Read the two ancient texts on the moodle. The first one is from the Greek context, the second one is excerpts from a Roman account of creation.
1. Hesiod, Theogony, translated by H.G. Evelyn-White
2. Ovid, Metamorphoses, translated by A.S. Kline
Discuss the following questions:
1. What mythic patterns can we see in these readings?
2. What similarities and differences can you identify between the different cosmogonies we have seen in the last three weeks? What reasons could we suggest to explain any similarities?
3. How is creation accomplished in the Greek and Roman contexts?
4. What exists before creation begins in the Greek and Roman contexts?
5. What is the meaning of the sacrifice at Mekone in Hesiod’s Theogony?
6. Was Zeus readily accepted by the Greeks as supreme god in Hesiod’s account? How did he establish himself and break the pattern of the succession myth?
7. We often hear that the Romans just copied the Greek gods/myths and applied new names to them. Do you think Ovid is just copying Hesiod and other Greek sources? Do you think he has other sources? Do you think he is creating new details?