For Tuesday: Hamilton, Mythology, "The Gods" (17-50)

For Tuesday's class, be sure to read all or as much as you can of Chapter 1, "The Gods," which runs to page 50. It reads quickly and isn't very dense, so you should fly through it. However, try to resist skimming it just to get to the end...read so that you understand it and can answer the questions below. I want you to bring your answers to these questions to class on Tuesday so we can discuss them (and this way, you'll have something to say). Give more than a yes/no answer, and try to 'think out loud' as you answer, even if you're not 100% sure of your answer. Try to have fun with them.

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Based on how Hamilton introduces and discusses the Greek pantheon of gods, would you say Greek mythology is a religion, or more a set of beliefs? What might be the difference? Though the Greeks obviously worshipped their gods in a sense, what might make this worship different than our own? In other words, what makes the Greek gods more complicated if we consider it as the basis of a religion?

Q2: Many scholars consider myths not as literal representations of this or that god, but as "ideological projections." In other words, many people believe that the gods are supposed to be more symbolic or allegorical. How might we see this in some of the stories Hamilton tells us? What god or goddess might represent a set of beliefs or a perspective rather than a living, immortal being?

Q3: The Greeks have a very interesting relationship with love, and most of their poems and plays revolve around this concept. We see this in the character of Eros, who is "a mischievous, naughty boy, or worse...evil his heart, but honey-sweet his tongue,/No truth in him, the rogue" (35). Why might the Greeks characterize love as sweet but evil, pretty but false? Why does love "lie"?

Q4: Hamilton is very critical of the Romans, and claims that they "were a people of deep religious feeling, but they had little imagination...They wanted useful gods" (47). Why might the Greek gods be less "useful" but more "imaginative"? Based on this, why does Hamilton feel the Greeks are ultimately a more interesting people/culture? (do we see evidence of this in the myths themselves?)