“Cyclops, you asked my name, and I will tell it: give me afterwards a guest gift as you promised. My name is Nobody. Nobody, my father, mother, and friends call me.
In the second book of the Percy Jackson series, Percy and his friends trick Polyphemus in a similar way to how Odysseus does here.
since the Cyclopes care nothing for aegis-bearing Zeus: we are greater than they
Do the gods not punish the cyclopes for being this way, the way they would harm mortals for saying this?
As soon as rosy-fingered Dawn appeared
This is such a beautiful description.
with Apollo’s help.’
This shows how strong Achilles is, since a god's help is needed to kill him.
and may he bear home the blood-stained armour of those he has slain, so his mother’s heart may rejoice.’
This shows how honour to homeric heroes is not what it is to us, as killing people in war may not cause most mother's hearts to rejoice.
And seven brothers of mine, swift-footed mighty Achilles sent to Hades, all on a day
Here the brutality of Achilles after Patroclus is killed is evident.
If I’m worthless to you, consider the children we have:
This is in contrast to the version of the myth where Medea kills the children as revenge on Jason.
Where was the rich dowry then? Where was the royal bride for you then, and that Isthmus splitting the waters of twin seas?
From Medea's perspective here she seems more sad that vengeful, whereas when she causes Jason's new wife to burn to death she seems more angry.
Scorned Medea, the helpless exile, speaks to her recent husband, surely you can spare some time from your kingship?
This is similar to how Theseus leaves Ariadne behind.
There is not a man alive that has wholly escaped misfortune’s taint, [1315] nor any god either,
This is true that the gods punish mortals for the same crimes that they themselves have committed at times, yet they still hold themselves above mortals.
Ah! yours is the advice of one outside sorrow.
I think most people can relate to this line in that, it is easy for one who is not experiencing something to give advice that will not necessarily be easy to carry out.
Theseus, offspring of Aegeus, son of the daughter of Pittheus,
Interesting how Aethra is referred to as the daughter of Pittheus here, instead of just her name, like Aegeus.
He also slew Sciron on the borders of Megara, by hurling him down the cliffs. Sciron robbed the passers by, according to the prevalent tradition; but as some say, he would insolently and wantonly thrust out his feet to strangers and bid them wash them, and then, while they were washing them, kick them off into the sea.
Sciron is mentioned in the Percy Jackson series, he tries to kill Percy and the other demigods, but they escape by throwing him off the cliff in the same way that Theseus does
Nay rather, they exulted in monstrous insolence, and reaped from their strength a harvest of cruelty and bitterness, mastering and forcing and destroying everything that came in their path. And as for reverence and righteousness, justice and humanity, they thought that most men praised these qualities for lack of courage to do wrong and for fear of being wronged, and considered them no concern of men who were strong enough to get the upper hand.
This is an interesting description, since Theseus and Heracles are presented as hero characters. This sort of contradicts that.
Aeneas called both nations by the common name of Latins. From that time the Aborigines were not behind the Trojans in their loyal devotion to Aeneas.
Strategic use of naming in order to do well in a war. This makes me think of politicians or big companies showing superficial support for minorities in order to gain their vote or business.
and gave his daughter in marriage to Aeneas.
I'm making the same point as my last annotation here, but once again the historical system of giving away women to be married is shown.
partly because these men had always been in favour of making peace and surrendering Helen.
There's a common theme here of women being treated as something you can give, like gifts? It reminds me of how lots of gods are just 'given' wives by Zeus.
all Egypt, and India, all the Arabs and Sabaeans turn and flee.
It's cool to hear about Egypt, and it makes me wonder how Greek and Egyptian mythology differ.
great-hearted
I love the descriptions of the gods that come before their name. They paint a picture of the god's personality without having to go into to much detail.
Zeus, snatching the sixth-month abortive child39 from the fire, sewed it in his thigh.
Hmm, another instance of Zeus sewing a child into his thigh. Perhaps in Greek mythology this is not as uncommon as I thought.
dragon,
Cool!!! I didn't know there were dragons in Greek mythology. I always associate them with Chinese myths and culture.
they gave up the thought of returning home, and took up their abode in diverse places; Phoenix settled in Phoenicia; Cilix settled near Phoenicia, and all the country subject to himself near the river Pyramus he called Cilicia; and Cadmus and Telephassa took up their abode in Thrace and in like manner Thasus founded a city Thasus in an island off Thrace and dwelt there.8
This seems like a sort of etiological story, that explains the names of the cities.
You saw Aktaion’s gruesome death. Torn to shreds by flesh-eating hounds, the very ones he was nurturing. That’s the Fate that visited him when he boasted that he was a better hunter than Artemis
This is different to how the story was told in the last unit, where he stumbled upon Artemis bathing. Perhaps this story of him not respecting the gods fits better in this context.
He opened up a small pocket in the sky, in the ether, that surrounds our earth and placed him in there. This, it seems calmed Hera’s anger and he too, was able to avoid Hera’s constant whining. In time, the words, “ether” and “thigh” were mingled in the minds of men and so the myth has been spun how Dionysos was sown in Zeus’ thigh.
This is super interesting!
He says that Dionysos was sown up inside Zeus’ thigh! How stupid!
I can't really blame him for this statement. It does seem unlikely, although maybe not for the gods.
How dared you by yourself give birth to bright-eyed Athena? Would not I have borne you a child —I, who was at least called your wife [325] among the undying gods who hold wide heaven
How long was it after Zeus swallowed Metis that Athena was born? He had time to re-marry to Hera before Athena was born?
wise Zeus, rejoice in their great hearts as they watch their dear son playing among the undying gods
This is a big contrast to how Zeus feels about his other son, Ares.
Only Eilithyia, goddess of sore travail, had not heard of Leto’s trouble, for she sat on the top of Olympus beneath golden clouds by white-armed Hera’s [100] contriving, who kept her close through envy
It seems like nearly all of Hera's actions are motivated by jealousy.
‘Father Zeus, does it not stir your indignation to see all this violence?
This is ironic coming from Ares, who represents the violence of war.
bane of the living
Is this in reference to the Greeks disliking Ares, or is it a general statement of humans fearing war?
Once this was done, those delightful sisters were victims of envy’s swelling bile and complained loudly to each other
Jealousy is what caused all this. It seems to be a common theme in mythology and storytelling.
But she’ll reap no joy from usurping my honours, whatever she may be: I’ll soon make her regret that illicit beauty of hers.”
Gods seem to punish mortals a lot for things that aren't their fault.
who had three daughters of surpassing beauty.
The family having three daughters with the youngest having some outstanding characteristic reminds me of a children's book I read in elementary school. If only I could remember the name of it! This seems to be trope in lots of stories though, take Cinderella for example.
Lost is her lovely lord, and with him lost her hallowed beauty. When Adonis yet lived Cypris was beautiful to see to, but when Adonis died her loveliness died also.
Since she is goddess of love, I always picture Aphrodite to be beautiful. Perhaps this shows how much Adonis's death affects her, that she loses her beauty.
Woe I cry for Adonis and the Loves cry woe again
The repetition of this line and the line "the beauteous Adonis is dead", are indicators that this was meant to be sung.
she shunned the company of gods and lofty Olympus.
This shows how upset Demeter was about her daughter being taken, she refuses to return to Olympus or take part in anything that relates her to the gods.
But I urge you, goddess: stop your loud cry of lamentation: you should not have an anger without bounds, all in vain
Helios telling her not to be upset about her daughter being taken, and that it wouldn't be that bad to have Hades as a son in-law shows that he isn't concerned about the fact that this is against Persephone's will.
And the narcissus, which was grown as a lure for the flower-faced girl by Gaia [Earth]. All according to the plans of Zeus. She [Gaia] was doing a favor for the one who receives many guests [Hādēs]
Why is Gaia helping Hades abduct Persephone? What does she have to gain from this? Is she hoping for a favor in return from Hades or Zeus?
Sure, but is it proper to disobey your father’s word? Aren’t you more afraid of that?
An indicator that Zeus rules by fear and tyranny instead of justice and respect.
Still, I must do so. I must harden my resolve and obey because it is a heavy thing to disobey our father’s word.
Zeus has a lot of power over the other olympians. It's like none of them even dares to disagree with him. Clearly there are no discussions with Zeus about what to do, only orders from him.
Before this, the various kinds of humanity lived on earth without evils and without harsh labor
Although, before Prometheus tricked Zeus with the ox and stole the fire, mortals lived a more difficult life.
make it look like the immortal goddesses
I wonder why the goddesses were not connected to evil the same way that mortal women were. Is this because Pandora was created by the gods with the sole intent of bringing evil to mankind? Meaning women are inherently evil not because of their own doing but only because the gods made it so?
because Prometheus, with crooked plans, deceived him. For that reason he [Zeus] devised plans that were to be baneful for humankind.
Why does Zeus decide to punish mortals as well as Prometheus? It's Prometheus who deceived him, the mortals just enjoyed the benefits of his deceit.
reap the labors of others for their own stomachs
Is this saying that women are profiting of the hard work of men? If so, this is really interesting, because women weren't supposed to work. So how would this be their fault?
“Son of Iapetos, far-famed among all kings, how unfairly, good friend, you have divided the portions.
I think this is a good example of how selfish Zeus is. Prometheus knows that Zeus will choose unfairly to favor himself, so he makes the choice obvious. Zeus is predictably greedy, which makes it easy for Prometheus to fool him in this way.
Tribes of women, a great source of hurt, dwell with mortal men
This reminds me of how in the bible, a woman is also seen to be the root of suffering for humankind. I wonder why this is the case in these creation stories.
For they advised him so, to the end that no other should hold royal sway over the eternal gods in place of Zeus; for very wise children were destined to be born of her, first the maiden bright-eyed Tritogeneia, equal to her father in strength and in wise understanding; but afterwards she was to bear a son of overbearing spirit, king of gods and men.
Interesting how Zeus doesn't want Metis to give birth to Athena, but has no problem bringing her into existence him self.
huge Earth bare her youngest child Typhoeus of the love of Tartarus, by the aid of golden Aphrodite.
This is a big contrast to how Apollodorus describes Typhon being conceived. It seems to be out of love instead of anger.
Now the gods had an oracle that none of the giants could perish at the hand of gods, but that with the help of a mortal they would be made an end of. Learning of this, Earth sought for a simple to prevent the giants from being destroyed even by a mortal.
There seems to be a never-ending power struggle throughout Greek mythology as each next generation is born and is prophesied to overthrow the last.
Zeus cast Mount Etna (Links to an external site.) in Sicily (Links to an external site.) upon him. That is a huge mountain, from which down to this day they say that blasts of fire issue from the thunderbolts that were thrown
It's interesting when the text explains a reason for things that happen today. It says that "blasts of fire issue from the thunderbolts that were thrown", and it's referring to Mount Etna which is an active volcano.
Mount Casius, which overhangs Syria
I like how this section makes reference to places that we know of now. It helps in understanding to be able to make connections to things that exist today.
Not only did they demand the crops and the food the rich soil owed them
Interesting how in most stories greed is the human motivator, we feel as though others owe us something.
I want to speak about bodies changed into new forms. You, gods, since you are the ones who alter these, and all other things, inspire my attempt, and spin out a continuous thread of words, from the world’s first origins to my own time.
This text seems to be more vague than the other two, focusing on the changes and the creation as a whole instead of specific gods or titans.
honey and milk
This explains why in the next couple paragraphs the bees and the goat are talked about a lot, as they are important to his upbringing.
but some stone blocks of its foundations are still preserved
I think that I prefer text to the first one, as it is easier to follow. I also like parts like this that relate the events of the myths to facts.
they were the fiercest, and were hated by their father from the very first: as soon as any of these was born
Did their father hate them because they were a threat to his power? Perhaps if he had not been so worried about them overthrowing him, they wouldn't have had reason to do so.
but a single eye was fixed in their mid-foreheads. And Kyklopes was their appropriate name, because 145 in their foreheads one circular eye was fixed
Here is an example of the repetition that gives a clue that this originally recited orally.
Eros that relaxes the limbs, and in the breasts of all gods and all men, subdues their reason and prudent counsel
I think the way that Eros is described here is a very beautiful way to say that love lives within all of us, and a very true statement that love can distract from reality and logic.
broad-bosomed Earth
I think this, and other alliteration such as "dark dim", "swollen stream", and "starry Sky", is a clue that this poem was originally recited orally.