Chaos Cosmos And Creation In Early Greek Theogonies

Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- 1. Introduction: Myth, Philosophy, and Ontological Pluralism -- 2. Cosmos and Chaos in Hesiod's Theogony -- 3. Beyond the Golden Age: Sacrifice, Sharing, and Affinity in Hesiod's Mekone -- 4. Orpheus and the Reinvention of the Cosmos -- 5. Dionysus Dismembered -- 6. Conclusion: Protagoras and Greek Naturalism -- Appendix: Some Key Orphic Texts -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

Cosmological narratives like the creation story in the book of Genesis or the modern Big Bang are popularly understood to be descriptions of how the universe was created. However, cosmologies also say a great deal more. Indeed, the majority of cosmologies, ancient and modern, explore not simply how the world was made but how humans relate to their surrounding environment and the often thin line which separates humans from gods and animals. Combining approaches from classical studies, anthropology, and philosophy, this book studies three competing cosmologies of the early Greek world: Hesiod's Theogony; the Orphic Derveni Theogony; and Protagoras' creation myth in Plato's eponymous dialogue. Although all three cosmologies are part of a single mythic tradition and feature a number of similar events and characters, Olaf Almqvist argues they offer very different answers to an ongoing debate on what it is to be human. Engaging closely with the ontological turn in anthropology and in particular with the work of Philippe Descola, this book outlines three key sets of ontological assumptions – analogism, pantheism, and naturalism – found in early Greek literature and explores how these competing ontological assumptions result in contrasting attitudes to rituals such as prayer and sacrifice.

The Derveni papyrus is a multi-layered and intricate philosophical and religious treatise written in Greek, probably just before 400 BCE. Since its discovery in 1962, the papyrus has attracted the attention of scholars in several areas of Classical studies, mostly ancient philosophy and religion, but also literary studies. The anonymous author of the text quotes a previously unknown Orphic poem and comments on it using philosophical motifs and concepts borrowed from various Presocratic thinkers but especially Heraclitus and the Anaxagoreans. The book presents a new interpretation of various aspects of this complex text: situating the treatise within the tradition of allegorical interpretation; providing an interpretation of the opening columns, which describe a peculiar ritual and contain some Heraclitean material, including, as the study argues, some previously unknown fragments; reconstructing the contents of the Orphic poem upon which the Derveni author comments; examining various allegorical devices employed by the Derveni author in his explanation of the Orphic poem, following his commentary in detail; and finally, discussing the likely intellectual background in which the Derveni treatise originated. In general, the study argues that rather than being the work of a philosophising Orphic initiate, the Derveni treatise is a philosophical text whose aim was to explain a nonstandard religious poem. The commentary explains the Orphic poem from a perspective influenced by discussions among the followers of philosophy of Anaxagoras and Heraclitus, and employs reflections on the use and function of language found in the writings of some contemporary thinkers. Based on an analysis of sources upon which the Derveni papyrus is based, it is concluded that its author was probably active in Athens in late fifth century BCE and may have been a person close to Socrates' teacher Archelaus.

From the noble Titan Prometheus who stole fire from Mount Olympus to the bloody tale of how Kronos castrated his own father Ouranos to avenge his mother Gaia, these visceral, often dark and powerful stories about the creation of the world are also larger than life projections of human passions, the exercise of power in a violent and hierarchical world and a reflection on the bitter-sweet human condition. With their remote origins in Mesopotamia and the ancient civilisations of the Near East, these myths come down to us primarily from the early Greek poet and farmer Hesiod in his two epic poems; the Theogony and the Works and Days. Drawing on Hesiod's account as well as ancient authors such as Ovid, Aeschylus and Apollodorus of Alexandria, In the Beginning was Chaos recounts the stories of the ancient Greeks about how the world began, the creation of humanity and their troubled relationship with the Gods. It includes the war between the Olympians and the Titans, Prometheus and his struggle with Zeus, as well as detailed descriptions of the twelve Olympian gods and goddesses and an account of the Underworld. It also includes the story Deucalion and Pyrrha and the great flood with its striking parallels to the Biblical account of the flood.

The Theogony of Hesiod Hesiod - The Theogony is essentially a large-scale synthesis of a vast variety of local Greek traditions concerning the gods and the universe, organized as a narrative that tells about the creation of the world out of Chaos and about the gods that shaped the cosmos. To some extent, it represents the Greek mythology equivalent of the book of Genesis in the Hebrew and Christian "Bible", as it lists the early generations and genealogy of the gods, titans and heroes since the beginning of the universe.Interestingly, Hesiod claims in the work that he (a poet, and not some mighty king) had been given the authority and responsibility of disseminating these stories by the Muses directly, thus putting himself almost in the position of a prophet.In formal terms, the poem is presented as a hymn in 1,022 lines invoking Zeus and the Muses, in the tradition of the hymnic preludes with which an ancient Greek rhapsode would begin his performance at poetic competitions. The final written form of the Theogony was probably not established until the 6th Century BCE, however, and some editors have concluded that a few minor episodes, such as the Typhoeus episode in verses 820-880, is an interpolation (a passage introduced later).It should perhaps be seen not a definitive source of Greek mythology, but rather as a snapshot of a dynamic tradition of myths as it stood at that particular time. Greek mythology continued to change and adapt after this time, and some of the stories and attributes of the various gods have likewise transformed over time.

Cosmological narratives like the creation story in the book of Genesis or the modern Big Bang are popularly understood to be descriptions of how the universe was created. However, cosmologies also say a great deal more. Indeed, the majority of cosmologies, ancient and modern, explore not simply how the world was made but how humans relate to their surrounding environment and the often thin line which separates humans from gods and animals. Combining approaches from classical studies, anthropology, and philosophy, this book studies three competing cosmologies of the early Greek world: Hesiod's Theogony; the Orphic Derveni Theogony; and Protagoras' creation myth in Plato's eponymous dialogue. Although all three cosmologies are part of a single mythic tradition and feature a number of similar events and characters, Olaf Almqvist argues they offer very different answers to an ongoing debate on what it is to be human. Engaging closely with the ontological turn in anthropology and in particular with the work of Philippe Descola, this book outlines three key sets of ontological assumptions – analogism, pantheism, and naturalism – found in early Greek literature and explores how these competing ontological assumptions result in contrasting attitudes to rituals such as prayer and sacrifice.

*Includes pictures*Includes ancient Greek accounts of the mythology*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contents"Even Cronus, the Titan who literally had his kids for breakfast, would find these facts hard to swallow." - Tai, Cupid's Academy: Argus' Big Fat Greek Wedding Ring "The sole art that suits me is that which, rising from unrest, tends toward serenity." This quote by Andr� Gide perfectly encapsulates the story of the Titans. Most commonly known as the antagonists of the pantheon of gods led by Zeus, the Titans embody "unrest" and "transience" for the modern reader, but for reasons less than the obvious. History, after all, is the story of the winners, and the world of the ancient Greeks was a world of a very real, highly querulous pantheon that would behoove ancient writers to glorify in their works. Unlike the other gods, the Titans' appearance in ancient Greek writing is limited, and the full treatment of their "history" appears, predominantly, in just two works: Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days. The story of the Titans appears in both works in different degrees of detail, and for that reason, any work about their story has to incorporate references from each. Rather than becoming ensnared in source criticism, it's necessary to combine the works to create a fuller picture of the mythology Hesiod expounds. For example, it's worth noting that the Theogony, at least, has all of the hallmarks of a "hymn to glory of Zeus the King." The reason for this is that, throughout the work, Zeus is lauded as being the progenitor of "order" in the cosmos, once he had defeated his enemies and ceased to battle monsters. It will soon become apparent that Zeus is not only the "lord of gods and men," but also the revolutionary leader of a new power system. This understanding of the cosmos as a political arena is vital to the interpretation of the myth of the Titans.By looking at these works of Hesiod, it's possible to get a better understanding of how the ancient Greeks viewed their cosmos, their pantheon of gods, and the power struggles their deities went through in order to become dominant celestial beings. The Titans play a much larger part in this process than they are often given credit for, and the importance of their lasting effect upon the cosmos, the mythology, and the ancient Greek psyche cannot be overstated.The Origins of Ancient Greek Mythology: The History of the Titans and the Greeks' Creation Story looks at the Titans and their role in the ancient Greeks' creation story. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the origins of Greek mythology like never before.

Hesiod's Theogony is a large-scale synthesis of a vast variety of local Greek traditions concerning the gods, organized as a narrative that tells how they came to be and how they established permanent control over the cosmos. It is the first Greek mythical cosmogony. The initial state of the universe is chaos, a dark indefinite void considered as a divine primordial condition from which everything else appeared. Theogony is a part of Greek mythology which embodies the desire to articulate reality as a whole; this universalizing impulse was fundamental for the first later projects of speculative theorizing.