Classics - Test 2 Flashcards
theogony
an account of the genesis or origin of the gods
cosmogony
an account of the genesis or origin of the cosmos
cosmos
the world or universe conceived of as a rationally ordered, attractive whole
Erinyes
furies, ferocious female spirits who haunt those who shed kindred blood, drive them mad
Eros
functions as primordial principle that sets world in motion
- also referenced to be son of aphrodite in later years
Uranus/Sky
- covers mother earth [prevent any birth of a successor]
- 12 titans with Gaea > youngest Cronus casrates father uranus to free himself/siblings and throws member into sea
Titanomachy
- Zeus defeats father Cronus and most of the other Titans in a battle
- to win > Zeus enlists other divinities as allies [Olympians of his own generation, the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handers]
Typhonomachy
Zeus defeats Typhon a monster born from the Earth/from sister&wife Hera
Gigantomachy
Zeus and allies defeat the Giants
doublets
figures that serve similar functions/perform similar deed
Helius
- son of Hyperion
- dwells in east (ethiopia)
- drive four-horse sun chariot
- son tried to drive it once but scorched the earth so Zeus blasted him with a thunder bolt (why ethiopians have black skin)
Eos
- the daughter of hyperion
- dawn goddess
- in love with Tithonus [eternal life without youth]
- mother of Memnon, killed by Achilles
Selene
- daughter of Hyperion
- drives two-horse night chariot
- falls in love with mortal shepard Endymion [eternal sleep/youth]
Iapetus
- 1 of 12 titans sentenced to tartarus
- 3 sons: prometheus, atlas, epimetheus
Prometheus
- supported Zeus against titans
- pseudo champion of humankind
- son Deucalion survived universal flood
- Deucalion’s 3 kids lend names to future races (Hellen, Dorus>Aeolus>Xuthus, Ion)
Epimetheus
- accepted Zeus’ gift to punish humans after Prometheus’ deception [Pandora]
- “after-thinker” > after thought
Pandora
- “all-giver/all-gifted”
- received various gifts (i.e. Hermes thievishness)
- opened jar of evils releasing all except hope
- comparable to Eve
Zeus
- father of gods and men
- associated with thunderbolt, eagle, nectar (Ganymede)
- Olympia is most important Zeus shrine
Dodona
- Dione (Zeus’ lover at Dodona)
- supposedly aphrodites mother (another interpretation than sea foam born)
- oracle provides prophetic responses to questions [reportedly oldest in Greece]
Ganymede
young trojan taken bby Zeus to become cupbearer of god on olympus [rape of ganymede]
Zeus and Lovers
- Metis > Athena
- Themis > Horae [seasons]: Eunomia [good rule], Dice [justice], Irene [peace] & Moerae [fates]
- Mnemosyne > Muses
Hera
- associated with cows, respectable matron, scepter, crown
- jealous of Zeus’ affection at Ganymede
- slighted by trojan prince Paris
- in illiad = argives represent greeks and hera sides with them
- deception of zeus shows his wayward ways > mad
- 3 children w/ zeus > Ares, Hebe/Youth, Hephaestus
Poseidon
- one of big 3 gods > “earth-shaker”
- assoc. trident/3-prong fishing spear/harpoon, earthquakes, fish
- Isthmus of Corinth
- sea chariot drawn by hippocamps (sea-horses w/ fish tales)
- Arion (child by demeter, happened in form of horses), pegasus, triton (mother amphitrite), the hero Theseus (mortal woman)
Hermes
- messenger god, patron god of heralds, patron god of cattle-rustlers and herdsman, businessmen and thieves
- assoc. winged shoes, staff, travelers hat, lyre
- zeus + maia [arcadia] > hermes > pan
- steals brother apollos cattle and admits to nothing even as he is a baby > gave apollo lyre to make up for cattle
- slayed Argos who guarded Io > Argeiphontes
Hephaestus
- god of fire & smiths
- island Lemnos
- assoc. volcanoes, club foot
- made divine armor for achilles at request of his mother
- cyclopes help > smith gods from previous generation freed by zeus from tartarus
- birthed athena
- hesiodic tale > born asexually from Hera after athena
- married to one of the graces or aphrodite
- thrown from heaven either b/c he helped hera and was thrown to lemnos by zeus OR hera didn’t like him and threw him down > raised by nereids/barbarians of lemnos
- in anger hephaestus traps hera in a throne and dionysus gets him drunk and brings him back to free her
Apollo
- “far shooter”
- god of music, healing, leader of muses
- zeus + leto
- assoc. lyre, bow, arrows, quiver, arrows of plague (healing/poison), laurel (daphne)
- sides with trojans
- delos = sm. island, reported birthplace, major sanctuary for Apollo to the Ionians
- son Asclepius rescued after mother killed for seducing another even though she was carrying Apollo’s child > also god of healing
- Delphi = major sanctuary, used for purification rituals
argive heraeum
famous sanctuary of Hera at argos
proetids
daughters of king proetus of argos
- goddess drove them mad when they somehow insulted her statue
- thinking they were cows, wandered the peloponnese
Eileithyia
- birth goddess
- prevented/delayed by hera to apollo/artemis’ and heracles’ birth
Triton
- merman w/ elongated fish bottom half
- calms sea by blowing into conch shell
Pan
- promotes fertility among flocks/herds
- depicted ithyphallic
- goats feet + horns (sometimes other goat traits)
Syrinx
pan loved syrinx but she didn’t want to give up her virginity so she asked to be spared and was turned into a reed. Pan cut the reed and played music
fauns
roman spirits of the environment
herma
stone heap, boundary marker for shepherds, travelers, merchants
herm
quadrangular stone pillar with bearded head and erection on front
- lucky charm, ward off evil influences
similarities to the east
1 - come from water generation (Anu - Oceanus)
- primordial pair separated
2 - castration of sky god (Anush - Uranus)
3 - cut/bit off genitalia (Kumarbi > pregnant when swallows them - Cronus)
4 - storm god defeats monster born of previous generation (Marduk - Teshub - Zeus)
five ages
Gold > made by gods, ruled by Cronus
Silver > made by gods, zeus covered them for their arrogance
Bronze > terrible & mighty, destroyed themselves
Heroes > many died in battle (Troy & Thebes)
Iron > troublesome, evil, soon to be destroyed
