CLST 203 Rules of Myth and Religion

Religious practices are typically very

conservative.

All human beings are destined to die except for

Heracles.

In rare cases immortality can be

shared, reassigned, or taken as charity.

Gods refuse to pollute themselves by watching humans

die.

Greeks frequently speak of gods in privative terms, by telling us

but what they are not, or what they lack.

There are __ Olympian gods, and that number is __ important than the identity of the individuals who make up the list.

twelve; more

The number of male and female gods is __ equal: __.

almost; Dionysus ousted Hestia

Gods and men are of __ race(s); so/but the physical form of gods is __.

the same; humanoid

Gods have __ like humans.

minds

All gods in Greco-Roman mythology are physically perfect except for

Hephaestus

Gods are ___, and/but ___ the effects of time.

ageless; immune to

Tragic plots take place within

24 hours.

Gods mature

extremely quickly.

A god can never break an oath sworn on

the River Styx.

A god never loses a limb, or bleeds, or ejaculates onto the ground without

life springing up from the spot.

Gods eat __ and drink __.

ambrosia; nectar

Gods often marry their siblings because

there aren’t many available singles.

The gifts of the gods are always

fatal.

A hero is a dead person who either did or suffered something __ in life.

extraordinary

__ are a kind of human being, albeit an above-average kind.

Demigods

Heroes mature

extremely quickly.

In human-animal hybrids the human part is ___, the animal ___. The one exception is the ___.

on top; below; Minotaur

___, the most important hybrids that straddle the human/animal boundary, share many stories with ___, the one being who sits on the human/divine boundary.

Centaurs; Heracles

People alone, excepting bees, can live in communities because of two distinctive traits:

modesty and justice.

For Greeks, justice meant

giving to each person what they are owed.

The cure for a disease is

the thing that cause it.

In Greek thinking the effect of an action is of __ interest __ its cause.

more; than

The most important family-relationship in ancient Greece was that between

siblings

There was a marked tendency in European (pre)history for culture to move ever

westward.

The main sexual organs in males, the ends of which suppliants grasp are

the head and the thigh.

Kings who send heroes on missions hope that they will __ attempting them, but/and the heroes __ succeed.

die; always

It’s ___ to enter the underworld as/than it is to leave.

easier

In myth, children exposed or set adrift at sea are always rescued, and ultimately go on to

perform some great deed.

Whenever there’s a caveat in a myth, it will somehow

prevent the story from having a happy ending.

The essential religious act in the ancient world was __. All one needs to do this is __.

sacrificing an animal to a god; an altar.

In the Greco-Roman world temples were off-limits to worshippers. The one exception was

Eleusis’ Telesterion.

Whoever draws first blood in a war guaranties

the ultimate defeat of his own side.

There’s no wriggling out of one’s __

mortality or fate.

Attempts to evade an oracle

contribute to its fulfillment.

Sinners are normally punished in the underworld by some form of

frustration

Characters in myth often have names with __ meanings, which are understood only at the end of their stories.

ill-omened

Men intending to kill themselves usually __ while women usually __, except for Deianira.

stab themselves in the chest; hang themselves

Descendants of Helios, the Sun, are always

destructive.