Week 1: Metamorphoses by Ovid

Reading:
Book 1
Echo and Narcissus
Hercules, Nessus and Deianira
Orpheus and Eurydice
The Invasion of Troy

A Little About The Author:
Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman poet born in 43 BC. Although his father pushed him toward a life of politics, telling him that Homer died poor, Ovid eventually renounced his study of the law and pursued writing. Ovid is the exception to the usual stoic writing style of the Romans, and chose to write emotionally. As a good Roman Ovid often throws in little compliments to Rome and it's monarchs, although this served him little as he was banished by Augustus in 8 AD. He died in isolation 10 years later.
Due to the language of origin the Latin names are used for the gods. I would highly suggest looking up the greek names and becoming familiar with both names. (list of greek gods & even better list)

A Little About The History
It is somewhat ambiguous to me to put a finger on the exact beginning of Greece, but we can start with the Mycenaean civilization (1600-1200 BC). These greek speaking people are responsible for much of greek folklore, including the origin of the poems of Homer (the Trojan War is said to have occurred sometime in the 12th or 11th century BC). Although Homer did not write until much later the stories are from this time and would have been passed down for generations before Homer finally put them on paper.
This culture, as that exhibited in the Iliad and Odyssey, is that of a warrior aristocracy. Greece was composed of many regions. The greek invasion of Troy was not one unified nation attacking another, but rather individual regions bound together by treaties and lead by Agamemnon. Warfare at this time consisted of individual "champions" fighting in a larger battle. It can often be observed in Homer's works that these warriors stop to converse and swap life stories before actually fighting.
Greek mythology does not have a pretty view of the afterlife. There is no greek "heaven" or "Elysian." The best that one could hope for was not being sent to Tartarus (a place of torture) but only having to exist in a kind of half conscious state in the underworld. If one was REALLY lucky, the gods just might whisk one away and deify them, letting them join the gods. All this being said the best that a greek warrior had to look forward to was fame and glory in this life, as the afterlife wasn't a happy place.
There is not complete clarity as to how the Mycenaean civilization fell; whether by some natural disaster or the Dorian invasion. None-the-less from about 1200-800 BC is referred to as the Greek Dark Ages.

coming next week: Greece after the Dark Ages

A Little About The Reading:
These reading selections show everything from the greek creation story to the invasion of Troy. Pay special attention to the interactions of gods and men.

-What purpose do these legends play in the greek worldview?

-What is Polytheism?

-How do the ancient greek people perceive their gods?

-How is this perception similar/different from the Jewish/Christian view of God?

-How does an ancient greek person live a "virtuous" life?

Read carefully the story of Agamemnon and Iphigenia (in The Invasion of Troy) as it will lead nicely into our Week III reading.