Download Greek Mythology

Greek Mythology
Building Background:
• Myth: a traditional story that was
once believed to be true. (Myths
frequently attempt to explain the
origin of something.)
Greek Gods and Goddesses
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuC
vWAbAV0Q
Cronus the Titan
• “Saturn”
• Father of the gods. Married his sister, Rhea,
goddess of Earth.
• Former king of gods because he killed his father,
Uranus, the First One.
• Swallowed his own children.
Zeus
• “Jupiter”
• King of Gods. Son of Cronus and Rhea.
Married his sister, Hera.
• Zeus is God of the sky. He is said to shape the
weather according to his mood. (earthquakes,
lightning, thunder)
• Symbols: Thunderbolt & Eagle
Poseidon
• “Neptune”
• God of the Sea, horses, and earthquakes.
Son of Rhea and Cronus.
• Changeful, quarrelsome, greedy, and
aggressive.
• Symbols: Trident and dolphin
Hades
• “Pluto”
• Ruler of the Underworld. Son of Cronus and
Rhea. Married Persephone. Owned a threeheaded, attack dog named “Cerberus.”
• Jealous of his brothers and very possessive.
Hera (“Juno”)
• Goddess of marriage, family, and
protector of women. Zeus’s wife.
• Symbol: Peacock
Ares (“Mars”)
• Olympian god of war.
Figure behind all violence.
• Very difficult god. Secret mistress was
Aphrodite, which was seen as a blend of two
opposing powers.
• Symbols: The Spear & the Dogs
Athena
• Greek goddess of wisdom, skill and war.
• Daughter of Zeus and Metis, a mortal woman.
• Believed in justice, (“compassion is the best
part of wisdom,”) taught men how to fight.
• Symbols: Owl and distaff
Apollo
• Most beautiful god. God of the sun,
light, music and the prophecy.
• Son of Zeus and mortal woman Leto; twin of
Artemis.
• Invented the lute but most popular for playing
the lyre. Excelled in music competitions.
• Symbol: The lyre, the tripod, the laurel tree.
Aphrodite (“Venus”)
• Greek goddess of Love, Beauty, and Eternal
Youth.
• Connected with the death/rebirth of nature and
human beings.
• Married to Hephaestus though she was
unfaithful.
• Symbols: The seashell and the mirror.
Hermes
• Mercury
• Messenger god;
god of the cheaters and the thieves.
• Because of his speed, Hermes received the role of
the messenger and
• conductor of souls to the Underworld.
• Symbols: Winged Sandals.
Pandora (the “all-gifted”)
• The first woman created by an
Olympian god.
• Zeus ordered the woman to be as
beautiful as a god, and all the other
gods gave her a gift during her creation.
• Hermes gave Pandora a box, which she was not
to open, but Hera made her a curious woman, so
she could not resist. She opened the box and
unleashed evil spirits, pain and sorrow.
Artemis
• The Greek goddess of the Hunt, the Moon and the
Childbirth and protector of the young.
• One of the three Virgin Goddesses in Greek
mythology.
• Artemis' twin brother was Apollo, the god of the
Sun, whereas Artemis' cult was connected with
the Moon.
• Symbols: the bow, the snake,
and the deer.
The Graces
• Three lovely goddesses of Joy, Charm and
Beauty.
The Muses
• Nine goddesses presiding over the arts and the
sciences.
• The Muses taught the Greek writer Hesiod the
origins and genealogies of the ancient Greek
gods and then blessed and inspired him to write
his famous epic poem, the Theogony.
Demeter
• “Ceres”
• The Greek goddess of agriculture and
vegetation.
• Symbols: The ear wheat and the grain.
Hephaestus
• The blacksmith among gods. The only
unattractive god. Because he was ugly, his
mother Hera cast him to the sea, crippling his
leg, where he was rescued and raised in a cave
for nine years.
• Married Aphrodite.
• Responsible for creating Pandora.
Perseus
• The Greek hero who killed the Gorgon
Medusa.
• Born of Zeus and a mortal woman, cast into
the sea with his mother upon birth and
raised on an island.
Prometheus
• Did not see the point of having a separate
race called man if they all lived in caves
and were as simple as beasts, so he gave
man the gift of fire.
• Zeus punished Prometheus for his actions
and chained him up to a mountaintop
where vulture fed on him.
Dionysus
• God of wine
King Menelaus
• King of Ancient Sparta whose wife, Helen, was
stolen from him by Paris.
• Helen was the most beautiful woman and
when Paris stole her away to Troy,
the Trojan War commenced.
Paris
• Trojan Prince.
His actions directly spark
the Trojan War.
• Aphrodite promised Paris he could wed Helen
because he graciously declared that Aphrodite
was the most beautiful god.
• During the war, Paris fatally wounded Achilles by
shooting an arrow through his heel.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e0BLcd_WsE
Helen of Troy
• “The face that launched
a thousand ships”
• She was so beautiful
that all men desired her.
She married Menelaus,
then Prince Paris.
Achilles
• A hero of the Trojan War.
Achilles was the most handsome, capable and worthy
of all the heroes that participated in the Trojan War.
• When Achilles was born, his mother Thetis attempted
to make him immortal by dipping him in sacred
waters. While she was pulling her infant from the
water, she was holding him by one heel so this heel
remained dry, leaving a vulnerable spot on Achilles'
body. This weakness turned out to be crucial for
Achilles, since he got killed during the Trojan War by
an arrow of Paris that hit exactly that spot.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRynDLOAaB8&feature=related
Literary Terms
• Fables: a story that teaches a
moral (lesson).
Literary Terms:
•
•
•
•
Epic: a long, narrative poem that tells a story.
Characterization:
Conflict:
Foreshadow:
A Few More Lit Terms to Know:
• Epic Hero: a larger-than-life figure who takes
on an adventure and shows superhuman
strength and courage.
• Epithet: Brief, descriptive phrases that help
characterize a person or thing.
• Simile
Brief Recap of The Odyssey
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