Chapter 4: The Origins Of The Gods Flashcards
What does Chaos relate to etymologically?
Gap and yawn
Who did Gaea give birth to?
- Uranus (sky)
- Pontus (sea)
- Mountains
- Erinyes
- Giants
Who did Gaea produce from her sexual union with Uranus?
The Titans:
- Oceanus
- Coeus
- Crius
- Hyperion
- Iapetus
- Theia
- Rhea
- Themis
- Mnesmosyne
- Phoebe
- Tethys
- Cronus
Who were the parents of the Oceanids?
Oceanus and Tethys
What were the names of the three Cyclopes?
Brontes (thunderer), Steropes (flasher) and Arges (brightener)
What were the names of the three Hecatonchires (the hundred handers)
Cottus, Briareus and Gyes
Who was Hyperion?
Hyperion was a Titan but was also known as a sun god. He was the father of Helius (also a sun god), Selene (the moon) and Eos (the dawn)
Who was Phaethon?
He was the child of Helius and Clymene (an oceanid).
What was the one wish that Phaethon asked of Helius?
He asked that he be allowed to ride the chariot of sun across the sky
What happened to Phaethon?
Phaethon was blasted from the chariot by Zeus to save the earth, some of which had already been scorched by the chariot (Libya and the skins of the Ethiopians)
Who did Selene fall in love with?
A mortal shepherd named Endymion
What happened to Endymion?
At Selene’s request, Zeus placed him in an eternal sleep so that he would never grow old
Who was the greatest love of Eos?
Tithonus, a Trojan Prince
What happened to Tithonus?
He was granted immortality however he was subject to ageing to he was doomed to live forever as an old man
With what item did Cronus cut off the phallus of Uranus?
A sickle that was fashioned from gray steel by Gaea
What creatures sprang from the blood of Uranus?
The Erinyes (the Furies who punish broken oaths and haunt anyone who sheds kindred blood) and the Giants
How was Aphrodite born?
She was born from the foam of the sea (from some of the stuff of Uranus). She was first seen on the island of Cythera
What does Aphrodite’s name mean?
Foam-born
What is the Greek word for foam?
Aphros
What does the sphinx’s name mean?
Strangler (a deadly spirit of plague that besieged the city of Thebes)
Who was Geryon?
An enemy of Heracles, he had three bodes joined at the waist and his dog Orthus had two heads
Who was Echidna?
An ordinary woman from the buttocks up, but a serpent below
Who was Nereus?
He was the wise Old Man of the Sea and a prophetic deity. He also had the ability to change shape and sired fifty-two Nereids
Who was Thetis?
She was a Nereid and the mother of Achilles. She was able to change her shape at will like her father
Who was the wide of Cronus?
Rhea, who was also his sister
Who were the children of Cronus and Rhea?
Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus
How did Rhea hide Zeus?
She hid him in a mountain cave where he was brought up by nymphs.
How did the nymphs feed Zeus?
They fed him the milk from the goat Amalthea and the honey from Melissa (the bee)
How were the infant cries of Zeus drowned out while he was hidden from Cronus?
They were drowned out by the clashing cymbals of the Corybantes (whirlers), also called the Curetes (young men or warriors)
What was the name of the stone that Rhea gave to Cronus disguised as Zeus?
The omphalos (navel)
How did the Olympians beat the Titans in the Titanomachy?
Zeus released the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes (they then fashioned him his lightning bolts)
Who was Typhoeus?
The monster given birth to by Gaea who fought against Zeus
Who retrieved the sinews of Zeus after they were cut out by Typhoeus?
Hermes
What is the significance of Mount Haemus?
It was covered by the blood of Typhoeus. The name Haemus means bloody
Where did Zeus bury Typhoeus?
Mount Etna
What was so strange about the birth of Athena?
Metis had already been pregnant with Athena when Zeus swallowed her. Athena then sprung out of his head fully clothed and shouting a battle-cry
What is the best example of Mesopotamian creation myth?
The Babylonian poem Enuma elish
