CLT3378 04 Ancient Mythology East and West Spring 2013 Study Guide for Final Exam List of Terms Ten of the following terms will appear in the Identifications section of the exam These terms are drawn from the Lecture Outlines and from the Background Readings Specific lectures and background readings are underlined Rig Veda Indian Mythology Rig Veda The Rig Veda is a collection of over 1 000 poems in Indian culture These poems are written as hymns to the gods Sanskrit Sanskrit is an indo European language used in Indian around 1700 1100 B C This is the language of the Rig Veda Vedic people The Vedic people are the people that wrote the Rig Veda The wrote the Rig Veda in Sanskrit Agni Agni is the binatural god of fire in Indian mythology He is many types of fire funeral ritual domestic natural Soma Soma is the binatural god of a sacred drink in Indian mythology It is thought to give vitality and immortality Indra Indra was the king of the gods in Indian mythology He was an avid drinker of Soma Vritra Vritra is the dragon serpent that hoards all of the fresh water in Indian mythology He is killed by Indra Tiamat Tiamat is the Mesopotamian goddess of salt water She is similar to Vritra in that many rivers are created as a result of their respective deaths Sarama Sarama is the dog of Indra in Indian mythology He resists bribes from demons when he tracks cattle down Panis the name for the demons that steal Indra s cattle They try to bribe Samara to get them out of trouble River Rasa River Rasa is a river in Indian mythology that encircles heaven earth The Panis live beyond this river Golden Embryo The Golden Embryo is the unknown creator god in Indian mythology The egg both rises from and creates the primordial waters Hiranyagarbha Hiranyagarbha is the name whose meaning is Golden Embryo in Indian mythology Hiranyagarbha rose from and created the primordial waters Prajapati Prajapati is the name given to the golden embryo in Indian mythology He rose from and created the primordial waters Purusha Purusha is a cosmic giant in Indian mythology His body is used to create the universe the Earth sky gods Aditi Aditi is the female creativity force in Indian mythology Daksha and Aditi give birth to each other Daksha Daksha is the male creative force in Indian mythology Daksha and Aditi give birth to each other Martanda Martanda is one of Daksha s 8 sons in Indian mythology He is rejected and eventually dies because of it Yama Yama is the king of the dead in Indian mythology He was the first mortal to reach the death realm Three Days of Soma 3 days of Soma is a time of sacrifice in Indian mythology After cremation fire burns for three days and the soul is given a path to travel Chinese Creation and Flood Chinese mythology Chinese Chinese refers to the culture of China Chinese mythology believe in a god called P an Ku whose dead body formed the universe Shang or Yin Dynasty All Chinese myths were thought to have been written during this dynasty but there are no sources from this dynasty This is the earliest known Chinese dynasty Chou Dynasty The Chou dynasty was the dynasty in China during the warring states era The Chou dynasty encompassed the warring states era Han Dynasty The Han dynasty was a dynasty in China from 200BC to 200AD This is known as the height of cultural flowering among the dynasties Questions of Heaven The Questions of Heaven is a collection of 186 poetic verses It was written during the warring states era in China Ch u Tz u The Ch u Tz u was written by Ch u Yuan around 4 BC It was a book that contained many parts including the Questions of Heaven Ch u Yuan Ch u Yuan was the author of the Ch u Tz u Ch u Yuan is the first named Chinese poet Ch u Ch u was a state in the Chou dynasty It was in existence during the warring states era Hun Tun Hun Tun is the first element in creation of cosmos in Chinese mythology Yin and Yang rose from Hun Tun Yin Yin rose from Hun Tun in Chinese mythology Yin in the heavy and feminine opposite to Yang Yang Yang rose from Hun Tun in Chinese mythology Yang is the light and masculine opposite to Yin P an Ku P an Ku is said to come from Hun Tun like Yin and Yang in the beginning in Chinese mythology The death of P an Ku resulted in the creation of the universe Nu Kua Nu Kua is part of the divine couple with Fu Hsi in Chinese mythology She is the creator goddess that creates Aristocrats out of yellow earth and commoners out of mud Fu His Fu Hsi is part of the divine couple with Nu Kua in Chinese mythology He invents many important things like writing hunting music Kun Kun is the trickster god in Chinese mythology He is killed by gods but still has a son Yu hsi jang Hsi jang is regenerating soil in Chinese mythology Kun uses this to stop the flood Yu Yu is the son of Kun in Chinese mythology He is born from Kun after Kun is killed Yu walk Yu becomes all shriveled up after repairing the world from the flood He develops a certain walking style because of it the Yu walk Norse Creation and Afterlife Norse Mythology Norse Norse refers to the warrior culture in Scandanavia Their mythology involves charcters such as Thor Loki Heimdall Odin and many others sir sir is a family of Norse gods that live with the Vanir on Asgard in Norse mythology The sir are ruled by Odin Vanir The Vanir are the fertility gods that live in Asgard with the sir in Norse mythology Included in the Vanir are Njord and his twins Frey and Freyja Njord Njord is the sea god in Norse mythology He is part of the Vanir and has two twins Frey Frey is one of Njord s two twins in Norse mythology He is the fertility of Earth god Freyja Freyja is oen of Njord s two sons in Norse mythology She is the goddess of sexual desire J tnar J tnar refers to the giants in Norse mythology The J tnar represent the evil against the sir which represent good Odin Odin is the king of the sir in Norse mythology Odin has an 8 legged horse named Sleipnir Valhalla Valhalla is the idea of heaven in Norse mythology You can only go there if you were killed in battle Asgard Asgard is one of the levels on the world tree Yggrasil in Norse mythology It contains the hall of Valhalla Valkyries Valkyries are female spirits of battle in Norse mythology They escort the souls of the dead warriors to Valhalla Saehrimnir Saehrimnir is the boar that is eaten at Valhalla in Norse mythology This boar is constantly regenerating in order to feed everyone there Heidrun Heidrun …
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