LIT 006 PREFINAL LESSON MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE

MYTHS EXPLANATIONS TO NATURAL PHENOMENA

1. Myths as Explanations of Natural Phenomena (samples from Greek Mythology) Prepared by: Ms. Ruth Dumdum

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS 01 03 02 04 APOLLO AND DAPHNE PYRAMUS AND THISBE CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS JUNO AND HER RIVALS

3. TABLE OF CONTENTS 05 07 06 CEYX AND ALCYONE ECHO, NARCISSUS, AND CLYTIE PERSEPHONE

4. What is Natural Phenomena?

5. Natural phenomena are those that occur or manifest without human input.

6. NATURAL PHENOMENA IN MYTH Natural phenomena were explained with myth, e.g., earthquakes are created when Poseidon crashes his trident to the ground or the passage of the sun is Helios in his chariot riding across the sky. Myths such as Persephone's half year descent to Hades explained the seasons. Time itself had mythological explanations: Helios' seven herds of 350 cattle correlate to the days of the year, Selene's 50 daughters are the weeks, and Helios' twelve daughters the hours.

7. APOLLO AND DAPHNE 01 A Tale of Cupid’s Revenge Told by Ovid and Bernini

8. APOLLO Apollo, the God of Light, music, poetry, art, medicine, knowledge, plague, and archery , was the son of Zeus and Leto . He was also known for his oracular abilities and had two cults in Delphi and Delos . Apollo was believed to heal people and cause disease by shooting them with his arrows, and was known for his role in pulling the sun across the sky.

9. DAPHNE Daphne was a Naiad Nymph in Greek Mythology and was the daughter of a river god. She was famous for being incredibly beautiful and for catching the eye of Apollo. However, Daphne was determined to remain unmarried and untouched by a man by the rest of her life.

10. APOLLO AND DAPHNE The myth of Apollo and Daphne is a story describing what happens when lust faces rejection. It’s a tale about the power of love, the power of Cupid (or Eros in Greek) who can even blind the most powerful amongst the Greek Gods. In the myth, Apollo falls madly in love with Daphne, a woman sworn to remain a virgin. Apollo hunts Daphne who refuses to accept his advances. Right at the moment he catches her, she turns into a laurel tree, a scene famously depicted in Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne sculpture.

11. APOLLO AND DAPHNE In Greek mythology, Apollo mocked Eros, the God of Love, and was repelled by two arrows. A gold arrow made Apollo fall in love with Daphne, while a lead arrow made Daphne hate Apollo. Despite these arrows, Apollo continued to follow Daphne, but she rejected him. Daphne sought help from the river god Peneus, who used metamorphosis to turn her into a laurel tree. Apollo used his eternal youth and immortality to make her laurel leaves evergreen, and it is believed that Daphne must sacrifice her body to avoid Apollo's sexual advances.

12. PYRAMUS AND THISBE 02  A Midsummer Night's Dream by Ovid

13. PYRAMUS AND THISBE The hero and heroine of a Babylonian love story related by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, Pyramus and Thisbe grow up as neighbors and fall in love. Although their parents refuse to consent to their union, the lovers resolve to flee together and agree to meet under a mulberry tree. Thisbe, first to arrive, is terrified by the loud roar of a lioness, and in her haste to leave she drops her veil, which the lioness tears to pieces with jaws stained with the blood of an ox. Pyramus, upon finding the veil, believes that Thisbe has been devoured by the lioness and stabs himself. When Thisbe returns and finds her lover mortally wounded under the mulberry tree, she kills herself. From that time forward, legend relates, the fruit of the mulberry, previously white, was purplish black.

14. CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS 03 A Midsummer Night's Dream by Thomas Edwards

15. CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS Cephalus, a handsome young man, loved manly sports and chased before dawn. Aurora fell in love with him and stole him away. Cephalus was married to Procris, a favorite of Diana, the goddess of hunting. Diana gifted her a powerful dog and javelin, which Cephalus received as gifts. Aurora rejected Cephalus's advances, urging him to keep his wife, who she believed would be regrettable to him in the future. Cephalus, content with his wife and woodland sports, encounters a ravenous fox causing trouble. Despite efforts to capture it, no dog could run it down. They borrow Cephalus' famous dog, Lelaps , and watch the race. The fox attempts to run, but the dog and game stop instantly. The heavenly powers are unwilling to let either conquer, turning them into stone. The lifelike and natural appearance of the two animals suggests they will eventually overcome their enemies.

16. CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS Cephalus, though he had lost his dog, still continued to take delight in the chase. He would go out at early morning, ranging the woods and hills unaccompanied by any one, needing no help, for his javelin was a sure weapon in all cases. Fatigued with hunting, when the sun got high he would seek a shady nook where a cool stream flowed, and, stretched on the grass, with his garments thrown aside, would enjoy the breeze. Sometimes he would say aloud, “Come, sweet breeze, come and fan my breast, come and allay the heat that burns me.” Some one passing by one day heard him talking in this way to the air, and, foolishly believing that he was talking to some maiden, went and told the secret to Procris, Cephalus’s wife. Love is credulous.

17. CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS Procris, at the sudden shock, fainted away. Presently recovering, she said, “It cannot be true; I will not believe it unless I myself am a witness to it.” So she waited, with anxious heart, till the next morning, when Cephalus went to hunt as usual. Then she stole out after him, and concealed herself in the place where the informer directed her. Cephalus came as he was wont when tired with sport, and stretched himself on the green bank, saying, “Come, sweet breeze, come and fan me; you know how I love you! you make the groves and my solitary rambles delightful.” He was running on in this way when he heard, or thought he heard, a sound as of a sob in the bushes. Supposing it some wild animal, he threw his javelin at the spot.

18. CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS A cry from his beloved Procris told him that the weapon had too surely met its mark. He rushed to the place, and found her bleeding, and with sinking strength endeavoring to draw forth from the wound the javelin, her own gift. Cephalus raised her from the earth, strove to stanch the blood, and called her to revive and not to leave him miserable, to reproach himself with her death. She opened her feeble eyes, and forced herself to utter these few words: “I implore you, if you have ever loved me, if I have ever deserved kindness at your hands, my husband, grant me this last request; do not marry that odious Breeze!” This disclosed the whole mystery: but alas! what advantage to disclose it now! She died; but her face wore a calm expression, and she looked pityingly and forgivingly on her husband when he made her understand the truth.

19. JUNO AND HER RIVALS 04

20. JUNO AND IO In Thessaly, the Peneus river flows down a rocky ravine where the river god Peneus rules. All the river nymphs gather to recognize Daphne’s transformation into a tree, except Inachus, who is too upset over his missing daughter Io to appear. This is what happened to Io: one day, Io leaves her father’s river and Jupiter sees her and falls in love with her. He tells her to lie down in the shade and to let him help her escape the wild beasts in the woods. She tries to flee, but Jupiter darkens the sky, overpowers her, and rapes her.

21. JUNO AND IO Queen Juno—Jupiter’s wife—notices that the sunny day has turned to night and suspects that Jupiter is cheating on her again, as he often has. She goes to earth to find him, but before she can catch him, Jupiter transforms Io into a beautiful white heifer. Queen Juno suspects that the heifer is really Jupiter’s mistress, so she asks Jupiter to give her the heifer. Reluctant to give up Io but not wanting to reveal his infidelity to his wife, Jupiter finally gives Queen Juno the heifer. The Queen, still suspicious, has Argus —a man with a hundred eyes—keep watch over her. Io can’t plead with Argus to release her, because her voice has become a moo.

22. JUNO AND IO One day, Io wanders close to her father’s river. Her father feeds her grass and she licks his hands, weeping because she can’t tell him who she is. She writes her name in the dust with her hoof to explain. Her father weeps, lamenting that his lineage will be a herd of cattle. Argus then moves Io to a pasture farther away. Jupiter is unable to bear Io’s distress. He calls for his son, Mercury, and orders him to kill Argus. Mercury grabs his sleep-inducing wand and goes down to earth. There, he pretends to be a shepherd playing music on a reed pipe. Entranced by the music, Argus asks Mercury to sit down beside him. Slowly, the music starts to put Argus to sleep.

23. JUNO AND IO When Mercury is halfway through the story of Pan and Syrinx, Argus falls asleep. Mercury cuts off his head, splattering the rocks with blood. Furious, Queen Juno sends a demon to terrify Io. Io wanders the world, trying to escape her invisible enemy. At last, she sinks to her knees on the bank of the Nile, groaning and lowing. Hearing her, Jupiter embraces the Queen and promises that he'll never pursue Io again if only she will stop punishing Io. The Queen is persuaded, and Io slowly regains her human form and voice. She is worshipped today as a goddess.

24. JUNO AND CALLISTO Jupiter inspects heaven after a fire from the sun's chariot damages it. He goes to Earth to restore it and encounters Callisto, a virgin huntress favorite of the goddess Diana. Jupiter disguises himself as Diana and kisses Callisto, revealing his true identity. Callisto struggles but is overpowered and raped by Jupiter. Diana appears with her group of virgins, but Callisto runs away fearing Diana is him again. She is ashamed of her newfound virginity and looks down at the ground. Diana leads the virgins to a stream, where Callisto hides her pregnancy, but they banish her.

25. JUNO AND CALLISTO Queen Juno discovers Jupiter's infidelity and becomes furious, transforming Callisto into a bear to prevent her from attracting Jupiter. She removes her voice to avoid pleading with Jupiter. Jupiter takes no mercy on Callisto and she wanders the earth in fear. Arcas , a 15-year-old boy, encounters a bear and kills it, unaware of his mother. Jupiter blocks the blow and transports them through space, implanting them as constellations in the sky. Juno is furious and visits the ancient gods of the Ocean to request their rejection of the new constellations. They agree, and Juno hopes that Jupiter will restore Callisto to human form to prevent her from usurping the Queen's place as Jupiter's wife.

26. JUNO AND LATONA (LATONA AND THE RUSTICS) The persecution which Latona experienced from Juno is alluded to in the story. The tradition was that the future mother of Apollo and Diana, flying from the wrath of Juno, besought all the islands of the Ægean to afford her a place of rest, but all feared too much the potent queen of heaven to assist her rival. Delos alone consented to become the birthplace of the future deities. Delos was then a floating island; but when Latona arrived there, Jupiter fastened it with adamantine chains to the bottom of the sea, that it might be a secure resting-place for his beloved.

27. JUNO AND CALLISTO Queen Juno discovers Jupiter's infidelity and becomes furious, transforming Callisto into a bear to prevent her from attracting Jupiter. She removes her voice to avoid pleading with Jupiter. Jupiter takes no mercy on Callisto and she wanders the earth in fear. Arcas , a 15-year-old boy, encounters a bear and kills it, unaware of his mother. Jupiter blocks the blow and transports them through space, implanting them as constellations in the sky. Juno is furious and visits the ancient gods of the Ocean to request their rejection of the new constellations. They agree, and Juno hopes that Jupiter will restore Callisto to human form to prevent her from usurping the Queen's place as Jupiter's wife.

28. CEYX AND ALCYONE 05 Metamorphoses: Book 11: Ceyx and Alcyone

29. CEYX AND ALCYONE Ceyx, the son of the morning star, married Alcyone, the daughter of Aeolus. They were devoted to each other, and in their bliss Alcyone began calling herself Hera and her husband Zeus. For this presumption Zeus destroyed Ceyx as he sailed to consult an oracle. Alcyone, who had been left at home, then learned of Ceyx's death in a dream, so she plunged herself into the sea. But a god took pity on the pair, changing them into king-fishers. The female kingfisher lays her eggs and hatches them in a sea-nest during the two weeks in winter when the sea is calm. This time is called the Halcyon Days.

30. ECHO, NARCISSUS, AND CLYTIE 06

31. ECHO AND NARCISSUS Narcissus, a beautiful young man, was cursed by a river god to reach old age if he failed to recognize himself. He fell in love with Echo, a nymph who could only repeat the sounds of others. Despite her attempts to hold Narcissus, she rejected him and ran away. Echo's body was found in the forest, but her voice remains. Narcissus's love for Echo was denied, and the gods fated him to never have anything he loved. One day, while hunting, Narcissus fell in love with a reflection of himself, unable to move or grab the image. He called to the gods to ask why he was denied love and promised to die as one.

32. ECHO AND NARCISSUS Crazy with love, Narcissus stayed by the side of the water and wasted away. Echo returned to see him wasting away, mourning him more. As Narcissus said his farewell to the reflection, she echoed his words. Narcissus died, and the nymphs mourned him, covering him with their hair and setting up for a funeral. When they turned for his body, they found a flower instead.

33. CLYTIE Clytie, in love with Apollo, would stare at the sky without fear of going blind. One day, she told Apollo about her love and promised not to give up, even if it meant burning him. Apollo ignored her, and Clytie became exhausted and dizzy. One day, she passed away, but the pain of her love persisted. Apollo begged Zeus to bring Clytie back to life, and Zeus did. He turned Clytie into a flower with blonde hair and a greenish color, turning her legs into a flower and her face into a sunflower. Since then, sunflowers follow the sun, bowing their necks sadly and waiting for the sun to rise again to see their loved ones.

34. PERSEPHONE 07

35. PERSEPHONE Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, was the wife of Hades and the Queen of the Underworld. She was a dual deity, since, in addition to presiding over the dead with intriguing autonomy, as the daughter of Demeter, she was also a goddess of fertility. The myth of her abduction by Hades was frequently used to explain the cycle of the seasons. Together with her mother, she was the central figure of the Eleusinian mysteries. Classical Greek art depicts Persephone as a venerable queen, often robbed and carrying a scepter and wheat sheaf. She often holds a four-tipped torch, a pomegranate, or a seed, symbolizing her marriage to Hades and fertility. The horn of plenty represents her role as a fertility goddess.

36. THE ABDUCTION OF PERSEPHONE The myth of Persephone is about her abduction by Hades, the ruler of the Underworld, who wanted to marry his sister Demeter. Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, was distraught and neglected her duties, leading to famine. Zeus sent Hermes to fetch Persephone back to her mother, and they were reunited on Olympus. Persephone had tasted a pomegranate seed before leaving the Underworld, which obliged her to remain in the Underworld. Zeus proposed a compromise, with Persephone spending two-thirds of the year with her mother and one-third with her new husband. This led to the seasons and crop growth. When Persephone returned to her mother, Demeter brought back light and warmth, bringing abundance to the earth.

37. THANKS! DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? Prepared by: Ms. Ruth Dumdum Please keep this slide for attribution