1. Introduction to
Classical Mythology
Dr. Michael Broder
University of South Carolina
April 12, 2012

2. Extra Credit Opportunity
TODAY
• Dr. Joy Connolly, Professor of Classics at New York
University, delivers the Annual Classics Lecture:
Telephonic Politics: the Case of the Roman Republic
Thursday, April 12
4:00 PM
Wardlaw 126
A reception will follow the lecture
• A 2-page report gets you credit for up to 2 Daily
Writes, depending on how complete and
comprehensive the report is

3. Daily Write #22: Review
Compare Aeneas’s journey to the underworld in Aeneid
6.237-755 to other underworld journeys we have read about,
such as that of Odysseus in Book 11 of Homer’s Odyssey, that
of Persephone in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, or those in
Euripides’s Herakles and Alkestis (where they are implied
more than dramatized). Feel free to discuss whichever
similarities and/or differences seem most striking to you. Do
not feel obligated to discuss all of the texts listed above; you
may choose to discuss one, two, or more as you see fit and as
time allows.
Make sure you answer all parts of the question and make
sure your answer shows familiarity with the text.

4. Daily Write #22: Review
• Similarities (Odysseus and Aeneas)
– Both seek knowledge of their destiny
– Both meet deceased parents and friends and
fallen comrades in arms
– Both meet a dead crew member who asks for
burial so his shade/soul can find rest in Hades
• Odysseus > Elpenor (fell of Circe’s roof)
• Aeneas > Palinurus (helmsman, fell of ship at sea)

5. Daily Write #22: Review
• Differences (Odysseus vs. Aeneas)
– Vergil’s description is more detailed than Homer’s
– Vergil’s underworld is more complex and varied
• Limbo
• Tartarus
• Blessed Groves
– Vergil’s underworld reflects contemporary philosophical ideas
about death, the underworld, and the afterlife
• Reincarnation of souls into new bodies
– Golden bough versus blood ritual
– Aeneas meets Charon
– Aeneas travels with the Sibyl, woman who gained prophetic
powers from Apollo

6. Daily Write #23
• In Heroides 1, “Penelope to Ulysses,” the
Roman poet Ovid shows Penelope caught
between fear and anger about the long
absence of Odysseus. How does Ovid’s
portrayal of Penelope compare to that of
Homer in the Odyssey? How is Ovid’s
Penelope similar to that of Homer? How is
she different? Why do you think Ovid chose
to portray Penelope the way that he does?

7. Definition of “Empire”
• A nation-state (like Rome) having military,
political, and economic control over other
nations, territories, or peoples beyond its
borders
• The territory of such a political unit (like the
Roman provinces in Europe, North African, and
the Middle East)
• Empire is not a form of government
– It describes the relationship between a sovereign
nation-state and its subject territories

8. Forms of Government in the
Roman Empire
Principate versus Dominate

9. Definition of “Principate”
• Form of government in the Roman Empire
from 27 BCE to 284 CE
• Rule by a leading citizen: the princeps or emperor
• The Roman Principate retained the outward
form of republican government, including the
senate and respect for individual rights
• In practice, however, the Roman Principate was
an authoritarian form of government, with the
princeps / emperor as sole ruler

10. What happened in 284 CE?
• The emperor Diocletian came to power and
instituted a new phase of Roman government,
called the Dominate
• The Dominate did not maintain the illusion of
republican forms of government such as the
senate and respect for the rights of individual
citizens
• Instead, it recognized openly that Rome was a
monarchy with a sole ruler who had unlimited
power and authority (the emperor)

11. How did the Roman Dominate end?
• In 285 CE, the emperor Diocletian divided the
Roman Empire into Western and Eastern halves
– The Eastern Roman Empire became the Byzantine
Empire with its capital in Constantinople (modern day
Turkey)
• In 476 CE, Odoacer, chieftain of the Germanic tribes,
becomes the ruler of Rome, deposing the Roman
emperor, Romulus Augustus
– This marked the end of the Western Roman Empire and
the Roman Dominate
– Also marked the beginning of the Middle Ages or
Medieval Europe

12. Anchises’ Revelation in
Aeneid Book 6
“Come, I will now explain what glory will pursue the
children of Dardanus, what descendants await you of
the Italian race, illustrious spirits to march onwards
in our name, and I will teach you your destiny.”

13. The Future Race: The Alban Kings
“See that boy, who leans on a headless spear, he
is fated to hold a place nearest the light, first to
rise to the upper air, sharing Italian blood,
Silvius, of Alban name, your last-born son, who
your wife Lavinia, late in your old age, will give
birth to in the wood, a king and the father of
kings,through whom our race will rule in Alba
Longa.”

14. The Future Race:
Romulus and the Caesars
“Yes, and a child of Mars will join his grandfather
to accompany him, Romulus, whom his mother
Ilia will bear, of Assaracus’s line…. Now direct
your eyes here, gaze at this people, your own
Romans. Here is Caesar, and all the offspring of
Iulus destined to live under the pole of heaven.
This is the man, this is him, whom you so often
hear promised you, Augustus Caesar, son of the
Deified, who will make a Golden Age again in the
fields where Saturn once reigned, and extend the
empire beyond the Libyans and the Indians.”

15. Nine Muses: Daughters of Zeus and
Mnemosyne (Memory)
• Hellenistic scholars and poets assigned specific areas of creativity
to each of the nine muses:
– Calliope: Epic Poetry
– Clio: History
– Erato: Lyric poetry, love poetry, erotic poetry
– Euterpe: Song and Elegiac Poetry
– Melpomene: Tragedy
– Polyhymnia: Hymns
– Terpsichore: Dance
– Thalia: Comedy
– Urania: Astronomy
Thanks to your fellow student, Kelli Kemmerer, for suggesting
we cover the nine muses in class and providing the list above.

16. Heroides 1: Identification
• Author = Ovid
– Roman
– 43 BCE – 18 CE
• Title = Heroides 1 (Penelope to Ulysses)
• Genre
– Elegiac poem = verse form: elegiac couplets
– Epistolary poem = narrative form: letter

17. Extra Credit Opportunity
TODAY
• Dr. Joy Connolly, Professor of Classics at New York
University, delivers the Annual Classics Lecture:
Telephonic Politics: the Case of the Roman Republic
Thursday, April 12
4:00 PM
Wardlaw 126
A reception will follow the lecture
• A 2-page report gets you credit for up to 2 Daily
Writes, depending on how complete and
comprehensive the report is

18. Upcoming Assigments
• 4/12—Ovid, Heroides 1 (Penelope to Ulysses),
in ACM, pp. 306-9
• 4/17—The Tale of Cupid and Psyche, 3-28
• 4/19—The Tale of Cupid and Psyche, 28-54

19. Introduction to
Classical Mythology
Dr. Michael Broder
University of South Carolina
April 12, 2012