Chapters 16 and 17 Greek Myths and Philosophy

Question 1

Zeus

Answer 1

ruler of god and mortals

Question 2

Jupiter (jove)

Answer 2

ruler of god and mortals

Question 3

Hera

Answer 3

wife and consort of Zeus (Jove); patron of marriage and the family

Question 4

Juno

Answer 4

wife and consort of Zeus (Jove); patron of marriage and the family

Question 5

Poseidon

Answer 5

ruler of the sea

Question 6

Neptune

Answer 6

ruler of the sea

Question 7

Demeter

Answer 7

goddess of grain and fertility

Question 8

Here

Answer 8

goddess of grain and fertility

Question 9

Athena

Answer 9

goddess of wisdom patron of arts and crafts; protector of heroes

Question 10

Minerva

Answer 10

goddess of wisdom patron of arts and crafts; protector of heroes

Question 11

Artemis

Answer 11

goddess of the hunt; patron of the protector of wild animals; guardian of children

Question 12

Diana

Answer 12

goddess of the hunt; patron of the protector of wild animals; guardian of children

Question 13

Ares

Answer 13

god of war and destruction

Question 14

Mars

Answer 14

god of war and destruction

Question 15

Aphrodite

Answer 15

goddess of sexual passion and fertility

Question 16

Venus

Answer 16

goddess of sexual passion and fertility

Question 17

Hades, Plutus

Answer 17

god of the underworld

Question 18

Saturnus, Pluto

Answer 18

god of the underworld

Question 19

Hermes

Answer 19

messenger of the gods

Question 20

Mercury

Answer 20

messenger of the gods

Question 21

Hephaestus

Answer 21

blacksmith and fire god

Question 22

Vulcan

Answer 22

blacksmith and fire god

Question 23

Apollo

Answer 23

god of light and inspiration; patron of the arts

Question 24

Titans

Answer 24

race of giants that ruled the world before Zeus

Question 25

Dionysus (Bacchus)

Answer 25

god of wine and flowing fertility, who inspired madness in his followers

Question 26

Pan

Answer 26

god of shepherds and flocks, often associated with Dionysus

Question 27

Nemesis

Answer 27

goddess of retribution

Question 28

Mount Olympus

Answer 28

residence of many of the Greek gods, who were thus referred to as the Olympians

Question 29

Styx

Answer 29

the main river in the underworld, and also its boundary line. The ancient Greeks believed that in order to enter the realm of Hades, one had to be ferried across the Styx by the boatman Charon, at the cost of one obol; thus, the dead were buried with a coin in their mouths.

Question 30

Lethe

Answer 30

river in the underworld whose waters caused the dead to forget their pas lives.

Question 31

Elysium or Elysian Fields

Answer 31

the dwelling place of those few fortunate mortals who had been granted eternal conscious life and happiness by the gods

Question 32

Augean Stables

Answer 32

the stables of King Augeas were so filthy that the Greek hero Hercules, as one of his twelve labors, had to divert two rivers in order to cleanse them in a single day

Question 33

Labyrinth

Answer 33

a maze built on Crete for King Minos by the famed Greek architect Daedalus in order to imprison the Minotaur, a man-eating creature that was half-bull and half-human

Question 34

Cerberus

Answer 34

three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to the Underworld

Question 35

Chimera

Answer 35

a fire-breathing monster that had the head of a lion, the torso of a goat, and the tail of a sank

Question 36

Gryphon or Griffin

Answer 36

a mythical creature with the head and wings of an eagle and body of a lion

Question 37

Harpies

Answer 37

bird-like women who tormented a number of individuals in Greek myth by snatching away their food as they tried to eat

Question 38

Medusa

Answer 38

one of the three monstrous Gorgons, she had hair of snakes, and her glance turned men to stone

Question 39

Phoenix

Answer 39

a fabulous bird of great beauty, said to live for 500 years, after which it would immolate itself on a pyre, and then rise up, once again, from the ashes

Question 40

Sirens

Answer 40

bird-like women who lured sailors to their deaths by singing sweet and entrancing melodies while sitting on the treacherous rocks that rose up from the sea

Question 41

Sphinx

Answer 41

a winged female monster who would eat young men who could not answer her riddle, “What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?” She committed suicide when Oedipus gave the correct answer; man.

Question 42

The Amazons

Answer 42

The Amazons were said to be a race of warrior women who lived without men and who excelled in those activities such as hunting, fighting, normally considered to belong to the male sphere.

Question 43

Atlas

Answer 43

Atlas was a Titan who was condemned by the victorious Zeus to hold the sky on his shoulders. He gives his name to any bound collection of maps or charts.

Question 44

The Golden Fleece

Answer 44

The Greek hero Jason was sent on a meant-to-be fatal quest to retrieve the golden fleece of a ram. The fleece was guarded by a fire-breathing dragon that never slept; but Jason, with the help of the witch Medusa, was able to steal the skin and escape

Question 45

King Midas and the Golden Torch

Answer 45

Because he had done a kindness to the god Dionysus, Midas was granted any wish he might desire. Requesting that everything he touch turn to gold, he was at first delighted with his good fortune, but soon bedded the god to take back his gift. He had turned his daughter into gold and he was starving to death as well. Although the gift of the golden torch proved to be almost disastrous for Midas, we now use the term in a positive way.

Question 46

The Labors of Hercules

Answer 46

Hercules (or as the Greeks called him, Hercales) was the greatest of all the ancient mythological heroes. In order to gain immortal fame, he had to perform twelve death defying labors, including a journey to the Underworld

Question 47

Pandora’s Box

Answer 47

Pandora, the first woman, who was created by the gods to revenge for Prometheus’s theft of fire, was given a box containing all the evils of the world. Instructed to not open, she disobeyed and released every kind of suffering into the world. Only Blind Hope remained inside. The phrase is used today to mean a source of unforeseen trouble or problem.

Question 48

Procrustes

Answer 48

Procrustes was said to have entertained his guests by inviting them to spend the night. If they did not fit exactly into the bed he offered, he would stretch them on a rack or lop off their head to ensure a perfect nights sleep.

Question 49

Prometheus

Answer 49

A Titan, Prometheus stole fire from the gods because he pitied mankind. In punishment, Zeus had him bound on a rock, where each day an eagle would tear at his liver. Some say that he was freed eventually by the Greek hero, Hercule.

Question 50

Proteus

Answer 50

Proteus was a god of the sea who, like the water, could change himself into whatever form he wished.

Question 51

Sisyphus

Answer 51

As punishment for some unspecified crime, Sisyphus was condemned by the gods to forever push a boulder to the top of a hill in the Underworld, only to watch it roll back down again. His name has become synonymous with futility.

Question 52

Tantalus

Answer 52

Tantalus, who either betrayed the secrets of the gods or attempted to trick them into eating human flesh, was punished in the Underworld. He was forced to stand in a pool up to his chin; when he bent down to quench his overwhelming thirst, the water evaporated. Above his head hung bunches of fruit; but when he reached up to pick them, they were beyond his grasp.

Question 53

Apple of Discord

Answer 53

Eris, the goddess of Strife, angered at not being invited to the wedding of the mortal Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis, threw a golden apple inscribed with the words “to the fairest” among the divine guests. Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite all laid claim and appealed to Zeus to choose among them

Question 54

The Judgement of Pairs

Answer 54

Zeus, wisely deciding not to get involved, chose Paris, a young Trojan prince, to judge the beauty contest among the goddesses. Each offered him a bribe, but Paris selected Aphrodite because she promised him Helen.

Question 55

Helen

Answer 55

Helen may have been Paris’s prize, but unfortunately, she was married to Menelaus, a Greek king. It was the kidnapping of Helen, who had a face “that launched a thousand ships,” that led to the outbreak of the war.

Question 56

Achilles

Answer 56

The son of Peleus and Thetis, Achilles was the greatest of the Greek heroes to fight in Troy. According to one tradition, his mother dipped him in the river Styx in order to make his body invulnerable. Unfortunately, she was holding him by his heel, which was then unprotected against a fatal wound.

Question 57

Myrmidons

Answer 57

The Myrmidons were the loyal group of Achilles’s followers who accompanied him to Troy. The name is now applied to anyone who blindly follows the commands of his leader.

Question 58

Hector

Answer 58

In the Illiad, Hector is the gallant leader of the Trojan forces; but later traditions depicted him as a domineering bully. Thus, we have the verb hector, which means to act or speak in an overbearing way.

Question 59

Platonism

Answer 59

the doctrine of the fourth century BCE Greek philosopher Plato and his successors. Because Plato taught the highest form of love was that of the soul for the Good, the term platonic is most often used not to refer to his elevation above all else of spiritual lover untouched by physical desire

Question 60

Stoicism

Answer 60

the doctrine of the school of philosophy founded by the fourth century BCE by Zeno; the word stoic is now used to refer to one of the central teachings of the school, that one should submit uncomplainingly to Fate and “go with the flow.”

Question 61

Epicuseanism

Answer 61

the teachings of the fourth-century BCE Greek philosopher Epicurus, who preached that the highest good is pleasure, which his followers interpreted as freedom from pain or disturbance, but which his critics condemned as the pursuit of unbridled freedom and indulgence. The adjective is now used to refer to the enjoyment of sensual pleasures, especially eating and drinking.

Question 62

Hedonism

Answer 62

the doctrine that teaches that pleasure or happiness is the highest good. The noun is derived from hedone (greek), and now connotes an excessive devotion to physical pleasure

Question 63

Cynicism

Answer 63

a doctrine of a school of Greek philosophy that preached independence of action and complete freedom form social conventions. The etymology of the name is a matter of debate; the root of the word is kyon, kynos (greek) meaning dog, and it has been suggested that the name is derived from the fact that the Cynics were noted for their rude behavior and took special pleasures in violated the rules of polite society. Perhaps the most famous of the Cynics was the 4th century BCE Diogenes, who went about with a lantern saying that he was looking for an honest man. Today, the word is used to describe someone who questions social values and distrusts human sincerity and moral purpose.

Question 64

Skepticism

Answer 64

The skeptic philosophers taught that since sense perceptions were deceptive, there was no possibility of absolute knowledge about anything, and therefore, one was to withhold judgement about everything. Pyrrhon, the fourth century BCE founder of the school, taught that nobody has yet found the truth, so why distress ourselves? By genuinely indifferent to all that happens, for appearances are enough to live by.