Greek Mythology -- First Midterm

What are the key features of a myth, according to one definition

Historical, explanatory, or religious

What does the greek word Muthos mean?

A command

What is something all myths have in common?

A narrative

What type of myth is exemplified by Hesiod’s Theogony

Divine Myth

Who are the principle actors in Divine Myths

the gods

What does the term Etiological mean?

explanatory

What is a good example of a Legend myth?

The Odyssey

What is an alternate definition for a myth?

a traditional story with collective importance

The story of Perseus exemplifies what type of myth?

Folktale

Divine Myth

stories in which supernatural beings are the main actors

Legend

stories of the great deeds of human heroes or heroines

Folktale

stories whose actors are ordinary people or animals

Etiological Tale

an explanatory myth

Folktale types

certain story themes found across the world and across cultures

Folktale motifs

Small repeated details across folktale types

Main crops that could be grown in Greece

Grapes, Wheat, Olives

Alloy of tin and copper (tin was obtained via trade), very important for Greek culture

Bronze

Bronze age dates

3000-1600 BCE

Cycladic Culture

Early civilization found in mediteranian islands. Known for sculptures found. Not much is known

Knossos

Early city where the Minoans were based

Fresco

A durable way of painting walls where one applies paint to plaster before it dries

Minoans

Pre-greek civilization based in Crete and surrounding isles. Existed during the late bronze age pre-indo-european

Labrys

symbol of Minoan culture - shaped like a double headed axe which may be used to sever bull heads

Main symbol of Minoan culture

Bull

Dates of Late Bronze Age/Mycenaean Period

1600-1150 BC

Mycenaean tablets

First written records of Greek culture/society. Could be broken and disposed of. Some were preserved in a fire

Achaean

Name used by Homer for Greeks who fought Troy

Dark age years

1150-800 BCE

Archaic Period years

800-480 BCE

What is a Polis?

Greek City-State. Emerged during Archaic period

What was a hoplite?

Greek militia footsoldier. Backbone of Greek armies and given a political voice (emergence of democracy)

Boeotia

Plains in southern Greece. Home to the city of Thebes

Attica

Land where Athens was located

Peloponnese

Peninsula connected to the mainland by The Isthmus

Laconia

Territory around sparta

Euboea

Island where best limestone was found

Aegan Sea

Sea between the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor

Cyclades

Islands circling Delos

Indo-Europeans

a cultural and linguistic group whose original homeland apparently was in central Asia

Linear B

Greek in a nonalphabetic script

Ionia

an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements

Key features of the archaic period

• Emergence of the Polis

• Rebirth of commerce

• Aristocracy

Classical Period

The “golden age of Greece” where many of the most influential thinkers, artists, and politicians who ever lived

Peloponnesian War

A devastating war between Athens and Sparta

Hellenistic Period

Started 323 BC after the death of Alexander the Great

Features of the Hellenistic Period

Breaking up of kingdoms but spread of Greek influence

Pederasty

love for boys (usually explicit)

Parthenos

Large statue of Athena in Athens

Miasma

contagious power that has an independent life of its own. Until purged by the sacrificial death of the wrongdoer, society would be chronically infected by catastrophe.

Roman Period

30 BC - when the Hellenistic culture fell into Roman hands

Etruscans

Influential people who lived in city-states north of Rome