War against the Titans Flashcards
Who did Zeus have to fight after the Titans, and what caused the war
What was name of the war and who led it
The Giants, born of the blood of Uranus
They were described as a force for disorder, and were rapists, thieves and murderers.
War started when the Giants rustled the cattle of the sun-god Helios
The war was called the Gigantomachy, and it was led by Alcyoneus
What was it about the Giants that made them hard to defeat and how did Zeus get around it
There were alot of them, and all the gods had to work as a team - but that wasn’t enough
Giants could only be defeated by a force that included the son of mortal mother (but no mortal was alive then) according to Hera’s prophesy
Zeus therefore brought Heracles back in time
He also prevented them having true immortality by commanding the sun mon and dawn gods not to provide light to hide a unique herb from Gaia
How did the hundred handers help defeat Cronos
When panic was the in ranks of the Titans from the Olympian assault the hundred handers threw down their hailstones of boulders which crushed even Cronos. From then, the Titans were bound and thrown down into Tartarus, where they would be guarded by the hundred handers
Which Titanesses did Zeus make consorts after the defeat of the Titans, and who did they bare
Leto (bore the twins Apollo and Artemis)
Mnemosyne (bore the muses)
Themis (in one story) bore him the fates
Who were the famous sons of the muse Calliope
Orpheus (the legendary musician and poet who went to the underworld to retrieve his wife Eurydice)
Linus (killed by Heracles with his own lyre)
Where the opposing headquarters of the Gods and Titans
Zeus on Mount Olympus
Cronos on Mount Othrys
Because Cronos kept swallowing his children, Zeus was hidden in a Cretan cave - but grew up wanting revenge
When the time came he used a narcotic honey to put Cronos to sleep, and then an emetic to make him vomit up his other children.
Who helped in the endevour, in particular in making the drugs used on Cronos
Metis, the shape shifting daughter of Ocean and Tethys
He was also helped by his mother Rhea
Which residents of Tartarus did Zeus co-opt as allies
The Cyclops (the created Zeus thunderbolds, Poseiden’s trident and Hades’ invisibility helm)
and the Hundred Handers
(they could throw boulders the size of hills with their hands)
Who was the last son of Gaia and Tartarus
who was this creature’s wife
Thypoeus [aka Thyphon]
Considered the most deadly monster in Greek mythology
Thypoeus was married to Echidna the ‘Mother of All Monsters’
What was the Greek name of the Hundred Handers
Hekatonkheires
How are the volcanic fires of Mt Etna sometimes known
As the breath of Enceladus
Enceladus was a Giant defeated by the Olympian gods in the Gigantomachy
Who was the mother of all monsters, and what did she look like
Echidna
Half woman - half snake
She was the wife of Thyphoeus [Typhon]
Who was the leader of the 24 Anguipede [has serpents for legs] Giants
Porphyrion
Which Titan notably didn’t back Zeus because they though that right was on his side and victory was destined to be his
Themis (mother of Athena)
Who were the three fates (Moirai), how are they depicted, and what was their role?
They are depicted in the metaphor of threads
Clotho (spinner - thread of human life - chooses who and when is born)
Lachesis (allotter - measurer of the thread - length of life, and determines destiny)
Atropos (unturnable)
