CLASSICS 224 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Pithos, Tuberculosis, Divination
Document Summary
Myths and their cultural functions- divine order and the problem of evil. One function of a myth is to reconcile the world we perceive with ideas or information that are not easily incorporated into the cultural or cogitative framework we possess. Another function can be to communicate, reinforce or subvert cultural assumptions. 1800s: tuberculosis responsible for nearly half of all deaths in new england. Over 16,000 deaths from motorcycle accidents since 2008. Kronos castrates ouranos and is cursed by him and called titenes: the struggling ones". Kronos marries his sister and she bears him six children: demeter, hera, hades, hestia, poseidon, zeus, kronos learns from gaia that his is destined to be overthrown by one of his children. Instead of allowing kronos to eat him, rhea tricks him by substituting a stone. Zeus compels kronos to vomit up his siblings and allies with several other creatures: hekatonkheires the hundred handed ones, giants, cyclopes.
