Greek And Roman Mythology Study Guide 1

What is Zeus considered the god of?

The sky, kingship

What are Zeus’ attributed symbols?

Beards, eagles, and thunderbolts

What is Athena considered the goddess of?

Wisdom, war

What are Athena’s attributed symbols?

Helmets, owls

What was unique about Athena’s birth?

She was born from the head of Zeus.

What is Prometheus considered the god of?

Technology, Man

What were Prometheus’ attributed symbols?

Fire, eagles, caring for man

What did Prometheus do to Zeus?

He tricked him by sabotaging a sacrifice, resulting in Zeus embarrassing himself. He also stole fire from the gods and gave it to man.

What did Zeus do to Prometheus?

He locked him in chains and had a bird eat his infinitely regenerating liver.

What did Zeus do to man in response to Prometheus’ actions?

He, as well as the rest of the gods, created Pandora, who ended up opening Pandora’s box, which released evil into mankind.

What is Ares considered the god of?

War.

What was unique about Ares’ roman equivalence, Mars?

He was also the God Of Farming

What were Ares attributed symbols?

Sword, shield

What was Dionysus considered the god of?

Wine.

Who was Typhoeus?

An extremely powerful being who stood up to Zeus. Lost.

What happened in the battle between Zeus and Typhoeus?

Zeus defeated Typhoeus, and sent him to Tartarus.

Who was Typhoeus the child of?

Gaia and Tartaros

Who was referenced during the battle of Typhoeus and Zeus?

Hephaestus in reference to Typhoeus.

Who was Odysseus?

A Greek Hero who took ten years to return after the end of the Trojan War. Took down Polyphemus.

Who was Polyphemus?

A cyclops in the Odyssey who finds himself the enemy of Odysseus.

Who/what was Pandora?

A woman (theorized to be the first mortal woman) made of clay by the gods, who received a multitude of gifts from the gods. Of these gifts was a womb shaped box, that of which when opened, released evil into mankind. Her name means “all gifts”

What did Pandora “give” to humankind?

All evil, including sickness and death.

Who was Diomedes?

The son of Tydeus, a common companion of Odysseus and a fierce fighter. He has attacked gods too. He had Athena’ support.

What did Diomedes do?

He injured Aphrodite and took down multiple Trojans in the war between Greece and Troy.

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.

What is an observation?

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

What is historicism?

The idea that human beings had fundamentally different ideas of how the world worked in the past.

What is humanism?

The assumption that human beings were essentially the same in the ancient world as in the present.

Who was Friedrich Nietzche?

A man who lived from 1844 to 1900, who developed the concept of Dionysian and Apollonian in The Birth Of Tragedy. Claimed that tragedy was a unity of both concepts in one form.

Who was Milman Parry?

Lived from 1902 - 1935. Put forth the thesis that Homeric poetry is part of an older oral tradition. Studied under Antoine Meillet.

Who was Jacques Derrida?

A philosopher who lived from 1931 to 2004. Deconstructed the exchange of gifts by claiming that all gifts imply a return gift.

Who was Hesiod?

A poet who allegedly beat Homer in a battle. Questionable if he existed. The man behind the Theogony and the Works and Days.

Who was Homer?

The man behind the Illiad and the Odyssey.

What was one of the overarching issues regarding the interactions between Zeus and Prometheus?

It did not properly follow the gift giving system, in which a gift is supposed to be given and one is supposed to be returned.

Apollonian Principles (As created by Nietzche)

Harmony, progress, clarity, logic, and the principle of individudation.

Dionysian Principles (As created by Nietzche)

Disorder, intoxication, emotion, ecstasy, and unity.

What is Idealism?

The belief that categories exits “out there” independent of language and human beings. Can be referred to as “natural”

What is Textualism?

Because categories and mythic figures are constructed by language, it is better to try and understand said things as subject to limited change over time rather than imperfect copies of an idea. (What worked back then might not work now)

Who is Orestes?

The son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra

What did Orestes do?

He avenges his father by killing his mother. He is punished by the Furies.

Who is Python?

She is the original occupant of Delphi, and is the stepmother of Typhoeus, she is killed by Apollo. Daughter of Hera.

Who is Teiresias?

A Blind Prophet of Apollo who lived in Thebes. He tells Odysseus his journey home will be difficult.

Who is Agamemnon?

The King of Mycenae, he lead the Acheans during the Trojan war and was the father of Orestes. He is murdered by his wife’s lover.

Who is Elpenor?

One of the first spirits Odysseus talks to, he was the youngest of Odysseus’ crew. He passed on Circe’s island and asks Odysseus to bury and grieve for him.

Who is Metis?

The Goddess of Intelligence who was wed to Zeus, consumed by him.

Who is Epimetheus?

The brother of Prometheus and Pandora’s husband. Was responsible for giving creatures of the earth their qualities.

Who is Hera?

The queen of the gods and wife of Zeus, not the nicest of people.

What is Lydia?

A multilingual region which lived in what is now Turkey.

What is Mount Parnassus?

A mountain in central Greece that is cherished by both Apollo and Dionysus

What is Sicily?

A large island in the Italian peninsula, the setting of Odysseus vs Polyphemus.

What is Stolac?

A location near the ancient site of Daorson, Bosnia. There for at least 15k years.

What is Pithekoussai?

An 8th century Greek trading post, home of Greek and Phoenicians. Location of Nestor’s Cup.

What is Delphi?

The sanctuary of Apollo and site of the Delphic Oracle. The Homeric Hymn of Apollo is here.

What is Hephaestus considered the god of?

Metal, working, and fire.

What are Hephaestus’ attributes considered to be?

Hammers, tongs, and donkeys

What’s unique about Hephaestus?

He’s fatherless.

What is Apollo considered the god of?

Music, healing, and prophecy

What are Apollo’s attributes?

The Kithara, Bow, and Laurel

Who was Plato?

The creator of Idealism and founder of an academy. Follow of Socrates.

What occurred in the Theogony?

This reading piece introduced many characters, and told many of the stories including Prometheus’ story, the Typhonomachy, the Titanomachy, and Zeus’ birth.

What occurred in Works and Days?

This tells the story of Prometheus, Zeus, and Pandora.

What occurred in Iliad reading?

This reading covered a large fight in the Greek and Trojan War. We are introduced to characters like Diomedes, Odysseus, and select gods like Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, and Artemis. Diomedes, the largest character, wounds Aphrodite and stabs Ares. The Greeks win this battle.

What occurred in the first Odyssey reading?

This is the story of Odysseus and Polyphemus.

What occurs in Dionysus’ Homeric Hymn?

Dionysus is kidnapped by a gang of pirates, and after some time, reveals himself and wipes out the pirates, sans one who tried to free him.

What occurs in Apollo’s Homeric Hymn?

This Hymn tells the story of Apollo from his birth to the creation of his temple. He was born from Leto and Zeus. Leto searched for a place to give birth and decided on the island of Delos. After 9 days and nights of labor, she gives birth (Hera was jealous.) Apollo decides he wants to build and temple and first reached Telphusa, they refuse, and send him to Crisa. Python is there, and is killed by Apollo.

What happened in Odyssey’s second reading?

Odysseus travels to the underworld. He needs to speak to the spirits. Among the many he meets, a couple notable characters are Anticleia (his mother), Hercules, Achilles, along with a selection of popular women. Among the many he met there were also members of his army. The last group of people he sees are those who attempted to do the same as him, and how they prevailed or suffered for it.