The Creation of Mankind

1. Prometheus created mankind
2. Zeus alone created mankind
3. The gods created mankind in collaboration
4. Mankind and the gods sprang up at the same time
5. Once, when he was angry with the Titans, Zeus destroyed them with his thunderbolt. Their ashes fell to the earth, and grew into humans
6. The first man was the son of an Argive river god

• Golden Age
  • Cronus ruled
  • Rivers flowed with milk and honey
  • Death came gently
  • No work, since earth provided all of their needs
• Silver
  • Zeus ruled the heavens
  • Men lived pointless lives
  • They were infants for 100 years
  • Then adults for a short time before dying
  • Killed by Zeus for impiety
• Bronze
  • Warlike people
  • Used bronze tools and weapons
• Heroes
  • Included by Hesiod, but not by Ovid
  • Demigods like Heracles and Trojan War heroes
  • Did not go to Hades, but went to the edge of the world, where they were ruled by Cronus
• Iron
  • The Present
• Hesiod forecasted the end of time when Aidos and Nemesis leave the world and doom it to evil

• Zeus disliked mankind, and sought to destroy them by depriving them of fire
• Prometheus, the champion of mankind, stole fire from Olympus, and brought it to them
• As a punishment, he was chained to a rock, and an eagle ate his liver each day
  • Since he is immortal, Prometheus’s liver grew back each night

• As a punishment for man, Zeus ordered the creation of woman
  • Made by Hephaestus
  • Athena breathed life into them
  • Hermes made her prone to trickery and feminine wiles
  • She was called Pandora, which means all gifts
  • Pandora was outfitted with a box containing all the evils that mankind had not yet faced
• Hermes brought Pandora to Epimetheus, the dimwitted brother of Prometheus
• Epimetheus took her, even though his brother had warned him not to accept the gifts of Zeus
• Pandora opened her box and released all of the troubles in the world
  • Only Hope remained trapped in Pandora’s box

• Epimetheus was the father, by Pandora, of Pyrrha
• Deucalion, son of Prometheus, married Pyrrha
• Zeus heard how wicked people were
• Came to earth in disguise to see for himself
  • He was treated cruelly, and saw wickedness throughout the world
• Zeus decided to wipe out all mankind with a flood, and start over
• Deucalion and Pyrrha were ordered to build an arc
• They survived and made land on Mt. Parnassus
• Zeus admired their piety and allowed them to live

• An oracle ordered Deucalion and Pyrrha to throw their mother's bones
• They threw rocks, the bones of the great mother, Earth
  • Stones Deucalion threw became men
  • Stones Pyrrha threw became women

• Deucalion and Pyrrha were the parents of Hellen
• Hellen was the common ancestor of all Greek peoples
• The 4 major Greek tribes were the Dorians, Ionians, Aeolians, and Achaeans
• Each was named after children or grandchildren of Hellen

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