AMS 1060W Midterm

Hephaestus

Physically imperfect, craftsman, married Aphrodite, sitting down

Zeus

Sky, thunder, lightening, justice, law, hospitality, eagle, beard

Ares

Warfare (blood)

"'Child, lying in the cradle, make haste and tell me of my cattle, or we two will soon fall out angrily. For I will take and cast you into dusty Tartarus and awful hopeless darkness, and neither your mother nor your father shall free you or bring you up again to the light, but you will wander under the earth and be the leader amongst little folk."

- Apollo in Homeric Hymn to Hermes

Anthropomorphism

the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object.

Hamartia

tragic flaw/mistake

"If you are a mortal and a woman was the mother who bare you, and Otreus of famous name is your father as you say, and if you are come here by the will of Hermes the immortal Guide, and are to be called my wife always, then neither god nor mortal man shall here restrain me till I have lain with you in love right now; no, not even if far-shooting Apollo himself should launch grievous shafts from his silver bow. Willingly would I go down into the house of Hades, O lady, beautiful as the goddesses, once I had gone up to your bed."

- Anchises in Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

"The power I possess is sex, passion, love, Which you mortals, in honoring me, Celebrate in your diverse ways."

-Aphrodite in Hippolytus, Euripides

"Come, my daughter; for far-seeing Zeus the loud-thunderer calls you to join the families of the gods, and has promised to give you what rights you please among the deathless gods, and has agreed that for a third part of the circling year your daughter shall go down to darkness and gloom, but for the two parts shall be with you and the other deathless gods: so has he declared it shall be and has bowed his head in token. But come, my child, obey, and be not too angry unrelentingly with the dark-clouded Son of Cronos; but rather increase forthwith for men the fruit that gives them life."

-Demeter in Homeric Hymn to Demeter

"Delos, if you would be willing to be the abode of my son Phoebus Apollo and make him a rich temple—; for no other will touch you, as you will find: and I think you will never be rich in oxen and sheep, nor bear vintage nor yet produce plants abundantly. But if you have the temple of far-shooting Apollo, all men will bring you hecatombs and gather here, and incessant savour of rich sacrifice will always arise, and you will feed those who dwell in you from the hand of strangers; for truly your own soil is not rich."

-Leto in Homeric Hymn to Apollo

"Blessèd are those who know the mysteries of the god. Blessèd are those who consecrate their lives to worship. Blessèd are those who give themselves up to the dance, to the mysteries, to purification on the holy mountain where the dance and the mysteries take place."

-Maenads in Bacchae, Euripides

"Women have deserted their homes for these fraudulent rites up in the woods and mountains, dancing to celebrate some new god Dionysus, whoever he is. Drink is at the bottom of it all. Huge bowls stand in their midst, I'm told, brimming with wine, and one by one the women slip into the shadows to satisfy the lusts of men. They say they are priestesses, sworn to Bacchus, but it's clearly Aphrodite they adore. I've had some of them trapped, and shackled in the prison. The rest are still out there on the mountain - Even my mother is among them, she who bore me to Echion, with her sisters Ino and Autonoe, mother of Actaeon. I'll hunt them down with nets. I'll put an end to their filthy orgies."

-Pentheus in Bacchae, Euripides

"You couldn't keep your mouth shut. Because of you, after I die My name will stink of depravity."

-Phaedra in Hippolytus, Euripides

"For he learned from Earth and starry Heaven that it was fated for him to be defeated by his own child, powerful though he was, through the designs of great Zeus. So he kept no blind man's watch, but observed and swallowed his children."

-Theogony by Hesiod

"The Olympian Lightner called all the immortal gods to long Olympus, and said that whoever of the gods would fight the Titans with him, he would not smite any of them down from his privileges, but each one would keep the honour he had had before among the immortal gods. And he said that whoever was unhonoured by Kronos and unprivileged, he would set him in the path of honour and privileges, as is right and proper.

-Theogony by Hesiod

"But he who neither thinks for himself nor learns from others, is a failure as a man."

-Works and Days, Hesiod

"So you, the kings, you too must reflect upon this punishment, because the immortals are here in the midst of manking, observing those who do not hold the gods in awe...but grind each other down with crooked judgements"

-Works and Days, Hesiod

Aphrodite love scandals

1. Ares v Hephaistos 2. Anchises (has trojan son) 3. Adonis (killed by Boar)

Timeline

1. Bronze Age 2. Dark Age 3.Archaic Period- Homer and Hesiod 4. Classical Period- Euripides 5. Hellenistic Period 6. Roman Period- Vergil

Components of a Myth

1. Original stuff 2. Causative Agent 3. Organization

Arachne

A great mortal weaver who boasted that her skill was greater than that of Athena. Athena turned her into a spider because she was jealous.

Poseidon

Horses, earthquake, trident, beard, sea creatures, sitting down

Aphrodite attendants

Eros, graces, priapus

Demeter

Grain, crops, fertility, life, death cycle, cornucopia

Telesterion

Hall of initiation for mystery religion in the Sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis

Apollo

Lyre, Bow, and prophecy

Followers of Dionysus

Maenads and Satyrs (Silenus)

Hera

Marriage, family, staff,

Hermes

Messenger, trickster, staff, sometimes a beard

Hermes birth

Mother Maia, Makes Lyre, he steals 50 of Apollos cattle, Apollo is pissed, gives Apollo lyre to make up for it. >Best buds

Muses

Nine goddesses (daughters of Zeus) who inspired arts

Marsyas

Satyr who entered into a musical competition with Apollo, lost, and was skinned alive. Theomachos

Eleusis

This small town near Athens was the site of the great temple hosting mysterious ceremonies/rituals in honor of Demeter, had a secret initiation

Artemis

Virgin, hunter, archer, protector of animals, female followers, short dress, stag or hunting dog, bow and arrows

Athena

Warfare, wisdom, weaving, aegis, owl

Parthenon Pediments

West pediment: Contest of Athena and Poseidon for domination of Athens East pediment: The birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. Various gods watching in reclining or seated position

Delian

Where Leto gave birth to Apollo

Dionysus

Wine, growth, abundance, grapes, ivy, spiritual release, Thyrsus, exotic animals, instruments

Daphne

a nymph who was transformed into a laurel tree to escape the amorous Apollo

Cassandra

a person who continually predicts misfortune but often is not believed; from (Greek legends) a daughter of Priam cursed by Apollo for not returning his love; he left her with the gift of prophecy but made it so no one would believe her

Delphic Oracle

a priestess of Apollo believed by the ancient Greeks to predict the future

Panathenaic Procession

a real event which took place every four years, where Athenians gathered in the agora (market place) and, among other things, carried a robe to the statue of Athena

What is a myth?

a traditional story, that has meaning to a culture or group

Niobe

after boasting of her twelve children, Apollo and Artemis kill her Theomachos

Theogony

birth of the gods

Sparagmos

dismemberment

omophagia

eating raw flesh

Persephone

kidnapped by Hades, trim ankles, some grain

Aphrodite

love, beauty, fertility, naked

theomachos

someone who challenges a god

etiological myth

story that explains how things have come to be as they are now

Hades

underworld, beard