STUDY GUIDE FOR TEST ONE
Test one will consist of the following elements, totally roughly 85 questions:
1. about 40 multiple-choice questions taken from the book (up to and including chapter
six)
2. about 40 multiple-choice questions taken from the lectures (including the Ovid
lecture that is linked on the course web site
3. 10 multiple-choice questions taken from the slide shows on the course web page
4. 5 multiple-choice questions on the city of Mycene. You are supposed to have entered
the gateway and learned things about the city of Mycene. The guidelines in the
gateway will help you understand what to learn. NOTE: Also spelled “Mycenae.”
The following broad topics are covered on the test:
questions from the lecture that introduced you to myth
Carl Jung, archetypes, universal subconscious
anthropomorphism and what it says about the Greek view of men and gods
Scepticism: Xenophanes, Plato, Hellenistic Philosophers (allegorical interpretation),
Lucretius, Euhemerus
Paul's and Barnabas' encounter with a credulous crowd in Asia Minor
Time line (from the book): In what period do most myths take place? Who came
first, Greeks or Romans? When was Jesus born in relation to the Trojan War?
the roots -machy and -gony
the precise definition of "mythology"
Hesiod's Theogony
Muses' role as intermediaries of the truth (and the function of poetry in that regard)
rulers of the three generations of the gods
the "division into opposites" point that I made
why Zeus was able to gain power and keep it, while others couldn't; who helped
him forge his weapons?
how man became alienated from the gods and how he hopes to be reconciled
Ovid's "chaos" vs. Hesiod's "chaos"
the flood story and the hope for redemption
the fate of Lycaon
the four ages of man, particularly the kinds of things that marked mankind's
degeneration
the composite picture of the human race after Deucalion and Pyrrha
the meaning of the name Pandora and her connection to magic; what is her "box"?
Zeus
Zeus' time in Crete: what location relating to Zeus did the Cretans show to
visitors? (from the lecture and the book's Hymn to Zeus)
How does Cleanthes portray Zeus in his Hymn to Zeus? as king of the gods, as the
only god, or as not a god at all?
What do the early unions of Zeus show?
know the epithets of Zeus.
the Indo-European root of Zeus means what?
what was the fate of the stone that Rhea had Cronos swallow?
how is Zeus worshiped at Dodona?
describe the three Fates and what they do
What was wrong with the children of Zeus and Hera? What child did Zeus
produce on his own?
How was Zeus worshiped at Olympia?
What do the two jars by Zeus' throne represent?
What principle do the three Graces represent? Mnemosyne? Themis?
How did Zeus introduce the divine, heroic seed among humans?
Hephaestus, Poseidon, Hermes
How did Hera become pregnant with Hephaestus? What is the difference between
"clear" eggs and "Zephyrian" eggs?
How did Hera treat Hephaestus? How did Hephaestus get back at her?
What did Hermes steal while still a baby? Why did Zeus and Apollo finally let him
off?
What is "kakometis"? "psychopompos"?
What responsibilities does Hermes have?
What special event happened with Tiresias?
What are the epithets of Poseidon and what do they say about his character?
What is the Erechtheum? The contest of Athena and Poseidon?
Artemis
know the following terms:
eschatiai
rites of passage, liminal
Brauron and the arkteia
Hippolytus
Actaeon
Iphigenia at Aulis
Potnia Theron
What is Artemis' connection with the moon?
Athena
From where does Athena get the epithet "Pallas"?
What is the Panathenaea?
Who is Erichthonius and where did he come from?
Why was Athena angry at Arachne?
What did Athena invent to counter the wildness of Poseidon?
Sample slide question:
Who is helping
Pandora come
out of the earth
here?
a) Ares, god of
war
b) Poseidon, sea
god
c) Hercules, son
of Zeus
d) Prometheus,
Titan son of
Iapetus
e) Hephaestus,
god of the forge
Sample question about Mycenae:
Which of the following adjectives best describes the walls of Mycenae?
a) smoothed over with stucco
b) made with stones so big only the Cyclopes could have moved them
c) a hollow facade with inner chambers for burial
d) Mycenae had no walls!
e) surrounded by a deep moat of water.