CLST 2090 Midterm

Carl Jung

-Noted that the same kinds of myths turn up in all cultures

-Developed the theory of Collective Unconscious

Collective Unconscious

-Theory that all humans are born with the same ideas in their brains, lying deep and unconscious

Claude Levi-Strauss

-Researched the human brain; believed different sides were responsible for different functions (right brain/left brain); think in pairs with ideas (on/off)

-Says a man's entire experience is based on conflict and that myths present conflicts then resolve them within the story

Sigmund Freud

-Believed all human nature was driven by sex

-Founded psychotherapy

-Concluded that all myths are about sex and are a way of revealing sexual fears and desires without having to confront them every day

Zeus

-Lord and king of gods

-Constantly makes love to females of all kinds

-Cheating on his sister/wife Hera with Semele

-Took over as God of the universe after the Titan War (battle with his father's generation, the Titans)

-Used lightning bolts as his weapon to lead the Olympians to victory

Hera

-Goddess of marriage

-Juno

-Zeus's wife, EXTREMELY jealous

-Finds out about Zeus' infidelity with Semele, disguises herself as an old woman and gets her to confess

-Turns Callisto into a bear

-Curses Echo to repeat the end of people's sentences

-Blinds Tiresias when he says women want sex more

Mythos

-Greek word for story

Mythology

-The study of myths

Myths

-Illustrate human nature and experience

Max Muller

-Concluded that all ancient myths are about nature and natural phenomenon

Semele

-Zeus' mistress

-Demanded he show himself as he really was (an almighty god), he does and she is destroyed by a bolt of his lightening

Anima

-Male idea of the ideal woman, the universal woman

-Make men crazy and keep them off balance by nagging and manipulating

Animus

-Female idea of man

-Violent, distractive, aggressive, rapists

Chaos

-Emptiness

-5 things resulted from chaos:

--Ge (Earth)

--Tartarus (Hell)

--Eros (Love)

--Erebus (Darkness)

--Night (Night)

Ge

-The earth (feminine)

-Gives birth to mountains, seas, and heavens with no help from a man

Tartarus

-Dark terrible prison located beneath Earth

-Roman conception of Hell

Eros

-Represents "passionate love"

-Seen as an adolescent boy (16 y/o) because he could impregnate many women

-Has used his power for evil as well (Apollo and Daphne)

-The Roman version is a 5 year old known as Cupid

Erebus

-Darkness

Night

-Night

Sight

-What 90% of human animal information comes from

Cupido

-Latin word for love

Heaven (Uranus)

-Ge's husband/son

-Male because he is always on top

Anthropomorphism

-Giving human form to things that are not really human

-"Man making God in Man's image" (since it was the only form they knew well)

Cronus

-Only one of Ge's children that helped her with Uranus

-Cut off Uranus's genitals with a sickle made of iron from Ge

-Swallows his children whole to prevent being overthrown

-After the Titan War, he is banished and changes his name to Saturn

Aphrodite

-Goddess of passionate love

-Born from the foam that was created around Uranus's genitals when Cronus threw them into the sea

Rhea

-Cronus's sister/wife

-Tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock in baby clothes -Took that son, Zeus, to Crete and hid him in a cave

Titans

-Cronus' generation (his brothers and sisters)

Olympians

-Zeus' generation

-Named Olympians because their war base was Mt. Olympus

lateo

to hide

latium

hiding place

latini

people

Prometheus

-Zeus' cousin

-Epimetheus' brother

-Created man and had sympathy for them

-Stole fire from heaven and gave it to man

-Zeus found out and created something very terrible to punish the humans, a woman

-Name means forethought

Hephaestus

created the first woman

god of craftsmen

has crippled legs

married to Aphrodite

Epimetheus

-Prometheus' brother

-Name means afterthought

Deucalion and Pyrrah

-Husband and wife Zeus saves from the flood

Henotheism

-The belief that one God is the most powerful, but other Gods exist

Poseidon (Neptune)

-God of the sea

-Zeus' brother

Hades

-God of the world of the dead (underworld)

-Zeus' brother

Scylla

-Poseidon's mistress

-Human

Hestia (vesta)

-Goddess of hearth

-Virgin goddess

-One of the oldest children

-"Fireplace"

Demeter

-Zeus' sister

-Goddess of agriculture and motherhood

-Daughter is Persephone

-Her emotions influence the seasons

Persephone

-Demeter's daughter

-Hades fell in love with her and swept her up in a chariot and drug her to the underworld

-He knew she would never love the god of the dead

Orpheus

-Best musician in the Greek world

-Plays a lyre (stringed harp)

-Plays his lyre to convince Hades to give him is wife, Eurydice, back

-Hades is so moved, he agrees; as long as Orpheus does not look back to see if Eurydice is behind him when he is exiting the underworld

-Orpheus looks back, and Hades takes Eurydice back to the underworld forever

Eurydice

-Orpheus' bride

-Stepped on a poisonous snake and died

-Orpheus went to Hades and pleaded for his wife's soul by playing his lyre and Hades agreed

-Orpheus breaks one of Hades rules and Eurydice is forced to remain in the underworld

Ares

-Hephaestus' brother

-God of war

-Most hated God

Pygmalion

-Made a statue of a woman to love

-Aphrodite brings her to life, they lived happily ever after

Cybele

-Mother goddess who was male and female

-Cut off genitals and threw it away; an almond tree grew where it landed, creating Nana

-Fell in love with Attis (Nana's son)

Nana

-Nymph (bride)

-1/2 human 1/2 devine

-Births Attis from a white blossom

Attis

-Nana's son born of a white blossom

-Castrates himself because Cybele is obsessed with him

-Dies from castration

-"Resurrection God" because Cybele convinces Gods to let him come back

Myrrha

-Wanted to sleep with her father so she tricked him into sleeping with her in a dark room every night

-He got suspicious, caught her, and tried to kill her

-Aphrodite turned her into a myrrh tree and she gives birth to Adonis

Adonis

-Myrrha's baby

-Aphrodite protects him when he is young and eventually gives him to Persephone to raise him

-Aphrodite falls in love with him

-Goes bore hunting and is killed

-Aphrodite convinces Gods to bring him back to life

-Comes back but has to die via boar once every year

-"Resurrection God"

Anchises

-He is a human shepherd

-Zeus makes Aphrodite fall in love with him

-She sleeps with him, then reveals she is a goddess

-When he brags to the town of Troy, Zeus cripples him with a bolt of lightening

Hermes

-God of good luck, good fortune, businessmen and thieves, practical jokes

-Son of Zeus and Maia

-Only God who had myths told about him as an infant:

-Made a lyre (first musical instrument) from a turtle shell and guts

-Stole 50 of Apollo's (his brother) cows, sacrificed 2 then hid the rest in a cave

-To make up for the sacrifices, Hermes gives Apollo the lyre, which is how Apollo becomes the God of music

Maia

-Mother of Hermes

-Month of May is named after her

Apollo

-God of prophecy (whats in the Gods minds) and art (artwork, painting, sculpture, music, and athletics)

-Doesn't have a macho lifestyle like most Gods

-Has trouble convincing women to be with him; never finds a woman that stays for life

-Apollo makes fun of Eros (the God of love) for using "warlike weapons" and told him to "leave them for hands worthy of them"

-In return, Eros (Cupid) shoots him with a gold arrow, making him fall deeply in love with Daphne

-Eros shoots Daphne with a lead arrow, making her hate Apollo

-Apollo takes leaves off the Laurel tree (what Daphne is turned into) and makes a wreath he wears on his head in honor of his lost love

Hermaphroditus

-Son of Hermes and Aphrodite

-At 16, he denied a nymphs advances, and tries to fight her off when she comes after him

-Became one with the nymph after she asks the gods to let them be together forever

-Combined, they become Hermaphrodite

-Müller would say this describes hermaphroditism

Dionysus (Bacchus)

-Son of Zeus and Semele

-Born from Zeus's thigh

-Since he is born solely from a God, he is a God

-Sent to India to grow up, returns to Greece as an adult

-God of wine, the wet part of nature

-"The Liberator" gave humans the experience of freedom from anxiety, fear and pain (called this gift "the little madness")

-If a human refused the gift, they would get the "Great Madness" of going insane

-To worship him a communion from nature is drank (rain, tree sap, blood from wild animal)

-Worshiping took place out of town and included music and dancing, sometimes animal sacrifices (tearing apart animal and eating it raw)

-Goes to Thebes and when Pentheus and his family doesn't acknowledge him as divine, he curses them with the "great madness"

Maenad

-Female followers of Dionysus

Satyr

-Male followers of Dionysus

-Pictured as Half-Man and Half-Goat

-Stands for lust

Tiresias

-Was walking through the woods one day and saw a pair of snakes mating; hit one on the head (female) and became a woman

-7 years later he saw another pair mating; hit one on the head again (male) was turned back into a man

-Zeus & Hera ask who want sex more, male or female

-When he says "ear story" that women do, Hera gets mad and hits him on the head, blinding him

-Zeus pities him and gives him the ability to see the future

Agave

-Mother of Pentheus

-Is a Maenad

-Ends up helping kill Pentheus when she is under Dionysus's "great madness"

Midas

-Returned one of Dionysus's followers that were found wandering in the woods

-Got to ask for one wish, asked for everything he touched to turn to gold

-Realized his wish was a curse and asked for Dionysus to take it back, washed in a stream to reverse it

-Was given ass's ears by Apollo, wore a turban to hide his ears

-His barber was the only one who knew

-The barber whispered into a hole one night that Midas had ass's ears and filled up the hole again; a bed of reeds later grew there, that whispered his secret in the wind

-He was the only judge to vote for Pan over Apollo in the music competition, that's why he got ass ears

Pan

-God that is not fully human

-God of Nature, the Wild, Shepherds, Flocks, Goats, Mountain Wilds, and is often associated with sexuality

-1/2 Human 1/2 Goat God

-Pan liked a river nymph (Syrinx) that didn't want him, she asked the Gods for help and they turned her into reeds

-Pan made an instrument (the pan pipe) out of her

-He challenges Apollo to a musical contest

-There is no winner because of a split vote

Narcissus

-Fell in love with himself when he saw his reflection in the pool after Echo prayed he'd in love with someone he couldn't possess

-Died of starvation by never leaving the pool

-Narcissism: obsessive self-absorption, with no room for anyone or anything else

Echo

-Nymph

-Was not assigned to be in a specific place

-Was cursed by Hera to repeat the end of everything someone said, because Hera thought that she was distracting her so Zeus could run off and have affairs

-Becomes lovesick over Narcissus and prays that he would fall in love with someone he couldn't have (hence why he falls in love with his reflection in a pool)

Leto

-Mother of twins, Apollo and Artemis

-An early and favored lover of Zeus

-She was pregnant with his children when Zeus married Hera

-Nobody on the planet would allow her to give birth in their home for fear of offending Hera

-Zeus sends the North Wind, Boreas, to carry her out to the island of Delos, where she finally gives birth

Niobe

-A human princess

-The only human who didn't praise Leto for giving birth to twins (Artemis and Apollo)

-She had given birth to 14 healthy children herself, 7 boys and 7 girls

-The twins responded to her disrespect by murdering all of her children (Artemis and Apollo became responsible for the unexplained deaths of children)

-Niobe was so sad that she turned to stone but continued to weep, there was a weeping stone that people would go visit, supposing it was Niobe

Delos

-Desolate, rocky island

-The only place that allowed Leto to give birth

-They had nothing to lose

Hubris

-Being too proud, especially towards the Gods

-A great sin

-When humans take full credit for a skill or talent without giving any to the Gods

Delphi

-Middle of the earth where fire is found

-Apollo is its ruler

-Home to the "earth-dragon of Delphi", a giant serpent called Python (Apollo killed him at the Oracle when he was only 4 days old)

Oracle

-Set up in Delphi

-The shrine of Apollo

-Where you would go to get your prophecy

-There were rules:

--A period of fasting

--Pay a fee

--Buy a cake

--Sacrifice a sheep or goat

The answers were very ambiguous, like a fortune teller and had to be translated by a preist

-The oracle really was used to make military decisions until the Roman empire shut it down, fearing it had too much influence

Pythia

-The priestess Apollo speaks to humans through at the Oracle

-Spoke in a language only the priests understood, then they would translate it and write it down for you

Croesus

-King of Lydia (Turkey)

-Invented money as we know it, he stamped his seal on pure gold

-Believed to have been the richest man in the world at one point

-Went to war with Persia because he got a prophecy from the Oracle that said "if you attack, you'll destroy a mighty empire"

-He assumed it would be Persia

-He lost and was imprisoned by the Persian king, Cyrus

-The king eventually made Croesus an adviser and granted him one wish, which he used to ask why Apollo had deceived him, Apollo said he should have asked for clarification

Sibyl

-Pursued by Apollo

-Accepted the gifts of prophecy and to live a year for each grain of sand she held in her hand

-After accepting this gift, she still didn't sleep with Apollo

-A God cannot take back a gift after it is given

-To punish her, Apollo tells her that he never promised to keep her youthful

-Her body became so fragile over the years that it ended up having to be just her voice in a bottle

-People continued to come to her to hear their prophecies

-She wanted to die

Cassandra

-Pursued by Apollo

-Accepted the gift of prophecy

-After accepting the gift, she still didn't sleep with Apollo

-To punish her, Apollo spit in her mouth, so that no one would believe her prophecies (even though they were true)

Marpessa

-Pursued by Apollo

-Doesn't ask for any gifts

-Has a human man pursuing her as well

-Chooses the human over Apollo because she knows Apollo is immortal and will not stay faithful when she grows old

Daphne

-Pursued by Apollo

-Eros (Cupid) shoots Apollo with a gold arrow, making him fall in love with the next person he sees, Daphne

-Daphne is shot with a lead arrow by Eros (Cupid) which causes her to form a great dislike for Apollo, who is the next person she sees

-She is turned into the Laurel tree when she asks the Gods to stop Apollo from chasing her and get him away

-Apollo uses his powers of eternal youth and immortality to render her evergreen (the leaves of the Bay laurel tree have never been known decay)

Hyacinthus

-Young man, about 16 years old

-Lovers with Apollo (Greeks liked young boys, before they got body hair)

-One day while throwing the discuss with Apollo; he is killed when Apollo throws a discuss and it hits a rock which ricochets and hits him in the head

-In memory of him, Apollo made a blood-red flower grow in that spot, the hyacinth

Coronis

-Has a sexual relationship with Apollo

-Cheats on Apollo when she is pregnant with his son

-Is killed when Apollo shoots her in the chest with a bow and arrow

-Apollo did not know she was pregnant and saves the child, Asclepius, because Apollo was the God of medicine

Asclepius

-Son of Apollo and Coronis

-Raised by Chiron (a centaur), who teaches him the art of medicine

-Becomes the most famous doctor in Greek mythology

-Was so good that he could cure any disease and was able to bring people back from the dead

-Angered the Gods by doing this (hubris) and was struck and killed by one of Zeus's bolts of lightning

Chiron

-Centaur: 1/2 man 1/2 horse

-Is given Asclepius to take care of

-Taught Asclepius many skills, especially medicine

Marsyas

-Satyr: 1/2 goat 1/2 man

-Mortal

-Plays the pan pipe and challenges Apollo (the God of music) to a musical contest

-Loses contest and is hung upside-down from a tree and skinned alive by Apollo

Artemis

-Goddess of the Forest; part of the Earth that is not cultivated for the use of humans; of nature, wilderness, and hunting

-Daughter of Zeus and Leto; Apollo's twin sister

-Most ruthless, cruel, and terrifying of all Gods

-Hated male/all sexuality in any form

-Polar opposite of Aphrodite

Actaeon

-While looking for his hunting group, he (a human) sees Artemis bathing naked

-Is turned into a deer by Artemis as punishment; but still had his human conscious and knowledge

-Is killed by his own hunting dogs (unknowingly)

Hippolytus

-Son of Theseus (King of Athens)

-Lost mother at a young age

-Devoted himself to Artemis and took an oath to avoid sexuality

-Thought that sex was revolting and said so, but in doing so he also called Aphrodite revolting

-Phaedra was his step-mother (Aphrodite caused her to fall in love with Hippolytus as revenge)

-Was banned from Athens after his father cursed him for causing the death of his wife (a curse was considered to be a very serious prayer to the gods in order to destroy someone)

-Was killed when Poseidon heard that Theseus had cursed him and sent a bull which scared his horses and caused his chariot to crash

Hestia, Athena, and Artemis

Three Virgin Goddesses

Phaedra

-Second wife of Theseus

-Aphrodite caused her to fall in love with Hippolytus, her stepson (she isn't much older)

-Hippolytus was revolted by sex and denied her advances, this made her hate him

-She wrote a letter to Thesus saying Hippolytus tried to rape her, then hung herself

-After Hippolytus was dead, Artemis told Theseus that Phaedra had lied

Theseus

-King of Athens

-Father of Hippolytus

-Phaedra is second wife

-Blames Hippolytus for Phaedra's suicide and curses him, which leads to his death

Pentheus

-Cousin of Dionysus

-King of Thebes

-Didn't accept Dionysus's gift (did not believe he was a related to him or that he was a God and refused to worship him)

-Is brought to the woods by Dionysus to see his religion for himself

-Is dressed as a satyr and put up on top of a pine tree; in the morning he sees Maenads (Bacchic women) sleeping in the meadow, one of them being his mother (Agave)

-They think he is a mountain lion upon seeing him and he is torn to pieces by the Maenads (when people are experiencing the "great madness" they are out of their minds)

Callisto

-Follower of Artemis, took a vow of virginity

-Raped by Zeus (in disguise as Artemis), and becomes pregnant

-Kicked out of Artemis's virginity group because she is no longer a virgin

-Turned into a bear by Hera (Zeus's wife) because she is jealous

-After being turned into a bear, she continues to watch over her son (Arcas)

-One day her son is hunting and sees her (not knowing it is his mother) and attempts to kill her

-Zeus takes pity on her and turns the son into a bear also then sends them into the sky as constellations (Müller thinks they represent ursa major and ursa minor)

Orion

-Hunter

-Came across Artemis one day and attempted to rape her

-Was changed into a constellation and put next to Scorpios (so he is constantly being stung for eternity) by Artemis

Athena

-Born from Zeus's head because if she was born from Metis (greek word for wisdom) she was destined to be greater than Zeus

-Child of Zeus and Metis

-Came out fully grown (she would not have been wise if she was a child), wearing the armor of a soldier (signifying that intelligence is the winner and a woman can better do anything that a man can do)

-Virgin goddess (simply not concerned with sex)

-Goddess of wisdom and technology, engineering, warfare (strategy)

-She was Zeus's favorite child

-Gave her name to the city of Athens

-Her and Poseidon competed to be the patron God of Athens

-During the competition Poseidon creates a salt spring

-Athena creates and gives the olive tree and the technology to use it to the people of Athens (olive oil, medicines, first oil for lamps)

-The Parthenon "Temple of the Virgin" remains in Athens today

Metis

-The greek word for wisdom

-Was destined to give birth to a child who was destined to be greater than its father (which happened to be Zeus)

-She is swallowed whole by Zeus, after becoming pregnant by him, in order to make sure SHE did not give birth to the child (Athena)

Arachne

-Girl who was exceptionally talented at weaving

-Refused to give credit to Athena for her skill (hubris)

-Challenged by Athena to a weaving contest

-Is hit over the head by Athena for weaving images of the Gods falling in love and sleeping with humans; she was so ashamed that she hung herself

-Was brought back to life by Athena, after hanging herself, and is turned into a spider so that she would never stop weaving

River Styx

-The "River of Hate"

-The boundary between Earth and the underworld

-Must cross this river to reach the underworld

-Once you cross, there is no turning around, Cerberus makes sure

-1 of 5 rivers of the underworld

Cerberus

-Three-headed hound

-Guards the underworld

-Prevents people who have crossed the River Styx from ever escaping/returning to Earth

Lethe River

-Lethe means "oblivion", "forgetfulness", or "concealment"

-The "River of Forgetfulness"

-1 of 5 rivers of the underworld

-The dead were required to drink the waters of the Lethe in order to forget their earthly life

-In the Aeneid, Virgil writes that it is only when the dead have had their memories erased by the Lethe that they may be reincarnated

Elysium

-Roman conception of Heaven

Er

-Soldier killed in battle

-Is allowed to watch the circle of life after death in a span of 12 days

The 3 Generations

1. Uranus & Ge

2. Cronus & Rhea

3. Zeus & Hera