MidTerm 1 ID | CLCIV 385 - Greek Mythology, Quizzes of Classical Philology

Download MidTerm 1 ID | CLCIV 385 - Greek Mythology and more Quizzes Classical Philology in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 Achaeans DEFINITION 1 The earliest term used by the Greek people to refer to themselves. They did not, and still do not, call themselves "Greek." TERM 2 Achelos DEFINITION 2 River god and competitor for Deianira; defeated by Heracles. TERM 3 Acheron DEFINITION 3 River between the human world from the the underworld in Vergil and Dante. TERM 4 Acrisius DEFINITION 4 Progeny of Io; tried to forestall the prophecy that he would be killed by his grandson. TERM 5 Cerberus DEFINITION 5 is a multi-headed hound (usually three-headed) which guards the gates of Hades, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping. Heracles defeated it in his 12th labor TERM 6 Ares DEFINITION 6 Olympian god of war lust. TERM 7 Ariadne DEFINITION 7 Daughter of King Minos and Pasiphae of Crete Married to Dionysus TERM 8 Artemis DEFINITION 8 Olympian virgin goddess of the animals; the Potnia Thern. TERM 9 Asclepius DEFINITION 9 Son of Coronis and Apollo; learned medicine from the centaur Chiron. TERM 10 Athena DEFINITION 10 Olympian goddess of the crafts of the home and war; patron goddess of Athen, from which she probably derives her name. TERM 21 Cercopes DEFINITION 21 Highwaymen defeated by Heracles. TERM 22 Ceryneian Deer DEFINITION 22 Heracles 3rd Labor Chases deer for full year Its Artemis' deer He runs into Artemis and Apollo on way back and is forced to release it after showing it TERM 23 Chaos DEFINITION 23 "Yawning, gaping"; a primordial principal in Hesiod's cosmogony. TERM 24 Charon DEFINITION 24 The ferryman who takes souls across the river Acheron in Vergil and Dante. TERM 25 Chimera DEFINITION 25 Fabulous monster; lion with snake's tail and goat's head growing out of its back. TERM 26 Chiron DEFINITION 26 Centaur on Mount Pelion who raised Jason. TERM 27 Choral song DEFINITION 27 Song the chorus sings in plays TERM 28 Classical Period DEFINITION 28 Division of Greek history (490-323 B.C.) just after the Archaic Period; the Golden Age of ancient Greek history. TERM 29 Coronis DEFINITION 29 One of Apollo's blighted romances; he killed her in a jealous rage, but saved their unborn son Ascelpius. TERM 30 Cosmogony DEFINITION 30 theory concerning the coming into existence or origin of the universe, or about how reality came to be. TERM 31 Cretan Bull DEFINITION 31 Heracles 8th labor Rides it back, and is released after showing it TERM 32 Cronus DEFINITION 32 Chief Titan; overthrew Uranus; with his sister Rhea, the father of the first generation of the Olympians. TERM 33 Cybele DEFINITION 33 Phrygian deification of the Earth Mother. As with Greek Gaia (the "Earth"), or her Minoan equivalent Rhea, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth, a goddess of caverns and mountains, walls and fortresses, nature, wild animals (especially lions and bees) TERM 34 Cyclades DEFINITION 34 Cluster of islands in the middle of the Aegean Sea; so called because their distribution resembles the shape of a circle (kuklos). TERM 35 Cyclopes DEFINITION 35 Race of one-eyed, barbaric giants. "Round Eyes"; produced by Gaea; assisted Zeus in the Titanomachy. Thunderbolt TERM 46 Deucalion DEFINITION 46 Son of Prometheus; survived the flood sent by Zeus to destroy humankind; the Greek Noah. TERM 47 Dionysus DEFINITION 47 God of the "sap" of life and male fertility. Bacchae Wine God TERM 48 Divine Myth DEFINITION 48 A type of myth that tells of the actions of the gods; often used as a way of explaining how some thing or some ritual practice came into being. TERM 49 Dumuzi DEFINITION 49 Consort of Inanna; the Mesopotamian dying male god of fertility. TERM 50 Ea DEFINITION 50 (=Sumerian Enki) Mesopotamian god of cleverness. TERM 51 Eleusinian Mysteries DEFINITION 51 Elaborate rites in honor of Demeter and Persephon, conducted in the town of Eleusis near, and later a part of, Athens. TERM 52 Elysium DEFINITION 52 A place of the blessed afterlife; at first restricted to mortals who were favored by the gods, later became a reward for virtue. TERM 53 Enki DEFINITION 53 Mesopotamian god of wisdom and tricks; involved in creation of humankind with Ki. TERM 54 Enkidu DEFINITION 54 Nature man in the Epic of Gilgamesh; at first Gilgamesh's chief rival, then his fast friend in their adventures. TERM 55 Enlil DEFINITION 55 Sumerian "lord of the storm"; An's agent on earth. TERM 56 Eos DEFINITION 56 Eos (Greek , or "dawn") is, in Greek mythology, the Titan goddess of the dawn, who rose from her home at the edge of Oceanus, the Ocean that surrounds the world, to herald her brother Helios, the sun. TERM 57 Epic DEFINITION 57 Long poem on a heroic theme. TERM 58 Eponym DEFINITION 58 An ancestor whose name survives as the name of a people or place. Thus Helln, for example, can be said to be the eponymous ancestor of the Hellenes (Greeks). TERM 59 Myth of Er DEFINITION 59 "Springtime"; in Plato's myth, given a view of the afterlife, which he reports. TERM 60 Erinyes DEFINITION 60 The Furies; help maintain the cosmic order. TERM 71 Ganymede DEFINITION 71 Zeus special cupbearer. TERM 72 Gaints DEFINITION 72 Created by Gaea; Zeus must defeat them to establish his rule. TERM 73 Gigantomachy DEFINITION 73 Battle of the Olympians and the Giants. TERM 74 Gilgamesh DEFINITION 74 Historical king of Uruk about 2600 B.C.; his legend is preserved in the cuneiform Epic of Gilgamesh TERM 75 Girdle of Hippolyta DEFINITION 75 Labor of Heracles, the girdle of the Amazon Queen Was peaceful ti' Hera interrupted and caused great battle TERM 76 Girls' Tragedy DEFINITION 76 Pattern of folktale motifs that tell the story of a young girl; the story of Dana follows it. TERM 77 Gorgon DEFINITION 77 Ancient apotropaic hags; Medusa acquires their characteristics and is the most famous of the Gorgons. TERM 78 Graces DEFINITION 78 Personification of a young woman's charms; children of Zeus and another personification, Eurynom TERM 79 Graea DEFINITION 79 Graea or Graia (Greek: ) is a region of ancient Greece that is placed under Boeotia in Homer's Catalogue of Ships; it seems to have included the city of Oropos, though by the fifth century BC it was probably a kome (district) of that city. TERM 80 Hades DEFINITION 80 "Unseen"; the Olympian god of the underworld. TERM 81 Hebrews DEFINITION 81 Semitic people who emigrated from Mesopotamia. TERM 82 Hecatonchires DEFINITION 82 "100 Handers"; produced by Gaea; assisted Zeus in the Titanomachy. TERM 83 Helius DEFINITION 83 Son of Hyperion; a sun god. TERM 84 Hellen DEFINITION 84 Hellenistic civilization (Greek civilization beyond classical Greeks) represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BC to about 146 BC (or arguably as late as 30 BC). TERM 85 Hellenistic Period DEFINITION 85 Division of Greek history (323-31 B.C.) just after the Classical Period; witnessed the gradual absorption of the Greek city- states into larger political bodies. TERM 96 Hippolytus DEFINITION 96 Son of Theseus by Antiop, Queen of the Amazons; falsely accused by Phaedra, Theseus's new wife, of having attempted to rape her, he is killed by Poseidon, who answers Theseus's prayer. Doesn't care for women TERM 97 Hittites DEFINITION 97 Powerful non-Semitic people of central Turkey. TERM 98 Homer DEFINITION 98 Name given to the hypothetical author of the epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. TERM 99 Homeric Hymns DEFINITION 99 Collection of songs in praise of various Greek gods in the style of the Homeric epics the Iliad and the Odyssey. TERM 100 horses of Diomedes DEFINITION 100 One of the twelve labors; Diomedes was thrown by Heracles to his own man-eating horses. TERM 101 hoplites DEFINITION 101 The heavily armed soldier of the Greek citizen army. TERM 102 Humbaba DEFINITION 102 Guardian of the forest in the Land of Cedars; defeated by Gilgamesh and Enkidu. TERM 103 Hydra DEFINITION 103 One of the twelve labors, from which he got the poison which he used on his arrows. TERM 104 Inanna DEFINITION 104 Mesopotamian goddess of heaven, love and war; with Dumuzi, she is the other half of the Mesopotamian cycle-of- nature myth. TERM 105 Ino DEFINITION 105 Wife of Athamas of Orchomenus, sister of Semel; given the infant Dionysus to raise. Driven insane by Hera. TERM 106 Io DEFINITION 106 Ancestress of many civilizations; tormented by Hera after having attracted the attention of Zeus. TERM 107 Iole DEFINITION 107 was the daughter of Eurytus, king of the city Oechalia. Eligable for marriage via archer competition th at was cancelled when Heracles was winning TERM 108 Ion DEFINITION 108 Creusa conceived Ion with Apollo then she abandoned the child. Apollo asked Hermes to take Ion from his cradle. Ion was saved (and raised) by a priestess of the Delphic Oracle. TERM 109 Isis DEFINITION 109 Isis was a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Sister of Osiris TERM 110 Ixion DEFINITION 110 Figure being punished in the underworld for having attempted to seduce Hera. . TERM 121 Medusa DEFINITION 121 Most famous of the Gorgons, whose stare turned men into stone; killed by Perseus. TERM 122 Megara DEFINITION 122 Megara () is an ancient city TERM 123 Mesopotamia DEFINITION 123 "Between the rivers"; name given to area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, roughly modern-day Iraq. TERM 124 Metamophoses DEFINITION 124 a Latin narrative poem in fifteen books by the Roman poet Ovid describing the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar within a loose mythico- historical framework. Completed in AD 8, it is recognized as a masterpiece of Golden Age Latin literature TERM 125 Metis DEFINITION 125 Cleverness; with Zeus, the mother of Athena. Zues ate her TERM 126 Metopes DEFINITION 126 River Nymph TERM 127 Miasma DEFINITION 127 "Pollution"; refers to the Greek belief that crime or sin brought with it a quasi-physical pollution that was contagious. TERM 128 Midas DEFINITION 128 King in Phrygia; given the power by Dionysus to turn everything he touched into gold. TERM 129 Minyads DEFINITION 129 Daughters of King Minyas of Orchomenus who rejected Dionysus; punished by being driven to consume their own children. TERM 130 Moerae DEFINITION 130 The Fates; among the first principles in Hesiod's cosmogony TERM 131 Mycenaean Age DEFINITION 131 Late Bronze Age culture (1600-1250 B.C.); so called because the greatest palace of the age is at the city of Mycenae. TERM 132 Myrrha DEFINITION 132 is the mother of Adonis in Greek mythology. Victim of Aphrodite; secretly sleeps with her own father. TERM 133 Narcissus DEFINITION 133 Beautiful young man who fell in love with himself; transformed into a flower. TERM 134 Nemean lion DEFINITION 134 One of 12 labors, skin cannot be pierced by anything Heracles wore its skin after TERM 135 Nessus DEFINITION 135 Centaur that tried to rape Heracles' wife Deianira, and brought death to Heracles by lying about what his blood would do. TERM 146 Pandora DEFINITION 146 "All giver"; primordial woman created by Zeus to punish mankind as a way to punish Prometheus. TERM 147 Paris school of myth criticism DEFINITION 147 School that analyzes myths TERM 148 parthenos DEFINITION 148 "Young girl, virgin"; mentioned in connection with marriage, refers to the idea that a proper wife needed to be young and virgin. TERM 149 pederasty DEFINITION 149 "Boy love"; practiced by Greek males as a part of the cultural education of young man. TERM 150 Peloponnesian War DEFINITION 150 The long war between Athens and Sparta and their allies; fatally weakened the Greek city-states. TERM 151 Peloponnesus DEFINITION 151 The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus is a large peninsula and region in southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth. TERM 152 Pentheus DEFINITION 152 King of Thebes in the Bacchae; tried to stamp out Dionysus' cult in his city; punished by being dismembered by the Maenads. TERM 153 Persephone DEFINITION 153 Daughter of Demeter and Zeus, taken to underworld half of the year to be Hades' queen. TERM 154 Perseus DEFINITION 154 Son of Dana and Zeus, Killed Medusa TERM 155 Phaedra DEFINITION 155 Wife of Theseus and stepmother to Hippolytus; inflicted with a shameful lust for Hippolytus and rebuffed by him, she kills herself, leaving behind a letter falsely accusing Hippolytus of having tried to rape her. TERM 156 Pluto DEFINITION 156 "Enricher"; an alternate name for Hades, indicating his nature as the god of the fertility of the soil. TERM 157 Polis DEFINITION 157 Fundamental political unit of Greek history from the Archaic Age to the Hellenistic Period; autonomous city-state; source of most of the values of Greek culture. TERM 158 Polydectes DEFINITION 158 King of the island of Seriphos, where the box containing Dana and Perseus was brought ashore by Zeus; tried ignominiously to seduce Dana. TERM 159 Poseidon DEFINITION 159 "Wheat Father"; Olympian god of the ocean, earthquakes, horses. TERM 160 Potnia Theron DEFINITION 160 Potnia Theron ( , "Mistress of the Animals") is a term first used (once) by Homer (Iliad 21. 470) and often used to describe female divinities associated with animals. TERM 171 Semele DEFINITION 171 Mortal mother of Dionysus TERM 172 Semites DEFINITION 172 Name given to peoples belonging to a linguistic family: Akkadians, BabyloniaName given to peoples belonging to a linguistic family: Akkadians, Babylonians, Hebrews.ns, Hebrews. TERM 173 Sibyl at Cumae DEFINITION 173 One of Apollo's failed romances; accepted gift of extreme age, but without youth. TERM 174 Silenius DEFINITION 174 a companion and tutor to the wine god Dionysus. TERM 175 Sisyphus DEFINITION 175 Cheated Death multiple times (caught death, wasn't buried, etc) punished by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this throughout eternity. TERM 176 Sophocles DEFINITION 176 5th Century BCE Greek writer TERM 177 Sphinx DEFINITION 177 Offspring of Pontus and Gaea; half woman, half bird. TERM 178 Stymphalian birds DEFINITION 178 One of the twelve labors; bronzed-beaked, man-eating birds shot by Heracles with his poisoned arrows. TERM 179 succession myth DEFINITION 179 Myth that depicts generations of divinities battling the previous to establish their dynasties; common form of cosmogony TERM 180 Sumerians DEFINITION 180 The first great civilization in Mesopotamia. TERM 181 Tantalus DEFINITION 181 Figure being punished in the underworld for having tried to deceive the gods. He sacraficed, cooked, and tried to serve his son to the gods TERM 182 Theogony DEFINITION 182 Hesiod's poem describing the genealogies of the gods and ancient greeks TERM 183 Thespis DEFINITION 183 The first actor, according to Aristotle; played a key role in the evolution from dithyramb to tragedy. TERM 184 Thetis DEFINITION 184 Sea Nymph It was prophecized that her son would be greater than father Married to the mortal Peleus to prevent Zeus's overthrown by a son. TERM 185 Thyrsus DEFINITION 185 "Wand" carried by the followers of Dionysus.