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Characters & Stories(2) Flashcards

1
Q

How did Apollo acquire the leaves around his head that is a part of his iconography?

A

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.

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2
Q

APOLLO
Roman name:
Parents:
God of:
Common identifiers:

A

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

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3
Q

DEMETER
Roman name:
Parents:
God of:
Common identifiers:

A

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

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4
Q

Which goddess are the Eleusinian Mysteries associated with?

A

Demeter

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5
Q

What emotion towards humanity do most of Demeter stories express?

A

Excessive patience/kindness

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6
Q

What is the story of Erysichthon?

A

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.

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7
Q

What does the phrase “without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus freezes” mean?

A

Love (Venus) can only thrive when there is little worry over food (Ceres) and leisure (Bacchus)

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8
Q

Who are the Horae?

A

Goddesses of the seasons that often accompany Demeter

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9
Q

ARTEMIS
Roman name:
Goddess of:
Parents:
Common identifiers:

A

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

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10
Q

What animal does Zeus transform both him and Leto into before impregnating her?

A

Quail

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11
Q

Who lets Leto give birth on his own island?

A

Poseidon

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12
Q

Which one of Leto’s twins was born first?

A

Artemis - she then helped deliver Apollo

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13
Q

What is Artemis notorious for?

A

Cruel and unjust punishment

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14
Q

Why is Callisto punished by Artemis?

A

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

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15
Q

Who invented the double reed flute?

A

Athena

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16
Q

Who was Marsyas?

A

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.

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17
Q

Who did Marsyas pick as his judge in the contest with Apollo? Who did Apollo pick?

A

King Midas; Athena

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18
Q

How does Apollo outsmart Marsyas?

A

To break the tie he suggests they play their instruments backwards, which is impossible to do with a flute so Apollo wins.

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19
Q

What is King Midas’s punishment for choosing a mortal over a god?

A

He grows donkey ears

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20
Q

Who did Niobe make a hubristic statement towards and how did she punish her?

A

Leto, she sent Apollo and Artemis to kill her 7 sons and 7 daughters

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21
Q

Who was Agamemnon?

A

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

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22
Q

What was the name of the child that Metabus tied to a sphere and threw across the river, later raised to be like Artemis?

A

Camilla

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23
Q

Who is referred to as “Phoebus” and what does it mean?

A

Apollo - shiny

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24
Q

What were two of the most important life themes to the Greeks?

A

“Know thyself” and “nothing in excess”

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25
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
26
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
27
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
28
Who is the child of Apollo?
Asclepius
29
Asclepius was the god of:
Healing
30
Who raised Asclepius besides Apollo?
Cheiron the centaur who taught him the basic concepts behind medicine and healing
31
Why was Hades upset with Asclepius?
He was raising people from the dead
32
The rod of Asclepius is most commonly confused with what other object?
The staff of Hermes
33
Why does Apollo send serpents to kill Laocoon and his sons?
He broke his vow of chastity as a priest
34
How many muses were there?
9 different women
35
Who was the most outstanding muse and what was she responsible for?
Calliope - epic poetry
36
ATHENA Roman name: Parents: Goddess of: Common identifiers:
Roman name: Minerva Parents: Zeus Goddess of: warfare, wisdom, weaving, horsemanship Common identifiers: helmet, spear, shield, bound hair, modest clothing, owl, her aegis
37
How was Athena born?
Zeus was married to Metis and swallowed her while she was pregnant. Hephaestus splits his head open and Athena pops out
38
What is the aegis and who gifted it to Athena?
The skinned head of Medusa used as a garment that Zeus gifted to Athena
39
What lesson did Pallas teach Athena?
Not to act out of rage and let her emotions take over
40
What is the story of Arachne?
After a hubristic statement was made, Athena challenges her to a weaving competition. Arachne weaved all the infidelities of Zeus while Athena depicted punished mortals, she becomes enraged and beats Arachne almost to death but eventually turns her into a spider
41
Who was Phaetons father?
Apollo
42
Who eventually struck down Phaeton when he was destroying the earth?
Zeus with a lightning bolt
43
During what artistic time period was photography invented and what other time period did it hurt?
Romanticism, it put neoclassic artists out of business
44
Why is Athens Greece named after Athena?
She gifted an olive tree to the Greeks compared to Poseidons salt water gift, so she was chosen as the main deity
45
Who lied to Hephaestus and told him Athena desired him?
Poseidon
46
Who was born from Hephaestus and Gaea after he tried making advances on Athena?
Erichthonius
47
HEPHAESTUS Roman name: Parents: God of: Common identifiers:
Roman name: Vulcan Parents: Zeus and Hera God of: the forge Common identifiers: tools, metal, handicap leg, exposed torso, black beard
48
Who was tasked with finding Hephaestus and how did he do it?
Dionysus got him drunk and carried him back to Mt Olympus on a donkey
49
Who does Hephaestus remarry after Aphrodite?
One of the Graces
50
Who made the shield of Achilles?
Hephaestus
51
How was Daedalus involved with Minos and his wife Pasiphae?
Daedalus found refuge with Minos after fleeing from Athens, but once he finds out that Daedalus made a contraption for his wife to have sex with a bull, he punishes him and his son
52
What did Zeus transform himself into to pursue Europa?
A white bull (cow)
53
Why did Poseidon punish Minos and force his wife to fall in love with a cow?
He made the lesser animal sacrifice after Poseidon helped him to become King of Crete instead of his older brothers
54
What is the name of Daedalus’s son and how does he die?
Icarus doesn’t stay on the correct path for his makeshift wings and he falls to his death in the water
55
HERMES Roman name: Parents: God of: Common identifiers:
Roman name: Mercury Parents: Zeus and Maia God of: messengers, business, commerce, delivering souls to the underworld, thieves, athletics (boxing) Common identifiers: hat, staff, winged sandals, lean slender body
56
How does Apollo get his lyre?
Hermes made it as a child from the intestines of cows from Apollo that he stole and slaughtered. Because Apollo liked the sound it made so much, Hermes gifted it to him in exchange for his staff as a peace offering
57
What does the staff of Hermes do?
It brings harmony to anything it touches
58
Who are all the possible fathers of Cupid?
Hermes, Hephaestus, and Ares
59
Which artist influenced the Cubism movement?
Picasso
60
Which artist influenced the Surrealism movement?
Dali
61
Who are the three main characters tortured in the underworld and what did they do to get there?
Tantalus: sacrificed his own child to put in a stew and feed to the gods bc he wanted to outsmart them, punished to be eternally hungry and thirsty Sisyphus: cheated death twice and punished to push a boulder up a hill for eternity Ixion: had an attempted affair with Hera, punished to spin on a wheel with fire and snakes for eternity
62
Who did Hermes help tutor/educate
Cupid and Dionysus
63
ARES Roman name: Parents: God of: Common identifiers:
Roman name: Mars Parents: Zeus and Hera God of: warfare, bloodlust, battle Common identifiers: beardless, nude, high plume on helmet, sword
64
Why did the Greeks frown upon Ares?
He was extremely bloodthirsty and went crazy in battle, no one wanted anything to do with him and they often prayed just so he would leave them alone, bad omen in battle
65
How is Ares different than Athena?
Athena specializes in skilled, logical warcraft and only fighting when absolutely necessary whereas Ares kills just to kill and is extremely over the top and disrespectful in battle
66
How is Mars portrayed differently from Ares in Rome?
He is always heavily bearded and never in the nude, he wears the aegis instead of Athena and is sometimes accompanied by a dog/wolf
67
How do the Roman’s see Athena compared to the Greeks?
Minerva is seen as not important and Mars takes supremacy
68
What mortal is able to harm Ares?
Diomedes
69
DIONYSUS Roman name: Parents: God of: Common identifiers:
Roman name: Bacchus Parents: Zeus and Semele God of: wine, leisure Common identifiers: wine, olive branch, leaf crown
70
How does Semele die?
She asks Zeus to promise to reveal his true self, and she spontaneously combusts
71
How is Dionysus born?
He pops out of Semele when she dies, and Zeus puts him in his thigh until his fetus is fully developed (instructed by Hermes)

Gods&Heroes (10 decks)

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