Greek Mythology Flashcards
Apollo+Daphne
*Apollo loves Daphne
*Daphne doesn’t want to marry
*Daphne’s father turns her into a tree
Prometheus
*Steals fire from the gods
*Zeus becomes furious
*Prometheus is chained to a rock and an eagle
eats his liver every day
*Eventually he is freed
*Brother=Epimetheus
*Helped humans by making them able to think
Epimetheus
*Brother=Prometheus
*Doesn’t think through the consequences of his actions
*Gives away all the good gifts to animals
*Saved nothing for the humans
Pandora
*Given as a gift to Epimetheus by Zeus (who wanted revenge on Prometheus)
*Very curious
*Given a box as a gift and told not to open it
*Opens the box anyways and released war, hunger, and all evils
*Only hope remained in the box
Persephone, Demeter, and Hades
*Demeter=god of harvest
*Persephone=her daughter
*Persephone spends 6 months in the underworld with Hades
Cupid+Psyche
*Falls in love and marrys
*Psyche is not allowed to see Cupid
*Psyche drips wax on him by accident
*Psyche is punished and sent away but later is allowed to return
Theseus+the Minotaur
*Theseus pulls the sword from a stone to prove he is the king’s son
*Theseus offers to fight the Minotaur
*Minotaur=beast who lives in the labyrinth
*Ariadne helps him
*Theseus kills the Minotaur
*Forgets to raise white sail and his father commits suicide
Daedalus+the flight of Icarus
*Tries to escape the Labyrinth with his father
*Makes wings and tries to fly away
*Falls into the ocean after the wax of his wings melt and drowns
Echo+Narcissus
*Echo falls in love with Narcissus
*Narcissus is in love with himself
*Echo wastes away into just her voice
*Narcissus wastes away into a purple flower
King Midas
*Asks for the golden touch
*Regrets immediately after not being able to eat, sleep, or hug his daughter
*Goes to the River Pactolus to be returned to normal
Pyramus+Thisbe
*Neighbors that fall in love and plan to run away
*Pyramus thinks a lion ate Thisbe when he sees her bloody veil and he kills himself
*After Thisbe finds out she kills herself as well
*The berries on the mulberry tree stay red for them
Medusa+Perseus
*Athena turns Medusa into a gorgon
*Medusa is killed by Perseus
*Perseus receives gifts from the Gods to help him
Death of Achilles
*His mother dipped him in the waters of immortality but she held him by his heel
*Years later he is in a war and an arrow hits him in the heel during the Trojan War
Orpheus+Eurydice
*Orpheus goes to the underworld to get his dead wife Eurydice back
*Only rule is that he can not look back on the journey home
*Disobeys this rule and loses his wife forever
Tantalus
*Abuses his privilege of sharing food with the gods
*Zeus sends his to Hades
*He is taunted by food and water but is not allowed to reach for it
Sisyphus
*Known for being devious and tricky
*His punishment is to roll a boulder up a hill every day for eternity
Athena+Arachne
*Skilled but vain famous weaver
*Has a competition with Athena
*Athena turns her into a spider
12 Labors of Hercules
*Hera didn’t like Hercules because he was an illegitimate child
*Hera causes him to go crazy and kill his wife and children
*To get forgiveness he has to complete 12 labors (ex: defeating the Nemean Lion, killing the Hydra, and cleaning a giant stable in one day)
Why is Zeus associated with lightning?
It was a way for the Greeks to make’s sense of the weather.
Who were Zeus’s parents?
Cronus=father Rhea=mother
Why did the Greek myths contain incest, cannibalism, and sacrifice?
The authors integrated their fears with the myths.
What did Cronus do to his children and why?
He eats all of them so they can not overthrow him.
How did Rhea trick Cronus?
She gives him a rock in a baby blanket to eat instead of the real baby.
Promethean
daring/courageous
Midas touch
the ability to make money out of anything one undertakes
Arachnid
spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroons
Achilles heel
a point of weakness/vulnerability
Labyrinth
a maze
Nemesis
A long standing rival/archenemy
Harp
a musical instrument
Pandora’s Box
an unwise inference that causes a series of problems
Elysian
relating to/ characteristics of heaven/paradise
Psyche
the human mind, soul, or spirit
Herculean
needing great strength or effort
Narcissistic
having an egotistic interest in oneself or physical appearance
Chaos
complete disorder or confusion
Gorgon
3 sisters with snakes for hair that could turn people to stone
Titanic
exceptional strength, power, or size
Tantalize
to tease someone with a promise of something unattainable
Sisyphean
relating to a task that can never be completed
Why can’t Pyramus and Thisbe be together?
Because of their parents, but they communicate through a crack in the wall that they share.
Where do Pyramus and Thisbe plan to meet?
Under a mulberry tree, Thisbe gets there first, sees a lion, and runs away leaving her veil. Pyramus sees this and assumes she’s dead and kills himself. Later Thisbe comes back and sees his dead body so she joins him in death.
Why do the mulberries change color and what is the moral?
The mulberries change color because they are stained with blood and the moral of the story is to not assume.
