1. Introduction to
Classical Mythology
Dr. Michael Broder
University of South Carolina
April 5, 2012

2. Extra Credit Opportunity
• 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: Grading Criteria
• Engage with the question
– If the question relates to a passage from the text, make
sure to comment on the passage
– If the question relates to a quote from a scholarly article,
make sure to comment on the quote
– Make sure to address all part of the question
• Show knowledge of the text
– Use examples from the text to illustrate your points
Now that we are well into the second half of the
course, I am holding you to a higher standard for
your Daily Writes.

4. Daily Write #20: Review
Why do you think Lucretius begins On the Workings
of the Universe by invoking Venus? Which goddesss
(or goddesses) have you seen invoked at the
beginnings of poems before (e.g., Hesiod, Homer)?
Which Greek goddess is Venus the Roman
equivalent of? Why is Venus a fitting goddess to
invoke at the beginning of this poem?
Make sure you answer all parts of the question
and make sure your answer shows familiarity with
the text.

5. Daily Write #20: Review
Why do you think Lucretius begins On the Workings
of the Universe by invoking Venus? Which goddesss
(or goddesses) have you seen invoked at the
beginnings of poems before (e.g., Hesiod, Homer)?
Which Greek goddess is Venus the Roman
equivalent of? Why is Venus a fitting goddess to
invoke at the beginning of this poem?
Make sure you answer all parts of the question
and make sure your answer shows familiarity with
the text.

6. Daily Write #21
Using examples from Aeneid 2.1-558 (today’s reading),
describe how Vergil’s epic combines elements from Greek
sources, such as Homer’s Odyssey or the Homeric Hymn to
Aphrodite, to create a mythological foundation story for
Rome. Try to address both the heroic (having to do with
heroes) and divine (having to do with gods and goddesses)
aspects of Vergil’s narrative. Do not feel limited to epic
sources; feel free to include examples from as many different
genres as you think are relevant—historiography, tragedy,
philosophy, etc.
Make sure you answer all parts of the question and make
sure your answer shows familiarity with the text.

7. Classical Multiculturalism
• Hellenic Culture
• Hellenistic Culture
• Roman Culture

8. Hellenic Culture
• Greek culture from 750-323 BCE
– 750 BCE = Homer
– 323 BCE = Death of Alexander the Great

9. Athens was the cultural center of
Hellenic Greece
• Panathenaea, festival where the Homeric epics
were recited
• Dionysia, festival where the tragedies and
comedies were performed
• Birthplace of democratic form of government
• Birthplace or home of most of the great poets
and historians
• Birthplace of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the
first great philosophers

10. Hellenistic Culture
• Greek culture from 323-31 BCE
• Begins in 323 BCE – death of Alexander the Great
• Ends in 31 BCE – Augustus Caesar defeats Antony
and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium
• Extends Greek culture from Greece to the rest of the
Mediterranean World
– Europe
– North Africa
– Middle East
– Southwest Asia

11. Hellenistic Culture
• Centered in the city of Alexandria in Egypt
• New forms of poetry
• New schools of philosophy
• New religious movements
• Advances in art, architecture, science, and
medicine

12. Roman Culture (300 BCE – 200 CE)
• Livius Andronicus (c. 280 – c. 200 BCE.),
earliest Roman poet known by name
• Death of Marcus Aurelius (180 CE)
• Rome was highly influenced by Greek
civilization and culture
– Poetry
– Mythology
– Philosophy

13. Review: Hellenic Uses of Myth
• Epic use of myth
– Hesiod, Theogony
– Homeric Hymns to Demeter and Aphrodite
– Homer, Odyssey
• Historiographic use of myth
– Herodotus, Histories
– Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
• Tragic use of myth
– Euripides, Herakles and Alkestis
• Philosophical use of myth
– Plato, Symposium

14. Review: Hellenistic Uses of Myth
• Pastoral use of myth
– Theocritus, Idyll 11
• Epic use of myth (not covered in class)
– Apollonius, Argonautica (c. 250 BCE)
• Story of Jason and the Argonauts
• Quest for the Golden Fleece
• Love of Jason and Medea

15. Review: Roman Uses of Myth
• Philosophical use of myth
– Lucretius, On the Workings of the Universe
• Epic use of myth
– Vergil, Aeneid

16. Rise of Rome
• Rome began as a village in central Italy,
founded around the time of Homer (c. 750
BCE)
• Rome was a kingdom from its beginnings
until about 509 BCE
• In 509, the Romans expelled their last king
and established a republic

17. Roman Republic
• Rome was a republic from 509 BCE until 27 BCE
• Republic comes from the Latin term res publica =
public affairs
• Republic government is a kind of representative
democracy
• Representative democracy means elected or appointed
leaders represent the people and rule on their behalf
– The United States is a representative democracy, similar
in some respects to the Roman Republic
– Direct democracy, as in Athens, means the entire body of
citizens can vote on each and every government decision

18. Roman Empire
• During the republican period, Rome acquired
an empire that extended over much of the
Mediterranean World
– Europe
– North Africa
– Middle East

19. Rome Principate
• Rome became a principate in 27 BCE
• Principate means rule by a single leading citizen,
the princeps (source of the English word prince)
• In English, we call this person the “emperor”
• The first emperor of Rome was Augustus Caesar
• Augustus became the sole ruler of Rome
when he defeated his rivals Antony and
Cleopatra in the battle of Actium in 31 BCE

20. Vergil (70–19 BCE)
• Member of the literary circle around the
Emperor Augustus
– Horace, friend and fellow poet
– Maecenas, friend and literary patron
– Lucius Varius Rufus and Plotius Tucca, poets,
friends and literary executors

21. Aeneid
• Begun in 29 BCE, commissioned by
Augustus
• Unfinished at Vergil’s death in 19 BCE
• Published with minimal editorial changes by
Varius and Plotius

22. Aeneid
• Consisted of 12 books
– Books 1-6 modeled on Homer’s Odyssey
– Books 7-12 modeled on Homer’s Iliad
– Influenced by Apollonius’s Argonautica
• Love of Aeneas and Dido in Book 4 is inspired by
the love of Jason and Medea

23. Extra Credit Opportunity
• 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

24. Upcoming Assigments
• 4/5—REVIEW: Vergil, from The Aeneid, in
ACM, pp. 410-20
• 4/10—READ: Vergil, from The Aeneid, in
ACM, pp. 421-30

25. Introduction to
Classical Mythology
Dr. Michael Broder
University of South Carolina
April 5, 2012