Mythology Final Exam

Hera and Athena

Both help him; an unusual role for Hera (Athena does it all the time).

Daedalus

Built the labyrinth, the cow machine, and wings to fly off Crete with his son Icarus, who flew too near the sun and fell into the sea.

Augean Stables

Heracles cleans them by diverting a river; intelligence as well as strength

Megara

Heracles' first wife; Heracles kills her and his children with her when driven insane by Hera

Elysium/ Elysian Fields

Islands of the Blessed; The land where heroes go after their death; some heroes are shown both in Hades and Elysium in literature (e.g. Achilles); like Tartarus, not a place where ordinary people end up.

What happened because Theseus forgot to change the sail of his ship from black to white?

Aegeus killed himself, thinking his son was dead

Which is NOT true of the labor of the Lernean Hydra?

Athena weakened the hydra with poison so he could defeat it

Herodotus

Author of the ethnography of the Scythians and Amazons (know basic elements of it)

Diodorus Siculus

Author of the ethnography with the inverted society and infant mutilation (know basic elements)

The "Judgment of Paris" refers to:

his decision about which of the goddesses should get the golden apple

After the Trojan war, Helen:

returns to sparta as its queen

Odysseus sets up the contest with the bow to:

reveal his identity and kill the suitors

expiation

the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing; atonement

Which of the following did Homer NOT describe in the Iliad or Odyssey:

the fall of Troy and the murder of Priam

Heracles means:

the fame of Hera

Where is the story of Persephone's abduction told?

the homeric hymn to demeter

Cattle of Helius

360 cows = 360 days; Tiresias' warnings to Odysseus and his orders to his men; their disobedience and ultimate fate

Gilgamesh became friends with Enkidu after a hard-fought wrestling match with him.

true

When Paris kidnapped Helen, she was:

well established in Sparta as Menelaus' wife

The last surviving ship of Odysseus' crew "lost their homecoming" when they:

were swallowed by the whirlpool Charybdis

Ereshkigal

Queen of the underworld, innanas sister and opposite

Tantalus

Served up his son Pelops at a banquet for the gods; punishment with fading water and vanishing food (tantalized)

Hylas and nymphs

The young man, beloved by Heracles, was kidnapped by the nymphs when the Argo stopped to take on water; Heracles left the mission to search for him (and never came back)

Sisyphus

Tricked death and lived a long life, but faces eternal punishment (pushing the rock up the hill); later becomes a metaphor for the thankless labors and futile lives of ordinary workers (Camus)

Ixion

Tried to rape Hera, bound forever to a flaming wheel

Gilgamesh was the king of the Mesopotamian city of Uruk.

True

Frigg

Wife of Odin, "Lady" or "Love," main role in narrative: Balder's death (mistletoe swearing), Geirrod; may be a doublet of Freya

Volva

Word for a wise woman or practitioner of seiðr; a volva appears in many works concerned with the end or beginning of the world, or with fortelling fates and interpreting dreams

Thebes

an ancient Greek city in Boeotia destroyed by Alexander the Great in 336 BC

Which was NOT an element of Thesmophoria?

an initiation in a darkened temple

Jason gained Hera's favor because:

he carried her across a stream when she was disguised as an old woman

How does Aeolus try to help Odysseus?

he gives him a leather bag containing all but one of the winds

Homer

A Greek poet, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey

Priam

King of Troy; At the end of the Iliad, ransoms Hector's body and shares grief with Achilles;Killed at an altar by the Greeks(one of several significant sacrileges); His wife, Hecuba, Queen of Troy, was mother of 12 children, all but one of whom die in the war; dreamed of giving birth to a torch when Paris was born; enslaved after the war; turns into a dog. Yes. Look it up.

Agamemnon and Clytemnestra

Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces, returns home; his wife, Clytemnestra. Helen's sister, has been unfaithful and with her lover, Aegisthus, kills Agamemnon and Cassandra. Their son, Orestes, murders her in turn, only to be pursued by the furies, and is later purified by Apollo.

Amphitryon and Alcmene

Alcmene seduced by Zeus in form of her husband Amphitryon; Amphitryon wants to burn herfor adultery; Zeus stops the fire

What happened to the Seven Against Thebes?

All but one were killed in the attack

Greek view

All female, youthful, attractive, heterosexual, warriors; live in past times; lived far away (Africa and Black Sea area); horse associations.

Strength

Allied with thunder and lightning; consolidated in his hammer Mjollnir; the hammer is not a military weapon but its blunt force is part of Thor's modus operandi; Solves problems by brute force (examples: killing various giants, who may or may not deserve it e.g. Thrym, who stole his hammer; the giant who built the walls of Asgard; his attempts to kill Skrymir in his and Loki's journey to/deception in Jotunheim).

Hippolyta

Amazon queen killed by Heracles; versions of their interactions(Hera's interference; natural war; saving world from rule by women)

Which is NOT true of Diodorus Siculus' Amazon ethnography?

Amazon warriors had lesbian relationships

Labors (Athla)

Athla means contests; in the most popular version of his myths, they are undertaken to expiate his murder of his wife and children; the first six concern animals (e.g. Nemean Lion, Hydra, Augean Stables); last 4 are journeys to the ends of the earth (Amazons; Cattle of Geryon, Apples of Hesperides; Cerberus)

Sophocles

Author of Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone.

Other Deeds

Battles Thanatos (death) for Alcestis, the wife of a friend; founds the Olympic games; helps the gods battle the giants

Erinyes/ Furies

Born from the blood of the severed genitals of Uranus; goddesses of vengeance, in particular of oath breakers and murderers of family members; shown sometimes with snakes in their hair; sometimes shown living in Hades or guarding the gates of Tartarus.

Who was Theseus' father?

Both Aegeus and Poseidon

The Iliad

By "Homer"; written (probably) around 750 BC;most significant story of the Greek world; often pieces recited at religious festivals;tells the story of 53 days in the 10thyear of the war;describes the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon; Achilles' withdrawal from battle, and the events until Hector's funeral; exemplifies the Greek warrior ethos as wellas ways in which it is not enough to make up for the ravages of war

How did Daedalus plan to get away from Minos?

By building wax and feather wings with which he and his son could fly away

Tricksters in general

Can be creative and benevolent; can also cause great harm; are often out and about in the world and encounter adventures casually; may be punished for violations of social standards or not; may be rebellious and deliberately attack order (sometimes for no apparent reason); may be culture heroes

Who did NOT want the Trojan Horse to be brought into the city?

Cassandra

Nessus

Centaur who tries to kidnap Heracles' second wife, Deianira; Heracles kills him with a poisoned arrow; Nessus convinces Deianira to keep his blood as a love potion

Valkyries

Choosers of the slain; be aware of different traditions and representation of them (from beautiful saviors to scary vultures).

Men are pigs. Ha ha! At least when I get through with them they are. I wish somebody fun would come and threaten me with a sword! All right, now shut up, noisy pigs, it's time for me, ______ to sing and weave a little.

Circe

In what place was the blind and exiled Oedipus promised a respite from his sorrows?

Colonus

Which of the following is still alive a week after the assault on Thebes is over?

Creon

Acrisius

Danae's father, who tried to prevent her from reproducing because of a prophecy that her son would kill him

Burial

Essential for the soul to get into Hades; offerings at death and continued tending of the tomb (usually by women); the necessity of burial shown in customs like allowing enemies to bury their dead, and in literature(for example, Antigone's insistence on burying her brother); burial usually included a coin to pay Charon and a honey caketo placate Cerberus

Historical

Evidence of ancient burials in Russia and Central Asia suggesting women fought in war; evidence of "Sarmatian" women; modern ethnographic evidence

Oedipus

Exposed as a child due to the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother; raised as prince of Corinth;to avoid prophecy that he would kill his father (from Delphi), left Corinth; accidentally killed Laius; defeated the Sphinx; married Jocasta; had children by her (Eteocles, Polynices, Antigone, Ismene); later discovered that he was the cause of the plagueon Thebes (Oedipus the King) and blinded himself and went into exile; became a chthonian hero at Colonus.

Icarus/Fly too Close to the Sun

Famous for flying too near the sun so that his wings melted; often used as a metaphorfor reaching too far and being destroyed by your aspirations.

Thor

God of the commoners, blunt style and fierce fighting are protective and support followers; in myth often deals with enemies the other gods do not face, especially giants; as a war god his main features are huge strength and ability, his fidelity to those he protects, and his function as a protective god.Battler of Giants; Kills Hrungnir in a duel; often protects gods of Asgard

Njord

God of the sea and seafaring

Freya

Goddess associated with sexuality and fertility and magic, in particular the magic of the seidr; often a love-interest for giants; few stories feature her actively; looks for her husband Od; has a cat chariot and a falcon costume enabling flight; takes half the dead (to Folkvangr) according to Snorri; goddess of seiðr

Geshtinanna

Goddess of grapevines; voluntarily shares underworld imprisonment with her brother Dumuzi; both are free during the time when their agricultural province (lambs vs. new grapes) are growing

Inanna/ Ishtar

Goddess of love, war, communal storehouse; date palm and seasonal fertility; heroine of the love poems of Inanna and Dumuzi; also Inanna's descent to the Underworld; Ishtar is a less powerful/respected version of Inanna; acts as a foil to heroic trajectory in Gilgamesh epic

Trickery in General

Gods' deception of Fenrir to bind him•Interest in riddles and contests (Deception at Jotunheim)

Hades (god)

Known as the "Lord of many" and "Wealthy" because everyone and everything comes to him at the end; seldom worshipped individually, appears with Persephone in places where she is worshipped; receives chthonian sacrifices (i.e. not shared with the living); kidnaps Persephone who becomes his wife; brother of Zeus and alotted theunderworld as his realm

Castor and Pollux

Known as theDioscuri(Zeus's boys); were Argonauts (though this is a significant time warp because this is the generation before ...); later become gods of seafaring; story about sharing one immortality between them

Ordinary People

Odin takes the noble dead, Thor takes the peasants ... protection even in death; worshipped more than other deities though in myth he is not the head of the pantheon as sky gods often are; protective talismans for rich and poor.

Valhall

Odin's hall, where those who die heroically in battle go after death, to fight and feast until Ragnarok.

The Allfather

Odin; Snorri's "Aesir" equates him with the Christian God

The Trojan horse was the idea of:

Odysseus

hero

The term hero has many definitions -we are aware of the one that is most prominent in the Greek world, that the hero continues to have power in the world even after death. In this segment of the course, we consider heroes as the (male or female) protagonists of mythic stories which exhibit patterns in common (see above) that are widelycomparable in different cultures.

Norns

The three fates, Past, Present, and Future; who tend Yggdrasill at the Well of Urd

Cerberus

The three-headed dog who guards the gates of Hades; the dead must placate him with a honey-cake to get by him

General

The voyage of the Argo is aconglomeration of heroes in the generation before the Trojan War; it tends to accrue participants until there is no way they would all fit into one ship.

Yggdrasil

The world tree, a giant ash that bridges the distance between the realms of creation. Mediates between the sky (eagle) and underworld (snakes); damaged by grazing deer, repaired by the Norns at the Well of Urd(the well at the base of Yggdrasill in Asgard)

abduction and consent

Greek failure to distinguish between violent and non-violent beginning of marriage; many stories follow a pattern in which the young woman is initially kidnapped, then consents to marriage and higher status/childbearing; see different portrayals of the scene

Fall of Troy

Greeks act in sacrilegious ways, killing Priam at an altar, Ajax the Lesser rapes Cassandra in Athena's temple; many suffer bad fates or long delays on their journey's homes; Aeneas (son of Aphrodite, Trojan ally) escapes with surviving Trojans

Humbaba

Guardian of the Cedar Forest; appointed by the gods; killed by Gilgamesh and Enkidu (with E. being particularly hostile) in their heroic quest

Xenia (fromthe Glossary)

Guest-friendship, a sacred bond between a traveler and his host that establishes bonds between families that last for generations.The relationshipis typically begun (in the Homeric world) when one hero visits another of equal or similar status, making contact, establishing a relationship, and formally exchanging gifts.Guest-friendship is a strong enough bond to make enemies in battle turn away from fighting each other, and its violation has brought curses and disaster in several of the heroic sagas.

Sirens (or Harpies)

Half-bird, half-human women; nature of their song; Odysseus blocking his men's ears and tying him to the mast so he could hear it; why they are so dangerous and the usual fate of those who hear their song

Minotaur

Half-man, half-bull monster, born when Minos'wife Pasiphaefell in love with a bull; locked in the labyrinth but sent human sacrifices from Athens to keep him happy, killed by Theseus.

Omphale

Has to serve Omphale for a year to expiate a murder; sometimes shown in women's clothes doing female tasks

Which is true of Heracles' role in the Argonaut's mission?

He abandoned the Argonauts while searching for his lover Hylas

How did Odysseus escape from the lair of the Cyclops?

He clung to the underside of a ram as it was going out to pasture.

Tendency to Violence

He does great good for humans but is also prone to extreme violence; kills his music teacher, the son of a xenos, and others

Heracles' Death

He has himself burned on a pyre; part of him dies and goes to the underworld; part goes to Olympus where he marries Hebe

Traveler

He is often away from Asgard, looking for giants to hang out with, kill, or both.

Which is NOT a deed of Aias the Greater?

He killed Priam as he sought refuge during the fall of Troy

How did Theseus get an Amazon wife?

He returned with her from a raid on the Amazons

How did Loki derail the giant's building of the wall around Asgard?

He turned into a mare and lured his horse away so it couldn't help him.

Jason plans to abandon Medea in Corinth because:

He wants to ensure his (and maybe his children's) prosperity by marrying the king's daughter

Why did Loki steal Sif's golden hair?

He was drunk and felt like doing it.

Why was Loki bound beneath the earth?

He was responsible (through trickery) for the death of Balder

Which is NOT true of Heracles' relationships with women

He was responsible for his mother's death when Hera tricked her husband into killing her for infidelity

Character in the Iliad who says, "I should feel terrible shame before the Trojan women with their long robes if like a coward I were to shrink from battle. Nor would my spirit allow me to, since I have learned to be brave always and to fight amidst the first of the Trojans, winning great glory for myself and for my father."

Hector

Paris

Hecuba's dream, Paris exposed, but raised as shepherd, later recognized as a Trojan prince; his portrayal in the Iliad; significance of archery. Folktale motif also in Oedipus story; why does it recur so often?

I love my 360 cows. So should you, stupid. Just look where you are - an island in the middle of nowhere. 360 cows. 360 degrees in a circle. 360 degrees of the sky. 360 days in a year, except for those four we pretend aren't there. Are you listening? I said, 360 days in a year. And 360 cows. Get it? So you better not go around killing my cows, because if you do I, _______, will destroy you.

Helius

Why did Pasiphae fall in love with a bull?

Her husband, Minos, had refused to sacrifice it, and Poseidon had cursed her with passion for it in revenge

Eurystheus

Hera prevents Heracles' birth so that his cousin Eurystheus becomes king; his cowardice is a foil to Heracles' power; Heracles performs the 12 labors for him; motif of service to someone unworthy

Cerberus

Heracles takes him from the underworld and brings him to Eurystheus, terrifying him; he either brings him up by force, or tames him, or is given permission by Hades and Persephone; rescues Theseus from the underworld (though that may be another trip)

Deianira

Heracles' last wife; dumb enough to believe Nessus; when he seems to be abandoning her, she soaks a shirt in it, and it turns out to be infected by Hydra poison; causing him incurable agony

Iphicles and Iolaus

Heracles' twin (whose father is Amphitryon); Iolaus is his son (who sometimes accompanies Heracles on his labors)

hierophant

Hereditary priest of the Eleusinian mysteries

Achilles

Hero of the Trojan war who preferred heroic death to long life; still exalted among deadbut says even the lowest human life is better; reversal of tradition more than of character, fits with themes of Odysseynot Iliad

Odin: Furor and Fetters

His "magic" can cause armies to be bound in terror, or inspire berserkers; many of his kenningsrefer to battle and treachery.

Hera

His enemy from birth (though usually she persecutes Zeus's lovers not children causes him to be born later and lose kingship to Eurystheus; begins conflict with Amazons; Causes him to go insane and kill his family; in some traditions causes his potential immortality by (unknowingly) nursing him; he marries her daughter Hebe in Olympus; his name means Glory of Hera

Trojan Horse

Invented by Odysseus; Cassandra warns against bringing it in but is not believed;Laocoon's resistance and death(dragged off by a sea serpent with both his sons)

Nemean Lion

Invulnerable; strangled; provides Heracles with his iconic lion skin; most popular representation in art

Gilgamesh

Kingof Uruk, overbearing and abusive king; friendship with Enkidu precipitated by a fight; heroic quest against Humbaba in the Cedar Forest; Gil's dreams and Ninsun's and Enkidu's interpretations of them; rejection of Ishtar upon return to Uruk; killing the Bull of Heaven, death of Enkidu; journey through the path of Shamash; Dilmun and Utnapishtim; loaves of bread; return to Uruk; snake shedding its skin and the plant of rejuvenation; Gil's ultimate wisdom upon return

The creation story

Know the fundamental elements: the coming togetherof opposites, fire and ice appropriateto the landscape; the giant Ymir and creation of giants; association of giants with the primitive (originating from him); the birth of gods to defeat the giant; the creation of the world from his remains.

Ginungagap

The place in the middle, "yawning gap" or "mighty gap,"where fire and ice made a temperate zone for creation; the meeting of Muspell(land of fire) in the South and Niffleheim(land of ice) in the North. (Be able to recognize the names Muspell and Niffleheim)

Styx

The river that surrounds Hades, by which the gods swear oaths; humans must cross it on the ferry of:

Lethe

The river/fountain of forgetfulness; souls drink from this when they arrive in Hades, and lose their memory of who they are (whether complete forgetfullness, or loss of human will)

Argo

The ship that carries Jason and the Argonauts; it talks to them and advises them.Athena helped build it; Hera added the talking beam.

Hamartia

a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

miasma

a highly unpleasant or unhealthy smell or vapor

Odysseus was able to hear the Sirens' song without dying because he:

blocked the ears of his men with wax and had himself tied to the mast

Demeter is the child of:

chronus and rhea

Which does Odysseus NOT do in the Trojan War saga:

claim Cassandra as his war prize to take home

Hades (place)

dim underworld. souls have no will or knowledge

When Odysseus arrives back in Ithaca, he returns to the palace:

disguised as a beggar

Hubris

excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy

Acrisius locked his daughter away because he was afraid that if she married, her husband would overthrow him.

false

After Enkidu died, Gilgamesh showed his rage by attacking the gods in their own temples.

false

Although Enkidu advised Gilgamesh to mate with the goddess Ishtar, Gilgamesh willfully refused.

false

Andromeda ended up chained to a rock about to be devoured by a sea monster because her father had once "kidnapped" a Nereid.

false

Enkidu finally became civilized when the hunter showed him that hunters could survive more easily than animals.

false

Gilgamesh gained immortality when he was able to stay awake for seven days and seven nights.

false

Gilgamesh was 1/3 humans, 2/3 god, and therefore immortal.

false

Gilgamesh went on a long quest to bring Enkidu's soul back from the underworld.

false

Perseus arranged Acrisius' violent death because he was enraged at how he [Acrisius] had treated Danae.

false

Perseus returned to Seriphos triumphantly and gave the Gorgon's head to Polydectes to use in war.

false

Polydectes sent Perseus to get the head of Medusa because he wanted to use its power against his enemies and trusted Perseus to accomplish the difficult mission.

false

When Gilgamesh arrived in Dilmun, he was more powerful than he had ever been before.

false

Odysseus had to go to the Underworld to:

get advice from Tiresias

Demeter is the goddess of:

grain

The Harpies are:

half-bird, half-woman creatures who snatch up and befoul Phineus' food

Which of the following is NOT true of Achilles:

he arrived in Troy with his aged father, who died soon after

After consulting the oracle at Delphi, Oedipus decided to stay away from Corinth because:

he believed that the king and quees of Corinth were his read parents and didn't want to harm them

For what offense (in most versions) did Heracles have to serve Eurystheus for twelve years, during which he performed the twelve labors?

he had killed his wife and children in a mad rage

Laius was fated to be killed by his own son because :

he had violated the laws of hospitality and kidnapped the son of his host

Pelias told Jason to bring back the golden fleece because:

he hoped Jason would be killed in the attempt

Which of the following caused Heracles' "death":

he was engulfed in flames from a blood-soaked robe and then burned on a pyre

Which is NOT true of the birth of Heracles?

his mother was murdered before he was born

Oedipus is accompanied into exile by:

his two daughters

ethnography

historical category (mythic history)

The term "nostos" means:

homecoming

The answer to the sphinx's riddle:

human beings

Which is NOT true of the Minotaur?

it was the unwanted son of zeus and lo

Which violent thing did Heracles NOT do?

kill his cousin Eurystheus

kleos timê geras xenia [xenos]

kleos[fame/reputation]; timē[honor awarded by peers]; geras[war prize] xenia: guest-friendship; xenos: guest-friend(all defined thoroughly in the glossary)

Who celebrates Thesmophoria?

married citizen women

Animals

over animals in pre-classical times; his name is found in Bronze Age sources as early as those of the gods

Which did Hera NOT do to torment Heracles:

persuade Deanira to put the poisonous "love potion" on Heracles' clothing

What was Persephone doing when she was kidnapped?

picking flowers with her friends

Why did Persephone have to spend part of each year with Hades?

she ate part of a pomegrante w hades before she left

How did Demeter get Zeus to let Persephone return to her?

she blighted the crops until the gods felt the lack of sacrifices

For what treasonous act was Antigone condemned?

she buried her brother Polynices

The old nursemaid Euryclea knows the "beggar" Odysseus because:

she recognizes a scar on his leg

Which is NOT true of Ariadne?

she was the wife of minos

Which was NOT a labor of Heracles

stealing the golden fleece

Omphale was:

the woman to whom Heracles was sold as a slave for one (or more) year(s)

What was Odysseus' dilemma at the Planctae (or Straights of Messenia, depending on your geography)?

to sacrifice 6 men to Scylla, or risk losing the whole ship to Charybdis

Medea took vengeance on King Pelias by:

tricking his daughters into cutting him up and boiling him.

A snake stole Gilgamesh's plant of rejuvenation when he stopped beside a pool.

true

Acrisius put Danae and her son Perseus into a box and set them afloat on the sea.

true

Enkidu began his life as a hairy, primitive man who lived among animals.

true

Enkidu was formed by the goddess Aruru as a rival to Gilgamesh.

true

Gilgamesh returned to rule Uruk after his quest, more mature and wiser.

true

Humbaba was the divinely-appointed guardian of the cedar forest.

true

Medusa had the ability to turn anything that looked at her into stone.

true

Perseus ultimately gave Medusa's head to Athena.

true

Perseus was invited to a feast by Polydectes, whose price of admission was a horse, and said he could as easily bring the Gorgon's head as a horse.

true

The Bull of Heaven was summoned by Ishtar as punishment when Gilgamesh rejected her.

true

Utnapishtim had been chosen by the gods to survive a Noah-level flood event.

true

When Perseus cut off Medusa's head, a winged horse leapt out.

true

Zeus impregnated Danae in her prison, appearing as a shower of gold.

true

Polydectes

tyrant of Seriphos, where Perseus and Danae end up; sends Perseus on his quest; turned to stone by him on his return

Scylla and Charybdis

who they are; what is dangerous about each; Odysseus' decision about how to get past them; how Odysseus was saved from Charybdis when his ship went down

Penelope

wife of Odysseus; her fidelity; "delaying action" as what is in her power to do; weaving as women's way of showing intelligence: Penelope's trick with weaving the funeral shroud; her conversation with Odysseus as the beggar; whether or not she recognizes him; her trick with the bed after the suitors are defeated; nature of her relationship with Odysseus

Odin

•Authoritative god, father of other gods and defender of divine order.•Trickster elements: Shape changing (Mead of poetic inspiration); •Sexual but for a purpose; •Capable of violent deceptions. (Mead ...) •Capable of deception even of his supporters (Harald Wartooth); •Many names show his diverse nature, •Often takes disguises to accomplish his missions (Balders Draumr); •Successful escapes and no risk of punishment; •Orderly force despite chaotic behavior; •Nothumiliated. •Trickster elements in service of things, not for their own sake; possible exception for treachery in war (see part 2).

What caused the rift between Demeter and Metainera?

Metainera saw Demeter burning her son in a fire and thought she was trying to kill him

Which did Jason NOT have to do to fulfill Aeetes' challenge and gain the Golden Fleece?

Slay a serpent (dragon) when it came to drink at a fountain

Sphinx

A mythical Egyptian beast with the body of a lion and the head of a human.

Nosotos

"Homecoming," the root word of "nostalgia." It has strong emotional connotations, so it is not only homecoming but also the desire for home that makes you want to come back. After war, the desire for homecoming is particularly strong, so it can add a note of sorrow for deaths away from home, especially in Homer. To "lose your homecoming" (by dying) evokes home as another element of the tragedy of war.

labyrinth

"House of the double-ax," a maze where the Minotaur was kept; impossible to get out of; built by Daedalus; may reflect Greek view of complex Cretan palaces.

Odysseus

"Man of many tricks/ turns -> Odysseus' essential nature; king of Ithaca; differing characterizations in the Iliadand Odyssey; intelligence and craftiness (shared with his family); deeds in Troy; relationship with his followers' relationship with Athena& her help throughout; relationship with and shared characteristics with Penelopeand Telemachus; return to Ithaca; reasons forhis disguise; ways he is recognized and/or his identity is revealed (or he reveals it); how he gets rid of the suitors and regains his place as king.

Midgard

"Middle Earth," the home of humans

Orientalism

"The representation of Asia, especially the Middle East, in a stereotyped way that is regarded as embodying a colonialist attitude"; in ancient Greece the power dynamic was different but Eastern enemies were regarded as feminized, irrational, and despotic.

hiera

"holythings" revealed in the ritual

Achillesin the Iliad

(Specific elements of the Iliad): Withdraws from battle after Agamemnon dishonors him by taking his war prize; Agamemnon's Embassy to Achilles: Ajax, Odysseus, Phoenix;Achilles' responses to them; seems to abandon elements of warethos but does not leaveTroy; Patroclus killed by Hector; formerly merciful, Achilles slaughters indiscriminately; Kills Hector, keeps and abuses his body; Gods tell him to stop; Priam ransoms it; a (temporary) resolution through fellow feeling as they mourn togetherMany interpretations of him and his character over time

Agemamemnon

(only the end of the Trojan war; beginning already covered); taking Cassandra as his war prize; murdered by his wife when he gets home

Freyr

God associated with peace, plenty, and crop fertility, "God of the Fertile Season," rides a boar; has a magic ship; few stories about him in Snorri; stories of the god in the cart (rituals)

Freyr

A god of agricultural fertility; perhaps a "dying god," associated with Alfheim (perhaps as a land of the dead); historical tales of the god's image carried in a cart. Narrative: trades his sword for a chance to meet a giant woman he loves; is killed by Surtr at Ragnarok

Njord

A god of the sea/oceanicfertility; one of the Vanir but with the Aesir as a hostage; father by the giantess Skadi of Freyr and Freya

Xenos (from Glossary)

A guest-friend, usually referringto the person with whom one has directly established the relationship of xenia, though this relationship is valued and maintained through generations.

Thetis

Achilles' mother; a goddess married to a human(Peleus)because of the "greater than his father" prophecy; Eris throws the golden "for the most beautifull" apple at their wedding; Thetis tries to keep Achillesfrom the war by hiding him as a girl, but Odysseus finds out; in some versions Thetis dipped him intothe river Styx to make him invulnerable(except for his heel)(this tradition does not appear in the Iliad); brings him replacement armor after his is takenby Hector after Patroclus' death

Odysseus

A wily warrior; Did not want to come to Troy, but had to;Killed Hector's young son Astyanax (hard necessity);Invented the Trojan Horse; argued for Agamemmnon in the Embassy to Achilles

Gunnar Helming

A young man, on the run from the law(in a fictional narrative) who impersonated Freyrin Sweden

Character in the Iliad who says, "Why must the Greeks attack the Trojans? Was it not on account of Helen? Are the sons of Atreus the only ones who love their wives? To be sure, any decent and responsible man loves his own, just as I loved Briseis from the depths of my heart..."

Achilles

Patroclus

Achilles' closest friend and "alter ego";Sympathetic to companions and tries to temper Achilles' wrath; universally liked; Tried to rally the Greeks by appearing in Achilles' armor when Achilles would not fight; but was killed by Hector;this inspired Achilles' killing spree afterward

Apollonius of Rhodes portrays Jason as:

An indecisive, nearly incompetent figure

Character who says, "It was not Zeus who gave me this decree, nor did Justice, the companion of the gods below, define such laws for human beings. Nor did I think that your derees were so strong that you, a mortal man, could overrule the unwritten and unshaken laws of the gods."

Antigone

Which female is NOT associated with Odysseus' story:

Ariadne

Which woman is NOT associated with Heracles in some way:

Ariadne

Where did Oedipus finally meet his real (though unknown) father?

At a crossroads near Delphi

Deity who helps Achilles at several crucial points in the Iliad, keeping him from attacking Agamemnon when their quarrel arises, and helping him kill Hector:

Athena

Persephone

Daughter of Demeter and Zeus; kidnapped by Hades but becomes his wife; spends 2/3of the year in the upper world and 1/3with Hades (though in myth is pretty much always a fixture of the underworld); worshipped as Kore (the maiden) as well as with Hades; central to the Eleusinian mysteries; harmonious marriage

Ariadne

Daughter of king Minosof Crete; helps Theseus by providing him with a sword (to kill the Minotaur) and a string (to help him find his way out of the labyrinth); elopes with him; left by him on Naxos; is usually shown as the wife of Dionysus (definitely moving up), though alternate stories are less happy.

Myths

Deception at Jotunheim•Wall around Asgard•Apples of Idunn•Mead of Poetic Inspiration•Binding of Fenrir•Death of Balder

Why did the people of Eleusis found the Eleusinian Mysteries?

Demeter told them to do so, after she finally revealed her identity to Metaneira and Celeus.

Ceres

Demeters roman name

suffering

Deprived of kingship; persecuted; kills family and has to deal with that; essential to his story

Antiope

Different versions of her marriage to Theseus and her role in the Amazon wars; Hippolytus

Circe

Divine ancestry; witch; turning men into pigs; Hermes' help in avoiding her magic and Odysseus' threats; how he got his men back; staying there for a year & his men get him away; Circe's sending him to consult Tiresias

Theseus

Father is Poseidon-also Aegeus. Mother impregnated by Aegeus on his way home to Athens; moves the stone to find tokens of his parentage and heads for Athens; encounters villains on the way and brings the countryside together; meets Aegeus; Medeatries to kill him but is foiled; volunteers to go to Creteas a sacrificeto the Minotaur; Ariadne helps him; they escape together but he abandons her in Naxos. He marries the Amazon Antiope; her son is Hippolytus; she is killed in a war between Theseus and Amazons; details vary.Marries Phaedra; is tricked by her (and Aphrodite) into cursing his son, who was then killed by Poseidon.Plus other stuff.

Which is NOT an epithet of Odin?

Father of Laughter

Helen'smarriage etc.; the men's oath to protect her husband's marital rights

Fierce competition to marry Helen; her father makes suitors swear to uphold the winner's marital rights; this oath (a sworn agreement between men), rather than desire inspired by Helen, is why the Greeks had to go to war to get her back); Menelaus is chosenas her husband; when Paris kidnaps Helen, the Greek kings have to obey their oath and fight to get her back; Helen is regarded favorably in the Iliad; there are many versions of herstory and character; she isa "thinking point" in Greek moral discussions

Odin

Foremost of the gods, also called Allfather; Many names, many showing connection with anger, battle, deception, death, hanging, spearing, wandering, speaking, etc. Sacrificed an eye to drink from the Well of Mimir; one-eyed nature shows that he can see wisdom in different worlds; one eye is chief iconographic element; hanging for 9 days for the secret of Runes.Ravens Huginn and Muninn, high seat from which he can see the whole world; Eight-legged horse Sleipnir. Narratives: Mead of poetic inspiration (tricksterelements), Geirrod; Vikkar (fake =real sacrifice); god of warriors & kings, berserkers, battle madness & binding; magic; seidr.

Enkidu

Formed by gods to distract Gilgamesh; Hairy wild man; good king of the animals; civilization by Shamhat (single woman/prostitute); friendship with Gilgamesh; rejection and insult to Ishtar; gods decide he will die after the Bull of Heaven; function as Gil's alter ego

Which is NOT a child of Loki?

Freya

Ymir

Giant arising from ice in Ginungagap; No real conflict but the sons of Bur kill him and make the world out of his corpse; giants and sometimes humans are said to have generated from him.

Jotun(n)(pl. Jotnar)

Giants, a.k.a. frost giants; agents of chaos who often interactin friendly and hostile encounters with the gods.

Ninsun

Gilgamesh's mother; a positive influence despite wanting a peaceful life for him; interprets his dreams

Why do the gods let Loki hang out with them?

His mother is a goddess and he's Odin's blood brother

Aeolus

His power over the winds; how he helped Odysseus; how close they came to Ithaca when Odysseus fell asleep; the stupidity of Odysseus' men (& their motivation); why Aeolus refuses to help Odysseus again.

Menelaus

Husband of Helen;brother of Agamemnon; strong warrior; tradition of Helen in Egypt and Menelaus shipwrecked there after the war; they return to Sparta after the war

Snorri Sturluson

Icelandic diplomat, 12thcentury AD; author of the Prose Edda; Scholar of old Icelandic traditions.

Jason

In exile with his father who was unjustly expelled from his kingship; raised by the centaur Chiron; returns to Iolcus; helps Hera(who's in disguise) &she helps him afterward; due to prophecy about "the manwith one sandal" the unjust king Peliassends him to get the golden fleece; he brings together a collection of heroes including Heracles, Castor and Pollux (the Gemini), Orpheus, and Peleus (Achilles' father); adventures with the Harpies, Lemnian women, and the Symplegades(clashing rocks); helped to get the Golden Fleeceby Medea. Portrayals of him are varied. He is an expedition leader and sometimes overshadowed by his crew, despite his Golden Fleece mission.

Apples of the Hesperides

In one version, Heracles gets them himself; in another; he temporarily holds up the world while Atlas does it, then when Atlas refuses to take it back, tricks him into doing it; extreme strength but also intelligence

Dumuzi

Inanna's husband, turned over to Ereshkigal for failing to mourn for Inanna sufficiently; ultimately rescued by his sister Geshtinanna

Which hero did NOT have an encounter with an Amazon?

Jason

Whom does Medea NOT murder (in at least one version of the story):

Jason

In Euripides' version of Medea's story, Medea is

Jason's (common-law?) wife and in Corinth because they are in exile

The Golden Fleece

Jason's solo mission to harness a fire-breathing bull, sow dragons'teeth, fight the warriors, defeat a Drakon and steal the fleece; different versions of the story show him as the heroic lone leader or Medea as helping him with drugs or even accompanying him.

Gylfi (also Gangleri)

King of Sweden who interviews the nearby Aesir, who tell him these fanciful tales

Lauis

King of Thebes who kidnapped the son of his hostPelops; was cursed for violation of xenia; tried to avertaprophecy that his son would kill him,by exposing his sonto die; his son was Oedipus though so ...

Agamemnon

Leader of the Greeks;the "greatest" wealthiest king;sacrifices his daughter Iphigeneiaat Aulis so the Greeks can sail for Troy;Quarrel with Achilles;wanting to take someone else's war prize;Killed by his wife Clytemnestra when he returns home(with Cassandra as his war prize).

Wandering

Like other fertility deities,Isis and Freya, Demeter wanders in search of her loved one

Iconography

Lion skin, club, bow; square knot of his lion skin is the protective "Heracles Knot"

Who is the mother of Sleipnir?

Loki

Why does Mjollnir have a short handle?

Loki distracted the dwarf who was making it by biting him (in the form of a fly)

Tiresias

Long-lives seer; alternate stories of his blindness (Zeus andHera; Athena); powers as compensation; sex-change story (snakes mating); blindness=increased special vision (here prophetic powers; in Homer, music, etc.); prophecy by those without powerful social roles; gender and wisdom or prophecy.

Different Versions

Many heroine stories, especially if one part of the narrative has the heroine acting against the standards of society (e.g. abandoning her father's household) are ambivalent about the heroine and have more than one version; sometimes the heroine has completely opposite fates and even actions.AbductionHeroines have to leave home for their story to begin, through abduction or elopement.

Rage

Many stories of Demeter's rage during this time; ultimately her destructive rage allows her to "win"the standoff with the father of her daughter (Zeus)

Leda

Married to King Tyndareus of Sparta; Zeus has sex with her in the form of a swan; she has 4 children (in 2 eggs): Helen and Pollux by Zeus, Clytemnestra and Castor by Tyndareus

Master of

May have been a figure whose mastery of animals shows human victory

According to Euripides, who kills Medea's children?

Medea

Which was not a wife or lover of Theseus?

Medea

Corinth

Medea is sometimes called the Queen of Corinth, invited there after the death of the old king; OR she is portrayed as going there as a suppliant with Jason.

Which of the following is NOT dead at the end of the Trojan War?

Menelaus

Orpheus

Musician whose abilities reflect the powers of music; enchanting song; moves animals and even inanimate objects to peace and harmlessness; when his wife dies his music gets him into Hades and persuades Hades and Persephone to let Eurydice go; forbidden to look back at her when he leads her up, but does and loses her again; afterward refuses love of women and is ultimately torn to pieces by Thracian woman or Maenads; his head floats down the river Hebron still singing

Eleusinian Mysteries

Mystery cult established for Demeter at Eleusis; one of the major international sites (likeDelphi and Olympia); 45 day truce, 9-day initiation; open to anyone who could speak Greek; individual experience; opened knowledge for a happier afterlife; other cults of "Eleusinian Demeter"across Greece for those who couldn't travel; ecstatic ceremony; symbolic revelation

Orphism

Mystery religion with his rather obscure teachings; men only; religious beliefs about better afterlife; lifestyle differences from most Greeks

Sumerian

Non-Semiticpeople who founded Uruk and dominated Mesopotamiain the 3000-2000 time period; kings; hierarchy; priestly writing (cuneiform); irrigation; authority

Calypso

Nymph who kept Odysseus her prisoner, "hiddenaway," for 7 years; how he showed his loyalty to his family/identity; why & how she let him go

Odyssey:Book of the Dead

Odysseus goes to see into the underworld and get prophecy from Tiresias about the rest of his journey home; full description of the underworld. Chthonian sacrifice of a barren heifer; blood in the trench;spirits flooding around him eager to drink the blood; vague and insubstantial spirits; gain memory & voice through drinking the blood; unable to embrace mother; heroes from the Trojan war, seeing into Tartarus. Elpenor and the necessity of burial before the soul can cross into Hades; his mother & failed embrace

Phaeacians

Odysseus' meeting with Nausicaa; he cleverness in getting him to the palace; nature of Phaeacia as a kingdom; how the Phaeacians help him; place where he recounts his adventure; Poseidon's ultimate displeasure with them

Telemachus

Odysseus' son; evidence of his transitioning into adulthood; relationship with Odysseus and shared characteristics; his role in the contest of the bow; his relationship with Penelope

Character who says, "Murder, marriage, misfortune ... these things I suffered unwillingly, for they were the will of the gods, who perhaps have been angry with our family for generations past."

Oedipus

Eteocles and Polynices

Oedipus' twin sons, who are supposed to share the kingship after Oedipus' exile; instead, Eteocles refuses, Polynices attacksThebes, and they fight to the death.

Excess and humor

Often appears as a comic figure in Snorri's work (dressed as Freya, tricked by the giants); great eating and drinking (even when disguised as Freya), larger than life, sometimes "not too bright" role in the myth

Portrayal in Art

Often with Heracles; sometimes (esp. in civic art) in Amazonomachy; eroticized defeat; variety of vase painting; Eastern or Greek clothing

Hydra

One head is cut off and 2 grow back; Heracles uses its poison to tip his arrows

Tyr

One-handed god; noble/intelligent and a brave warrior; lost his hand to Fenrir so the gods could bind him; historically, may have been a sky god previously; killed by the dog Garm (doublet of Fenrir) at Ragnarok; Tuesday

Which of the following was NOT a member of Oedipus's very strange family:

Orestes

Tiwaz/Tyr

Originally a sky god as well as war god; always shown one-handed even in the Bronze Age; lost his hand fettering Fenrir; is destined to face the hound Garm at Ragnarok; "Tyr-wisdom"and "Tyr-valor" show him as a complete warrior; his morphing over time into a specifically war god & intermixture of traditions

Achilles was killed by:

Paris

Danae

Perseus' mother; imprisoned by her father due to prophecy that her son would kill him; impregnated by Zeus in a shower of gold; set afloat with Perseus by Acrisius; admittedand courted by Polydectes, leading him to want to kill Perseus; saved from unwanted marriage by son's heroism

Plato: story of Er

Philosopherof early 4thcentury BC; "myth" of the afterlife, described as the "near death experience" of Er; creation of myths is a way of expressing ideas throughnarrative; mythology as fluid; no sacrilege in using mythic narrative in exploring non-traditional ideas;Souls repay their "sins" and are rewarded for the good deeds x 10; afterward, return to earth through reincarnation; Lottery for choice of fates; wise and foolish choices; values that lead to the soul's growth; ultimate goalof transformation and divine accession through moral choices and actions

Cyclops

Polyphemus ("great fame"; Odysseus' "outis/metis) trick; shepherd; cave; cannibalism, violation of xenia, Odysseus' trickery and violence used to get out; howand why Odysseus brings Poseidon's curse on himself.

Amazonomachy

Popular scene on vase paintings; on civic structures can represent the repression of feminine rebellion or the defeat of feminized enemies

The prime reason Odysseus was unable to get home sooner was:

Poseidon was angry at him for blinding his son Polyphemus.

Medea

Princess in Colchis; skilled in magic; grand-daughter of Helius; niece of Circeand Pasiphae. She helps Jason by magical means; elopes with him; chops up her little brotherto slow her father's pursuit; WhenJason returns to Iolcus, she convinces the daughters of Pelias to try to rejuvenate him by boiling him in a cauldron with "magic herbs," thereby killing him;she and Jason flee to Corinth. Different versions of her role in Corinth. By Euripides:Jason's decision to marry the Cretan princess; Medea's murder spree in revenge (King, princess, and her own children); her escape in a dragon chariot; she goes to Athens (and shows up in the Theseus story as Aegeus' new wife).

Thor

Protective deity, not always very bright, often tricked in stories about him; often travels with Loki, defends Asgard from threats (giants), many of his adventures involve giants; hammer Mjollnir, (arm?) ring for swearing oaths, hammers as personal talismans; goat chariot. Narratives: Deception at Jotunheim, Gate around Asgard, misc. other instances of righting wrongs (apples of Idunn).Main opponent: Iormungand; he kills it at Ragnarok and is killed by its venom; Thursday

Mystery Religions

Religions which involve initiation into secret knowledge, usually widespread and popular later in Greek history when travel and relocation makes local rituals less meaningful; they often offerspecial knowledge that leadsto a happier afterlife. Best-known:Demeter at Eleusis(with "branches" in other cities); Orphism; Isis)

Sacrifice

Sacrifice by hanging and spearing is associated with Odin; parallels his acquisition of runes by hanging from a tree. Sacrifice of war captives documented.

Babylonian

Semitic people; share much of Sumerian pantheon; changes in Ishtar; two versions of Gilgamesh epic;

Amazons

Sent to get the belt of Hippolyta, the Amazon queen; in some versions she intends to give it to him but Hera stirs up conflict; battle with Amazons represents benefits to civilization; in some versions Theseus accompanies him and gets his wife Antiope then; very popular in artistic representations

Several war deities

Several Norse deities are associated with war, in different capacities. War is not a separate category that requires specific gods, but something integral to experience.

Why did Medea try to poison Theseus?

She wanted to get rid of a rival to her own unborn son

Nature of Medea

Should she be seen as an innocent young woman? A rightful queen? A rejected lover? A dangerous magician? A murderer? A hero, or a maiden?Different versions are sometimes extreme.

Comic elements

Shown as a big eater/drinker; like Thor in his comic elements combined with great power

Freya

Sister of Freyr, a goddess of love and fertility; said to take half of the dead into her land, Folkvang; cat chariot; seidr (shamanic ritual); Narrative: often the object of giants' lust (Wall around Asgard, Apples of Idunn); goddess of the seidr; Friday

Iormungand

Son of Loki and Angrboda, the serpent under the ocean that surrounds Midgard; Thor's natural enemy, kills and is killed by him at Ragnarok

Balder

Son of Odin an Frigg, beloved; Frigg gets things to swear to protect him, Loki resents him, tricks the blind god Hodr into killing him; "lives" in Hel; Hermod's ride to try to savehim; Balder's Dream; returns after Ragnarok to rule the new world

Perseus

Son of Zeus and Danae; fits many folkloric motifs and is a "fairy tale hero" in his adherence to folktale motifs; set afloat as an infant with his mother; sent on mission to get the gorgon's head (impossible / unintentional promise/enemies instigate achievement); saves Andromeda from a sea serpent; accidentally kills grandfather Acrisius fulfilling prophecy; helped by Hermes and Athena, plus other supernatural beings; kills and uses the fatal power of Medusa's head

Hector(Andromache)

Son of king Priam of Troy;best warrior and counselor of the Trojans;his relationship with his wife, Andromache, is the primary example of normal life and love between husbands and wives;kills Patroclus (with help from Apollo) when he attacks the walls of Troy;Is killed by Achilles (with help from Athena) in return;His body is kept and abused by Achilles until ransomed by Priam

Judgment of Paris

The apple "for the most beautiful" at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis by Eris (Strife); The judgment of Paris: Trojan prince exposed and raised as a shepherd; Zeus assigns him to decide the competition; Athena offers warrior ability; Hera offers dominion;;Aphrodite offers the most beautiful woman in the world; He chooses Aphrodite, who offers him Helen; shortly after returns to Troy as prince

Achilles

Son of minor king Peleus and Nereid Thetis; raised by Chiron; The greatest warrior at Troy;Younger than the others; still a young teen at the beginning of the war; early to mid-20's at the time of the Iliad;a prophecy gives him the choice of obscure, long life vs. glorious but short life and eternal fame; he chooses early death and glory;mother attempts to hide him with his female cousins but Odysseus finds him; Closest to his friend & cousin Patroclus; the relationship is interpreted differently over time; focuses on war-focused friendship in the Iliad; later interpreted as the eromenos (beloved) in the noble homosexual relationship attested in the 5thcenturyBC and later;The Iliad focuses on his quarrel with Agamemnon and the fallout from that (Achilles appears again in the Iliadsection).Kills Hector; also Memnon (king of Ethiopia) and Penthesileia (Amazon queen);Is killed by an arrow shot by Paris beforethe end of the war; In some traditions invulnerable except for his heel, not in others (e.g. Iliad).

Author who wrote about Oedipus' discovery that he had killed his father and married his mother, and about Antigone's defiance of Creon when she buried her brother:

Sophocles

Fenrir

Terrifying wolf; son of Loki and the giant woman Angrboda; bound by a ruse that cost Tyr his hand; kills Odin at Ragnarok

Which is NOT true of the Amazon ethnography of Herodotus?

The Amazons were obliged to make peace with the customs of the Scythian women

Euripides'Medea

The Athenian playwright Euripides wrote the dominant story of Medea today; he may have introduced the idea that she killed her children

Utnapishtim

The Babylonian "Noah," Hero of the flood story of Gilgamesh; left to immortal life in Dilmun after the flood; cannot help Gilgamesh earn immortality himself, bread loaves; Dilmun as Eden though surrounded by death

Why were there no men on the island of Lemnos?

The Lemnian women had previously killed them

Iormungand

The Midgard Serpent, a watery, dangerous chaos-monster, who is Thor's main rival in several myths, showing the binary opposition between the sky god and the watery monster. Thor kills it at Ragnarok but is killed by its poison.

World Structure

The Norse myth creates a complex sacred geography; tendency to entropy; existence of many different "races"/entities (Gods, Jotun, Humans, Elves, Dwarves, etc.; ultimate destruction at Ragnarok.

Which is NOT true of Odysseus' encounter with the Phaeacians?

The Phaeacians refuse to send him home because he has incurred the curse of their patron deity, Poseidon.

Prose edda

The most complete compendium of Norse myth; written after Christian times; primarily tales of the gods of Asgard (Thor, Loki, Odin, etc.)

Aias the Greater (son of Telamon)

The best warrior after Achilles;shows tenacity and willingness to die for his comrades (defending Patroclus' body while the Greeks are in retreat);represents the completely dependable and faithful fellow warrior; universally well-regarded;appeals to Achilles' responsibility to his friends/fellow warriors at the Embassy to Achilles; after Achilles' death, Achilles' armor is voted to Odysseus rather than him; in an insane rage he kills a bunch of sheep thinking they are hisenemies; commits suicide from humiliation when he returns to himself;his death is a needless tragedy -another place where the warrior ethos was not enough to support a warriors needs

Phineas and the Harpies

The blind prophet was tormented by the Harpies, but saved from them by the Boreads (whowere with Jason's crew)

Tiresias

The blindprophet we previously saw in the Bacchae(and will see again); the only soulwho is himself without drinking the blood; prophesies about Odysseus' journey home

Synoicism

The bringing together of the areas around Athens under Athenian control, represented by the elements of Theseus' journey to Athens.

Creon

The brother of Jocasta, King of Thebes in the absence of Eteocles and Polynices. In attempting to keep the peace, forbids the burial of Polynices'body, bringing about the action of Antigone. Father of Haemon(who commits suicide after Antigone's death) and husband of Eurydice(who commits suicide after Haemon's death).

Chorus

The chorus of the Greek play is usually made up of a group (Theban Elders in Antigone for example) who help give the audience perspective on the play.

Symplegades

The clashing rocks, which Jason (with the help of the Nereids) got through and forever afte rthey were fixed in place.

Antigone

The daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, who first appears accompanying her father into exile (with her sister Ismene), and later features in Sophocles' play Antigone, insisting on burying her brother against Creon's (see below) orders; is buried alive in punishment but commits suicide before she can be rescued.

Tartarus

The deepest part of the underworld; described as among the first elements of the universe in Hesiod; Tartarus is the place where the worst offenders against the gods in myth are imprisoned (along with the Titans and other forces of chaos) but NOT a place ordinary people had to worry about

Hel

The default land of the dead, presided over by Loki's daughter Hel

Aesir

The dominant branch of the Norse gods. They are the dominant gods of the cosmos and most often featured in myth, though some of the Vanir are included in lists of the Aesir.

Charon

The ferryman of souls over the river Styx; he is paid with a coin buried with the body

Utgard-Loki

The giant Skrymir, who tricks Thor and Loki into attempting impossible tasks when they visit him in Utgard

Odin: Knowledge and Authority

The god associated with wars of kings; in myth, hesometimes helps kingsbut is also known for treachery; associated with craft and planning in war but also with battle furor; represents authority. His wisdom and knowledge support his authority; ability to cross borders (genderbordersin the seidr; Sleipnir, his 8-legged horse, represents passing between worlds); authority AND liminal figure. Harald Wartooth; Vidarr; Geirrod.

Kairos

The idea of a critical moment, a moment of decision or encounter where, depending on how it goes, everything could change.

Utgard

The land of giants

Asgard

The land of the gods, unattainable except via Bifrost, the rainbow bridge

Vanir

The less dominant branch of the Norse gods; they are sometimes said to have been enemies of the Aesir before a truce; the major Vanir who take part in Norse myth are Njord, Freya and Freyr.

Medeas children

There was a cult of Medea's children in Corinth and different stories of how the children died (in the sanctuary of Hera; killed by Corinthians; killed by Medea).

Zeus gave Thetis to Peleus to marry because:

There was a prophecy that she would have a son greater than his father, and he married her to a human so that wouldn't cause any risk for him (Zeus).

folktale motifs

These are pieces of stories that occur in many different tales; they may be elements such as "the youngest son meets a supernatural helper" or "the king sets up a contest" or "someone tries to avoid a prophecy." They are part of anonymous folktales, but many are also part of myths and sagas that are associated with specific traditions.

Lemnian Women

They had been inflicted with a bad smell for not worshipping Aphrodite; rejected by husbands; killed the men on the island; greeted the Argonauts warmly and repopulated the island ...

How did Theseus and Pirithous end up stuck in the underworld?

They had gone there to kidnap Persephone

Why did the Greek warriors go to Troy to help Menelaus get Helen back?

They had sworn an oath to Tyndareus to uphold Menelaus' marital rights

Which is NOT an ancient version of the deaths of Medea's children?

They were killed by the Colchians when Jason and Medea stole the Golden Fleece

Why did the gods agree to offer a giant the sun, the moon, and Freya to build a wall around Asgard?

They were persuaded by Loki that the wall could not be built in time.

Rage and destruction

Thor can have the "divine anger" modr, which is like menisin the Iliad (Achilles' divine anger); this powers his destructive elements; he uses it in service of the Aesir; is not constrained by oaths and agreements that he's sent in to fix; gets the gods out of difficult situations in the myths reported by Snorri.

Mjollnir

Thor's hammer

Thjalfi

Thor's sidekick, actually a human slave, whose father gave him to Thor after accidentally eating the marrow of one of Thor's goats

Thracian Women

Thracian woman tear him apart in the most popular versions of his story; though sometimes he is blasted by Zeus or killed by Maenads

Gorgons& Medusa

Three magical flying women, one of whom, Medusa, was condemned to ugliness and deadliness by Athena, because Poseidon raped her in Athena's temple; Medusa could turn anyone to stone by looking at them (and possible other Gorgons could too); Medusa was the only mortal one; mother of Pegasus and Chrysaor (from her neck, when Perseus beheaded her) plus all the poisonous snakes in Africa, engendered by drops of blood from her neck

Loki

Trickster figure; giant father and goddess mother; often accompanies Thor; often engaged in mischiefagainst or less often on behalf of the gods; Father of Fenrir, Hel, and Iormungand; also mother of Sleipnir; liminal figure; magic, shape changing, gender changing. In most of the significant narratives. Usuallyinitiating them: Apples of Idunn, Wall around Asgard, Deception at Jotunheim, etc.; often initiated conflict for mischiefor greed; often punished and/or humiliated, directly or indirectly causes the death of Balder, punished by binding and torment; etiology of earthquakes. Fights with the giants at Ragnarok.

Paris

Unhappy marriage with Helen;kills Achilles;is killed by an archer before the war ends

overall

Unpleasant and futile afterlife; not a universal view; thematic reasons for portraying the underworld this way; gives details of chthonian sacrifices/cults of heroes/cults of the dead

What did Odin NOT do to get the mead of poetic inspiration?

Use Freya's falcon-skin cape to escape from Suttungr

Menelaus and Helen

Variation of the myth: Helen spent the war in Egypt; both delayed in Egypt for seven years (Euripides and otherpost-Homer sources); her return to happy marriage with Menelaus and her wisdom in the Odyssey

Delphi& Pythia

When annoyed that the Pythia won't prophecy for him, he tries to steal the tripod; Apollo comes and fights him for it; Zeus has to stop the contest

Colchis

Where the Golden Fleece is.

Lotus Eaters

Why they are dangerous; Odysseus' men falling into the trap; the men's ultimate fate

Jocasta

Wife of Laius. Later wife of Oedipus. Also mother of Oedipus. Commits suicide when she realizes she has married her own son.

Eurydice

Wife of Orpheus; killed by a snake soon after marriage; Orpheus tries to get her back from Hades but fails; Ovid shows them reunited in Hades

Who was the father of Persephone?

Zeus

What do the Mysteries at Eleusis offer those who undergo initiation?

a better afterlife than other people

Nessus was:

a centaur who tried to rape Heracles' wife and plotted his' death

Which of the following does Odysseus NOT encounter on his journey home:

a monster, part female, part lion, who likes to ask riddles and kills people who get the answer wrong

seiðr

a particular kind of magic associated with women; can have a dark side but is mostly associated with prophecy and foretelling fates; high platform, women participants; songs; spirits called and communicative

Shamanism

a practice in which special members ofa community act as spiritual leaders by accessing the world of the spirits in order to recommend ceremonies, make predictions, interpret complex situations, etc. In Scandinavia and Northern Europe generally, shamans were typically female (in other placesthey can be male or either).

Xenia is:

a sacred relationship between a host and a guest

Iole was

a woman with whom Heracles fell in love

What was the kykeon?

an intoxicating drink taken before the initation at Eleusis

How did Demeter appear to Celeus' daughters when she came to Eleusis?

an old but noble woman looking for childcare for work

Loki

•Often portrayed as malevolent; harmful mischief(criticizing the gods; Balder'sdeath, Idunn's apples); •Self-preservation above all; •Often travels with Thor and is his companion/opposite; •Often causes trouble that the other gods must get him out of; •Has good ideas but when they go wrong, he has to fix things (and is not always very good at it); •Hungry and greedy;•Outsider (father is a giant); •Aligned with giants in some things (devotion to chaos, lack of commitment to the gods of Asgard); •Responsiblefor Balder's death; punished till Ragnarok (etiology of earthquakes). •Father of Iormungand, Fenrir, and Hel (thus responsible for some truly chaoticelements of the world). •Also mother of Sleipnir (gender-changing is often a trickster thing), from trying to undo the harm of the deal he advised for building Asgard's wall.•In Snorri, often used as comic relief, especially through humiliation (luring the stallion as a mare). •Also emblematic of chaos that leads to the destruction of the world, and fights for the giants at Ragnarok.