Ancient Greek Religion Lecture Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the characteristics, mythology, major deities, and religious practices of Ancient Greek religion as described in the lecture transcript.

Polytheistic

A characteristic of ancient Greek religion meaning they worshipped many gods.

Immanent

The Greek understanding that gods are present in the human range of experience, inhabit earthly space, and interact with human beings.

Amoral

The nature of Greek gods who did not obey a moral code, were neither inherently good nor evil, and were driven by their own agendas and enjoyment.

Theogony

A genealogy of the gods, such as the one by Hesiod, which describes the emergence of gods through successive generations.

Chaos

Described by Hesiod as the "yawning void" that existed at the beginning of the world.

Gaia

The personification of earth who emerged from the yawning void and gave birth to Uranus.

Uranus

The personification of the heavens, born from Gaia, who was later castrated by his son Cronos.

Titans

The first generation of gods born from the union of Gaia and Uranus.

Cronos

A Titan who became king of the gods by castrating Uranus and was known for swallowing his children to prevent them from becoming rivals.

Zeus

The sixth child of Cronos and Rhea who escaped being swallowed, overthrew the Titans, and became king of the Olympian gods.

Colossus

A huge statue of a god located in the center of a Greek temple.

Poseidon

The brother of Zeus and god of the sea who carries a trident and rides in a chariot.

Hades

The brother of Zeus and the administrator of the underworld who kidnapped Persephone.

Persephone

The daughter of Demeter who must spend $\frac{1}{3}$ of the year in the underworld with Hades because she ate a pomegranate seed.

Demeter

The goddess of the earth whose grief over Persephone's absence causes fall and winter.

Hera

The queen of the gods and wife of Zeus who was seduced after Zeus disguised himself as a cold bird in a rainstorm.

Aphrodite

The goddess of beauty and love who emerged fully formed from the seafoam created by Uranus' genitalia.

Athena

The patron virgin goddess of Athens associated with war, wisdom, and the owl, who was born from Zeus' head.

Parthenon

The temple of Athena in Athens, named after the Greek word for "virgin."

Apollo

The god of music and light, twin brother of Artemis, who drove the chariot of the sun.

Artemis

The twin sister of Apollo and the untamed virgin goddess of the hunt and wild animals.

Hephaestus

The blacksmith god and son of Zeus and Hera who became lame after being thrown off Mt. Olympus by Zeus.

Ares

The god of war characterized by violence and passion, in contrast to Athena's rationality.

Hubris

Exaggerated pride on the part of humans, such as challenging the gods for supremacy or acting more important than they are.

Libation

A religious practice involving the pouring out of liquid to a god as a sign of respect.

Olympic Games

Athletic competitions that were originally part of a religious festival held every four years to honor Zeus at Olympus.

Oracle

A place where people went to hear the gods speak; derived from the word meaning "to speak."

Pythia

The priestess at the Oracle of Delphi who received prophecies from Apollo while inhaling vapors and sitting on a tripod.

Mystery Cults

Secret religious groups that provided worshippers with personal experiences and rituals reenacting a god's life during the waning years of Greco-Roman civilization.