Test 2 Flashcards
Symplegades
Crashing rocks blocking passage to the Euxine Sea (Black Sea). Jason and the Argonauts made it through with the help of Athena.
Medea
One of Aeetes daughters. Hera got Aphrodite to prick her with a love spell so that she would fall in love with Jason and protect him from Aeetes’ labours.
Talus
Bronze giant who guarded an island that Jason landed on. Bronze nail in his ankle kept the blood in his body, so when he attacked, Jason pulled the nail out and defeated him.
Creusa
King Creon’s daughter - he offers her to Jason if he gets rid of Medea. Medea sends a poisoned tiara and gown as a wedding gift, which sets Creusa on fire. Creon attempts to help her, but also dies in the flames.
Cadmus
Son of Agenor - sent to find Europa, but instead follows a cow and founds Thebes where the cow stops. He defeats the serpent which guards the spring that is sacred to Ares, then plants the teeth of the dragon. Sparti (sown men) spring up and fight until there are 5 left - they become the ancestors of Thebes.
Europa
Daughter of Agenor - Zeus came to her as a bull and took her to Crete, where she mothered Minos.
Minos
Son of Europa?
Thebes
Founded by Cadmus and the 5 Sparti.
Sparti
Sown men who grew when Cadmus planted the teeth of Ares serpent. There were lots of them, but only 5 were left when Cadmus told them to stop killing each other. Ancestors to the prominent families in Thebes. (Note: no relation to Sparta).
Laius
Descendant of Cadmus - exiled from Thebes when the throne is taken over by Amphion and Zethus, his cousins. King Pelops takes him in, but he breaks xenia, then returns home to take the throne. Pelops curses him, and the curse transfers to his child, Oedipus.
King Pelops
Takes Laius in when he is exiled, then curses him when he breaks xenia. The curse becomes the story of Oedipus.
Xenia
The rules of guest friendship.
King Polybus and Merope of Corinth
Adoptive parents of Oedipus - he is given to them by a shepherd who did not want to kill him as a baby.
Oedipus
Raised as Prince of Corinth - then told he is adopted. He goes to Delphi and is told that he is going to marry his mother and kill his father. Leaves Corinth to prevent this, but the prophecy comes true anyway.
Miasma
Pollution caused by the wrongs of the elite (eg. plague). Since Oedipus killed his father and married his mother and had children with her, he causes miasma on Thebes until the problem is solved.
Seven Against Thebes
The battle to take back Thebes led by Polynices and 6 other generals - Tydeus, Adrastus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, Parthenopaeus, and Amphiaraus. Seven generals for the seven gates of Thebes.
Polynices and Eteocles
Sons of Oedipus - agree to take turns ruling, but after his first time frame Eteocles decides to continue his rule. Polynices then goes to war with him, and they both end up dying (they kill each other).
Amphiaraus
Foresees the death of all Thebes’ attackers except Adrastus. He dies by falling through the earth when Zeus opens it up. First though, he kills Tydeus’ opponent out of spite.
Capaneus
Scaled the walls of Thebes, then said that not even Zeus could stop him. Zeus, of course, proceeded to stop him by throwing a lightning bolt at him.
Hippomedon
Pushed back into a river, and emerges without his armour on. He is killed by missiles due to his lack of armour.
Tydeus
Challenges 50 men to one on one combat at the gate of Thebes - kills all but one. He is loved by Athena, so when he is mortally wounded she gets an immortality potion from Zeus to save him. When Amphiaraus kills his opponent and throws Tydeus the head, he starts to eat the brains. Athena doesn’t like that, and throws the potion on the ground, letting him die.
Parthenopaeus
Killed when a pile of rocks lands on his head while he is fighting at Thebes.
Adrastus
Jumps on his chariot and makes it home to Argos during the battle of Thebes.
Antigone
Sister of Polynices - defies Creon’s law that Polynices cannot be buried. She is arrested by Creon and is asked to obey the rules, but she does not. She is walled into a cave to die as punishment, but Creon changes his mind and wants to release her. By the time he does so, she has already committed suicide.
Alcmena
Daughter of King Electryon (Mycenae). Electryon also had nine sons, but eight of them were killed by pirates. She is entrusted to Electryon’s nephew, Amphitryon. She marries Amphitryon but refuses to lay with him until he avenges the death of her brothers. Zeus then pretends to be Amphitryon, and she becomes pregnant with both Heracles and Iphicles.
Amphitryon
Nephew of Electryon - Alcmena is entrusted to him. He gathers an army to avenge Alcmena’s brothers’ deaths, but before leaving has a dispute with Electryon over cattle and kills him (accidentally according to textbook). He is the father of Iphicles (Heracles’ half brother).
Heracles
Son of Zeus and Alcmena, brother of Iphicles. Named after Hera - she hated him, and even sent Lucina (goddess of birth) to delay his birth so he could not rule the lands.
Iphicles
Son of Alcmena and Amphitryon, brother of Heracles.
Eurystheus
Heracles’ cousin - when Zeus declares that a child of his blood who is born that day would rule the lands, Hera delays Heracles birth for a week, fulfilling the prophecy with Eurystheus instead.
King Thespius
Gave Heracles lodging for 50 nights as he hunted a lion, and sent a different one of his 50 daughters to lay with Heracles each night.
Heraclids
The 50 children produced from Heracles and each of King Thespius’ 50 daughters. Heracles thought it was the same daughter every night.
Megara
Creon’s daughter - has 3 children with Heracles after Creon gives him her hand in marriage. Megara and the 3 children are killed by Heracles when Hera inflicts a fit of madness on him.
Athloi
Greek word for labours: contests undertaken for a prize.
Nemean Lion
Heracles first labour: Killed by Heracles when he clubs it and strangles it, then skins it with its own claw. Heracles is often pictured wearing the skin of the lion and carrying the club.
Iolaus
Son of Iphicles - travels with Heracles like a sidekick.
Lernaean Lion
Serpent with 9 heads (8 mortal, 1 immortal) - Killed by Heracles and Iolaus; they cut off the mortal heads and cauterize the wounds so that new heads do not sprout out, then Heracles cuts off the immortal head and buries it under a rock.
Cerynean Hind (Deer)
Deer with golden horns which was sacred to Artemis. Heracles spent a year tracking it, wounded it, and Apollo allowed him to capture it to show it to Eurystheus, but not kill it.
Erymanthian Boar
Terrorized the countryside - Heracles was ordered to bring it back alive where Eurystheus kept it in a giant jar.
Pholus
Told Heracles not to open wine, but he did anyway, and it attracted other centaurs carrying clubs and stones. He died when he dropped one of Heracles’ poison arrows on his foot.
Chiron
Immortal centaur who is killed by one of Heracles’ poison arrows. Prometheus helps ease his pain.
Augean Stables
Heracles was challenged to clean the stables in one day, so he diverted a river through it and did it. When Augeus refuses to pay Heracles (with one tenth of his cattle), Heracles returns with an army and kills him.
Stymphalian Birds
Had bronze beaks, metallic feathers that could be fired like arrows, and poisonous dung, and they devoured humans and cattle. With the help of Athena’s bronze castanets, Heracles killed them all with his poisonous arrows.
Cretan Bull
Bull that Minos would not sacrifice - Heracles captured it, rode it into the water like a cowboy, and let it wander to Marathon where Theseus eventually killed it.
Marathon
???
Mares of Diomedes
Diomedes’ herd of horses that fed on human flesh - Heracles tamed them by feeding Diomedes to them, then released them. They ran to Mount Olympus where they were eaten by wolves.
Girdle of Hippolyta
Eurystheus wanted it for his daughter, so he sent Heracles to get it. Heracles sailed to the Amazons and was welcomed by Hippolyta. Hera descended as an Amazon and incited chaos, which led Heracles to kill Hippolyta and take the girdle.
Cattle of Geryon
Monster with three bodies: giant herdsman and a two headed dog. Heracles killed Geryon, the herdsman, and the dog (Ortheus).
Pillars of Heracles
Monument of his journey on either side of the Atlantic entrance of the Mediterranean.
Apples of Hesperides
Hesperides were the three daughters of the night, and their garden was located where Atlas held the heavens on his shoulders. The tree with the apple is protected by a 100 headed serpent, so he asked Atlas to get the apple for him. Heracles held up the heavens while Atlas did so. When he returned with the apples, Eurystheus, fearing Hera, gave them back, and Heracles then gave them to Athena.
Cerberus
Hades said Heracles could take the hound if he used no weapons. Heracles dragged it out with a chain, and then released it back to the underworld. While in the underworld he also freed Theseus.
Deianira
Heracles married her. While carrying her across a river, Nessus (a centaur) assaulted her and Heracles killed him with a poison arrow. As Nessus was dying he told Deianira to collect his blood and semen as a love potion. She used the potion on a cloak she sent to Heracles when she was jealous of a King’s daughter that he captured. Heracles died as a result of this “potion”.
Heracles’ Death
After being poisoned by the cloak, he killed the servant that gave it to him, then dragged himself to a funeral pyre. Philoctetes agreed to light it, so Heracles gave him his bow, which would be helpful in the Trojan War later. Heracles then ascended to Heaven and married Hebe, “Youth”.
Philoctetes
The one who agreed to set the funeral pyre on fire to kill Heracles. As a reward he received Heracles’ bow.
Hebe, “Youth”
Heracles marries her when he ascends to Heaven.
Nessus
Assaults Deianira, then tells her to take his blood and semen as a love potion while he is dying from the poison of Heracles’ arrows. He indirectly kills Heracles by doing this, fulfilling the prophecy that Heracles would be killed by the dead.
