Names of Greek Gods and Heroes

Question 1

Athena

Answer 1

= Virgin goddess of victory, intelligence, self-discipline, war

• Metis (intelligence, swallowed by Zeus) + Zeus
• born from Zeus’ head
• always fully armed, defender of civic life (opposite of Artemis who is wilderness)
• protector of

Question 2

Dionysus

Answer 2

= god of wine and intoxication, emotional freedom

• born from Zeus’ thigh
• married to Ariadne (mortal) of Crete
• associated with wild plants, wild animals, vital fluids

Question 3

Muses

Answer 3

9 daughters from Zeus + Mnemosyne (memory)

• daughters are subordinate to Zeus therefore everything the muses say could technically be taken as “said by Zeus”
• since mom is memory, everything muses say is said to be taken from memory and is correct
• Live on Mount Helikon
• -> ADDS lot of AUTHORITY to the MUSES and the STORY OF THE BARD

= divine patrons of poetry and dance, led by Apollo
- entertain the gods

Question 4

Gaia

Answer 4

= mother Earth

• her bosom is foundation of everything
• asexual: oursons, mountains, sea
• sexual (Ouranos): 12 Titans, 3 Cyclopes, 3 Hundred-handed ones
• sexual (Tartarus): Typhoios dragon

Question 5

Eros

Answer 5

= desire

• just came into being at the beginning
• important for continuing creation

Question 6

Ouranos

Answer 6

= sky/heaven

• produced asexually by Gaia, perfectly fits above her
• sexual (Gaia): 12 Titans, 3 Cyclopes, 3 Hundred-handed ones
• from his body (castration): Giants, Furies (from the drops of blood), Aphrodite (genitals + seafoam)

Question 7

Mnemosyne

Answer 7

= memory

- a titan

Question 8

Herakles

Answer 8

= Zeus + Alkmene (mortal)

• wins immortality, marries Hebe
• born 13 generation after the 50 daughters

Question 9

Iapetos

Answer 9

• a titan

- sexual (Clymene): Atlas, Menoitios, Epimetheus, Prometheus

Question 10

Clymene

Answer 10

• a titan’s daughter

- sexual (Iapetos): Atlas, Meiotios, Epitmetheus, Prometheus

Question 11

Kronos

Answer 11

• roman = Saturn

- Titan

Question 12

Epaphus

Answer 12

• son of Io and Zeus
• born by miraculous conception
• founds a line of kings in Egypt

Question 13

Inachus

Answer 13

river god

- father of Io

Question 14

Thetis

Answer 14

• her son will be more powerful than the father

- married off to Peleus accord`ing to PB after Zeus finds out the prophecy

Question 15

Hermes

Answer 15

Mercury
- messenger god
- Zeus + Maia
- associated with caduceus and messenger hat
- patron of messengers, traveler, oracles
- model of social mobility
- trickster, investor, liar, thief
- "Argeiphontes"
instrument = reed pipes

Question 16

Zeus

Answer 16

Jove, Jupiter

• divine champion and enforcer of dike, xenia, supplication
• weapon = thunderbolt
• animal = eagle
• cult centre = Dodona

Question 17

Hera

Answer 17

Juno

• sanctity of marriage
• animal = peacock

Question 18

Ares

Answer 18

Mars

• god of war and bloodlust
• son of Zeus and Hera
• affair with Aphrodite: Harmonia, Panic, Fear
• hated by all, more respected by Romans

Question 19

Poseidon

Answer 19

Neptune
= god of sea and natural forces of the earth
- married to Amphitrite
- kids: monsters like Pegasus, Polyphemus
- weapon = trident
- animal = horses, bulls

Question 20

Hestia

Answer 20

Vesta
= goddess of the hearth
- virgin sister of Zeus
- first and last born

Question 21

Hades

Answer 21

Dis

= god of the underworld

Question 22

Aphrodite

Answer 22

Venus
= goddess of sexual attraction, love, deceit, violence
- patron god of Rome
- Hesiod: born out of Ouranos’ genitals and seafoam
- Homer: Zeus and Dione (titan)
- arranged married to Hephaestus, affair with Ares, kid with Anchises
- animal = the dove
- cult centre = Cyprus

Question 23

Aeneas

Answer 23

• son of Aphrodite + Anchises
• raised my mountain nymphs, given to his father once childhood
• flees Greece during Trojan War carrying Anchises on his back, founds new country (Rome) –> why Aphrodite becomes patron goddess of Rome

Question 24

Demeter

Answer 24

Ceres

• goddess of the grain and harvest
• “mother”

Question 25

Persephone

Answer 25

Proserpina

- Zeus + Demeter

Question 26

Keleos and Metaneira

Answer 26

King and Queen of Eleusis

- 4 daughters and infant son (demophoon)

Question 27

Leto

Answer 27

daughter of Kronos

- mother of Apollo and Artemis

Question 28

Apollo

Answer 28

Phoebus

• weapon = bow
• instrument = lyre
• tree = palm tree
• cult centre = Delos
• leader of the muses

Question 29

Artemis

Answer 29

Diana

• goddess of the hunt
• mistress of wild animals (tamed)
• presided over rites of passage from young girls to adolescence
• tree = olive tree

Question 30

Eileithyia

Answer 30

goddess of childbirth

Hera stops her from helping Leto give birth

Question 31

Asclepius

Answer 31

son of Apollo

god of medicine

Question 32

Niobe

Answer 32

queen with 14 children

• bragged she was better than Leto
• Artemis and Apollo killed all her children in defense
• referenced by Achilles and Antigone

Question 33

Actaeon

Answer 33

hunter who saw Artemis changing

• changed into a stag
• sparagmos

Question 34

Hephaestus

Answer 34

Vulcan

• craftsman, technology god
• oversees the Cyclopes
• cult site = Lemnos, volcanic site
• thrown out of Olympus by Hera, cared for by Thetis
• temple = Hephaestion, Athens

Question 35

Medea

Answer 35

= scary helper-maiden

• daughter of Aeetes
• from Colchis
• speaking name: “active intellect”

Question 36

Procne

Answer 36

• Athenian princess
• Tereus’ wife
• killed son Ityus to get revenge on her sister being raped
• turned into a nightingale

Question 37

Philomela

Answer 37

Procne’s sister, raped by Tereus, turned into a swallow

Question 38

Tereus

Answer 38

• King of Thracia
• raped Procne’s sister, Philomela
• turned into a bird of prey