Greek Gods and Goddesses Flashcards
Who are the 3 virgin Goddesses?
Athena, Artemis, and Hestia
Who is Demeter? What is she the Goddess of?
Goddess of nourishment
Mother of Persephone
Nursed Demophoon
Worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries
What is Eleusis?
The town west of Athens, known for its worship of Demeter
Ruled by Celeus and Metanira (in the story of Demeter)
Where Demeter goes to mourn her daughter’s kidnapping; nurses Metanira’s son Demophoon
Who is Persephone? What happens to her in the Homeric Hymn?
Daughter of Demeter, wife of Hades
Lured by a beautiful narcissus and kidnapped
Forced to eat a pomegranate in the Underworld, must stay there with Hades for 1/3 of the year
Origin of the Seasons
Who is Metanira? Who is Demophoon?
Demophoon is Metanira’s son, nursed by the Goddess Demeter and secretly placed in the hearth at night to cleanse him of his mortality
Metanira discovers this and freaks out, crying for help. Demeter is angered and reveals her divinity. They must construct a temple in Eleseus in her honor
Who is Iambe? What interpretation of her character did we discuss in class?
The servant that tries to cheer up Demeter in her grief. Shows that there is a place for laughter in mourning
Who is sent to retrieve Persephone from the Underworld? Why is he sent?
Hermes
So that Demeter will allow the mortal’s crops to grow and end the famine she caused in her grief
What is the importance of the kykeon drink in Demeter’s story (as discussed in class)?
Kykeon = water, barley, and mint
Ritual drink used in the Eleusinian Mysteries
Barley: connection of Demeter to wheat
Mint: symbol of life (persistent plant)
Who is Aphrodite? What happens to her?
Goddess of sex and erotic love
Had seductive power over all beings (except the virgin Goddesses)
Forced to fall in love with a mortal man, Anchises, so that she may never boast to Zeus again (about how she’s never slept with a mortal)
She is NOT motherly
Who is Anchises?
The mortal man that Zeus forces Aphrodite to fall in love with
Who is Athena?
Virgin Goddess of needlework, weaving, and household arts
Goddess of strategic war and competition
Protector of heroes
Wears the Aegis
Who is Ares?
God of slaughter and mindless killing in war
Handsome, brutal, and strong (but not strategic like Athena is)
Lover of Aphrodite and father of Eros
Who is Artemis?
Virgin Goddess of the hunt and childbirth
Goddess of sudden death of women Daughter of Leto, Twin of Apollo (helped Leto give birth to her brother)
Protector of young kids and animals
Who is Hestia?
Virgin Goddess of the hearth
Few stories about her
Who is Apollo?
God of Medicine and Prophecy
God of sudden death of men
Talented archer and musician (lyre)
Becomes the Sun-God after Helios
Son of Leto+Zeus, Twin of Artemis
Unfortunate in love
What connections do all of Apollo’s specialties have in common (as discussed in class)?
Directness or clarity
- music has rhythm
- arrows go straight
- diagnosis provides an explanation to medical problems
- prophecy gives explanation
- sun provides light
What is Dephi?
The location of the oracle of Apollo
What is Delos?
The rocky island on which Apollo is born
The only place that would give Leto refuge to give birth
Why is Apollo sometimes called Delphinus?
He can turn into a dolphin and is associated with sailors
Believed to have saved Arion
Why might Apollo have a rocky relationship with his father, Zeus?
Zeus is afraid that one of his son will overthrow him (like he did Cronus)
What is the significance of Cronus swallowing his children (as discussed in class)?
Time destroys everything
Who is Asclepius?
The son of Apollo
God of Healing (a savior and miracle worker)
Who is Hermes?
Messenger of the Gods
God of travelers, merchants, and roads
God of young men + Fertility God
Psychopompos (conducts mortal souls to the realm of Hades)
You pray to him for luck
A clever, devious trickster and thief
Inventive + musician (created lyre)
What did Hermes do to Apollo?
Stole his herd of sheep by making them walk backwards
They reconcile at the end over their mutual talent in music
What is Hermes an archetype of?
The trickster
The divine child - babies symbolize potential
What does Hermes wear?
A hat and sandals with wings on them
A wand depicted with two snakes (symbols of his roles as fertility god and psychopompos)
Who gets credit for the concept of morality?
Humans
Gods are amoral, meaning they have no reason to be moral and no consequences for being immoral
It is not divine law to be moral, morality is a human concept (elevates our existence)
Who is Hermaphroditus?
The son of Hermes and Aphrodite
Has the parts of both sexes
Why do we give Gods human like flaws or qualities (ex: Demeter’s grief)?
It brings us closer to them and heightens our human experience
Who is Hephaestus?
God of fire (both creative and destructive)
A divine smith and inventor/artisan
Associated with volcanoes (Vulcan)
Known for his disability (caused by Zeus, who cast him out of Olympus)
Married to the unfaithful Aphrodite
Outwits the powerful Ares (with a net of invisible chains)
Who is Prometheus? What happens to him in Prometheus Bound?
He is a titan God that tricked Zeus and gave mortals blind hope and made them free from confusion
All arts (medicine, ships, mining, math, language, prophecies, fire, sacrifices, etc.) come to mortals from Prometheus
How does the play Prometheus Bound begin? What does this tell us, the audience?
With Prometheus being brought out by Strength and Force (cruel, brutish servants of Zeus)
Hephaestus also comes on stage, limping
This is our first sign to sympathize with Prometheus
Both him and Hephaestus are victims of Zeus’ cruelty and injustice, showing us that rulers who have just come into power tend to be unjust
What was Prometheus’ punishment for giving mortals arts?
He is chained to a rock and cursed to have his liver/flesh torn apart by an eagle every day
What is a different account about Prometheus?
A different account says that he made mortals from soil
What knowledge does Prometheus have about Zeus’ fate? What does this tell us about prophecies?
That the son of the sea Goddess Thetis (who Zeus desires and chases after greatly) will be greater than his father
- So, if Zeus has a son with Thetis, he will probably overthrow him
- Thetis ends up marrying Peleus and giving birth to Achilles, whose greatness does exceed his father’s, but this doesn’t matter
Shows us that prophecies are often vague and can be interpreted in different ways
Who is Io? What does she suffer? What does Prometheus tell her?
Zeus desires her; has dreams that tell her to give herself up to him; the oracle of Apollo demands that her father drive her from her home
She is turned into a cow by Hera and is watched 24/7 by Argus
Prometheus sympathizes with her suffering (making him more likable in the play) and tells her that her suffering will end
Why are the descendants of Io important? What happens to Prometheus in the end of the trilogy?
One of them is Heracles, who frees Prometheus by killing the eagle
He eventually reconciles with Zeus (but little stories exist beyond this, as the Titans lose their importance with time)
Who is Argus? Who kills him and why?
Argus has over 100 eyes and they all sleep at different times (so some sleep while others watch Io)
Hermes is sent to rescue Io, so he kills Argus in the process
Who is Uranus? Gaea?
The Primordial Gods
God of the Sky marries Mother Earth, giving birth to the Titan Gods, the Cyclopes, and the Hecatonchires (whom he traps in Tartarus cause he just hates his kids)
What else does Uranus give rise to (when he is overthrown by Cronus and castrated)?
The giants, or Gegeneis, are born from his blood
His genitals turn into sea foam, which gives rise to Aphrodite
What was Titanomachy?
The 10-year war between the Titans and Olympians, mainly between Zeus and Cronus
Ends with the victory of the Olympians and the imprisonment of the Titans in Tartarus
What was Gigantomachy?
The war that followed Titanomachy, between the Olympians and the Gegeneis
Ends with the victory of the Olympians and the imprisonment of the giants underground (whose violence and attempts to escape lead to volcanoes)
What various versions are there for the creation of mortals?
Zeus alone, Zeus with the help of other Gods (like the case of Pandora), Prometheus (with clay), Prometheus with the help of Athena, etc.
What are the Five Ages?
The various versions of the human race created by Zeus:
1- age of Gold = harmony + peace; covered by the earth turns them into holy spirits, protectors, and benefactors that ward off evils
2- age of Silver = senseless, arrogant, lack of worship for the Gods; covered by earth
3- age of Bronze = violent, dauntless, mighty, strong, terrifying; destroyed themselves
4- age of Heroes = valiant demigods; honor and glory; live on the Island of the Blessed once dead (ruled by Cronus after he was released by Zeus)
5- age of Iron (us) = troubled, envy, blame, lies, disrespect
