Classical Mythology, 7th Edition - obinfonet: dia logou

66 THE MYTHS OF CREATION: THE GODS
tifies this dual aspect of the religion of classical Greece in the contrast between
the Olympian gods of Homer and the cult of the mother-goddess Demeter at
Eleusis:
The Mother-goddess is the embodiment of the fruitful earth, giver of life and fertility t
plants, animals and men. Her cult takes certain forms, involving at least the more e
mentary kinds of mysticism, that is, the belief in the possibility of a union between t
worshipper and the object of his worship. Thus the rites may take the form of adopti
as her son or of sexual communion. Orgiastic elements appear, as in the passionate
clashing music and frenzied dancing employed by the followers of Rhea or Cybele. .
What an essentially different atmosphere we are in from that of the religion of the Acha
heroes described by Homer. There we are in clear daylight, in a world where the god
are simply more powerful persons who might fight for or against one, with whom on
made bargains or contracts. The Achaean warrior did not seek to be born again from
bosom of Hera. He was indeed the reverse of a mystic by temperament. 20
IMAGES OF CREATION MYTHS
How does one represent the Creation of the world out of emptiness and timelessness?
Greek artists did not attempt to do so, for they preferred to create images of particular
episodes—for example the birth of Aphrodite (see figure on p. 172) and scenes representing
the triumph of the Olympian gods over the Titans and Giants. Victories
of the Olympians over snake-legged monsters derive from Eastern myths (see Chapter
4, p. 98) and are common in Greek vase painting from the sixth century B.c. on,
while monsters are common in Greek art of the "orientalizing" period of the seventh
and sixth centuries B.c. The most popular subjects for Greek artists were the Gigantomachy
and related scenes, in which the forces of order (Zeus and the Olympians)
triumph over those of disorder and violence (the Titans, the Giants, and Typhoeus).
Such scenes often carry a political message, most commonly focusing on the superiority
of Greek civilization over the barbarians, especially in the period after the Greek
victory over the Persians in 480-479 B.C. (for example, the metopes on the east side of
the Parthenon at Athens and the painting on the inside of the shield of Athena
Parthenos in the same temple: see Chapter 8, pp. 161-162). At Delphi, the Gigantomachy
was represented in the west pediment of the temple of Apollo (ca. 520 B.c.)
and on the north frieze of the treasury of the Siphnians (ca. 525 B.c.: shown here). It
was the principal subject of the sculptures on the great altar of Zeus at Pergamum (ca.
150 B.c.), where it glorified Telephus, ancestor of the reigning dynasty and son of Heracles,
whose help was crucial in the victory of Zeus over the Giants. One of the most
complex programs, which included the Gigantomachy and the creation of woman
(Pandora), was that of the Parthenon (see Chapter 8, pp. 158-162). We show four different
solutions to the problem of representing Creation—two from Greece, one from
Australia, and one from eighteenth-century Britain.