Greek Mythology, Epic Poetry, and Heroic Cults

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering ancient Greek mythology, the Trojan War cycle, Homeric epic poetry, Euripidean tragedy, archaeological concepts, and hero cult worship.

Heracles

A Greek hero whose name means "Glory of Hera" (hera + kleos), son of Zeus and Alcmene, identified by his lion skin and club, and known for his twelve labors, immense excess, and killing his music teacher Linus.

Heracles Mainomenos

A tragedy by Euripides (also known as "Heracles Gone Mad") in which Heracles returns from his labors, kills King Lycus of Thebes, and ends up killing his own wife and children.

Theseus

The son of King Aegeus of Athens (and Poseidon) and Aethra, who retrieved his father's sword and sandals from beneath a massive boulder in Troezen and chose the dangerous overland route to Athens.

Agamemnon

The Mycenaean king who sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to Artemis for wind, seized Achilles' war prize Briseis, and was murdered upon his return home by his wife Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.

Menelaus

The husband of Helen and King of Sparta who traveled to Egypt to retrieve Helen, became stranded there, and sacrificed two Egyptian children to secure passage home.

Iphigenia

The daughter of Agamemnon who was sacrificed by her father to the goddess Artemis at Aulis to obtain wind for the Greek fleet sailing to Troy.

Demodocus

A blind bard blessed by the Muse with sweet music who sings the story of the Trojan horse for Odysseus.

Polyxena

A Trojan princess, daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, who was sacrificed on the tomb of Achilles by his son Neoptolemus after the ghost of Achilles demanded her for safe Greek passage home.

Hecuba

The Queen of Troy, wife of King Priam, and mother of Hector, Paris, and Polyxena, who was enslaved to Odysseus following the fall of Troy.

Aegisthus

The lover of Clytemnestra who conspired with her to murder Agamemnon upon his return from Troy and seized the throne to rule Mycenae.

Proteus

The King of Memphis in Egypt and an all-knowing sea god with seals who arrested Paris, kept Helen in Egypt, and told Menelaus to sacrifice a hecatomb to return home.

Orestes

The son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra who was commanded by Apollo to return to Mycenae and avenge his father by killing Aegisthus and his mother.

Achilles

The son of Thetis and Peleus, leader of the Myrmidons from Phthia, and greatest Greek warrior at Troy who killed the Amazon Penthesilea and avenged Patroclus by slaying Hector.

Odysseus

The King of Ithaca, husband of Penelope, and architect of the Trojan Horse who endured a ten-year voyage home filled with trials like Polyphemus, Circe, and Calypso before reclaiming his palace.

Briseis

Achilles' war prize taken during the Trojan War, who was seized by Agamemnon as compensation after he returned Chryseis, causing Achilles to withdraw from battle.

Chryseis

A Trojan war prize captured by Agamemnon, whose father Chryses was refused ransom, prompting Apollo to punish the Greeks until she was returned.

Stratigraphy

The scientific study of rock and soil layers and their successions.

Heinrich Schliemann

A former businessman who is often considered the father of modern Hellenic archaeology.

The Heroic Code

A moral framework in which heroes are motivated to pursue honor (time) and glory (kleos) while actively avoiding shame (aidos).

Foundation Myth

A traditional narrative that links the founding of cities with heroic ancestry.

Katharsis

The effect produced by music and tragedy, translating literally to "purification."

Nostos

An epic poem attributed to Agias of Troizen describing the homecomings of the Greeks traveling from Troy following the sack of the city, which precedes Homer's Odyssey.

Hecatomb

An ancient Greek and Roman religious sacrifice of 100 cattle (or oxen) offered to the gods.

Heroon

A house turned into a tomb, serving as a shrine or monument dedicated to a specific hero and functioning as a site of hero worship.

Hero Cult

A localized, ancestor-like form of worship centered on deceased heroes (not considered gods, except Heracles) involving sacrifices, offerings, and communal feasts.

Kleos

A hero's fame, reputation, or glory acquired through battle or great feats.

Timē

Honor within the heroic code of Homeric heroes.

Aidos

Shame within the heroic code of Homeric heroes.

Geras

A gift or prize awarded to a hero as a physical token of honor.

Katabasis

A journey meaning "going down," taken by a living hero into the Underworld with the intention of returning to the world of the living.

Nekyia

A rite meaning "dead" by which ghosts are called up and questioned.

The Trojan Women

An anti-war tragedy written by Euripides and produced in 415 BCE (winning second place at the City Dionysia) that depicts the aftermath of the Trojan War from the perspective of Troy's surviving royal and noble women.

Helen

The daughter of Zeus and Leda (hatched from an egg) and wife of Menelaus whose abduction to Troy by Paris invoked the Oath of Tyndareus and sparked the Trojan War.

The Iliad

An ancient Greek epic poem attributed to Homer that covers a few weeks during the final year of the 10-year siege of Troy, focusing on the wrath of Achilles, the death of Patroclus, and the death of Hector.

The Odyssey

An epic poem attributed to Homer detailing the ten-year journey of Odysseus returning home to Ithaca, his encounters with mythological figures, and his slaughter of the suitors.

Greek tragedy

A theatrical genre set in the mythic past that uses myth to think with, featuring a 3-actor rule, male actors only, masks for character recognition, and a chorus speaking with one voice.

Apollo Smintheus

• Apollo was worshipped under this title as a protector who shielded farmers' crops from destructive field mice, and as a god who could send or lift plagues associated with rodents

• The epithet appears in the opening book of Homer's Iliad, when the priest Chryses prays to Apollo Smintheus for vengeance against Agamemnon

the epic cycle

a collection of ancient Greek epic poems in dactylic hexameter that told the complete story of the Trojan War and its aftermath, alongside earlier mythological events