INTRODUCTION TO GREEK MYTHOLOGY

WHAT IS GREEK MYTHOLOGY? The people of ancient

Greece shared stories called myths about the gods, goddesses, and heroes in which they believed.

Each god or goddess was worshipped as a deity and ruled over certain areas of the Greeks’ lives.

These exciting stories explained natural phenomena that could not be explained by science in the ancient world.

WHY STUDY GREEK MYTHOLOGY? The Ancient Greek culture

has been kept alive by the oral and later written stories handed down through thousands of years.

Modern plays, novels, television programs, movies and even advertisements refer to Greek gods, goddesses, heroes and their stories.

Adventurous and exciting stories delight and entertain us.

Television

Commercial

Novels

GREEK MYTHOLOGY RESEARCH PROJECT You will be conducting a short research project on the

gods and goddesses in our stories. You will:

1. Complete each column on the mythology chart using ONLY AVL sources. NO GOOGLE/WIKIPEDIA!! Each column MUST have parenthetical documentation.

2. The last column is titled MLA source. You will write your works cited entry here. REMEMBER, most AVL databases cite the source for you. If you don’t know how to find the citation, raise your hand, and I will show you.

Appropriate AVL databases to search Britannica High School Search the name of the

god/goddess for this database. EBSCO host Search the name of the god/goddess for

this database. Make sure to choose the reference article.

WHO WERE THE GODS AND GODDESSES OF THE PANTHEON ON MOUNT OLYMPUS?

ZEUS-LEADER OF THE OLYMPIAN GODS

He ruled the Olympians. He was the god of the sky,

lightning and thunder carrying a thunderbolt as his symbol.

He married Hera, his sister, which was a family habit.

He fathered many children, including the famous Hercules, with various goddesses and mortals.

POSEIDON-GOD OF THE SEA He built an underwater palace

with a great pearl and coral throne.

Although he chose Thetis, a beautiful water nymph, as his queen, he, like his brother Zeus, was a great wanderer fathering hundreds of children.

He was a difficult god, changeful and quarrelsome, but created many curious forms for his sea creatures.

He invented the horse for his sister Demeter, whom he loved.

The symbol associated with Poseidon is the trident.

HADES-GOD OF THE UNDERWOLD He was the jealous brother

to Zeus and Poseidon. He made Persephone his

wife after stealing her from her mother,

Demeter, who was his sister.

Because he was a violent god, who was also very possessive of every new soul, he rarely left his underworld domain.

The sacred symbol of Hades was his helmet, which helped him stay invisible.

DEMETER-GODDESS OF CORN & HARVEST

She was the goddess of growing things.

She was the mother of Persephone, whose father was Zeus.

Her daughter was kidnapped by Hades and taken to the Underworld for six months of the year causing the change of seasons.

The symbols of Demeter were the ear of wheat and the grains.

ATHENA-GODDESS OF WISDOM, JUSTICE, WAR, CIVILIZATION AND PEACE

She was born full grown out of the head of Zeus.

She taught man to use tools and taught his wife to spin and weave.

She was the best-loved goddess on Olympus.

She hated Ares, god of war, often besting him in battle.

The Greek city of Athens is named after her.

She was said to have created the spider.

Athena's symbols were the spear, the distaff (spindle), and the aegis (a shield of goatskin), to which the head of the Gorgon Medusa was fastened in order to terrify the opponents). 

APHRODITE-GODDESS OF LOVEAND BEAUTY She is the goddess of desire born

from sea foam. Another myth credits her mother

as Dione and her father as Zeus. After all the gods on Mount

Olympus courted her, she married Hephaestus, the ugliest of the gods.

Because she was judged the most beautiful of all the goddesses on Mount Olympus by Paris, the other goddesses envied her.

Aphrodite's symbols were the girdle (which she was using to compel love), the seashell, and the mirror.

PERSEHPONE- GODDESS OF SPRINGTIME

Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. 

After her abduction by Hades she became his wife and Queen of the underworld for six months of each year. 

This explained the changing of the seasons.

Her symbols are the sprouting seeds of springtime, mint, and pomegranate.

EROS- GOD OF LOVE Eros is the son

of Aphrodite. He is often represented

blindfolded because love is often blind.

His "weapons" are two sets of arrows-one made of gold and one made of lead.

The golden arrows induce infatuation, love, and lust. The lead arrows induce hate and anger. 

HERMES- GOD OF THIEVES AND COMMERCE Hermes is the son

of Zeus and Maia and is Zeus’s messenger.

He is the fastest of the gods and wears winged sandals, a winged hat, and carries a magic wand.

He is the guide for the dead to go to the underworld.

The symbols for Hermes are the caduceus (his staff), the purse (or leather pouch), the winged sandals, the ram, and the petasus (his hat).

CREATURES

MEDUSA The Medusa was the daughter of Phorkys and Keto,

the children of Gaea (Earth) and Oceanus (Ocean). She was one of the three sisters known as

the Gorgons, and she was the only mortal out of the three. 

She was originally a golden-haired and very beautiful maiden, who, as a priestess of Athena, was devoted to a life of celibacy.

After meeting Poseidon, she fell in love with him and married him.

Athena punished Medusa in the following ways Each wavy lock of the beautiful hair which had so

charmed her husband change into a venomous snake;

Her once gentle, love-inspiring eyes now became blood-shot, furious orbs, which excited fear and disgust in the mind of the beholder;

Her former rosy hue and milk-white skin assumed a loathsome greenish tinge.

Whoever she gazed upon turned into stone. After this punishment, Medusa fled from home and

personality began to match her outward appearance. Finally, her misery ended when Perseus killed her.

PEGASUS Pegasus was a winged horse and good flyer. Pegasus was the result of the ill fated union

of Medusa and Poseidon. It was born from Medusa when her head

was cut off by Perseus. Tamed by Bellerophon it served as his

mount during his adventures including his slaying of the Chimaeras.

When Bellerophon attempted to fly Pegasus to Mount Olympus, he was dismounted by Zeus.

Pegasus continued on and made it to Mount Olympus.

Here Pegasus spent his days carrying lighting bolts for Zeus.

MYTHS

PANDORA Pandora was the very first woman who was formed out of

clay by the gods. Prometheus had originally been assigned with the task of

creating man, but because he stole fire from heaven, Zeus was angered, and commanded Hephaestus and the other gods to create a woman.

He then delivered her to Epimetheus, the foolish younger brother of Prometheus, for a bride.

When he had received her into his house, Pandora opened the pithos (storage jar) which Zeus had given her as a wedding present, and released the swarm of evil spirits trapped within. They would ever afterwards plague mankind.

Only Elpis (Hope) remained behind, a single blessing to comfort mankind in their suffering.

PROMETHEUS-THE WISEST TITAN His name means "forethought" and was able to

foretell the future. When Zeus revolted against Cronus, Prometheus

deserted the other Titans and fought on Zeus side. Prometheus and his brother were delegated by

Zeus to create man. Prometheus is known as the protector and

benefactor of man. He gave mankind a number of gifts including

fire. He also tricked Zeus into allowing man to

keep the best part of the animals sacrificed to the gods and to give the gods the worst parts.

Since Prometheus stole fire from the heavens and tricked Zeus, Zeus punished him by having him chained to a rock with an eagle tearing at his liver.

He was to be left there for all eternity but was eventually rescued by Hercules.