Greek Mythology Heroes gods and monsters Class Notes

Greek Mythology Heroes, gods, and monsters… Class Notes English 9 Ms. Viel

What is a myth? o a traditional story serving to explain some phenomenon, custom, or event.

o o o o What are the characteristics of the Gods? Egotistical, vain o Unforgiving Easily Flattered o Vengeful Jealous o Manipulative Spoiled o Cruel Selfish o See humans as Easily Angered playthings Reward Loyalty

Where do the Gods live? • Mount Olympus

THE GODS o Zeus – King of the Gods Athena – Goddess of Wisdom and Beauty Carries a thunderbolt n Hera – Queen of the Gods n n o o n Zeus’ wife and sister n Taught man to use tools Turns Arachne into a spider Today arachnid means spider

THE GODS o Poseidon – God of the Sea n n Carries a three-pronged staff Creates many animals, such as the horse, hippo, giraffe, donkey, and zebra o Hades – Ruler of the Dead, God of the Underworld n n 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 o Demeter – Also knowno Apollo – God of the as Ceres sun and patron of n Goddess of Harvest, music, math, poetry, Grain, and Planting and medicine n n Persephone is her daughter Her story explains why we have seasons n n n Carries gold quivers, arrows, and drives the chariot Very handsome Has a contest with Marsyas

The GODS o Hephaestus – Smith God n n n Ugly Makes jewlery Marries Aphrodite o Aphrodite – Goddess of Love and Beauty n n Married to Hephaestus Mother of Eros aka Cupid in Roman Mythology

The GODS o Ares – God of War o Eros – God of Love n Falls in love with Psyche o Dionysus – God of Wine o Artemis – Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon

Terms to know… o Muses – nine sister goddesses known for song, poetry, and sciences o Nymphs – minor goddesses, beautiful maidens who lived in nature o Naiad – aquatic nymph, gave life to rivers, streams, fountains, etc.

Terms to know… o Dryad – wood nymph o Aphrodisiac – a love potion, named for Aphrodite, goddess of love o Arachnophobia – a fear of spiders

Terms to know… o Atlas – a map, named after the Titan who bore the sky on his shoulders and was turned to stone by Perseus. o Calliope – musical instrument, named for the Goddess Calliope; name comes from two words meaning “beauty” and “voice”.

Terms to know… o 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… o 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. o Cyclops (Cyclopes) – Greek Monster. Names comes from two Greek words “circle” and “eye”.

Terms to know… o 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. o 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… o o o 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… o Erotic – relating to love, derived from Eros, Aphrodite’s son, the secret archer whose arrows were tipped with sweet poison.

Terms to know… o 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… o Hades – describes the home of the dead; comes from the Greek word meaning “the unseen”. o 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… o Labyrinth – a maze, prison-garden full of puzzling paths built by Daedalus. o Martial – “warlike”; comes from Mars aka Ares, the God of War. o Mercurial – swift, unstable, changeable; refers to the disposition of Mercury aka Hermes, the Messenger-God

Terms to know… o Midas Touch – the golden touch, is said of those who are good at making money. o Oracle – Greek word meaning “to pray”. A person who seems to possess great knowledge or intuition is called an oracle.

Terms to know… o 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… o Psyche – in Greek it meant “soul”. Today, however, in English it has come to mean the entire mental state.

Terms to know… o 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… o Saturday – named for the God Saturn, a Roman name for Cronos o Titan – referred to the race of giants, has been used to describe anything which is enormous in size or strength

Terms to know… o 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… o 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.