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Mythology > Exam #2 > Flashcards

Exam #2 Flashcards

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Mythology flashcards
0
Q

Aegis

A

“Goat skin”
Emblem of Zeus’ power.
Object that inspired terror in all who held it.
Shown as a shield.
Represented the storm cloud of the weather god.

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1
Q

Zeus

A

Father of all gods and men.
Married to his sister Hera.
Brother to Hades and Poseidon.
God of Justice.

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2
Q

Xenia

A

“Formal institution of friendship”
Protected by Zeus.
Courteous relationship between the guest and the host was established for safe travels.

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3
Q

Moerae

A

“The fates”
In control of destiny.
Daughters of Zeus and Themis.
Zeus cannot act against Fate.

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4
Q

Graces

A

Born from Zeus’ union with Eurynome.
Three in number.
Personify the feminine qualities that make man attracted to women.
Often seen with Aphrodite.

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5
Q

Ganymede

A

Prince of the royal house who Zeus fell in love with.
Shepard.
Mortal.
Was carried to Mount Olympus to be a cupbearer for the Greek Symposium so Zeus could be close to him.

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6
Q

Hera

A

Zeus’ wife.
Name means “lady” or “ruler” or feminine hero.
Goddess of marriage and fertility.
Earlier: May have been mother-goddess of the crops. Symbol was the cow.
Son = Hephaestus

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7
Q

Poseidon

A 
Brother of Zeus and Hades. 
Ruled the sea. 
Lacked Zeus' goodwill towards humans. 
Terrifying. 
Can unleash earthquakes.
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8
Q

Hades

A 
Did not live on Mount Olympus. 
Brother to Zeus and Poseidon. 
Name means "the invisible" 
Lives in the underworld. 
Married Persephone in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
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9
Q

Anthropomorphism

A

Characteristic of Greek myth.
Gods and Goddesses resemble human and human qualities. They are just immortal and full of power.

Greek gods conceive bodies like humans except that they are eternally beautiful.

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10
Q

Nymphs

A

“Young women”
Referring in life to married women who have not given birth yet.
Often with armor and surround the gods in myth.
Minor deities who are NOT immortal.
They are divine.
Can be a terrifying spirit.

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11
Q

Apollo

A 
Brother to Artemis. 
Mother is Leto. 
God of prophecy. 
God if healing. 
God of Archery.
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12
Q

Delphi

A

Second part of Homeric Hymn to Apollo.

About Apollo and what he has to do to establish his temple at Delos and how he has to establish himself as a god.

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13
Q

Delos

A

Where Apollo was born.
First part of Homeric Hymn to Apollo.
Tells of how Apollo was born and the deal that his mother made with them so that she could give birth there.

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14
Q

Pythia

A

Made predictions about the future.
Can communicate with spirit.
Prophetess at Delphi.
Oracle of Apollo.

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15
Q

Cassandra

A

Beautiful woman…. Apollo fell in lustful relations.
She demanded that she be granted with prophets powers in return for her sexual relations.
She got what she wanted w/o sex.

She can always speak the truth. But now, no one will believe her.

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16
Q

Sibyl at Cumae

A

Apollo fell in love with her.
Gave her as many years of life as she could pick up in a pile of sand (the individual grains) in return for sexual relations.
She got what she wanted w/o sex.

She lived as long as she should have but she grew to be shriveled and ugly.

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17
Q

Daphne

A 
Best known affair of Apollo.
She was a nymph. 
She rejected him but he followed her into the mountains. For protection, she was turned into a laurel tree by her father. 
= why laurel is Apollo's sacred plant. 
       Was given to athletes at Delphi.
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18
Q

Asclepius

A

Greek god of medicine.

Daughter birthed by Apollo and Coronis.

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19
Q

Coronis

A

Mortal women who Apollo had relations with and gave birth to Asclepius.
While pregnant, Coronis slept with another man.
Story told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

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20
Q

Hermes

A 
Son is Pan.
Protects travelers AND thieves. 
Homeric Hymn to Hermes tells of how he worked to earn the appreciation of his father, Zeus, by first stealing the cattle of his brother, Apollo.
"He of the stone heap"
Messenger god.
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21
Q

Herm

A

Stones/pillars to warn off intruders.

The stone pile that Hermes spirit was said to have lived in.

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22
Q

Maia

A

Hermes mother. (With help of Zeus)

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23
Q

Pan

A

Son of Hermes.
Form was only partially human. (Half animal like the marina dude)
Concerned with pastures and fertility.
Fertility of the flocks.

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24
Q

Hephaestus

A

Not of Greek origin.
Here’s son.
Said that Zeus threw him from heaven after siding with his mother during a dispute.
Thrown out of Mount Olympus twice.
Special association with the island of Lemnos.
God of fire.
God of cross men ( important to artisans)

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25
Q

Lemnos

A

Island that the origin is suspected that came from Hephaestus.

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26
Q

Caduceus

A 
The god's wand. 
Staff intertwined with two snakes. 
What they (merchants?) carry as an emblem of Hermes.
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27
Q

Psychopompos

A

“Soul guide”

Hermes plays this role when he leads the dead into the House of Hades.

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28
Q

Argeiphontes

A

Hermes slayed hundred eyed monster, Argos.

Hermes was called this meaning “slayer of Argus” afterwards.

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29
Q

Ares

A

Son of Zeus and Hera.
Most hated of all gods.
God of war.

Had relations with Aphrodite.

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30
Q

Hestia

A

Oldest child of Cronus and Rhea.
First swallowed. Last regurgitated.
“Hearth”
Just the fireplace in every house.

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31
Q

Aphrodite

A

Embodies the overwhelming power of sexual attraction.
Child with Ares is Eros, meaning “sexual desire”
i.e. Cupid.
Born from foam or “Aphros”

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32
Q

Cypris/Cytherea

A

Where Aphrodite went right after arising from the foam. (Her birth)

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33
Q

Hermaphroditus

A

Had an affair with Hermes which led to the birth of this beautiful boy.
Salmacis sees him as wishes that they never be separated. They soon morph into one.

34
Q

Priapus

A

Birthed by Aphrodite and Dionysus or Hermes.

Garden-deity, fertility fetish with a erect phallus which warded off the evil eye.

35
Q

Pygmalion

A

King of Cyprus.
Prayed to Aphrodite to have a wife just like the one in the ivory statue (which was Aphrodite herself)
= honorable actions so he was rewarded

36
Q

Adonis

A

Birthed by a myrrah tree.
Hero.
Aphrodite fell in love with him.
He fell in love with the kill which in turn killed him.

37
Q

Anchises

A

Mortal man.
Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite.
Aphrodite fell in love with him forcibly by Zeus so that she wasn’t a threat.

38
Q

Artemis

A 
Not Greek. 
Mistress of the animals. 
Heavily associated with nature. 
"Potnia Theron"
Virgin goddess
39
Q

Potnia Theron

A

“Mistress of the animals”

Associated with Artemis.

40
Q

Niobe

A

Woman who had several children and bragged to Leto about how she had more children.

Apollo and Artemis kill all of them with arrows.

41
Q

Orion

A

Giant hunter.
Later killed by Artemis to be made a constellation.
He is spotted in the underworld hunting by Odysseus which means that he wasn’t being punished.

42
Q

Actaeon

A

Hunter who saw Artemis in the nude while he was bathing.

Story told of human sacrifice.

43
Q

Callisto

A

Artemis’ favorite follower.
A nymph.
Took a vow of chastity.
Zeus raped and got her pregnant.
Artemis sees the baby bump while bathing in the spring. And he turns her into a bear.
Bear was shot and killed by Artemis. Baby saved by Hermes. Baby name = Arcas

44
Q

Athena

A 
Virgin goddess.
Takes name from Athens. 
Not Greek. 
Emblem is the owl. 
Wearing armor, helmet, and carrying spear, holding a shield.
Protector if male heroes.
Born from Zeus' head.
45
Q

Arachne

A

Master weaver who challenged Athena to a weaving contest.
Female.
Wins.
Insulting.
Later turned into a spider after trying to kill herself.

46
Q

Demeter

A

The goddess of grain and rich harvest.

Mother to Persephone.

47
Q

Persephone

A

Daughter of Demeter.

Marries Hades.

48
Q

Parthenos

A

An unmarried Virgin.

i.e. Persephone

49
Q

Kore

A

What Persephone is called.

“Daughter” or “girl”

50
Q

Eleusinian Mysteries

A

Famous religious cult of Demeter.
Promised to the initiates that they will have a better condition of life in the afterlife. It also teaches not to fear death.

51
Q

Triptolemus

A

Hero in Athenian myth and Greek art.

Will travel around the world (told to by Demeter) to teach the science of agriculture.

52
Q

Hieros gamos

A

“Sacred marriage”
Refers to that of Persephone and Hades.
Marriage between a god and goddess.

53
Q

Dionysus

A

Admitted into Olympus later on.
Different than all the other 12.
God of wine and life force.

54
Q

Semele

A

Who Zeus fell in love with to create Dionysus.

55
Q

Ino

A

Queen of Orchomenus.
Who Hermes carried the child to.
Semele’s sister.
Dressed Dionysus in clothing as a baby to protect her from Hera. (Hermes told her to)

56
Q

Nymphs oh Nysa

A

Who raised Dionysus as a child so that he would be protected from Hera.

57
Q

Bacchae

A

Female followers of Dionysus.
Also called Maenads.
Carried thyrsus.

58
Q

Maenads

A

What the Bacchae were also referred to.

Female followers of Dionysus

59
Q

Thyrsus

A

Staff crowned with a pinecone or a bunch of ivy leaves.

Carried by the Bacchae.

60
Q

Satyrs

A

Male followers of Dionysus.

Usually seen: half human, erect and enormous phalli, tails/ears of horses, goat legs.

61
Q

Silenus

A

General term for an old satyr.
OR
name of one in particular: ugly, drunk, fat. Told of tall tales. So drunk he cannot stand.

62
Q

Midas

A

Local king near India.
Provided hospitality to Dionysus.
Granted him one wish: everything he touched would turn to gold.

Dionysus made that happen alright. Even to his food and water.

63
Q

Ariadne

A

Who Dionysus married.

Found her abandoned on an island by Theseus.

64
Q

Lycurgus

A

King of a tribe in Thrace.

Showed resistance to Dionysus.

65
Q

Minyads

A

Three daughters of King Minyas refused to join Dionysus’s religion.

Turned into a wild scene. Eventually he turned them into bats….. Love darkness and reject the light.

66
Q

Pentheus

A

King that refuses Dionysus.
In Thebes. ( city of his birth)
Told about in Euripides play, the Bacchae.

67
Q

Thespis

A

Added to pre-existing topics to create the drama.

Well know for bringing the “first actor” to the scene.

68
Q

Hades

A

Brother to Zeus and Poseidon.
“The unseen one”
Lives in the underworld and rules over all of the dead.

69
Q

Pluto

A

What Hades was also called.
“Enricher”
Because from beneath the earth comes minerals and agricultural wealth.

70
Q

Tiresias

A

Most famous seer in Greek myth.
Who Odysseus goes to to seek advice from.
Ghost.

71
Q

Tantalus and Sisyphus

A

Guilty of violence against the gods.
Homer is more interested in their punishments rather than their crimes.
Served their son at a banquet to test how far they could go.

72
Q

Elysium

A

Where a blessed few end up in the after life.
The opposite of hell.
Like a heaven beneath the ground.

73
Q

Orpheus

A

Famous for singing with lyre. Some day he invented it. Not Hermes.
Music enchanted wild animals.
Traveled to the underworld.

74
Q

Eurydice

A

Who Orpheus fell in love with.

On wedding day, she was about to be raped. She ran. A snake bit her on the heel and she died.

75
Q

Zagreus

A

What Zeus calls Dionysus in the end.

Unknown meaning.

76
Q

Pythagoras

A

Known for the philosophical claim that says the essence of reality resides in the relations among numbers, proportions, and measures.

Seem to be connected to Orpheus

77
Q

Er

A

Man.

Killed in battle but ten days after, he was found still alive and he was able to tell his story.

78
Q

Acheron

A

River.
Boundary of Dis’s realm.
In underworld.

79
Q

Charon

A

Ferryman on the boat in the underworld.

Must have a fare or they have to wait 100 years to cross.

80
Q

Ixion

A

Famous sufferer who lusted after Hera.

Zeus made a cloud of Hera and he pounced on it which killed him. (Thunderbolt)

81
Q

Miasma

A

“Blood pollution”

Referring to the Homeric Hymn to Apollo.
What he ‘cleansed’ after defeating the python.

82
Q

Eidolon

A

“Image of”

83
Q

Ghost=

A

Eidolon of a living man

How Hercules appears to Odysseus in his travel to the underworld.

Mythology (3 decks)

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