Myth and Religion

Often when we think of the Greeks and Romans we think of their gods, myths and stories. You may be hard pressed to find someone who has not heard of Zeus or Jupiter, Hermes or Mercury, and Aphrodite or Venus. The gods had to be appeased in order to secure victory in war, a good harvest, safe travel or a happy family. Likewise the stories of heroes such as Heracles, Theseus, Aeneas and Romulus formed the basis from which the Greeks and Romans believed their civilisations grew to greatness. Through studying these and others students will learn that myth was so much more than stories to the Greeks and Romans, by combining myth with religion it became a way of life in the ancient world. Studying this thematic unit will also enable students to encourage students to compare how the Greeks and Romans utilised mythology and practised their religious ideology.

OCR Prescribed Literary Sources

Read the Classical Civilisation Prescribed Literary Sources for this Thematic Study here:

Myth and Religion: PDF / Word

Note on errata from the author

I would like to offer my apologies for the following errata that have occurred during the production of the first printing of the Myth and Religion component. Everything listed below has been corrected at reprint:

• Page cross-references are incorrect on p.7 twice; 8 twice; 9 three times; 12; 13; 14; 15 twice; 17 twice; 27; 28; 29 three times; 30; 31 twice; 45 twice; 48; 52; 53; 55; 56; 58; 68 three times; 69 twice; 74; 78; 84; 95; 101; 111; 117. They are 12 pages further forward than they should be
• Spellings of the following names are in some places incorrect. The following are the correct spelling with page references to where they are incorrectly spelled:
• Cronos (Fig. 1.1), Mycenae (p.23), Geryon (p.29), Pallantium (pp.35-36), Erechtheus (p.39), Marc Antony (pp.60, 76, 108), Aegeus (pp.69, 70, 74), Lavinia (p.78), Lavinium (p.79), Boeotia (p.81), Pirithous (p.100), Colosseum (p.81), Augustus (p.109), Hecate (p.127)
• Iulus (p.78) not Julius. The Julian family claimed that they were descendants of Iulus, therefore linking their family to Aeneas and Venus
• p.12 - PQ2a should have 2 marks
• p.23 - final line: twelve years not ten
• p.33 - Fig. 1.19 should label the inner metopes not the outer metopes
• p.42 - PQ1 has been deleted
• p.54 - PQ1a has been changed to 'Describe what is shown on the Eastern Pediment of the Parthenon.'
• p.59 - para 3: 'The Vestals were also freed from their father's authority, and able to make a will.'
• p.63 - the Pantheon burnt down in AD 80
• p.69 - S&C box: the Erechtheion was built in the 420s rather than the exact date 421
• p.81 - end of para 2: Titus 'in AD 80' finished the Colosseum (to distinguish from 79 in previous clause)
• p.86 - under Equestrian events: the greatest took place on the seventh, not the sixth, day
• p.86-87 - the fourth event for the tribal contest is missing, which should read as follows: 'The fourth was a torch race to the altar of Athena on the Acropolis'
• p.101 - ‘The Centauronmachy and the Parthenon’ - it states that the Centauromachy is depicted on 34 metopes, it should be 32 metopes
• p.101 - PS box added:

The Centauromachy Metopes

Date: 447-432 BC

Material: Marble

Location: On the external frieze of the Parthenon, now in the British Museum

Significance: A highly detailed set of sculptures that represented the victory of civilisation over barbarism

• p.102 - Fig. 1.53 should have a PS icon
• p.104 - PS box added:

The Amazonomachy Frieze

Date: c. 420 BC

Material: Marble

Location: On the internal frieze in the temple of Apollo at Bassae, now in the British Museum

Significance: A unique example of a sculpted frieze inside the naos of a temple

• p.105 - Figs. 1.57 and 1.58 should have PS icons
• p.127 - S&C box: should refer to Demeter not Persephone at the start