CL_HUM 1060: MYTHOLOGY TEST 2

the patron of witches, and lives in the Underworld. She also appears at crossroads, with flaming torches, snakes, and a pack of hounds. Best friend of Persephone.

Euripides’ Hippolytus Key players: Hippolytus, illegitimate son of Theseus (king of Athens; his mother is an Amazon: Hippolyta) Theseus, his father Phaedra, his stepmother Aphrodite Artemis Poseidon Hippolytus is a virgin follower of Artemis. Theseus does not understand his son’s “religious fanaticism”. Poseidon is Theseus’ father. Aphrodite is upset that Hippolytus can’t be bent to her will (he shuns sex and marriage, and worships Artemis), and so she plans to kill him. When Hippolytus comes to Athens, Phaedra falls for him. He isn’t interested in sex, much less with his stepmom. Phaedra is aware that Aphrodite has possessed her, and tells her nurse. The lust is almost killing her. The nurse goes to Hippolytus, and he misunderstands thinking that Phaedra has sent her when in fact the nurse is just worried. So he goes to Phaedra and insults her and flees the palace. Now, before she dies, Phaedra writes a note that says that she will die to please Aphrodite, but she will become a curse for that hater of woman, so that he will learn how to be temperate. Theseus sees this note, and is outraged by what he thinks has taken place. He calls Poseidon to take revenge on Hippolytus. Poseidon sends a sea monster, which startles the horses of Hippolytus’ carriage, and he is nearly dragged to death. At this point, Artemis steps in. She says to Theseus that you didn’t even try to understand what happened. Servants bring in Hippolytus. She tells him that she will punish Aphrodite by killing one of her lovers (Adonis). She grants him supreme honors; her maidens will cut their hair for him before their marriages. There will be poems written on you. She urges him to not hate his father. She says to Theseus to take his son in his arms and not feel responsible for the death of Hippolytus.

He is the God of music, creativity, prophecy and enlightenment, which led him to become the leader of the Muses, and gave inspiration to artists and poets. He is also equated with the sun. More importantly, he is the God of Prophecy. He can be very impulsive, and very impetuous but he has a very reasonable side. Logical. He is the unmarried (but he has a trail of lovers), twin brother of Artemis, son of Zeus and Leto. Not a hunter, but certainly a good archer. He does have some connections with the sea. Olympus’ “golden boy”, epitome of young, male beauty. He is also a very passionate God, but the most unlucky in love (because his lovers ended up dead, cursed, or something) Symbols: bow, laurel, lyre, dolphin, raven, sun Important cult sites: Delphi (the most famous sanctuary, more than Olympia), Delos Epithets Pythian (refers to Delphi) Delian (refers to Delos) Delphinius (dolphin) Phoebus (bright/shining)

Hera tortures Leto to try to stop her from giving mother. Hera also threatens towns that if they shelter Leto, she will retaliate. Hera also decrees that Leto will not give birth on stable ground. Leto then goes to Delos to give birth. She begs them to take her in, and they agree on the condition that they be allowed to make a temple to Apollo. Hera steps in again, and puts Leto in labor for ten days. A number of goddesses come to help Leto; they try to get Eilethyia to come to but Hera prevents her from going. But the other goddesses bribe her with a 30-feet necklace, and she comes and helps. Hera doesn’t forget she hates Leto and later sends someone to rape her. But there is bad blood between Artemis and Hera. Artemis is born first, and then she helps to give birth to Apollo. Apollo grows up almost immediately. Story of Delphi The sanctuary had originally belonged to Ge, and a giant snake guarded it. Apollo comes along and kills the snake. The snake’s name was Python, and from this story, we get Apollo the Python slayer, and from that we get Pythian. So Apollo takes over Delphi. The Greeks thought that Delphi was the center of the earth. Story goes that Zeus sent out two eagles flying in opposite directions, and they came together over Delphi. So it’s called “navel of the earth”, ergo it came to be known as Ge’s Navel, till Apollo came along. The oracle at Delphi Chief oracle: yes or no Deluxe oracle: longer, ambiguous answer The sanctuary was in operation for thousands of years, till Christian emissaries closed it down. Oracle priestess was called Pythia. She sat on a 3-legged stool (tripod). Its not really a stool. She is said to straddle a crack in the earth, and inhales the fumes from the earth. Pythias also died young. No one spoke directly to Pythia. You ask your wuestion to the priest, who went underground to where Pythia sits. He gets the answer from her, interprets it, and then delivers it to the person who asked.

Cassandra, a would-be mother. She is one of the princess’s of Troy. She makes a deal with Apollo that shell become his lover if he will give her the gift of prophecy. He makes good on side, and then Cassandra refuses to become his lover. He curses her by spitting in her mouth. He leaves the gift with her, but his curse is that no one will believe her. After the war, she took refuge in Athena’s temple, but she gets dragged from the altar and raped by Ajax. She then gets dragged to Greece and murdered. Daphne. She is beautiful nymph, virgin follower of Artemis. He wants her, so he begins to chase her through the woods. Her father is the river god. She begins to get tired, and calls out to her father. So he turns her into a tree, but Apollo still loves. So he puts his hand on the bark under which he can feel her beating heart, and says that she will forever be his sacred tree. She becomes the laurel tree Hyacinthus Etiological myth. Apollo is out playing discus with his friends, and he makes a powerful throw. The discus hits hyacinthus’s head and he dies. From his blood, Apollo creates a flower which is shaped like a lily, and the petals are inscribed with “Ai”. Hyacunthus is said to be from Sparta, and the bloom of this flower was celebrated every year. Cyparissus Etiological myth This boy has a pet deer which he loves dearly. One day he accidentally kills it. He loves the dear more than Apollo. Because hes so distraught over the death of the deer, that he mourns away to death. When he dies, he is transformed into the Cyprus tree. Cyprus trees are always planted in cemeteries in the Mediterarraien. Coronis She is a princess whom Apollo loves very much and she becomes pregnant by him. But then she becomes unfaithful to him, and the raven tells him about her unfaithfulness. When he hears this, he kills Coronis in anger. He immediately regrets it, and wishes he could bring her back. While she is on the funeral pyre, he snatches the baby from the womb and that baby is an exceptional child named Asclepius.

God of health and healing. Son of Apollo and Coronis. Symbols: snakes, snake-entwined rod (only ONE snake) Father to goddess Hygieia. Important cult sites: Epidauros, Athens, Kos These places were very relaxing, like health spas. But you had to spend a night with snakes, because snakes were thought to be symbols of regeneration and health. They were thought to absorb fevers, because they are cold-blooded. Representations of body parts were given as offerings.

Greek Physician ca 460-370 BCE

Hermes (roman: Mercury) He is the messenger of the Gods, guide of souls to the Underworld (important role; takes you from Earth to the banks of the river Styx, but only till there). Patron of thieves, tricksters, travelers; associated with roads and boundaries. He is very good with words, and ingenious with his hands. Symbols: winged sandals (gives him the ability to fly), Caduceus (golden, given to him by Apollo. Also said to be able to hypnotize). Son of Zeus and Maia (daughter of Atlas) No major temples or sites to Hermes but his statues were frequent in gymnasia (because he is a young and athletic God) and countryside shrines, where shepherds and travelers would visit them. He isn’t a major god, but still does play a big part in everything that goes on. Apparently, he invented the shepherd’s pipe. He gets younger as time goes on, like Eros. Humans aren’t apt to trust him. He is the Father of the Gods Pan, and Daphnis (famous shepherd, mostly only seen as playing the pipes). In some version of the story, Pan creates the pipes. Pan is a god associated with rustic countryside, where shepherds tend to their flocks.

Hermaphroditus and the nymph Salmacis Hermes does sleep with Aphrodite, and they have a son, Hermaphroditus. He is given tot hem nymphs to be raised but he leaves them at the age of 15. He comes to an inviting pool, and it’s a hot day. He doesn’t realize that a nymph Salmacis lives there, and she jump out when he gets there. But she gets entranced when she sees him, and starts feeling him up. She’s very forward. Hermes is very embarrassed because he doesn’t have any experience with woman. He tells her to quit touching him or he will leave. So she backs off, and tells him to use her pool as he like, and then goes and hides behind some bushes. She asks the Gods that be joined together, and the Gods grant the wish. This leads to the origin of hermaphrodites. Greeks viewed being hermaphrodites as something special, because it meant that you were descended directly from the Gods. Ancient Greek Herm (boundary marker) In 415BC the herms of Athens were desecrated. The crime was blamed on the Greek general Alkibiades who fled to Sparta. He was convicted in absentia and condemned to death. He had defiled religion, and this kind of impiety was a serious offence. Later on they forgave him (he was good-looking and charismatic), and brought him back to Athens. But he continued to get into trouble, but he was finally killed when he was found in the bed of someone else’s wife.

He is the God of vegetation, particularly the grape, God of ecstasy and mysticism. He is the son of Zeus and the mortal Semele (princess of Thebes). He gets married to Ariadne, the princess of Crete. He is often called the “rockstar God”. Symbols: grapes, ivy, thyrsos (pinecone topped staff, often used as a weapon), panther, the theatre (it’s his domain) Important cult sites: Thebes, Athens, and Alexandria Followers: maenads (also called bacchae), woodland creatures (nymphs, fauns, satyrs, centaurs, silenoi). He has an unusual birth. Semele was tricked by Hera, and she dies while she is still pregnant. Hera tells Semele that if Zeus really loves her, he will reveal himself to her. So Semele asks Zeus to reveal himself, and he does. She burns. So Zeus sews the baby into his thigh, and undoes the stitches at the appropriate time, thus giving birth to Dionysus. Zeus gives the baby to Hermes, who gives them to the nymphs to rear.

Dionyus meets a boy and falls in love with him.. as the story usually goes, the boy dies. So Dionysus goes into a deep depression and the thread-cutting Fate says that she cant bring back the boy, but she could give him something sweeter. Out of the body of the boy, grows a vine. And this is how Dionysus gets associated with the grape vine. In some stories, it is ivy. Taking advantage of his grief, Hera sends madness upon him. During this madness, he wanders mindlessly and mad in his head. But eventually he starts to come out of it, and comes across mysterious religions. He visits a temple of the Great Mother, who apparently cures him of his madness. He sees some religious, mysterious rites, and starts his own religion. Whatever happens to him in the east changes him and he comes back a different God. On his return from India, he rides a panther. He is incredibly charismatic, seductive, and dangerous. He brings back the gift of wine to Greece. He is very brutal to anyone who doesn’t worship him. Maenads were usually organized into groups led by a single man. Maenads are women who leave their homes to worship Dionysus. Silenoi are like old satyrs. They’re old, wiser, pudgy and fat. A part of the rituals of his cult that took place in the night was eating the raw flesh of animals and drinking their blood. It is thought to be a way of ingesting the Gods. The Great Dionysia Held in the early spring This is when the new plays were introduced Held in honor of Dionysus

Tresias, prophet living in Thebes Daughters of Cadmus, the retired king of thebes Autonoe, Ino (sisters of Semele) Semele (mother of Dionysus) Agave (mother of Pentheus, the present king of Thebes) Dionysus has come back to Greece from the east. He gets wind that Semele did not really sleep with Zeus, but only claimed it was Zeus. Dionysus decides to go to Thebes to set the record straight, but he has to deal with Pentheus. (get the rest of it from textbook) Dionysus is not an Olympian; there is a lot of debate on when he actually returns to Greece. Based on Euripides’ play, we can assume that there had been some resistance to the rites and cult of Dionysus. These rites appealed more to women because they lead such restrictive lives. The rites were outlets for them to get out of the house and go crazy.

The curse of the Golden Touch Midas isn’t the brightest king, and he continues to challenge the Gods. Before he comes against Apollo, he comes across Dionysus. He does a favor to a Dionysus and so he grants Midas a wish. Midas wishes that everything he touches turned to gold. Obviously, he doesn’t think this through. When he’s starving, and his throat his parched, he begs Dionysus to take back his “gift”. Dionysus relents. Dionysus and the Pirates Pirates abduct him because they think he is some kind of prince. They hope to get some ransom from him, but some pirates begin to realize there’s something odd about this “prince” and they try to talk the captain out of this abduction. The captain doesn’t listen to them. Dionysus starts to retaliate. The boat begins to fill with wine. Dionysus turns himself to a lion and eats the caption. Then he produces an angry bear on the surface of the ship. The rest of the pirates jump overboard and Dionysus turns them into dolphins. Pan (roman: Faunus) He is the God who inhabits the woodlands; frequent follower of Dionysus. Patron of shepherds, sometimes said to have invented the shepherd’s pipes (panpipes, or syrinx). Parents: Hermes and various nymphs Symbols: pipes, the ability to create panic Important cult sites: Athens, Arcadia (not a city, but a county/region) Arcadia is called the Mother of shepherds. It’s a rustic place, and definitely Pan’s territory. He is half-man and half-goat. He behaves like the satyrs and centaurs.

Pan makes an advance at Echo, and she rejects him. As a result, he inspires panic among the shepherds and they kill her. All that is left of her is her voice. Zeus has come to Arcadia to have a good time with the nymphs and echo is put on guard so that Zeus is not caught. But Hera comes down searching for him and Echo tries to divert her by chatting with Hera till Zeus finishes. Hera catches onto this, and curses Echo: Echo can now only repeat what others say. Enter: Narcissus. Narcissus only loves himself and rejects all the suitors who throw themselves at him, including Echo. But she keeps trying. She is sort of stalking him, and throws herself at him. But he rejects her, again. One of the suitors who got rejected by Narcissus asks Aphrodite to punish him. So she makes him really fall in love with himself. He sees himself in a clear pool of water, and is enchanted by what he sees. Echo is there when he dies (consumed by desire). His body gets turned into a white and golden flower.

Roman: Pluto God of the Underworld Symbols: Cerberus Helmet of Darkness Brother of Original Olympians Wife: Persephone Epithets host of many Pluton unseen one Job to make sure no one escapes festival every 100 years Geography of the Underworld Plains of Asphodel where most of the dead went Elysium/Isles of the Blessed a heaven-like place Tartarus/Erebus place for great sinners Fiver rivers Hate (styx or Acheron) Woe Forgetfulness Wailing Fire Pool of Mnemosyne (for those initiated into mysteries Pool of Lethe Charon ferries souls across River Styx son of Tartarus and Nyx How did it work for the dead At death, dead are honored so they do not haunt the living coin placed in the mouth to pay charon; those to poor wander the shores for eternity charon ferries the dead across the river (either styx or acheron) dead enter underworld, where they meet at a crossroads in the forecourt of hades’ palace dead judged by three judges: Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aecus. Hekate in attendance Dead ushered to their final destination: Plains, Elysium, or Tartarus Cerberus three headed guard dog only eats meet Ecidna is its mother Furies purse orestes for the crime of blood-guilt bore when ouranus was castrated Hekate triple faced goddess Mortals who visit the Underworld Odysseus to find the prophet Tiresias Herakles to capture Cerberus Orpheus to reclaim Eurydice Theseus to abduct Persephone Pirithous to abduct Persephone Psyche to deliver the box to Persephone, a labor forced on her by Aphrodite Famous Sinners

Famous Sinners Ixion attempted to seduce Hera tied to a flaming wheel for eternity Sisyphus Serial killer, continuously violated the gust-host relationship; betrayed Zeus push a heavy boulder up a steep hill side, but it always rolls back down on him cheats death (thonatos) tells his wife to not bury his body, but Zeus overrides it anyway, he wrestles with death when he comes, and ties him up tityus attempted to rape Leto Leto mother of Artemis and Apollo stretched out and has these vultures eating his insides for eternity Danaids 49 sisters who murdered their husbands on their wedding night fill up bowls with holes in the bottom of em Tantalus Murdered his son (Pelops), cooked him, and offered him to the gods tree moved away form his he couldnt eat