Greek Mythology

ZEUS

god of sky; ruler of all; god of the thunderbolt; bird is the eagle

Jupiter

Zeus

HERA

goddess of marriage; often punishes Zeus's mistresses; bird is the peacock; animal is the cow

ARTEMIS

goddess of the moon; twin sister of Apollo; goddess of the hunt and animals

ARES

god of war; son of Zeus & Hera; animal is the dog; bird is the vulture

DIONYSUS

god of wine and the vine; god of the theater

HADES

god of the underworld; god of wealth; has a helmet of invisibility

HESTIA

goddess of the hearth & the home

ATHENA

goddess of justified war, wisdom & strategy; daughter of Zeus alone (no mother); bird is the owl; carries the aegis

HEPHAESTUS

blacksmith; craftsman; ugly & lame; god of fire & forge; married to Aphrodite; makes armor for the gods; works under a volcano

POSEIDON

god of earthquakes; god of the sea; violent temper; carries the trident

HERMES

messenger god; master thief; leads the dead to the underworld

APOLLO

god of the sun, medicine, music, poetry & truth

APHRODITE

goddess of love and beauty; born from sea foam; married to Hephaestus

DEMETER

goddess of the harvest; agriculture; her sadness caused the seasons

PERSEPHONE

wife of Hades; queen of underworld; daughter of Demeter

AMBROSIA

food of the gods

NECTAR

drink of the gods

MT. OLYMPUS

place where the gods live

vengeance

a punishment in return for an offense

metamorphosis

marvelous transformation

conflict

struggle between opposing forces

plot

series of events in a story

epic

long poem telling of the deeds of a hero and often centering on the ideals of a nation or culture

protagonist

main character in the story

theme

the truth about life revealed in a work; the message; main idea of poem or story

Myths explain...

history; creation of world; natural phenomena (events like hurricanes and tornadoes that cause natural disasters)

Myths purpose

share people's hopes and fears; story form to share religion; teach lessons/morals

antagonist

main force/person opposing main character in the story

Achilles

great warrior (half god) recruited to fight against Troy

Cyclopes

race of one-eyed giant shepherds

Styx

river of the dead

Odysseus

King of Ithaca; enlisted to fight the Trojans to retrieve Helen; hero of the epic tale The Odyssey

Lotus-Eaters

strange land with intoxicating flowers; makes Odysseus' men forget about home

Centaurs

The creatures who were half horse and half man

Cerberus

3-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades

Charybdis

a dangerous whirlpool personified as a female sea monster

Chimera

a fantasy; a horrible creature of the imagination

Furies

three terrible spirits who punish those whose crimes have not been avenged

Griffins

mythical beasts with the head and wings of an eagle and bodies of a lion

Harpies

An evil mythical monster with the head and body of a woman and the tail, wings, and talons of a bird

Hydra

the nine-headed serpent slain by Hercules; a persistent or many-sided problem that presents new obstacles as soon as old ones are solved

Minotaur

(Greek mythology) a mythical monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man

Pagasus

winged horse

Satyrs

Half man half goat

Scylla

Six headed monster

Sirens

sea nymphs who lured sailors to destruction with their songs

Typhon

(Greek mythology) a monster with a hundred heads and one of the whirlwinds