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Greek Myths and Mesopotamia:Parallels and Influence in the Homeric Hymns and HesiodCharles Penglase
Routledge | 292 pages | 27 Feb 1997 | ISBN 0415157064| PDF | 1.7 MBGreek Myths and Mesopotamia investigates the nature and extent of Mesopotamian influenceon Greek religious mythological works. It shows how Mesopotamian ideas and motifs canincrease our understanding of, for instance, the Homeric hymns to Apollo, Aphrodite or Athena,and of the works of Hesiod. This book is essential reading for scholars and students of ancientGreek and Near Eastern religion and mythology.The Mesopotamian influence on Greek mythology in literary works of the epic period isconsiderable - yet it is a largely unexplored field. In this book Charles Penglase investigatesmajor Mesopotamian and Greek myths. His examination concentrates on journey myths. A
 
major breakthrough is achieved in the recognition of the extent of Mesopotamian influence andin the understanding of the colourful myths involved.The results are of significant interest, especially to scholars and students of ancient Greek andNear Eastern religion and mythology.
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Greece and Mesopotamia: Origins of Greek Though
Dave Schuler on March 18, 2007
Among the very earliest real glimpses that we have into Greek thought and life are the worksattributed to the poets Hesiod and Homer. The   Greek  poet    Hesiod is believed to have lived around 700 BCE and the two major works attributed to him are the
Works and Days
and the
Theogony 
. These works, and the other early Greek poems attributed to Hesiod are major sources for information about Greek religion, mythology, agriculture, and timekeeping.Most people are familiar with the ancient Greek poet, Homer, through the long epic poems, the
Iliad 
and the
Odyssey 
, but similarly important are the works known as the
Homeric Hymns
. TheHomeric    Hymns  are actually anonymous songs of praise written in the same meter and dialect as the
Iliad 
and the
Odyssey 
. Most of the
Hymns
are believed to have been composed in the7th and 6th centuries BCE.These very early works of Greek literature and products of Greek thought are full of motifs andideas that are clearly derived from Mesopotamian myth and, indeed, are central to it. Take, for example, the
Hymn to Apollo
(for a translation of the   
Hymns
    see    here ). The second, Pythian, section of the
Hymn
contains a number of themes with strong parallels from the MesopotamianNinurta and Marduk myths1:1. the return-journey sequence, with its destination as the Assembly of the supreme god;2. the young god’s outward journey from the Assembly, with its encounters typical of theheroic strand of myth;
 
3. the last return sequence from the sea to the temple;4. the two types of Assembly scene of the heroic son of the supreme god;5. the combat of the heroic son of the supreme god with the monster;6. the burying of the stream beneath the mountain in the same sequence;7. the journey of power as the purpose of the journey sequences;8. the motifs expressing power in the two return-journey sequences: motifs of food,dressing, noise, radiance, and ‘weapons’;9. the establishment of the young deity’s cult and temple as a result of the journeys.These complex, detailed parallels are central to the hymn and
central to the Mesopotamianmyths,
attestations of which are found that are considerably earlier than the
Homeric Hymns
.The reasonable conjecture is that the
Hymn
has adopted these themes from Mesopotamianantecedents.The myth of Prometheus and Pandora is recounted by Hesiod in both the
Theogony 
and the
Work of Days
and this myth, too, has important parallels to Mesopotamian myth, specifically themyth of the important god, Enki. These parallels include2:1. rebellion against the supreme god;2. resultant creation of mankind;3. resultant imposition of hard toil and sacrifice;4. repetition of the same roles: the supreme god commands creation, but does not play apart in the actual creation; the roles of craft god, clever god, and benefactor of mankindare repeated;5. the same methods of creation used by Enki and Hephaistos: craftsman methods,modelling of figuringes from clay; and the goddess in each having the same role;6. the rebel deity punished as a result of his activities against the supreme god;7. ideas of the soul with the rebel deity’s punishment;8. the clever god tricking the supreme god to benefit mankind;9. the supreme god acting as the enemy of man and seeking to destroy him;10. the supreme god strongly criticized: the story showing an antagonistic attitude to him; heis harsh, his actions are irresponsible and unjustified;11. the Flood motif;12. ideas of the history of mankind and the origin or races.This format does not allow for a complete exposition of the relationships between the works: for more see Charles Penglase’s marvelous work of scholarship,   Greek    Myths    and  Mesopotamia . The parallels are not isolated: they are pervasive in the
Hymns
and in Hesiod. Nor are theyperipheral to Greek thought: these works are central to the development of Greek thoughtparticularly in notions of the character of humanity, our relation to nature, the soul, and so on.
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