Classical Mythology p2

What was Ancient Greece politically organized as

Independent city-states (not a unified nation).

Who was Hesiod, and when did he write

A Greek poet and farmer (late 700s BCE), author of Theogony and Works and Days.

What is the Theogony

A cosmogony (birth of cosmos) and theogony (birth of gods), earliest record of Greek creation myth.

Who was the first god in Hesiod’s Theogony

Chaos.

Who followed Chaos

Gaia (Earth), Eros (Love/Desire), Tartarus (Underworld).

What did Gaia and Ouranos produce together

12 Titans, 3 Cyclopes, 3 Hundred-Handers.

How did Kronos overthrow Ouranos

He castrated him with Gaia’s help.

From Ouranos’ blood and genitals came which beings

Aphrodite (sea foam), nymphs, giants, furies.

What did Kronos do to his children

Why

How was Zeus saved from Kronos

Rhea gave Kronos a rock to swallow; Zeus grew up in secret on Crete.

How did Zeus free his siblings

He tricked Kronos, who vomited them up fully grown.

What did the Cyclopes give Zeus

Thunder and lightning bolts.

What war did Zeus fight against the Titans

The Titanomachy (10 years). He won with help from the Hundred-Handers.

Who did Zeus defeat to become king after the Titans

Typhon.

Who was Ovid, and when did he write

A Roman poet (late 1st century BCE – early 1st CE), author of Metamorphoses.

What is the main theme of Metamorphoses

Transformations.

How does Ovid describe the beginning of the world

As chaos—an unordered mass of things.

Who created the world in Roman myth

An unnamed singular creator god.

How did this god bring order

Separated heaven, earth, sky; created harmony.

In what order were creations made

Earth & features → weather (winds, thunder, lightning) → animals → man.

From what was man created in Ovid’s cosmogony

The divine substance of the creator god.

Did Romans have a theogony like the Greeks

No, there’s no Roman equivalent to Hesiod’s Theogony.

Why is Roman myth less detailed about gods’ origins

They borrowed heavily from Greek myth and focused more on civic origin myths.

What does “etiology” mean in these myths

Explaining origins—of the world, gods, humans, rituals, weather.

What role does Chaos vs. Order play in Greek myth

Chaos exists first; order is needed for peace and stability.

What role does Chaos vs. Order play in Roman myth

Chaos transformed into harmony, enabling life.

What is the theme of succession in Greek myth

Sons overthrow fathers; strength matters more than age.

How is man viewed in Roman myth

As ruler over animals, uniquely able to look to the heave