Mythology Exam June 8th Flashcards
1
Q
Metamorphosis
A
change of form
2
Q
Catasterism
A
the transformation of a character from Greek mythology into a star or a constellation
3
Q
Lycaon/Licaron (5)
A
- king obsessed with appeasing the gods makes human sacrifices of foreigners
- Zeus, disguised as traveler, is invited to eat at the palace and is served a sacrificed boy
- Zeus turns him into half-man and half-wolf as punishment for his sacrilege
- this story is the birth of the modern werewolf
Metamorphosis: man to half man half wolf
4
Q
Daphne/Dafne (5)
A
- Cupid hit apollo with gold arrow (love) for the nymph Daphne and hit Daphne with silver arrow (hate) for Apollo
- He tried to chase her down, but she ran into the waters of her father’s river
- She was transformed into a laurel tree to avoid his efforts
- Apollo made laurel leaves sacred and associated them with glory
Metamorphosis: nymph to laurel tree
5
Q
Philemon and Baucis/ Filemón y Baucis (6)
A
- Zeus tested the hospitality of humans on earth, and found them all selfish and unwilling to help
- Went to the house of a poor elderly couple, Philemon and Baucis, and they welcomed him in and provided food and drink, which Zeus magically resupplied
- He granted them one wish, and they asked to die together
- Zeus then flooded the entire town, killing all those who had turned him away, replacing it with a marble temple where the couple lived until they died
- They died together and became a tree with their roots wrapped together
Metamorphosis: elderly couple to tree
6
Q
Pyramus and Thisbe/Pirano and Tisbe
A
- couple from rival families that fell and love and decided to elope
- met at an isolated tree, where a lion chewed up Thisbe’s veil, making Pirano think it ate her
- Pirano kills himself on his sword and when Thisbe sees him, she does the same
- they died beside a tree that grew into Mulberry tree with sweet red and black berries, symbolizing the two of them
Metamorphosis: couple to mulberry tree
7
Q
Pyramus and Thisbe/Pirano and Tisbe (6)
A
- couple from rival families that fell and love and decided to elope
- communicated through a hole in a wall between connected houses
- met at a dark forest where a lion chewed up Thisbe’s veil, making Pirano think it ate her
- Pirano kills himself on his sword and when Thisbe sees him, she does the same
- they died beside a tree that grew into Mulberry tree with sweet red and black berries, symbolizing the two of them
- origin of Romeo and Juliet story
Metamorphosis: couple to mulberry tree
8
Q
Leucothoe (6)
A
- Clytie loved the sun god Apollo, but he didn’t love her back and ignored her efforts
- Apollo instead loved the princess Leucothoe and they slept together
- Clytie was jealous of Leucothoe and told Leucothoe’s father that Leucothoe, despite being unmarried, wasn’t a virgin
- The king of Persia Orchamus buried his daughter alive in punishment
- Apollo then transformed Leucothoe’s dead body into a frankincense tree
Metamorphosis: woman into incense tree
9
Q
Narcissus (and Echo) (6)
A
- Echo was cursed by Hera to only repeat already spoken words as punishment for helping cover for Zeus cheating
- Echo fell in love with Narcissus, but he pushed her away, buying herself in a deep cave, where echos are still heard
- as punishment for his cruelty to those who loved him, Narcissus was cursed to love himself, staring at his reflection in a pool, agonized by the unrequited love
- he spent so long staring at himself, he became rooted in the forest and became part of the earth
- the narcissus flower grew where he was and now hangs over the water, as if looking at its reflection
Metamorphosis: man into flower
10
Q
Heliades (5)
A
- Daughters of Apollo and Clymene (water nymph) and sisters of Phaëthon
- Phaëthon died attempting to drive his father’s chariot (the sun) across the sky
- The Heliades grieved for four months and the gods turned them into poplar trees and their tears into amber
- their tears (amber) fell into the river Eridanus, in which Phaethon had fallen
Metamorphosis: women into trees and amber
11
Q
Hermaphroditus (5)
A
- Divinely beautiful son of Aphrodite and Hermes
- Salmacis, a water nymph, fell in love with him and begged the Gods to unite them
- The Gods united their bodies, forming a half-man and half-woman being
- This created the first intersex person, with both male and female features (called hermaphroditism)
Metamorphosis: a two seperate people, a man and a woman, merged into a combined intersex body
12
Q
Arachne
A
Metamorphosis: woman into spider
