Midterm Exam 1 - Classical Mythology

Allegorical Theory

Significance:

• myths should be interpreted as stories with hidden messages, where characters and events symbolize deeper concepts like natural forces, philosophical ideas, or moral values

Facts:

• Historical Allegory

• Natural Allegory

• Moral Allegory

James Fraser

Significance:

• Developed the ritual theory of myth (myths serve as explanations of religious rituals)

Facts:

• Scottish

• Anthropologist

• 1854-1938

Bronislaw Malinowski

Significance:

• Developed the social charter theory of myth (myths serve as justifications for historical, societal, or cultural realities)

Facts:

• Polish

• 1884-1942

• Anthropologist

Sigmund Freud

Significance:

• Developed a dream-based theory of myth (myths resemble dreams in that they reflect the repressed (often sexual) wishes of an individual and society)

Facts:

• Founder of psychoanalysis

• 1856-1939

• Created The Interpretation of Dreams

Carl Jung

Significance:

• Created the collective unconscious and archetypes (CU: the shared mental concepts of the human race, A: timeless and recurring events, figures, and motifs)

Facts:

• Swiss psychoanalyst

• 1875-1961

• Associate of Freud

Claude Lévi-Strauss

Significance:

• Developed a theory of myths based on the binary pairs that exist within myths (myths arise out of – and seek to reconcile – the binary pairs that make up reality)

Facts:

• 1908-2009

• French

• Anthropologist

Feminist Theory

Significance:

• Method of myth interpretation that grew out of the modern feminist movement

Facts:

• Maintains the myths reflects aspects of girls and women's lives and their place in society

• Focuses on power structures

• Focuses on female agency

Bronze Age

Significance:

• The first age in Greek history

Facts: Made up of the…

• Minoan civilization

• Mycenaean Civilization

• Trojan war

• 3000-1100 BC

Olympian religion

Significance:

• Revolves around the worship of the Olympian gods

Facts:

• Named after Mt. Olympus

• Basic principle was do ut des

• Performed rituals for favors from the gods

Chthonic religion

Significance:

• Based on the worship of supernatural powers on or beneath the earth

Facts: Based on…

• Heroes

• Ghosts

• Underworld gods/spirits

Mystery religion

Significance:

• Appealed to Greeks who desired a more personal connection to the divine than that offered in Olympian or Chthonic religion

Facts: Comprised of 3 major cults…

• The Eleusinian Mysteries

• The Dionysian Mysteries

• Orphism

Hesiod

Significance:

• Poet of the Archaic period

Facts:

• Wrote Theogony

• Wrote Works and Days

• Became a poet after being visited by the Muses on Mt. Helicon

Theogony

Significance:

• Creation of the world, gods, and mortals

Facts:

• A part of the divine succession myth

• Greek epic

• Part of the Creation of the World myth

The Divine Succession Myth

Significance:

• The story of the rise to power of Zeus and the Olympian gods

Facts:

• Focused on Uranus, Cronus, and Zeus

• Marriage of Gaea and Uranus

• There was a consistent theme of overthrowing their father's power

Chaos

Significance:

• First primordial deity

Facts:

• God of the primordial void

• He emerges 5 additional primordial deities

• He is represented as shapeless, representing the lack of order before creation

Gaea

Significance:

• Female primordial diety of earth and fertility

Facts:

• Child of Chaos

• Produces 3 more primordial deities

• Married Uranus (her son)

Uranus

Significance:

• Male primordial deity of sky and weather

Facts:

• Child of Gaea

• Father of Cronus

• Married Gaea

Titans

Significance:

• Children of Gaea and Uranus

Facts:

• Made up of 12 gods

• Cronus was the leader of them

• Their base was in Mt. Othrys

Cronus

Significance:

• Titan ruler of the universe

Facts:

• Youngest of the Titans

• God of the harvest

• Child of Gaea and Uranus

Rhea

Significance:

• One of the Titan children

Facts:

• Marries Cronus

• Child of Gaea and Uranus

• Mother goddess

Olympians

Significance:

• Children of Cronus and Rhea

Facts:

• Made up of 6 gods

• Children were saved from Rhea’s womb by Zeus

• Zeus was the leader

Titanomachy

Significance:

• Titans war against Olympians

Facts:

• Titans were punished by being cast into Tartarus

• Gaea helped the Olympians

• Stands for “Battle of the Titans”

Prometheus

Significance:

• One of the Titan children

Facts:

• God of fire

• Stands for “Forethought”

• Ally of Zeus in the Titanomachy

Pandora

Significance:

• First mortal woman

Facts:

• Wife of Epimetheus

• Stands for “All Gifts”

• Released evils on the world

The Five Ages Myth

Significance:

• Story about the decline of humankind from a blessed past to a miserable present

Facts:

• Made up of 5 ages and races:

• Heroic ends with Trojan war

• Golden age was peaceful

The Flood Myth

Significance:

• Story of the human race destruction

Facts:

• Common to cultures throughout the world

• Zeus turns Lycaon into a wolf

• There was the depopulation and repopulation of the world

Zeus

Significance:

• King of the Gods

Facts:

• Roman name = Jupiter

• Married Hera

• Son of Cronus and Rhea

• Spheres: sky, storms, law and order

Hera

Significance:  

• Queen of the Gods 

Facts: 

• Roman name = Juno 

• Married Zeus 

• Son of Cronus and Rhea 

• Spheres: women, marriage, childbirth

The Muses

Significance:  

• Goddesses of art/literature 

Facts: 

• Associated with Apollo 

• Children of Zeus and Mnemosyne 

• Zeus’ minor divine children 

The Fates

Significance:  

• Goddesses of destiny 

Facts: 

• Children of Zeus and Themis 

• Depicted as having power over the gods 

• Made up of 3 goddesses

Olympia

Significance:  

• Sanctuary of Zeus 

Facts: 

• Site of Olympic games 

• Home to the statue of Zeus 

• In Northwestern Peloponnese 

Dodona

Significance:  

• Sanctuary of Zeus 

Facts: 

• Site of Zeus’ oracle 

• Founded in the Bronze Age 

• In Epirus 

Hades

Significance:

• King of the underworld

Facts:

• Son of Cronus and Rhea

• Married to Persephone

• Spheres: underworld, the dead, wealth

Tartarus

Significance:

• The Hell-like part of the underworld

Facts:

• Home to the exceptionally bad

• Home of many famous mythological sinners

• Titans were sent here after the Titanomachy

Elysium

Significance:

• The Heaven-like part of the underworld

Facts:

• Home of the exceptionally good

• Closely associated with the Isles of the Blessed

• AKA Elysian Fields

Demeter

Significance:

• Goddess of Agriculture

Facts:

• Daughter of Cronus and Rhea

• Spheres: grain, harvest, fertility

• Mother of Persephone

Homeric Hymn to Demeter

Significance:

• Source of the Rape of Persephone

Facts:

• Demeter stops the harvest

• Genre: Greek hymns

• Written in the Archaic period

Persephone

Significance:

• Queen of the Underworld

Facts:

• Daughter of Zeus and Demeter

• Married to Hades

• Spheres: spring

Eleusis

Significance:

• The town where Demeter stayed

Facts:

• Site of worship for Demeter

• Site of Eleusinian mysteries

• Town in Attica

The Eleusinian Mysteries

Significance:

• Religious cult of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis

Facts:

• Consisted of two parts (Lesser and Greater Mysteries)

• 3 main characteristics (Universal admission, absolute secrecy, promise of a happy afterlife)

• The subject of major controversy among scholars owing to the secrecy of the cult

Poseidon

Significance:

• God of the Sea

Facts:

• Son of Cronus and Rhea

• Married to Amphitrite

• Spheres: sea, horses, earthquakes

Athena

Significance:

• Goddess of wisdom

Facts:

• Daughter of Zeus and Metis

• Spheres: wisdom, war, arts and crafts

• No spouse or children

Parthenon

Significance:

• Temple to Athena

Facts:

• Designed by Ictinus

• Located in Athens

• Statue of Athena Parthenos was designed by Pheidias

Hestia

Significance:

• Goddess of the hearth

Facts:

• Daughter of Cronus and Rhea

• No spouse nor children

• Spheres: hearth, home, family

Dionysus

Significance:

• God of wine

Facts:

• Son of Zeus and Semele

• Married to Ariadne

• Spheres: wine, vegetation, fertility, madness, theater

Euripides

Significance:

• Greek author

Facts:

• Wrote during the Classical period

• Born in Athens

• Died in Macedonia

Bacchae

Significance:

• Myth of Dionysus and Pentheus

Facts:

• Work from Euripides

• Greek tragedy

• Regarded as Euripides’ masterpiece

Pentheus

Significance:

• King of Thebes

Facts:

• Son of Agave and Echion

• Was killed by the Bacchae

• Refused to recognize Dionysus

The Dionysian Mysteries

Significance:

• Cult for Dionysus

Facts:

• Promoted spiritual self

• Open to everyone

• Popular with women

Apollo

Significance:

• God of prophecy

Facts:

• Son of Zeus and Leto

• No spouse

• Spheres: prophecy, sun, archery, medicine, poetry, music

Homeric Hymn to Apollo

Significance:

• Origin of Apollo

Facts:

• Written in the Archaic period

• Author is unknown

• Genre is Greek hymn

Asclepius

Significance:

• God of medicine

Facts:

• Son of Apollo and Coronis

• Worshipped at the sanctuary of Epidaurus

• Could bring the dead back to life

Delos

Significance:

• Birthplace of Apollo

Facts:

• Site of Delian games

• Established in the Archaic period

• A Cycladic island

Delphi

Significance:

• Sanctuary to Apollo

Facts:

• Site of Apollos oracle

• Site of Phythian games

• Located in central Greece

Artemis

Significance:

• Goddess of hunting

Facts:

• Daughter of Zeus and Leto

• Twin of Apollo

• No children nor spouse

• Spheres: hunting, wild animals, moon, virginity, childbirth

Aphrodite

Significance:

• Goddess of love

Facts:

• Daughter of Zeus and Dione OR Uranus’ castrated genitals

• Married to Hephaestus

• Spheres: love, sex, beauty

Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

Significance:

• Main source for the Aphrodite and Anchises myth

Facts:

• Anonymous author

• Genre: Greek hymn

• Written in the Archaic period

Anchises

Significance:

• Mortal that Aphrodite was tricked to sleep with

Facts:

• Father of Aeneas

• A Trojan prince

• Was in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

Eros/Cupid

Significance:

• God of love, passion, desire, and fertility

Facts:

• Carries a bow and arrow

• Depicted as a handsome young man

• Roman name stands for Desire

Ares

Significance:

• God of war

Facts:

• Son of Zeus and Hera

• No spouse

• Spheres: war, courage, bloodlust

Hephaestus

Significance:  

• God of Fire 

Facts: 

• Son of Zeus and Hera 

• Married to Aphrodite 

• No children 

• Spheres: fire, metalworking, technology, volcanoes  

Hermes

Significance:

• Messenger of the Gods

Facts:

• Son of Zeus and Maia

• No Spouse

• Spheres: trade, travel, herds, thievery, athletics

Homeric Hymn to Hermes

Significance:

• Main source for the Childhood of Hermes

Facts:

• Author is unknown

• Genre is Greek hymns

• Written in the Archaic period

Pan

Significance:

• God of the wild, shepherds, flocks, and rustic music

Facts:

• Half-human, half-goat

• Cause of “panic” in rustic and martial settings

• Invents the panpipe by fastening together the reeds that the nymph Syrinx is turned into after fleeing the god’s amorous advances

The Source: Theogony

• Author: Hesiod

• Date: c. 700 B.C. (Archaic Period)

• Genre: Greek epic

• Subject: creation of the world, gods, and mortals

• Myths: The Creation of the World, The Divine Succession, Prometheus, Pandora

• Characters: Zeus, Cronus, Gaia, Uranus, Prometheus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athene, Atlas, Cyclopes, Demeter, Erebos, Fates, Hades, Hephaistos, Hera, Heracles, Hermes, Hestia, Metis, Muses, Nyx, Pandora, Poseidon, Rhea, Styx, Tartarus, Themis, Titans

The Source: Hymn to Demeter

• Author: Unknown, Anonymous

• Date: Archaic Period

• Genre: Greek hymns

• Characters: Demeter, Hades, Persephone, Zeus, Helius, Hermes, Triptolemus

The Source: Hymn to Apollo

• Author: Anonymous, Unknown

• Date: Archaic Period

• Genre: Greek hymn

• Parts: Hymn to Delian Apollo and Hymn to Pythian Apollo

• Characters: Apollo, Leto, Artemis, Hera, Zeus, Athena, Hermes, Aphrodite

The Source: Hymn to Aphrodite

• Author: Unknown, Anonymous

• Date: Archaic Period

• Genre: Greek hymn

• Characters: Aphrodite, Anchises, Zeus, Athena, Artemis, Hestia, Aeneas, Adonis

The Source: Bacchae

• Author: Euripides

• Date: c. 405 B.C.; Classical period

• Genre: Greek tragedy

• Characters: Dionysus, Tiresia, Cadmus, Pentheus, Agave, Servant, First Messenger, Second Messenger, Bacchae

The Source: Republic

• Author: Plato

• Date: Classical Period

• Genre: Socratic dialogue

• Characters: Socrates, Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus, Adeimantus, Glaucon