AP LIT MYTHICAL ALLUSIONS

Janus

Two-faced god of doors, choices, beginnings, and endings.

Poseidon/Neptune

god of sea

Zeus/Jupiter

the chief of the gods who defeated the Titans to assume leadership of the universe. Weakness for mortal women

Hera/Juno

protected marriage, wife of Zeus. Known for her jealousy and animosity toward mortal women whom Zeus fell in love with

Apollo

god of poetry, prophecy, medicine, and light. represents all aspects of civilization and order.

Athena/Minerva

Goddess of wisdom, sprang from Zeus’s forehead

Prometheus

created man from clay and stole fire for human use. As punishment for his rebelliousness, Prometheus was sentenced to eternal torment by Zeus. 

Aphrodite/Venus

goddess of love and beauty, mother or Eros and Aeneas. Born from foam of the sea

Orpheus and Eurydice

get married but Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies. Orpheus travels to the underworld to save her but told they cannot look at each other as they return to the upper world

Daedalus and Icarus

Icarus is the son of Daedalus who died tragically while using artificial wings invented by his father to escape from the Labyrinth.

Hades

underworld

Hermes/Mercury

messenger God, traveled with great swiftness

Perseus

hero who killed Medusa

Medusa

A Gorgon- when people looked at her they would turn to stone

Odysseus, Penelope

Odysseus: Greek hero in trojan war, wandered for 10 years trying to return home. Penelope: his loyal wife

Oedipus 

a tragic king who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother

Hercules

god of strength and heroes

The Graces, The Muses, The Moirae

3 sister goddesses who preside over the birth, life, and death of men.

Persephone and Demeter

Hades falls in love with persephone, Demeters daughter, and brings her to the underworld.

Lucifer

fell from heaven to become the devil, one of Gods favorite angels

Judas

betrayed Jesus

Cain

kills his brother Abel

Job

suffers greatly but remains faithful

jonah

brings bad luck

Goliath

a giant slain by David in Gath

Good Samaritan

someone who helps another

scapegoat

someone who takes the blame for others