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Greek Mythology
Review
What do you MEAN that’s allusion?
• Other than references made to the Bible,
Greek Mythology is the most often alluded to
material in literature (followed by
Shakespeare)
Who could THIS
guy be? What gives
his identity away?
Less Prominent Figures
In the beginning…
Gaea
•
• Gaea is the Earth goddess.
She mated with her son
Uranus to produce the
remaining Titans.
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Uranus
Uranus is the sky god and
first ruler.
He is the son of Gaea, who
created him without help.
He then became the
husband of Gaea & father
of twelve of the Titans.
His rule ended when
Cronus, encouraged by
Gaea, castrated him. He
either died from the wound
or withdrew from earth
So What?
• Cronus was the ruling Titan who came to power by
castrating his Father Uranus.
• His wife was Rhea.
• Their offspring were the first of the Olympians (Hestia,
Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Zeus)
• To ensure his safety Cronus ate each of the children as
they were born.
• Rhea, unhappy at the loss of her children, tricked Cronus
into swallowing a rock, instead of Zeus.
• When he grew up Zeus would revolt against Cronus and
the other Titans, defeat them, and banish them to
Tartarus in the underworld.
Prometheus Statue,
Rockefeller Center, NYC
Prometheus
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Known as the wisest
Titan.
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Name means
“forethought” and he
was able to tell the
future
When Zeus revolted
against Cronos,
Prometheus deserted
the Titans and fought
on Zeus’s side
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Delegated by Zeus to
help create man
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Responsible for
giving man fire,
against Zeus’s orders
Punished for this gift
by being bound to a
rock for all eternity
with an eagle eating
his liver
Saved by Hercules
Statue of Atlas,
Rockefeller Center, NYC
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Atlas led the cause of the Titans against Zeus
because Cronus was too old to fight himself.
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Because of this, he was singled out by Zeus to suffer
the punishment of holding the world on his
shoulders after the war was over
Enter the Olympians
• The Olympians are a group of 12 gods who
ruled after the overthrow of the Titans.
• All the Olympians are related in some way.
• They are named after their dwelling place
Mount Olympus.
Gods Family Tree
Zeus
• After winning the war against
his father, Zeus drew lots with
his brothers Poseidon and
Hades.
• Zeus won the draw and
became the supreme ruler of
the gods.
• He is lord of the sky, the rain
god. His weapon is a
thunderbolt which he hurls at
those who displease him.
• He is married to Hera, but is
famous for his many affairs. He
is also known to punish those
that lie or break oaths.
Poseidon, God of the Sea
Wait, where have you seen
• He invented the horse for
hisbefore?
sister Demeter,
THAT
• Although
he chose Thetis, a beautiful water
whom he loved.
nymph,
as his built
queen,
like his
brother
Zeus,
What
could
it mean?
• Poseidon
anhe,
underwater
palace
was yes,
a great
wanderer,
fathering
hundreds
of
•And
King
Triton
was
one
of
his
many
children
with a great pearl and coral throne.
children.
King Triton
• Triton is a mythological Greek god, the messenger of the
sea.
• He is usually represented as a merman, having the upper
body of a human and the tail of a fish, "sea-hued," and,
according to Ovid "his shoulders barnacled with sea-shells."
• Like his father, Poseidon, he carried a trident. However,
Triton's special attribute was a twisted conch shell, on
which he blew like a trumpet to calm or raise the waves. Its
sound was so terrible, that when loudly blown, it put the
giants to flight, who imagined it to be the roar of a mighty
wild beast.
Hades, god of the Underworld
• He was the jealous brother to Zeus and
Poseidon.
• He made Persephone his wife after stealing
her from her mother, Demeter (his sister).
• Because he was a violent god, who was also
very possessive of every new soul, he rarely
left his underworld domain.
Demeter
• Goddess of Corn
and Harvest
• Sister to Zeus,
Poseidon, and Hades
• Mother to
Persephone…
• Bargained with
Hades to get
Persephone half of
the year… so came
the seasons
Who could
this be?
What gives
her identity
away?
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Goddess of Wisdom,
Justice, War, Civilization and Peace
Said to have emerged from Zeus’ head full grown and
wearing armor
She taught man to use tools and taught his wife to spin
and weave.
She was the best-loved goddess on Olympus.
She was one of the three virgin goddesses.
The story says that Poseidon and Athena both wanted
to be patron gods of Greece/Athens but the people
chose Athena because she gave them the olive tree and
Poseidon gave them a salt water spring (which of
course made Poseidon angry…)
She hated Ares, god of war, often besting him in battle.
Who could this hunk be?
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The handsomest of the gods!
He was also the god of the healing arts and of
medicine.
He pulled his chariot across the sky to bring
the sun up every day.
He was also petty… and because he was a
great warrior, he teased Cupid for playing with
arrows.
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He took two arrows, one of lead and one
of gold…
Gold = love… Lead = hate…
He shot one into Daphne.
And one into Apollo…
Look at the picture again
Who
got
hit
with
which
So what do you think Cupid did?
arrow???
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Daughter of Zeus
and Leto
Twin sister of Apollo
Goddess of the
moon, the hunt,
nature and animals.
Also presides over
childbirth, which is
odd because she’s a
virgin.
Artemis
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Son of Zeus and
Hera
God of War
Disliked by his
parents.
Considered
murderous and a
coward.
Was a frequent
lover of Aphrodite.
Ares
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Goddess of love, desire and
beauty
Born on the foam of the sea
Supposedly started the
Trojan War
She told Paris, the prince of
Troy that if he chose her as
the most beautiful goddess
instead of Hera or Athena
then she would reward him
with the most beautiful
woman in the world , who
was Helen wife of Menelaus.
Thus beginning the Trojan
War
Married to Hephaestus, but
was unfaithful to him.
Aphrodite
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Hephaestus was the son of
Hera, who bore him alone as
response when Zeus bore
Athena alone. Another
version says he was the son
of Zeus and Hera, and that
he was the one that cracked
open Zeus' head to let
Athena out.
He was thrown out of Mt.
Olympus for being deformed
God of fire, is known as a
peace loving god.
Master Smith – created all
gods/goddesses weapons.
Aphrodite's husband.
Hephaestus
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Wife and sister of
Zeus
Was seen as a
nagging housewife
because she was
jealous of all of
Zeus’ affairs.
Goddess of
marriage, children
and women.
Hera
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Son of Zeus and
Maia
Messenger of the
Gods
Also the fastest of
the Gods, he wears
winged sandals.
Also the God of
thieves and
commerce.
Hermes
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Hestia – Goddess of the Hearth and Home
Sister of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, and
Demeter
She was the first born but the last one
regurgitated from Cronos
Every home had a hearth that was dedicated to
Hestia, and each day began and ended with a
ritual requesting that she protect and nurture
the family within
She remained a virginal goddess; romance and
marriage were not for her. She was content to
be Aunt Hestia and serve her family and
community
She was the manager of the family estate on
Mt. Olympus
The living flame of Hestia was tended constantly
and never allowed to die out, for it represented
the energy of all life and to let the flame
extinguish was to invite a cold and barren
existence. When new “subdivisions” were
developed, fire was carried from the town’s
hearth to light the fire of the new community,
assuring its prosperity.
Hestia – The Forgotten Goddess
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The Olympic Torch is just one
example of the living flame that
has survived to modern times,
though it is seldom recalled that
it originally honored the Greek
goddess Hestia.
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The ritual of a bride and groom
lighting a candle together from
the flames of two candelabra to
symbolize the creation of the
“new” family from their two “old”
families derived from the ancient
practice of bringing Hestia’s flame
from the bride’s mother’s home in
order to assure Hestia’s blessing
on the union.
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Dionysus- God of wine.
Pan- God of all nature and had goat legs and
a pan flute.
Persephone- Demeter’s daughter, queen of
the Underworld, but not by choice.
Nemesis- Helps those who are wronged
The Muses- Made beautiful music and
brought joy to all who heard it.
The Fates- They predate the Gods and
determine the lives of those who live.
Including how long they live and what kind of
person they are.
Other Greek Gods
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Demigods
Hercules
Perseus
Theseus
Heroes
Achilles- Greek hero. Very popular in the Trojan War.
Jason and the Argonauts- Greek hero whose mission was
to retrieve the Golden Fleece. It was a long journey.
Icons
Minotaur – half man, half bull
Centaur – half man, half horse
Satyr - half man, half goat (famous for being drunk and
chasing nymphs)
Pegasus – winged horse
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Charon, ferryman, takes souls who pay gold coins
across the River Styx to the gates of Erebus
(Darkness). Unburied souls (or those who couldn’t
pay) were stuck at the gates because Cerberus
(three-headed dog) guards the gates.
Tartarus is where the dead are judged.
Underworld is divided into 3 parts: Fields of
punishment (Tartarus) for crimes against the gods;
Asphodel Meadows for ordinary or indifferent
souls who didn’t achieve greatness or anything
that would set them apart; Elysium or Elysian
Fields, for virtuous or heroic souls – there’s a lake
in the middle (Isle of Blest) for distinguished souls
like Achilles or Hercules.