A Word About Study Guides
To keep you on top of the material day by day, I will regularly hand out a list of
key names/terms and topics for study. The list of words may come from
material just studied or from material assigned for the upcoming class or
classes. Learn these names/terms, making thorough use of the dictionary
and the primary texts, but pay particular attention in class, since all these
words will come up in discussion. Students should prepare for possible
short quizzes on a selection of these words at the beginning of each class
period. Quizzes will be multiple choice, matching, or short answer format.
A note on spelling: English transliterations of Greek words are spelled inconsistently. The
Greek ending -os in the Hymns is equivalent to -us in the dictionary (Cronos = Cronus). Final -a
and -e are often equivalent (Hera = Here, Athena = Athene.) Diphthongs: -ai- and -ae- are
equivalent (Hephaistos = Hephaestus), as are -oi- and -oe- (Oidipos = Oedipus). The letters -kand -c- are equivalent (Knossos = Cnossos). If these examples seem confusing, don't despair: I
will try to put equivalent spellings in the lists where necessary. Any problems, get in touch
with me.
Also on each study guide you will find questions designed to focus your
thinking for the upcoming week’s class discussion. Remember, intelligent,
thoughtful questions and comments in class will positively affect your class
standing, so do think long and well about the study questions in advance of
each class period.
Study Guide – The Beginning of Things
Words:
Okeanos/Oceanus
Chaos
Tethys
Gaia
Eros
Ouranos/Uranus
Questions for Discussion:
(you should write down some notes to yourself to make sure you are ready to
participate. I won’t collect these notes next time, however...they are for your
use)
• Why have a story about our "beginning"? What function does it serve? What
impulse does it derive from? Think of several answers to these questions.
• Closely examine the symbols and themes of each of these three stories. For
each one, be prepared to discuss how the idea of beginnings is involved.
--for example: in the first story, the creator god and goddess are Okeanos
and Tethys, male and female manifestations of the divinity of water. Now
think of at least five reasons why water is a suitable “first form” from which
all other forms would be created. Then do the same analysis for the other
two stories.
• Finally, consider the following questions: what are the connecting threads
between these three seemingly disparate stories? What qualities do each of
these “first forms” share? What is similar about our subjective or psychic
response to each of them? What do these three stories suggest about the
spiritual outlook of the early Greeks?
Study Guide - Zeus & Hera
Words:
Titans
Crete
Snake Goddess
Rhea
Typhon
Muses
Eurynome
Leda
Cybele
Potnia Theron
Knossos/Cnossos
Minoans
Mycenaeans
Cronos/Cronus
Zeus
Hera
Europa
Themis
Ganymede
“Fates”
Mnemosyne (Memory)
Dioscuri (Castor & Polydeuces)
remember: not all terms have their own entries in the dictionary; some are
from class discussion, and some are from the Homeric Hymns.
Discussion:
1. Put yourself in the role of the classicist, and read the assigned Homeric
Hymns, pretending that you are discovering a lost civilization. These readings
are mere snippets, and yet, notice how much information you can glean from
them nevertheless. Using only these snippets, make lists of characteristics
describing Hera (Hymn #12), Cybele (“The Mother of the Gods,” #14), Zeus
(#23), and Gaia (#30). We will go over these lists in class.
2. Analyze the myths which describe Zeus’ ancestry, birth, and rise to power.
How would you describe first Ouranos, then Cronus, then Zeus? Is there a
development from generation to generation? Why is Zeus able to consolidate
ultimate and lasting power when his predecessors failed to do so?
3. Now approach these same myths, keeping in mind what we learned in class
about the Greeks and the pre-Greeks. On a symbolic level, can these myths be
seen to refer back to the time when the Indo-Europeans (Greeks) became
dominant over the pre-Greeks and began imposing on them their views of gods
and religion? Why, for example, would the myth describe Zeus’ being born on
Crete, the center of the Minoan goddess culture? Again, from this perspective,
why is Zeus able to hold on to lasting power when his father and grandfather
could not?
4. What is the symbolic point behind Zeus’ many “marriages” and the delightful
progeny those marriages produced?
Study Guide - Aphrodite, Poseidon
Aphrodite
Anchises
Mt. Ida
Ares
Amphitrite
Eros
Aeneas
Horai/"Hours"/"Seasons"
Charites ("Graces")
trident
Hephaestus/Hephaistos
Cyprus
Poseidon
Demeter
Hymns covered: # 5,6,10,22
• Carefully read the Hymn to Aphrodite (#5), please consider and be ready to
discuss the following questions:
1) Compared to the other hymns you have read (including the Hymn to
Aphrodite #6), what is different and odd about the opening 50 or so lines of this
hymn that introduce the story?
2) How does Aphrodite manage to seduce Anchises? What does she say
and do?
3) What is the significance of the child to be born from the liason
between Aphrodite and Anchises? Of his name, Aeneas?
4) How if at all does this episode affect the divine order, the relative
powers of the gods, and Aphrodite’s future role and influence on the Greeks?
In considering these points, be asking yourself:
-what kind of figure is Aphrodite (as the hymn portrays her)?
-what was her significance for the Greeks (from what we know of them so
far)?
• Read in your dictionary the story of Aphrodite’s adulterous affair with Ares.
Again, what does this say about her character and role for the Greeks? What is
the moral of the story? What parallels can you draw between this story and
hymn #5.
• According to Greek myth, Poseidon was a brother of Zeus and they, along
with a third brother, Hades, divided the universe between them. Compare the
stories about Poseidon in your dictionary with those of Zeus. Think of as many
parallels as you can, and we will discuss them in class.
Study Guide - Athena
Gorgon (Medusa)
Pallas
Erichthonius
Arachne
Pegasus
Metis
Cecrops
Perseus
Athena/Athene
Hephaestus
Attica
Nike
Hymns covered: #28,11
• Read about the birth of Athena in Hymn #28 and the dictionary. Be prepared
to discuss the following points of significance:
–what is signified in having Athena be born from Zeus’ head?
–why is she born fully grown, fully clothed? why in armor?
What do these points say about Athena’s evolution from a pre-Greek to a Greek
divinity?
• With the same end in mind as above, read and analyze the myth describing
Athena’s unconsummated “marriage” to Hephaestus (in dictionary).
• Using the myth of Perseus (see dictionary) as a guide, why do you think
Athena helps heroes? Specifically, why does she want to help Perseus kill the
gorgon Medusa? What is signified when Athena takes the head of Medusa and
fixes it on her breast?
• Analyze the myth of the contest between Athena and Poseidon for the
lordship of Attica (dictionary). Why do you think Athena’s offering to the city
is considered more valuable? Why is it such a good symbol for the ideal of
civilization the Athenians saw themselves striving for?
• Analyze the story of Athena and Arachne. Why do you think the art of
weaving was a particular favorite of the goddess? What, besides the chastening
of an arrogant mortal, is involved in Athena’s turning Arachne into a spider?
Study Guide - Apollo & Artemis
Leto
Artemis
Typhon/Python
Hyacinthus
Delos
Delphi
Asclepius
Actaeon
Apollo
Delphic Oracle
Daphne
Niobe
Hymns covered: #3a/b,9,27,16,25
• In the hymn describing the birth of Apollo and Artemis (3a), think about the
following questions:
–Why does Leto have to search so far and wide to find a place willing to be
the birthplace of the divine twins? Why is their birth so significant? Why is the
floating island, Delos, finally chosen as the birthplace?
–Compare Apollo’s birth to Athena’s. Are they similar in any way? Think of
specific parallels but also identify broader similarities.
• Archaeologists have established that the site of Delphi was originally sacred
to the mother goddess in her manifestation as Pytho, dating back at least as far
as 1600 BC. With this in mind, analyze the hymn to “Pythian Apollo” (3b).
How, mythically, does Apollo take possession of the sacred place in the hymn?
Pay particular attention to the passage describing the installation of priests in
Apollo’s new temple.
• Neither Apollo nor Artemis are known for their sexual liaisons. Review the
stories of Daphne, Hyacinth, Cassandra, and Actaeon and be prepared to
discuss their symbolic significance. Why are the twins so unlike their father
Zeus in this respect?
• Analyze the myth of Niobe and the slaughter of her children. Does it say
anything about Apollo and Artemis and the values they represented to the
Greeks?
Study Guide –Dionysus
Mt. Nysa
Thebes
oinos
symposium
Semele
Pentheus
thyrsus
Cadmus
Ariadne
Maenad
Hymns covered: 1,26,7; also you will get a handout
1. Compare the birth of Dionysus to the birth of Athena. Find as many points
of contrast as you can. What can you infer about Dionysus’ character and role
simply from this analysis?
2. Read the handout of the folksong John Barleycorn and think about the
following questions:
–How are Dionysus and John Barleycorn similar figures? In what way do they
undergo a similar transformation?
–What is the relationship between Barleycorn and his “killers”? Think long
and deeply about this question, and be prepared to relate it to Dionysus.
–The word “spirits” is still used to refer to alcoholic beverages of all kinds.
This description is rooted in a very old association between the beverage and a
divinity perceived to be embodied in it. How do you suppose a “spirit” such as
wine becomes intertwined with a god such as Dionysus?
3. Analyze hymn #1 and especially hymn #7 for more clues about Dionysus’
character and role. Is Dionysus a mysterious god? A powerful god? An
irresistible god? If you think so, be able to show exactly where these qualities
are manifested in the hymns.
4. As discussed in the dictionary, Dionysus reputedly had a legendary effect on
his women worshippers. What do you make of this?
Study Guide – Hermes
Hermes
herm
caduceus
Pan
Maia
Mt. Cyllene
Hymns: #4, 18, 19
• Read hymn #4. Compare the story of Hermes’ precocious childhood to those
we have previously studied about Apollo and Athena. What similarities,
differences are there?
• In addition to being the god who mediated between the day world and the
underworld, Hermes was also associated with merchants, thieves, roads,
cooking, laughter, sleep, and certain kinds of soothsaying. How are these
associations appropriate for Hermes and where can you find evidence of them
in the Homeric Hymn?
• From the description of the herm (pl. hermai) in the dictionary, what sort of
god do you think Hermes was in his pre-Greek origins?
Study Guide – Demeter and Eleusis
Demeter
narcissus
Eleusis
Iambe
Persephone
Hecate
Triptolemus
Kore
Hades
Celeus
Metanira
Helios
Hymn: #2
• Demeter is a fertility goddess, most closely associated with plants, especially
grain which is so essential to sustaining life. Read closely the Hymn to
Demeter, and find as many references to plant life and growth as you can.
What do you think is the symbolic point of these references?
• The abduction of Persephone is the central incident in the Hymn to Demeter.
How do the male characters in the story (Helios, Hades, Zeus, Hermes) react to
this incident? The female characters (Demeter, Persephone, Hecate)? In light
of what we learned about the pre-Greek and the Greek cultures, why is this
contrast interesting? How does the end of the hymn resolve these differing
perspectives on Persephone's "marriage"?
• Read in your dictionary about Persephone, Demeter, and Hecate. How in the
hymn do they exemplify three different stages in a woman's life? How have
their roles changed by the end of the hymn?
• In the final lines of the hymn, the poet sings that those who partake in the
mystery at Eleusis established by Demeter are “happy,” while “those
uninitiate, having no part in the mysteries,...perish down in the shadows.”
What do you make of this statement? Are there any clues in the hymn which
might shed some light on the question?
What is Myth? – The Hero
Think about the following quotation for class discussion in the weeks ahead:
The flax for the linen of our thread has been gathered
from the fields of the human imagination. Centuries of husbandry, decades of
diligent culling, the work of numerous hearts and hands, have gone into the
hackling, sorting, and spinning of this tightly twisted yarn. Furthermore, we
have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have gone
before us; the labyrinth is thoroughly known; we have only to follow the thread
of the hero-path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall
find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where
we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own
existence; where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.
– Joseph Campbell
Study Guide – Introduction to Heroes; Perseus
Pandora
Danaë
Graiae
Perseus
Dictys
Prometheus
Acrisius
Polydectes
Andromeda
• Read about Prometheus in your texts. Why do you think that Prometheus'
assistance to humankind draws him into conflict with Zeus? Why would Zeus be
"jealous" of the gains that humans make? Is struggle and competition the
natural relationship between humans and gods? Pay particular attention to the
Pandora story.
• Read closely the myths concerning Perseus. Make a catalogue of the main
events in his life story. Which moments in his life span are strongly
emphasized. Keep this catalogue for comparison to other heroes.
• Compare the myths of Perseus’ adventures to the myths we have studied
about the exploits of gods and goddesses. In general, do you see a difference
between the situation of the human and those of the gods? When Perseus
encounters Medusa, what risk does he face? What reward does he seek?
Having encountered her, does he return with something he did not have
before? How does his action influence the universal order?
Study Guide – Herakles
Amphitryon
Iolaus
Echidna
Geryon
Alcmene
Iphicles
Eurystheus
Hippolyta
Antaeus
Deianira
Megara
Cerberus
Diomedes
Atlas
Nessus
Also: Memorize the Labors of Heracles (by full title)
• Read closely the myth of Herakles’ birth. What do you make of Herakles’
having two potential fathers just as Perseus did? Is there any symbolic point
being made in these mysterious births, do you think?
• The name Herakles comes from two Greek words, “Hera” and “glory.” Yet
Hera is Herakles’ most relentless adversary. What do you suppose is the
significance of this name based on the Herakles myths?
• Is there any pattern at all evident in the stories of Herakles’ Labors? If so,
what, in general, may we say that heroes do? What does the pattern say about
how the Greeks viewed their world and man’s place in it?
• At various times in Herakles’ heroic career (and there are different versions
of the story of Herakles coming from different times and places), the hero
seems inexplicably to fall prey to fits of madness or temper that result in
catastrophe or disgrace. Can you find examples of some of these “mis-steps”?
What do you make of this “character flaw” of his and how does it effect the
overall picture presented of the hero?
• Herakles “dies” as a result of coming into contact with one of his own
poisoned arrows (by a circuitous chain of circumstances). What do you make of
this part of the myth? Does it seem an appropriate end? Why? Why do you
think some versions of the Herakles myth tell of his subsequent apotheosis into
a god?
Study Guide – Theseus
Theseus
Pittheus
Minotaur
Naxos
Aegeus
Aethra
Ariadne
Hippolyta
Troezen
Procrustes
Labyrinth
Pirithous
• Analyze the story of Theseus’ birth and compare it to the other myths of
hero births we have studied.
• Read closely the myth of Theseus’ journey to Crete and encounter with the
Minotaur. How is it comparable to other hero journeys we have read so far?
How does this myth incorporate references to the Minoan civilization? What is
the significance of these references, do you think?
• How would you characterize Theseus’ relations with women in his myths?
How does he compare with the other heroes you have read previously? How do
the female roles in these myths fit in with the picture of women you derived
from studying the myths of gods and goddesses?
• Read the myth of Theseus’ death. What do you make of it? What does it say
about the Greeks that in their mythology a great hero like Theseus meets with
such an inglorious end?
Study Guide – Odyssey
Odyssey
nostos
Telemachus
Polyphemus
Scylla and Charybdis
Homer
Ithaca
Calypso
Circe
Odysseus
Penelope
Nausicaa
Sirens
• Books 9-12 of the Odyssey, where Odysseus tells of his adventures, are the
most “mythical” in all of Homeric epic. Read all about Odysseus and the
Odyssey in your dictionary, paying particular attention to the stories of Circe,
Polyphemus, the Sirens, and the voyage to the underworld. How are these
stories similar to those you have seen in the hero myths? At the same time, in
what way does the epic narrative go beyond these other myths and become a
completely new and different type of story?
• Odysseus purpose in the Odyssey is to go home. The Greek word for
“homecoming” is nostos. But nostos comes from the Greek root word noos, or
“mind,” and so, in some way, the Greeks connected returning home with a
return to a certain state of mind. Is it fair to say, do you think, that the
Odyssey is playing with this connection, and that, as Odysseus travels through
his adventures, he is travelling from one state of mind to another, searching for
his psychological “home”? Find as many examples in the story to justify this
point of vew. Can you develop the psychological implications of this
connection between the mythic journey and the mind even farther?
Study Guide – Iliad
Iliad
Clytemnestra
Agamemnon
Ajax
Patroclus
Troy
Eris
Priam
Achilles
Helen
Paris
Hector
Thetis
• Read about the origins of the Trojan War. From what you already know
about Greek mythology, what does Paris’ choice of Aphrodite as winner of the
“beauty contest” say about Paris and about his people, the Trojans? How are
the Greeks an appropriate manifestation of the revenge of the other two
goddesses, Hera and Athena?
• Read carefully the handout from Iliad book 24. How does the passage
describing Priam’s visit to Achilles use the hero journey pattern we have seen
previously? Be ready to cite examples. How on the other hand does this
passage depart from the established pattern, or twist it in an unexpected way?
Would you call this passage a myth or has Homer created something more and
altogether greater? If so, where does myth leave off and this greater
“something” begin?
Study Guide - Oedipus The King
Names:
Oedipus
Creon
Pytho
Antigone
Cadmus
Jocasta
Teiresias
Ismene
Sphinx
Laius
Questions for Discussion:
• Oedipus ascended to the Theban throne by solving a famous riddle. Solving
another famous riddle (that of his birth) undoes him. What does the play say
about Oedipus' quest to solve riddles, and about human intelligence in general?
• Review what characters in the play say about the truth or falsity of Apollo's
prophetic oracles. By the play's end, Oedipus realizes that he has fulfilled the
prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, but could he have
avoided this fate? Can he be said to have exercised free-will in his actions? Is
he merely a puppet of Apollo? What, in general, does the play say about the
meaning of human endeavors in the context of a fate ordained by the gods?
• Does Oedipus deserve the catastrophe that befalls him? Does he bring it upon
himself? If so, how? What is Apollo's role in bringing it about?
• Sophocles wrote for a city proud of the democracy it had invented - the first
ever in history. Less than a hundred years earlier, Athens was ruled by a
tyrant. How does Sophocles use the figure of Oedipus to dramatize the
excesses of the tyant's rule? How does Oedipus' downfall complete the picture.
• How is this play in honor of the god Dionysus?
Study Guide - Oedipus at Colonus
Names:
Antigone
Creon
Attica
Eteocles
Ismene
Polyneices
Furies
Theseus
Colonus
Eumenides
• Does the Oedipus at Colonus present the catastrophe that befell Oedipus in a
different light than did the Oedipus the King? How does Oedipus himself look
back on those events? Where does he place the blame? Does the play present
a different perspective on the roles of fate and free will in human endeavors?
• Oedipus was "wise" beyond all others in the Oedipus the King, but his
intelligence - his desire to lay bare the truth about himself - leads to his
downfall. Is Oedipus still "wise" in the Oedipus at Colonus? If so, how is his
wisdom different than before? What has he learned from the disaster that
befell him?
• How do Creon and Polyneices remind you of the "old" Oedipus? Why does
Oedipus curse them?
• Why is Demeter's grove outside Athens a suitable place for Oedipus' end? Why
is his death there such a benefit to Athens? What do you think Sophocles, the
Athenian, might have been saying to his countrymen by having this defiled,
rotting old man find his final resting place in their own city.
• What sort of death does Oedipus experience? What view of death does the
play as a whole present?