lesson 1- the 12 olympian gods and the Greek creation myth Flashcards

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1
Q

Who was chronos?

A

The son of Ouranos (the sky god) and Gaia (the earth mother)

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2
Q

What was the greek creation myth?

A

The world first started with gaia, who bore a son, ouranos. With ouranos she gave birth to the 12 titans, the cyclopes and the hecatoncheires. However, Ouranos locked all these children away in anger in Tartarus in the underworld. Gaia mourned for her children who were locked away and decided to conspire against her husband, calling to her children for assistance. The only child willing to help was Chronos, who was gifted a scythe from Gaia to kill oruranos. That night, when Ouranos came down to lie with his wife, Gaia, Chronos hid away, catching him. With ouranos, he masturbated him, chopped off his genitals and killed him. From his blood it was believed that furies (the avenging goddesses) were born, and that his semen and genitals mixed in the ocean and created sea foam, Aphrodite was born. When Ouranos had been killed, Chronos established himself as the supreme ruler of the universe, releasing his titan siblings from the underworld but keeping the hecatoncheires and cyclopes locked away.

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3
Q

what are furies (goddesses) responsible for?

A

for torturing criminals and punishing them

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4
Q

what did Chronos do after he killed ouranos?

A

He took his sister (Rhea) as his wife. She had 5 children, and Chronos, who was afraid that his children would succeed him, decided to swallow them whole. once Rhea gave birth to zeus, she hid him away on mount ida to be raised by nymphs and took a large stone wrapped in blankets, and fed it to chronos who believed it was zeus.

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5
Q

what happened later on in Chronos life?

A

when zeus grew up, he revolted against Chronos and the Titans and banished them to tartarus in the underworld- this is known as the gigantomachy. Zeus succeeded in the battle againtst chronos and the titans as he released the cyclopes and the hecatoncheires from the underworld to defeat chronos. Zeus also made chronos vomit up his brothers and sisters using a liquid which he was gifted from Metis (Poseidon, hades, hestia, hera and demeter) who came out alive out of chronos as they were immortals

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6
Q

where did zeus banish chronos and the titans?

A

to tartarus in the underworld

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7
Q

who were zeus’ five siblings?

A

poseidon
Hera
demeter
hades
hestia

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8
Q

what is Zeus main responsibility?

A

order and justice

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9
Q

what are some extra details about zeus?

A

-he is the god of the skies and thunder (he is often depicted holding a thunder bolt )
-zeus was known to have many affairs and tricked them by transforming into different animal forms such as snakes, swans and bulls.
-zeus’ liver was eaten by an eagle daily and would regrow over night to be eaten by the same eagle again
-once zeus overthrew his father Chronos, he divided the world between him and his two brothers (hades and poseidon)
Zeus chose to rule the sky, hades the underworld and poseidon the sea

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10
Q

Who was hera?

A

The sister and wife of zeus

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11
Q

what was hera responsible for?

A

marriage and family

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12
Q

what are some extra details about hera?

A

-she was known as ‘queen of the gods’
-hera was known to be venegful and jealous due to zeus’ love affairs e.g she threatened to curse any land that would give refuge to any pregnant goddess.
-she also sent two serpents to kill heracles, but he strangled them in his cradle

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13
Q

what is poseidon responsible for?

A

sea, horses, storms, destruction and earthquakes and the protector of sailors

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14
Q

what is some extra information about poseidon?

A

-earthquakes were caused due to his anger and hades was often afraid that the roof of the underworld would cave in because of the shaking caused by the earthquakes
-he is often depicted riding in a chariot pulled by golden seahorses
-he like zeus also had many affairs which resulted in many children
-because the athenians chose athena to be the client god of the city instead of poseidon, he flooded the countryside

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15
Q

who is athena in relation to zeus?

A

his daughter

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16
Q

what is athena responsible for?

A

wisdom, craft, and heroes

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17
Q

what is some extra information about athena?

A

-she was the most courageous of all the olympians and favoured by zeus
-she was the patron goddess of Athens
-Athena was born from the head of her father after he swallowed her pregnant mother metis
-she was the one who eventually got odysseus back to the island of Ithaca after the trojan war

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18
Q

who is artemis in relation to zeus?

A

his daughter

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19
Q

who is artemi’s twin?

A

apollo

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20
Q

what is artemis responsible for?

A

archery, maidens, wild nature and hunt

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21
Q

what is some extra information about artemis?

A

-she is often associated with moon
-she protected women during child birth
-she saved the daughter of agamemmon - iphigenia from being sacrificed (however different sources suggest that she was killed)
-she healed aneas during the trojan war

22
Q

who is apollo in relation to zeus?

A

his son

23
Q

what was apollo responsible for?

A

music and prophecy and archery

24
Q

what is some extra information about apollo?

A

-he is often associated with the sun and music
-he had a knowledge of medicine and healing
-he saved the lives of trojan heroes such as hector and led the arrow to achillies heal to kill him

25
Q

how is aphrodite related to zeus?

A

some sources say that she was his daughter

26
Q

what is aphrodite responsible for?

A

beauty and love

27
Q

what is some extra information about aphrodite?

A

-she had several affairs with many men and had children with many gods
-She fell deeply in love with a man named adonis. she and persephone argued over him and zeus said that each woman would be allowed to have him for 4 months of each year and that he would spend 4 months of the year alone.
-aphrodite also promised Paris that he would marry the most beautiful woman in the world, helen if he cast her the most beautiful of all the goddesses

28
Q

what is demeter responsible for?

A

agriculture and fertility

29
Q

how is hermes related to zeus?

A

he is the son of zeus

30
Q

what is hermes responsible for?

A

messengers, travellers, merchants and thieves

31
Q

what is some extra information about hermes?

A

-he was the trickster of the olympians
-he worked as the messenger for zeus
-on the first day of his life, he created a lyre which was made from the shell of a turtle
-the greeks believed that he guided the dead to hades in the underworld

32
Q

how is hephaestsus related to zeus?

A

the son of zeus

33
Q

what is hephaestsus responsible for?

A

blacksmiths and fire

34
Q

what is some extra information about hephaestsus?

A

-He was married to Aphrodite, who had many affairs with ares. He caught them with an invisible chain around their bed and called the gods to witness the affair between aphrodite and ares.
-he got involved in a quarrel between hera and zeus, his parents which caused zeus to throw him from the top of mount olympus until he landed on the island of lemnos.

35
Q

where did hephaestsus land when his father flung him off mount olympus?

A

the island of lemnos

36
Q

how was ares related to zeus?

A

he was his son

37
Q

what was ares responsible for?

A

war

38
Q

what is some extra information about ares?

A

-he had courage and beauty and seduced aphrodite despite the fact that she was married
-he often encouraged conflict and war

39
Q

what was hestia responsible for?

A

hearth, hospitality, and protector of the family

40
Q

what is some extra information about hestia?

A

-she was worshipped privately in the home and also in public

41
Q

how was dionysus related to zeus?

A

he was the son of zeus

42
Q

what was dionysus responsible for?

A

wine, and theatre

43
Q

what is some extra information about dionysus?

A

he was the youngest of the 12 children from zeus and hera and he was described as the ‘joy of all men’

44
Q

why is hades not considered a god/olympian?

A

he didn’t live on mount olympus

45
Q

Who was Persephone?

A

Daughter of demeter and wife of hades- zeus forced her to marry hades and live in the underworld with him for half a year

46
Q

Why was Persephone sometimes included in the Olympian gods?

A

Because of her role in the eleusinian mysteries.

47
Q

Which two gods were sometimes included in the twelve Olympians depending on which source you read?

A

hestia and dionysus who were both very key parts of religious life in ancient greece.

48
Q

What human qualities did the Greeks believe the Olympian gods had?

A

Justice, loyalty, wisdom and great music and explaining natural phenomenons such as weather changing and suffering.

49
Q

Which two sources are our main sources on the Olympian gods?

A

homer and hesiod

50
Q

Our two main sources disagree on the origins of Aphrodite. Detail the two versions below:

A

Homer = believes that she is actually one of zeus’ children
Hesiod = from white sea foam from the chopped off genitals of ouranos.

51
Q

Ancient Greek was polytheistic - what does polytheistic mean?

A

The belief and/or worship of more than one god