GRST 209 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes -
12 Oct 2018
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Department
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GRST 209
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Hesiod - one of the oldest poets with surviving works - 8th century BC
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Gaia - Mother Earth - person and a thing
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Tartarus - the underworld
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Eros - lust
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Erebus - darkness
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Night
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Sprung from chaos - not born
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First Generation
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Uranus - starry sky - equal to GAIA
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Mountains
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Sea (Pontus)
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Gaia - alone - brings forth without sex
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Day
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Aether - brightness or light
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Erebus + Night
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Second Generation
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Oceanus - ocean - in (omers accounts Oceanus and Tethys are
called the source of the gods
Coeus - how
Crius - ?
Hyperion - height - first sun god
Iapetus - ? - father of Prometheus *
Theia - divine
Rhea - earth *
Themis - order *
Mnemosyne - memory - with Zeus births the 9 muses *
Phoebe - brightness - suggested moon goddess
Tethys - grandmother
Cronus - Saturn in Roman - called wily - first of many tricksters
Titans
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Brontes - thunder
Steropes- lightning
Arges- bright
Hecatonchires (hundred hands)
Cottus - furious
Briareus - vigorous
Gyes - giant
Cyclops
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Gaia + Uranus
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Furies (9)
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Giants
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Nymphs
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Aphrodite - goddess of sex - born from the foam of the sea
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Gaia + blood from Uranus castration
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Typhoes - 100 snake headed monster
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Gaia and Tartarus
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Third Generation
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Chaos is not a person or a being. It WAS created.
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Reoccurring archetypal motif in mythology
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Example: Cronus overthrows Uranus, Zeus overthrows Cronus, etc.
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Also seen in much near eastern mythology and even in the Bible.
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Youngest born overturns or overthrows the previous generation
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Myth of Succession
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Uranus and Gaia lay together and Gaia becomes pregnant
The story of Cronus and Uranus
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From Chaos to Cosmos
Rise of the Olympians
Mythology 209 Page 1
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Uranus and Gaia lay together and Gaia becomes pregnant
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Uranus does not allow the children to be born
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Uranus comes and lies atop Gaia and covers her completely
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Gaia comes up with a plan for revenge
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She hides Cronus in a cave and gives him a sickle
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When Uranus comes to lay with Gaia again Cronus comes up from his hiding spot
and castrates Uranus with the sickle
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Uranus gets off Gaia, allowing the children to be born
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Cronus throws genitals into the sea
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Eventually from the foam of the sea (Aphros) Aphrodite emerges out of the sea onto
Cyprus
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Cronus and Rhea lay together and as their children are being born, Cronus eats the
children as they come to be born.
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Rhea hatches a plan and gives birth to her 6th child in secret in Cyprus
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Gaia gives Cronus a stone dressed as her 6th child and Cronus eats it
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Eating this stone causes Cronus to throw up the rest of his children
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When Zeus comes of age he returns with his lightning bolts to overthrow his father
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Zeus and the Olympians battle Cronus and the Titans
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Zeus and the Olympians win and Gaia brings forth Typhoes (100 snake heads) and
Aphrodite
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Pivotal turning point in the story - if Zeus wouldnt have been alert, Typhoes would
have become the ruler of gods and men
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Zeus throws Typhoes into the depths of the Universe - Tartarus - which led to the
myth that Typhoes was entrapped under mount Etna in Sicily (volcano)
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Cronus and Zeus
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Hestia - aka Vesta - hearth
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Demeter - aka Ceres - grain and crops
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Hera - aka Juno - Queen of the gods
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Hades - aka Pluto - underworld
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Poseidon - aka Neptune - water
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Zeus - aka Jupiter - daylight, thunder and lightening
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Cronus + Rhea
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Fourth Generation
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The Olympians
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A great paradox between the Cronus of the Theogony and the utopian Cronus
of Works and Days
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When Cronus was king of the gods, the golden race of humans was created. They
lived like gods and were carefree
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The myth of the Ages - from Works and Days
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The Triumph of Zeus
Holds up the sky out of necessity
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Atlas stand in the garden of the Hesperides (golden apple tree)
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Atlas - patience
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Menoetius - impatience
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Prometheus - forethought
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Epimetheus - afterthought
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Iapetus + Clymene (an Oceanid)
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He is bound to a rock and everyday an eagle comes to eat his liver and every
night it grows back
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Never ending cycle of torture - no matter how much he suffers, he cannot die
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According to some later authors - a deal is struck between Zeus and
Prometheus, Zeus allows Heracles to free Prometheus and in return
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Punishment ends when Heracles kills the bird and frees Prometheus - Zeus
allows this to happen
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Prometheus punishment
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The story of Prometheus
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Zeus Tricked
Mythology 209 Page 2
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Hesiod - one of the oldest poets with surviving works - 8th century bc. Chaos is not a person or a being. Gaia - mother earth - person and a thing. Gaia - alone - brings forth without sex. Uranus - starry sky - equal to gaia. Oceanus - ocean -in (omer(cid:495)s accounts oceanus and tethys are called (cid:498)the source of the gods(cid:499) Mnemosyne - memory - with zeus births the 9 muses * Cronus - saturn in roman -called (cid:498)wily(cid:499) - first of many tricksters. Aphrodite - goddess of sex - born from the foam of the sea. Youngest born overturns or overthrows the previous generation. Example: cronus overthrows uranus, zeus overthrows cronus, etc. Also seen in much near eastern mythology and even in the bible. Uranus and gaia lay together and gaia becomes pregnant. Uranus does not allow the children to be born. Uranus comes and lies atop gaia and covers her completely.
