 The Titans
 Gods and Goddesses
 Heroes, Monsters and Men

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Important figures:
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Cronus (Saturn)*
Father of the Olympians, cruel tyrant, overthrown and castrated by his son, spends eternity buried deep beneath the earth
Ocean
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His blue-green body wraps itself about the earth, left alone in the overthrow
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Atlas-
Punished by Zeus to forever bear the earth upon his back
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Prometheus-
Sometimes called creator of man. Brought man fire from the sun. Punished by Zeus for loving man too much. As punishment he is chained for ever to a remote cliff face (Caucasus) never to look upon his beloved creation again
* Where important – Greek (Latin)

The Gods:
 Zeus (Jupiter)
 Poseidon (Neptune)
 Hades (Pluto)
 Hestia (Vesta)
 Hera (Juno)
 Ares (Mars)
 Appollo
 Aphrodite (Venus)
 Athena (Minerva)
 Hermes (Mercury)
 Artemis (Diana)
 Hephaestus
(Vulcan)

 Led the fight against his father and the other
Titans
 God of the sky and weather (drew lots against his brothers for it). Ruler of Olympus, the ethereal home of the gods.
 Notorious womanizer and therefore father to many, many gods and heroes
 Not omniscient, and like all Greek and
Roman deities, flawed and deceivable
 His symbols are the lightning bolt, the breast plate and the oak tree.

 God of the sea, the horse and the bringer of earthquakes
 His symbol is the trident. He shakes it, the earth shakes us.
 Triton is the trumpeter of the sea (his horn a great conch shell)

 God of the Underworld.
 He marries Persephone, whom he dragged to the underworld to become queen of the dead.
 “Hades” is also the name for the
Underworld of the dead which is separated into regions by Virgil:

 Acheron River (aptly named the River of Woe) meets with the Cocytus River (the River of
Lamentation) and the underworld springs from their meeting.
 Charon is the boatman the ferries the souls across.
 Cerberus (a giant three-headed dog) guards its gates allowing souls only to enter.
 Three other rivers separate Hades: The Styx, The
Lethe and the Phlegethon.
 Evil souls are punished to everlasting torment by the Furies where heroes and good men are sent to Elysian Fields.

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 Sisyphus – Suspected
Zeus in an abduction of a maiden
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Ixion – Sinned by insulting Hera
Tantalus – Killed and boiled his son Pelops and then attempted to feed him to the gods
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Punished by being bound to a wheel that turns forever
Punished by being forced to eternally push a heavy stone up a hill, only to watch it roll down again and again.
Tortured by constant hunger and thirst, never to have either sated.

 Zeus’s sister and a virgin goddess.
 Has no distinction and plays very little part in myths, though sometimes called the Goddess of the Hearth (home)

 Wife of Zeus (also his sister!)
 Goddess and protector of marriage
 Often seen as vicious and spiteful, she certainly is one to punish the women with whom Zeus has his affairs.

 God of war, and warfare
 Son of Zeus and Hera
 Not very well-liked
 His symbols are the sword and shield, the vulture and, oddly, the dog.

 Son of Zeus and Leto
 Musician-god, healer-god, archer-god, sungod…
 Brings man music and the art of healing.
 Drives a fiery chariot across the sky each day
 His oracle at Delphi is perhaps the most well known of the oracles, linking gods and men in an open conversation.
 His symbols are the bow and arrow and the lyre

 Goddess of love and beauty
 Said to have sprung from the foam of the sea
 Without her there is no beauty or joy and therefore she is one of the most important symbols to poets and painters
 She is both enticing and dangerous
 Marries Hephaestus the ugly god of the forge
 Gives birth to many, but importantly to Eros,
God of love.
 Drives a chariot drawn by swans

 Daughter of Zeus, having sprung full grown, and in full armor, from his head
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Goddess of war, but also of civility. Is another virgin goddess
Zeus’s favorite, she carries his thunderbolt
 Athens is her city
 Her symbols are armor, the olive tree, and the owl.

 Messenger of the gods. Also the smartest and the most sneaky
 God of traders and markets, but also the thieves who steal from them
 As a messenger, he appears more often in tales than any other god.
 His symbols are the winged sandals and helmet he almost always wears.

 Twin sister of Apollo
 The third virgin goddess of the
Olympians, she is the protector of chastity.
 She is also the goddess of the hunt.
She does her hunting by the moonlight, therefore Apollo-sun, Artemis-moon.

 Ugly, idiotic, but kind-hearted god of the forge (create, shape using heat)
 A strange husband to Aphrodite
 Also the god of fire
 Said to live under volcanoes and cause eruptions

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Iris – Goddess of the rainbow and (in the Iliad) the messenger of the gods
The 3 Graces – Either seen to embody Splendor,
Mirth and Good Cheer; or Beauty, Chastity and
Voluptuousness.
The 9 Muses – Clio (History), Urania (Astronomy),
Melpomene (tragedy), Thalia (comedy) Terpsichore
(dance), Calliope (Epic Poetry), Erato (Love Poetry),
Polyhymnia (songs of the gods), Euterpe (Lyric
Poetry). They were thought to be the source of all creative epiphany, so they are often invoked at the beginning of a work of poetry. The muses live in
Parnassus.
Nemesis – ugly goddess of righteous anger

 Demeter (Ceres) – Goddess of corn
 Dionysus (Bacchus) – God of the vine, Overseer of the
Bacchanal, a festival of drinking and drama.
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Pan – mischievous, merry god of nature, plays upon his pipes, is usually depicted with horns and lower body of a goat.
Janus – Two faced god of changes, after whom January is named.
Castor and Pollux – Sons of Zeus, they become a symbol for perfect brotherly love.
The Gorgons – Dragon-like immortals whose look turned men to stone.
The Graiae – three sisters who share one eye between them.
Sirens – their beautiful voices lured sailors to their deaths .
The Centaurs – Half-man, half-horse. Generally viewed as savage creatures, though one Chiron, was wise and helpful.
Aurora – Female representation of Dawn
Morpheus – a kind of dream god

 Woman – created by Zeus as a punishment to man, her name was Pandora.
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The box – Filled with harmful things placed there by the gods, Pandora’s curiosity wins over and all bad earthly elements (plague, mischief, sorrow) were released. Hope was all that remained.
Echo and Narcissus – Through pride, these two
“lovers” create the Narcissus flower and the Echo.
Hyacinth – Killed by Apollo by a discus
Adonis – killed by a boar, his blood creates the flower
Arachne – Challenges Minerva to a weave-off.
Doesn’t quite lose but is smacked around anyway.
Hangs herself in shame, but Minerva, in pity, turns her into a spider, giving her back her weaving ability.

 Cupid and Psyche
 Pyramus and Thisbe
 Orpheus and Euridice
 Pygmalion and Galatea
 Endymion
 Daphne

 Jason
 First of the journeying heroes
 Traveled on the great ship the Argo, built by the great shipwright Argus, in search of the Golden
Fleece
 Jason comes back to Greece to claim his rightful place as King from his evil cousin, Pelias
 Pelias agrees to give Jason the throne if he brings the Golden Fleece
 Several great heroes offered to accompany Jason:
Hercules, Peleus (Achilles’ father), Cator and
Pollux, Orpheus and others.

 Lemnos and its fierce women.
 Hercules abandons them to search for
Hylas
 The battle of the Harpies (stinky birdsnakes)
 The Simplegades (moving rocks)
 The Amazons (fierce women again)

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Hera, who loved and protected Jason, asked for the help of
Aphrodite.
The Goddess of Love helps by making Medea, Daughter of the
King who had the Fleece, Fall in love with Jason. She was a powerful worker of magic, though a bit wacky.
With Medea’s help the Argonauts acquire the Fleece and escape Colchis
On the return they must face Scylla and Charybdus, and the last of the bronzed men Talus (Medea saves them again here).
Arriving in Greece, Pelias refuses to make good on his offer, and
Medea punishes him severely for it.
After all of this, Jason later betrays Medea. They go to Corinth and have two sons. In order to become more powerful, he marries to the princess of Corinth. Big mistake. She kills his bride with a poisoned garment, and before Jason can destroy her, she kills their two sons as well. A dragon-drawn chariot carries her away to safety.

 Perseus
 Bellerophon and Pegasus
 Daedalus and Icarus
 Atalanta
 Theseus
 Hercules

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Danae and Zeus are his parents
Fated to destroy his grandfather
Set to sea in a chest in the hopes he and his mother die.
They don’t.
As a wedding gift, promises his mother’s suitor the head of
Medusa, a gorgon.
Gets the following items: A special sword, Athena’s mirrored shield, winged sandals, a satchel that could carry anything, and a cap that would make a man invisible.
Defeats Medusa and takes the head.
Saves Andromeda from the sea-serpent
Must kill his mother’s suitor with the gorgon’s head
Returns to Greece to reconcile with grandfather, but cannot find
Accidentally kills him with a discuss throw to the head

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 Bellerophon wanted Pegasus, a great flying horse that sprung from the blood of Medusa
Is told to sleep at the alter of Athena
She gives him a charm
Pegasus becomes his
Is later asked to slay the Chimaera (lion-head, goatbody, serpent tail)
Simple if you fly above and shoot it with arrows
Defeats the Amazons in the same way
Gets too proud and tries to fly to Olympus but
Pegasus won’t allow it. Dies alone and miserable

 Deadalus was imprisoned by Minos in the Labyrinth, a structure he created himself, with Icarus, his son
 Makes wings for his son and him to escape.
 Warns Icarus to stay the middle course
 Icarus, enchanted by the flight sails high into the sky
 His wings melt and he falls to his death

 Abandoned for being female, Atalanta is raised by a she-bear.
 Was the only female to hunt the Calydonian boar, and was the first to strike it, though
Meleager killed it.
 Agrees to marry any man who can beat her in a foot-race, knowing there is no one alive faster than she.
 She is defeated by a guy who throws golden apples to her, which divert her attention.
 She is later turned into a lion for angering a god (Zeus or Aphrodite, depending on the version)

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Son of Aegeus, King of Athens. Raised by his mother
Lifting the stone – a test of manliness
Arrives in Greece and is nearly poisoned by his father at the prompting of Medea
Minos demanded 14 youths to be sacrificed every nine years to the Minotaur
The White Sail replaces the black to prove he had won
Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, falls instantly in love with
Theseus
Uses a ball of thread to weave through the Labyrinth and kills the minotaur with his bare hands!
On the return voyage, Ariadne is left on the island of Naxos.
In a moment of thoughtlessness, the black sails are left up.
Aegeus, thinking his son dead, kills himself.
Theseus, uninterested in ruling, creates the world’s first commonwealth (self governed territory).

 Embodiment of Grecian attributes: strength, courage, brutality, pride
(intellect purposely omitted)…
 Teiresias, blindseer, suggests “He will be the hero of all mankind.”
 Has three sons with Megara, but in a rage, murders them all.
 In order to be purified he goes to King
Eurystheus who gives him labors.

(because he killed his children)
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Kill the Nimean Lion
Kill the Hydra (Multi-headed creature)
Capture a stag with golden horns
Capture the great boar Cerynitia
Clean the Augean Stables in a day
Drive away the Stymphalian Birds
Fetch the Great bull from Minos
Get the Man-eating horses of Diomedes
Bring the Girdle of Hippolyta, the Amazon Queen
Bring Geryon’s cattle
Get the Golden Apples of Hesperides, son of Atlas,
 Bring Cerberus up from Hades

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Orion – Great hunter. Is blinded for a while but his sight is returned.
The Danaids – 50 women whom did not want to marry their cousins but were forced to…so they killed them!
Midas – Wanted endless wealth so wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. It did.
Callisto – Cursed. Gives birth to a son. Hera turns her into a bear and then, when the son is grown, shows the son the bear. Before the boy can unknowingly kill his mother, Zeus brings her to
Heaven. She becomes the Big Bear (now, The Big
Dipper).

 Cursed thanks to Tantalus’ sin (killed mother)
 Prominent Members:
 Niobe-Had seven sons and seven daughters, but pride, her weakness, caused her to claim she was better than the greatest gods. Apollo and Artemis killed all of her children in front of her for this claim. Frozen with grief, she was turned to stone, though her tears continued to run.
 Atreus and Thyestes - Due to infidelity, Atreus had his brother’s two sons cooked up and served them to their father Thyestes.

 Agamemnon’s family:
 Iphigenia – Killed by Agamemnon so that the winds on the way to Troy would be favorable.
 Clytemnestra – To avenge the death of her daughter, she and her lover, Aegisthus, murder
Agamemnon while he feasted. They also murder
Cassandra who had been brought back from Troy.
 Orestes and Electra – revenge the death of
Agamemnon. Electra waits for her brother’s return from exile. Orestes comes back, kills Aegisthus, and what’s worse, kills his mother as well.
Through guilt, both are driven to insanity.

 Founded by Cadmus, brother of Europa
 Laius, his great-grandson, marries Jocasta and begets a son
 Fearing a prophecy, he has his son bound by the foot and left on a mountain to die.
 The son is raised in Corinth and called
Oedipus (swollen foot)
 As a result of this offence, Thebes is beset by the Sphinx, a winged lion-woman.
 Fearing a prophesy that he will kill his father and marry his mother Oedipus flees Corinth and walks right into his fate.

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On his way he meets a man (Laius) who challenges him. Oedipus kills him and fulfills the first part of his prophesy.
He arrives in Thebes and defeats the Sphinx by answering its riddle.
He is awarded the prize of the Queen’s hand in marriage and is made King of Thebes, fulfilling the second prophesy. They have four children together:
Antigone, Isthmene, Polyneices and Eteocles.
Through a kind of Detective story, all of this terrible news is made clear to Oedipus, though Teiresias, the blind seer, refuses to help. Jocasta commits suicide and Oedipus tears out his eyes.

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After, Creon is made King. He exiles Oedipus with the help of Oedipus’ sons.
 Eteocles takes over and exiles his brother.
Polyneices raises an army to take Thebes by force.
 Creon is told by Teiresias that if his son Menoeceus dies, Thebes would be saved. Creon refuses to allow this, but Menoeceus sacrifices himself anyway.
 Polyneices and Eteocles kill each other. Creon commands that Eteocles be buried honorably, but his brother is to be left in the fields. Anyone who buries him would be put to death.
 Atigone chooses to bury him anyway, supplanting the laws of men for the divine laws. She is sent to death.