Mythology Test 2 **

Theseus

National Hero of Athens, cousin of Hercules

euhemerism

the theory that gods and mythological figures were originally historical persons, with myths arising from the deification of these heroes after their deaths

Aegeus

Mortal man who is possibly Theseus father, descendant of Gaia and Hephaestus

Poseidon

possibly Theseus father

Aethra (of Troezen)

Mother of Theseus

Periphetes

the club bearer, he beats people up with his club, Theseus kills him and takes his club

Sinis

the pine bender, he would bend down a pine tree, tie his victim to the top and fling them to their death. Theseus does the same to him

Sow of Crommyon

'Phaea' a ferocious beast (pig or possibly ugly old woman) that was killed by Theseus

Sciron

force travellers to wash his feet, when they bent down he would push them over a cliff to be eaten by a giant turtle. Theseus kills him the way Sciron killed his enemies

Cercyon

a wrestler, forces passers-by to wrestle against him. Theseus wins a match against him

Procrustes

the stretcher, would make travellers lie in his bed, he would hammer/chop the traveller to fit the bed

Bull of Marathon

Same as the Cretan Bull from Hercules 7th labor. Drives the bull from Marathon back to Athens (basically also 7th labor of Theseus) but Theseus then sacrifices the bull

sword and sandals

tokens left under a large stone, test to see if Theseus is a true son of Aegeus

Medea

granddaughter of Helios, a sorceress from the east, now living in exile in Athens, "cures" Aegeus' childlessness with her magic; they have Medeus. After Theseus' return she schemes to get rid of him, Aegeus knocks the poison from Theseus' hand and Medea is banished

Daedalus

Inventive carpenter of Athens, Minos won't allow him to leave so he builds wings to allow his son and him to fly off the island

Icarus

clumsy son of Daedalus, warned not to fly too high or too low, Icarus flies too high and Icarus falls to his death

Perdix ('partridge')

clever nephew Talos who invents the first saw and compass, Daedalus gets mad and throws him off the roof. Athena takes pity on Talus and turns him into a bird so Daedalus must flee into exile

Minos

King of Crete, son of Zeus and judge of the underworld, asks Poseidon for a special sacrificial victim and Poseidon gifts him a bull. Minos keeps the bull and uses it to breed in his pastures.

Pasaphaë

Wife of Minos, to punish Minos, Pasiphaë lusts after the bull from Poseidon, so Daedalus is called on for help

hollow wooden cow

Daedalus builds this wooden cow to allow Pasiphaë to mate safely with the bull from Poseidon

Minotaur

son of the Cretan Bull/Bull of marathon and Pasiphae, defeated by Theseus

labyrinth at Knossos

Constructed by Daedalus to imprison the Minotaur

Minoan Civilization

Middle Bronze Age, civilization because of a large labyrinth like palace.

Panathenea

Set of Greek games, Androgeos competes despite not being Athenian.

Androgeos

Minos' son, who competes in the Panathenaea games, wins and is killed by jealous Athenians, prompting Minos to declare war.

Ariadne

Daughter of Minos, falls in love with Theseus and gives him a clew to help him out of the labyrinth; she is ultimately left behind by Theseus.

Corona Borealis

Dionysus throws his crown to the sky and creates a constellation that depicts a circle of stars.

Dionysus

Rescues Ariadne after falling in love with her.

black/white sail

Theseus must change the sail of his boat from Crete to white if he successfully defeats the Minotaur; he forgets to change the sail, causing his father to commit suicide.

synoecism

Means 'unification'.

Isthmian Games

Established by Theseus as king to take place near Corinth in honor of Poseidon.

Amazonomachy

Overlaps with the 9th labor of Hercules, war against the Amazons.

Amazons

Tribe of female warriors in northern Asia Minor descended from Ares.

Antiope

An Amazon woman captured by Theseus, ends up bearing him a son, Hippolytus.

Hippolytus

Son of Theseus and Amazon woman Antiope, devoted to Artemis and punished by Aphrodite by making his stepmother fall in love with him.

Phaedra

In love with Hippolytus, commits suicide blaming Theseus for seducing her when it is the opposite; this causes Theseus to want Hippolytus dead.

Lapiths and Centaurs

Lapiths are a Greek tribe in Thessaly, King was Ixion; grandchildren of Ixion are the Centaurs, who get drunk and steal the bride at the wedding of Pirithous.

Pirithous

Being wedded to Hippodamia, King of Lapiths.

Hippodamia

Being wedded to Pirithous, abducted by the Centaurs; rescued but dies of childbirth early in marriage.

Cenauromachy

Battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths, which Theseus fights in on behalf of the Lapiths, in front of the temple of Zeus in Olympia.

Helen of Sparta

Pirithous and Theseus help each other find a wife; Theseus wins Helen and they kidnap her, then go to the underworld to kidnap Persephone and get stuck in iron chairs.

Meleager

Raises a hunting party to kill the Calydonian boar, successfully kills it, and falls in love with Atalanta.

Althaea

Queen of Calydon, mother of Hercules' 2nd wife; kills her son Meleager for killing his two uncles and then commits suicide.

burning brand

During birth, the fates say that when a log burns through, Meleager will die.

Calydonian Boar

Sent by Diana because King Oeneus forgets to sacrifice to her.

Atalanta

Exposed at birth by her father, rescued by a bear sent by Diana, becomes a great hunter known for her running speed, first to wound the boar.

Hippomenes

Descendant of Neptune, falls in love with Atalanta and wins a race against her; he and Atalanta are turned into lions for not thanking Venus.

golden apples

Before the challenge, Hippomenes asks for help from Venus, who gifts him golden apples that will divert Atalanta.

chthonic

'underground'

Hades

Pluto ( = Dis which means wealthy): King of the Underworld, lowk associated w agriculture and the cornucopia

Persephone

(= Korê) Hades' niece who is abducted by Hades to become his wife, she eats food in the underworld so she must return every winter. Demeter gets sad and things stop growing which explains the agricultural cycle. Virgo: commemorates persephone

Erebus

'darkness': forecourt, where a soul arrives in the underworld

Tartarus

place of punishment in the underworld

Elysium

pleasant part of the underworld, for good people

Inferno

'below': now relates to fire

Styx

(oaths): river in the underworld that can be sworn on, if oath is broken a god dies for a year

Acheron

(boundary): river that must be crossed as new souls arrive in the underworld

Cocytus

lament

Phlegethon

(fire): river made of fire, hell

Lethe

'oblivion': people believed if you drank from it, you could be reincarnated and forget your past life

Minos

King of Crete, judge of the underworld

Rhadamanthus

brother of minos, tutor of hercules, judge of the underworld

Aeacus

son of zeus, judge of the underworld

Cerberus

3 headed watchdog of the underworld, son of Medusa

Charon

ferryman who takes newly arrived souls across the river acheron, Charon demands payment, so corpses were buried with a coin in their mouth

Furies

(= Erinyes): agents of punishment who carry snakes, torches, cains and whips (Alecto. Megaera, Tisiphone)

Thanatos

figure symbolizing death

Orcus

roman name for the god of death

Hypnos

(= Somnus): figure symbolizing sleep

Morpheus

(Dream): God of dreams, son of hypnos

Tityos

(liver): tries to rape Leto, Liver(seat of lust)is eaten by vultures

Tantalus

(river): mortal who stole ambrosia and nectar from gods, revealed secrets of Zeus, killed and cooked his son and offered the human flesh as food for the gods. Suffers from hunger and thirst

Sisyphus

(stone): mistreated guests and fought w his brother, revealed a seduction of zeus. Forced to roll a great stone over and over again up a steep hill

Ixion

(fiery wheel): lusts after Hera so Zeus sets a trap(makes cloud that looks like her). Forced to spin on a fiery wheel

Belidae/Danaids

(sieves): 50 daughters of belus, told by their father to murder their husbands on their wedding night. Try to carry water in leaky vessels

Orpheus

Son of calliope and apollo, he is a musician. When he sang in the underworld, activity stopped because of his powerful music. Often seen with a lyre, invented by Hermes to show he is a musician. Orpheus is later killed by ciconian women

Lyra

Constellation to commemorate orpheus

Eurydice

Wife and lover of Orpheus, a dryad. Day of her wedding she is bitten by a snake and dies.

Taboo

Orpheus wins her back from the underworld, but he can't turn and look at her until they are out of the underworld.

Hymen

God of wedding feast/ceremony (he carries a torch). Son of Aphrodite and Dionysus. Saffron colored clothes.

Wedding torch

Ancient Rome used torch lit procession escorting the bride from her father's house to her new husband's house.

Orphism

Cult arose surrounding him, focuses on life death and reincarnation. Based on poems attributed to Orpheus, focused on spiritual advancement through purification. Underworld is temporary leading to reincarnation.

Myth of Er

Myth used in the cult about a soldier who is killed, comes back to life then tells about life after death.

Metempsychosis

(= 'change of soul') the human body is a prison of the soul.

Dream of Scipio

Cicero provides an account of a dream of conversation between an elder and his grandson. Elder explains the structure of the universe.

Music of the Spheres

Music produced as the crystalline spheres rotate.

3 Fates (Moirai, Parcae)

Set the crystal spheres spinning to produce the music of the spheres, they also determine the length of one's life based off the length of a certain thread.

Aeneas

Hero of the Aeneid, he is instructed to escape from Troy during the Trojan War. Stays in Carthage with Queen Dido.

Cumae

Ancient Greek colony where there is an entrance to the underworld.

the Sibyl

Priestess of Apollo, she predicts a coming war in Italy, Aeneas asks for escort into the underworld to find his dead father.

golden bough

A branch Aeneas must find in order to go into the underworld.

Anchises

Father of Aeneas (also the name of Aeneas' son), dies after voyage to the west.

twin gates of sleep

(in legend of Homer) One gate is made of Horn (an easy exit for those who are dead) and the gate of Ivory (exit for false dreams).

Alcestis (by Euripides)

A man finds a substitute to die in his place, hero defeats death and restores someone to life.

Admetus

Son of Pheres, married to Alcestis, forgot to sacrifice to Artemis, he must find someone to die in his place so he can continue to live, and Alcestis does so. Hercules then battles Hades to bring her back.

Apollo

Worked as a servant to Admetus, Apollo kills cyclopes so Zeus makes him a servant to a mortal man. Symbolizes light, contrasts the darkness associated with death.

Asclepius

Son of Apollo, god of medicine.

Ophiuchus

Constellation remembering Asclepius.

Hercules

Fights the figure of death for Alcestis, arrives during his 8th labor (mares of Diomedes), he asks for xenia. Gets drunk and is very disorderly (feels awful when he finds out Alcestis is the one who has died).

Xenia

'Hospitality', Admetus pressures Hercules into staying with him, hides the fact that his wife is the one who has just died.