Section 1: Greek Creation Myths

Classical Myth

Chapter 4 Myths of Creation

Studyguide

Section 1: Greek Creation Myths

1. What is important to remember when studying classical myths?

2. Define cosomogony and theogony. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Name the first four gods/goddesses that were the beginning of all things. (When listing gods/goddesses, be sure to give the translation or meaning of their name as well as their Greek name.)

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4. Describe how day and night came to be.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Nyx came from which god and produced which offspring? __________________________________________________________________

6. Who were the most important groups of children Gaea (Gaia) produced? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Who were the children Gaea produced asexually? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Uranus (Sky) and Gaea (Earth) produced 12 children called the Titans. Name all 12 children. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Gaea and Uranus produced two other groups of children that Uranus hated. Who were they? ________________________________________________________

10. Describe the Cyclopes. Why were they important to Zeus? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. Describe the Hecatonchires. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12. The Titan Hyperion was father to ____________, the god of the __________ and two children named ___________ and __________________.

13. Summarize the story of Phaethon. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. Write one sentence that summarized the myth of the moon. __________________________________________________________________

15. Summarize the story of Tithonus and Eos. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. What did Uranus do to keep his children from entering the world? __________________________________________________________________

17. How did Cronus defeat his father, Uranus? __________________________________________________________________

18. What is the philosophical rationale for the castration of Uranus? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

19. After the defeat of Uranus, Gaea bore two more groups of children. Who were they? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20. Summarize the “birth” of Aphrodite. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

21. Monster means ____________________________________________________.

22. List and describe 5 monsters that were descended from Gaea and Pontus. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

23. Thetis father was __________________ and she became the mother of ________________________.

24. Like Uranus, Cronus feared his children so what did he do to protect himself? _______________________________________________________________

25. Who were the children of Rhea and Cronus? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

26. Summarize how Zeus defeated his father, Cronus. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

27. What was the war between the Olympians and Titans called? __________________________________________________________________

28. Who were the only two Titans to side with Zeus? __________________________________________________________________

29. What two groups of monsters were instrumental in helping Zeus win the war? What did they do? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

30. In one sentence summarize the story of Atlas. __________________________________________________________________

31. Who were Typhoeus’ parents? ________________________________________

32. Summarize the two separate and different versions of the myth of Zeus’ battle with Typhoeus. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

33. What is a succession myth? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

34. Zeus married whom? _______________________________________________

35. In order to avoid the same fate as his father and grandfather, what did Zeus do? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

36. What was Gigantomachy? Who started it? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

37. List three prominent themes found in the Greek Creation story. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

38. Describe the elements of a folktale found in the Greek Creation myth. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________