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STUDY TIPS & QUESTIONS : EXAM
FORMAT ~ EXAM I: TIPS ~ TEXTS
~ EXAM II: REVIEW
~ TEXTS
Classics 28: Classical Mythology, Spring 2008
GSI: Cai Thorman
Email: cthorman@berkeley.edu
Phone: 916 595 7232
Office Hours: M 4-5, F 1:30-2:30, or by appointment
Office: 359A Dwinelle
Discussion Sections:
(101) M 2-3; 83 Dwinelle
(106) M 5-6; 105 Dwinelle
*EXAM II ~ SEE OFFICIAL REVIEW WEBPAGE: http://shelton.berkeley.edu/mymyth/review2.html*
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There will be images from lecture and passages from readings, short identifications from the lists, and a selection of long identifications (short essays).
Images: You should be able to identify individuals in the images by their attributes, as well as explain what scene is being shown, what is happening, where it is supposed to be, and even which version of a story is being depicted if relevant (you won't need to know the artist or date).
Literary passage: You should be able to recognize a passage from the reading, know what is going on, and fill in any blanks.
Short ID: You should be able to define in a phrase or two any term from the lists provided on the class website.
Long ID: You will be given a selection of topics to choose from. You should be able to write a short essay on a question addressing larger concepts drawn from readings, lecture, and secondary sources.
All of the reading assignments listed on the syllabus through 2/22 will be covered on the exam.
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-STUDY THE OFFICIAL REVIEW WEBPAGE VERY CAREFULLY: http://shelton.berkeley.edu/mymyth/review1.html
-Read the Theogony, Works & Days, Homer, the Homeric Hymns, and Euripides
assigned for class more than once and make notes about the stories and characters.
Emphasis should be focused on stories also covered in lecture. Use the assigned
excerpts from Graves for reinforcement.
-Read over your lecture notes very carefully. Consider pooling your resources
in a study group and comparing notes.
-Study and define all terms from the word
lists posted on the class syllabus website.
-Study the images linked at the bottom of the word
lists (in addition to the images from the class website, you can also practice
recognizing and identifying gods (attributes) and scenes using images from the
Theoi website: http://www.theoi.com/Galleries.html)
-Know all the gods/goddesses mentioned in lecture, readings, and on the lists
(especially) and how to recognize them. Pay special attention to the stories
recounted in lecture. Here are examples of things to know about a god: attributes/symbols;
physical appearance; characteristic scenes in art and the stories associated
with them; symbolic role in nature or society; place in the divine family; most
famous epithets; what s/he is the god of; gifts to man; most famous stories.
Also know the most famous cult statues and sanctuaries of a god (esp. if mentioned
in lecture), where they were, and in what capacity and for what purpose the
god or goddess was worshipped there. Focus on your lecture notes, Euripides,
Hesiod, Homer, the Homeric Hymns, and Graves.
*Note: The first 26 pages of Shelmerdine give very helpful timelines, maps, images of gods, and an enlightening introduction...
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Primary Texts (most important)
Hesiod “Theogony”
Hesiod “Works and Days”
“Hymn to Aphrodite”
“Hymn to Apollo”
“Hymn to Hermes”
“Hymn to Demeter”
>> Homer “Iliad” excerpts
>> Homer “Odyssey” Book 11 & excerpt
Euripides “Ion”
Virgil “Aeneid”
Secondary Texts (for a general understanding - do not spend too much time on these)
Vernant “The Reason of Myth”
Powell “The Cultural Context of Classical Myth”
Garland “Accessing the Supernatural”
Vegetti “The Greeks and their Gods” (don't
overdo this one)
Woodford “Part 1”
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General questions (see Introduction of your text)
1. What is the subject of the Theogony and what is its purpose?
2 . How does genealogy relate to cosmogony in the Theogony?
Textual questions
1. Why is there a hymn to the Muses at the beginning of the Theogony? (pp.3-4)
2. What is the origin of the Muses? Who are their parents? (p.4)
3. What is the Muses’ holy gift to men? (p.5)
4. How does Hesiod explain the purpose of his poem? (p.6)
5. Who were the very first divinities and in what order did they appear? (p.6)
6. Who was Kronos’ father and why did he loathe him? (pp.6-7)
7. How did Heaven care for his children? (p.7)
8. What plot did Earth devise against Heaven and who implemented it? (p.8)
9. What did Kronos do to his father? (p.8)
10. What fell into the sea when Kronos defeated his father, and who emerged
as a result? (p.9)
11. Who were the children of Heaven and Earth? (p.9)
12. Can you characterize general differences between the generation of Titans
and Zeus’ generation of gods? How might you determine whether a god is
a Titan?
13. Why is Hecate discussed at length? Is she an important goddess later on?
(pp.15-16)
14. Who was Kronos’ most important mate/wife? (p.16)
15. How did Kronos care for his children? (pp.16-17)
16. How did Rhea trick Kronos? (p.17)
17. What did Zeus do for this siblings and how did they thank him? (pp.17-18)
18. Which god holds up the sky and why? (p.18)
19. Which god has his liver eaten daily, and why? (pp.18-19)
20. Why do humans burn white bones for the immortals rather than tasty meat
when they make sacrifices? (p.19)
21. Was Zeus tricked by Prometheus? (p.19)
22. How did Zeus first punish humans for Prometheus’ deceit on their behalf?
(p.20)
23. Why did Zeus punish humans again, and what did he do the second time? (p.20)
24. What punishment did Zeus design for the human that never marries? (p.21)
25. Why is the story of Prometheus significant for us to understand the Greek
attitude towards women?
26. What is the Titanomachy? Who fought whom? (pp.21-25)
27. Who were defeated in the Titanomachy and where were they incarcerated?
28. What crucial role did Kottos, Gyges and Obriareos play in the Titanomachy?
29. How does Hesiod describe the arrangement of the underworld? (p.26)
30. Why does Styx make the immortal gods shudder? (p.26-7)
31. Who was Earth’s youngest child and why did she bear him? (pp.27-8)
32. How did Zeus acquire wisdom? (p.29)
33. Who was Tritogeneia? (p.29, 30)
34. It is probably wise to become familiar with Zeus’ wives and children,
more than any other god’s… (pp.29-31)
35. What is the difference between the child of a mortal and a god versus a
child of two gods?
Family trees: http://www.theoi.com/Tree.html
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General (Introduction)
1. To whom is the “Works and Days” addressed?
2. How does Hesiod’s retelling of the Prometheus myth differ in Works
and Days from the version in Theogony?
3. What kind of container did Pandora open? (xiv)
4. What is the significance of the “ages of mankind” that Hesiod
describes? Why is this explanation important for us to know about today? (xiv)
5. What is the purpose of the agricultural section of this poem?
6. Why does Hesiod have a section on seafaring?
7. What kind of poetry is this? (xvi)
8. Are there antecedents for this type of poem elsewhere? Where? (xvi-xvii)
9. According to M.L. West, what characteristic unites the Theogony and Works
and Days? (xviii-xix)
Text
1. Which god does Hesiod invoke at the beginning of this poem? Why? (p.37)
2. What does Hesiod mean by “Strife-brood”? (p.37)
3. Who are the two female goddesses Hesiod discusses on the first page? (p.37)
4. Who is Perses? (p.37)
5. When does Hesiod say a man can promote disputes and conflict over other men’s
property? Why does he say this? (p.37)
6. What did Zeus conceal? (p.38)
7. Who is Allgift? What does that mean? (p.39)
8. Who is the dog-killer? (p.39)
9. What does “Epimetheus” mean? (class notes, p.39)
10. What was left in Pandora’s jar? (p.39)
11. Which god intervened when the jar was opened? (p.40)
12. Why is there “no way to evade the purpose of Zeus”? (p.40)
13. What are the “races of men”? (pp.40-42)
14. What was it like for men when men were gold? (p.40)
15. What happened to the golden race of men when the earth covered them up?
(p.40)
16. How long did childhood last for the silver race of men? (p.40)
17. Why did the race of silver live in suffering? (p.40-41)
18. Why did Zeus “put away” the silver race of men? (p.41)
19. How is the race of Bronze described? (p.41)
20. Why is it historically significant that there was no iron at the time of
the race of Bronze? (p.41 note)
21. Which race was that of heroes? (p.41)
22. Which two great epic wars occurred during the fourth race of men? (p.41)
23. Where did the heroes go after death? (p.41-2)
24. To which race does Hesiod belong? To which do we? (p.42)
25. When will Zeus destroy the last race of men? (p.42)
26. What will happen to bring about the destruction? (p.42)
27. What advice does Hesiod give to Perses after recounting the fable of the
hawk and the nightingale? What is the relationship between the advice and the
fable? (pp.42-3)
28. How is it upon Perses’ shoulders to save his whole community from
famine and plague? (p.44)
29. Who is Right? (p.44)
30. What is the gist of Hesiod’s farming advice? (pp.45-55)
31. What is the gist of his sailing advice? (pp.55-7)
32. Is Hesiod a sailor? (p.56)
33. What did Hesiod do in Euboea? (p.56)
34. What is Hesiod’s marriage advice to Perses? (p.57-8)
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Introduction
1. Among the surviving long hymns, what is the chronological place of the Hymn
of Aphrodite? (p.123)
2. How does this hymn celebrate the power of Aphrodite, according to Shelmerdine?
(p.123)
3. What causes Aphrodite shame? (p.123)
4. How does Shelmerdine explain the complexity of this “story of revenge”?
(p.123)
5. What tension does this story illustrate? What “battle of wills”?
What is the end result? (p.124)
6. How does this poem illustrate Aphrodite’s hierarchical position in
the pantheon? (p.124)
7. How is Aphrodite’s erotic power linked to her origins? (p.124)
8. To which author should we turn for the story of Aphrodite’s birth?
(p.124)
9. What is the meaning of “Aphrodite Ourania”? Why do these names
conflict? How is it resolved? (p.125)
10. What is the importance of Kythera? Cyprus? (p.125)
Text
1. Why is the opening line of the Hymn to Aphrodite misleading? (p.126, note)
2. Why is Aphrodite called “Cypris”? “Kytherea”? (p.126
notes)
3. Who are the “three minds [Aphrodite] cannot persuade or deceive”
and why can she not? (pp.126-7, notes)
4. Who is “laughter-loving”? (p.127)
5. Which goddess is last-born and first-begotten? (p.127, notes)
6. How was Hestia honored in the temples of all gods? (p.128 note)
7. How does Aphrodite control Zeus? (p.128-9, note)
8. Which goddess, according to this poem, is the most beautiful physically?
(p.129)
9. How and why did Zeus turn Aphrodite’s power against herself? (p.129)
10. Is it odd that Aphrodite’s lover is both a prince and a cowherd (“shepherd”)?
(p.129)
11. Where is Troy? (p.129)
12. Who was the son of Anchises and why is he important? (p.129 note)
13. How does Aphrodite “arm” herself? (pp.129-30, notes)
14. Why is Aphrodite annointed with “ambrosial olive oil”? (p.130,
note)
15. What animals follow her to meet Anchises? What does she do to them? (p.130)
16. What did Aphrodite look like when Anchises first beheld her? (p.130-1)
17. Does Anchises recognize her? (p.131, note)
18. Why does Anchises offer a prayer that he may live long? (p.132)
19. How does Aphrodite lie to Anchises? (p.132)
20. Who does she say is her father? (p.132)
21. Why does she know Anchises’ language? (p.132)
22. Who supposedly abducted Aphrodite and brought her there? (pp.132-33, notes)
23. What does Aphrodite tell Anchises to do? (p.133)
24. What does Anchises respond? (p.133)
25. Does Anchises wait for the wedding? Is he meant to? (p.134)
26. What does Aphrodite do after laying with Anchises? (p.134)
27. How is Aphrodite revealed as a goddess while he sleeps? (What does Anchises
see when he wakes? What’s touching the roof-beam?) (p.134)
28. What are “winged words”? (p.135, note)
29. Why is Anchises afraid? Why is he safe? (p.135, note)
30. Why will Anchises son be called “Aeneas”? (p.135)
31. What happened to the two mortal lovers of gods whom Aphrodite mentions?
(pp. 135-6)
32. Why won’t Aphrodite give Anchises such a fate? (p.137)
33. Why won’t she marry him? (p.137)
34. Why is there great shame for Aphrodite forever because of Anchises? (p.137,
intro)
35. Who will raise Aphrodite’s son? What do they represent? (p.138, note)
36. If Aeneas is Aphrodite’s son, who does this make her the ancestress
of?
37. What does Aphrodite warn Anchises not to do? Does he do it? (p.139, note)
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Introduction
1. The Hymn to Apollo has two parts? What are they and what are the problems
associated with studying them? (p.59)
2. What two events does this poem celebrate? (p.60)
3. Why are the gods on Olympus afraid of Apollo? Is he generally depicted as
a violent or frightening god? (p.60)
4. What is the significance of both the bow and the lyre in this poem? How do
they frame the first section? (p.60)
Text
1. What is the “dark side” of Apollo? (p.62, note)
2. Where was Apollo born? (p.63, note)
3. Who is “Phoibos” and what does it mean? (p.63, note)
4. What is the “Delian hymn to Apollo”? (p.64 note)
5. What is the two-fold significance of all the places listed in lines 29-44?
(p.64 note)
6. Who is Delos? (p.65 note)
7. What does Leto promise Delos? (p.65)
8. Why was Delos reluctant to be a birthplace and sanctuary to Apollo? (p.66)
9. How and why could Delos be “overturned”? (p.66)
10. What conditions does Delos require before accepting Apollo? (p.67)
11. What is the “most awful oath among the blessed gods”? (p.67)
12. What happened for “nine days and nine nights”? (p.67)
13. Of all the goddesses, who did not attend the birth of Apollo? Why? (p.67-8)
14. What other birth was delayed in a similar way? (p.68 note)
15. Who brought Eileithiya to Leto? How? (p.68)
16. How did Iris deliver the message? (p.68 note)
17. What is the significance of smiling gods of nature? (p.69 note)
18. Why do the goddesses cry out? (p.69 note)
19. What did Leto do as she finally gave birth? Why? (p.69, lecture notes)
20. What other divine characters “leap” just after being born? (p.69
note)
21. What are ambrosia and nectar? (p.69-70 notes)
22. How does Apollo acquire his attributes and domain? (p.70 note)
23. What happened to Delos when Apollo was born? (p.70, lecture notes)
24. What events occurred at Festival of Apollo on Delos, as recorded in this
hymn? (p.71)
25. Why do scholars believe lines 165-178 mark the end of a hymn, even though
it is in the middle? (p.72)
26. Who is the blind man on Chios? (p.72 note)
27. How is Apollo accepted by the other gods of Olympus? (p.73)
28. Where is Hera? (p.73, note)
29. What is the significance of catalogs of places and people that are recounted
in this hymn? (p.73 note)
30. Who was Telphousa? (p.76)
31. What is Apollo finally successful at doing at Krisa? What is another name
for Krisa? (p.77)
32. Why did Apollo kill a serpent? (p.78)
33. Who was Typhaon/Typhoeus and what did he look like? (p.78)
34. Compare the birth of Typhaon to that of Hephaestus. (pp.78-9, notes)
35. Why is there a long digression on Typhaon? How is it relevant to Apollo?
(pp.79-81, notes pp.81-2)
36. What is the familial relationship between the serpent Apollo kills and Typhaon?
(p.82, note)
37. What epithet did Apollo acquire at the end of this story? (p.82)
38. What does “pytho” mean? (p.83, note)
39. Why does Apollo punish Telphousa? What does he do? What other epithet does
he acquire?(p.83, note)
40. How did Apollo get on the Minoan ship? Were the sailors happy? (pp.83-4)
41. Is there a connection between the Odyssey and this strange journey of Apollo’s
with the Cretans? Where were they headed? (pp.84-6, note)
42. After the arrival at their destination, how did Apollo transform and why
did he chide the sailors? (p.86)
43. How did the sailors address Apollo? Did they realize he was a god? (p.86,
note)
44. Would these sailors ever go home? (p.87)
45. What does “delphinios” mean? (p.87, note)
46. What is a “paean”? (p.88, note)
47. To which famous sanctuary of Apollo are these sailors led? (pp.88-9)
48. How are these sailors meant to make a living now? (p.89, note)
49. What is “hubris”? (p.89, note)
50. Why does Apollo caution the Cretans against hubris? (p.90, note)
51. What will happen to the Cretans if they do not heed his warning? (p.90)
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Introduction
1. Which two themes create the ring-composition of this particular poem?
2. What is ring-composition?
3. To which hero does Shelmerdine compare Hermes and why? What marks the difference
between the stories? (p.92)
4. What is “timê”? (p.93)
5. What is Hermes’ domain? (p.93)
6. What parallels can be made between Hermes and Odysseus?
Text
1. What is the birthplace of Hermes? (p.94)
2. Who is Hermes’ mother? (p.94)
3. What did Hermes do at mid-day and on the evening of the day he was born?
(p.95)
4. What does polytropos mean? (p.95, note)
5. Why does Hermes have the epithet “leader of dreams”? (p.95, note)
6. What does “watcher at night” refer to? (p.95, note)
7. How is Hermes related to Apollo? (p.95)
8. How did Hermes make the tortoise a “singer”? (p.96-8)
9. How many “firsts” does Hermes accomplish on his first day of
life? (p.96 note)
10. What song does Hermes sing after killing the tortoise and what is its significance?
(p.98 note)
11. Why did Hermes set aside his lyre? (p.98)
12. Who was Helios? (p.98)
13. What is Hermes’ most famous epithet? What does it mean? (p.99, note)
14. Why did Hermes make the hooves of Apollo’s cattle “reversed”?
(p.99, note)
15. For what purpose did Hermes invent fire? (p.101)
16. What does the epithet “Phoibos” mean and who did it belong to?
(p.101 note)
17. How exactly did Hermes make fire? (p.101, note)
18. What did Hermes do to two of the cows, and why? (p.102)
19. How was Prometheus a parallel figure for Hermes? (p.102 note)
20. What does the “force of Hephaistos” mean? (p.102 note)
21. Why did Hermes display the skins of the cows? (p.102 note)
22. Why did he cut the cattle into 12 portions? (p.102-3 note)
23. What was the connection between heralds and feasts in antiquity? (p.103
note)
24. Why did Hermes not eat the meat? (p.103, note)
25. How did Hermes enter back into his house? (p.104)
26. What does his return to the cradle mark? (p.104 note)
27. Who is Leto’s son? (p.104 note)
28. What does Maia say when she discovers Hermes in his cradle again? (p.104)
29. What does Maia claim Zeus conceived Hermes to be? (p.104)
30. What does Hermes claim he is doing to help her (and himself)? (p.105)
31. Why does Hermes need to prove himself? (p.105 note)
32. How does Hermes solve the problem of acquiring timê? How is that so
characteristically Hermes? (p.105 note)
33. Why does Hermes pick Apollo to bother? (p.105 note)
34. How does Hermes talk back to his mother? (pp.104-5, notes)
35. Who is “Pytho”? (p.105 note)
36. Why does Hermes plan to steal riches? Does he need them? (p.105 note)
37. What is an aegis? (p.105 long note)
38. Who is the “Earthshaker” (p.105 note)
39. What strange sight does the old man report to Apollo? (p.107)
40. Why did Apollo realize that the thief who stole his cattle was a son of
Zeus when he saw a “long-winged bird”? (p.108 note)
41. What did Hermes do when he saw Apollo standing in the mouth of his cave?
(p.109)
42. Why is it significant that Apollo finds three cupboards full of valuable
items? (p.109, note)
43. What does Apollo threaten to do to baby Hermes? (p.109)
44. What does Hermes say about Apollo’s story? What does he promise to
Apollo? (p.110)
45. How does Apollo finally respond to Hermes’ outrageous behavior? (p.111)
46. What is the first “omen” that Hermes sends forth?!! (“a
stout worker of the belly”) (p.111 note)
47. Why does Apollo drop Hermes? (p.111 note)
48. Whose arbitration does sweet, disarming, baby Hermes submit the issue to?
(p.112)
49. What are “talents”? (p.112)
50. How does Apollo summarize Hermes antics for Zeus? Is his attitude admiring
or condemning? (p.113)
51. How convincing is Hermes when he says: “But I was born yesterday.
And even he himself knows this, that I am not at all like a mighty fellow, a
driver of cattle?” What does he do after completing his speech? (p.114)
52. Why does Hermes keep his swaddling clothes tightly around him? (pp.114-15,
note)
53. What is Zeus’ reaction and verdict? (pp.115)
54. Who says there’s no need for Hermes to grow larger, and why? (p.115)
55. How many references are made to Hermes’ future role as “guide”
in this hymn?
56. Why is it important that bonds cannot hold Hermes? (p.115 note)
57. How does Hermes bring Apollo around? Is it difficult? (p.116)
58. Characterize Apollo’s general reaction to his little brother.
59. What does Hermes sing in his second song of the hymn? Why does he sing about
this? (p.116, note)
60. What does Apollo say is worth fifty cows? (p.117)
61. Why is Apollo so interested in the lyre? (p.117)
62. Who is the “Worker-from-afar”? (p.118)
63. What makes clear the reason that Hermes chose to bother Apollo? (p.118 note)
64. What did Apollo give Hermes in exchange for the lyre? (p.119)
65. What other instrument of shepherds did Hermes invent immediately after this?
Why is this significant? (pp.119-20, note)
66. Why and what does Apollo ask Hermes to swear by the Styx? Why the Styx?
(p.120)
67. What does Apollo promise to give Hermes which will guard him “unharmed”?
(p.120, note)
68. What does Apollo refuse to give Hermes? Why? (pp.120-1)
69. What does he give Hermes instead? (p.122)
70. How could Hermes convince bee-maidens to prophesize the truth if he wished?
(p.122)
71. What else does Apollo grant as Hermes’ domain at the end? (p.122)
[back]
Introduction
1. What does the Hymn to Demeter provide the earliest evidence for? Why are
scholars particularly interested in it? (p.29-30)
2. Some scholars believe this hymn is not about one myth, but two that are never
fully connected – what are they? (p.29)
3. What other myths involve abduction as a theme? Is abduction always the true
focus? (p.29)
4. What is a “mystery religion”?
5. Describe what we now know occurred during the full ritual of the Eleusinian
Mysteries. (pp.29-31) What do we not know?
6. What does Shelmerdine think the Hymn of Demeter should be seen as? (p.31)
7. Why is it important to study this hymn’s version of the story of Demeter
and Persephone? (p.31)
8. What are the ways that this hymn differs from other accounts of the story
of Demeter and Persephone? (p.31)
9. How is Zeus an important participant in this version? (p.31)
10. How does Demeter challenge Zeus’ authority in this version? (p.31)
11. How do Demeter’s actions with the human child have a different result
in this version? (p.31)
12. What is the three-fold significance of famine in this account? (p.31)
13. What does the famine accomplish? (pp.31-2)
14. How does the poem conclude the myth in a significantly different way than
other versions? (p.32)
15. What co-exists in this hymn like “threads in a tapestry”, according
to Shelmerdine? (p.32)
Text
1. What was Zeus’ role in this abduction? What is his relationship to
Demeter and Persephone? (p.33, note)
2. Who is Aidoneus? What does that mean? (p.33, note)
3. What epithet does Hades share with Zeus? (p.33 note)
4. What is the trick that Gaia prepares for Persephone? Why is she involved?
(p.34 note)
5. What happened when Persephone fell for the trick? (p.34)
6. What was traditional about this scene? (p.34 note)
7. Who did Persephone cry out to when captured by Hades? Why did he not respond?
(p.35)
8. Which two gods heard the cry and what were they doing? (p.35)
9. Who is the daughter of Persaios? What is her role among the gods? (p.35)
10. Why was the son of Hyperion often a witness to events? (p.35, note)
11. What was Hades driving? (pp. 34-6)
12. What did Demeter do when she heard Persephone’s cry? (p.36)
13. Did she find Persephone? Why not? (p.36)
14. Who is Deo? (p.36)
15. What does “potnia” mean? (p.36 note)
16. What did Demeter do and not do during the nine days that followed Persephone’s
abduction? (p.36-7)
17. What did Hekate tell Demeter? To whom did they turn next? (p.37)
18. What were “mystic dramas”? (p.37 note)
19. How does Demeter find out that Zeus is involved? (p.38)
20. Why is Demeter told she shouldn’t be upset? (p.38)
21. What is the “three-fold division”? (p.38, note)
22. Why does Demeter’s grief still increase? (p.38 note)
23. Why does Demeter avoid Olympus? (p.38)
24. What is the “theme of a disguised god”? (p.38-9 note)
25. Why did Greeks customarily address strangers as if they were gods? (p.39
note)
26. Who was Keleos? (p.39, note)
27. How did Demeter appear when the daughters of Keleos ran across her beside
the road? (p.39)
28. What do the young women say to Demeter? (p.40)
29. What does Demeter call herself? Why is it appropriate? (p.40 note)
30. Where does she say she is from? Why is that appropriate? (p.40, lecture
notes!)
31. What is the story Demeter gives the young women? Is it unusual? (p.40 note)
32. Why do the young women seem so sure that Demeter will be employed? Why does
their mother immediately hire her? (p.42)
33. Why are the names mentioned by the maidens (Dioklos, Polyxeinos, Eumolpus,
Dolichos and especially Triptolemos) significant to the cult at Eleusis? (pp.41-2,
notes)
34. Why is the description of the maidens important to understanding Eleusinian
ritual practices? (p.43 note)
35. Who is Metaneira? (p.43)
36. What was unusual about Demeter when she stood in the threshold of the home
of Keleos? (p.43)
37. What typically characterizes a divine epiphany? (p.43 note)
38. Is Demeter recognized? (p.43 note)
39. Why is the scene of Demeter’s entrance into the house significant
from both a cultural and a ritual perspective? (p.43 note)
40. What is the “sitting ceremony”? (p.44 note)
41. What is the purpose of rude jokes – in the myth, and in the ritual
associated with this myth? (p.44, note)
42. How does Shelmerdine explain the role of the “kykeon” in this
initial guest/host scene, Greek custom, and the rituals of the Eleusinian mysteries?
(p.45 note)
43. What unusual methods does Demeter use while caring for the son of Keleos?
How does he respond? (p.46)
44. What is Demeter trying to do to the boy? (p.46-7, note)
45. What is the name of the child? (p.47)
46. What is motivating Demeter to take care of the child this way, according
to Shelmerdine? (p.47 note)
47. Why does Demeter become angry at Metaneira? What does she do in her anger?
(p.47)
48. What will Demophoon have, and not have, as a result? Why? (p.48)
49. What does Demeter instruct the Eleusinians to do? (p.48)
50. Who will teach them the rites of her cult? (p.48)
51. Why was Demophoon’s heart not soothed after that experience? (p.49)
52. What is the true cause of Demeter’s grief and anger? (p.49 note)
53. What happened to the earth as Demeter grieved? How did she punish the gods?
(p.50, note)
54. Who visited Demeter, bearing what message, what gifts? (p.50)
55. Why is Iris a natural messenger for the gods? (p.50 note)
56. What crucial privilege did Iris lack, in comparison to Hermes, as messenger?
(p.51 note)
57. What did Demeter respond to the gods? (p.51)
58. As a last resort, what did Zeus decide to do to persuade Demeter? (p.51)
59. Why did Hades give Persephone the seed of a pomegranate before taking her
back to her mother? (p.52-3, note)
60. What is the first question Demeter asks her daughter upon their reunion?
Why? (p.53)
61. How is Persephone’s predicament a nature allegory? (p.54)
62. When may she return to her mother? How many months can she spend with her?
(p.54)
63. Did Persephone eat the pomegranate seed willingly? (p.55)
64. Which goddess became Persephone’s attendant after the reunion? (p.56)
65. What happened when Demeter returned to her divine realm? (p.56)
66. To whom did she teach the rites of her mysteries? (p.57)
67. How do other traditions differ in their story after Demeter reunites with
her daughter? (p.57 note)
68. What was the supposed fate of those who were not initiated in the Eleusinian
mysteries? (p.57)
69. Who was Ploutos the son of? What kind of wealth did he represent? (p.58,
note)
70. Where do Demeter and Persephone go to dwell at the end of the hymn? (p.58)
[back]
Vernant “The Reason of Myth” (Course Reader - page numbers are from original)
1. Define the difference between muthos and logos according to Vernant. (pp.204-8)
2. Why was there an almost unbridgeable gap between muthos and logos in antiquity?
(pp.208-11)
3. How did the writing down of myths affect their form and emphasis? (pp.211-15)
4. How did tragedy make use of myths and to what effect, according to Vernant?
(p.214)
5. What is the difference between myths and mythology? (pp.215-18)
6. Why is it important to study myths within their mythology? (p.218)
7. What, according to Vernant, are the three features that all texts which are
classed as myth by the Greeks have in common? (p.219)
8. How does Vernant describe the relationship between Greek philosophy and myth?
(pp.218-222)
9. How does myth function as the “soil in which… a culture takes
root”? (pp.224-5)
10. Define the “three currents of thought that mark the beginnings of
a modern science of mythology”. (pp.226-232)
11. What are the characteristics of these currents of thought that Vernant believes
limit the horizon of current mythological studies? (pp.233-4)
12. What directions does Vernant (implicitly) believe the study of myth should
head next? (pp.233-4)
[back]
Powell “The Cultural Context of Classical Myth” (Course Reader - page numbers from original)
1. Can you locate cities mentioned in the myths you read on a map of Greece?
2. What are the most famous cities of Greek myth? (p.16)
3. What are the most important crops of Greece? (p.16)
4. Did Greece have a great deal of gold? (p.16)
5. Why are limestone deposits important? (p.16)
6. Where were Greece’s most important marble quarries? (p.16)
7. What was Greece’s “most important resource”? (pp.17-18)
8. What are the major island groups of Greece? (p.18)
9. What led the Greeks to trade with other countries? (p.18)
10. How did the geography of Greece affect their history and myths? (p.18)
11. What are the major historical and archaeological periods of Greece? (pp.18-19)
12. What symbols and gods should we associate with the Minoans? (p.19)
13. Who were the Indo-Europeans and what was their relationship to the ancient
Greeks? (pp.19-20)
14. What form of government did the Mycenaeans have? (p.19)
15. Where were the Mycenaean centers of power? (p.20)
16. What is Linear B? Linear A? (pp.20-1)
17. What is the strongest indication that many Greek legends probably originated
during the Mycenaean period? (p.21)
18. What is the Dorian invasion? What happened and how did it affect Greek civilization?
(p.21)
19. What happened to Greek government during the Dark Age? (pp.21-2)
20. Where was the center of Greek civilization during the Dark Age? (p.22)
21. Where does the Greek alphabet first appear? How did it evolve? (p.22)
22. What areas were colonized by the Greeks during the Archaic Period? (p.22)
23. What is the difference between a Greek “polis” and a village?
(p.22)
24. What was the culture of the Greek polis, according to Powell? (p.22 and
later)
25. What did seafaring offer the Greeks? (pp.22-3)
26. When was coinage introduced in Greece and how did it affect trade? (p.23)
27. What is the difference between a tyrant and a king? (p.24)
28. When did democracy first emerge in Greece and how? (p.24)
29. What are the six “forms of civilization” that emerged from Greek
democracy, according to Powell? What other effects did it have? (p.24)
30. What year did the Persians first invade Greece? When did they invade the
second time and where were they defeated? (pp.24-6)
31. What bound the Greeks as a single people, despite their warring city-states?
(p.26)
32. Who led the rival leagues in the Peloponnesian War? (p.26)
33. Who was Philip of Macedon and when did he overrun Greece? (p.27-8)
34. What years did Alexander the Great rule Greece? (p.28)
35. Which single group was responsible for the vast majority of Greek literature?
(p.28)
36. How would the lifestyle of a Greek male (from birth to old age) differ from
that of an American male today? (pp.28-33)
37. What is the role of a symposium in Greek society? (pp.28-33)
38. How did the Greeks fight in war? (pp.31-2)
39. What was the importance of the gymnasium to the Greeks as a culture and
a nation? (p.32)
40. Describe the ideal Greek woman, according to literary sources (i.e. Powell)?
(p.33)
41. How would the life of an ancient Greek woman differ from that of an American
woman today? (pp.33-38)
42. What were the two great moments in a Greek woman’s life? (p.33)
43. How did Greek marriage work? How did it differ from our concept of marriage?
(pp.28-38)
44. What was a parthenos? (p.34)
45. What is the difference between a kore, a nymphe, and a gyne? (p.35)
46. What is miasma? (p.36 & 40)
47. What was the ideal Greek family? (p.37)
48. What proportion of the Greek workforce was slave? What rights did they have?
(pp.38-9)
49. Where did most Greek slaves come from? (p.38)
50. How does Powell characterize the Greek gods? (pp.39-40)
51. How did one become a priest or priestess? (p.39)
52. What were the Greek notions of guilt or sin? (p.39-40)
53. According to Powell, what is the world-view that underlies Greek myth? (pp.40-42)
54. Did the Greeks believe there were chance events? (p.41)
55. What methods did the Greeks use to foretell the future? (pp.40-42)
56. How did modern Europe receive the Greek myths? (p.42)
[back]
Garland “Accessing the Supernatural” (Course Reader - page numbers from original)
1. How does Garland describe the involvement of the gods in human existence?
(p.11)
2. What was required for a worshipper to get the attention of a god and why
was it so hard? (p.11)
3. What was necessary to do in order to invoke a god? (p.11)
4. What did a petitioner need to do in order to have his prayer answered? (p.12)
5. Did the ritual change if one was worshipping a chthonic rather than an olympian
god? How? (p.12)
6. What is the opposite of a prayer and how did it function? (p.12)
7. What was the most effective offering to a god? Why was it the most effective?
(p.12)
8. What was the order of events when making a sacrifice? (pp.12-14)
9. Which part of the sacrifice was given to the god (and how) and what was done
with the rest? (p.14)
10. What is the myth that explains the practice of sacrifice? (p.14)
11. How does the ritual for chthonic sacrifice differ from that to the Olympian
gods? (p.14)
12. What kind of sacrifice would a hero receive? (p.14)
13. Define a “votive offering”. (p.16)
14. Did the purpose of a votive offering differ from that of a sacrifice? (pp.
12-16)
15. What were the ingredients of a libation and how was it performed? (p.17)
16. What is the difference between a sponde and a choe? (p.17)
17. Why would an appeal to the gods fail? (p.18)
18. Why were omens studied and who studied them? (p.18)
[back]
Vegetti “The Greeks and their Gods” (Course Reader - page numbers from original)
1. Why does Vegetti believe the anecdote of Aristotle quoted in the first paragraph
can help us understand the religious attitudes of the Greeks? (p.254-5)
2. Why is it important that the Greeks did not have a sacred book (e.g. bible)?
(pp.255-6)
3. What would be some fundamental differences between Christianity and ancient
Greek religion? (pp.255-8)
4. What is the difference between the terms “eusebia” and “religion”
and how does it reflect the differences between Greek religion and Christianity,
for instance? (p.256)
5. How does Vegetti explain the story that the Athenians seriously believed
that a girl dressed in the clothes and armor of Athena (as described in the
anecdote about Peisistratus) was actually Athena? (p.257)
6. How does Vegetti explain the evolution of sanctuaries? (p.258)
7. Define a sanctuary. (p.258)
8. How does Vegetti define the dual nature of the “sacred” for the
Greeks? How does this create an entirely different understanding of a god than
that seen in Christianity, for instance? (p.259)
9. What ensured the success of a Greek sacrifice? (p.259)
10. When did “pollution” or miasma occur? (p.260)
11. What was the ancient ritual of pharmakos and why did the ancients believe
it was effective? (pp.260-1)
12. What was “katharsis” and how was it performed? (p.261)
13. What two cultural factors unified Greek religious experience and made it
specific to Greek culture? (p.261)
14. Why were epic accounts of the heroes and gods instantly believable, persuasive
and unquestionable, according to Vegetti? (p.262)
15. What was the most significant effect of the Iliad upon Greek religion, according
to Vegetti? (p.262)
16. What is the connection between Greek aristocracy, the Iliad and colonization?
(p.262)
17. How do heroes fit into Vegetti’s explanation of the Greek gods and
the evolution of Greek religion? (pp.261-2)
18. Why does Vegetti agree with Mazon that the Iliad can be defined as “the
most irreligious of all poems”? (p.263)
19. What are the consequences of “anthropomorphic polytheism”, according
to Vegetti? (p.264)
20. What is the essential element that distinguishes gods from men in Greek
religion? (p.264)
21. According to Vegetti, what maintains the conceptual unity and individuality
of a god, despite his many functions? (p.264)
22. How did Zeus derive his identification with legal sovereignty and the unification
of strength and justice? (p.265)
23. According to Vegetti, what does the presence of Hera in the pantheon ensure?
(p.265)
24. What does Vegetti believe Athena represents? Do you agree? (p.265)
25. Which god’s prestige sometimes eclipsed Zeus’ and why? (p.266)
26. Which god’s worship was considered subversive to the order of the
polis and why? (p.266)
27. Which two goddesses are represented as “outside” the polis and
society and why? (pp.266-7)
28. How do Demeter and Persephone represent both agricultural civilization and
women’s worship simultaneously? (p.267)
29. What is the connection between Hermes’ role as guide of the dead and
commerce? (p.267)
30. How does Vegetti explain the addition of new deities to the Greek pantheon
over time? (pp.267-8)
31. What was the relationship of the gods to the polis? (p.268)
32. How was the role of priest or priestess assigned? (p.269)
33. What did Greek priests or priestesses actually do? (p.269)
34. What, according to Vegetti, is the significance of the banquet following
a sacrifice? (p.270)
35. What are the essentially differences between an olympian and a chthonic
sacrifice? (p.270)
36. Why does Vegetti believe the mystery cults (or “mysteries”)
evolved? (p.271)
37. Who could participate in a mystery cult? (p.271)
38. How did mystery cults fill a need that polis culture could not? (p.271)
39. What was the purpose of the complex initiation procedures and secrecy involved
in mystery cults, according to Vegetti? (p.271)
40. What kind of information do we have about the rituals involved in mystery
cults? (p.272)
41. Did being a member of a mystery cult exclude the participant from other
cults of the polis? (p.272)
42. How was the Orphic movement different from the other mystery cults? (p.272-3)
43. What did the Orphic movement reject, in particular? (p.273)
44. What myth is used as a basis for the Orphic movement’s philosophy
about murder, their concept of “original sin”? (p.274)
45. What is the Orphic philosophy of the soul and their prescription for salvation?
(p.274)
46. How would you explain the Orphic philosophy that life is a “preparation
for death”? (p.275)
47. Who was the primary god of Orphism? (p.275)
48. What was the Orphic theogony? (p.275-6)
49. Who was the second most important god in Orphism and how was he related
to the primary god of the sect? (p.276)
50. How does Vegetti explain the “grave problem for interpreters”
that these two gods constitute? (p.276)
51. Who were the Pythagoreans and what was their relationship to Orphism? (p.276)
52. What did Plato have to do with all of this? (p.276)
53. What was the Pythagorean theory of the soul? (p.276)
54. How, according to Vegetti, did myths establish truth? (p.277)
55. How does Vegetti characterize the emergence of philosophical thought from
Greek religion? (p.278)
56. What are the two primary “rational explanations” of myth that
emerged with philosophical thought in ancient Greece? (pp.278-9)
57. Why does Vegetti describe two “clashes” between poets and philosophers?
(p.279)
58. What was Plato’s stand on poets? (pp.279-80)
59. What are the “forces of disintegration” that the polis had to
defend itself against, according to Vegetti? (pp.271-280) How did the polis
defend itself? (p.280)
60. What was the significance to Greek religion and to the Greek polis of the
trials of Anaxagoras in 440 BC and of Socrates in 399 BC? (p.281)
61. How does Vegetti recommend that these trials be understood in the larger
political context of the times? (p.281)
62. According to Vegetti, how should we interpret the fact that political condemnations
were made and passed by a popular jury as if punishment for religious transgressions
in both Anaxagoras’ and Socrates’ trials? (p.281)
63. What is the Greek definition of “believing in the gods,” according
to Vegetti? (p.281)
64. What did accepting Olympian religion actually mean in Greece? (p.282)
65. How does Vegetti explain the coexistence of differing and contradictory
belief systems within Greek religion? (p.282)
[back]
Woodford “Part 1” (Course Reader page numbers)
1. Can images of myths be “decoded”? (CR p.73a)
2. How did the ancient artists view their role in depicting myths in art, according
to Woodford? (CR p.73a)
3. What were the three initial challenges that ancient artists faced when making
art about myths? What other challenges did an artist face? (CR p.73b)
4. How did artists express their personal interpretations of a myth in a visual
form? What does this mean for us, as we attempt to analyze them? (CR p.73b)
5. What is a method an artist might use to give a myth emotional richness and
immediacy for a viewer? (CR p.73b)
6. What is a method an artist might use to convey a political point while incorporating
mythological elements? (CR p.73b)
[back]