The toys of Zeus : Part Two 3 Flashcards
Where is Lydia?
Ionia, which is present-day Anatolia (Asia Minor) in Turkey
What was Arachne’s act of hubris and punishment?
Claimed she could weave better than Athena.
A competition is held in which she defeats the goddess.
Realises she will never be allowed to spin again, hangs herself.
Athena transforms into spider so she can spin in perpetuity.
What is Attica?
Area of Greece that includes Athens
Who is depicted here?
Arachne, in Las Hilanderas, Velasquez, 1650
How was Scylla transformed into a seagull?
Stole her father Nisus’s lock of purple hair that kept him immortal –to give to his enemy King Minos with whom she has fallen in love.
Nisus is killed, Minos is disgusted with Scylla and kicks her off boat.
She swims after him, mewing plaintively, transformed into gull. Her father Nisus transformed into sea eagle to relentlessly pursue her.
Who was Callisto?
Daughter of King Lycaon of Arcadia, raised as a nymph dedicated to Artemis.
How did Zeus trick Callisto into sleeping with him?
Transformed himself into image of Artemis, whom she worships.
What was Callisto’s fate after her pregnancy?
Artemis expels her from circle, gives birth to son Arcas. Hera punishes Callisto by transforming into bear. Arcas hunting in forest attempts to spear her. Zeus to prevent this catasterizes them as Ursa Major and Minor.
Who is depicted here?
Zeus disguised as Artemis, seducing Callisto, Andrea Schiavone, 1555.
What is this and who was transformed into one?
A hoopoe bird
King Tereus of Thrace
Where is Thrace (on current-day map)?
European part of Turkey
South Bulgaria
Bit of northeastern Greece
Who was Philomela?
Daughter of King Pandion of Athens, sister of Procne.
Where does Philomela go for the summer and what happens to her there?
Went to stay in Thrace with her sister Procne and husband King Tereus
Tereus rapes her and tears out her tongue so she cannot tell
She weaves a tapestry, thus telling her story to Procne
How do Procne and Philomela take revenge on King Tereus, and what is their ultimate fate?
They murder Procne and Tereus’s son Ictys as revenge, feeding him to Tereus at banquet
Tereus runs after them but is transformed into hoopoe bird, Procne into swallow and Philomela into nightingale (only male of species can sing)
Who is depicted here?
Tereus Confronted with the Head of his Son Itylus, Rubens, 1636
Who was Ganymede and what was his fate?
Beautiful prince of Troy. Was taken by Zeus, in form of eagle, to be his cupbearer in Olympus for eternity.
What sign of Zodiac derives from Ganymede?
Aquarius, the cupbearer
Etymology of catamite?
Ganymede
Who is depicted here?
Ganymede, Claude-Clair Francin, 1780
Which goddess takes Cephalus as her lover, and what is the problem with this?
Selene, the moon
Problem is, he is still in love with his mortal wife Procris
How does Selene attempt to part Cephalus and Procris?
By suggesting that Procris must be unfaithful in Cephalus’s absence, and that he should disguise himself as a stranger to seduce her.
How does Cephalus’s attempt to seduce his wife incognito go?
She pauses when propositioned by disguised Cephalus, which he takes as sign of her infidelity. He scorns Procris, she runs away to join Artemis.
What gifts does Artemis give Procris to return with to Cephalus?
A hunting dog Lailaps who can catch anything
A javelin that always hits its mark
Why does Theban regent Creon need help from Cephalus? And what becomes of this help?
Thebes is tormented by the Teumessian Fox (Cadmean Vixen), and Creon borrows Lailaps to track him.
They chase each other forever (Fox uncatchable; Lailaps infallible) until Zeus turns them both to stone, then catasterizes them as Canis Major and Minor.
How does Cephalus accidentally kill Procris?
He takes a nap while hunting, beckons Zephyr to soothe him.
Procris approaching with wine and olives, thinks he is speaking to lover and drops items in shock.
Cephalus thinks must be pig, and throws javelin, killing Procris.
Who is depicted here?
Cephalus mourning Procris, John Stanhope, 1872
Where does name Arcadia come from?
From Arcas, son of Callisto and Zeus, whom he hides from Hera in the area that becomes known as Arcadia, where he becomes great hunter and king.
Who was Endymion and what was his fate?
Son of Zeus, young beautiful shepherd.
Selene sees him bathed in moonlight and asks Zeus to keep him in same attitude forever.
Each new moon Selene comes down and makes love to sleeping boy, has 50 children by him.
What is depicted here?
The Sleep of Endymion, Anne-Louis Girodet, 1791
Who was Tithonus?
Great nephew of Ganymede
Lover of Eos
What happened to Tithonus and Eos?
Eos asked Zeus to grant Tithonus immortality so they can be together forever
Zeus, under the influence of Aphrodite’s spell, granted immortality but not youth
Tithonus kept getting older until Eos turned him into a grasshopper to relieve him from his fate
Why did Aphrodite curse Eos?
Because she had an affair with Ares
Who was Hyacinthus, and what happened to him?
Spartan Prince
Loved by Zephyrus and Apollo, but chose Apollo
Zephyrus blew Apollo’s discus off course, killing Hyacinthus
Apollo mixed his tears with Hyacinthus’s blood to make the flower Hyacinth
What’s this flower and where does it come from?
Hyacinth
A mix of Apollo’s tears and Hyacinthus’s blood
Who’s Crocus and what happened to him?
Mortal youth who loved the nymph Smilax
The gods turned him into a saffron flower called Crocus
Who is depicted here?
Eos and Tithonus
Lagrenée - Le lever de l’Aurore (1763)
What’s this flower and where does it come from?
Crocus flower, named after mortal youth Crocus who pined for nymph Smilax and was turned into flower out of pity.
Who was Theias?
King of Cyprus
Known for remarkable good looks
Who was Smyrna?
Princess of Cyprus
Daughter of King Theias
Why and how did Aphrodite intend to punish Theias?
He had neglected her temples in favour of those of Dionysus
Made his daughter desire him carnally and visit him incognito in the night
How did Smyrna meet her doom?
Theias offered reward for identity of stranger who came to him in the night
Smyrna flees palace and begs gods for pity, who transform her into weeping myrrh tree.
What’s this tree and where does it come from?
Weeping Myrrh tree –from Smyrna who begged gods for pity after having slept with her father King Theias
What were origins of Adonis?
Son of Smyrna and her father King Theias
Smyrna transformed into weeping myrrh tree, from which mortal boy emerges
What happened to Adonis?
Lover of Aphrodite, gored by wild boar (possibly Ares, or sent by him)
Red anemones sprung up from his blood and Aphrodites tears.
Who is depicted here?
Venus (Aphrodite) and Adonis, Titian, 1555
Aphrodite trying to persuade Adonis not to leave for the hunt
What’s this flower and where does it come from?
Red anemone – sprung up from the blood of Adonis and tears of Aphrodite.
Who is depicted here?
Scylla cutting hair of Nisus, Villa Farnesina, 1512, Sebastiano del Plombo,
Who was Cassandra and what was her curse?
Trojan prophetess cursed to be always accurate in prognostications yet always disbelieved.
Who was Tiresias and what is his story?
Theban guy
Turned female for seven years by Hera as a punishment for striking two snakes mating
Asked to settle wager between Zeus and Hera about who enjoyed sex more
Said women enjoy 9 times more
Hera loses bet, strikes Tiresias blind. Zeus wins bet, rewards with second sight.
Who was the mother of Narcissus, what was her worry, and what action did it inspire?
Naiad called Liriope, worried that beauty of Narcissus would get him into trouble, went to see prophet Tiresius, who said ‘as long as he fails to recognise himself, Narcissus will have long and happy life’
Who was Echo and what was her main flaw?
Oread living in foothills of Mount Helicon
Great talker and gossip, particularly about love
How does Echo provoke ire of Hera?
Hera comes to Mount Helicon to look for Zeus, Echo lies and says he’s in Thespiae honouring his temple
How does Hera punish Echo?
Condemning her to only repeat what is said to her.
What happened to Narcisuss’s friend Ameinias?
Hanged himself when Narcissus would not return his love, curses Narcissus
What is the doom of Narcissus?
Falls in love with own reflection in pool of water, turned into Narcissus flower.
How does Echo meet her end?
Prays to Aphrodite that she be rid of pain of love for Narcissus.
Aphrodite freed nymph of body, only voice remained, as Hera’s curse could not be undone.
Who is depicted here?
Narcissus, Caravaggio, 1597
Who is depicted here?
Echo and Narcissus, John William Waterhouse, 1903
