Lecture 13/14

Question 1

Asclepius

Answer 1

Son of Apollo and Coronis, God of Healing, trained by Chiron (centaur), carries a staff entwined with a single serpent

Question 2

Cassandra

Answer 2

Daughter of King Priam, promised Apollo sexual favours in return for the gift of prophecy, reneged on her promise, forever doomed to prophecy in vain

Question 3

Marpessa

Answer 3

Daughter or Evenus, chose Idas (an argonaut) over Apollo for fear he would abandon her in her old age

Question 4

Coronis

Answer 4

Pregnant with Apollo’s child, she cheated on him and he killed her with an arrow

Question 5

Crisa

Answer 5

Location of the Oracle of Delphi, at the foot of Mt Parnassus

Question 6

Cumaean Sibyl

Answer 6

A prophetess in Cumae, promised Apollo her virginity in return for eternal life, reneged on promise and was thus not given eternal youth

Question 7

Sibylline Books

Answer 7

Collections of prophecies of the Sibyls often consulted by the Romans

Question 8

Daphne

Answer 8

Name meaning ‘laurel’, daughter of Peneus (river god), pursued by Apollo and transformed into a laurel tree

Question 9

Ge-Themis

Answer 9

Mother goddess who occupied Delphi before Apollo

Question 10

Delian

Answer 10

Epithet for Apollo due to his birth on the Island of Delos and establishment of an oracle there

Question 11

Delphinius

Answer 11

Epithet given to Apollo after he transformed himself into a dolphin and led Cretan sailors to Crisa, etiology for the name Delphi

Question 12

Hyacinthus

Answer 12

Handsome young spartan youth, killed by an errant discus thrown by Apollo, a flower grew from his blood (the Hyacinth)

Question 13

Hyacinthia

Answer 13

Festival in Sparta honouring Hyacinthus

Question 14

Hygeia

Answer 14

Daughter of Asclepius, name means ‘health’

Question 15

Panacea

Answer 15

Daughter of Asclepius, name means ‘all-healing’

Question 16

Hyperboreans

Answer 16

Northern people, name means ‘beyond the north wind’, send annual offerings to Apollo

Question 17

Idas

Answer 17

Lover of Marpessa, one of the argonauts

Question 18

Loxias

Answer 18

Epithet for Apollo referring to the devious nature of his replies

Question 19

Marsyas

Answer 19

Satyr who picked up the flute discarded by Athena, challenged Apollo to a musical contest, Apollo won and flayed him

Question 20

Midas

Answer 20

King of Phrygia, judge of Apollo’s musical contest with Pan, challenged the verdict of the contest and was given the ears of an ass

Question 21

Mount Parnassus

Answer 21

Mountain overlooking Crisa and the Oracle of Delphi

Question 22

Mount Tmolus

Answer 22

Judge of the musical contest between Pan and Apollo, believed the Lyre was superior to Pan’s pipes

Question 23

Omphalos

Answer 23

Egg shaped stone which marks Delphi as the centre of the earth, name means ‘navel’

Question 24

Phoebus

Answer 24

Epithet for Apollo meaning ‘bright/shining’

Question 25

Pindar

Answer 25

Theban poet who wrote the ‘Odes of Pindar’ to celebrate the Pythian Games

Question 26

Pythia

Answer 26

Prophetess of Apollo who sat upon a tripod and uttered the responses of the god, originally a young virgin, late older women

Question 27

Pythian Games

Answer 27

Physical and intellectual competitions held every 4 years in Delphi

Question 28

Zephyrus

Answer 28

The ‘west wind’, accused of diverting the discus thrown by Apollo due to his love for Hyacinthus