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Mythology Part One Study Guide
Instructions: Answer the following questions about Chapters 1 through 4 of Mythology in complete
sentences. Due September 21, 2012.
1. Who were the first parents of lifelike creatures? Who were their children and grandchildren?
2. Who were the Titans? Briefly describe them and tell who first ruled them.
3. What is Olympus, and who lives there?
4. Who were the twelve great Olympians? Give their Greek and Roman names. Identify their
spheres of influence, their symbols, and to whom they were related.
Greek Name
Roman Name
Sphere of
Symbols
Relative(s)
Influence
5. Who were Eros, Hebe, and Iris?
6. Identify the graces and the muses. For what were they famous? Who were their parents?
7. Who was Nereus and who were his children?
8. Identify Triton, Proteus, and the naiads.
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9. Describe the underworld. Who ruled it and what happened to the souls who entered its
domain?
10. Identify the Erinyes. What were their duties?
11. Name the two supreme deities of earth and their spheres of influence.
12. Describe Pan, his traits, and his duties.
13. Identify Castor and Pollux. How did Castor die? What then happened to Pollux?
14. What were satyrs, centaurs, and gorgons?
15. Who or what were the numina?
16. Why was Demeter, the divinity of grain, thought of as a goddess and not a god?
17. How was the harvest celebrated? How did the celebration change over time?
18. Who was Persephone? How did her abduction and rescue explain the seasons to the early
Greeks?
19. With what city was Dionysus associated? Why? What was unique about Dionysus and his
parentage?
20. Dionysus was widely accepted by people in foreign lands. But in Greece, some refused to
believe he was a god and so defied him. Describe what happened to the pirates and Lycurgus.
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21. Who were the maenads, or bacchantes? What was their connection to Dionysus? In what
ways do they represent the dual power of wine?
22. Who was Pentheus? Why was he doomed by Dionysus? What fate did he suffer?
23. What was Dionysus’ connection with Greek drama?
24. How did resurrection come to be associate with Dionysus?
25. Describe the creation of Earth and Heaven.
26. Who were the first creatures on Earth before humans?
27. Describe the conflict between Gaea and Ouranos. How did Cronus get involved in it and what
was the outcome?
28. How were the giants and the Erinyes created?
29. How was Cronus’ rule threatened? What did Cronus do to try to keep his throne? How was his
plan spoiled?
30. What steps did Zeus take to become ruler of heaven and earth? How did he prepare the way
for humans to live on earth?
31. Describe the world as the Greeks saw it.
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32. In one creation story, Prometheus and Epimetheus created humans. How? What gifts did
Prometheus give to humans? Why?
33. In a second creation story, the gods created five ages of humans. Name these ages, describe
the people who lived in each, and tell their fate.
Age
Description of People
Fate
34. Who was the first woman and why was she created? What harm did she bring to earth?
35. What did Prometheus do that led to his being chained to a rock in the Caucasus and punished?
36. Because of his sufferings, what does Prometheus symbolize today? Why?
37. Another story of creation begins with a flood. Who survived the flood, and what were they
directed to do? Why?
38. How did Io suffer? Why? What makes Io a heroine?
39. How did Zeus capture Europa and where did he take her? Describe Europa’s fate.
40. What places are named for Io and Europa?
41. What part does the narcissus play in Persephone’s story?
42. Who were Narcissus and Echo? How did each figure in the other’s life? What were their fates?
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43. Compare and contrast the appearance and actions of Polyphemus as he appears in the stories
of Odysseus and Galatea.
Story of Odysseus
Story of Galatea
dysseus
44. Compare and contrast the deaths and transformations of Hyacinth and Adonis.
Hyacinth
Adonis