Mythology and Folklore Flashcards
When Oedipus answered its riddle, it killed itself
The sphinx 
The sphinx was a winged monster with the head of the woman and the body of a lion. It waylaid travelers on the roads, near the city of Thebes, and would kill any of them who could not answer this riddle: “what creatures walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening?” Oedipus finally gave the correct answer: human beings, who go on all fours as infants, walk upright, in maturity, and in old age rely on the “third leg” of a cane.
A famous leader in the Trojan war on the Trojan side. After the fall of Troy, he fled with his father and son, and was shipwrecked at Carthage in northern Africa. There Dido, the queen of Carthage, fell in love with him, and ultimately committed suicide when she realize that he could not stay with her forever .
Aeneas
After many trials, Aeneas arrived in what is now Italy, the ancient Romans, believe that they were descended from the followers of Aeneas
Aeneas is the hero of the Aeneid of Virgil.
Because he carried his elderly father, out of ruined Troy on his back, Aeneas represents filial devotion and duty 
Maori legend says the south island of this country is the canoe of the Polynesian demigod Maui
New Zealand 
In classic mythology, the king, who led the Greeks against Troy in the Trojan war. To obtain favorable winds for the Greek fleet sailing to Troy, he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis, and so came under a curse.
Agamemnon
After he returned home victorious, he was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus
In classical mythology, The food of the gods. Those who ate it became immortal
Ambrosia
Daughter of king Oedipus, who buried her brother in accordance with religious obligation against the king’s orders. She was then condemned to death for her crime.
Antigone
Her two brothers killed each other in a single combat over the kings ship of their city. Although burial or cremation of the dead was a religious obligation among the Greeks, the king forbid the burial of one of the brothers, for he was considered a traitor. Antigone, torn between her religious and legal obligations, disobeyed the kings order and buried her brother.
The Greek playwright, Sophocles tells her story in Antigone, a place that deals with conflict between human laws and laws of the gods 
In classic Greek mythology, the Apple of Discord was thrown by Eris into a party to which she was not invited. The apple was inscribed with the words ‘To the fairest’ and caused mayhem after these three goddesses claimed it.
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite
The prince of Troy, Paris, was called upon to judge the most beautiful. Hera promised him land and riches, Athena victory in battle and Aphrodite the love of the most beautiful women in the world. In the end Paris chose Aphrodite, who told him of the beauty of Queen Helen of Sparta, with whom Paris later eloped, leading to the Trojan War and his own death. This beauty contest is called the Judgement of Paris
In classical mythology, the companions of Jason in the quest for the Golden Fleece
The Argonauts
Their ship was the Argo. Naut means “sailor“ in Greek, and is the root of our word nautical. today the word is used to coin terms such as astronaut and aquanaut.
Jason was also assisted by the sorceress Madea, who fell in love with Jason, and helped him obtain the Golden Fleece. When Jason abandon her to marry another woman, she took revenge by brutally murdering his young bride, as well as the children she had borne him.
Jason was eventually killed when his old ship, the Argo, fell on him 
A creature in CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY who had a hundred eyes. Hera set him to watch over Io, a girl who had been seduced by Zeus and then turned into a cow.
Argus
Hermes, working on Zeus’ behalf, played music that put all the eyes to sleep and then killed this creature. Hera put his eyes in the tail of the peacock.
According to Irish legend, those who kiss this stone in the wall of a castle received a gift of eloquence that enables them to attain, through persuasion, anything they want 
The blarney stone.
A stone in the wall of blarney castle in Ireland.
People who talk “blarney“ are saying things they do not mean. usually the expression blarney is applied to flattery designed to gain a favor
A fairy tale villain from the Charles Perrault collection who marries seven women and warns them not to look behind a certain door. Inside the room are the corpses of his former wives. He kills six wives before one passes his test.
Bluebeard
Charles Perrault laid the foundations for the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his 1697 book Histoires ou contes du temps passé (Stories or Tales from Past Times). The best known of his tales include “Le Petit Chaperon Rouge” (“Little Red Riding Hood”), “Cendrillon” (“Cinderella”), “Le Maître chat ou le Chat botté” (“Puss in Boots”), “La Belle au bois dormant” (“Sleeping Beauty”), and “Barbe Bleue” (“Bluebeard”).
In classical mythology, a prophetess in Troy during the Trojan War, whose true predictions were never believed. Apollo had given her the gift of prophecy but made it worthless after she refused his advances.
Cassandra
The Greeks captured Cassandra after their victory and sacrilegiously removed her from the temple of Athena. As a result, Athena helped cause shipwrecks and enormous loss of life to the Greeks on their return home.
A “Cassandra” is someone who constantly predicts bad news.
In classical mythology, a powerful sorceress who turned people into swine
Circe (SUR-see)
On the way home from Troy, the crew of Odysseus fell prey to her spells
The Greek and Roman god who was worshipped at the Delphic oracle. His messages were relayed by a priestess who went into a trance and supposedly breathed vapors from a cleft in the rocks.
Apollo
It was also known and the oracle of Delphi.
These messages were often difficult to interpret.
In Roman MYTHOLOGY, the founder and queen of Carthage in north AFRICA. She committed suicide in grief over the departure of her lover, the hero Aeneas.
Dido
Dido is an image of the unhappy or unrequited lover.
The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida while looking for this
The Fountain of Youth
A fountain from folk tales that is capable of making people young
A young knight in the tales of King Arthur. His exceptional purity and virtue enabled him to see the holy grail in all its splendor. Where as many other knights could not see it at all.
Sir Galahad
