Week 1
Greek Mythology Cheat Sheet
The Olympian Gods mirrored these Greek qualities, being quarrelsome, unforgiving deities who enjoyed warring,
banqueting, and fornicating. They were always depicted in human form with beautiful, powerful bodies. The Greeks
admired strength, beauty, and intelligence. And to them man was the measure of all things.
Because of the Greek urge for fame, their mythology produced a wealth of heroes, who tended to be adventurous
fighters - bold, experienced, strong, clever. However, they also had faults that sometimes ruined them: overweening
pride, rashness, cruelty, all of which arose from the very source of their successes - ambition.
The legends of tragic dynasties show this same characteristic. Despite their worldly power, the royal families of Crete,
Mycenae, Thebes, and Athens were afflicted with faults that rendered them vulnerable to disaster: pride, ruthlessness in
getting revenge, stubbornness, and sexual conflict. No race has understood quite as clearly as the Greeks how character
is destiny, or how our very achievements can stem from the same source as our shortcomings.
In the end the ancient Greeks achieved the fame they sought so avidly. And their mythology has been a mainstay of
Western art and literature for well over two thousand years.
The Titans
The Titans were the old gods who were supplanted by the Olympian gods. Gaea, the earth, and her son Uranus, the
heavens, produced the Titans, among other beings.
Cronus was the chief Titan, a ruling deity who obtained his power by castrating his father Uranus. Cronus married his
sister Rhea, and together they produced the Olympian gods, whom Cronus swallowed at birth to prevent them from
seizing power. His son Zeus defeated him and the other Titans, and bound them in the underworld.
Rhea was Cronus' wife. Vexed at having him swallow their children, she hid Zeus from him and gave him a stone to
swallow instead.
Oceanus was the unending stream that encircled the world, who with his with Tethys produced the rivers and the three
thousand ocean nymphs.
Hyperion was the Titan of light, the father of the sun, the moon, and the dawn.
Mnemosyne was the Titaness of memory and the mother of the Muses. Zeus fathered the Muses.
Themis was the Titaness of justice and order. She gave birth to the Fates and the seasons.
Iapetus was the Titan who fathered Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Atlas.
Prometheus was the wisest Titan, a benefactor to mankind, whom he created. His name means "forethought." Originally
an ally of Zeus, he later tricked Zeus and was chained in the Caucasus Mountains, where every day, an eagle would feed
upon his liver.
Epimetheus was a stupid Titan whose name means "afterthought." He accepted the gift of Pandora from Zeus; and
Pandora, the first woman, unleashed all the evils of the world on mankind.
Atlas, for warring against Zeus, was forced to bear the weight of the heavens upon his shoulders at the edge of the
world.
Other primordial deities
The Cyclopes were one-eyed monsters, the children of Gaea and Uranus. There were at first three and they represented
the thunder, lightning, and thunderbolt. They helped Zeus against the Titans.
The Hecatoncheires were three more monsters produced by Gaea and Uranus. Each had fifty heads and a hundred arms
and amazing strength. These creatures represented the cataclysmic forces of nature. Briareus was distinguished by the
fact that he once served as Zeus' bodyguard. Together they helped Zeus defeat the Titans.
The Giants were generated by Uranus' blood when Cronus mutilated him. They became strong enough to attack the
Olympian order and were vanquished after an earth-shattering battle.
The Furies, who pursued and punished sinners, also sprang from the blood of Uranus. Specifically, they punished
matricides.
Week 2
The Olympian gods
Zeus was the supreme deity of the Greeks and was depicted as a robust, mature man with a flowing
beard. At first a storm-god who wielded the thunderbolt, Zeus became the All-Father who populated the
heavens and earth by his promiscuous liaisons, and he finally became the grand dispenser of justice. His
palace was on Mount Olympus, together with the homes of the other Olympians.
Hera was the jealous wife and sister of Zeus, the protector or marriage and childbirth. In several myths
she was quite vindictive towards those with whom Zeus fell in love.
Poseidon, a brother of Zeus, as lord of the sea and a god of horses. A wrathful, moody god, he carried a
trident and traveled in the company of sea nymphs and monsters of the deep.
Demeter was Zeus' sister, a goddess of vegetation and fertility. She had various lovers, including Zeus,
and a daughter, Persephone, who was taken by Hades. In Demeter's grief the earth grew barren, and only
when her daughter returned to her for six months of each year did the earth become fruitful.
Apollo, the son of Zeus, was the god of light, of intelligence, of healing, and of the arts. Apollo has several
love affairs and a few rejections that he punished.
Artemis was Apollo's twin sister. The goddess of chastity, she was a virgin huntress who was shown
carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. By some quirk she presided over childbirth and was associated
with the moon.
Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was either born or sea-foam or was the daughter of Zeus. She
represented sex, affection, and the power of attraction. According to some myths Hephaestus was her
husband, Ares her lover, and Eros her son.
Athena was the virgin goddess of wisdom, a warrior who sprang fully armed from Zeus' head after he had
swallowed the Titaness Metis. She was also a goddess of the arts and the guardian of Athens. Her chief
traits were prudence and valor.
Hestia was the mild virgin goddess of the hearth, the family, and peace. She was Zeus' sister.
Ares, the bullying god of war, was the son of Zeus and Hera. A brutal deity who delighted in slaughter
and looting, he was also a coward. In his adulterous affair with Aphrodite, Ares was caught and exposed
to ridicule by her husband, Hephaestus.
Son of Zeus and Hera, Hephaestus was the lame, ugly god of the crafts, a skilled artisan who created
many wonderful things. He was injured by Zeus for defending Hera in a quarrel.
Hermes, the cleverest of the Olympian gods, ruled wealth and good fortune, was the patron of commerce
and thievery, promoted fertility, and guided men on journeys. He was herald and messenger of the gods, a
conductor of souls to the netherworld, and a god of sleep. Hermes was the son of Zeus and was depicted
with a helmet, winged sandals, and the caduceus.
Hades was lord of the underworld, the region of the dead. Since he was a brother of Zeus, he was
sometimes included among the Olympians. He was a stern, dark, inexorable god, and his kingdom was
gray and lifeless. He abducted Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, and made her his queen.
Other creatures
The Satyrs were men with horses' haunches and tails, two legged as opposed to the four-legged Centaurs.
The Centaurs were principally savage beasts, half-horse and half-man. Chiron was the exception, a
Centaur famous for his virtue and wisdom.
The Dryads were tree-nymphs and had beautiful female shapes. There were also mountain nymphs, wood
nymphs, stream nymphs, and sea nymphs, all in female form.
The Gorgons were three hideous dragonfish sisters that could change men into stone at a glance. Medusa
was the most famous one.
The Sirens were sisters who sat on rocks by the sea and lured sailors to their doom by singing to them.
The Fates were three powerful goddesses who determined the lives of men. Clotho wove the thread of life;
Lachesis measured it out; and Atropos cut it off with her scissors of death.