Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Mythology Final
Definitions and Quotes
134
Other
Not Applicable
03/20/2007

Additional Other Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Aegis
Definition
protective garment decorated with a Gorgon's head and fringed with snakes; worn my Athena
Term
apotropeic
Definition
warding off evil
Term
caduceus
Definition
a wand with two entwined serpents topped with a pair of wings: associated with .....
Term
cornucopia
Definition
horn of plenty, associated with Hades
Term
dithyramb
Definition
choral poem to Dionysys
Term
dramatic irony
Definition
The audience knows more than character
Term
guest-right
Definition
hospitality; reciprocal duties of host and stranger/guest
Term
hamartia
Definition
a tragic mistake in action, a bad decision
Term
hubris
Definition
excessive pride
Term
in media res
Definition
to being a poem or play "in the midst of things"
Term
kylix
Definition
drinking cup
Term
omphalos
Definition
stone at Delphi representing the navel of earth. Cronus swalled it instead of Zues
Term
paean
Definition
choral ode to Apollo
Term
thyrsus
Definition
a staff topped with a pinecone or bunch of ivy, associated with Dionysus and his followers
Term
Aphrodite
Definition
Venus; Goddes of love; Sceptre, myrtle tree, dove, scallop shell, mirror
Term
Apollo
Definition
Apollo; God of light, music, prophecy, arts; lyre, laurel, bow, dolphin, crow
Term
Ares
Definition
Mars; God of war; spear, armor, vulture, dog
Term
Artemis
Definition
Diana; Goddess of hunt, childbirth, protects children; bow, deer, cypress tree, moon
Term
Athena
Definition
Minerva; Goddess of wisdon, war, crafts, protects cities; aegis, helmet, spear, shield, owl, olive tree
Term
Demeter
Definition
Ceres; Goddess of fertility, agriculture, harfest; wheat, corn, stalks of grain, torch, sickle
Term
Dionysus
Definition
Bacchus; God of wine, intoxication, creative ecstasy; thyros, grapes, ivy, drinking vessel, panther
Term
Hades
Definition
Pluto; underworlk; cornucopia, cerberus, sceptre, helmet of invisibility
Term
Hephaestus
Definition
Vulcan; lame god, god of metallurgy, force and fire; axe, smith's hammer, anvil, tongs, fire
Term
Hera
Definition
Juno; marraige, sisters and wife of Zues; peacock, sceptre, diadem, cow, throne
Term
Hermes
Definition
Mercury; messenger of Zues, delivers dead to underworld, god of commerce and trade; cadeceus, winged helmet, sandals and boots
Term
Hestia
Definition
Vesta; Goddess of hearth and home; fire, hearth
Term
Poseidon
Definition
Neptune; sea, earthquakes; trident, fish, bull, horse
Term
Zeus
Definition
Jupiter; sky, thunder, ruler of gods and olympus; thunderbolt, eagle oak tree, throne
Term
Persephone
Definition
Proserpina; daughter of Demeter; brought down to underworld with Hades
Term
Eros
Definition
Cupid
Term
Calliope
Definition
beautiful voice; epic poetry; writing tablet
Term
Clio
Definition
Proclaim/Celebrate; history; scroll
Term
Melpomene
Definition
songstress; tragedy; tragic mask
Term
Thalia
Definition
flourishing/festivity; comedy; comic mask
Term
Erato
Definition
Lovely; love poetry; lyre
Term
Euterpe
Definition
Delight/Giver of pleasure; music; flute
Term
Hesiod:

Age of Gold
Definition
Kronos Rules
No women
no one ages painfully
work is easy
spirits still roam earth dispensing wealth and justice
Term
Age of Silver
Definition
created by olympians
women and men make children, who take 100 years to mature and then die quickly
unintelligent, quarrelsome and neglect to worship gods
zeus gets angry and exterminates them
Term
Age of Bronze
Definition
created by zeus from ash trees
fight and do not eat
everything bronze
kill each other off and descend to Hades
Term
Age of Heroes
Definition
demi-gods
fashioned by zeus
died fighting in the great wars: thebes and troy
after death they go to teh isles of the blest
Term
Age of Iron
Definition
Us
Terrible pain and vexation
bonds b/t parents and children , siblings, friends, guests and hosts are all broke,
poeple will take justice in their own hands
wrongdoers and men of violence with earn praise and pwer
envy will be universal
shame and nemesis
Zeus will extirminate this generation too
Term
Gaea = Uranus
Definition
Titan-Cyclopes-Hecatoncheres
Term
Cronos = Rhea
Definition
Hestia-Demeter-Hera-Hades-Poseidon-Zeus
Term
Zeus
Definition
Athene(metis) - Apollo (leto) - Artemis(Leto)- Hermes(Maia) - Aphrodite (Diane)
Term
Hera
Definition
Hephaestus
Term
Zues = Hera
Definition
Ares
Term
Satyrs
Definition
human in appearance; horse's tail and ears; lust and cowards; animalistic aspects of human nature
Term
Gorgon
Definition
one of three monstrous shake-haired sisters, depicted in Archaic art as round-headed with bulging eyes, tonques, tusks, and wings; symbol on the aegis used by Athene
Term
Gorgon
Definition
one of three monstrous shake-haired sisters, depicted in Archaic art as round-headed with bulging eyes, tonques, tusks, and wings; symbol on the aegis used by Athene
Term
Polyphemus
Definition
a cyclops, one -eyed whom Odysseus blinded
Term
Furies
Definition
Born from Uranus's blood, goddesses of blood vengeance, daughters of night
Term
Charon
Definition
wise old centour who tutored several famous heroes including jason and Achilles
Term
Cerberus
Definition
three headed watchdog of Hades
Term
Cerberus
Definition
three headed watchdog of Hades
Term
Minotaur
Definition
a monster/human/bull; produced by Poseidons sacred bulll; confined to Labyrinthe and slain by Thesus
Term
centaur
Definition
halfman/horse; symbol of humanities divided nature
Term
Hydra
Definition
7 headed monster that ravages Argos and salin by Heracles
Term
Scylla
Definition
in the Odyssey, a female monster who (with Charybds) guarded a water passage
Term
Sirens
Definition
female creature/bird/women; songs lured passing sailors to shipwreck to death
Term
Medusa
Definition
only mortal Gorgon, turned men to stone, with Athene's help, Perseus beheaded her
Term
Pegasus
Definition
winged horse sprang from blood of medussa
Term
Tartarus
Definition
dark abyss beneath hades realm where Zeus wicked suffered torture
Term
Tartarus
Definition
where Zeus imprisoned the Titans
Term
Delphi
Definition
origionally called Pytho, shirne of Apollo on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus, location of the delphic oracle
Term
Argos
Definition
region ruled by Ag. capital was Mycenae
Term
Styx
Definition
oldest child of Oceanus and Tethys, aided Zeus in battle with Tytans;

River in Underworld marking boundary b/t life and death
Term
lethe
Definition
River of Forgetfulness
Term
Nekromanteio
Definition
an oracle to the dead and sanctuary to hades and persephone at the mouth of the Acheron River in Epirus
Term
Troy
Definition
City of Priam and Hecuba that the Greeks, under Agamemnon destroyed. Guarding the trade routes b/t the Med and Black Sea
Term
Argos
Definition
Ship that the Argonauts sailed on to go to the Fleece
Term
Tiresias
Definition
Blind Theban prophet who temporarily been changed into a women giving him experience to settle quarrel b/t Hera and Zeus over which sex has the greater capacity for sexual pleasure. Hera blinded him and Zeus have him longlife and insight
Term
Thetis
Definition
a sea nymph married to Peleus, by whome she had Achilles
Term
Peleus
Definition
mortal to whome gods married Thetis after Zeus learned that if he had a son by Thetis, the boy would be stronger. After Achilled birth, when Peleus showed the first sign of aging, Thetis deserted him
Term
Pandora
Definition
according to Hesiod; first women whose name reads as "all gifted" or "giver of all"
Term
Amazons
Definition
tribe of female warriors who lived apart from men
Term
Calypso
Definition
minor goddess embodying female sexuality who held Odysseus capture for 7 years on islend of Ogygia
Term
Circe
Definition
In Odyssey, enchantress who turned the hero's men into swine, instructed Odysseus on way to Hades kingdon and warned him of Scylla dn Charbyds
Term
Icarus
Definition
Son of Daedalus who flew from Crete on artificial wings

Flew too close to sun and wings melted and fell to death
Term
Medea
Definition
sorceress daughter of Aectes and wife of Jason who she enabled to obtain the Golden Fleece

When he abandoned her, she killed their children
Term
Pirithous
Definition
king of the Lapiths who accompanied his friend Theseus into the underword to abduct persephone, for which sacrilege he was condemned to being bound forever in an iron chain
Term
Perseus
Definition
Son of Zeus and Danae, beheaded Medusa, we Andromed and found Mycenae
Term
Jason
Definition
Greek Adventurer who led 50 Argonauts on a quest across Black Sea for Golden Fleece, married Medae, helped kill father, divorced her
Term
Theseus
Definition
Son of Aegeus and King of Athens, won fame by slaying Minotaur, married Phaedra, daughter of Minos
Term
Eurydice
Definition
wife of orpheus, tried to retreive from hades
Term
Orpheus
Definition
archytepal poet and singer who desceded into Hades to rescue wife, Eurydice, later sufferet sparagmos, lyre transformed into constellation
Term
penelope
Definition
Daughter of icarus of Sparta, model of the Loyal and prudent wife
Term
Odysseus
Definition
husband of penelope, celebrated for his prudences, ingenuity, and resourcefullness among the greed forces at troy

endurance and adaptability that determining return to Ithaca
Term
Menelaus
Definition
Son of Atreus, younger brother of Agamemnon, husband of Helen, King of Sparta
Term
Andromache
Definition
wife of hector, Troys leading defendor, and mother of Astyanax
Term
Helen
Definition
daughter of Zeus and Leda; Sister of Clyt, wife of menelaus, Father made each of her suiters swear to uphold her marraige to whichever husband she selected, an oath that bound many Greek heroes afer Paris took her to troy
Term
Hector
Definition
son of Priam and hecuba and chief defender of Troy, abandoned by patron Apollo and slain by achilles
Term
paris
Definition
trojan Prince, son of Praim and brother of Hector, selected Aphrodite as most beautiful goddess , abducted Helen, sealed Troys doom
Term
Achilles
Definition
son of sea nymph Thetis and mortal Peleus, most formidable Greek warrior at Troy-Illiad by Homer
Term
Clytemenstra
Definition
leading female character in Oresteia, daughter of Z and Leda, sister of Helen, wife of Ag., mistres of Aegisthus, mother of Iphigenia, Electra, an Orestes

murdered Ag, slained by orestes
Term
Cassandra
Definition
daughter of priam and Hecuba, Apollo's virgirn prophet; part of Ag booty from Troy, brought to Argos where Clyt murdered her
Term
Agamemnon
Definition
son of Atreus and brother of Menelaus, commander in Chief of Greek Expidition against Troy

murdered by wife Clyt,
Term
Iphigenia
Definition
daugher of Ag and Clyt whome her father sacrified at Aulis to prevent the Greek's expedition Troy from being dissbanded
Term
Psyche
Definition
"soul" - mental, emotional, psychological make-up of human beings

last major myth, beautiful women married Love and ascended to join Gods, human soul destined to achieve divine immortality
Term
Semele
Definition
Daughter of Cadmus and harmonia, sister of Afave, mother of Dionysus, consumed in Zeus's lighteining when she was demanded to see him in his true form. Dionysis later rescued her from Hades and escorted her to heaven
Term
Eros
Definition
Cupid; God of love and sexual desire, he was represented as an unbegotten primal force (Hesiod) or as the son of Ares and Aphrodite (Homer)
Term
Persephone
Definition
Proserpina; Daughter of Zues and Demeter, personified as grain harvest.
Term
Atlas
Definition
Titan brother of Prometheus whom Zeus ordered to hold up the broad vault of the sky
Term
Epimetheus
Definition
A brother of Prometheus who, on man's behalf, accepted teh Olympian gods' gift of pandora; name means "afterthough"
Term
Prometheus
Definition
A titan cousin of Zeus and son of Iapetus and Clemene, punished by Zeus for befriending humanity. Prometheus's theft of fire signified his enlightenment of primitive men, rescuing them from the mental darkness of ignorance and savagery. After suffering for millenia the repeated tearing out of his liver by eagle, Prometheus was eventually reconciled to his enemy and ascended to Olympus, where he was honored as the divine fire-bearer
Term
Cyclopes
Definition
in Odyssey, one-eyed giants who lived in caves on Sicily
Term
Sphinx
Definition
creature with the head of a women, body of a lion, and winds of an eagle , infamous for killing anyone who tried but failed to sovle its riddles
Term
Acheron
Definition
river of Hades
Term
Thebes
Definition
Founded by Cadmus and home of Oedipus and family
Term
Thebes
Definition
Founded by Cadmus and home of Oedipus and family
Term
Bacchantes
Definition
Ecstatic worshipers of Dioysys (Bacchus)
Term
Corinth
Definition
Where Oedipus traveled to beat the Sphinx to get rid of the plague
Term
Maenads
Definition
Female worshipers of Dionysus, commonly called Bacchea, who dressed in fawn skins and carriet a thyrsus while performing ecstatic dances
Term
Moirae
Definition
The three Fates, pictured as ancient women who spun, wove, and cut off the individual threads signifying human living; Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis and they were daughters of Zeus and Themis
Term
Romulus
Definition
Son of Mars and Rhea Silvia, and foun der of Rome, killed his brother Remus for criticizing the inadequacy of the walls he had built around Rome
Term
Remus
Definition
son of mars and Vestal Virgin, brother of Romulus
Term
Patroclus
Definition
Son of Menoetuis and beloved friend of Achilles, whom me accompanied to Troy. His death galvanized Achilles to return to the war
Term
Nestor
Definition
Aged king of Pylos, famous for his sagacity, who advised the Greek expedition to Troy
Term
Aeneas
Definition
son of Aphrodite and anchises, a mortal Trojan prince and the hero of Virgil's aeneid. After Troy's fall he journeyeyd to Italy, where he founded a dynasty that eventually produced Romulus and Remus, legendary founders of rome
Term
Creusa
Definition
IN the Aeneid, daugher of Priam ,killed in the fall of troy. In Medea, daughter of Corinth's king, Jason's intended bride
Term
Ascanius
Definition
Son of Aeneus by the Trojan princess Creusa. also called Iulus
Term
Anchises
Definition
trojan prince, father of the hero aeneus by aphrodite
Term
Dido
Definition
Queen and founder of Carthage, she befriended the shipwrecked Aeneus and was later deserted by him at Jupiter's command
Term
Pelias
Definition
A son of Poseidon and Tyro who usurped the kingdom of his brother Aeson, father of Jason
Term
Creon
Definition
Greek word for ruler. In sohpocles theban plays, Jocasta's brother, In media, king of corinth
Term
Oedipus
Definition
father by jocasta of ismene, antigone, king of Thebes, his myth demonstrates human inability to circumvent the gods' will
Term
Antigone
Definition
Dauther of Oedipus and Jocasta, she was her blindd father's guide in Sophacles
Term
Laius
Definition
father of Oedipus and husband of Jocasta, brought a curse on his family by eloping wiht Chrysippus, the son of his host, Pelops
Term
Daphne
Definition
a nymph beloved of Apollo, changed into a laurel tree,
Term
echo
Definition
wood nymph cured by Hera, she wasted away to a mere voice in the unrequited love of Narcissus
Term
Europa
Definition
a princess of Tyre whom Zeus, in form of a bull, kidnpaped and took to crete, where she became the mother of minos and Rhadamanthus
Term
Ganymede
Definition
trojan shepard boy with whom Zeus fell in love and in the shape of an eagle, carriet off to heaven where he became cupbearer of the gods
Term
Hyacinthus
Definition
A youth whom both Apollos and Sephyrus loved; when apollos and Hyacinthus were throwing the discus, the jealous sephyrus interfered, striking the boy with the discus and killing him, after which he was changed into the flower bearing his name
Term
Io
Definition
a young priestess of hero in Argos whom Seus raped and whom Hera vindictively changed into a heifer and drove mad with a gadfly
Term
Narcissus
Definition
A beautifu youth belove by echo but who, refusing to love anyone else, fell in love with his own image
Supporting users have an ad free experience!