Greek Mythology
Greek Mythology
Greek Mythology
“Mythology” is a word
used to describe all
myths of a particular
society.
o Wife: Hera
o Ruler of weather; keeper of
laws; protector of Greek
kings; guardian of morality
o Had over 115 girlfriends and
wives and over 140 children!!
APOLLO
Title: God of Light and Sun
o Twin of Artemis
o Oracle of Delphi
o If you were “struck by
Apollo’s arrow,” it meant
you died suddenly.
o Killer of the cyclops
POSEIDON
Title:God of the Sea
o Zeus’s brother and
second most powerful
god
o Creator of earthquakes
o Maker of horses
HERMES
Title: Messenger of the
Gods
o The god of secrets and
tricks
o Often portrayed with
wings on his feet
o Guided souls to the
underworld
o Patron of thieves and
liars
HADES
Title: God of the Underworld
In Greek mythology,
Atlas was a Titan who
fought against Zeus.
After the Titans lost a
war against Zeus, Atlas
was condemned by Zeus
to stand forever holding
up the heavens.
Other characters in Mythology
the muses
The Fates
Nine goddesses in daughters of Zeus
charge of different Three blind sisters who
sciences and arts determined people’s lifespan
including music, One spun the thread of life (Clotho)
poetry, history, One measured the thread and
astronomy, dance, determined a person’s lot in life
etc. (Atropos)
One cut the thread with scissors of
Daughters of Zeus death (Lachesis)
with a nymph
(Electra)
They were meant to
inspire
Mythology in nature and science
Many of our planets (and many moons) are named after Roman gods
Mercury- messenger god
Mars- god of war
Venus- goddess of love
Jupiter- king of the gods
Saturn- god of agriculture
Neptune- god of the seas
Uranus- ancient Greek deity of the heavens
Pluto- god of the underworld
Days of the Week:
• Monday, Moon day (Lunedi in Italian.) Monday is named
for the goddess of the moon.
• Tuesday is named for the god of war, Mars. (Mardi,
Martedi, Tuesday.)
• Wednesday is named for the god, Mercury. The word for
Wednesday in Italian is Mercoledi.)
• Thursday is really Thor’s Day. The god of thunder.
• Friday is named for the Goddess of Love. Aphrodite’s
Roman name is Venus. Venerdi is the Italian name for
Friday. Incidentally, that’s why we call them “Venereal”
Disease…
• Saturday is named for Saturn. Saturn was the father of
Zeus.
Mythological Allusions
Midas Now
Nemesis
One of the goddesses of
Vengeance
Today, a “nemesis”
is an avenger. One’s
nemesis is that which
brings on one’s
destruction or
downfall.
Pandora
The first woman, created by Today, a Pandora’s box is a
Hephaestus, given prolific source of troubles or
treacherously to Epimetheus
along with a box in which problems.
Prometheus had confined all If one’s opens a Pandora’s
the evils of the world; as box, he has created all kinds
expected, Pandora curiously
opened the forbidden box of problems for himself.
and thus released into the
world all troubles of
mankind. By the time
Pandora manages to close
the lid, luckily only HOPE
remains.
Phoenix
A mythical bird of
great beauty, the
only one of its
kind, fabled to live
500 or 600 years,
to burn itself on a
funeral pile, and
to rise from its
ashes in the
freshness of
youth and live
through another
“Rising Out of the Ashes”
Today, a person or
thing that has
become renewed or
restored after
suffering calamity
can be called a
phoenix.
The Trojan War and “Greeks
Bearing Gifts”
The Greeks sneak into
Troy in a “gift” meant
to end the 10 year
Trojan War, a wooden
horse hiding sneaky
Greeks.