UIUC CLCV 115 EXAM 2

Mt. Olympus

Highest mountain in Greece; home of the 12 Olympians

Ambrosia

Food of the Greek gods; gives immortality

Nectar

Drink of the gods

Ichor

Golden fluid that is the blood of the gods/immortals

Pantheon

A temple of all gods (dedicated to all deities - example: Pantheon of Rome)

Pan - all; theos - god

Omnipotent

Quality of having unlimited power

Omniscient

Capacity to know everything that there is to know

12 Olympian Gods are NOT

Omnipotent and omniscient (have limitations; Zeus most powerful)

Metamorphosis

Transformation; Gods can often change their shape (example: Zeus as golden shower/bull; Athena as boy)

Dyaus

Indo-European parallel to Zeus; term for storm/sky god

Storm god

Deity that is associated with thunder, lightning, rain, wind; usually the head of the pantheon; example: Zeus

Argive Heraion

Ancient temple in Argos, Greece; greatest sanctuary dedicated to Hera (Hera is a protector of Argos); Cleobis and Biton died getting there

Eileithyia

Greek goddess of childbirth (divine helper of women in labor; like a midwife); daughter of Zeus and Hera; Hera prevents Eileithyia from helping Leto go into labor with Artemis and Apollo (because Zeus was the father)

Hebe

Goddess of youth (power to give eternal youth); daughter of Zeus and Hera; cupbearer for gods and goddesses (serving nectar and ambrosia) until married Hercules and Ganymede became the cupbearer

Kanathos

Where Hera annually renews her viriginity

Thalassa

Ancient sea goddess; she gave birth to Aphrodite when Cronus threw Uranus's genitalia into the sea; counterparts = Tethys or Amphitrite (wife of Poseidon)

Mt. Helicon

Mountain in Greece; two springs sacred to the Muses located here; Hippocrene spring created when Pegasus struck the rock with his hooves

Pegasus

Winged horse; fathered by Poseidon and born from Medusa

Hippocrene

Spring on Mt. Helicon; sacred to the Muses and formed by the hooves of Pegasus; translates to "Horse's Fountain"

Persephone

Daughter of Zeus and Demeter; queen of the underworld (abducted by Hades); personification of vegetation (shoots forth in spring and withdraws into the earth after harvest); associated with spring

Telesterion

Center devoted to Demeter and Persephone; initiation ceremonies here were the most sacred and ancient of all religious rites (Eleusinian Mysteries)

Triptolemus

Son of King Celeus; while Demeter was searching for Persephone, she nursed a sick Triptolemus with her breast milk, which healed him and turned him into an adult. Demeter taught Triptolemus the art of agriculture and he taught agriculture to the rest of Greece

Eternal return

Story of the abduction of Persephone; period when Demeter is mourning the loss of her daughter; explanation for the seasons

Hyperboreans

Mythical people who lived beyond the North Wind (Boreas); region north of Thrace; land was perfect with sun shining 24 hours a day (example: Arctic Circle); Apollo spent his winter among the Hyperboreans

Ephebe

An adolescent male (example: Apollo)

Potnia theron

Used to describe female divinities associated with animals; Potnia = mistress, lady; refers to Artemis

Leto

Mother of Apollo and Artemis; Hera shunned Leto from all lands to give birth on because she was jealous (Zeus was the father), Leto eventually gives birth on an island

Mt. Cynthus

On the island of Delos where Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis

Metis

An Oceanid and first great spouse of Zeus; mother of Athena; was swallowed by Zeus and Athena was born from Zeus's head

Xoanon

Simple, carved image of Ancient Greece; made from stone or wood

Erechtheion

Ancient Greek temple in Athens, Greece; dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon; contains the Palladion, a xoanon of Athena

Parthenon

Temple in Athens, Greece dedicated to Athena

Aegis

Carried by Athena and Zeus; a shield sometimes bearing the head of Gorgon (Medusa)

Gorgoneion

Special amulet showing Gorgon head; most famously used by Athena and Zeus

Apotropaic

Type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil; most widely used image intended to avert evil in Ancient Greece was the Gorgon

Hearth

Brick or stone lined fireplace, used for heating and cooking; central part of the home; Hestia is the goddess of the hearth

Megaron

Great hall of the Grecian palace complexes; rectangular hall with a porch and central open hearth; many rooms around the central Megaron

Pylos

Town in Greece where Nestor (from Iliad) was King.

Herm

"Pile of stones"; A representation of Hermes showing his head atop a pillar with genitalia added; herms placed at boundaries and thresholds as ritual guardians

Arcadia

Where Hermes was born - Mt. Cyllene; one of the oldest places of worship for Hermes

Pleiades

7 nymphs of Artemis; Maia (eldest) was mother of Hermes by Zeus

Hermes = trickster god

Exhibits a great degree of intellect and secret knowledge; uses it to play tricks or disobey normal rules and behavior

Dione

An Oceanid/water-nymph; Mother of Aphrodite with Zeus

Dionysus = Vegetation god

Disappearance and reappearance (death/rebirth) embodies the growth cycle of plants

Mystery cult

Religious schools for which participation was reserved to initiates; associated with secrecy and ritual practice; Example: Dionysian Mysteries = ritual which use intoxicants (wine) and trance-inducing techniques

Maenad

Female followers of Dionysus; portrayed in a state of ecstatic frenzy (dancing, intoxication)

Sparagmos

Act of tearing apart a living animal or human for sacrifice; associated with Maenads (followers of Dionysus)

Omophagy

Eating of raw flesh; importance in cult worship of Dionysus

Satyr

Ithypahallic (permanent erection) male companion of Dionysus with horse like features (tail, ears); carefree, lovers of wine and women (maenads)

Silenus

Companion to Dionysus; older than the satyrs; usually drunk and carried by satyrs

Bacchus

Roman name for Dionysus

Thyrsus

Wand or staff covered with ivy vines and leaves, topped with a pine cone; associated with Dionysus and his followers (Satyrs, Maenads); representing fertility (shaft and pine cone-seed)

Syncretism

Combining of different beliefs

Euhemerism

Mythological accounts are presumed to have originated from real historical events

Allegory

Literary device = an extended metaphor

Panhellenic festival (games)

Four separate sport festivals in ancient Greece (Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, Isthmian Games); cycle of one each year; main events = chariot racing, wrestling, long jump)

Olympic Games

Series of athletic competitions in Ancient Greece (one of the Panhellenic Games); held in honor of Zeus; 776 BC

Panathenaic Games

Held ever four years in Athens in Ancient Greece; incorporated religious festival, ceremony (peplos and sacrifice for Athena), and athletic competition; included poetic and musical competitions; staged in a stadium

Votive

One or more objects in sacred place for religious purposes; made in order to gain favor with supernatural forces

Cult

Religious group with socially deviant beliefs and practices

Attribute

Characteristic of a god; something they hold, wear, or is near them to identify them by

Epithet

A descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage; glorified nickname (example: Apollo, "leader of the Muses")

Invoke

Form of prayer

Demigod

Divine being who attained divine status after death, is a minor deity, or is a mortal who is the offspring of a god and a human

Iconography

Production of religious images called "icons"

Apollo Belvedere

Marble sculpture of Apollo with a bow and arrow after just killing Python

Orientation

Position of a building with respect to the sun

Pediment

Found in Greek temples (Parthenon); a triangular shape supported by columns

Pergamon Altar

Shows the battle between the Giants and Olympian gods (Gigantomachy)

Orion

Constellation named after Greek hunter Orion, born to a Gorgon and Poseidon; constellations of Scorpius and Orion are never in sky at same time

Hecate

Goddess who assisted Demeter in her search for Persephone

Asclepius

God of medicine; one of Apollo's sons; snake-entwined staff = symbols of medicine

Hades

God of the Underworld

Cereberus

Three-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld

Styx

A deity and river that formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld

Acheron

River of "woe" in the Underworld, newly dead would be ferried across the Acheron by Charon to enter the Underworld

Charon

Ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly decreased across the rivers Styx and Acheron; needed a coin to pay Charon for passage; those who could not pay or whose bodies were left unburied, had to wander the shores for 100 years

Virgil's Aeneid

Epic poem that tells the story of Aeneas (Trojan hero, son of Aphrodite) who became the ancestor of the Romans

Sibyl of Cumae

Deiphobe; Priestess presiding over the Apollo oracle at Cumae; in Virgil's Aeneid, escorted Aeneas to the underworld

Golden Bough

One tale in Aeneid when Aeneas goes to the Underworld; must obtain a bough of gold to give as a gift to Persephone

Avernus

A crater that was believed to be the entrance to the Underworld (in Aeneid)

Katabasis

A trip to the Underworld (example: when Orpheus enters the Underworld to bring Eurydice back)

Minos

King of Crete, son of Zeus. Became one of the 3 judges of the dead in the Underworld

Aecus

King of Aegina, son of Zeus; became one of the 3 judges in the Underworld

Rhadamanthus

King and son of Zeus; became one of the 3 judges of the Underworld

Tartarus

Used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked; souls were judged here after death and the worst received punishment

Tantalus

Eternal punishment in Tartarus; made to stand in pool of water beneath a fruit tree; the fruit always out of reach and the water receding before he could take a drink

Sisyphus

Punished in Tartarus by having to roll a huge boulder up a hill only to watch it roll back down; had to repeat this for eternity

Tityus

Son of Zeus; attempted to rape Leto so was placed in Tartarus where two vultures fed on his liver that grew back every night (compare to Prometheus)

Ixion

For lusting after Hera, bound to a burning solar wheel for all eternity in Tartarus

Danaids

50 daughters of Danaus; all but one of them killed their husbands on their wedding night so condemned to spend eternity carrying water in a perforate device (futility of a repetitive task that can never be completed, like Sisyphus)

Elysian Fields

Afterlife that was reserved for mortals related to the gods and other heroes; a blessed and happy life

Isles of the Blessed

Paradise inhabited by the heroes of Greek mythology; reserved for those who had chosen to be reincarnated 3 times and managed to be judges as pure enough to enter the Elysian Fields all 3 times

Typhoeus

Most fearsome monster, last son of Gaia and fathered by Tartarus; father to many monsters