometheus’ favorite creation She was given the gifts of beauty, deceitfulness,

and insatiable curiosity, as well as a forbidden jar Epimetheus accepted her from the gods even

though Prometheus had warned him not to take gifts from the gods

Pandora opened the jar, letting evil out into the world, but keeping hope concealed within the jar

Ages of Man Gold – Paradise, Utopia, Eden Silver – Stayed childlike for 100 years, then

died Bronze – Lived by the sword, died by the

sword, acquisition and conquering Iron – Life was hard, people were bad, no

one could get ahead

Did the Punishment Fit the Crime? Each of the following characters angered

the gods in some way even though many of them were warned beforehand

What crimes were consistently committed? Purpose(s) for telling these myths?

Lycaon King of Arcadia Disrespected Zeus Cannibalism (killed and ate grandson) Didn’t show hospitality Family killed by Zeus’ thundebolt Lycaon became a wolf

Arachne Best human weaver (arete) Has hybris because she thinks she can

weave as well as Athena Ate makes her challenge Athena to a

weaving contest (Athena tries to talk her out of it)

Mocks the gods in her tapestry Turned into a spider to weave forever

Niobe 7 sons and 7 daughters (arete) Hybris makes her think she is better than

Leto Ate makes her demand she be worshipped

instead of Leto Artemis and Apollo kill all of her children She becomes a crying rock formation

Erysichthon Wants to build a bachelor pad so he can

party with his friends Picks Demeter’s sacred grove as his prime

real estate (location, location, location!) Demeter warns him, but he refuses to listen Demeter has Famine embrace him, he eats

his parents out of house and home, and then he eats himself

Midas Rewarded by getting Golden Touch Realizes it’s not such a gift Wants to get back to nature Argues that Pan is a better musician than

Apollo Gets Ass’ ears

Daedalus and Icarus Daedalus brings the wrath of Nemesis upon his

family by killing his nephew Daedalus works for Minos building him a labyrinth

which is later used to imprison Daedalus and Icarus, his son

Daedalus builds wings, instructs Icarus not to fly too high nor too low, and off they go into the wild, blue yonder

Icarus flies too high, the wax binding the feathers to the wings melts, and Icarus crashes and burns

Phaethon Phaethon is the son of Helios Phaethon asks his father to let him fly the

chariot of the sun Phaethon loses control, wreaks havoc upon

the earth, and catches one of Zeus’ thunderbolts, which causes him to crash and burn

Echo Double agent status, by working for both

Zeus and Hera Hera finds out and takes away Echo’s free

speech Echo wastes away with longing for

Narcissus until she is only a disembodied voice

Orpheus His wife, Eurydice, dies from a snake bite Orpheus is the greatest human musician He travels to the underworld to get her back He makes a deal with Hades himself, but

he ultimately fails to bring her back to the land of the living

Que Sera, Sera, Whatever will be, will be…

These next characters had prophesies or destinies that, try as they might, they could not change

Was the end result destiny or decision making?

Narcissus Narcissus’ mother was told that he would

live a good life if he never knew himself She kept him away from mirrors He turned inward, shunning all others He saw himself in a pool, fell in love with

himself, asked the gods to release him from the torture of self-love, and died

His body turned into a flower

Oedipus, Laius, and Jocasta He killed his father and married his mother The oracle said it would happen What more is there to say?

Meleager His destiny was tied to a log He killed his uncles His mother took revenge by burning the log,

then killing herself

Atalanta The oracle said she would lose herself if

she married She let Hippomenes beat her in a foot race They were punished for giving in to passion

in a sacred place They were turned into lions She lost herself all right!