Greek Mythology

Heroes, gods, and

monsters…
Class Notes
Mythology
Mr. Bradley
Greek Mythology
1. The Greeks were the earliest people to give their
gods human forms
2. The Greeks also
gave the gods
human qualities
and emotions
3. Greeks were able to
determine proper
behavior based on what
would “anger the gods”
or “please the gods.”
Greek Myth Categories
The Greek myths fall into the following
categories:

a. Explains

b. Instructs

c. Entertains
 What are the characteristics of the
Gods?
 Egotistical, vain  Unforgiving
 Easily Flattered  Vengeful
 Jealous  Manipulative
 Spoiled
 Cruel
 Selfish
 See humans as
 Easily Angered
 Reward Loyalty playthings
The Hero
 Many mythological stories feature Heroes
 Heroes have specific traits:
 Unusual circumstance of birth; danger or royalty
 Leaves family or land and lives with others
 An event leads to an adventure or quest
 Hero has special weapon only he can wield
 Hero has supernatural help
 The hero must prove himself many times while on
the adventure
 Hero experiences atonement with his father
An Epic Poem
 A long narrative poem originally told (and
later written) in a dignified style and
presenting characters of high position
engaged in a series of adventures (episodes)
that are important to the history of a nation or
race.
Characteristics of the Epic:
1. The hero is a figure of imposing stature, of
national importance, and of great historical or
legendary significance
2. The setting is vast in scope
3. The action consists of deeds of great valor or
requiring superhuman courage
4. Supernatural forces interests themselves in the
action
5. The epic poet recounts the deeds of the heroes
with objectivity
Remember the Titans?
 Gaea: Earth Goddess; made the rest of the
Titans by mating with her son, Uranus.
 Uranus: Sky god; first ruler. Dethroned by
Cronus.
 Cronus: Fathered the first of the Olympians.
Swallowed his children except for Zeus.
 Prometheus: “Forethought” ;
Protector of man; inventor of fire.
 Atlas: Punished by having
to hold the world on his back.
 Who Were the Olympians?
 The offspring of the Titans

 Overthrew the Titans in a war to control the

universe.

 Led by Zeus, the god of the other gods.

 Zeus and his brothers split territory (Zeus-

earth/sky, Poseidon- the seas, Hades- the
underworld)
Where do the Gods live?
• Mount Olympus
THE GODS
 Zeus – King of  Athena – Goddess of
the Gods Wisdom and Beauty
 Carries a  Taught man to use tools
thunderbolt  Turns Arachne into a
spider
 Hera – Queen of  Today arachnid means
the Gods spider
 Zeus’ wife and
sister
THE GODS
 Poseidon – God of the
Sea
 Carries a three-pronged
staff
 Creates many animals,
such as the horse,
hippo, giraffe, donkey,
and zebra
 Hades – Ruler of the
Dead, God of the
Underworld
 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
 Demeter – Also known Apollo – God of the
as Ceres sun and patron of
 Goddess of Harvest,
music, math, poetry,
Grain, and Planting
and medicine
 Persephone is her
daughter  Carries gold quivers,
 Her story explains why arrows, and drives the
we have seasons chariot
 Very handsome
 Has a contest with
Marsyas
The GODS
 Hephaestus – Smith  Aphrodite – Goddess
God of Love and Beauty
 Ugly  Married to Hephaestus
 Makes jewlery  Mother of Eros aka
 Marries Aphrodite Cupid in Roman
Mythology
The GODS
 Ares – God of War  Dionysus – God of
Wine

 Eros – God of Love

 Falls in love with  Artemis – Goddess of
Psyche the Hunt and the Moon
Terms to know…
 Muses – nine sister goddesses known for
song, poetry, and sciences

 Nymphs – minor goddesses, beautiful

maidens who lived in nature

 Naiad – aquatic nymph, gave life to rivers,

streams, fountains, etc.
Terms to know…
 Dryad – wood nymph

 Aphrodisiac – a love potion, named for

Aphrodite, goddess of love

 Arachnophobia – a fear of spiders

Terms to know…
 Atlas – a map, named after the Titan who
bore the sky on his shoulders and was turned
to stone by Perseus.

 Calliope – musical instrument, named for the

Goddess Calliope; name comes from two
words meaning “beauty” and “voice”.
Terms to know…
 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…
 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.

 Cyclops (Cyclopes) – Greek Monster. Names

comes from two Greek words “circle” and
“eye”.
Terms to know…
 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.

 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…
 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…

 Erotic – relating to
love, derived from
Eros, Aphrodite’s
son, the secret archer
whose arrows were
tipped with sweet
poison.
Terms to know…
 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…
 Hades – describes the home of the dead; comes
from the Greek word meaning “the unseen”.

 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…
 Labyrinth – a maze, prison-garden full of
puzzling paths built by Daedalus.

 Martial – “warlike”; comes from Mars aka Ares,

the God of War.

 Mercurial – swift, unstable, changeable; refers to

the disposition of Mercury aka Hermes, the
Messenger-God
Terms to know…
 Midas Touch – the golden touch, is said of
those who are good at making money.

 Oracle – Greek word meaning “to pray”. A

person who seems to possess great knowledge
or intuition is called an oracle.
Terms to know…
 Panic – derived from
the God Pan, the goat-
footed, flute-playing
king of field and wood
whose war cry was to
spread frenzy and fear
among his enemies.
Terms to know…
 Psyche – in Greek it
meant “soul”.
Today, however, in
English it has come
to mean the entire
mental state.
Terms to know…
 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…
 Saturday – named  Titan – referred to
for the God Saturn, the race of giants,
a Roman name for has been used to
Cronos describe anything
which is enormous
in size or strength
Terms to know…
 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…
 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.