roughbarked said:
The works of Hesiod
Theogony
and Works and Days
The fullest and most important source of myths about the origin of the gods is the Theogony of Hesiod (c. 700 bce). The elaborate genealogies mentioned above are accompanied by folktales and etiological myths. The Works and Days shares some of these in the context of a farmer’s calendar and an extensive harangue on the subject of justice addressed to Hesiod’s possibly fictitious brother Perses. The orthodox view treats the two poems as quite different in theme and treats the Works and Days as a theodicy (a natural theology). It is possible, however, to treat the two poems as a diptych, each part dependent on the other. The Theogony declares the identities and alliances of the gods, while the Works and Days gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world, and Hesiod urges that the most reliable—though by no means certain—way is to be just.
Hey thanks, I’ll read those.
The Theogony includes the “The family of Zeus” and “Prometheus bringing fire”. And is very old. It’s not long, only about 1000 lines long.
“Cupid and Psyche” is recent, AD.
Any clues about The labours of Hercules, The voyage of the Argonauts, Theseus and the Minotaur, Midas and the golden touch?
Labours of Hercules is attributed to Peisander, dated about 600 BC, but the original source is lost so I assume the oldest extant source is much later?
> Why Do Humans Keep Inventing Gods to Worship?
That’s not quite the same thing. Inventing ancient Greek Gods has nothing to do with worship.
It has more to do with horror stories?
The normal answer to why anyone invents anything tends to be “money or broads”. But that doesn’t work in this case. Inventing Greek Gods wouldn’t bring either. Other motivations for invention could be fame or catharsis or demonic possession. Of those three, demonic possession seems to me perhaps most likely, the stories are meant to frighten the listeners shitless.
> At least 18,000 different gods, goddesses and various animals or objects have been worshipped by humans.
That’s a vast underestimate. Another web source says “In fact, there are over 33 million Hindu gods in total !” I suspect that the motive in Hinduism is mass-produced pornography. Each pornographic sculpture design, copyright individually (perhaps) to each sculptor has to be different to be most effective as pornography.
But I’m not talking Hindu here, I’m talking ancient Greek.
