Edith Hamilton: Mythology
Chapter 1 – Note Worksheet
Use this guide to help you comprehend and record what you are learning about “The Gods, Creation, and the Earliest Heros.”
1. How was the universe created, according to the Greek gods? (pg. 24)
According to the Greek gods, the universe created the gods, not the other way around. Before there were gods, heaven and earth had been formed.
2. Who were the first parents, the first grandchildren? (pg. 24)
The Titans were the first parents, the gods were the grandchildren
3. Describe the Titans. (pg. 24)
They were often called the Elder Gods. They were for many ages supreme in the universe. They were of large size and incredible strength. There were many of them, but only a few appear in mythology stories.
4. Who was the most important Titan? What did he do? Who was his son? (pg. 24-25)
Cronus, AKA Saturn. He ruled over the other Titans until his son, Zeus, dethroned him and seized the power for himself.
5. What is Zeus also known as? (pg. 25)
Jupiter
6. How many great Olympians were there? (pg. 25)
12
7. Where did the Olympian’s live? (pg. 25)
Olympus
8. Describe Olympus: What is it? What is it not? What does the entrance look like? What is inside? (pg. 25)
A mountain top, identified as Greece’s highest mountain. Maybe a mysterious region far above all the mountains of the earth. It is not heaven. The entrance to it was a great gate of clouds kept by the seasons. Within were the gods’ homes, where they slept and ate. It was perfect.
9. Name the 12 Olympians (both name forms). (pg. 25) **TIP – Make flashcards to remember these. It will get confusing!
a. Zeus (Jupiter)
b. Poseidon (Neptune)
c. Hades (Pluto)
d. Hestia (Vesta)
e. Hera (Juno)
f. Ares (Mars)
g. Athena (Minerva)
h. Apollo (same)
i. Aphrodite (Venus)
j. Hermes (Mercury)
k. Artemis (Diana)
l. Hephaestus (Vulcan)
10. Who was the king of the gods? (pg. 25)
Zeus
11. Who were Zeus’ two brothers? (pg. 25)
a. Poseidon (Neptune)
b. Hades (Pluto)
12. Who was Zeus’ wife? (pg. 25)
Hera (Juno)
13. The sea fell to _______Poseidon___________ and the underworld to ___Hades__________. (pg. 27)
14. Zeus was the supreme ruler, also known as Lord of the _______Sky______. (pg. 27)
15. His Roman name is _________Jupiter_____. (pg 27)
16. The symbol for Zeus is the ________thunderbolt____________. (pg. 27)
17. Zeus demands sacrifices __from men _______and right action. The Greek Army at Troy is told “Father Zeus never helps _____liars_____ or those who break their ___oaths____.” (pg. 27)
18. His bird was the ___eagle___, his tree ___oak___. (pg. 27)
19. Hera was Zeus’ ____wife___ and ______sister____. She is also known as _Juno______. (pg. 28)
20. Hera is the protector of ______marriage___.(pg. 28)
21. Hera grew angry at the many _______woman Zeus fell in love with______________.(pg. 28)
22. The ________cow______ and the _____peacock_______ were sacred to her. Argos was her favorite city. (pg. 28)
23. __Poseidon_______ is the ruler of the sea, Zeus’ __brother______ and the second only to him in eminence. (pg. 28)
24. He is also known as ________Neptune___________.
25. His wife was _____Amphitrite______. Besides being the Lord of the Sea, he gave the first horse to ___man___. (pg. 28-29)
26. ____Storm_____ and _______Calm____ were under his control. (pg. 29)
27. Poseidon was commonly called “___Earth-shaker_____” and was always shown carrying his ______trident_____, a three pronged spear which he would shake and shatter whenever pleased. (pg. 29)
28. The third brother of the Olympians was ______Hades_____ who ruled the ________underworld_______ and the ____Dead_____. (pg. 29)
29. He was also known as ____Pluto______, the God of ____Wealth.______. (pg. 29)
30. The Latin word for rich is ___dis___. (pg. 29)
31. He had a ____Helmet_____ which made whoever wore it invisible. (pg. 29)
32. He rarely visited earth for he was not a welcome visitor. He was a terrible, but not ____evil__ god. (pg. 29)
33. Hades’ wife was _____Persephone_______ whom he carried away from earth and made _________________________Queen of the Lower World_______. (pg. 29)
34. Hades was King __________of the dead_______ not Death. (pg. 29)
35. ______________Pallas Athena________ was the daughter of Zeus alone. No mother bore her. (pg. 29)
36. She is also known as ________Minerva_____. (pg. 29)
37. She sprang from his ____head___ full grown and in full _____armor___. (pg. 29)
38. She is described as a _____fierce_and ruthless battle-goddess. (pg. 29)
39. She is the Goddess of the _____City___, protector of _________civilized life___, of handicrafts and ________agriculture____; the inventor of the _____bridle_, who first tamed horses for men to use. (pg. 30)
40. Athena was Zeus’ ________favorite_____ child. (pg. 30)
41. Zeus’ allowed Athena to carry his ________thunderbolt___. (pg. 30)
42. She is often described as “_______grey-eyed______.” She is one of the three _______Virgin Goddesses______, and was chief of them all. Her temple is the _______Parthenon________.(pg. 30)
43. Athena is the embodiment of _____Wisdom__, _____Reason_, and ____purity______. (pg. 30)
44. The special city of Athena was _____Athens____, the _____olive_____ was the tree she created, and the __owl____was her bird. (pg. 30)
45. The son of Zeus and Leto, born in Delos, was _____Apollo___. (pg. 30)
46. Apollo was called “________________the most Greek of all the gods____________”(pg. 30)
47. Apollo is shown as a master _____musician__ who delights Olympus as he plays on his golden _______lyre____. He is also known as the ______archer____ god, the ____healer_________, who taught men the healing art. He is the God of _______light___and the God of _______truth______. (pg. 30)
48. Apollo’s oracle as in _____Delphi________. (pg. 30) It was the most beautiful shrine, where the questions asked by the ancient seekers of Truth were delivered by a ________priestesss________ who went into a _________Trance____ before she spoke. The _____Trance____was supposed to be caused by a vapor rising from a deep cleft in the rock over which her tripod was placed. (pg. 30)
49. Apollo was called ______Delian______, ________Pythian____ and ___________Lycian______. (pg. 31)
50. Apollo’s twin sister, and the daughter of Zeus and Leto was ______Artemis_______, also known as _________Diana____.(pg. 31)
51. Artemis was one of the three _____________________maiden goddesses____ of Olympus. (pg 31)
52. Artemis was a good _______________huntsman___, careful to preserve the young. (pg. 31)
53. Artemis was known as the ____moon__. (pg. 32)
54. ____Aphrodite_______ is also known as _____Venus_______. She is the Goddess of _____love____ and ____beauty___. (pg. 32)
55. Aphrodite is the daughter of _____Zeus___and ____Dione___, but is also known to have sprung from the ____foam of the sea___________. The name Aphros means ______foam_____ in Greek. (pg. 32)
56. She is often known to be the wife of __________Hephaestus______, the lame and ugly god. (pg. 33)
57. The son of Zeus and Maia was _____Hermes____, also known as ______Mercury_______. (pg. 33)
58. He wears __________winged sandals _________ on his feet since he is Zeus’ ___________messenger______. (pg. 33)
59. He was the shrewdest and most cunning, known as the Master _______Thief______. (pg. 33)
60. He gave Apollo his invention, the _______lyre____. (pg. 34)
61. The God of War was __________Ares_____, also known as ______Mars____. (pg. 34)
62. He was the son of _____Zeus______ and _______Hera______.(pg. 34)
63. The Romans liked Mars better than the Greeks liked ________Ares.____ (pg. 34)
64. True or False: He was loved by his parents. (False) (pg. 34)
65. The God of Fire is __________Hephaestus______, who is known by two Roman names, ______Vulcan_____ and _______Mulciber___. (pg. 35)
66. While he is sometimes said to be the son of Zeus and Hera, other legends say he may only be the son of Hera alone. Why? (pg. 35)
She bore him in retaliation for Zeus’ having brought forth Athena.
67. He is known to have been thrown out of ______heaven______.(pg. 35)
68. His wife is _________Aphrodite________. (pg. 35)
69. He was a ____kindly___, __________peace-loving______, god, popular on earth as in heaven. Athena was the protector of weavers, he of ____smiths____. (pg. 35)
70. Zeus’ sister, and another virgin goddess was ______Hestia___, also known as ______Vesta_____. (pg. 36)
71. Hestia is the goddess of the _______hearth____, the symbol of the ____home______, around with the newborn child must be carried before it could be received into the family. (pg. 36)
72. Every meal ________Began_____and ______ended____with an offering to _____Hestia_____. (pg. 36)
73. Each _____City___ had a public hearth sacred to __Hestia___, where the _____fire____ was never allowed to go out. (pg. 36)
74. In Rome, her fire was cared for by __________six virgin priestesses_______, called ______Vestals____.(pg. 36)
75. Here are the Lesser Gods’ of Olympus:
a. Eros (Cupid)
b. Hebe
c. Iris
d. The Graces
e. The Muses
f. The Furies
g. Demeter
h. Dionysus
i. Pan
j. Satyrs
k. Centaurs
l. Gorgons
m. Graiae
n. Sirens
76. The most important of the lesser gods’ was the God of _______love_____, named ____Eros______, or _____Cupid____ in Latin. (pg. 36)
77. He is known in early stories as a __________________beautiful, serious youth__ who gives good gifts to men. He is to make his home in ___________men’s hearts____, not in every heart, for in hardness he departs. His greatest glory is that he can _______________do no wrong________ nor allow it. He whom LOVE does not touch, walks __________in darkness_______. (pg. 36)
78. Some accounts say that Eros is Aphrodites _________son_. (pg. 36)
79. He is often represented as ________Blindfolded_____because love is said to be _______blind.___ (pg. 37)
80. _________ is the Goddess of Youth, the daughter of Zeus and Hera. She was married to________Hercules____. (pg. 37)
81. Iris is the ______________Godddess of the Rainbow_____________ and a messenger of the gods. (pg. 37)
82. There are two bands of lovely sisters on Mount Olympus: ________Muses_______ and _______Graces___. (pg. 37)
83. There are 3 Graces: _________Spendor___, ________Mirth___, and ____Good Cheer_________. (pg. 37)
84. They are not treated as separate personalities, but as a triple incarnation of ______beauty and grace._____ (pg. 37)
85. They are known to give ___________________life its bloom_____. (pg. 37)
86. The Graces are the _______________________queens of song_______ . (pg. 37)
87. There are _9____ Muses. (pg. 37)
88. They were the companions of _______Apollo___, the God of Truth, as well as of the _____Graces____. (pg. 38)
89. The Furies are placed by Virgil in _____________the underworld_______, where they punish evildoers. (pg. 40)
90. The Greek poets thought of them as pursuing __________________sinners on earth__________. (pg. 40)
91. There are ______3_____ Furies. (pg. 40)
92. The Goddess of Corn ______Demeter________, was also known as ____Ceres____. (pg. 41)
93. The God of the Vine, _________Dionysus________, was also known as Bacchus. (pg. 41)
94. The chief Fury was ____Pan___, Hermes’ son. He was a wonderful _______musician_____. (pg. 41)
95. He was always in love, but always _____rejected because of his ugliness_______________________(pg. 41)
96. The word _____________, a type of fear originates with with Pan. (pg. 41)
97. The _____________, like Pan, were goat-men and they had their home in wild places of the earth (pg. 43)
98. The Centaurs were _______________________________half man, half horse___. (pg. 43)
99. The Gorgons were _________________earth-dwellers_____. (pg. 44)
100. There are _______3__ Gorgons, and 2 of them were _______immortal_______. (pg. 44)
101. The __________Sirens____ lived on an island in the _____sea_. (pg. 44)
102. They had enchanting voices that _____________________lured sailors to their death________.(pg. 44)