Humanities: Mythology Flashcards
(96 cards)
1
Q
Egyptian Mythology
A
- Ra (Sun)
- Osiris (Underworld)
- Isis (Life)
- Horus (Sky)
- Anubis (Death)
- Hathor (Fertility)
- Thoth (Knowledge)
- Set (Desert, Chaos)
2
Q
Identify the domain and appearance:
Ra
Egyptian Mythology
A
- Domain: God of the Sun and Creation
- Physical Description: Often depicted as a man with the head of a hawk, crowned with a sun disk encircled by a cobra.
- Additional Information: Ra travels through the underworld at night and is reborn each morning.
3
Q
Domain, appearance, related to:
Osiris
Egyptian Mythology
A
- Domain: God of the Dead and Afterlife
- Physical Description: Depicted as a mummified king, holding a crook and flail.
- Additional Information: Osiris is a central figure in the myth of Isis and Osiris, symbolizing death and resurrection.
- Related to: Brother and husband of Isis, father of Horus, brother of Set and Nephthys.
4
Q
Isis
Egyptian Mythology
A
- Domain: Goddess of Life, Motherhood, and Fertility
- Physical Description: Often shown with wings, carrying an ankh, sometimes nursing her son Horus.
- Additional Information: Isis tricked and poisoned Ra into giving her his power over life and death making her the most powerful of the Egyptian pantheon.
- Related To: Isis is the wife of Osiris and mother to Horus.
5
Q
Domain and appearance:
Hathor
Egyptian Mythology
A
- Domain: Goddess of Love, Music, and Motherhood
- Physical Description: Often depicted as a cow, a woman with cow’s ears, or wearing a headdress of horns and a sun disk.
(My notes say “cow god”, so let’s leave it at that.)
6
Q
Domain, appearance, additional info, related to:
Anubis
Egyptian Mythology
A
- Domain: God of Death and The Underworld
- Physical Description: Depicted with the head of a jackal or as a jackal, often overseeing embalming ceremonies.
- Additional Information: Anubis is the guardian of entrance to the underworld, tombs, and secrets, but had no temples dedicated to him. Associated with mummification and the weighing of the heart in the afterlife.
- Related to: Son of Osiris
7
Q
Bastet
A
- Domain: Goddess of Cats and Protection
- Physical Description: Depicted as a lioness or as a woman with the head of a lioness or domestic cat.
- Additional Information: Bastet is known to protect the home from evil spirits and disease, particularly diseases associated with women and children.
- Related to: Daughter of Ra, sometimes considered the opposite of Sekhmet, Goddess of War.
8
Q
Khonsu
A
- Domain: God of the Moon and Time
- Physical Description: Often depicted as a young man with the lunar disk above his head.
- Additional Information: His name means ‘traveller’, and this may relate to the perceived nightly travel of the Moon across the sky.
9
Q
Set
A
- Domain: The Trickster God of Lightning, Storms, and Chaos.
- Physical Description: Portrayed with a unique animal head with a squared-off snout, long, rectangular ears, and a forked tail.
- Additional Information: Set is associated with upheaval, disorder, and is the antagonist in the story of Osiris and Isis.
10
Q
Thoth
A
- Domain: God of Knowledge and Writing
- Physical Description: Often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis, holding a writing palette and reed pen.
- Additional Information: Thoth is credited with the invention of writing and is the scribe of the underworld.
11
Q
Aton
A
12
Q
Horus
A
Falcon-headed Egyptian sky-god who was protector and patron of the pharaoh
13
Q
Greek dieties
A
Athena
14
Q
In Greek legends, these are portals through which the gods spoke directly to people
A
Oracle
15
Q
The Judgement of Paris
A
Prince Paris is asked by Zeus to judge which of Hera, Aphrodite, and (Pallas) Athena is the fairest
16
Q
“Home of the Gods”
Greek
A
Mt. Olympus
17
Q
Prometheus
A
bound by Zeus and whose name is used in
a play by Aeschylus.
18
Q
Months named after Roman gods
A
January (Janus)
March (Mars)
April (Aphrodite)
May (Maia)
June (Juno)
19
Q
Zeus
A
- disguised as a swan, visited Leda
- god of the sky, lightning / thunder
- Consort of Hera / Juno
- Father of demigod Heracles and Venus
Roman: Jupiter
20
Q
Thetis
A
son is demigod Achilles
21
Q
Helios
A
statue as The Colossus of Rhodes
22
Q
Daphne
A
the water nymph pursued by Apollo who was turned into a laurel tree by her father
Peneus, the river god.
23
Q
Gaia
A
primordial
24
Q
Chronus
A
Greek primordial god of time
25
Athena
* The Parthenon is an example of classical Greek architecture that was dedicated to the goddess Athena and that is located in the city named in her honor
* Gave a polished shield of brass to Perseus to use as a mirror to defeat medusa
* Gave the gift of the olive tree to the city of Athens
* owl
| Roman: Minerva
26
Nike
goddess of victory and daughter of Titans
statue called "winged victory of samothrace"
27
Maia
fertility and spring
28
Poseidon
god of the sea
father of demigod child theseus
| Neptune
29
Hades
god of the underworld
| Pluto
30
Hera
god(ess?) of marriage
Consort with Zeus / Jupiter
peacock
| Juno
31
Eros
* Instigator of affection is often this god of desire, who shoots arrows as a tangible cause of the "ordeal of love"
* Son of Venus and Mars
| Cupid
32
Ares
god of war
father of demigod Romulus and Remus (founders of Rome)
| Mars
## Footnote
Olympian
33
Hestia
| Vesta
34
Demeter
the Greek goddess of grain, the harvest, and crops who is responsible for the fertility of Earth, was also the granddaughter of Gaea, and whose daughter is Persephone
cornucopia
| Roman: Ceres
## Footnote
Olympian
35
Persephone
Demeter's Daughter and goddess of grain
36
Roman: Terminus
god who sets limits and protected boundaries
37
Leto
Mother of twin gods Apollo and Artemis
38
Atropos
The Roman goddess, Morta, was associated with the Greek Fate, Atropos. Both were believed to control the moment of a person’s death
39
Roman: Pax
goddess of peace, Roman emperor Augustus built altar Ara Pacis to Pax
40
Roman: Morta
The Roman goddess, Morta, was associated with the Greek Fate, Atropos. Both
were believed to control the moment of a person’s death.
41
Roman: Janus
Roman god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, doorways, passages, and endings, usually depicted as having two faces.
42
Roman: Flora
Identify the Roman goddess associated with flowers and spring time who is also a
central figure in Botticelli’s La Primavera.
43
The Three Graces
Three sisters who are attendants of the goddess Aphrodite and are the personifications of splendor, good cheer, and mirth.
44
The Pantheon
Roman temple dedicated to all the gods
The structure located on the Acropolis and dedicated to the goddess Athena that was a
collaboration between the Athenian architects Callicrates and Ictinus.
45
Hesiod
the eighth-century BC Greek poet who wrote Theogony, which is an important
source for our knowledge of classical mythology
46
Atlas
is a Titan
the father of various constellations including the Pleiades.
bore the vault of heaven upon his shoulders and was relieved briefly by
Hercules so that he could retrieve the golden apples of the Hesperides.
47
Charon
48
Uranus
Father of Saturn
49
Aphrodite
goddess of love
mother of demigod eros, mother of aeneas
golden apple
50
Artemis
Twin sister of Apollo
goddess of the hunt
in love with Orion
| Roman: Diana
51
Orion
52
Numbers
Three graces
three fates
Nine muses
12 labors of hercules
12 olympian gods
7 pleiades
3 heads of the hydra
3 heads of cerberus
3 gorgons
53
Hephaestus
god of fire, forge, and volcanoes
| Roman: Vucan
54
Pan
mythological character represented by the "goat-footed balloon man" in e e
cummings' "in-just spring".
55
Apollo
* Guided the arrow to Achille's heel
* Associated with music and youth
* demigod offspring is Orpheus
* the only one of the 12 Olympian gods who was called by the same name by both the
Greeks and the Romans.
* the small, round temple located at Delphi dedicated to Apollo
56
Dionysus
worship involves consuming large amounts of wine
| Roman: Bacchus
57
Pollux
58
Hermes
| Roman: Mercury
59
Hercules
wrestling the lion in his first labor
| Heracles
60
Jason
mythological Greek hero who was given the quest to find the Golden Fleece.
61
Pandora
the first woman, whose curiosity led her to open a vessel placed
by Zeus in her husband’s care thus releasing all the world’s cares, woes, and evil.
the woman in Greek mythology who loosed the spirits of old age, famine, sickness, and grief.
62
Orpheus
mythological Greek musician and son of Apollo who because of his great love for
his deceased wife, followed her to Hades to ransom her with a song from his lyre.
63
Narcissus
the mythological Greek who became obsessed with his own reflection and
whose name is given to a variety of flower.
mythical youth who fell in ldve with his own
reflection and was changed into a flower that bears his name,
64
Icarus
flew too close to the sun
65
Amazons
fierce women warriors of Greek mythology who only valued their female offspring,
66
Chimaera
Fire-breathing Greek monster with the head of a lion, a body of a goat, and the tail of a serpent
has a lion’s head, goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail
67
Medusa
Gorgon
68
Hydra
69
Pegasus
sprang from the severed neck of Medusa
70
Minotaur
Bull-dancing or bull leaping, a rite performed on the island of Crete, is believed by many to be
the origin of stories about what mythic monster?
71
Cerberus
guardian of the underworld in Greek mythology
72
Furies
female spirits of justice and vengeance in Greek mythology
73
Hero
mythical Greek priestess loved by Leander
74
Terminology
* **Epiphany:** term used to describe the experience of a god revealing his presence or manifesting his power to mortals and to describe the “twelfth day” of Christmas.
75
Nemesis
daughter of the night who punishes hubris
76
Yggdrasil
Identify the giant ash tree in Norse mythology generally considered to mean Odin’s horse that
links and shelters all the worlds
77
Fortified home of the gods
Asgard
78
Abode of souls of warriors killed in battle
Valhalla
79
Valkryies
the immortal women "Choosers of the Slain," in Norse mythology who carried the souls of dead heroes to .Valhalla.
80
Odin
Wednesday (Woden)
Consort with Frigg / Frija
81
Tyr
norse war, combat, justice, law
Tuesday namesake
82
Njörd
Norse
83
Thor
Norse Thursday
thunder and lightning
84
Frija
| (Or Frigg, or Frey)
Norse Friday
Consort with Odin
85
Vali
Norse
86
Loki
Norse trickster god of mischief and cunning responsible for the death of Baldur
87
Mabon
A Celtic god worshipped in Britain and Gaul who was associated with music and youth
88
Brahma
one of the three gods of the hindu trimurti
| creator
89
Vishnu
one of the three gods of the hindu trimurti
| preserver
90
Shiva
major god of hinduism
| destroyer
91
Kali
fearful and ferocious form of the mother goddess in hindu
92
Ganesh
93
Mayan: Chaac
lightning, thunder, rain
94
Brownie
Identify the small, mythological, helpful household spirit from English or Scottish folklore that is also
the name for a level of Girl Scouts created by Lord Baden Powell.
95
This trickster bird created land and stole fire from the gods according to legends from the Pacific Northwest
Raven
96
Phrases
Match each of the following four mythological phrases to its meaning.
Phrases Meanings
A. Achilles heel 1. a long even tful journey
B. To harp on 2. talk about repeatedly
C. Herculean task 3. something requiring great effort
D. An odyssey 4. a weak spot
Answer: A-4, B-2, C-3, D-1
Match each of the following four idioms derived from mythology to its meaning.
Idioms Meanings
A. a Pandora’s box 1. worrying over an impending disaster
B. Sisyphean task 2. action that only leads to trouble
C. sword of Damocles 3. identifying one’s weakness
D. Achilles heel 4. something laborious and futile
Answer: A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3
