CLCV115 Exam #1

Early Civilizations and Hesiod's Theogony

Paleolithic (40000 - 12500 BC)

Old Stone Age

Mesolithic (12500 - 8500 BC)

Middle Stone Age

Neolithic (8500-3000 BC)

New Stone Age

Hominids

Lived in the paleolithic era, were hunters and gatherers in nature with limited weaponry

Anthropomorphic

seeing gods in human form

The Great Goddess

The overarching religious figure in many ancient civilizations that was typically seen as a “mother earth” in a matriarchal religion

Venus Figurines

Used to represent the great goddess —> usually a very round, curvy woman that stood for fertility and health

Animism

no separation between the spiritual and physical world: there were spirits in all parts of nature

Mesolithic Era

lived in settlements during this era —> huts, fishing, stone weapons

Neolithic Era

discovered farming in this era, worshipped the great goddess for fertility

Fertile Crescent

An extremely fertile region between two rivers (Mesopotamia), where many civilizations began to farm and domesticate animals

Jericho

First settlement to start building walls

Gynomorphic

typically represents female characteristics/ body types

theriomorphic

being depicted in the shape/with characteristics of an animal

polytheism

worshipping multiple gods/goddesses

monotheism

worshipping one god/goddess

parthenogenetic

belief for how the gods reproduced —> only need an egg no fertilization required

Bucrania

cow heads shrine

Hacilar Pottery

invented in 6000 BC to hold animals from liquid
considered “indestructible” because archaeologists could find it centuries later

Trade

used to exchange objects and ideas (aka how myths were passed betweencultures)

Hacilar Goddesses

anthropomorphic representations of goddesses

Neolithic figurines

big body, small limbs, no face

gimbutas

gynomorphic shrines and temples from catalhoyuk

canals

used as irrigation systems to grow crops

Tigris and Euphrates River

the two rivers that surrounded the fertile crescent and helped mesopotamia flourish with farmland

Sumer

First mesopotamians, developed a writing system

Shamash, Ishtar

Sumerian sun god and fertility goddess

cuneiform

a style of writing where sybols were written on clay and baked— preserves itself for a long time

Ziggurat

Mesopotamian temple made from mud bricks, different levels to wroship different gods

Egyptians

The Hamaitic race that lived near the Nile river and had a polytheistic culture

Pyramids

used as tombs, put on the west side of the nile because it represented death

Horus, ra, isis, amun

Egyptian Sun GOds

Hellas

Mainland greeks who were in the Helladic area

Cyclades and Cretians

Greeks who lived off the Cycladic Islands and in the island of Crete

House of the Tiles

lots of loops, stairways and multiple stories in greek architecutre

law codes

a set of laws typically handed to the ruler by the gods for how to run the civilization

Babylonians

lived in Mesopotamic area but not inside the crescent

Flood Myth Tablets

Cuneiform writing for the Babylonians, also survived for centuries

Marduk

Chief god worshipped in Babylon —> found lots of proof of him in art/writing

Minoans

lived in Crete off mainland Greece, and named after King Minos

Olives abd grapes

main sources of income for Crete, made the Minoans very wealthy

Dikte Cave

the place where Zeus was taken to hide from his father

Lustral Basin/Adyton

manmade caves to represent the labyrinth in Eileithyia cave

Knossos

Multistory building using trees as columns

toreador frescos

the second part means “paintings” and these were paintings of bulls who were very important in Minoan Culture

Horn of Consecration

looks like a bull horn and symbolizes the horizon —> looks like a U shae=pe

Mount Iuktas

south of knossos, contains cave of the winds where human sacrifice occurs

Phoenician Alphabet

created by Ugarit and Phoenicians to help slaves be able to read

Phoenicians

maritime expert that sailed everywhere, interacted with all the islands of Greece, and set up a colony in Carthage. Also ended up at England to get tin to make bronze

Temple of Ba’al

major temple meant to honor the main god of the Phoenicians and Ugarits

Mycenae

a citadel in Greece that had armed walls and a strong military built into the mountain

Mycenean Tholos

inspired by Egyptian pyramids when the Myceneans went to fight for the Egyptians in a war

Troy

Modern country of turkey, also known as Anatolia and Asia Minor, controlled by the Hittites and worshipped a major god Teshub

Bronze Age Collapse

happened due to economics, trade, and the discovery of a new type of metal (iron)/Also because of the trojan war and Battle of Kadesh—> too many deaths and no winners

Iron Age (1200-900 BCE)

an era where iron was used as a replacement for the previous tools of bronze and stone

Geometric Period (900-700 BCE)

characterized by a bunch of artwork with geometric patterns, and where greek myths began becoming apparent through artwork

Theogony

means “birth of the gods” theo = god, gon/gen = birth, creation

9 muses

daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, goddesses of the art

Chaos

existence of outerspace/the cosmos , also the first goddess

Gaia

represents the earth/ground, also the second goddess

Tartarus

the “anti-earth” aka hell god

Eros

god of love, helps hold Gaia, Chaos and Tartarus together

Erebos

born from Chaos through parthenogenesis, god of darkness

Night

god of the night, birthed Day and Aether (brightness)

Uranus (ouranos)

god of the sky, born from Gaia. Later mated with Gaia to create the titans and more

Pontus

god of the sea, born from Gaia

Titans

12 of them were born from Gaia and Ouranos mating

Oceanus

a titan who mythically created fresh water rivers, later mated with Tethys

Iapetos

a titan who birthed atlas, prometheus, and epimetheus

Rhea

a titan that mated with Kronos to create the Olympians

Kronos

a titan of time that mated withRhea to create the 12 olympians —> tried to kill all his children afterwards and wasn’t able to get Zeus

Tethys

a titan that mated with Oceanus to create the river Styx along with oceans and rivers

Aphrodite

created from the catastration of Ouranos by his son Kronos, his members fell into the sea and mixed with the ocean foam to create her

The furies (Erinyes)

created from the blood of Ouranos catastration

Discord (Eris)

created from Night, he creates hardships such as Lethe(forgetfulness) and Ate(blindness/naivety)

The Fates (moirai)

Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos, who draw out the string of your life and cut it where it ends

Nereids

created from the son of Pontus, who also created sea monster (Ceto)

Helos, Selene, Eos

GOds of sun, moon and dawn

Zephyr and Boreas

born from Eos and are gods of the wind

Zeus

son of Kronos, the only son that doesn’t get eaten by him, is hidden away until he grows up where he then wages a war on his father for control of olympus

Titanomachy

the giant battle in which Zeus overthrows Kronos