Edith Hamilton Study Questions Flashcards
Who was the king of the Titans who was overthrown by Zeus?
Cronus
What was Cronusʼ Latin name?
Saturn
After he was overthrown, what became of Cronus?
He fled to Italy
What is the reign of Saturn in Italy called?
The Golden Age
What was the name of the Titan that encircled the earth?
Oceanus
Who was the wife of Oceanus?
Tethys
What Titan was the father of the sun, moon, and dawn?
Hyperion
Which Titan who presided over memory is, in some versions of the story, the mother of Athena?
Mnemosyne
What Titan presided over justice?
Themis
What Titan was the father of Prometheus, Epimetheus,and Atlas?
Iapetus
Which child of Iapetus stole fire for mankind?
Prometheus
Which child of Iapetus had Pandora for a wife?
Epimetheus
Which child of Iapetus was condemned to hold up the heavens on his shoulders?
Atlas
On what mountain did the gods live?
Mt. Olympus
Name the twelve Olympians in Greek.
Zeus, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon, Hades, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hephaestus.
Name the twelve Olympians in Latin.
Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Diana, Apollo, Mars, Venus, Vulcan, Mercury.
Which of Zeusʼs sisters is not one of the twelve Olympians?
Demeter
What god of wine is not one of the twelve Olympians?
Dionysus
What was the aegis?
the breastplate of Zeus (often worn by Athena) on which she placed the Gorgonʼs head
Which god is sometimes called “Dis”?
Pluto
What does “Dis” mean?
rich
Although Apollo is often listed as god of the sun, what child of the Titan Hyperion is more accurately the sun god?
Helios
Who was the goddess of witchcraft and the dark side of the moon?
Hecate
Aphrodite is usually listed as the wife of Hephaestus. When she is not, which of the Graces is his wife?
Aglaia
Name the three Graces and the meaning for each name.
Aglaia (Splendor), Thalia (Good Cheer) and Euphrosyne (Mirth).
Name the 9 Muses and their fields.
Melpomene - tragedy, Thalia - comedy,Polyhymnia - songs to the gods, Terpsichore - dance, Clio - history, Urania - astronomy, Erato - love poetry, Calliope - epic poetry, and Euterpe - lyric poetry.
Name the 4 mountains of the Muses.
Helicon, Pierus, Olympus and Parnassus.
What god presided over underground rivers?
Poseidon
What sea godʼs name means “Deep Sea”?
Pontus
What sea god was known as the “Old Man of the Sea”?
Nereus
What were the 50 daughters of Nereus and Doris called?
Nereids
What kind of nymphs are nereids?
sea nymphs
What kind of nymphs are Oceanids?
Nymphs of the river Ocean
What kind of nymphs were dryads (hamadryads)?
tree nymphs
What kind of nymphs were naiads?
fresh water nymphs (springs and grottos)
What kind of nymphs were oreads?
mountain nymphs
What kind of nymphs were the Melias?
ash tree nymphs
Name the 5 rivers of the underworld.
Acheron - river of woe, Cocytus - river of lamentation, Styx - river of unbreakable oaths, Phlegethon - river of fire, and Lethe - river of forgetfulness.
Name the ferryman who carries souls across the river Styx
Charon
Name the three judges of the Underworld.
Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus.
Who were the godesses in the Underworld who punished unnatural crimes?
the Furies
What is another name for the Furies?
the Erinyes
What does “Erinyes” mean?
the “Appeased”.
Name the 3 Furies.
Tisiphone, Allecto, and Megaera
There are two gates in the Underworld. Name them.
the gate of ivory and the gate of horn.
What comes out of the gate of ivory?
false dreams
What comes out of the gate of horn?
true dreams
Castor and Pollux also became gods. Whom did they protect?
shipwrecked sailors
What deities were known as the Dioscuri and the Tyndaridae?
Castor and Pollux
What is the Greek form of Polluxʼs name?
Polydeuces
Dioscuri and Tyndaridae are patronymics, that is, they are words that name someoneʼs father. When Castor and Polydeuces are called the Dioscuri, who is the father named?
Zeus
When Castor and Polydeuces are called the Tyndaridae, who is the father named?
Tyndareus
What were the Sileni?
creatures part man, part horse, that walked on two legs, had horses hooves and tails and sometimes horsesʼ ears.
What is a satyr?
half man, half goat
Who was the King of the Winds?
Aeolus
Name the four major winds in Greek and Latin.
Zephyr or Favonius - West Wind; Notus or Auster - South Wind; Boreas or Aquilo - North Wind; Eurus - East Wind (Greek name is given first in this answer, followed by Latin. Eurus is the same in both)
What were centaurs?
creatures half man, half horse.
Name the three gorgons.
Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa
Which of the gorgons was mortal?
Medusa
Who killed Medusa?
Perseus
Who were the sisters of the gorgons who shared one eye and one tooth between them?
the Graiae
Who/what were the Sirens?
creatures with beautiful voices who lured sailors to their death
Name the 3 fates and the job of each.
Clotho - spun thread of human lifeLachesis - twisted and measured the threadAtropos - cut the thread of human life
Besides Bacchus, what Latin name was given to Dionysus?
Liber
Who was the Roman god of boundaries?
Terminus
Which Roman god was considered a strengthener of cattle?
Pales
Which Roman god was the helper of plowmen and woodcutters?
Sylvanus
Of what was Saturn the god?
Sowers and Seed
Who was the wife of Saturn and the “harvest helper”?
Ops
What is Opsʼ name in Greek?
Rhea
Who was Quirinus?
the deified Romulus
What were the Manes?
the spirits of the good dead in Hades
What were the Lemures?
spirits of the wicked dead
What nymphs of springs were the Roman equivalent to the Muses?
Camenae
Who was the Roman goddess of childbirth?
Lucina
Who was the mother of Persephone?
Demeter
Who kidnapped Persephone to make her his wife?
Hades
What young child did Demeter attempt to make immortal by annointing him with ambrosia and placing him in a hot fire?
Demophon
Who was Demophonʼs mother who snatched him from the flames?
Metaneira
Who was the husband of Metaneira and the father of Demophon?
Celeus
For how many months does Persephone remain in the Underworld?
4 months
Who were the parents of Dionysus?
Zeus and Semele
When offered any gift she named, what did Semele ask of Zeus?
To see him as lord of the sky
How was Dionysus saved from his burning mother?
Zeus sewed him up in his thigh
What nymphs cared for the infant Dionysus?
the Hyades or the nymphs of Nysa
Into what did Dionysus change the pirates who tried to capture him?
Dolphins
What were the followers of Bacchus called?
Maenads or Bacchantes
What king of Thebes was torn apart by his own mother when she was infected with the madness of Dionysus?
Pentheus
What Theban princess killed her son under the influence of Dionysus?
Agave
What three deities were worshipped at Eleusis?
Demeter, Persephone, and Dionysus
Who were the two children of Chaos?
Erebus and Night
Who was the child of Erebus and Night?
Love (Eros)
What two creatures arose from Love?
Light and Day
Who was Father Heaven?
Ouranos (Uranus)
Who was Mother Earth?
Ge (Gaea)
What monsters, the children of Uranus and Gaea, were giants with only one eye in the middle of their foreheads?
the Cyclopes
How many Cyclopes were there origially?
3
What does “Cyclops” mean?
wheel-eyed
What were the hecatoncheires?
giants with a hundred hands and 50 heads, children of Uranus and Gaea
Who were the parents of the Titans?
Uranus and Gaea
Which of his children did Uranus bury in the earth?
the hecatoncheires
What Titan avenged the hecatoncheires by castrating his father?
Cronus
What monsters sprang from the blood of the wounded Uranus?
the Giants and the Furies
Who was the youngest child of Cronus and Rhea?
Zeus
To what island did Rhea smuggle Zeus to prevent his being swallowed by his father?
Crete
What monsters, released from their prison by Zeus, helped Zeus defeat the Titans?
hecatoncheires
What Titan was condemned to hold up the heavens on his shoulders?
Atlas
What monster was the last created by Gaea?
Typhon
What hero helped the gods when the Giants later rebelled against the Olympians?
Hercules
What sea was called both the Axine and the Euxine Sea by the Greeks?
the Black Sea
What does Axine mean?
Unfriendly
What does Euxine mean?
Friendly
What does Prometheus mean?
Forethought
What does Epimetheus mean?
Afterthought
Which Titan created man?
Epimetheus (Prometheus finished the job)
Which Titan gave fire to mankind?
Prometheus
What are the five ages of man?
The golden age, silver age, bronze age, age of heroes, iron age
Who was the first woman in Greek mythology?
Pandora
What does Pandora mean?
“gift of all”
For what crimes was Prometheus chained to the Caucasus?
for refusing to reveal to Zeus the name of the mother of the child that would dethrone him and for stealing fire.
What bird ate at Prometheusʼ liver each day?
an eagle
Who killed the eagle and set Prometheus free?
Hercules
When the human race was destroyed by the Great Flood, who were the only two humans to survive?
Deucalion and Pyrrha
Who was the father of Deucalion?
Prometheus
Who were the parents of Pyrrha?
Epimetheus and Pandora
How were Deucalion and Pyrrha instructed to restore the human race?
To throw their motherʼs bones behind their backs. The bones were the stones and they were changed into men and women.
Who predicted to Prometheus that he would be released from his chains by one of ther descendants?
Io
Into what had Zeus changed Io?
a cow or heifer
To whom had Hera given Io for save-keeping?
Argus
What was unusual about Argus?
He had 100 eyes and never closed all of them at once.
Who killed Argus and took Io?
Hermes
What story did Hermes tell Argus to lull him to sleep?
The love story of Pan and Syrinx
Into what was Syrinx changed?
reeds
What creature sent by Hera drove Io mad?
a gadfly
What sea is named after Io?
Ionian Sea
What body of water is named for the fact that Io crossed it?
the Bosphorus
What does Bosphorus mean?
Cow Ford
Jacksonvilleʼ s original name was Cow Ford. What would that be in Greek?
Bosphorus
Io was returned to human form when she reached what body of water?
the Nile
Who changed Io back into a human?
Zeus
Who was the son of Io and Zeus?
Epaphus
Whom did Zeus seduce in the guise of a bull?
Europa
Europa was a princess of what city?
Sidon
Where did Zeus take Europa (a land, not a continent)?
Crete
Who were Europaʼs sons by Zeus who became judges of the dead?
Minos and Rhadamanthys
Which monsters did Zeus not banish from the earth after he conquered them?
the Cyclops
What Greek hero, returning from the Trojan War, encountered a Cyclops?
Odysseus
What was the name of the Cyclops encountered by Odysseus?
Polyphemus
How did Odysseus and his men escape from Polyphemus?
they blinded him and then tied themselves to the undersides of his sheep. The sheep carried them from the cave.
What did Odysseus originally tell Polyphemus his name was?
“No Man”
What gift had Polyphemus promised Odysseus?
to eat him last
With what nymph did Polyphemus fall in love?
Galatea
What youth did Galatea prefer to Polyphemus?
Acis
Who killed Acis?
Polyphemus
Into what was Acis changed?
a river god
What goddess punished Echo by taking away her voice?
Juno
Why was Juno angry with Echo?
Because Echoʼs chattering kept her from noticing the affairs of Jupiter
With what youth did Echo fall in love?
Narcissus
With whom did Narcissus fall in love?
his reflection
Into what flower was Narcissus changed?
the narcissus
What god accidentally killed the youth Hyacinthus?
Apollo
What game were Apollo and Hyacinthus playing when Hyacinthus was killed?
discus
Into what flower was Hyacinthus changed?
the hyacinth
In another version of the story, a jealous wind god kills Hyacinthus. Which one?
Zephyr
Which two goddesses loved Adonis?
Aphrodite and Persephone
What youth spent half a year in the underworld with Persephone and half a year with Aphrodite?
Adonis
How did Adonis die?
He was gored by a boar
What flower grew from the blood of Adonis?
the red anemone (windflower)
