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Strand 4: Gods

I have recently uploaded some resources on the Gods to the website for the Leaving Cert, Strand 4: https://www.classicsteachers.com/gods.html

I used Apollodorus' Bibliotheca and Ovid's Metamorphoses as my textual evidence for exploring the origin of the gods.

Much of this learning outcome could of course be done through a study of the Tragedy, the Odyssey, or the Aeneid.

But, if anyone has any other textual or visual resources they think are appropriate feel free to share it here - or indeed to donate it to the website.

Just contact me and I'll post them up.

2 comments

2 Comments

skeogh

Mar 04, 2021

Thanks a mill. I think 4.1,4.2,4.3 are well covered here! Any thoughts on what they mean by ‘approaches’ in 4.4, or am I missing something very obvious?

S. Sullivan

Mar 09, 2021

Replying to

My thoughts are that the approaches 4.4 is something to starts with the origin mythology and continues throughout the course. That's why I included both Apollodorus and Ovid as my sources - the plan being to examine these sources for the origins and nature of the gods as an introduction in the first couple of weeks in 5th year before moving into Greek Drama. But, I expect that these Learning Outcomes concerning the 'nature and purpose' of the gods will likely be reoccurring throughout the course as we explore the gods in the Odyssey, the Aeneid, and the Greek Tragedies.

It is also likely that 4.4 is connected to both philosophies underpinning Horace's attitude to fate and 'living well': Epicureanism and Stoicism; the former believed the 'nature' of the gods is anthropomorphic but apathetic to humans (they believe the best way of 'living well' for mortals to live like these gods), the latter believed the gods are symbolic, energy, and forces behind natural phenomena - and really only extensions of one god.

Lastly, it is also possible that by studying religious beliefs when studying the Temples - particular the temple of Vesta -, the Dionysia Festival, and the funerary practices (which I intend to look at when studying the Aeneid/Odyssey) students will further examine the 'purpose' of the gods.

I suppose through a study of the origin myths, the epics, the tragedies, the religion, and the philosophy you can be fairly confident that students will be able to discuss all 'approaches' to explaining the 'origin, nature, and purpose' of the gods by the time it comes to sitting an exam.