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Unit 3 Five Ages of Man---Human Alienation from the Divine Home Assignment:
Comment on human creation myths (Deucalion, Chinese , Indian, Hopi). Prepare the questions 1-4, 6, and 9 on page 54.
Five Ages of Mankind
1.
Golden Age黄金时代 (c. 3000 B.C.-?)
Paradise; Cronus’s reign, Old Stone Age, Pre-agricultural times
A． men born spontaneously from the earth or fashioned from earth and water by Prometheus B． ruled by Cronus (and Mother Earth), but without laws
C． life peaceful, care-free, labor-free, painless, but vegetarian (acorns and honey from the trees) D． everlasting youth until peaceful death in sleep
E． spirits as genii神怪/invisible protectors or helpers of later generations (a life of plenty, freedom and primitiveness; ending with Pandora’s creation)
Silver Age白银时代(?-1900B.C.)
the Moon goddess’s reign, Middle and New Stone Age, Agricultural/ matriarchal period A． the first race created by the Olympians
B． beginning of agriculture and primitive domestic life (bread) C． the rule of Mothers and men the despised sex
D． a full 100 years’ childhood, but only a short time’s adult life E． death from “reckless violence” F． savage, ungrateful to creators G． spirits as demons ( eradicated with the flood?)
Bronze Age青铜时代(1900-1250B.C.)
New Stone Age + Copper Age, agriculture and manufacture, a hunting and warring age, an age of men
A． created by Zeus alone, reputedly from ash trees桉树，白蜡树 B． ate bread as well as flesh
C． bronze houses, bronze armors, and bronze tools or weapons D． great warriors pursuing brutal, violent conflicts E． spirits went down to Hell
(ending with Black Death or Deucalion flood)
Bronze Age or Age of Heroes青铜/英雄时代(1250-1100B.C.)
A． children out of gods’ or goddesses’union with mortals; semi-gods
B． a nobler race, “better and more just” than the preceding or succeeding generation C． heroes who fought at Troy (Unit 9) or Thebes (p.386-393)
D． their spirits went to the Happy Isles/the Isles of the Blest/ Homeric Edenic Elysium极乐岛 to live forever in peace and happiness Iron Age黑铁时代(1100-600 B.C.) loss of Paradise
A． all evils and corruptions, injustice and strives B． toil for survival and suffer endless misery C． spirits condemned
2.
3.
4.
5.
1. What picture of historical development do you get from the account of the Five Ages? Do you agree with Hesiod? Why?
A Human life is in a process of decline (spiral/ circular/ linear downward) with each stage of devolution 退化represented by a metal of inferior value to the one preceding it.
B As men degenerate both physically and spiritually, they alienate themselves from the gods; the farther away from the gods/divinity, the nearer to the earthly/earth; also there is alienation between mind and heart/ instinct.
C The human sufferings are self-induced punishment by gods; Natural disasters are ways of punishing humans. D Human civilization/knowledge/power leads to its separation from Divinity and Nature.
E The account is symbolic and apocalyptic 启示性的: According what has happened to the 5 earlier ages, what is to happen is predicted. Human history is thus a painful lesson teaching mortals to obey the gods.
II. Gods’ Punishment of Humans
Deucalion Flood myth
the Biblical legend of Noah’s Ark p.282-3 Lycaon or his fifty sons or Tantalus Historically several big floods in remote past
III. Prometheus
What role did Prometheus play in the primal history of mankind? What cultural value does the Promethean fire have in
the history of human civilization?
How do you like the mythical account that Prometheus was unbound and restored to Olympus? And why?
Family history
Titan Iapetus +Clymene, daughter of Oceanos
--- Atlas holding the broad sky at the ends of the earth---Hesperides p.307-310 --- Menoetius sent by Zeus to Erebus
---Prometheus ( Forethought先觉者)--Deucalion ---Epimetheus(Afterthought后觉者) ---Pyrrha Creator of humans:
---dust/earth (with Uranus’s seeds)
---wet the earth with water (water of life) ---fashioned it into the image of Gods
---to put life into it, confined good and evil of animals into human body, making it half living being (animal life)
---Athene gave it soul/psyche and breath of life Human benefactor:
---fire
---arts of healing, medicine ---mathematics ---astronomy
---navigation航海 ---divination占卜 ---architecture ---metallurgy冶金
Defender of human interest:
---cheating at sacrifice---leaving meat to men
---bringing the needed fire, the symbol of civilization (the Forbidden Fruit)
[Promethean Fire: the Forbidden Fruit, which makes civilization possible and simultaneously severs
humanity’s primal bond with Nature (Eden/animal)] Savior of mankind:
Christ-like, to suffer for the sake of mankind Rebel against tyranny:
refused to tell the secret (Zeus/Poseidon+Thetis ) and give in to Zeus Prometheus’s acceptance to Olympus: a compromise or a triumph?
IV. Pandora
What is the traditional understanding of Pandora? In what way is she a “lovely evil”?
Pandora is often regarded as Eve, the first woman in the Bible. How does she resemble Eve? How do you defend her from the feminist point of view?
What does it mean that “hope” alone remains in Pandora’s jar/box? What is the significance of “hope”?
1. Nature of Woman
“all-gifted”有着一切天赋的女人
“the root of all evils”, the symbol of extravagance and ill-nature the being with “curiosity” the first woman, Greek Eve
a complementary curse and blessing for men
[If a man refuses to marry, he has a dismal old age with no one to look after him and no family to inherit his possessions. If a man has a good wife, he has at least a mixture of good and evil.] 2. Different accounts of the jar
A． all good things flew back to heaven, only Hope was caught
B． both good and evil, Hope the last one to fly out before the jar was shut C． all evils in the jar flew out to attack humans, only Hope remained 3. Cultural interpretation of Pandora
a product of earth and a gift of malevolence, the polar opposite of Prometheus’s gift, the
celestial flame that ignites the spark of civilization
this “lovely evil”, the lovely blessing and curse, like Eve, is the catalyst 催化剂of human
“decline” and marks the beginning of tension between male and female
with the opening of her jar or box ends the Golden Age, shattering the link between humanity
and divinity, and plunging human history into an irreversible downward spiral
a being of complexity with distinctive features of female good and evil, e.g. Ares’s , Hermes’s, Athene’s,
Aphrodite’s, etc. as a blessing necessity as well as a curse to men
4. Feminist Reading of Pandora
Gods punish men for civilization/brutality, women become the scapegoat. Her story is really about men’s gullibility (Epimetheus) or innate weakness.
Women have played a decisive role in human civilization: It is human nature to be curious, and it
is female curiosity/intelligence/cunning that leads to human civilization/knowledge.
---Is female curiosity/intelligence bringing downfall of mankind or initiating Man into larger possibilities of civilized awareness?
---Would you rather live contentedly in ignorance or suffer with a good knowledge of what you are doing?
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2022-04-25
