Greek and Roman Mythology

A Glossary for Lit Crit

The Olympians

• Zeus/Jupiter: the king of the gods, god of the sky, rain, justice and mercy

• Hera/Juno: queen of the gods; goddess of marriage, childbirth

• Poseidon/Neptune: king of the sea; associated with a trident

• Hades/Pluto: god of the dead and wealth, ruler of the Underworld

• (Pallas) Athena/Minerva (yes, as in McGonagall): goddess of wisdom, war, reason, intellectual activity, arts, literature, purity

The Olympians (cont.)

• Hermes/Mercury: the messenger god; god of travelers, thieves, commerce

• Aphrodite/ Venus: goddess of love, desire, and beauty• Ares/Mars: god of war• Apollo: god of poetry, music, medicine, music, light,

truth, prophesy, and sometimes the sun, • Artemis/Diana: goddess of the hunt, chastity, virginity,

childbirth, the natural environment, and sometimes the moon

• Hephaestus/Vulcan: the lame god, the smith, god of the fire and forge

• Hestia/Vesta: goddess of the hearth

Other Important Gods

• Eros/Cupid: I don’t really think I have to go over this one; son of Aphrodite

• Demeter/ Ceres: goddess of corn, grain, and the harvest

• Persephone/Prosperina: goddess of spring, queen of the dead

• Dionysus/Bacchus: god of wine, fertility

• Helios/Sol (Invictus): god of the sun

Other Important Gods (cont.)

• Selene/Luna: goddess of the moon

• Eos/Aurora: goddess of the dawn

• Hecate/Trivia: goddess of the new moon, witches

• Pan/Faunus: god of flocks, shepherds, goatherds

• Eris/Discordia: goddess of discord

• Nemesis/Invidia: goddess of revenge

Other Important Gods (cont.)

• Thanatos/Mors: personification of death

• Hypnos/Somnus: sleep

• Iris: goddess of the rainbow, messenger

• Calypso: a nymph and a lover of Odysseus

• Circe: turned Odysseus’ men into pigs

The Titans (remember them!)

• Gaea (Gaia)/ Terra (Tellus): mother earth• Ouranos/Uranus: father sky• Kronos (Chronus)/Saturn: lord of time, king of

the Titans• Rhea/Ops: wife of Chronus• Prometheus: the wisest titan• Epimetheus: Prometheus’ brother• Mnemosyne/Moneta: memory • Atlas: held the world upon his back

The Muses

• Patronesses of the arts• Daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus• Clio (history)• Urania (astronomy)• Melpomene  (tragedy)• Thalia (comedy)• Terpsichore (dance)• Calliope (epic poetry)• Erato (love poetry)• Polyhymnia (songs to the gods)• Euterpe (lyric poetry)

The Graces

• Daughters of Zeus and Eurynome

• Aglaia  (splendor)

• Euphrosyne (mirth)

• Thalia  (good cheer)

The Erinnyes (The Furies, The “Kindly Ones”)

• Punish crime, pursuing wrongdoers until death• Came from the blood of Uranus when he was

castrated• Called the Kindly Ones because using their

names was believed to summon them• Alecto• Megaera • Tisiphone

The Fates

• Determined the course of all events

• Even Zeus was afraid to cross them

• Clotho (the maiden): spun the thread of life

• Lachesis (the matron): measured out the thread of life

• Atropos (the crone): cuts the thread of life

• Trying to prevent fate often brought about its fulfillment

The Creatures

• Cyclopes: one-eyed giants• Scylla and Charybdis: a monster that haunted rocks and

a demon that created whirlpools; sailors could avoid one, but not both

• Centaurs: men with horse legs and human torsos• Fauns: goat legs and human torsos • Cerberus (think Fluffy): the gigantic three-headed dog

who guarded the Underworld• Sirens: beautiful, half woman, half bird; sang an

irresistible song that caused sailors to starve themselves

The Creatures (cont.)

• Medusa: a woman with snakes for hair; avoid her gaze- she turns people to stone

• Chimera: three heads- lion, goat, snake; front part of lion, middle of goat, snake for a tail

• Echinda: the mother of most monsters; half nymph, half snake

• Pegasus: winged horse• Nymphs: personifications of oceans, rivers, and

trees

Heroes

• Heracles/Hercules: son of Zeus and a mortal woman; performed 12 labors to appease Hera

• Odysseus/Ulysses: hero of Trojan war, blown off course for ten years while trying to return home

• Jason: led the Argonauts to find the Golden Fleece

• Orpheus: best musician ever; journeyed to the Underworld to attempt to save his wife

• Theseus: (the same one as the one in MSND) defeated the minotaur

Heroes (cont.)

• Perseus: Defeated Medusa• Bellephoron: defeated the chimera• Achilles: hero of the Trojan who could only be

defeated when shot in the heel• Meleager: led the expedition to kill the

Calydonian boar; killed his uncles; his mother killed him

• Cadmus: searched for, but failed to find, his sister Europa after she was kidnapped by Zeus; killed a dragon; founded Thebes

Heroes (cont.)

• Agamemnon: the brother-in-law of Helen; led the Greek armies in the Trojan war

• Ajax: hero of the Trojan war who committed suicide after being driven mad by Athena

• Hector: the son of King Priam of Troy and the best Trojan warrior; slain by Achilles

• Patroclus: impersonated Achilles and was killed by the Trojans

Heroines

• Atlanta: only female Argonaut; only female hunter of Calydonian Boar; lost a race because she stopped to pick up Aphrodite’s apples

• Hippolyta: (yeah, she’s in MSND) Queen of the Amazons; her girdle was stolen by Heracles; she married Theseus (but you knew that)

Villains

• Sisyphus: literally escaped Hades twice; condemned to roll a stone up a hill that would roll down as soon as he rolled it close to the top

• Tantalus: either shared the secrets of the gods or fed them his son Pelops; condemned to stand in water which disappears when he tries to drink it, with food over his head that disappears when he attempts to eat it

• Narcissus: (not really a villain) an arrogant man who was turned into a daffodil

• Medea: a witch who helped Jason take the Golden Fleece, married him, and murdered their children

Miscellaneous Men• Daedalus: designed the minotaur’s labyrinth, a pair of wax

wings; recaptured by Minos when he passed a thread through a shell

• Icarus: flew too close to the sun on the wings his father designed; drowned in the sea

• Midas: everything he touched turned to gold (“That’s the Midas touch.” He makes an appearance in Once Upon a Time.)

• Orion: a handsome hunter and Artemis’ companion; some say Apollo tricked Artemis into killing him, others say he threatened to kill all the animals, so Gaia killed him

• Paris: a prince of Troy raised as a goatherd; chose Aphrodite as the fairest of three goddesses, awarded with Helen’s love, causing the Trojan War

Miscellaneous Women

• Cassandra: a Trojan princess and priestess of Athena; either spurned Apollo or cheated on him; cursed with the gift to see the future without anyone believing her about her predictions

• Helen: “The face that launched a thousand ships.” the most beautiful woman in the world; when she ran away with Paris, the Trojan War began

• Psyche: married Eros, had serious mother-in-law problems

• Echo: a nymph who faded away to just her voice

Miscellaneous Women (cont.)

• Arachne: bragged she was better at weaving than Athena; when she proved that she was, was turned into a spider

• Ariadne/ Arianna: gave Theseus golden thread that led him out of the labyrinth; abandoned by him on an island (may have married Dionysius)

• Penelope: Odysseus’ wife; who held off her suitors for ten years by saying she would not choose one to marry until she finished weaving a wedding veil; she unraveled each night what she had woven that day

• Cassiopeia: bragged she was most beautiful woman, angered Poseidon, forced to sacrifice daughter Andromeda

• Andromeda: almost sacrificed; saved by Perseus

Real Peoples Related to Mythology

• The Amazons: a race of warrior women (probably did actually exist, according to recent archaeological discoveries)

• Bacchantes (Roman): priestesses of Bacchus; known to go into blood frenzies and orgies of drink during the feast of Bacchnalia

• Vestal Virgins (Roman): priestesses of Vesta, in charge of maintaining the sacred fire in Rome

• Trojans: people of a city that fought in (and lost) a war with the Greek kingdoms

• Oracle of Delphi: title of the most famous prophetesses of Apollo

• Sibyl: another prophetess

Greek and Roman Writers

• Homer: the blind poet, author of The Iliad and The Odyssey

• Sophocles: playwright (the Oedipus Cycle)

• Obviously, this is just a piece of mythology, but these are the important characters.