Greek Myth and the Bible

Greek Myth and the Bible
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
	The Hittites and the Ahhiyawa
	The Philistines
	Javan
	Israelite scribal culture
	Divine translatability
	Epic poetry and the Hebrew Bible
	Agamemnon in the Hebrew Bible
	Greek myth and the New Testament
	Notes
Part I: The Hebrew Bible
1 Iapetos and Japheth. Hesiod’s Theogony, Iliad 15.187–93, and Genesis 9–10
	The names Iapetos and Japheth, and the sequence of the Sons
	Castration of the father
	Ion and Javan
	Noah’s divine attributes
	Threefold division of the cosmos
	Harvest, wine, and castration
	Noah and Zeus
	Notes
2 Euripides’ Ion and the Genesis patriarchs
	The miraculous birth
	The patriarch’s significant name
	The patriarch’s divine promise
	Ion and Isaac: attempted murder/human sacrifice by the parent
	The angel and Hagar
	Xuthus and Isaac in Genesis 27: the deceived father
	Ion and Joseph: the patriarch as romance protagonist
	Notes
3 Jason, Hera, Medea, and Aietes; Jacob, Rebecca, Rachel, and Laban. Argonautic myth and Genesis 27–33
	The dispute over inheritance
	The young male protagonist is morally ambiguous
	An authoritative female directs his journey to the east
		Hera in Iliad 19.96–133 and Rebecca in Genesis 27
	God(s) appear(s) in theophany to the hero
	The heroes establish cultic etiologies, especially as to why something is not eaten
	The malevolent father-in-law imposes a series of labors on  the hero
	The bride employs magic and uses the mandrake root
	The hero executes his labors aided by magic
	The father-in-law reneges on the terms of the labors
	The bride steals her father’s sacred article (the Fleece, household gods)
	The hero sneaks off in the night with his wife, his entourage, and the sacred article; the father-in-law pursues with a band
	The fathers-in-laws’ bands overtake them and negotiate a  settlement
	Notes
4 Euripides’ Hecuba and Jael (Judg 4–5)
	Both narratives are set in the larger context of each culture’s  most heroic war saga, immediately after a main battle ...
	The myths begin with a prophecy by another character, Polydorus, Deborah
	Deborah and the chorus are associated with a sacred, oracular  palm tree
	Hecuba and Jael, though on the opposite side from those  victorious in the war, form a temporary alliance with the victors
	Both women are associated with an animal
	Each woman enters into an agreement with the general of the victorious people (Agamemnon, Barak)
	Each woman invites her intended victim into her tent, under false pretenses
	Polymestor and Sisera reason they will be safe in her tent because no other men are present
	The women simulate a maternal air to allay any suspicions from their intended victims
	A woven item (robe or blanket) figures in how the women put their victims off guard
	Inside their tents, the women incapacitate their enemy, striking him in the head with a sharp implement used in daily life
	In assaulting him, after inviting him into their tents, both women violate the sanctity of hospitality
	The slaying of Polymestor’s sons corresponds to the slaughter of Sisera’s troops
	Both women take credit for incapacitating their opponent before the commanding general of the victors (who has no part ...
	Each woman gives her name in memorial to a feature of the local landscape
	Notes
Part II: New Testament
5 The oath that cannot be taken back. Ovid’s Metamorphoses 1.751–2.400, Mark 6, and Matthew 14  (cf. Iliad 19; Gen 27)
	The child of a regal father brings about a confrontational meeting with him
	The child is much closer to its mother than its father
	The child’s high-status mother encourages the child to make a demand of its father
	The father is surrounded by a throng of important individuals
	In his regal setting, the father proclaims his reckless oath to his rash child
	However, on hearing his child’s request, he grieves, regretting his sworn oath
	The child’s request causes a death and violates the laws or boundaries of mortal existence
	The father knowingly enables a tragic act; horrible consequences result
	Each account provides a larger etiology for related events
	The corpse is retrieved and given burial rituals by nonfamily members
	Part of the corpse is handed over to the child’s mother
	Notes
6 Luke 24 and Homer. Odyssey 3, Iliad 24, and postponed recognition
	Positive theoxeny
	Hermes with Priam in Iliad 24
	Postponed recognition
	Notes
7 Euripides’ Alcestis and John’s Lazarus (John 11:1–44, 12:1–8)
	Jesus and Heracles are both linked by friendship and hospitality to the mortal they will bring back from death
	But both Heracles and Christ have closer ties to a relative of the mortal who is to be saved
	Each myth contains an earlier prediction that the hero will bring the mortal back from death (Alcestis 68–70; John 11:11, ...
	Both episodes are set in the context of the hero’s larger struggle and calling as the special Son of God
	The house to which they come is overcome by mourners  and mourning
	Both initially fail to respond or do so with such incongruous leisure that others misunderstand them
	A family member criticizes the hero, complaining that he is responsible for the death, that he allowed him or her to die
	Heracles and Christ are both deeply moved immediately before they intervene to save the mortal who has died
	Each asks where the deceased has been buried and proceeds directly to the place of burial
	Both narratives climax in the Son of God’s resurrection of the deceased: Alcestis and Lazarus
	The resurrected mortal remains silent with a shrouded face
	Heracles’ and Jesus’ restoration of the mortal points to their own coming translation to divine status
	Notes
8 Hesiod’s Theogony and the Book of Revelation 4, 12, and 19–20
	In an introductory scene, the narrator interacts with some of the immortal characters (Theogony 20–34; Rev 1:1, 4:1 and ff.)
	A heavenly choir ceaselessly hymns the praises of the Heavenly Father (Theogony 1–115; Rev 4:8–9)
		Both heavenly choirs are depicted with a similar formula denoting divine knowledge
	An immortal being waits to devour the immortal offspring of a “goddess” (Theogony 459–66; Rev 12:4–5)
		The “goddess” safely gives birth, taking refuge in a place prepared for her
		The special child, who is to rule over all, is whisked away to safety
		He is immediately handed over to another immortal
	A war breaks out in heaven between two groups of immortals (Theogony 617–735; Rev 12:7–9)
		The defeated group of immortals is imprisoned in the underworld (Theogony 722–819; Rev 12:9, 19:20, 20:1–3, 10, 14)
	A multiheaded dragon that wants to rule the cosmos is defeated, imprisoned in the underworld (Theogony 820–80; Rev ...
		The dragon is part of a thematically related series of monsters
		Even after defeat he continues to harass mortals
		In his final defeat, the chief god overcomes him with superior firepower
	Notes
9 Ovid’s Palace of the Sun (Metamorphoses 2.1–30) and Revelation 4
	Phaethon and John ascend to the throne room (2.19–20; 4:1)
	In both settings a typical ecphrasis now unfolds
	The one seated on the throne (2.21; 4:2)
		I s surrounded by brightness (2.22–23; 4:3)
		He is wearing a purple robe, gleaming with emeralds
	Among the many divine attendants is a group of 24 heavenly beings (2.25–26; 4:4)
	Also among the divine attendants is a group of seven (2.25; 4:5)
	A special group of four receives the longest description and closest focus, and serves a climactic function (2.27–30; 4:6–8)
	Notes
10 Retrospective prophecy and the vision in Aeneid 6, Ovid, and Revelation
	The vision in the Aeneid
	Retrospective prophecy (vaticinia ex eventu)
	The vision and retrospective prophecy in Revelation
	Notes
Conclusion
	Notes
Bibliography
Index