Midterm 1 (Define Greek Word)

Question 1

aither

Answer 1

The upper region of air, the habitation of the gods, and from the 5th century onwards, of certain dead.

Question 2

daimon

Answer 2

any supernatural being, occasionally a guardian spirit that guides the dead to the underworld

Question 3

dexiosis

Answer 3

a modern description of the handshake motif in ancient greek art. possibly intended to symbolise the theme of reunion in Hades

Question 4

eidolon

Answer 4

an image of a dead person appearing on earth, in dreams, or in hades.

Question 5

ekei

Answer 5

the world of the dead (literally translates to “there”)

Question 6

enthade

Answer 6

The world of the living (literally translates to “here”)

Question 7

geras thanonton

Answer 7

The prerogative or due of the dead

Question 8

katabasis

Answer 8

the decent to the underworld by a living or divine being; a description of such decent

Question 9

ker

Answer 9

the fate of death; ones personal doom

Question 10

nekyia

Answer 10

the rite by which ghosts are summoned to appear; any pictorial or literary description of the underworld

Question 11

psyche (pronounced Soo-kay)

Answer 11

The ‘soul’ of the dead as existing in Hades, lacking any apparent function in a living organism

Question 12

psychopompos

Answer 12

a title applied to Hermes as conductor of psychai (He brings people to the underworld)

Question 13

psychorrhagema

Answer 13

The struggle of the psyche to free itself from the body

Question 14

psychostasia

Answer 14

the weighing of souls in a pair of scales

Question 15

skia

Answer 15

an image of a dead person (literally “a shadow”)

Question 16

barathron

Answer 16

The pit in Athens into which the bodies of condemned criminals were cast

Question 17

Demosian Sema

Answer 17

The ‘Peoples Grave’. was a ceremonial highway leading from the Dipylon Gate on the west side of Athens in the direction of the academy beside which the war dead and other important individuals were buried.

Question 18

Erion

Answer 18

A funeral mound or barrow; a family plot

Question 19

heroon

Answer 19

A shrine erected over the presumed burial spot of a hero

Question 20

Kenotaphion (or kenon mnema)

Answer 20

A cenotaph (an empty tomb or monument erected in honour of someone buried elsewhere)

Question 21

kerameikos

Answer 21

‘The Potters’ Quarter’. A district on the west side of Athens outside the city wall which constituted the city chiefs cemetary.

Question 22

mnema

Answer 22

A general word for grave. Literally meaning ‘memorial’

Question 23

peribolos

Answer 23

a family plot

Question 24

polyandreion

Answer 24

A communal grave

Question 25

sema

Answer 25

a general word for a grave. Literally means “sign”

Question 26

stele

Answer 26

A rectangular wooden or stone grave-marker

Question 27

tymbos

Answer 27

a funeral mound or barrow