Greek and Roman Mythology 2026 Midterm 1

what is critical thinking

not having the answer before asking the question

what is a thesis

a statement based upon facts that a reasonable person could disagree with

who is prometheus

brother of epimetheus

what are prometheus's attributes

fire, eagle, and caring for man

what are prometheus's area of concern

technology and man

who is pandora

wife of epimetheus

first mortal woman

created by gods as a punishment for prometheus after he steals fire from zeus for mankind

who is hesiod

believed to be the poet of the "Theogony" and "Works and Days"

lived in boeotia

father came from modern turkiye

what is lydia

anciet kingdom in western region of modern turkey

first political state to use coins

center of an empire in 6th century BCE that included several Greek cities

who is achillies the son of

Peleus and the sea Nymph Thetis

who is achilles

best of the achaeans in the iliad

invulnerable except for his heel

observation

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

what is hissarlik

archeaological site in modern turkey

location of roman ilium

excavated by heinrich schliemann who claimed he found the last city of troy

schliemann

excavated hissarlik (claimed it was lost city of troy) and mycenae

who is athena

patron goddess of athens

virgin goddess born from head of zeus

what are the attributes of athena

helmet and owl

what are athena's area of concern

crafts and war

Idealism

belief that categories exists independent from language and human beings

what is delphi

location of temple of apollo

located in phocis

site of delphic oracle by the phythia

setting of the first half of homeric hymn to apollo

who is hepiaistos/hephaestus

son of hera

associated with roman vulcan

what are hephaistos's atrributes

hammer, tongs, and donkey

what are hephaestus's area of concerns

metal working and fire

textualism

belief that reality is composed of language

what is argos

greek city located in central greece

famous for its temple of hera

extremely powerful but became overshadowed by sparta and athenes by 6th century BCE

who is perseus

son of zeus and danae

slayer of medusa

rescuer and hunsband of andromeda

who is poseidon associated to

roman neptune

what are poseidons attributes

trident and beard

what are poseidon's area of concers

sea, horses, and earthquakes

who is pseudo-appollodorus

author of library of greek mythology

humanism

human beings are the same now as in the ancient world

we can understand them/their motives and intentions

who is diomedes

son of tydeus

frequent companion of odysseus in iliad

fierce fighter who attacks ares and aphrodite

who is ares also known as

mars in roman

what is mars/ares known for in rome

farming

what are ares' s area of concern

war

what are ares's attributes

sword and shield

historicism

human beings had fundamentally different ideas of how the world worked in the past

motives cannot always be understood

what is uruk

one of the first cities in sumer (iraq) or in history

home of temples of innana and anu

mythical home of gilgamesh

who is anu

known as sumerian an

king of gods

what are anu's area of concerns

sky and city of uruk

what are anu's attributes

horned crown and bull

intertextuality

literary device

creates an interrelationship between texts

generates meaning by inviting comparison between texts

build upon one another to create deeper meanings (ex. allusions, parodies, adaptations, retelling, etc)

who is orestes

son of agamemnon and clytemnestra

avenges his father by killing his mother

suffers punishment for killing his mother form the Furies

who is persephone

daugther of demeter and zeus

wife of hades

what are persephone's attributes

pomagranate, torch, and flowers

what are persephone's area of concerns

queen of underworld and vegetation

hesiod theogony

Prometheus chained to a column

Eagle will eat his liver every night

Liver was immortal so he would have to deal with the tortue everyday and not die

Freed by Hercules by killing the eagle

Did it with Zeus's permission

At a gathering with Zeus and other gods

Promethus divided an ox to 2 portions

1st portion → hid the meat and internal organs of the ox inside the belly of the ox

2nd portion → white fat that covered the bones of the ox

Prometheus makes Zeus choose one and tries to trick him

Zeus sees behind the trick and gets mad

He still chooses the portion with the bones

Gave the idea that mortals take the meat while gods will take the bones

Hid fire away from mankind because of Prometheus's trick with the ox

Prometheus stole the fire back

Zeus orders to create Pandora (all gift → all the gods gave her a gift)

Tells Hepaistos to create her from clay

Athena dresses her

Aphrodite puts a golden necklace on her

Messenger of god gives her voice

Pandora's beauty hides her deceptive and untrustworthy nature

Created as a trap for mankind

Argo-killer brings pandora to epimetheus

Prometheus told epimetheus to not accept a gift from zeus

Forgte and epimetheus accepts the gift

Pandora takes lid off and everything unleases

Diseases

Evil

Harsh labor

Only thing in the jar left was hope

Couldnt escape by the time pandora closes the jar

Hymn to Apollos (Hymn to Delos)

part 1: every fears apollo when he enters zeus's house

apolllo is born outside of zeus's marraige (did it with leto while zeus is married to juno/hera)

island of delo refuses leto since they feared that apollo will kick her out of her land

part 2: apollo seeks oracle site at srping of telphusa

nymph/telphus tricks him into moving going somewhere else by saying that the clatter of chariots and watering mules will disturb his sanctuary

went to crisa/below mount parnassus

he slays the dragoness/python and lets her rot under the sun

he returns to spring of telphusa and buries her stream since he realzied he was tricked

apollo takes the form of a dolphin and leaps on a merchant vessel/boat/ship

hijacks their course and makes them into his sanctuary priests

homer's iiliad

pandurus wounds diomedes with an arrow

athena helps diomedes and helps him by guiding his spear at pandarus

aeneas tries to protect/defend pandarus but aeneas's hop gets hit by diomedes

aphrodite defends for her son, aeneas, but she gets hit by diomedes spear

apollo catches aeneas and flees to take aeneas to his santuary

diomedes tries to strike at apollo but cannot since mortals are not equal to god

hera and athena aids the greeks sending diomedes' chariot to ares

areas get hit by diomedes's spear and goes to zeus

library of greek mythology

Acrisius learns from an oracle that his daughter, danae will have a son who will kill him

sends danae into a chamber

danae gets pregnant by zeus and gives birth to perseus

arcisius discovers she gave birth and locks her and perseus into a chest and sends it into the sea

chests washes ashore to seriphos

dictys, the fisherman, recues and takes care of them

dicty's brother, polydects falls in love with danae

convinces perseus to bring him the head of medusa

perseus tricks the graeae into revealing where the nymphs are

the nymphs give winged sandals, kibisis, cap of hades, and shield to perseus

perseus goes to ethiopia where andromeda is stuck to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster sent by poseidon as punishment for her father

perseus kills the monster and marries her

perseus returns home and turns polydects into a stone and makes dictys into king

epic of gilgamesh

gilgamesh tortures his subjects through harsh labor in uruk

citizens uruk pray to god for help

anu and arurur respond by creating enkidu into clay to bring peace to uruk

enkidu is brought to live with wild beast and then he meets shamhat who will satisfy his desires and teache shim how to be human warrior

enkidu and gilgamesh fight each other but recognize each others strength

they swear companionship and plan to defeat humbaba together

who is enkidu

wild man created from clay from aruru to rival Gilgamesh

becomes Gilgamesh's companion and aids him in defeating humbaba after being civilized by the Shamhat

who is leto

mother of apollo

who is gilgamesh

king of uruk

built walls of uruk

oppressive ruler who took people from their families

transformed after his friendship with enkidu

who is shamhat

"temple" woman who civilizes Enkidu

who is Odysseus

Son of Laertes

husband of Penelope

father of Telemachus

King of Ithaca

Greek hero who took ten years to return after the war

who is sisyphus

condemned to roll a rock up to the top of a mountain, only to have the rock roll back down to the bottom every time he reaches the top

Who is Agamemnon

the king of Mycenae who lead the Greeks against Troy in the Trojan War

Who is Kronos?

The king of the titans

father of Zeus, who is defeated by Zeus

Who is Ninsun

Gilgamesh's mother

Homer's odyssey

agamemnon reveals he was murdered on his way home by hiw wife and her lover

warns odysseus to not announce his return openly and to mistrust women

achilles talks about how odysseus would rather not be king

ajax refuses to speak to odysseus because of bitterness of losing to the contest for achillies armor

odysseus meets different wives who suffered many things which serves as a warning of what could go wrong when he returns

odysseus encounters many figures who are punished like sisyphus

odysseus meets the ghost of his mother who died from longin for his return

she tells him that his family is suffering

he returns home with the help of telemachus and athena in disguise where he slays the suitors in his palace, reunites with his wife, and restores order in his kingdom