Greek Myth Vocab Flashcards
Promethean
Prometheus stole fire to help humans stay warm, cook food and protect themselves: promethean meaning a trait daring or original
Elysian Fields
Greek equivalent to a paradise or heaven however it was in the underworld surrounded by bad people and areas
Herculean
With great strength and effort connection to the god Hercules the god who was fearsome
Achilles heel
The tendon of your heel that connects your calf to you foot
Labyrinth
a complicated way of passages and difficult to get out its like a mase: the minotaur lived in a Labyrinth
Nemesis
Inescapable person of someones downfalls like an enemy or rival: (Wellesley and Needham rivalry)
Psyche (prefix)
the prefix psyche connects to Mind, spirit, soul and mental process: Cupid and Psyche Married but he would only visit at night so she was not allowed to see him one night she dripped candle wax while trying to look at him and psyche was sent away and later reunited.
Gorgon
a monstrous women or person that is feared and brutal: Medusa was a gorgon that killed people by a glance
Harp
to talk in a negative non-stop way: Harpies from greek mythology half human half bird
Narcissistic
Extremely self centered and having an excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one’s physical appearance: narcissus fell in love with himself
Titanic
Huge; great magnitude, force and power:
Midas Touch
What ever Midas would touch turned to gold he could not sleep eat or hug his daughter
Tantalize
torment or tease someone with the sight or promise of something that is unobtainable: Punished in hades and is not able to reach food or water
Sisyphus
never ending event or acton: Sisyphus was punished for chaining up death and forced to push a rock uphill for eternity
Arachne
A spider or Insect: Athena turned Arachne into a spider when her and Athena were doing a weaving contest
Pyramus & Thisbe
two neighbors that were separated and snuck out, Pyramus thought a lion killed Thisbe so he killed himself, Thisbe saw Pyramus’s body and killed herself on Pyramus and the white berry’s turned red
Orpheus & Eurydice
Orpheus went to the kingdom of the dead to get his wife, Hades agreed to free Eurydice on the condition that he wouldn’t look at her on the way back to earth
Hades
god of the underworld
Demeter
mother of Persephone and god of harvest
Icarus
flew too close to the sun with the wings his father Daedalus made with feathers and wax and fell into the ocean drowning to death
Athena
Goddesses of war and handcrafts
12 labors of Hercules
Boar, Stables, Lion, Hydra, Bull,
Achilles
The only way greek god achilles got killed by getting shot in the heel (my Achilles heel is a temper and procrastination)
Perseus
Killed medusa, had winged sandals, Hermes sword, Athena shield, cap of darkness, killed sea monster with head of medusa
Zeuz
god of lightning thunder and wind, the weapon was a lightning bolt that symbolizes order and punishment, lightning bolt was given to Zeus by Cyclops for freeing them from Tartarus
Cronus
“King of The Titans”, Father of Zeus, swallowed his children so they couldn’t compete to rule the universe, didn’t want his kids to become to powerful
Rhea
sister of Cronus and mother of Zeus gave birth to some of Cronus’s kids, and tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock wrapped in a blanket so Cronus wouldn’t swallow Zeus
Where did Rhea put Zeus from Cronus?
a cave on Mount Dicte in Crete
What did Cronus do to his children? and Why?
he swallowed them whole so they couldn’t leave and become more powerful then him
How were Cronus and Zeus similar
they both wanted and competed to rule the universe
