Mythology Midterm 2

Argonauts

A band of heroes who joined with Jason to search for the Golden Fleece.

polis

A city-state in ancient Greece

Furies

Born of the blood of Cronus; their job is to pursue sinners, try to punish Orestes for murder of his mother Clytemnestra

Artemis

Apollo's twin sister and a daughter of Zeus. The goddess of chastity, she was a virgin huntress who was shown carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. By some quirk she also presided over childbirth and was associated with the moon.

Aeneas

son of Anchises and Aphrodite and Trojan warrior in the Illiad

Antigone

the daughter of King Oedipus who disobeyed her father and was condemned to death by Creon for burying her brother

Hestia

the goddess of the hearth and its fire in ancient mythology

Publius Ovidius Naso

43-18 AD; died at Tomi where Augustus exiled him to due to Ars Armatoria - "carmen et error". Also wrote the Fasti (Roman calendar/holidays but only has 6 months) and the Metamorphoses

Epigonoi

the sons of the Argive heroes who had fought and been killed in the first Theban war, the subject of the Thebaid, in which Polynices and six allies (the Seven Against Thebes) attacked Thebes because Polynices' brother, Eteocles, refused to give up the throne as promised. The second Theban war, also called the war of the ______, occurred ten years later, when the ________, wishing to avenge the death of their fathers, attacked Thebes; included Diomedes and Alcmaeon

Panhellenism

unity of Greece

Medea

(Greek mythology) a princess of Colchis who aided Jason in taking the Golden Fleece from her father , The daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis. The wife to the hero Jason. She gets revenge on him when he picks a different wife. She kills the other wife's father, the wife, and their kids

Helios

(Greek mythology) ancient god of the sun

Gorgons

(Greek mythology) any of three winged sister monsters and the mortal Medusa who had live snakes for hair

Epimetheus

(Greek mythology) brother of Prometheus, was a stupid Titan whose name means "afterthought." He accepted the gift of Pandora from Zeus; and Pandora, the first woman, unleashed all the evils of the world on mankind.

Demeter

(Greek mythology) goddess of fertility and protector of marriage in ancient mythology, Goddess of agriculture, goddess of the harvest

thanatos

(Greek mythology) the Greek personification of death

Charon

(Greek mythology) the ferryman who brought the souls of the dead across the river Styx or the river Acheron to Hades

Zeus

(Greek mythology) the supreme god of ancient Greek mythology

Pandora

- First woman, created as punishment to men -carried a "box" around with her -made the world shit

Jason

Son of Aison and Polymede -the husband of Medea and leader of the Argonauts who sailed in quest of the Golden Fleece

Theogony

Theos (god) + gonia (creation, generation) Literally: the creation of the gods

Rationalizing Revolution

7th or 6th century BCE The Greeks were making advances in observances of natural phenomena Close contact with other cultures Rapid Greek colonization of the Mediterranean Increased contact with other cultures through trading These contacts coupled with new ways of thinking led to a movement that radically changed the intellectual component of Greek belief Stories kept developing; traditional tales were reconfigured for new contexts but the status of the Greek belief system shifted considerably

Trojan War

A 10 year war fought between Greeks and Trojans Ostensibly over the theft of Helen

Rhea

A Titan, the mother of the 12 Olympians produced through union with Cronus

Metis

A Titaness, and Athena's mother. Eaten by Zeus.

Tragedy

A dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction.

Anchisis

Aeneas' father who guides Aeneas to the river Lethe. Aeneas attempts to embrace his father but cannot.

Homer

Author known for writing Illiad and Oddesy

Hesiod

Author, wrote Works and Days(a farmer's almanac) and Theogony (a geneology of the gods)

Ganymede

Beautiful boy whom Zeus falls in love with and takes up to Olympos to be his cup-bearer. Ganymede receives immortality and eternal youth.

Pasiphae

Birthed the Minotaur, wife of Minos, she fell in love with the Cretan Bull because of Poseidon and had the bronze cow that she got inside so she could make love to the bull.

Hades

Both God of Underworld and the name of the Underworld itself. Husband to Persephone

Cadmus

Brother of Europa. Sent to look for her after Zeus took her to Crete. Delphic Oracle told him to settle where his cow layed down. Establishes Thebes but first has to crush a dragon that is terrorizing the area with a giant boulder. The dragon's teeth are planted which create warriors. The surviving warriors after a battle become the oligarchy of Theban rule. Married to Ares and Aphrodite's daughter: Harmonia.

Nessus

Centaur. Steals Deianira. Shot by Hercules with a poisoned arrow. As he was dying, collected a vial of blood and said if you ever feel like Hercules doesn't love you, use this as a love potion. Lied of course, led to Hercules's "death."

Alexandria

City in Egypt founded by Alexander the Great, center of commerce and Hellenistic civilization

Aegisthos

Clytemenestra's lover that helped her with the plan to kill King Agamemnon

Hellenistic Greece

Corresponds to the period between the Death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and the annexation of the classical Greek heartlands by Rome in 146 BCE. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia, experiencing prosperity and progress in the arts, exploration, literature, theatre, architecture, music, mathematics, philosophy and science. Often considered a period of transition, sometimes even of decadence or degeneration when compared to the Greek Classical era.

Homeric Hymns

Cyclic vs Contingent Rituals

Maia

Daughter of Atlas, and mother of Hermes by Zeus

Tydeus

Exile from Calydon and one of the seven leaders against Thebes; was nearly made immortal by Athena, but Amphiaraüs thwarted it

Ares

God of War

Asclepius

God of healing. Staff with one snake around it. Given to Chiron to raise. Could treat any disease and resurrect the dead. The gods complained to Zeus and he killed him with a thunderbolt.

Hera

Goddess of Love and Marriage; sister and wife of Zeus remembered for her jealously of the many mortal women Zeus fell in love with; identified with Roman Juno

Hebe

Goddess of Youth who Heracles marries once he gets to Mount Olympus

Cosmogony

Kosmos (creation, universe) + gonia (creation, generation) Literally: the creation of the universe

Miasma

Greek word for "pollution"; it's a "stain" (when you kill someone that is blood-related to you, you have cast Miasma upon yourself. It's like bad karma)

Nostos

Greek word for homecoming

synoikismos

Greek word that means "bringing together of dwellings"

Gaia

Greek: the earth

Misogyny

Hatred of women

Atreus

He was the father of Agamemnon and Menlaus. He carried on a long-term feud with his brother, Thyestes, and served Thyestes a banquet of his own sons.

Ericthonius

Hephaestus rapes Athena and ejaculates on her leg. From this, ___ is born. He is put in a chest and given to the daughters of Cecrops, but they commit suicide upon seeing the image. Athena raises her son. Became the king of Athens.

Semele

Hera tricks her into asking Zeus to show himself in his full glory so he turns himself into a lightning bolt killing her but her baby (Dionysus) survives and Zeus stitches him up in his thigh

Deineira

Hercules' second wife who put a poison onto his clothes which she thought was a love potion and it tortured Hercules

Macrocosmic

Hesiodic work takes a long-term, MACROCOSMIC view of the history of creation

Tantalus

It's because of a mythological sinner named Tantalus that to tantalize entails holding something desireable just out of reach. Like Sisyphus, Tantalus was sent to the Underworld's region of eternal punishment, where he stood in a pool of water under boughs laden with fruit yet could satisfy neither hunger nor thirst. - a wicked king and son of Zeus

Circe

The beautiful witch-goddess who transforms Odysseus's crew into swine when he lands on her island. With Hermes' help, Odysseus resists Circe's powers and then becomes her lover, living in luxury at her side for a year.

Icarus

The son of the master craftsman Daedalus. His father gave him wings. He ignored instructions not to fly too close to the sun, and fell to his death

Eileithyia

a goddess of childbirth and the divine helper of women in labour, daughter of Zeus and Hera. assisted Leto in the birth of Apollo despite her mother's wishes against it. the Romans knew her as Lucina.

Tithonos

beautiful boy kidnapped by Eos, along with Ganymede, made immortal by Eos' wish to Zeus, but continued aging; eventually locked away by Eos to get old by himself

cyclic ritual

culturally defined moment of change (e.g. Thanksgiving, New Years)

Graiai

daughters of Ceto and Phorcus, called Deino, Enyo, and Pemphredo. The personifications of old age, they were born with gray hair and only one eye and one tooth among them. They were the protectors of their sisters, the Gorgons.

Mythography

descriptive study or representation of myths

Chthonic

dwelling in or under the earth; also, pertaining to the underworld.

Potiphar's Wife

egypt - joseph works for her and her hisband - she tries to sleep with jaco and them blames it on jacob and sends him to jail - uses his coat -- contrastive dialogue shows josephs loyalty to god

Apollonius of Rhodes

epic poet, scholar, and director of the Library of Alexandria. He is best known for his epic poem the Argonautica, which told the mythological story of Jason and the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece, and which is one of the chief works in the history of epic poetry

Chimera

fire-breathing she-monster with a lion's head and a goat's body and a serpent's tail "she goat." a lion with a snake's tail and a goat's head growing from its back. According to a story with folktale type "Potiphar's wife," the hero Bellerophon killed this monster.

Mycenaean

first Greek-speaking people; invaded Minoans; dominated Greek world 1400 B.C. to 1200 B.C.; sea traders; lived in separate city-states; invovled in Trojan War against Troy

Danaus

flees to Argos with his 50 daughters, convinces them to kill their new husbands, except one

Myth of the Ages

from "the works and days" by hesiod its a didactic (teaching) poem about farming and living a just life. there are 5 races of mankind: golden race, silver race, bronze race, race of the heroes, iron race.

Saturn

gloomy, dark, sullen, morose

Poseidon

god of the sea and earthquakes and horses

Alcmene

granddaughter of Perseus and daughter of Electryon, king of Argos; she was promised in marriage to Amphitryon, who was to succeed her father as king of Argos; then Amphitryon accidentally killed Electryon while showing him some cattle; the couple thus had to leave in exile for Thebes; while Amphitryon was away fighting the pirates who had killed the brothers of Alcmene, Zeus visited her in the form of Amphitryon and impregnated her; when the real Amphitryon returned, she was quite surprised; she gave birth to both Heracles and Iphicles (the son fathered by Zeus and the son fathered by Amphitryon)

Cerberos

hardest of Herakles labors (a conquest of death); 3 headed guard dog at gates of the underworld, must come back from the underworld with him; Hades lets Heracles take him as long as he brings him back, Heracles wrestles him and brings him back after he takes him to Eurystheus

Panathenaia

held every four years in Athens since 566 BC-AD. These Games incorporated religious festival, ceremony (including prize-giving), athletic competitions, and cultural events hosted within a stadium. The games were divided into games for Athenians only, and games for Athenians and any other Greeks who wanted to participate. (Similar to the olympics)

anthropos

human being, man

temenos

in ancient greece the sacred enclosure around a temple site

Trickster-god

is a god, but can be a hero or mortal; tends to be devious and functions to transgress the normal boundaries of society

katabasis

journey to the underworld

contingent rituals

life-cycle ceremonies: birth, puberty, marriage, death.

mania

madness; craze; insane impulse

aner

man

Hydra

monster of many heads one was immortal

Demophoon

mortal that Demeter tries to make into a god after losing Persephone, son of metaneira

Greek Religion

polytheistic, gods have certain jobs, gods are not omnicient or always just, didn't have holy scriptures, built temples and had festivals for gods, trying to keep gods happy, went to oracle, gave offerings

Hundred Handers

product of Gaia and Ouranos(3) Zeus uses them in overthrow of titans

Hellenistic

r, a word meaning to "imitate Greeks"; Greek-speaking civilization which spread through many lands of the eastern Mediterranean and beyond following the conquests of Alexander the Great.

Orestes

son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra who eventually avenged his father's murder by killing Aegisthus

Telegonus

son of Odysseus; when he finds out from Circe he sailed out in search of his father; rustled some of Odysseus' cattle and when Odysseus came out to protect them Telgonus wounded him with a spear that held the barb of a stingray; wracked with grief when he realized it was Odysseus and took the corpse to Penelope and Circe and married Penelope

Erectheus

son of Pandion, had to sacrifice his daughter's to save city Athens. Killed by Poseidon bc he killed his son.

Hektor

son of Priam, field commander of the Trojans and their greatest fighter, killer of Patroklos, killed by Achilleus; Trojan

Tiresias

the blind prophet of Thebes who revealed to Oedipus that Oedipus had murdered his father and married his mother

Typhoios

the most incredible of all beasts; hundred dragon heads, fire breathing, capable of destroying all of creation

Argo

the talking ship. the talking part gets crushed when they pass through the cursed mountains that slam together when anything passes through them

Thriai

three prophetic nymphs; minor goddesses of the art of diviniation by pebbles; given as gift to Hermes by Apollo; speak the truth after eating pale honey, otherwise they lie confusedly

Kosmos

universe

muthos

utterance or something someone says, theory or statement

thyrsos

wand wreathed in vine leaves and ivy, sometimes with a pine cone on top, symbol of Dionysus

Procne

wife of Tereus; was turned into a nightingale by the gods to protect her from her husband rage; fed her husband the flesh of her son when she found out Tereus had forced himself on Philomela, her sister, and cut out her tongue

Geryon

(Greek mythology) a mythical monster with three heads that was slain by Hercules

Ouranos

Son and mate of Gaia, Ouranos is the god of the sky. He is castrated by Kronos in the early part of the Theogony.

khaos

"a gap; nothingness"

Chaos

(n.) great confusion, disorder

Tyndareos

-father of Helen

xeinia

Greek for "hospitality"

gune

Greek for "woman"

Allegory

"A story or visual image with a second distinct meaning partially hidden behind its literal or visible meaning. In written narrative _____ involves a continuous parallel between two (or more) levels of meaning in a story so that its persons and events correspond to their equivalents in a system of ideas or a chain of events external to the tale."

Parthenogenesis

"Virgin birth" to Uranus (sky), Pontus (sea), and Mountains

Synchronic

"at the same time" A perspective that values the study of a lexical or thematic element in a single specific time

basileus

"king" in mycenae. commanded army and presided over religious acts.

Hermes

"messenger god, god of theives, commerce, hospitality, and travelers. When he was five minutes old he escaped from his crib. Symbol is wings on shoes and the cadeceus."

Diachronic

"through different time periods" A perspective that emphasizes the development of a lexical or thematic element during different stages in time

Titanomachy

'War of the Titans' Battle between Titans and Olympians. Titans led by Kronos and Olympians led by Zeus

athanatos

'deathless' or 'immortal', one of the primary adjectives used to describe the gods, emphasising the primary distinction between gods and mortals

Imperial Rome

(31 BCE-324 CE) when Rome was ruled by Octavian/Augustus "the revered one" or the "Imperium" the supreme authority to give orders and exact obedience in all of Italy and its Roman-controlled territory; reunification of a Rome divided by civil war; criminalized adultery, men to marry between the ages of 20-60 and women between the ages of 20-50; punished childless couples; there was a growing prominence of women in Roman society;

Plato

(430-347 BCE) Was a disciple of Socrates whose cornerstone of thought was his theory of Forms, in which there was another world of perfection.

Republican Rome

(509 BC - 31 BC) 509-31 BC. Democracy developed and then collapsed due to the size of the Republic. Militaristic, powerful, explosive, constantly at war. Mood of brutality and insensitivity.

Classical Greece

(550-323 BCE) 200 year period in Greece; Greek culture and ideas flourished.

Archaic Greece

(800-550 BCE) Age of Exploration. Trade increases. Homer gains popularity. Epics are spread orally.

Ceres

(Demeter): goddess of the harvest and agriculture; her daughter Proserpina (Persephone) is queen of the underworld and wife of Hades

Atlas

(Greek mythology) a Titan who was forced by Zeus to bear the sky on his shoulders

Aphrodite

(Venus) daughter of Zeus, goddess of laughter and love, sprung from the foam of the seas, is lovely, beautiful, but also soft and weak. According to the Iliad she also was the wife of Hephaestus. Her symbols are the city of Cyprus, myrtle, dove, sparrow, and swan.

Odysseus

(main character) Son of Laertes and Anticleia, husband of Penelope and father of Telemachus. A cunning, shrewd and eloquent hero. Came up with the idea of the Trojan horse which led the Greeks to victory against Troy. "Man of many wiles".

Pygmalion

(n.) someone (usually a male) who tries to change, mold, or build someone into the person he desires; from a myth adapted into a play by George Bernard Shaw; a woman-hating sculptor who makes a female figure of ivory who Aphrodite brings to life for him.

Divination

(n.) the art or act of predicting the future or discovering hidden knowledge

Anchises

-Adult male -sleeps with Aphrodite -Symbolically immortal through a son named Aeneas

Amphitryon

-Alcmena's husband -Alcmena refused to sleep with him until he avenged her brothers' deaths - he did this -Zeus came to her disguised as Amphitryon and made the night three times its normal length -They had sex; he left -The real Amphitryon came home -She bore fraternal twins Herakles the elder and Iphikles

Titans

-Children of Uranus and Gaia A race of powerful deities, descendants of Gaia and Uranus, that ruled during the legendary Golden Age. The role of these as Elder Gods was overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Olympians, in the Titanomachy.

Structural

-Myth is a mode of communication -Structural elements in a story (night/day, cold/hot, male/female) communicates messages about relationships in the real world Example: Succession in Hesiod's Theogony

Functions of Myth

-Myths act as bearers of important messages about life in general and life within a society -Myths are a primary form of entertainment and communication -Myths are stories of events, usually believed to have taken place in the past -Myths deal with the actions of gods, their rituals, their relationships to one another, heroes, and natural phenomena

Psychological

-Myths reflect people's waking efforts to systematize the incoherent visions and impulses of their sleep world -Myths are the projection of the 'collective unconscious' Example: Oedipus

Characteristics of Myth

-Not true or untrue -Myths are not uniform -there are many versions to a myth; we should not ask which on is correct, but why the stories are different -Each individual version (called a variation, allomorph, or multiform) of a repeated motif (also called theme or pattern) -Myths are not necessarily logical or consistent -they are imaginative, scant in detail -Myths perform multiple functions to reflect and address different themes depending on their social, political and cultural contexts

Folktale

-Opposed to legends -Its details are fanciful and rarely contain any historical fact

Achilles

-Prophesied to be greater than his father -dressed as a woman to avoid war -This "swift-footed" warrior is the greatest on the Greek side. His father is Peleus, a great warrior in his own right, and his mother is Thetis, a sea nymph. The consequences of his' rage at Agamemnon for confiscating his geras (prize of honor) are the subject of the Iliad. He kills Hector, but is killed by a poisoned arrow in the heel, the only vulnerable place on his body.

Iphikles

-son of Alcmene and Amphitryon

Legend

-the word 'legend' is derived from the Scandinavian word 'saga' which also means a story or narrative -a legend contains some form of historical fact

Hephaestus

...He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes

Cyclopes

1 eyed monsters. Three Originals (Arges, Brontus, and Steropes). Born to Uranus and Ge, but imprisoned in Tartarus under Cronus and Uranus. Freed by Zeus, then worked for him to create thunderbolts.

Moirai

1. "Fates" that control the metaphorical thread of life for mortal

Olympian

1. majestic; godlike; lofty (from Mt. Olympus, highest mountain in Greece. Its summit, obscured by clouds from human view, was home to Zeus and other gods.)

Sacrifice

A gift given to a deity, often with the aim of creating a relationship, gaining favor, and obligating the god to provide some benefit to the sacrificer, sometimes in order to sustain the deity and thereby guarantee the continuing vitality of the natural world. The object devoted to the deity could be as simple as a cup of wine poured on the ground, a live animal slain on the altar, or, in the most extreme case, the ritual killing of a human being.

Oligarchy

A government ruled by a few powerful people

Stages in a Hero's Life

A hero is born to distinguished parents The parents suffer adverse fate Prophecy threatens the family The baby is 'exiled' The baby is saved by animals, peasants, or divinities The hero finds his parents The hero takes revenge on his family or their fate The father acknowledges the hero The hero is honored The hero challenges death symbolically or literally

Bellerophon

A hero who lost the favor of the gods. -killed the Chimera- a part-lion, part-serpent, part goat-creature. Fell out of favor with the gods.

Calydonian Boar Hunt

A hunt for the Calydonian Boar, a boar that was sent to ravage Calydon when the king forgot to sacrifice to Artemis, where Atalanta wounds the boar and Meleagar kills it

Succession Myth

A kind of myth which deals with the succession of sons over fathers over a number of generations. Many Greek and Near Eastern myths use this format to tell of how a divinity came to be a supreme ruler.

Lykourgos

A mysterious shadowy identity, who was claimed to have been either a man or a god. Said to be responsible for the divergence of Sparta from a typical city-state to the militaristic and brutal civilization we know them as today.

Elysium

A place of the blessed afterlife; at first restricted to mortals who were favored by the gods, later became a reward for virtue.

Thetis

A sea-nymph and the devoted mother of Achilles, Thetis gets Zeus to help the Trojans and punish the Achaeans at the request of her angry son. When Achilles finally rejoins the battle, she commissions Hephaestus to design him a new suit of armor.

Linear B

A set of syllabic symbols, derived from the writing system of Minoan Crete, used in the Mycenaean palaces of the Late Bronze Age to write an early form of Greek. It was used primarily for palace records, and the surviving Linear B tablets provide substantial information about the economic organization of Mycenaean society and tantalizing clues about political, social, and religious institutions.

Aegis

A shield of Zeus or Athena bearing, at its center, the head of the Gorgon

Thyestes

A son of Pelops; quarrels with brother Atreus over the kingship in Mycenae; tricked into eating his own sons by Atreus at the Banquet of Thyestes.

Minos

A sophisticated society arose on the island of Crete. Scholars refer to it as Minoan society, after Minos, a legendary king of ancient Crete

Eschatology

A study of and teaching about the "last things" (death, judgment, heaven, hell, purgatory, the Second Coming of Christ, and the resurrection of the body).

Medusa

A woman transformed into a Gorgon by Athena. Slain by Perseus when she saw her reflection in his shield: her gaze turned people into stone. She famously had snakes for hair.

Helen

A young woman of Athens in love with Demetrius. The Trojan war was fought over her abduction (the most beautiful woman in the world) abducted by Paris with the help of Aphrodite

blasphemia

Abusive language: blasphemy

Eteocles

Antigone's brother that died in battle and recieved a hero's burial

Polyneices

Antigone's brother who fought against Thebes and was left unburied due to Creon's law

Prayer

Any conversation held with spirits and gods in which people petition, invoke, praise, give thanks, dedicate, supplicate, intercede, confess, repent, and bless.

Apollo

Apollo, god of sun, light, poetry, music- gold bow and arrow, pride in himself- twin

Phaedra

Ariadne's sister, married Theseus; fell madly in love with her stepson Hippolytus Athens; wife of Theseus; fell in love with Hippolytus ( Theseus's son) but he rejected her; accused him of raping her but he did not; later killed herself when Hippolytus was killed

hubris

Arrogance, especially against the gods. Deadly pride

Paris

Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera all asked him who was the hottest and then bribed him. He chose Aphrodite's offer (giving him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world- Helen) He goes and convinces Helen to leave with him

Solon

Athenian reformer of the 6th century; established laws that eased the burden of debt on farmers, forbade enslavement for debt

Hippolytus

Athens; Son of Theseus. He rejected Phaedra's advances and she told Theseus that he had raped her. He cursed him and his horses dragged him to his death

Aegeus

Athens; This person was the father of Theseus. He was a king, and threw himself from a cliff when his son came home bearing the wrong sail on the ship. There is a very large body of water named after him.

Andromeda

Daughter of Cepheus (dad) and Cassiepea, (mom) King and Queen of Libya. Mom commited hubris by saying she was prettier than the sea nymphs and Poseidon got mad and send a flood and sea monster to their town. Consulted the oracle of Zeus Ammon and it said to chain Androemda to a rock and sacrifice her to the monster to end turmoil. Is saved by Perseus, who saves her and kills the monster.

Iphigeneia

Daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. Agamemnon had angered the goddess Artemis. In order to propitiate the goddess, Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter _________ at Aulis where the Achaean fleet was impatiently waiting for a wind to cross over to Troy. In order to trick _____________ into coming, Agamemnon sent word to Clytemnestra that _______ was to marry Achilles, so Clytemnestra willingly brought her daughter to the wedding/sacrifice. _________, sometimes portrayed as brave enough to impress Achilles, realized her self-sacrifice was what the Greeks needed. Situation mirrors Polyxenia's sacrifice.

Persephone

Daughter of Demeter, wife of Hades, and queen of the underworld.

Athena

Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, purposeful battle, and the womanly arts. Athena assists Odysseus and Telemachus with divine powers throughout the epic, and she speaks up for them in the councils of the gods on Mount Olympus. She often appears in disguise as Mentor, an old friend of Odysseus.

Europa

Daughter of the King of Sidon; Aphrodite made Zeus fall in love with her and he appeared to her as a bull

Teleological

Definition : Philosophical approach that looks at the purposes and end results of phenomena rather than causes or means (Aristotle)

Vesta

Each Roman city had a public hearth to honor ___, the virgin goddess of hearth, home, and family; twelve virgins (known as priestesses, the Vestales) tended to a fire at each public hearth which was never allowed to go out.

Osiris

Egyptian god of the underworld and judge of the dead. The symbol for resurrection in Egyptian mythology.

Acrisius

Father of Danae, who is the mother of Perseus. Danae gives birth to a son that will kill Acrisius. We see a variation of the theme that the father feels threatened by son (this time grandson). Tried to lock Danae away, didn't work. (tried to deflect prophecy that he would be killed by grandson by shutting daughter Danae in bronze chamber; Zeus came as shower of gold, ravished her, and fathered Perseus; he will eventually be killed by Perseus - unwittingly)

Aeson (Aison)

Father of Jason

Chrysippus

Favorite son of Pelops. Laius falls in love with him and attempts to abduct him. He is cursed by Pelops to have a son that will kill him.

Flood Tales

Flood Tales: The Sumerian Account: Atrahasis... • The god of the wind and earth, Enlil, decides that the world is overpopulated - Human beings make a terrible din and have to be dealt with • Enlil starts by rotating famine and drought to kill man but it doesn't do the trick - He sends a flood to wipe out man • The god of the water, Enki, warns a man named Atrahasis - Atrahasis builds a boat as instructed by Enki • Enlil is angry with Enki - They come to an agreement to keep men in the world Resolution in the Babylonian Account... • In the Gilgamesh version, it is Utnapishtim who survives - A god named Ea warned him and gave him exact measurements for the vessel • The flood was so bad that even the gods were afraid and wept - The goddess Isthar regrets the action • In the Gilgamesh version, it is Utnapishtim who survives - A god named Ea warned him and gave him exact measurements for the vessel • The flood was so bad that even the gods were afraid and wept - The goddess Isthar regrets the action

Cecrops

Founder and 1st king of Athens. Top half shaped like a man and bottom like a serpent

Maenad

Frenzied women who worship Bacchus. Attacked and killed Orpheus. His head and guitar floated to an island called Lesbos. Known for its poetry. The girls were turned to trees... followers of Dionysus

Harpies

Frightful flying creatures with hooked beaks and claws. They always left behind a stench and were sickening to all creatures.

Panhellenic Games

Games open to all Greeks and forming an athletics circuit that provided venues in which athletes could compete on a regular basis; among the best known are the Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean Games.

Hylus

Gets dragged under water by water nymphs and drowns -guy that holds Hercules's shield and armor

7 Insights from Myth

Historical—some myths contain 'real' historical facts Anthropological—myths teach about the values and principles of a society Metaphysical—myths teach what possibly exists and where human life fits in this system Cosmological—myths reveal the origin and nature of the universe Aetiological—myths provide explanations for natural realities or human customs Sociological—myths illustrate the organization of society Psychological—myths reveal the inner workings of the human mind

Microcosmic

Homeric work takes a specific, episodic, or MICROCOSMIC view of this history

Theoxenia

Hospitality to the gods

Lares

Household deities commonly worshiped in homes throughout the Roman world, thought to protect the home and its inhabitants, and often identified with the spirits of the family's ancestors.

Peleus

Husband of Thetis and father of Achilles After Antigone's death, Peleus married the sea-nymph Thetis. He was able to win her with the aid of Proteus, who told Peleus how to overcome Thetis' ability to change her form.[8] Their wedding feast was attended by many of the Olympian gods. As a wedding present, Poseidon gave Peleus two immortal horses: Balius and Xanthus. During the feast, Eris produced the Apple of Discord, which started the quarrel that led to the Judgement of Paris and eventually to the Trojan War. The marriage of Peleus and Thetis produced a son, Achilles.

Cheiron

I am half horse and half man. Most centaurs were wild and unruly. I was not like the other centaurs. I was kind and love children. I was a great teacher.

Procrustes

In Greek mythology, he was a thief of Attica who placed anyone he captured on an iron bed. If the person was too tall he cut off whatever hung over; it too short, he stretched the person until he fit. "Procrustean bed" connotes a rigid standard to which exact conformity is enforced

Atalanta

In Greek mythology, she was a huntress who promised to marry any man who could outrun her in a footrace. She was defeated by Hippomenes, who threw three golden apples to distract her as she ran. She is the archetype of speed, strength, and daring foiled by a trick of the intellect.

Eos

In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, Eos is said to have forgotten to ask for eternal youth for her lover Tithonos

Pelias

Jason's uncle; stole Jason's throne; sent Jason on quest for Golden Fleece; killed by Medea

Danae

King Acrisius' daughter, who gets pregnant by Zeus in the form of a shower of gold while in a prison-type underground room where she was put by her father because of the prophecy. Gives birth to Perseus. They are put into a chest and sailed out to sea.

Pelops

King of Argos, son of Tantalus, father of Atreus, grandfather of Agamemnon and Menelaus

Pentheus

King of Thebes, doomed to death for refusing to recognize Dionysus as a god, torn limb from limb by women, including his mother and aunts

Priam

King of Troy

tithonus

Lover of Eos granted immortality, but not eternal youth.

Lykcaon (Lycaon)

Lycaon was grandson of Pelasgus and Meliboaea (daughter of Oceanus) He was a ruler of the Arcadians and had 50 sons His sons were especially arrogant so Zeus decided to test them in disguise They killed one of the neighborhood boys and mixed his insides with sacrificial food They offered this stew to Zeus Zeus killed Lycaon immediately and killed many of his sons

Hephaistos

May be the son of Zeus and Hera, may be Hera's child only. Blacksmith of the gods. Makes Pandora. Marries Aglaia. Tries to overthrow Zeus.

Leto

Mother of Artemis and Apollo. Allowed to rest and give birth to Artemis and Apollo on island Delos. Hera was not happy with Leto. Zeus was father of Artemis and Apollo.

Natural

Myth is a reaction to the awe-inspiring power of physical nature Example: Zeus and his lightning

Amazons

Mythical women warriors. Lived in Asia minor. Removed right breast so that they could fire bow. Only saw men to breed female offspring and killed baby boys. Greek heros fought amazon women. Achilles, theseus, heracles. Amazon means robust and masculine woman.

Ritual

Myths explain the origins of religious rituals Example: Hymn to Demeter

Allegorical

Myths metaphorically relate human history and institutions Example: Otos and Ephialtes (Iliad 5)

Etiological

Natural, Allegorical, Ritual (Gr. aítion ('cause' or 'blame' + logia): 1.The study of causes of diseases. 2.The study of causation etiological: when used in conjunction with myth signals an approach that assumes that myths strive to explain the origin or cause of something

Apollodorus

Next to Ovid, the most voluminous ancient writer on mythology, but unlike Ovid, very matter-of-fact and very dull.

Muses

Nine sisters who give song and inspiration to humanity; daughters of Zeus and Mnemonsyne (Memory)

Telemachus

Odysseus's son. An infant when Odysseus left for Troy, Telemachus is about twenty at the beginning of the story. He is a natural obstacle to the suitors desperately courting his mother, but despite his courage and good heart, he initially lacks the poise and confidence to oppose them. His maturation, especially during his trip to Pylos and Sparta in Books 3 and 4, provides a subplot to the epic. Athena often assists him.

Dionysos

Patron god of greek. god of wine and fertility, also called "Bacchus" by romans. His death and rebirth was celebrated each spring with drama contests.

Priapus

Prays to his mother, Aphrodite, to send him a girl. He falls in love with a stone statue and then the stone statue comes to life and becomes his wife.

Palaephatus

Said that myths were the result of misunderstandings of explainable events.

Iocasta

She is the wife and mother of Oedipus and queen of Thebes. Before marrying Oedipus, she was married to Laios. She commits suicide at the end of the play, perhaps in guilt that she left Oedipus to die as a baby, thus precipitating his course towards a tragic end for their whole family.

Philoktetes

Shot Paris in the heel with one of Herakles' poisoned arrows

Agamemnon

Son of Atreus and husband of Clytemnestra Former king of Mycenae, brother of Menelaus, and commander of the Achaean forces at Troy. Odysseus encounters Agamemnon's spirit in Hades. Agamemnon was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, upon his return from the war. He was later avenged by his son Orestes. Their story is constantly repeated in the Odyssey to offer an inverted image of the fortunes of Odysseus and Telemachus.

Oedipus

Son of Laos and Jacosta (Epicosta)

Meleager

Son of Oeneus and Althaea, brother of Deianira, hero of the Calydonian boar hunt, lover of Atalanta. Killed by his mother when she burnt his "life log"

Theseus

Son of Poseidon/Aegeus and Aithra

Deucalion

Son of Prometheus; survived the flood sent by Zeus to destroy humankind; the Greek Noah.

Herakles

Son of Zeus and Alkmene Roman Name: Hercules His name means "Hera's Glory" Herakles is the wild-man hero His exploits involve killing the beasts of the world to tame it for men He also occupies a marginal space between man and god

Perseus

Son of Zeus and Danae A hero, the son of Zeus and Danae who slew the Gorgon Medusa and afterward saved Andromeda from a sea monster

Calypso

The beautiful nymph who falls in love with Odysseus when he lands on her island-home of Ogygia. Calypso holds him prisoner there for seven years until Hermes, the messenger god, persuades her to let him go.

Gilgamesh

Tells the tale of the demigod Gilgamesh At the beginning of the poem he and his companion Enkidu perform heroic deeds for immortal fame After Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh realizes that he is going to die He goes on a quest to become immortal During his quest he visits the only immortal man, Utnapishtim Utnapishtim is the only survivor of a flood that wiped out mankind In the Gilgamesh Poem Utnapishtim tells the story of the flood

12 Labors of Herakles

The Nemean Lion The Lernaian Hydra The Ceryntian Deer The Erymanthian Boar The Cattle of Augeias The Stymphalian Birds The Cretan Bull The Mares of Diomedes The War-Belt of Hippolyte The Cattle of Geryones The Apples of the Hesperides Cerebos

Eleusinian Mysteries

The cult of the mother goddess Demeter and a very popular Athenian festival celebrated each year for the mother and the maiden, Persephone. This cult promised all its members a blissful afterlife.

Harmonia

The daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, she was married to Cadmus. The wedding was a grand affair, attended by gods and mortals alike. Along with her husband, she was turned into a snake at the end of her life.

Kronos

The god of time, Leader of the Titans, father of Zeus, swallowed his children and spit them out, A titan and father to Zeus, Hades, and Posiedon.

philosophia

The love of wisdom, according to the Greeks

Thesmophoria

Thesmophoria was a festival held in Greek cities, in honor of the goddesses Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The name derives from thesmoi, or laws by which men must work the land.[1] The Thesmophoria were the most widespread festivals and the main expression of the cult of Demeter, aside from the Eleusinian Mysteries. The Thesmophoria commemorated the third of the year when Demeter abstained from her role of goddess of the harvest and growth; spending the harsh summer months of Greece, when vegetation dies and lacks rain, in mourning for her daughter who was in the realm of the Underworld. Their distinctive feature was the sacrifice of pigs.[2]

Marriage of Peleus and Thetis

Thetis (very attractive sea goddess). Prometheus knew about the prophecy that which ever man conceived by Thetis there will be born a son more powerful than the father. (Lead to Zeus being overthrown) So Zeus made sure she ended up with someone else (Peleaus) & Achilles is born from that marriage.Achilles is referred to as the best of the Acheans. All the Gods were invited to Peleus and Thetis wedding except Eris (goddess of Discord)

Oath of Tyndareus

Tyndareous realizes that the kidnapping of Helen will be an ongoing problem and it is going to happen more than once, so he gets together all the Acheans (Greeks) and makes them swear an oath [Oath of Tyndareous] that they will allow Helen to choose her husband and whoever she chooses will be her husband and there will be no taking of Helen from that man and if someone does take her away they have to answer to a unified Greek source attacking them.

Tartaros

Underworld

eukhe

Vow, wish

Seven against Thebes

When Oedipus, king of Thebes, realized he had married his own mother and had four children with her, he blinded himself and cursed his sons to divide their inheritance (the kingdom) by the sword. The two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, in order to avoid bloodshed, agreed to rule Thebes in alternate years. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down and as a result, Polynices raised an army (commanded by the Seven) to take Thebes by force. When the commander of the troops before the seventh gate is revealed to be Polynices, Eteocles remembers the curse of their father Oedipus. King Eteocles resolves to meet and fight his brother in person before the seventh gate killing each other in battle.

Hippodamia

Wife of Pelops -her father held a competition in which Pelops cheated (help of Myrtillus) and became her husband. Mother of Thyestes and Atreus, she gets banished from Thebes for plotting the murder of Chyrssipus

Aerope

Wife to Atreus, son of Pelops. Children are Agamemnon and Menelaus. Stolen by Atreus's brother, Thyretes and has two sons with him that are eaten by their own father.

Cyclic Epics

a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems that related the story of the Trojan War

Judgment of Paris

a contest between the three most beautiful goddesses of Olympus--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena--for the prize of a golden apple addressed to "the fairest". , Paris has to decide on the most beautiful goddess and chose Aphrodite because she promised him Helen.

Satyr

a creature that is half-man, half beast, with the horns and legs of a goat

Minotaur

a mythical monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. Was put in Minos' labyrinth. Killed by Theseus.

Cassandra

a prophetess in Troy during the Trojan War whose predictions were true but were never believed A Trojan priestess, captured by Agamemnon and carried to Argos as his slave and mistress. She was Apollo's lover. Apollo gave her the gift of prophecy, but when she refused to bear him a child, he punished her by making all around her disbelieve her predictions. She sees the ancestral curse afflicting Agamemnon's family, and predicts both his death and her own, as well as the vengeance brought by Orestes in the next play.

Daedalus

an Athenian inventor who built the Labyrinth of Minos

Great Dionysia

annual spring festival in honor of Dionysus, when dramatic competitions were held among three poets selected by the city

Allomorph

another name for a variant myth