Olympians & Myths

Apollo’s Spheres

Music, medicine, prophecy, sun, archery, and ravens

Apollo Lineage

Son of Zeus and Leto

Homeric Hymn to Apollo

Leto give birth to 2nd twin on Ortygia from Delos w/ help from midwife goddess Eileithyia

Daphne

Freshwater nymph that turns into a laurel tree b/c she was hit with an anti-desire arrow

Coronis

Greek maiden who conceives Asclepius, but was caught having an affair & is killed by Apollo

Cassandra

Trojan princess that gained the gift of prophecy after she agreed to be Apollo’s lover. She changed her mind & got cursed to never have her prophecies to be believed

Sibyl

Prophetess from Cumae (Italy) that was gifted the power of longevity & wanted youth too but got cursed by Apollo to live a long life in old age

Hyacinthus

Spartan man that got wounded trying to catch Apollo’s discuss so he turned him into a flower

Cyparissus

Cean man who falls in love with a stag instead of Apollo, he accidentally kills it and dies of grief, so Apollo turned him into a tree

Delphi

Site of Apollo’s oracle; soldiers from Crete become priests here

Delian Games

Worship site of Apollo & host of games every 4 years for Ionian Greeks

Artemis’ Spheres

Hunting, moon, wild animals, childbirth, 3rd virginal, bow, deer, and cypress tree

Hecate

Underworld version god of the moon

Selene

Heaven version of the moon goddess

Sparta

Worship site of Artemis in 10th century BC

Niobe Myth

Theban queen thinks she is better than Leto, Artemis & Apollo kill all her kids and makes her weep as a stone statue in Phrygia (Turkey)

Actaeon Myth

Theban hunter travelling with wolves sees Artemis naked in a cave; She turns him into a stag and the wolves kill him

Callisto Myth

Zeus disguised himself as Artemis and rapes a girl to conceive Arcas; Artemis finds out and banishes her from being a follower; Hera turns her into a bear and dies from Arcas hunting her unknowingly

Aphrodites Spheres

Love, sex, feminine beauty, seashell, dove, swan, rose, goose and myrtle tree

Aphrodite Urania

Spiritual nature of heaven after being born from castrated genitals

Aphrodite Pandemos

Physical nature of commonly after being born from Zeus and nymph Dione

Cyprus

Birth island and sanctuary of Aphrodite Paphia

Cythera

Possible birth island & sanctuary of Aphrodite Urania

Eros

Son of Aphrodite and Ares; desire/winged/bow and arrow

Priapus

Son of Aphrodite; god of sex/fertility/gardens

Priapus’ spheres

God w/ deformities and erect penis; bringer of luck & scarecrow for crops

Hermaphroditus

Son of Aphrodite & Hermes; nymph Salmacis rapes him & they are joined together

Pygmalion Myth

Cyprian sculptor falls in love with statue and lives in celibacy; Aphrodite turns the statue into a women named Galatea & they have a son named Paphos

Myth of Cinyras and Myrrha

Son of Paphos has a daughter & they fall in love in the dark; daughter finds out and gives birth as a Myrrh tree to Adonis

Myth of Adonis

Hunter who disregards Aphrodite’s warnings; he dies from a wild boar and Aphrodite turns him into a anemone flower & creates a mourning ritual

Myth of Anchises

Trojan prince who falls in love with Aphrodite’s mortal disguise; Aphrodite is disgusted to sleep with a mortal as she arranged Gods and mortals together; She reveals her divinity and tells the future of her demigod son Aeneas

Hestia’s spheres

Goddess of Hearth/fertility/home; 2nd virginal goddess & sister of Zeus

Dionysus’ spheres

God of wine/fertility/madness/theater; Son of Zeus & mortal Semele

Maenads

Means rage; female devotees w/ fawn skin & ivy crown; live on Mount Cithaeron

Myth of Semele

Zeus disguises himself as a mortal and has an affair w/ a Theban princess; Hera is mad and convinces the princess as an old lady to ask Zeus about his godhood; Zeus appears and incinerates her but saves Dionysus by sewing him into his thigh

Satyrs

Half-male/Half-animal devotees of Dionysus w/ goat ears and horse tails

Wandering Myth of Dionysus

Zeus turns Dionysus into a goat & entrusts him with the nymphs of Mount Nysa to fight vs Hera; Dionysus learns about wine making but Hera drives him mad

Cybele

Mother goddess who cures Dionysus of his madness & travels w/ him to teach about wine making

Myth of Midas

Phrygian king who hosts Dionysus during his travels and in return gets 1 wish; Midas gets the power to turn anything into gold but he turns his food and daughter into gold; begs Dionysus to revert his power and he says he has to bath in the Pactolus River

Myth of Etruscan Pirates

Helmsman sees a disguised Dionysus and warns his crew, but they ignore him; Dionysus turns into a lion and destroys the ship, so the crew jumps off and become dolphins except for the original helmsman

Myth of Ariadne

Cretan princess plans to marry Theseus after he kills the Minotaur; He abandons her so she curses him for life then Dionysus takes her to be his wife

Myth of Pentheus

King of Thebes arrests disguised Dionysus for turning women into crazy Bacchae; Dionysus convinces the king to spy instead attacking the Bacchae but gets found out and his limbs are torn apart

Olympian Religion

Mortals perform rituals towards 12 gods and goddesses in exchange for a favor

Chthonic Religion

Based on worship of supernatural powers beneath the Earth; includes underworld ghosts/gods and spirits

Theogony

Poem of the birth of the Gods & describes the creation of the world

Divine Succession Myth

Choas the void emerged and created Gaea/Tartarus/Eros/Erebus/Nyx; Gaea produced Uranus w/out a male but married Uranus

Zeus’ Spheres

Regal/Powerful/lustful/immortal & sky/storm/law/order

Hera’s Spheres

Goddess of women/marriage/childbirth; Regal/Matronly/Jealous/Vengeful

Io Myth

Zeus has an affair with a river Goddess & turns her into a cow; Hera finds out and places a 100-eye giant to guard the cow; Hermes rescues the cow by cutting off the giant’s head after making it fall asleep; Hera is mad and sends a tormenting fly making the cow wander all the way to Egypt; Zeus restores her and she gives birth to a son named Epaphus

Ganymede Myth

Zeus falls in love w/ a Trojan prince and takes him to Olympus to become immortal and be the cupbearer; Trojan king is upset so Zeus sends him horses

Muses

Collection of Goddess of art/literature from Zeus and Mnemosyne

Fates

Goddesses of destiny from Zeus & Themis

Seasons

3 Goddesses of Autumn, Summer and Spring from Zeus & Themis

Graces

Goddesses of feminine beauty from Zeus and Eurynome (Titan Goddess); Attendants of Aphrodite

Olympia

Sanctuary for Zeus & site of the first 4-year games in 776 BC for free Greek males

Argos

City-state that founded Hera as its patron deity in 700 BC

Hades’ Spheres

God of wealth/underworld; known as grim/harsh/unpitying

Demeter’s Spheres

Goddess of grain/harvest/fertility; known as maternal/caring/protective & daughter of Kronos and Rhea

Persephone

Goddess of spring & wife of Hades; Daughter of Zeus and Demeter

Rape of Persephone Myth

W/ Zeus’ blessing Hades captures Persephone w/ his chariot to become his wife; Demeter thinks she died and mourns until Helios (Sun God) reveals she’s in the underworld; Demeter threatens to end humanity w/ winter season, so Zeus makes Persephone come back but she ate a pomegranate, so she has to go back

Eleusis

Demeter becomes a mortal to travel until she becomes a nurse of prince Demophon; She wants to make him immortal by burning him alive but is stopped by his mother and then reveals herself; She forces them to build a temple in her honor and teaches her sacred rites to the city-state

Entrance of the Underworld

For the recently deceased & have to get past Charon the ferryman of the Styx River in exchange for a coin & Cerebrus (3-headed guard dog)

Tartarus

Place in the underworld for anyone really bad in life; Home of the Titans/Tantalus/Sisyphus/Ixion/Danaids

Tantalus

Mortal who was tantalized (teased out of reach) with food and water forever b/c he served the gods a stew made of his own son

Sisyphus

Mortal who is forced to roll a boulder up a hill forever for cheating death twice

Ixion

Mortal who is tortured on a revolving wheel forever for attempting to rape disguised Hera

Danaids

Women who are forced to carry water in leaky vessels forever for murdering their bridegrooms

Elysium

Place in the Underworld for heroes & morally good people; Pleasant existence and closely related to the Isles of the Blessed

Poseidon’s Spheres

God of the sea/horses/earthquakes/dolphins; Son of Kronos & Rhea and married to Amphirite; known as angry/violent/ferocious

Athena’s Spheres

Goddess of wisdom/war/arts/crafts; Daughter of Zeus and Metis; known w/ helmet/spear/owl/snake/olive tree/virginal/masculine

Amphirite

Sea-Goddess wife of Poseidon & one of 50 daughter of Nereus (Old man of the Sea); also jealous wife of Poseidon’s affairs

Polyphemus

Cyclopes son of Poseidon & nymph Thoosa; turns Galatea’s lover Acis into a river

Myth of Polyphemus

Odysseus gets trapped in a cyclops’ cave but blinds him to escape; He calls on Poseidon’s wrath in revenge for his blinding

Athena’s birth

Zeus mates with Metis but hears a prophecy of his offspring overthrowing him; Zeus swallows pregnant Metis and after Hephaestus splits his head open with an ax Athena emerges fully grown and armed

Myth of Pallas and Athena

Athena was raised by Triton (god of water) and befriends his daughter Pallas; they duel and Athena accidentally kills her so she takes the name Pallas and creates a statue in her memory

Contest of Athena and Poseidon

Athena offers a city-state an olive tree while Poseidon offers a saltwater spring so Athena wins and the city is named Athens but Poseidon floods the surrounding area

Myth of Arachne and Athena

Arachne challenges Athena to a weaving contest but she loses and hangs herself; Athena is upset and turns her into the first spider

Isthmia

Site of Poseidon’s worship in northeastern Peloponnese; site of biennially games for free Greek males in 700 BC

Parthenon

Temple to Athena Parthenos designed to celebrate the Contest of Athena vs Poseidon & the Birth of Athena

Myth of Prometheus

God of forethought who lets Zeus chose the worse portion of animal sacrifices; Zeus punishes him by taking back the fire given to mortals; Prometheus steals it back and then hides in a fennel stalk but gets chained to a pillar forever to be eaten by a continuously growing liver

Muller’s theory of Meteorology

Theory that all myths explain the laws of nature

Frued’s Theory of Psychoanalysis

Theory that explains the progression of psycho sexual development within a child towards the opposite sex parent

Jung’s theory of collective unconscious

Theory that states myths embrace the political and social questions

Fraser’s Anthropological Theory

Theory that myths explain the analogies between social norms of humans

Strauss’ Binary Theory

Theory that myths explain the social codes and its extremities (raw/cooked, life/death, male/female)

Ares’ Spheres

God of war/courage/bloodlust; son of Zeus and Hera; known as handsome/warlike/cruel/helmet/spear/dog/shield/vulture

Hephaestus’ Spheres

God of Fire/metalworking/technology/volcanoes; seen w/ hammer/tongs/anvil/skull cap & known as ugly/lame/clever/crippled

Hermes

God of trade/travel/herds/thievery/athletics; known as youthful/tricky/dishonest & seen with caduceus staff/winged sandals/tortoise

Fear and Panic

2 Sons of Ares and Aphrodite that attend Ares in battle

Pan

Son of Hermes who is a goat-human god of the wild/shepherds/flocks/rustic music; invents the panpipe syrinx by fastening reeds of a nymph that fled from his amorous advances

Myth of Hephaestus’ Fall

After being born, Hephaestus is thrown off of Olympus for being lame; Cared for by Thetis for 9 years and learns metalworking

Myth of Hephaestus’ Return

Hephaestus creates a throne trap for Hera after her mistreatment; she sits on the throne on her birthday and gets stuck via invisible mesh; Dionysus gets Hephaestus drunk and leads him back to Olympus to release Hera

Myth of Aphrodite’s Affair

Aphrodite is the wife of Hephaestus but gets caught in invisible chains after leading Ares to her bed; He then curses Aphrodite’s child Harmonia with a necklace

Myth of Hermes’ Childhood

After being born in Arcadia, Hermes invents the lyre out of a tortoise shell and then steals Apollo’s cattle to lead back to Arcadia; Apollo accuses Hermes of theft by he denies so Zeus orders for Hermes to reconcile so he gives Apollo the lyre as a token of friendship

Lemnos

Worship site of Hephaestus and where he fell from Olympus

5 Ages Myth

-Golden age was the first and best race w/out work

-Silver age had humans filled with arrogance and childlike

-Bronze age had violent humans who destroyed themselves

-Hero Age had justice and honor but ended after famous wars

-Iron Age is the current and involves constant work/misery

Myth of Pandora

Zeus creates the first women to punish mankind & after opening a mysterious jar all of the evils are open into the world