Final Exam - Greek & Roman Mythology

Critical thinking

Not having the answer before asking a question

Observation

A statement about more than one fact that every reasonable person will agree with

Thesis

A statement based upon facts that a reasonable person could disagree with, Something you cannot prove but argue

Historicism

The theory that social and cultural phenomena are determined by historical events

Humanism

the assumption that human beings were essentially the same in the ancient world as in the present

Idealism

the philosophical belief that reality is fundamentally mental or dependent on consciousness, mind, or spirit

Textualism

Because language constructs categories and mythic figures, they should be understood as products that evolve over time rather than as imperfect copies of an ideal form.

Polis

A Greek city-state; broadly: a state or society especially when characterized by a sense of community; NOT the only way to organize civilized society even in the ancient world

Raw and the Cooked

One of the oppositions identified by Levi-Strauss that represented the opposition of nature (raw food) to culture (cooked food)

Allegory

A narrative that conveys hidden meanings through symbols, figures, actions, imagery, and/or events, which together create the moral, spiritual, or political meaning the author wishes to convey

Sophocles

Author of Tragedies, including Antigone, born in Colonus

Jean Anouilh

Author of a version of Antigone produced during the Nazi occupation of France; Resisted the prosecution of authors for “intellectual crimes” after the occupation

Seneca

Author of Tyestes, Tutor of Nero, Stoic Philosopher

Heinrich Schliemann

German businessman, Excavated Hissarlik (maintained he found Troy), Excavated Mycenae (made spectacular discoveries in tombs)

Plato

Follower of Socrates, Founder of the Academy where Aristotle was educate

James George Frazer

Author of the Golden Bough. Argued that myth is designed to explain ritual.

Apuleius

Author of the Metamorphoses (Cupid & Psyche)

Pseudo-Apollodorus

Author of “The Library of Greek Mythology”

Homer

Believed to be the author of the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Homeric Hymns.

Jacques Derrida

Philosopher who “deconstructed” the exchange of gifts by claiming that all gifts imply a return gift (i.e. a gift that does not imply a return first is an impossibility)

Odyssey

ancient Greek epic poem about Odysseus' long journey home after the Trojan War

Metamorphoses

a 15-book epic poem that chronicles the history of the world from creation to the deification of Julius Caesar,

Antigone (Reading)

A tragedy by Sophocles of Antigone defying the King Thebes to bury her traitorous brother believing divine law and family duty outweigh human law

Library of Greek Mythology

Created by Pseudo Apollodorus, Covers the myths of great heroic families, the adventures of heroes and heroines like Perseus and Heracles, and a history from the creation of the world to the Trojan War.

Thyestes Play

Written by Seneca, story of Thyestes who unnoticeably ate his children that were slaughtered by his brother, Atreus

Zeus

God, Third ruler of Earth, plays a BIG role in Theogony, Areas of Concern: the sky, kingship, Attributes: bread, eagle, thunderbolt

Ares

God, Concern: War, Attributes: Sword, Shield

Apollo

God, Areas of Concern: Music, Healing, Prophecy, Attributes: Kithara, Bow, Laurel

Hera

God, Attributes: peacock, cow, royal scepter, Area of Concern: marriage, women, childbirth

Athena

Attributes: Helmet, Owl, Areas of Concern: Wisdom and War

Poseidon

Son of Kronos and Rhea and brothers of Zeus, Attributes: trident, beard, fish, Areas of Concern: The sea, horses and earthquakes

Psyche

A beautiful mortal that fell in love with the God Cupid, became a goddess through the request to Zeus from Cupid, Areas of concern: Soul

Artemis

Attributes: Bows and Arrow, hunting dog, stag, moon; Areas of Concern: Hunting, childbirth, virginity; Daughter of Zeus and Leto; Twin sister of Apollo

Erinyes

Aka. Furies, Attributes: Snakes, Whips, Area of Concern: The punishment of murderers of family members, Born from the blood of castrated Ouranos (Uranus)

Hermes

God of transitions and boundaries, Patron of thieves and travelers and other things, Messenger of the gods and guide of the dead into the underworld

Demeter

Area of concern: Agriculture, Attributes: grain Sheaf, Crown of Wheat, Mother of Persephone

Antigone

Daughter of Oedipus, defied the king of Thebes, her uncle Creon, by burying her brother Polynices; Hung herself and died in a cave tomb

Ismene

Daughter of Oedipus, Sister to Antigone, Eteocles, and Polynices

Creon

King of Thebes, brother to Oedipus and uncle to Antigone, Ismene, Eteocles, and Polynices, wanted to bury Antigone alive for defiance

Haemon

Son of Creon, Engaged to Antigone, Defied his father; committed suicide after Antigone’s death

Tireisias

A blind prophet, warned Creon that his doings are angering the gods; prophesied he would lose his own son as punishment

Eteocles

Son of Oedipus and Jocasta, Brother of Polynices; Agreed to share kingship of Thebes in alternating years with Polynices but he refused to give it up after a year; Died in a duel against Polynices

Tantalus

Son of Zeus or Tomolus, Father of Pelops, Mythical King of Lydia; Because he cut up his son Pelops and tried to get the gods to eat him, he was punished in the underworld with eternal hunger and thirst

Thyestes

Brother of Atreus, Son of Pelops, Father of Aegisthus, Seduced his brother wife

Atreus

Brother of Thyestes, Son of Pelops, Father of Agamemnon and Menelaus, (Former) King of Mycenae

Eleusis

A deme or village of Athens that was formerly independent. Home of the Eleusinian Mysteries, an initiation ceremony of which the details were secret but had something to do with Eleusinian triad and afterlife

Domus Aurea

Massive housing complex built by Nero after the fire of 64 CE, Destroyed by fire in 104 CE, Much of it survives underground in Rome

Colonus

One of 30 demes of Athens (One of ten “urban” demes); Birthplace of Sophocles; Mythical burial place of Oedipus in the Grove of the Eumendies