Download Greek Mythology Notes

Greek
Mythology
Heroes, gods,
and monsters…
Class Notes
English 9
Ms. Viel
What is a myth?
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a traditional story serving to explain some
phenomenon, custom, or event.
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What are the characteristics of the
Gods?
Egotistical, vain
 Unforgiving
Easily Flattered
 Vengeful
Jealous
 Manipulative
Spoiled
 Cruel
Selfish
 See humans as
Easily Angered
playthings
Reward Loyalty
Where do the Gods live?
• Mount Olympus
THE GODS
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Zeus – King of
the Gods
Athena – Goddess of
Wisdom and Beauty
Carries a
thunderbolt
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Hera – Queen of
the Gods
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Zeus’ wife and
sister
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Taught man to use tools
Turns Arachne into a
spider
Today arachnid means
spider
THE GODS
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Poseidon – God of the
Sea
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Carries a three-pronged
staff
Creates many animals,
such as the horse,
hippo, giraffe, donkey,
and zebra
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Hades – Ruler of the
Dead, God of the
Underworld
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Greeks put a coin under
the tongues of the dead
to pay the fare on the
River Styx (mentioned
in Poe’s Poem “The
Raven”)
Falls in love with
Persephone
The GODS
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Demeter – Also known Apollo – God of the
as Ceres
sun and patron of
 Goddess of Harvest,
music, math, poetry,
Grain, and Planting
and medicine
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Persephone is her
daughter
Her story explains why
we have seasons
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Carries gold quivers,
arrows, and drives the
chariot
Very handsome
Has a contest with
Marsyas
The GODS
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Hephaestus – Smith
God
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Ugly
Makes jewlery
Marries Aphrodite
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Aphrodite – Goddess
of Love and Beauty
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Married to Hephaestus
Mother of Eros aka
Cupid in Roman
Mythology
The GODS
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Ares – God of War
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Eros – God of Love
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Falls in love with
Psyche
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Dionysus – God of
Wine
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Artemis – Goddess of
the Hunt and the Moon
Terms to know…
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Muses – nine sister goddesses known for
song, poetry, and sciences
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Nymphs – minor goddesses, beautiful
maidens who lived in nature
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Naiad – aquatic nymph, gave life to rivers,
streams, fountains, etc.
Terms to know…
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Dryad – wood nymph
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Aphrodisiac – a love potion, named for
Aphrodite, goddess of love
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Arachnophobia – a fear of spiders
Terms to know…
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Atlas – a map, named after the Titan who
bore the sky on his shoulders and was turned
to stone by Perseus.
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Calliope – musical instrument, named for the
Goddess Calliope; name comes from two
words meaning “beauty” and “voice”.
Terms to know…
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Cloth – The Greeks believed that destiny was
controlled by the three terrible sisters called
the Fates. Clotho spun the thread of life on
her spindle. Lachesis measured the thread.
Atropos, Lady of the Shears, snipped the
thread of life when it had been measured out.
Terms to know…
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Chronology – comes from the Greek God
Cronos, the God of Time. Chronology is the
science of measuring time and of dating
events in the order of their occurrence.
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Cyclops (Cyclopes) – Greek Monster. Names
comes from two Greek words “circle” and
“eye”.
Terms to know…
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Echo – named after the nymph Echo who fell
in love with Narcissus. She could not tell him
of her love because she was under a curse
which allowed her to repeat only the last word
of what was said to her.
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Narcissistic – to be obsessed by the idea of
one’s own beauty; comes from Narcissus, the
boy who fell in love with his own reflection.
Terms to know…
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Elysian Fields – place of great happiness
Erinyes or the Furies – punished people for
their crimes on the earth. They were referred
to as Eumenides, which ironically meant “the
kindly ones”. This is where the term
euphemism comes from. A euphemism is a
less direct word or phrase for one considered
offensive.
Example – He died…He passed away.
Terms to know…
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Erotic – relating to
love, derived from
Eros, Aphrodite’s
son, the secret archer
whose arrows were
tipped with sweet
poison.
Terms to know…
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Fortune – derived from Fortuna,
the Roman goddess of luck and
vengeance, mistress of destiny.
Her name is a variant of the Latin
word votrumna, meaning
“turner” because she turned the
giant wheel of the year, stopping
it at either happiness, sorrow,
life, or death.
Terms to know…
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Hades – describes the home of the dead;
comes from the Greek word meaning “the
unseen”.
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Jove – one of the names for Jupiter/Zeus, has
come to mean “born under a lucky planet, and
therefore, happy and healthy”. We even hear
the phrase “By Jove!” and the adjective jovial
derives from the word as well.
Terms to know…
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Labyrinth – a maze, prison-garden full of
puzzling paths built by Daedalus.
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Martial – “warlike”; comes from Mars aka
Ares, the God of War.
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Mercurial – swift, unstable, changeable;
refers to the disposition of Mercury aka
Hermes, the Messenger-God
Terms to know…
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Midas Touch – the golden touch, is said of
those who are good at making money.
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Oracle – Greek word meaning “to pray”. A
person who seems to possess great knowledge
or intuition is called an oracle.
Terms to know…
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Panic – derived from
the God Pan, the goatfooted, flute-playing
king of field and wood
whose war cry was to
spread frenzy and fear
among his enemies.
Terms to know…
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Psyche – in Greek it
meant “soul”.
Today, however, in
English it has come
to mean the entire
mental state.
Terms to know…
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Python – comes
from the Greek word
“to rot,” is used to
describe snakes, such
as the boa which kill
its prey by crushing
it.
Terms to know…
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Saturday – named
for the God Saturn,
a Roman name for
Cronos
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Titan – referred to
the race of giants,
has been used to
describe anything
which is enormous
in size or strength
Terms to know…
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Typhoon – a violent
wind, comes from
Typhon, a terrible
monster. He was half
donkey, half serpent; he
had great leathery
wings and flew through
the air shrieking
horribly, spitting
flames.
Terms to know…
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Volcano – derived from
Vulcan, the Roman
Smith-God aka
Hephaestus, who took a
mountain as his smithy.
When he heated up his
forge, clouds of smoke
arose from the
mountains.