Characters & Stories(2) Flashcards
How did Apollo acquire the leaves around his head that is a part of his iconography?
He took them from Daphne after she transformed into a tree. After offending Cupid, Apollo was shot with a love arrow while Daphne was shot with an arrow of disgust, and she was perused by Apollo even though she wanted nothing to do with him. She prayed to her father to do something, so he transformed her into a tree and Apollo took some of her leaves.
APOLLO
Roman name:
Parents:
God of:
Common identifiers:
Roman name: Apollo (sometimes called Phoebus)
Parents: Zeus and Leto (brother of Artemis)
God of: archery, medicine, music, plague, and prophecy
Common identifiers: elaborate hair, beardless, bow, lyre, leaves and halo around his head
DEMETER
Roman name:
Parents:
God of:
Common identifiers:
Roman name: Ceres
Parents: Cronus and Rhea
God of: agriculture, bountiful harvest
Common identifiers: grain, sickle, cornucopia, torches, chariot pulled by dragons, Persephone, exposed breasts to indicate fertility
Which goddess are the Eleusinian Mysteries associated with?
Demeter
What emotion towards humanity do most of Demeter stories express?
Excessive patience/kindness
What is the story of Erysichthon?
He wants to make a table out of wood from Demeter’s sacred trees, but Demeter disguises herself as an old woman and warns him not to. Even though she eventually reveals herself, he still cuts down her trees to make a table, and she goes to famine to ask a favor and punishes him. He’s always hungry and never satisfied to the point he becomes homeless and sells his own daughter for food. He eventually eats himself and dies.
What does the phrase “without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus freezes” mean?
Love (Venus) can only thrive when there is little worry over food (Ceres) and leisure (Bacchus)
Who are the Horae?
Goddesses of the seasons that often accompany Demeter
ARTEMIS
Roman name:
Goddess of:
Parents:
Common identifiers:
Roman name: Diana
Goddess of: hunting, woodland creatures, virginity
Parents: Zeus and Leto
Common identifiers: short garment above the knee, bow, crescent moon, hunting dogs, one breast exposed
What animal does Zeus transform both him and Leto into before impregnating her?
Quail
Who lets Leto give birth on his own island?
Poseidon
Which one of Leto’s twins was born first?
Artemis - she then helped deliver Apollo
What is Artemis notorious for?
Cruel and unjust punishment
Why is Callisto punished by Artemis?
Zeus takes the form of Artemis and seduces Callisto who becomes pregnant. Because she broke her vow of chastity, the real Artemis kills them both and they become the big bear/little bear constellation
Who invented the double reed flute?
Athena
Who was Marsyas?
A centaur that discovered the discarded instrument of Athena and became very skilled in playing it. He doesn’t deny a hubristic statement made that he sounds better than Apollo, so Apollo challenges him to a contest. Marsyas looses the bet and is skinned alive by Apollo.
Who did Marsyas pick as his judge in the contest with Apollo? Who did Apollo pick?
King Midas; Athena
How does Apollo outsmart Marsyas?
To break the tie he suggests they play their instruments backwards, which is impossible to do with a flute so Apollo wins.
What is King Midas’s punishment for choosing a mortal over a god?
He grows donkey ears
Who did Niobe make a hubristic statement towards and how did she punish her?
Leto, she sent Apollo and Artemis to kill her 7 sons and 7 daughters
Who was Agamemnon?
He shoots one of Artemis’s favorite animals and she prevents them from sailing to Troy. She demands a human sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia
What was the name of the child that Metabus tied to a sphere and threw across the river, later raised to be like Artemis?
Camilla
Who is referred to as “Phoebus” and what does it mean?
Apollo - shiny
What were two of the most important life themes to the Greeks?
“Know thyself” and “nothing in excess”
Who was Sibyl?
A woman Apollo proposed to. She was granted one wish and wished to live as long as the number of grains in a handful of sand. Rejected his proposal and Apollo cursed her to look old and ugly for as long as she lived
What was Cassandra’s punishment for wanting to remain a virgin?
Even though Apollo gifted her with the ability to tell the future, he cursed her so that no one would ever believe it
What is the story of Coronis?
She was a lover of Apollo that was rumored to have been unfaithful. Artemis shoots her but Apollo realizes after that she was pregnant. He delivers his own child with the help of Hermes
Who is the child of Apollo?
Asclepius
